Joseph Prince - Win Over Guilt and Condemnation
Let's go right into the Word of God. I wanna tell you something about this wonderful Bible that I hold in my hand. Remember that this is the book, you can call it the manufacturer's handbook. All the answers in life is in this book. And everything that's preached must be in line with this book, amen? It is God-breathed. All scripture is inspired of God in your King James. Literally, in the Greek, "Inspired of God" is one word. It's God-breathed. And God breathed into man, and man became a living soul. And there is an amazing effect of reading the Bible that's mentioned in Proverbs 4. It says that "My son, attend to my words. Incline your ear unto my sayings. Keep them in the midst of your heart, for they are life to those that find them and health," say health, "to all their flesh... health to all their flesh".
I remember the first time as a young man reading the Bible, or rather coming in touch with the Bible, it was the New Testament. Someone gave me a New Testament, and as I read it, I looked at the stories of Jesus and the very things that no one taught me, no one taught me. I was a young boy of about maybe seven years old, six, seven years old, but when I read the New Testament and it was the Gospels, I remember turning to the Gospels, there were no pictures. I used to read comics in those days. There was nothing in the natural to excite me, but when I read about Jesus, somehow I saw a person who is not religious, and yet so attractive, someone who, you know, he came alive through the pages. Just looking at him touching the leper, unstopping deaf ears, raising the dead, the miracles of Jesus, I saw beauty in simplicity because all the people then were simple people, peasant folks.
Israel was the backdrop and I guess, somehow, it was the Holy Spirit teaching me, all right, to love the Bible. And I pray that you will cherish this Bible, amen? I have a Bible that I wanna show you just a little bit, and some of the things I'm gonna share today is from my personal time with the Lord, so just to excite you, okay, to do something like this. First of all, there is a preaching Bible that I use which is always this one, okay? And always find something you can read, not strain to read, okay? I know that, many of you, your Bible is your iPhone or your Android or something like that. But I still feel the old feel is still good, you know? Just that when I... I have my own iPhone Bible app and all that. It's just that when I read a chapter here, I can, sometimes my eyes will fall and a verse here is a verse that I need to see.
First of all, if you can, your own personal Bible study, I recommend a wide-margin Bible. A wide-margin Bible is like this Bible. This is my Bible. Okay, I do my studies from the Old Testament, I mean, the Old King James, rather, and this is the Old Testament. So the notes on the side is all my notes. I didn't copy from a commentary, I didn't copy anything. As I read verse by verse, I ask the Lord to speak to me, okay, and then when he speaks to me something that's very unique, I'll write it down on the side, which many a times, later on become a sermon, all right? In fact, you're gonna hear this sermon in a while's time, all right? So I wrote all this. A closer look, okay? All right, don't show them everything now, okay. You will get to see all this later.
All right, look up here. You get your own wide-margin Bible, you can write your own commentaries, your own notes, because it becomes personal to you. And many times, after that, in years to come or even months to come, you forgot what you wrote, what God gave you. And during your time of trial, you go back and you read your own notes, nothing like your own notes that speaks in a special way. Some of the commentaries, they are biased towards miracles, they are biased towards healing. They will say healing is past. These are modernists, for example, in their thinking when it comes to these kind of things. So they don't put their part, but because you are unbiased, amen, you've been taught well, you are able to see revelations where some of these people, their own biases will obstruct them, okay?
So it becomes your own Bible, you understand? All right, become very precious to you. But becomes yours. The Emmaus Road, for example, many years ago, every revelation there was from my wide-margin Bible in my time with the Lord, okay? I'm not saying you cannot spend time getting revelation from commentaries, but they had their chance, okay? This is your opportunity, and your God will reveal things to you, amen? Another thing to remember is this. That in the Bible we have Old and New Testament. There are a number of covenants in the Bible but, basically, old covenant, new covenant, law, grace. That's basically what we need to know, amen? Of course, there are other covenants. Davidic covenant, Noahic covenant, but what we need to know is just old covenant, which is law, new covenant, which is grace.
Now, when I say "old covenant is law," I don't mean all the way from Genesis. The law started 450 years after the time of Abraham, so but then it's still generally speaking, all right, the Old Testament are people under the law, and New Testament is grace. And when I say New Testament is grace, it's not Matthew 1, all right? Matthew 1 is still up here, under the law. Christ was born. But when the church, on the Day of Pentecost, came into being, there's the fullness of grace period, amen? But nonetheless, it's important for you to know. Now, in the old covenant, I like to say it like this, in the old, the new is hidden. In the new, the old is open, okay? Or you can say, in the old, the new is concealed. In the new, the old is revealed. For example, Jesus told Nicodemus... in the old covenant you will find types, shadows, figures, amen?
Many of you, when you were young, you loved to spot the hidden image or hidden items, you know, you liked to play that? I know Justin likes to play that, all right, you look for the hidden items. Now, God knows our nature. The Bible says it's the glory of God to conceal a matter; it is the glory of kings to search it out, amen? So that excites us because the Bible is like that. You find a code, the key, you can unlock the code, and the key is Jesus. For example, John 3, Jesus was speaking to a Pharisee. His name was Nicodemus, he was hungry for the Lord. He came to Jesus by night. He was ashamed to come in the daytime, lest his colleagues see him.
So he came to Jesus by night and he says, "Lord, you know, we know that you're a teacher come from God. No one can do these miracles that you do," and Jesus says, "You must be born again". Then he started, you know, remonstrating with the Lord about how can a man be born, and Jesus says, "You're a master of Israel and you do not know these things"? Then Jesus says, "Even..." By the way, it was that conversation that Jesus says, "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". You know, that came from the lips of our Lord, amen? And Nicodemus was privileged to hear that. Then he said this. "Even as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up".
So, in the Old Testament we have the story of the people of Israel. They were murmuring and complaining, and then serpents came and bit them. You see, all the while, the serpents were there in the desert. In the desert they have many, many serpents, right? Just like in Arizona and all that, there are rattlesnakes. The serpents were always there, but they never bit them until they start complaining, okay? In other words, they broke down the hedge. They broke down the protection, and the snakes bit them. By the way, I found out that the Hebrew word for complain is the word "spend the night," loon in Hebrew. In other words, if you complain, spend the night, another night, in it, in the plain. You complain, you stay in the plain. You stay plain. You praise God, you praise, you get a raise, amen, all right?
So, if you wanna get out of it, don't complain. Singaporeans are famous for complaining. So, complaining is a guarantee you'll stay in the same situation and have plenty of it. So, they were complaining and broke down the hedge and the snakes came in, bit them, and then God told Moses, "Make a bronze serpent, put it on a pole". So the pole he lifted up. You know to have a bronze serpent, you've got to have a cross, right, for it to blend around, okay? So he lifted up the cross and the bronze serpent on it, and the Bible says that whosoever looketh, liveth. Doesn't matter how bad they were bit by the serpent. Doesn't matter at what stage they were bitten, all right, whether it's the first stage, second stage. Whoever looketh will heal. Whoever looketh live, all right? Straight eyes, cross eyes, blue eyes, brown eyes, all right, one eye.
As long as they look. Those who did not look, those who look at their wounds and say, "How terrible it is. Look, it's getting swollen. Look at that," they died. Those who look at their symptoms died. Those who look away from their symptoms to the bronze serpent on the cross lived. The easiest thing for people to do is to look, right? Look! See, you're looking at me, all right? It's the easiest thing to do, to look. So the Lord just says, "Look, look to the bronze serpent on the cross". So Jesus told Nicodemus that was the Old Testament happening. So Jesus said to Nicodemus, all right, "Even as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up". So Jesus is that bronze serpent.
Now, you know, some people love to put a bronze lamb on the cross, but it wasn't a bronze lamb, it was a bronze snake. Why? Why is Jesus typified as a bronze snake? Because God wants you to know that at the cross Jesus became what you were, that you might become what he is, amen? 2 Corinthians 5:21 tells us, "God made Jesus who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him," amen? So we've got to see our disease on his body. That's when your disease loses power, amen? And it will die, amen. It cannot be in two places at one time. The judicial justice system of God says that the law of double jeopardy says that you cannot try the same crime twice. And all diseases is a result of sin.
