Joseph Prince - Let Go And Let His Supply Flow
Let's go right into the Word of God. You know, today I'm going to share something that will probably bless you, and it might puzzle you sometimes the things I say, but if you'll hear my heart, all right, listen to the entire sermon, and you will see where you are missing it, all right? Maybe you are praying, but you are praying in a way that's not producing results. All these will be answered in this sermon, and I pray that in Jesus's name you will get to hear that rhema word, that word in season that you need to hear.
You know, when people talk about holiness, what is holiness? Holiness is defined, both in the Greek, okay, in the word hagios, as well as in the Hebrew kadosh, all right? That's the word holy in Hebrew and in Greek, Old Testament, New Testament. It literally means, when you say someone is holy, all right, or this thing is holy, it means that that person or that thing is set apart unto God. That's the word holiness. And there is a principle of Bible interpretation which will help a lot, all right? It's called the law of first mention. If a subject is mentioned for the first time, there is something significant.
So any subject, all right, you look it up. When it's first mentioned, there's something that God will teach us, and usually from the first mention, it gives you an idea of how to interpret that word throughout the entire Bible, okay? So when is the first time the word holy appears? When did the word holy appear the first time in the Bible? Okay, it's found in Genesis chapter 2: "And on the seventh day God ended his work, which he had done, and he rested". God did not rest because he was tired. God doesn't get tired, all right? The Creator of the heavens and the earth neither grows weary, nor is he tired, okay? Tired is part of the human form, human existence. God doesn't get tired. God rested because his work was finished, okay? "And God rested on the seventh day from all his work, which he had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it".
See the word sanctified there? That's the Hebrew word holy, kadosh. Kadosh, holy. "Because in it, God rested from all his work which God had created and made". So notice the first time the word holy is used, it's got to do with rest. It's gotta do with rest. Rest is the holiest thing you can do. Rest brings God's favor. You know, the first time grace is mentioned in the Bible? Again, from the book of Genesis. The very first time in the Bible grace is mentioned, there is something significant. It says, Genesis 6, verse 8, "Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord". Of all the peoples on earth, Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. It's the first time the word grace appears, and it's gotta do with Noah.
So you say, "What's the revelation there"? Well, when you can't find the revelation on the surface, it's probably hidden in the name of Noah. And Noah's name means rest. In other words, rest finds grace in the eyes of the Lord. The more you're at rest, the more God's grace comes on you. The more you work and labor, God's grace doesn't come on you. Now, I just want to start from the onset by telling you, when I talk about works and labor, I'm not referring to your job, all right? The Bible says every Christian should work, should be gainfully employed, amen. "If any would not work", Paul says, "neither should he eat", all right? So I'm referring to physical labor. I'm not referring to job. I'm referring to that internal striving, you know, that restlessness you feel about producing something in your life, all right? That is evil. I said that is evil.
You know, God wants your heart to be at rest. The only labor for the Christian in Hebrews 4, excuse me, verse 9, "There remains therefore a rest", sabbastismos in the Greek, "to the people of God. For he that is entered into God's rest, he also has ceased", say ceased, "from his own works, as God did from his". So God rested because all his work is finished, and God is telling us, "You must have the same attitude", all right, "You must rest like me". But then we say, "There are things to be done. There are diapers to be changed, food to be cooked", if you still cook your food, and not your helper, all right? "There are still things to attend to", all right, "homework to finish". But God is saying, "The work is finished".
So, in other words, we must enter into God's rest and come back and do these things, and you'd be surprised that when you do those things without stress, without a spirit of labor, all right, you accomplish those things with the touch of heaven. All right, bring out my chair, okay? And the only place the Bible says to labor is here. The only labor for the Christian is this, verse 11: "Let us labour therefore to enter that rest". Let's all say "Let us labour". Okay, don't be distracted. It's just a chair. I'm sure you have seen chairs before. Let's all say this: "Let us labour to enter the rest". So the only labor... I want to give you an assignment, okay? Try for one week. The only labor you do is to labor to be restful. Labor to be at rest, okay? That's the only labor you do.
And the Bible says in Ephesians chapter 2, "God, who is rich in mercy", what a beautiful phrase, rich in mercy. You cannot find a phrase rich in anger. God has anger, but he's not rich in anger. He's rich in mercy, all right? "Because of his great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses. He made us alive together with Christ, by grace you are saved, and has raised us up together", that together here is not you and your friend, okay? Not you and me, okay? It is together as you and Christ, me and Christ, together. God raised us, when God raised Jesus from the dead, God raised me together, and God raised you together with Jesus, all right? "And God made us sit together". God made you to sit together with Jesus in heavenly places in Christ, why? "That in the ages to come God might show the exceeding riches".
You know, people say things like when Jesus comes again, the dispensation of grace comes to an end. Grace never comes to an end. Read here, "that in the ages to come, God might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness towards us in Christ Jesus". Can you see that? That even in the ages to come, God will still be demonstrating the riches of his grace. So the Bible says, "We are seated with Christ". So this is my throne. Let me demonstrate to you. This is our position in Christ. We are seated with Christ. I said seated. That means what? The work is finished. The priests of the Old Testament, the priests of Israel never sat down, because their work was never finished. When Jesus purged our sins, he sat down, and we are seated together with Christ, okay?