Doesn't mean your sin directly. It can, but it all comes back from Adam's sin, amen? When there was no sin, there was no disease. So, once you see your sin judged, the disease judged, whatever disease in your body, you're not to look at it, you're not to be conscious of it. Just look to the cross and keep on thanking the Lord. That's what Communion does for us. Remember the Lord's death. Can I have a good amen, people? Amen? But remember this, that you have been made the righteousness of God in him. Now, there are those who oppose what I teach and they say that we are giving people license to sin, we're telling people they are righteous, you know? And it's almost like a call that every church service has gotta be helping people to become more sin conscious. That is making them more holy.
Now, I cannot understand this reasoning, because this is not a New Testament reasoning. This is not the primitive Christianity that the apostle Paul writes about, that the early believers lived in, okay? They had a revelation that once they were sinners, you know what Peter did when he stood up to preach to the people in the book of Acts? He says, "You", he told the people of Israel, "You denied the Holy One". He told them. He told them to their faces. "You denied the Holy One". Actually, not too long ago, he denied the Holy One, right? But he was so free of sin consciousness, he could tell them, "You denied the Holy One," amen, and they repented, you know? And that was Peter, the one that denied Jesus.
So they were so free from sin consciousness that they could actually be free to preach the good news. And the good news that God made Jesus, who knew no sin. So how did Jesus, who didn't commit sin, become sin? He received our sin. How did you and I who commit no righteousness become righteous? We received his righteousness. When Jesus received our sin, God judged him. God punished him. When we receive Jesus as our righteousness, God blesses us, God favors us. Can I have a good amen? Jesus didn't deserve to become sin, you and I don't deserve to be righteous. But he became sin and we became righteous.
So, Proverbs 17 tells us very clearly that "He who justifies the wicked, and he who condemns the just, Both of them alike are an abomination to the Lord". So, remember this. That anyone that condemns the righteous is an abomination, the Bible says. Abomination is a stronger word than sin, is the worst type of sin there is. It's an abomination. Now, what about when you condemn yourself? Have you been made the righteousness of God in Christ? Well, when you condemn yourself, you're condemning the righteous. It's an abomination. That's why things don't work. When you are in condemnation, when you pray, it seems your prayers are not heard. It seems like there's a short circuit and people don't understand it. It doesn't mean that you are bad, you have a hidden motive and you are indulging in fleshly lusts or whatever, all right? It's just that you are not owning up to what Christ has made you.
There has been a change and you are saying there's no change. You are trying, you are saying that I'm a sinner, all right, when God says you have been made righteous. Now, once upon a time, you were a sinner. So the first one says if you justify yourself, once upon a time you were wicked. All of us, through and through. You know, we point our fingers to the ones with overt sins like the prostitute, you know, or the ladies of the night in Geylang, you know? We look at them, we despise them. But many of us, you know, we might be indulging in pornography in our heads, you know, we might be entertaining lust in our heart, but no one sees it, all right? To God, they're the one and the same sin, all right? Just that some people know how to cover it, some don't.
So we are all wicked, we are all sinners, amen. So when we were sinners and we justify ourself, we always have justification, "But I did this, I did this good thing, I did that good thing". Well, you know what? You are still justifying the wicked. You cannot justify yourself. The only way is to say, "I'm a sinner," then God says, "No problem. My Son is a Savior of sinners". Can I have a good amen? So, he comes and he saves you, right, amen? If you say you are righteous, he say, "I'm not for you. I came to call sinners," right? Remember that?
So, now that you are saved, okay, if you condemn... now you're saved, you're no more a sinner. But if you condemn yourself, you are doing exactly what you did last time, all right, and this is hypocrisy. But the devil wants to persuade you, to say, "If you do what the Word of God tells you, that you are the righteousness of God in Christ, you're actually a hypocrite because you know in your feelings you don't feel righteous, right? And you experience, you know you're not righteous. In fact, last night you did this, all right? This morning you had these thoughts in your mind. You're not righteous, you know that". And that's why this righteousness is by faith, the Bible says, because no one sees as accurately as God does. And God sees you perfectly. And if God pronounced you righteous, who can say otherwise? Can I have a good amen?
So the problem is that we are condemning ourself, and things don't work when you condemn yourself because it's an abomination, amen? Likewise, how about others? Are you condemning other Christians? "But Pastor Prince, he did this, he did this". Yes, I know he did, but remember this. This pronouncement of righteousness doesn't mean... it's not nothing to do with your actions. It's independent of your works, good or bad. It's all based on the work of Jesus. Can I have a good amen?
So it's the same, when you condemn another brother, another sister, it's an abomination to the Lord, amen? Are you with me so far? There has been a change, people. And this is true Christianity. In the book of Hebrews chapter 10, the Bible says that "For the law, having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year," which is on Yom Kippur, all right, the Jewish people back then and even today, they celebrate, but today they cannot celebrate properly because they don't have the temple, they don't have animal sacrifices, but every year during the time of Moses, all right, they would offer a bullock, all right, on the day of Yom Kippur, which is Day of Atonement, every year, and it covers their sin.
It covers their sin every year, annually, until the day comes that Jesus will come and John the Baptist says, "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away," not cover. "Takes away the sin of the world," amen? But until then, the blood of bulls and goats, it's inferior blood, but it only covers, covers, covers, like a Visa card. It's not real payment, but it's considered as a payment for the moment, until the real payment is made. So Jesus came and he's the real payment. Can I have a good amen? But every year.
Now, he's telling you this. Now, those sacrifices they offer cannot make those who approach perfect. And perfect here has got to do with conscience. Not your behavior, not your conduct, not your actions. The previous chapter, chapter 9, talks about perfect, pertaining to the conscience. Let me explain. Let's say I have borrowed money, all right, from Pastor Gabriel, who made the announcement just now. And I borrowed from him, let's say, $10,000, and I promise him I'll pay him by 1st of April. 1st of April came and went, I could not pay him. So every time I see him, okay, not because I hate him, not because I whatever, but it starts with "I want to avoid him". Why? Because I have debt on my conscience. The more I see him, the more I'm conscious of the debt.
That's the story of humanity. They wanted to put God out of their minds because conscience cannot lie. Conscience deep down in you is independent. You try to drown it with your drink, your alcohol, and drugs and all that, it's still there. Wherever you go, your conscience goes, amen. Your conscience is the part when Adam took the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, man had a conscience, amen. And you cannot run away from a conscience. You can try to drown it, deaden it, it's still there, okay? It might be weaker, but the voice is still there. And it tells you what is right, it tells you what is wrong, amen. So, men try to avoid God because they know they have debt on their conscience. But what if I tell you that someone came to me, all right, and told me that they have paid my debt, all right? Instead of $10,000 which I owed Pastor Gabriel, someone came and paid $1 million to Pastor Gabriel, all right, for my debt.
Now, Pastor Gabriel has become a gainer because of me. So next time, when I see him, will I have debt on my conscience? No way. I'll say, "Hey, c'mon, man. Give me a treat," right? I'm not afraid to approach him anymore. So, likewise, Jesus is an overpayment. Because of the value of that one man, you know he's an overpayment. He's like a $1 million payment for a $10,000 debt, amen? That's why the Bible says we have much more, much more in our Christian life now because of what Jesus did. Praise God. So we should... but it all depends on the messenger who came and tell me, you know, how clearly, how completely he shares the message is vital. If he comes and say, "Well, somebody paid your debt, like, some money, lah, they gave some money. I think you owed Pastor Gabriel something, right? And someone paid something," and unfortunately, that's the message that a lot of people hear from preachers.
We are forgiven, yet we're not forgiven. But we are forgiven. You'll make it, but you've got to be careful, right, might be hell still, you know? You know, that kind of... it's not clear, it's not a loud clarion call of good news, preaching the good news. The good news is that your sins are forgiven, amen, because of that one man. Not because you're good or bad or ugly, amen? Don't look around. I'm just happening to, you know, to say that kind of thing because it is a western trinity last time, the good, the bad, and the ugly, amen? Okay, so, in any case, God wants you to know that he's got nothing against you. Come home, amen? The Son paid for everything. Can I have a good amen, people?
Now that you are made righteous because of what Jesus did, not because of who you are, all right? When you were a sinner, nothing good you do can make you a good man, because when you pile it up, your badness outweighs your goodness. You'll still be... the factory's wrong. But when you're born again, you are the righteousness of God in Christ. You might do wrong, it doesn't define you. I say it doesn't define you. You are still the righteousness of God in Christ, amen? Amen? A butterfly, once he was a caterpillar, then he got born again, okay, like a picture of born, now he's a butterfly. Sometimes a butterfly may fall among the rubbish heap. He does not become, he does not transform back into a caterpillar because he fell among rubbish heap. He's still a butterfly that fell among rubbish heap. You understand, okay?
A gold bar of a value, a gold bar is a gold bar is a gold bar, right? But if it's thrown among the rubbish can and all that, and it's defiled and all that, it's still a gold bar. The value is still there. You understand? That's how God sees you. When you sin, all right? Now, I'm not encouraging sin, of course, all right? But I'm telling you that you must understand it's independent of your actions. Once you know you're the righteousness of God in Christ and you declare it, you'll see miracles happen in your life. I've got testimonies of testimonies, you can read all about it in my books, as well as also on [url=http://|https://www.josephprince.com/]JosephPrince.com[/url], you can go to the website and look at all the testimony of the letters of people who are in bondage. The other day, I was reading about a guy who was hooked on drugs in America and all kinds of vices. He shared two or three vices that he was in, and he says that there's no way, he tried his best to stop it, he cannot. And then he got hold of my teachings and he started declaring after he's saved, "I am the righteousness of God in Christ".
Notice that, all right? The confession is in line with what God has made him, amen. He go on confessing. He say at first it became worse, but then all of a sudden, one day, he said his drug supply stopped and, not only that, he woke up one day and realized, hey, there was no withdrawal. God had delivered him. He didn't even know about it, amen. And he says that, right now, he's sharing the good news with as many people as possible. So we are seeing... and men are writing in saying that while they are watching pornography they're confessing, "I am the righteousness of God in Christ," and guess what? Many of them had got delivered from pornography. And pastors and leaders are trying to find a way to help people out of this addiction, out of this bondage, and many men are in this bondage. And it is a bondage.
Don't say, "I can stop anytime," okay? People who smoke for as long, they can say, "I can stop any time," but they can't. And the best way out of it, the only way out of it, is to acknowledge you can't, but God can, amen? And you confess, "I'm the righteousness of God in Christ," because the devil wants you convinced that you are dirty, you are filthy, all right, and the fact that you are doing this now, you're filthy, you're dirty, and the more you confess that, the more you see yourself as that, the more you're in this abomination of condemning yourself and all that, you'll never get out of pornography. I'm showing you the way out, and there are those who accuse me of saying I'm giving people license to sin.
Have you noticed that people are sinning without license? They never come and say, "Okay, I'll give you a license. License to sin. Now you got license to sin," all right? We need license to buy a car. We need license, okay, to do many things, even in our country. But there's one thing we don't need license for. To sin. People do it all the time, okay? I'll tell you something that comes to closer license to sin. 1 Corinthians 15:56, "The strength of sin is the law". Wow, you bring people under the law, the strength of sin is gonna work, all right?
This whole thing tells us that the gospel of grace is amazing, amen. And there's been a change, people. I said, there's been a change. The Bible tells us, look at this. All right, let's finish this. "For then would they not have ceased to be offered"? Those Old Testament sacrifices. "For the worshipers, once purified..." The word once in the Greek is hapax, which is once and for all. The believers, the worshipers, once and for all purified, "Would have had no more consciousness of sins". This is true Christianity. This is the organic, extra-virgin, primitive Christianity in the book of Acts, amen. This is what they believe. You don't find them always sin conscious, amen. Praise God.
Like I said just now, even Peter accused the people of Israel of denying the Lord, amen. And he was so free of sin consciousness because when you are sin conscious, you are negating what Jesus did, you are saying you didn't do a good job, I don't believe you did it, I need to do it myself, amen, because I'm sin conscious. Like, for example, someone paid the million dollars to Pastor Gabriel but somehow, you know, the news didn't travel to me, it is still paid. But the news has not been communicated to me. When I see him, I'll still have debt on my conscience. How many understand that? And unfortunately, that's where Christendom is. A lot of them think that they still have this payment and they pay as you go, kind of thing.
You pay as you go, all right? Your past sins are forgiven but from now on, you pay as you go. No, my friend, Jesus paid for all our sins, amen. And that doesn't give you license to sin. In fact, whoever knows they're forgiven much will love him much, and all the people said... Amen? Drop down. Has this happened? In both sacrifices there's a reminder of sin. See, he's contrasting this with no consciousness of sins with reminder of sins. And it seems like people believe in this even today. It's like every sermon has got to be a reminder of sins or else we have not done our job. But it's the opposite of what true Christianity is, amen? Once Jesus have died for us, there should not be a reminder of sins, amen? "For it's not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins".
So when you are conscious of sins, you're reminded of sins, you are saying the blood of Jesus did not take away sins. Now, we understand the blood of bulls and goats could not take away sins, but the blood of Jesus, friends, have not just removed your sins; it's obliterated, out of God's sight forevermore, amen? Did Jesus do that? Drop down. "But this Man," capital "M," Jesus, "after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever", everyone say, "One sacrifice for sins forever". Say it like you mean it. "One sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God". He sat down because his work is finished. Now we drop down and we see what the Holy Spirit says. The Holy Spirit adds, "Their sins and their lawless deeds," God says, "I will remember no more.
Now where there's remission of this, there is no longer an offering for sin". Where your sins have been forgiven or remitted, there's no more an offering for sin. To hear people say things like, "God, I had such a bad past, Lord, I dishonored you in my past, and I've done so many bad things, Lord, I wanna give my life to you". God doesn't want that. You are trying to give your life to atone for your sins, amen. Or you say, "God, I've done so many bad things, Lord, and here, I give you this, Lord, as a sacrifice". No, no, no, God doesn't want any more sin offering. If you wanna give your life to the Lord like those of us who have gone full time for the Lord, in that sense, all right, do it because you love him. Do it because he's called you to.
When you tithe and you give offerings, don't do it as a sin offering because last night you did something bad. Your money cannot cover your sins. But if you give, you give because it's seed you sow, not a debt you owe, amen. And when you give it as a seed you sow, there'll be a harvest, amen. You do it because you love the Lord, because he first loved you, amen? So, therefore, because there's no more an offering for sin, "therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way".
Now, there's been a change because in the Old Testament it was the old and deathly way, you know, dying way, because the more they tried to come near God with their sins, all right, chances are they died. The high priest goes in once a year and that with great trepidation and fear, with amazing amount of pre-preparation before he goes on. He got to be washed here, and almost like he got to fast and make sure that he goes in and hope that he doesn't sin. It was an old, dying way. But what Jesus did is that it's now a new and living way to God. I say it's a new and living way, which means the more you come, the more you live. The word "living" is living. This is the place. But the more you come to God, the more you live.
In fact, the more you're away from God, you find that's the time when disease can fasten itself in your body, things can happen, you feel natural like the people of the world, amen. You don't feel like you are special. But the more you come to God, amen, it's a new and living way. You're full of life, amen. Not only that, the Bible says, drop down, "And having a High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near". I want you to say three times, "Let us draw near". Shout it. Draw what? Draw near to God. How? "With a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water". You know what's an evil conscience? Always telling you, "You've sinned, you've sinned, you've sinned, you've sinned, you've sinned, that's a sin, that's a sin, that's a sin". That evil conscience. "Now we are sprinkled".