You know where's the devil? You know where's the problem you are worried about right now? You know where are they? Look at where Jesus is, all right? Look at Ephesians chapter 1, up here, "Which God wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead and sat him at his own right hand, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world but also in that which is to come, and has put all".... How many things? All things under whose feet? Jesus's feet. "And gave him to be the head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of all in all".
Now watch this, okay? Where's Jesus? Far above Satan, far above every disease, far above every curse, every lack in this world. He's far above, not just above, far above all principality and power. Every name, new name of a disease, he's far above every name that can be named, not only in this world, but in the world to come. He's far above it all, but where are you? Where are you? We read just now Ephesians. Where are you? We are seated together with Christ in the same position.
Now, what the devil wants to do, he want to come across your way and tell you, "All right, what are you going to do about this situation? What are you going to do about this teenager of yours? What are you going to do"? Then you tell him, "This is what I'm going to do". Amen. He brings a lying symptom in your body. All right, you start feeling, man, I didn't have this pain before. All right, and devil says, "Better do something about it". Okay, this is what you do. Devil - this is what you do - Devil, ah, no. What does this mean? That means there's nothing for me to do. It's all been done. You're calling his bluff. He's telling you the work is not finished. It looks like it's not finished. It feels like it's not finished. Multitudes of voices saying it's not finished, but you sit down and say it is finished.
All right, I entered in God's rest, amen. When you do that, something happens to your problem, all right? The devil, by the way, is not on the same level as you. You are seated together with Christ. Who made us sit together with Christ? God, who is rich in mercy. He made us, oh, I love it. He made us sit together with Christ. So where is the devil? And Christ is far above all principality. So what he sees is the sole of your foot. You weigh your problems, Christ is head of all things, all right? God put all things under his feet, amen. So this problem you're worried about, okay, you are on top of it. You are seated with Christ. Are you listening or not? Are you listening?
So the devil will try his best to get you out of this position, because as long as you're in this position of rest, okay, blessings flow in your life, all right? Good things happen, praise the Lord, amen. Victory abound, so the devil gotta... always the first thing the devil does is to agitate your rest, to move you out of the place of rest. The only thing God tells us to labor for, for the believer, is to labor to enter the rest. Are you with me? You know how God defines evil? Every time the word evil appears in your New Testament, you know how God defines evil? Let me give you an example. A evil heart, what's an evil heart?
Look up here at Hebrews 3, all right? "Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God". You see this word evil? It's from the Greek word poneros, all right? Poneros. Now, every time you see the word evil in the New Testament is this word poneros, an evil man, evil deeds, evil conscience as well. In Hebrews 10, is this word, poneros. And if I ask you define evil, what would you say? Something bad. Evil is something bad, bad in nature, bad in condition. But you know something? Poneros, the word bad appears as a second definition. It's not the first definition. The first definition of evil in the New Testament is this: full of labors, full of labors, toil, annoyances, pressed and harassed by labors. Number two definition, then, is bad, bad of nature or condition, okay?
So the thing is this, people, all right, when God says don't have an evil heart. What does it mean an evil heart? We think of bad, but first definition is a heart full of labor, all right? Watch for this evil heart full of labors, full of trying to make things right. You say, Pastor Prince, it's harmless when people want to have a heart of labor and all that. No, I'm telling you it's dangerous, all right? "It's dangerous". Okay, never mind. It's destroying the protection that you have.
You know, the Bible tells us that Job suffered a lot for about nine months. His sufferings didn't go on and on, all right, for years. Some people make it sound like it went on for years. No, he only suffered for nine months, all right? But Job is a unique case. Before you call yourself a Job, remember this: Job asked God how he wished that he had a daysman, a go-between, an advocate at God's right hand. Well, what he wants, what he desires is our reality, okay? So Job didn't have a High Priest at God's right hand, but Job said this in Job 3, "For the thing I greatly feared has come upon me, and what I dreaded has happened to me".
Well, the first part is often quoted, but people forget that fear is borne out of unrest. See verse 26: "I am not at ease, nor am I quiet. I have no rest, for trouble comes". In other words, one plus one plus one is three, trouble. No rest, no quiet, no ease equals what? Trouble. By the way, God uses three Hebrew words for rest in this one verse, and Noah's name is the last one, "I have no noach", all right? Three words for rest, to get the point home. It was Job. How did Job get into trouble? Job stepped into unrest, into disquiet, into agitation, into worry. But you'd be surprised how he did it. You know how he did it? With something spiritual.
The Bible says Job would get up every morning, offer burnt sacrifices on behalf of all his children, saying continually in his heart, "I've got to cover them because they may have cursed God in their hearts", and thus Job did continually, the Bible says. In other words, every morning he gets up, and he does these things. Like, what I'm trying to tell you is that this, Job's verse about not being at ease, not being at rest and all that, has got to do with something spiritual that he's doing. Are you listening, people? You know, some people take Communion, all right, but they're doing it out of fear, out of desperation. You better stop yourself and ask yourself, "Why am I doing it like this"?