Sprinkled means the blood of Jesus speaks in silence and that was the payment, silenced the debt on my conscience. I can come to God in a new and living way. Doesn't mean I'm perfect, but my sins have all been answered by the blood of Jesus. Can I have a good amen, people? And our bodies washed with pure waters. Now, let us draw near. Keep that in mind, okay? Keep that in mind. In the ancient times, they know Christianity not by the word "Christianity," all right? Christians were first called Christians in Antioch, all right? Christ means Anointed One. Christians means Anointed Ones. So you are all anointed. Smile at your neighbor and say, "You're seated by an Anointed One," amen? But we are not the Christ, okay? We are not the Christ.
Here is where some people try to grab this and sound bite, "Pastor Prince says we are the Christ". No, I didn't say we are the Christ. I said, the meaning of Christians means Anointed Ones, but there's only one Christ, the Christ, Jesus the Christ. Can I have a good amen, all right? Now, they were called Christians, and also the Christianity was called the Way in the book of Acts. The Way. They persecuted those who were of the Way. It's also called the "Great Confession". Not confessing your sins. Confession is confessing Jesus Christ, the Great Confession, okay? And the Bible says that when we confess Jesus is our Lord, we're actually confessing Jesus is our righteousness.
Let me explain to you. Let's look at Isaiah 45 for a while, all right? This is gonna help you, it gonna bless you, okay? Let's drop down to verse 23: "I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return," God says, "That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear". God promised every knee will bow, every tongue will confess. Now, some of you, your minds are working already. You say, "That sounds very much like a New Testament verse," right? Some of you say, "I don't know what you're talking about," all right. You'll get to see it. The next one, "Surely, shall one say, in the Lord I have righteousness and strength".
So Isaiah, who lived about 600 years before Christ came in the flesh, all right? Isaiah foresaw all of us that "surely shall one say, in the Lord I have righteousness and strength". And the Bible says: "Even to him shall men come; and all that are incensed," or angry, "against him shall be ashamed. In the Lord shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and shall glory," amen. Actually, folks, being righteous is only the part before glory. Our next step is glory. You know what you're in for? Glory, amen, where you shine, praise God. The glory of God, amen? That's why we've got to believe we are righteous. What Christ has made us to be, we declare we are. And to not declare we are is an abomination. Can I have a good amen, people?
Okay, watch this. In the New Testament, look at Philippians chapter 2: "At the name of Jesus every knee should bow". You know what? Let's put them together, shall we, all right? Put them together. Isaiah 45 on the left, Philippians 2 on the right. Look at verse 23 we read just now. God says: "Unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear". Philippians says: "At the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, things in earth, and things under the earth". And then in Philippians, it says: "And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father".
Now we have all heard that, right? Jesus Christ is Lord. What does that mean? Jesus is Lord. What does that mean? Jesus Christ is Lord. "Oh, that means, Pastor Prince, that he is the Master, all right? He is the Lord, the sovereign Lord". Yeah, but what does it mean? What does it mean to a Jew back then? It's actually a fulfillment of Isaiah 45. To say Jesus is Lord is to say Jesus is my righteousness. I am not my own righteousness. Jesus is my righteousness, all right? Because you compare this with verse 24: "Surely, shall one say, in the Lord I have righteousness and strength," that's what, "unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue will swear this:" I have righteousness in the Lord. I am the righteousness of God in Christ. It's actually the confession we have today. Can you see that?
Now, can you also see that when you confess this, you are confessing, "Every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father". Every time you say, "I'm the righteousness of God in Christ," you're glorifying God the Father. Did you know that? You know, you give glory to God? You give glory to Jesus because of what Jesus did? You are believing God? And the devil wants you to say, "How can you say that? Who are you to say that," amen, when actually it glorifies God. Another thing I wanna say about the Bible, as you can see from here, is that in the Old Testament you have the type. In the New Testament you have the anti-type, you have the bronze serpent, a type; John 3 you have Jesus saying that he's the anti-type, the substance of a shadow, the anti-type, okay?
Now listen, one thing good about studying the Old Testament, okay, is this. When you study the Old Testament, you find the details of the anti-type. In the type, you'll find more details than the anti-type. For example, Jesus says, even as Moses lifts up the serpent in the desert, but then in the anti, in the shadow, in the type, you have details like the snakes bit them and who are the ones who can look? Not people who are especially holy or what, but those who have been hurt, those who have sin, those who have diseases, they're the ones who can look and still be healed, and still be saved. So the details are in the Old Testament, but the substance is in the New.
So here, you have the substance in Philippians: "Every tongue confess Jesus Christ as Lord," but what's the meaning? The details is in the Old Testament. That means someone who says, "In the Lord I have righteousness and strength," oz in Hebrew, strength. Strength comes after righteousness. "In the Lord, I have righteousness and strength," hallelujah. For example, in Hebrews 6, verse 18: "That by two unchangeable or immutable things, in which it's impossible for God to lie," you see, there are a few things God cannot do. It's impossible for God to lie. Not that God will not; God cannot lie, huh? "We might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us".
Okay, this is the book of Hebrews, written to the Jews, Hebrews. They understand the concept of the Old Testament pictures and types, all right? So when he says, "We have fled for refuge. We believers in Christ have fled for refuge," straightaway their minds go to the cities of refuge. God told Joshua in the Old Testament to set up six cities of refuge, scattered at the right places of the whole breadth and length of the land of Israel, so that if someone commits manslaughter he's able to flee to a city of refuge lest someone kills him. And in the city, he's safe. So Jesus is a city of refuge for guilty people. And in fact, the six cities have names to it. So the details are in the Old Testament.
In fact, in my book, my latest book, "Prayer of Protection," Psalms 91, okay, there's a whole chapter given to the study of the cities of refuge. And the names are given there, all right? Real quick, the names means, all right, someone who bends down to carry all of us on his strong shoulders and lift us up, safely, away from all the things that would hurt, defile, harass, or destroy. He lifts us up. Can I have a good amen, all right? It's a picture of Jesus carrying his lamb safely on his shoulders. And the lamb doesn't have to work, doesn't have to walk, only have to rest on his shoulders of strength, amen? He bears us. So it's a beautiful picture. But then, we only have the word "refuge" for the idea of city of refuge, but the details are in the Old Testament. So it behooves us to study the Old Testament. Can I have a good amen? Praise God. Thank you, Jesus. Are you all learning so far?
Now, it's not enough that you say, "Well, Pastor Prince, Jesus Christ is Lord doesn't mean that we confess, 'I'm the righteousness.'" Well, if that's not enough for you, I'll give you another one. Romans 10, verse 9 and 10. Romans 10, verse 9 and 10: "That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus," what about the Lord Jesus? Confess in my mouth the Lord Jesus. What is it about the Lord Jesus to confess? Doesn't tell you, right? Right? "And believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart," ah-ha, here we get the revelation. "With the heart one believes unto righteousness". Can you see that?
So we are confessing Jesus as our righteousness. That's a confession that saves us. "And with the mouth confession is made unto salvation". Soteria in the Greek. Salvation is not just saved from hell. It is saved from everything that Christ delivered us from, even poverty, even curse, addictions, bondages. Salvation is wholeness, soundness, preservation, prosperity. It's a all-inclusive word, amen. So, we confess we are the righteousness of God in Christ, with our heart we believe we are righteous, and then with the mouth confession is made unto our salvation. God has made salvation so easy. You don't have to climb the highest mountain. You don't have to swim the deepest ocean. You don't have to flagellate yourself. You don't have to go without food. You don't have to torture yourself. It's in your mouth and in your heart. Confess Jesus as your righteousness, you will be saved, amen?
So I hope that that establishes it, that we're on the right track. And there's been a change. God says what? "Let us draw near". People are drawing away. Obviously, their concept of God has been very mixed. God forgives you. Yeah, but there are some parts you're still unforgiven. Yeah, you are saved, you are saved forever but you do something wrong, you can still go to hell. You know what I'm saying? It's like me telling Justin, "I love you forever, all right? You're always my son, but there are a few things. One day, no more my son". There's no security there, all right? That's why, only eternal security and joy can co-exist. Where there's no eternal security, there can be no joy and no peace. So be done away with this miserable doctrine that says you can lose your salvation.
I don't care who teaches that, it's not worthy of the blood of Jesus. It's a dangerous teaching. Jesus says, "They shall never perish". For you to say that the blood can save you today, and you can be lost tomorrow, is to denigrate the blood of Jesus to the level of bulls and goats, okay, friend? That's an abomination. "Amen, Pastor Prince. Praise God, hallelujah". All right, "For the scripture says, 'Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.'" Now, when you ask someone, let's say you take this verse out of its context. You tell people, "If you believe on him, you'll never be put to shame". So believe, "Yeah, I believe". What do you believe? "I believe in a historical Jesus. I believe he was on Earth before". Is that belief? "Oh, well, I believe that Jesus was here before". Is that belief? "Well, I believe Jesus was a good man". It that belief?
By the way, those who say that, "I believe Jesus is a good man, but he's not God," you cannot have it both ways, okay? Jesus says that he is Deity. Jesus says that he's the only way. Jesus said a lot of things. Either he is who he says he is or he's the world's greatest liar. "No, I don't believe he's the world's greatest liar. I believe he's a good man". A good man will not tell lies. So you are left with either he's who he says he is or he's the world's greatest liar, amen? So, who is Jesus? He's God, amen, incarnate. No other blood can save us.
To think that he left heaven's glory to come down. The only one who can choose where to be born. He chose to be born in a poor family. I know there are people who try to fight that. "No, no, he was prosperous and all that". I believe that God prospers his people. I believe that. But in this instance, God chose to send him into a lowly place in Bethlehem. He could have been chosen to be born in a palace in Jerusalem. He chose Bethlehem, all right? I think it's very beautiful to know that he sat where we sit, amen? Okay, praise God.
So when he says, "Whoever believes on Him," believes in what? The context there, believe that Jesus is your Lord, he is your righteousness. These are the people who cannot be put to shame. Why? Because your righteousness is not yourself. If you say, "I did this, I did that," and the devil says, "What about this? You did this yesterday, you did that last week," bang, you are put to shame. You say, "Oh, I haven't done that, I haven't done that". Devil come, "Well, but you did this". Bang, you are put to shame. But the moment you say, "Jesus is my righteousness," he's gotta find fault with Jesus, and he cannot. You'll never be put to shame. That's the only explanation for verse 11, all right? "Whoever believes in Christ will not be put to shame," okay? Praise God? You all learning?
Let us draw near. Don't be afraid. You need God's help. In the world we live in today, all right, many people are afraid to draw near. Ask yourself, do a post mortem, tell yourself, "Joseph Prince, why are you afraid to draw near to God? Do you believe deep down that your sins, some of them, God has not forgiven? Or what belief system have you imbibed? What belief system do you prescribe through that makes you averse to approaching God? The God who is all-beautiful, all-goodness, perfect goodness, who has all the power to help you. What is it you're so afraid to approach him"? And when I say "approach," I don't mean special music, special time, carpet, red carpet, all right? A menorah nearby, okay? Make sure it's lit, and Pastor Henry's singing. No, you can talk to God anytime, anywhere. That is drawing near.
What is it about us? Well, there's been a change and some people are arguing about the change, all right? It says in John 1:17 that "the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ". Like I've said time and time again, I can send you an email. Let's say you live in America, I'm here in Singapore. I can send you an email but what a long distance between America and Singapore. And that was like a give from afar. But if I come, it's very, very near. It's very personal. Notice the law was given from a distance. "Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ". Another thing you notice is that truth is with grace here, but isn't the law truth? Yeah, the law is true but not the truth. I said the law is true, it is factual, but it's not the truth that sets us free. Grace is the truth that sets us free. Do you see that?
Actually, in Hebrews, hesed ve emet. It always goes together. True grace came through Jesus Christ, amen? Amen? When Jesus told the Pharisees and the religious Jews of his day: "You shall know the truth; the truth will set you free," they were all steep in the law. They all knew the Ten Commandments, they all knew the Hebrew writings, the Old Testament. What did Jesus mean when he said, "You shall know the truth"? He's talking about grace. He came to bring grace. Are you with me so far? So the law was given by Moses. Is that contrast? Yes, the first public miracle of Moses, Moses represents the law. Let me just say this, okay? As a man, I learned a lot from Moses. When I teach on this, on leadership, I take a lot from Moses. Because Moses is a beautiful, it's a beautiful character.
The Bible says he's faithful in all his house as a person, but as a type, he can bring the children of Israel out but he cannot bring them in. It took Joshua to bring the people in. Joshua in Hebrew, Yeshua, is the name of Jesus. Only Jesus can bring the people in. Only grace can bring the people in, the land flowing with milk and honey, amen? So, as a type, he's a law. He represents God's law. The law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. The first public miracle of Moses, the law, was to turn water into blood, resulting in what? Death. The first public miracle of Jesus is to turn water into wine, resulting in life and celebration. Can I have a good "Amen"?
Do you know what was the first word of God to Moses? The first time God spoke to Moses, you know what he said? We'll study that, okay, in closing. Let's go right now to the story of Moses. But before that, let me give you the backdrop. Okay, Exodus 2: "Now it happened in the process of time that the king of Egypt died. Then the children of Israel groaned because of the bondage, and they cried out; and their cry came up to God because of the bondage". Notice, it wasn't their prayer. They didn't pray, "Our Father, who art in heaven". They just groaned, and they groaned because of the pain. They were being tortured, amen. So, as slaves in Egypt they were groaning, "Oh, is not our Father in heaven, ohhh". And the cry came up to God.
So, from there, I got a message I preached last time, a groan will reach his throne. Just a groan will reach his throne, amen? "So God heard their groaning," not their prayer. "God heard their groaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, with Jacob". I want you to know that this is not the Sinaitic covenant, it's not a covenant of law. The covenant he cut with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob was more than 400 years before the law was given on Mount Sinai. It's a covenant of grace, where it does not depend on the people; it depends on God. It's not the people's goodness; it's God's goodness. It's not their faithfulness; it's his faithfulness. And the way to activate the covenant is so simple: just groan. And God remembered their covenant.
Had it been because of their deserting, they'll never, never, just say... Even right now, God is healing people already, all right? God is healing people. Don't have to stand up. Sometimes, people expect, you know, the whole process of standing up and all that. I tell you, some of you came here with pain in your body. Look for it, it's gone. This morning, some of you woke up with headaches. Now you look for it, it's gone. Some of you had fever. Now it's gone. C'mon, you know it. You don't have to stand up, all right? Check your bodies right now. If you know pain has left your body, or the condition is no more there that was there in the morning, just do a big wave all across this place. Do a big wave, all right? Give glory to God. Do a big wave.
Look at all this. Keep on waving for a while, all right? Look at all this precious... wave, wave, all the way to the back. Okay, the second tier over there, wave. No more pain, no more condition. Give glory to Jesus. Look at all these precious people. All right, praise the Lord, and all the way to the top, amen. I see that. Praise God. Okay, now, look up here. You see, we didn't stop and pray, but you know why? God heard your groaning. That's what I'm saying. Every time you come and the Word of God is being preached, the Holy Spirit confirms right there in the pew. God confirms it right at home as you're listening. Whether you're jogging right now, you're listening to this being preached, you are being healed. Stop waiting for healing. Expect it anytime to manifest, amen? Amen, people.
Now, I can actually make all of you stand and pray for you and get further words of knowledge if I want by the Spirit, but sometimes we just want to get into the flow of the Word, all right? But you see yourself, these are the people, one more time. Everyone who are healed, all right, the pain has left, the condition is no more there that you had before you came in, do a big wave once again. Big wave, big wave. Camera, look at all these precious people. Look around you, people, look around you. Give Jesus all the praise, the glory, amen? Praise the Lord, hallelujah. All right, now we'll take a look at Moses as representing the law, okay, in closing. Representing the law. And this is something that I showed you just now, show them my Bible, all right?