Come on, people. Are you listening? When you let go, does it fall to the ground? No, when you let go, someone's hand hold on. When you hold on, someone's hands let go. And let me tell you this: That hand of God, of God Almighty, is bigger than your hand. So the thing is that, for the child of God, they need to learn to rest. Our only labor is to labor to rest. Are you with me? Years ago, I was saying just now, years ago the Lord told me this: "Son, look at the areas of your life. Notice, the areas you're not worried about, provision flows. Those things that you're worried about, there's a hindrance", and this is a picture I'll close with that he showed me. And God showed me that his supply is always flowing. The work is done. It's finished, okay? But the problem is that on our receiving end, when you worry, you squashed the hose of God, all right?
Look up here at this picture, all right? Blessing, prosperity, all the good things that God has finished, you know who paid for it? Yeah, Jesus at the cross said charge it to the Master's card, all right? He paid for everything, forgiveness of sins, provision for you and your family, health, and healing. He paid for it, okay? So we are saying, we always think that our prayer is to get God to do something, our prayer is to get God to give. No, no, that's not prayer. That's when prayer becomes wrong. Our prayer should be thanksgiving most of the time, all right? There are some prayers of request, yes, but you pray that prayer request once, and you thank God again continually, all right? And when you think about it, just think, Lord, it's in your hands, Lord. Lord, it's in your hands, Lord. Lord, it's your business, Lord. Lord, you are in charge of this, Lord. Lord, my hands are... that should be your prayer, amen.
So we wonder how come God is not giving when actually God is supplying, but whenever you worry, this happens, all right? The hand is just an invisible hand. It's not God's hand, okay? It's your hand, actually. Whenever you worry, you squashed it. The blessing is squashed over your life. But somebody else besides you is enjoying it, because he's not worried about this area, okay? But whenever you say lack, go in Jesus's, you know, when Jesus says, literally when you read the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says, "If you don't worry about your clothing, God will clothe you better than Solomon in all his glory". That's what he said. He says that, you know, God will clothe you better than Solomon in all his glory. Don't worry about what you eat. And he even said don't worry about tomorrow.
If you take the word "take no thought", take no thought, take no thought for tomorrow, and all that, literally it sounds like, Lord, you're telling me to be irresponsible? No, he's telling you to be most responsible. The greatest responsibility you can do, the holiest thing you can ever perform is to rest, and when you rest, this happens, bang, all right? The supply just flows, all right? When you worry, let go. Okay, okay, listen, now you are in the place where the Word of God is going forth, all right? You say, Pastor Prince, so simple. Yeah, the things of God are simple but powerful, all right?
Now, the thing is flowing. In fact, you feel the joy. You feel like, hey, yeah, of course, man, Pastor Prince. Come on, Pastor Prince, I know these men, bro, come on, you know? 'Cause it's flowing, right? You even feel it. Monday comes. Pastor Prince's voice is not there, all right? Make sure they don't worry, all right? Worry. And you start thinking, you know, well, maybe it was the anointing. Maybe he left already. No, check where you squashed it. Check where you start worrying. And the devil can use the most legitimate worries in your life to stop the flow. Hey, people, one thing you do, labor to enter the rest. From now on, labor to enter the rest. When you're praying, make sure that it is full of rest, amen? Let us labor. Come on, let's say it together. "Let us labor".
Okay, get in Hebrews 4, again, verse 11. We'll close with this. "Let us labor". Let's all read together. "Let us labor therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief". Have you noticed? The opposite of unbelief should be believe. That's what we think, but no, it is rest. The opposite of unbelief is rest, all right? When you're not at rest, you are in unbelief, and with that, we've come to the end of my sermon, hallelujah. God bless all of you. Praise the Lord.
Stand to your feet, church. Let me pray a blessing over you. Remember this: There'll be a fight, all right? But I want you to fight to remain in rest. The devil will not let you go with this message without putting up things that will cause you to be agitated or stir you up, but refuse to be agitated. Fight to remain in rest. Labor to enter the rest, and your fight is not to fight, but to remain in rest.
Father in heaven, I thank you for your word, Lord, today, and I thank you once again, Lord, for the reminder that the work is finished. Everything has been accomplished for us, Lord, and you have given unto us all things that pertain to life and to godliness. I pray, Father in heaven, that this coming week, that you grant to your people irresistible peace and rest. Give them a sampling, Lord, of what this life of rest can be, how we can consistently walk in this pathway, Lord, of rest. Father, I pray you'll grant to every one of them, Lord, this week, where they can sample this rest, Lord, in spite, Lord, of what is going on around them. Father, I pray for aggressive peace, aggressive rest, that will garrison their hearts and minds, Lord, in spite of themselves, Lord, that peace will be aggressive. Thank you, Father in heaven, in Jesus's name. And all the people said amen. God bless every one of you.