Just now. This is the revelation I'm gonna share with you right now that I received from the Lord. Everything I'm preaching I received from the Lord, a lot of it, okay? And I'm gonna share with you this right now. But before that, let's go back to the verses. God heard their groaning. "So God heard their groaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham", I feel like God is healing people who are watching right now. There is someone, when I said that just now, you said, "I wish that God would heal my cancer". It's dissolving, it's dying. Even as we speak right now, in Jesus's name, it died. You groaned, God heard. And that's the end of your cancer in Jesus's name.
Please write to us, let us know, all right? Write to us, let us know, all right? Somebody received a distinct miracle of healing from cancer, amen? Go back to the doctor, they'll verify that in Jesus's name. "God heard their groaning, and God remembered..." By the way, in the Hebrew, it says: "God remembered Alef Tav", his covenant. God remembered the covenant's cut with Jesus, his Son, all right? "And with Abraham, with Isaac, with Jacob". Now, next drop down. "God looked upon the children of Israel". Again, Alef Tav appears in the Hebrew. "God looked," Alef Tav, Jesus's signature, "upon the children of Israel, and God acknowledged them". I like the old King James: "God had respect unto them". Even though they were slaves, they were being tortured, even though they didn't have a proper prayer to pray, they just groaned, God had respect. God acknowledged them.
So the only way to activate an unconditional covenant, your mouth must open, even it's a groan. Some people are so strong, "I shall stand here for eternity". He must rhyme, you see. You know they say that women live longer than men? Because they open their mouths. They're pouring out, they're pouring out. There we suffer the whiplash, I mean, we keep on hearing their... they pour on us, But we men, we are just... So guys, we've got to talk, we've got to share, unburden. "But I'm a macho man". Then open up your heart to Jesus. You know, David in the Psalms, he talked to God about everything: "God, I hate these people," his enemies. "Break their teeth, Lord. But you are my salvation. Lord, I'm fearful. My heart is trembling. Lord, where are you, Lord? Even my couch do weep. I swim in my bed".
There's expressions, you know? Poetic expression. He's crying, saying, "God, where are you, Lord? But thou art". Then "Selah," which means he stopped for a while, God talks to him. "You are my glory, and the lifter of my head". When you study his Psalms, everything that bothered him about his enemies, his sins, and all that, there's one area he didn't talk to God. You can't find it in the Psalms. And that's the area he fell. What he didn't talk to God, he fell. And that's his sex life. Very interesting. So, guys, you have someone you can pour to: God. Sometime, there are pretty good prayers where you can just take a walk, all right? No one around, just tell the Lord, "I'm worried about this and I'm worried about that," and tell God and have fun telling God all your worries, one by one.
You'll be surprised how many women have asked him, "Lord, please intervene. Lord, please come and help". Sometimes, you just tell him your worries, that's casting your cares. And all of a sudden you just know that you know that you know that you know that you know everything is gonna be all right. I've done that and I can't begin to tell you, all he wants is you open up and talk to him. Salvation is received by opening your mouth. They received help from God and the covenant was activated by groaning, even, okay? So what did God do? How did God send help? Look at this, chapter 3, verse 1 says: "Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. He led the flock to the back of the desert, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God".
Straightaway it says: God heard their groaning. God remembered his covenant, and he talk about Moses. In other words, when God wants to deliver you, when God wants to help you, God sends a person. Do you know that? Last time, God saw your heart, you were lonely, God sent your wife. Now, some of you are saying, "God, rescind". No, sorry. It's not good for men to be alone, but some men find it helpful to take a walk by themself, alone. So, a guy was asked one time, he was a elderly man, nearly 100 years old, 90-plus, he and his wife, and they lived, they were together, married since they were, like, late teens and all that. "How do you account for your long marriage, successful marriage"? The man says, "Well, we both decided whenever we have something, some conflict, one of us would take a walk outside, all right, and calm down. So you can say that the secret of successful marriage in our case, is that I live an outdoor life".
Okay, anyway, when God wants to bless you, he sends a person. You know, when people are dying, on their deathbed, you almost never hear them say, "Man, I should not have lost that deal. If only I had called that guy earlier, I would have gotten that $1 million deal". Nobody talks about business, nobody talks about their career. The only thing they'll say, if any regret, they'll say, "I wish I spend more time with my children, as they were... I wish I had spent more time with my spouse. I wish..." It's about people, people, people. When God gave gifts to the church, he gave them apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers: people. Well, the devil's a copycat. When he wants to curse you, he wants to stumble you, he also bring a person.
For guys, all right, that's what happened to Samson. There's always a Delilah for a Samson, all right? So the devil also send a person. You just gotta watch it, you gotta discern who are the persons that God brings into your life, amen? Watch for people that deplete you, all right? If they're always depleting you, avoid them, amen. Look for friends that replenish you, amen? So, God heard their cry, God sent a person. He was in the back side of the desert. Isn't it interesting that God can find you anywhere? When Prophet Samuel came to anoint a king among the sons of Jesse, right, David was in the field. The sons were at home and no one thought to call him. But the prophet says, "No, no, these sons are not the ones. There's someone else". "Oh," the father says, "there's one more in the field".
Imagine if you are the one, right? So, David came and the Bible says he was ruddy, he was handsome, and he was anointed with oil. He became the next king. So God knows, even you're saying that, "Pastor Prince, I'm teaching the Sunday School one corner here, I'm in Cambodia, you know, serving the poor and all that". God knows where to find you. Moses was in the back side of the desert, and God found him. Okay, let's follow the story. And this is from my notes, okay? Are you getting the preview? "Now Moses tending..." Next verse. "And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush".
Now, the Angel of the Lord I shared before is always pointing to Jesus before he came as a man, his pre-incarnate appearance. Angel is not the angel with wings all the time. "The Angel of the Lord," that full expression, always refers to the pre-incarnate appearance of Christ. The word "Angel" means messenger. So Jesus "appeared in a flame of fire from the midst..." When I was studying this and the Lord showed me the midst, I say isn't it like the Lord always, centerplace. Even when he appears, he appears in the center. Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am in the midst of them. And they crucified Jesus in the middle of two thieves, amen? In the book of Revelation... or when he rose from the dead, he appeared in the upper room in their midst, amen.
In the book of Revelation, John heard a voice behind him. John turned to see the voice and saw a Lamb in the midst of the throne, amen. When you put Jesus in the midst of your life, even though you are in a burning bush, it's burning, amen? But it will not be consumed. You see, "He appeared in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. So he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed". The bush, in the natural, by all outer appearances, is a natural bush. It's a bush subject to burning. And, by the way, this is a thorny bush. The bush, the word "bush" here in the Hebrew is sinai, which is a thorny bush. And the Lord... first, Jesus first appeared to Moses in a flame of fire, in a burning bush.
All of us, if you wanna be delivered from your fiery trial, your situation you're in, see the Lord appearing in a burning bush at the fire of God's judgment for your sins and mine fell on him at the cross, he had a thorny bush, branch, around his head as he bowed. See him in the midst, amen. And you will not be consumed, amen? He was in the midst. "So Moses looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed. Then Moses said, 'I will now turn aside and see this great sight, how the Angel of the Lord is like". No, "How come the Angel of the Lord is in the midst". No, "Why the bush is not consumed". So much like us. We are more interested in, instead of the Lord in the center, we look at the effects of the Lord's presence. We look at the effects.
For example, you know, you might hear some good preaching and all of a sudden you find that you not only have peace, you really can feel the peace. I know many of you have felt the peace. It's so great to feel sometimes, innit? Whether you do or not, you always have peace, right, with God. But it's so nice sometimes to have the peace. There's just peace. You feel it. And all of a sudden, you start looking at the peace. Wow, this peace is great, man. In fact, my situation has not resolved here. I still have problems, still have financial problems, I still have this problem, that problem, family problems. But there's a peace, wow. I'm not even worried about my problems. Oh, this peace is amazing.
Now you're looking at the peace. Your eye is always off from Jesus. You're looking at the result, the peace. Do you know that that's dangerous? It's best to always not even look at the good results, but look at him, amen? So, God noticed. You see, "he was turning aside to see the great sight, why the bush does not burn". Hey, the Lord is appearing to you, and you are, "Let me turn aside". Aside means no more near the Lord. "And see why the bush is not consumed". So it's a picture of Israel in the furnace of affliction in Egypt and yet they're not burning. They're not burning up because the Lord is in the midst of them. Until today, the Jewish people, they, as a minority race, they have not been wiped out. Why? The Lord has been in their midst. So he got distracted. He wants to turn and God noticed it.
Next verse. "So when the Lord saw that he turned aside to look," God says, "I'd better arrest him right now". "God called to him from the midst of the bush". Okay, that tells us straightaway. When God called him from the midst, where the Angel of the Lord is, the Angel of the Lord and God is one. It is Jesus, all right? "God called him from the midst of the bush and said, 'Moses, Moses!' And he said, 'Here I am.'" So when God sees that you're distracted, sometimes he'll call you back. Like, if I see something... Justin has run ahead of me, all right? And I see there's a danger ahead of him and he doesn't see it, the best way to divert his attention is say, "Justin, Justin"! All right? He'll stop enough, am I right?
So God sometimes arrests us by calling us. "Samuel, Samuel"! "Martha, Martha"! because she was getting distracted. He'll call you back like a shepherd will call his sheep. "Bobo, Bobo". Bobo will turn around. If your name is Bo, receive it. The Lord loves you. He knows his sheep by name. Amen? I think Bobo is sitting somewhere there. So God loves you, Bo, all right. So God knew that he was distracted. When the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, God called him to keep his focus on the Lord. He says, "Moses, Moses". He says hineni in Hebrew. "Here I am". And then God said, "Do not draw near".
Ah, this is the first time God spoke to him, the very first instruction. Never before God spoke to him. This is the first time. What's the first thing God said to Moses? And remembering that Moses represents the law, what's the first thing God said to him? "Do not draw near this place". 'Cause Moses was coming near the bush. He said, "Do not draw near this place". The first instruction, the first voice of God to Moses was, "Don't draw near". Now you tell me whether there's a change. Hebrews 10 tells us let us draw near, let us draw near with full assurance, a heart filled with full assurance of faith. Right? Has there been a change?
All right, show them Hebrews 10 again. Drop down all the way. "Let us draw near with a true heart". You can't tell me there's no change. Jesus changed everything. Now God says draw near. At that time because he represents the law God says, "Don't draw near". The very first word of God to Moses ever was, "Don't draw near". When I received this, I was jumping in my heart in my study. I said, wow, that's the very first time God spoke to Mr. Law. The second word, back to Moses, "Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground".
Now, I can show you there's a change straight away. Jesus came, and one of the most beautiful parables is the parable of the prodigal son. When Jesus saw the Pharisees were all gathered on one side and the sinners, prostitutes, tax collectors, they were all on the other side, Jesus began to share the story of the prodigal son. First of all, the lost sheep, the lost coin, then the lost son. All right, how a son came to the father and the son says almost like, "Father, I can't wait for you to drop dead". All right? "You're too strong. You're too healthy. Give me my share of the inheritance". It's almost like telling the father, you know, "I can't wait for you to die".
The father gave him the share of the inheritance. The Bible says he took his inheritance, he went to a far country and spent his time in riotous living. And after a time or so there was a famine in the land, his money ran out, his friends also did and then he was left only with a job that was so servile for a Jew that it's worse than even a slave would do. He's feeding the pigs, and that for a Jew is the pits. So he's feeding the pigs and he start thinking himself, "Wait, all that I want is in the father's house". And that's something for us to learn, people. Look up here. You think the world out there has what you want? No way. After some time out there... you can ask anyone who has had a brush with the world.
When you go out there in the world, after for a while you'll find that everything you need is in the house of God. Everything you need is here. The world is looking for what you have. They are trying and they are wasting years and wasted days and wasted nights to find the very thing that you have already. Don't lust for the things of the world. And, Christians, don't be like the world to win the world. Delilah represented the world. In type she represents the world, and the secret of God must never be shared with the people of the world. Amen. He shared his secret. He tried to accommodate Delilah in his life. He ended up being bound.
So his story is binding. He was blinded, blinding, and then he's grinding. That's the story of Samson. Very sad. Every time you embrace the world, the world will hurt you and throw you up like a used tissue. Now, when I say the world, I don't mean, somebody is saying, "Well, the world's fashion". You know, the church is full of this idea of fashion and, you know, yeah, the ladies wear makeup. "You know, they should not be wearing makeup. It's worldly". Everything is worldly, all right, unless you wear a collar that say it's not, you're not worldly. No, friend. It's not the clothes. Your clothes don't determine whether you're worldly or not.
Now, worldly... what is worldly? What is the world? The world is in the definition of the Bible. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life; all these things is not of the Father but is of the world. Can you see that? So when you dress and you dress, all right, for the lust of the eyes. Okay? You know, like if you dress in a way for the lust of the flesh, for the lust of the eyes, all right, then you are cheapening yourself. The Bible says it like that, like this. Let your main attraction, the Bible doesn't say you cannot wear, all right, clothes and all that. The Bible says of course, but Bible says let your chief attraction be the quiet spirit which in the sight of God is of great price, by which you'll be called the daughters of Sarah, and Sarah had her youth renewed in her old age. Amen?
So God is saying to women let that be your attraction and not your clothes because if your clothes and your makeup and your hair is your only attraction you're very poor. That's what the Bible is saying. Okay? So dress well and all that, but let it not detract your real attraction. Have you seen people like that? I've seen them. There are many of them in our church. There's a light in their eyes. There's a beauty that goes beyond cosmetics. Amen? But what God is saying is worldly is the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. Remember when you compromise with the world, whatever you compromise you will ultimately lose. Okay? The world will come back and bite you. They won't help you. Okay? So that is something that Samson had to learn when he was binding, blinding, grinding life.
Anyway, folks, look up here. I'm going to bring this to a close. The Bible says that God said to Moses, "Do not draw near". God says to us let us draw near. "Take your sandals off your feet". In the story of the prodigal son, the son came back finally. He realized that all that he needed was not in the world. The lust of the flesh does not fulfill. The lust of the eyes does not satisfy. The pride of life will not give you that distinctiveness and that holy dignity that can only come from God. So you realize everything is back in the father's house. He came back. The father saw him from behind. What I'm trying to say is this. The father did not say, "Don't draw near". The father ran to draw near to him. There's been a change.
Do you think so? The father didn't just say draw near, the father ran to draw near to the son. Are you listening, people? Amen? And then what about the second instruction, the second voice of God? The second time God spoke to Moses was, "Take your sandals off your feet. The place you are standing is holy ground". But what the father of the prodigal son said and the father there's God, our God and our Father? "The father said to his servants, 'Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet.'" That means what? There's been a change. "Put shoes on my son's feet. He has a right to stand on family ground". Back then it was holy ground. Now it's family ground. It's more than just holiness. It's family ground. There's been a change.
And have you noticed something? "Bring forth the best robe". By the way, the word best there is the firstborn, the first of its kind, the first in rank. Now it's the firstborn, and the boy wasn't the firstborn. He was younger, you know. The father says, "Bring forth the best robe reserved for the firstborn blessing and put it on my son". That's the robe of righteousness. "And put a ring on his finger". In those days your ring is your Visa card. You don't have the cash, you go and buy something in the marketplace at that time, they'd just have a clay tablet. They say, "I like to buy this cow. All right. I don't have enough money here with me now. Not enough cash".
All right. Use his ring. Punch it. And once it's recognized, that's it. The cow goes home with you. Authority is restored. And not only that, he says... oh, by the way, have you noticed, "Bring out the best robe, put it on him. Put a ring on his hand. Put sandals on his feet". It's not even put by him. Others put on him. It's a life of rest. Whereas for Moses the law makes you fall back on yourself, your own effort, even removing your feet. God didn't say to some angels remove his shoes. Remove your own shoes. But when the prodigal son came home having sinned, I mean, this guy is not perfect. He sinned. Amen? But he came back and the father says, "Put the ring on his, bring forth the best robe, put it on him". He doesn't put on himself. It's put on him. The shoes is put on him. You know, the only time I put shoes on anyone is my son. All right?
That shows love. And also some Korean dramas where the hero bends down and puts shoes. And you all love that part, right? Kenchana. And the music playing. Right? All right. It shows love. So it's put on him. It's not he put on himself. Isn't it beautiful? These are things that you saw in my Bible that I wrote down. I mean, people, how they have a revival when you have a Bible study like that and God opens up the Bible. Amen, amen? It's so precious. God's Word can speak to you today. Let me just bring this to a close. "And bring the fatted calf here and kill it". Many of us think that the fatted calf is killed in the back room, in the shed. But notice what he says. "Bring the fatted calf here and kill it".
The fatted calf is a picture of Christ. He wants the boy to know that all these things happen because another had died in his place. "And let us," what? "Eat and be merry". "Let us celebrate. Let us enjoy. Let's party," the father says. Amen? Hallelujah. Isn't it wonderful? Has there been a change? Amen. God says to Moses, "Don't come near. Take off your shoes. This is holy ground". And then let's go on. Back to...okay, drop down. "Moreover He said, 'I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob.'" By the way, the God of your father, that tells us Moses' father was a godly man. "'I'm the God of your Father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob.' And Moses hid his face. He was afraid to look upon God. And the Lord said," I love this, "I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and I have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows".
You know what God is saying to you? "I know your sorrows. I know your sorrows". You think God is so far away? He knows your sorrows. Drop down. "So I have come down to deliver them out of the hands of the Egyptians, and to bring them up". So this is what I underlined in my Bible. All right. When I saw it, it just jumped out at me. God came down to deliver you out so as to bring you up to a higher place. Jesus came down to deliver them out of their bondage, out of their sickness, out of death and to bring them to a higher place. To save that woman who was caught in adultery that I shared the other time, all right. They threw her right in front of Jesus, and the Bible says the woman is standing in the midst, all right, and Jesus bowed down.
In front of her, Jesus bowed down and he wrote on the ground. He bowed down to deliver her out, and he brought her up to a higher place by saying, "Neither do I condemn you". Hallelujah. Give him praise. Come on, church, hallelujah. "And I'll bring you to a good and large land". God never bring you to a smaller and constricted land. Always good and large land flowing with milk and honey. God could have said, you know, "I'll bring you to a greater place and there's honey there, there's milk there". But you know something? Flowing has the idea of overflow. Right? And here he says, "I'll bring you to a good and large land". And then Moses responded. God said, "I'm going to send you".
Drop down all the way. God says, "I'll send you. Come now. I'll send you to Pharaoh". And God says, " But Moses said to God, 'Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?'" You know, once you are conscious of God's holiness because he's conscious of holy ground, the law always makes you self-conscious, self-occupied. "Thou shall not. Thou shall not". It's you. Grace says God says, "I will. I will". It makes us conscious of God. You see, before God tells you to do anything... listen. Listen. The question is not who am I, the question is who is God. It's not about my weakness, it's about his strength. It's not about my poverty, it's about his inexhaustible supply. Amen?
It's not about my limitations, it's about the unlimited God. It's the wrong question, "Who am I"? Then God answered, "It's not about you". Drop down. God says, "I will certainly be with you". Amen? "And this will be a sign. When you bring the people here, you will serve God on this mountain". Then Moses said, "What will I say if the children of Israel asks me what is your name? What shall I say to them"? And God says, "I am who I am. Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, 'I am has sent me to you.'" You know what's I am? I am is a blank check. "Tell them I am. It's not about their poverty, it's about my riches". You can fill in the check. "I am whatever you want".
Are you sick? Then write down, "I am your healer". All right? Is your debt piling up? Then write down, "I am your provider". Amen? Are you besetted by depressive thoughts and struggling to sleep at night? Then write down, "I am your peace. I am your deliverer". Are you afraid to travel or to take a plane or somewhere? All right? Are you afraid? God says, "I am your keeper. I am your provider". Fill in the blanks. Then Jesus came and finally Jesus throughout the Gospel of John he says, "Before Abraham was, I am. I am the good shepherd. I am the way, the truth, and the life. I am the resurrection". Amen. "I am the light of the world. I am the bread of life". He is the fulfillment. It is never, never, God is never God of the past. He didn't say, "I was".
And stop living for the future. Yes, he's going to return; yes, there will be a new kingdom; but he says, "I am". Present tense. Right now. "I am your length of days if you're afraid of dying. I am your renewal of strength and your youth. I am your Father". Amen? Do you love him? Every head bowed, every eye closed all across this place. Thank you, Lord. "This is my name," he says. "I am that I am". Now, just talk to God just for a while. Okay? You're now in a very beautiful, holy yet a filial moment, a family moment with your Father. Tell him your worries. What is uppermost on your heart? What is weighing your heart down? Is it financial cares? Is it a daughter? Is it a son? Is it a future deadline? Is it something? What are you afraid of?
The symptoms in your body, just tell the Lord, "Lord, I'm concerned for this. I'm worried about this". Don't have to pray fancy prayers, just tell him your worries, just tell him your cares. And now see him handing to you like a blank check. Fill in "I am". Write down, your supplier, your provider, your life, health, and the length of your days. You might say, "Oh, Pastor Prince, you don't understand. My situation has been done. There's no way I can change it. The debt is already there. Oh, the problem is already there. I did it. I made the mistake. It's done. Can God do something about it"? Then listen to this name. "I am your redeemer, redeemer".
You know what's redeemer? Buyback. Buy back lost time. Buy back lost years, wasted time, wasted days, wasted nights. He can buy it back. "I can buy it back". He bought it with the blood that he shed. He will buy back. "I am your redeemer". Redeemer means he'll buy, he will redeem you. He'll redeem your situation. He'll buy it back. Just fill in the blanks. "I am," write down there, "your redeemer". And look at him as your redeemer. "The Lord redeem my situation, redeem those wasted years, redeem that bad decision that I made that resulted in this". You might think that your son, your daughter is too grown for you to teach them the principles of God's Word, but the Lord can redeem the wasted years. Amen? Amen. Now be at peace. And now for those of you who have never made this wonderful Savior your personal Lord and Savior, I want to give you this opportunity. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved and your house. If that is you, pray this prayer with me right now. Say:
Heavenly Father, I thank you. I thank you for your love for me. I thank you that in my life even before I knew you you were orchestrating, bringing me to this place where now my eyes are open. Thank you, Father, for the gift of your son, my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who died on the cross for my sins, who was raised again for my justification. I believe now all my sins have all been forgiven completely from my life. There is no unforgiven sin between me and you, God. Oh, Father, thank you for loving me. I know so little, but you are my Father. My eyes are not on myself, my eyes are on you. Jesus Christ is my Lord. Thank you for loving me and for favoring me all the days of my life. In Jesus's name, (and all the people said) amen.
Stand to your feet. Praise the Lord. Hallelujah. Amen, amen, amen. Are you all glad you came? Praise the Lord. Hallelujah. Let me bless you for this coming week. Thank you, Lord. Now the I am stands before you as your keeper, as your protector for this coming week.
The Lord bless you and the Lord keep you. The Lord bless your loved ones and the Lord keep you and your families completely, totally free from the power of the evil one throughout this week. The Lord keep you and your loved ones from every danger, from Zika, dengue, from HFMD, from TB, from every sickness, from every disease. And the Lord keep you from terror, from evil people, from all the powers of darkness through the blood of his son. The Lord favors you. Every place you go favor comes, amen, because the favor of God is with you. "Certainly I'll be with you," the Lord says. And as he was with Joseph, he prospered. Everything he touched, everything you touch will prosper. The Lord put you at the right place at the right time, and the Lord grant you and your families his wonderful Shalom, well-being, health, and peace. In Jesus's name, (and all the people said) amen.