Joseph Prince — Your Only Battle is Fight to Remain at Rest

If there's anything we believe in, we believe in this gospel that has transformed our lives. Has it touched your lives? Has it caused you to see God in a way that you have never seen him before? Then all the more, we gotta make sure that this gospel reaches the world, amen? Because they are hearing a lot of things and some of the things I'm gonna share today are things that, you know, you might not be in the know about what's going on in the body of Christ around the world, but there are some things that's holding people in bondage and you see, if a teaching can set people free, then the devil will use teachings to bind people, amen? If you know the truth and the truth will set you free, well, the devil will probably give you half lies and half truths because they'll bind you, amen?

And one of the things that people having problems with is to see that the future of Christianity and the gospel is very bright, it's wonderful. And yet I see that many believers think that heaven is gonna be quite a lonely place, only a few of us will make it, and hell will be populated, and nothing can be further from the truth. And it's all because of a mistranslation of a very well-known verse in the Bible I'm about to share with you right now. And I'm gonna show you how a simple truth like this can be perverted by, I believe, sincere, well-meaning Bible teachers, yet at the same time, it is not giving the truth. Every time that you find something binds you, it is not God. God does not bind. God sets you free, amen? So, look at this Matthew 7 here. It is from the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus says, "Enter by the narrow gate". Say "Narrow gate". "For wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction. So, wide is the gate. Say "Wide". So, the way that leads to destruction is wide, all right? "Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way". In fact, there is a saying, all right, "It's on Broadway". Anyway, "Broad is the way that leads to destruction and there are many who go in by it".

Now, Jesus says there are many who end up in destruction, all right? And then he says, "Because narrow is the gate," and this word "difficult" is actually unfortunate, but in the Greek it is actually the word pressed, all right? It means one and only, pressed, it's a narrow gate. "Narrow is the gate and pressed is the way which leads to life, and there are few, few who find it". So, because of this passage, many people conclude that at the end, all right, many will end up in hell, only a few will be in heaven. All right, is that the truth? Okay, this is not what Jesus said. Number one, he's not talking about heaven and hell. He's talking about broad is the way that leads to destruction. What destruction? Not spiritual destruction. In fact, many Christians are on this broad way that is leading them to a financial, marital, emotional, and physical destruction, but once you have received Christ, you are saved forever.

And yet there are many Christians on this broad way, amen? But very few find the narrow way. And what is the narrow way? I'm gonna share with you today, what's the narrow way that the Bible says that leads to life and few there be that find it. It is not talking about the life to come. It's talking about this life. Nowhere does Jesus say, few there are that find eternal life. He says, "Narrow is the way that leads to life," not eternal life. He's talking about this life. And do you know that many believers are on the wrong road, but they'll still be in heaven, because they have Christ, amen? But meanwhile, they're on the road to destruction. Destruction what? Physically, emotionally, in other ways, not spiritual. Okay, you understand? So, these verses are not talking about the life to come. It's talking about our present life, amen, amen. If you say we are narrow-minded, all right, yes I am, all right, because Jesus is the only way. You know the way into Noah's ark, the way into protection and freedom from the destruction outside is through a door. Noah's ark has only one door. That sounds very narrow-minded, but too bad. That's only the door. Even if you are tall as a giraffe, you must bow down to go into the door. Can I have a good amen?

Everyone must go through that door. Jesus Christ is that door. Can I have a good amen? And salvation is the ark. Christ is the ark, and we are saved, so we have to humble ourselves. If we bring a lot of goods with us, we are carrying a lot of suitcases, we have to put them all down and bow down to go into the entrance, amen. All of us are on equal footing in the ark, regardless of rich or poor, amen. Everyone has to go through Christ. Doesn't mean because you are a billionaire, all right, you have other ways to heaven. No, everyone must bow down, go through the door. If you call that narrow, that is narrow. Call me narrow, amen? And that is you also. Some things in life, all right, God wants you to be narrow because that is the only way. Can I have a good amen? Praise the Lord. And people get into weird, weird doctrines and teachings like these verses being mistranslated. Let me show you what happens in heaven and what heaven is like, all right, to just remove that religious mind-set that heaven, very few are in heaven and a lot in hell.

Look at what John, the Apostle John saw in a vision in the Book of Revelation, Revelation 7. "After these things, I looked and behold, a great multitude which no one could number". I want y'all to say that. A great multitude which? Say it again, I love it. "A great multitude which no one could number". Innumerable, countless in heaven. Heaven is not gonna be a lonely place, man. It is populated and yet so much space, hallelujah. Yet a number, a great multitude which no one could number. And if you think that many of them are Caucasians, you know, from Europe and U.S. because these are the places that are most evangelized, let me call your attention to the following phrase. It says, "Out of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues". Something is gonna happen to China. Something is gonna happen to Vietnam. Something is gonna happen to all the Asian nations, because the Bible says heaven will have a number that no one can number, and the Bible tells us they come from all nations, all tribes and all kinds of languages, all tongues, hallelujah.

Very good news, amen? And the Bible says, "They are clothed with white robes and they have palm branches in their hands, crying of a loud voice saying, "Salvation belongs to our God and to the lamb who sits on the throne". Praise the Lord. All right, so let this settle in your heart once and for all that in heaven, all right, your loved ones, they might be saved and you don't even know how they got saved, because God does not necessarily save people through you. God has his multitudinous ways, amen? Who would have said that before your grandmother passed away that she had a vision of true Yaso appearing to her and speaking to her in Cantonese. Is God beyond that? No, because that happened to my relative, amen. She knew nothing about Jesus and Jesus appeared to her and spoke to her in perfect Cantonese. Today she passed away a few years ago, but she passed away in her old age.

Let me tell you this, she knows Jesus better than those who go to church, and Jesus has appeared to her more than once. And she described him and she described the things that he says, it's all scriptural, hallelujah. I'm telling you, you don't know whether your father made it, but the Bible promises if you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, you shall be saved and your house. Now, it is not like you are saved, they're automatically saved. No, I'm not saying that, but what I'm saying is that because you are saved, God will see to it that because you're a covenant child and he gave you his promise, your family is put in a position they will be saved. If it takes a vision, a last-minute, dying-bed vision, that's what it takes, God will do it.

So, you'll be surprised. In heaven you say, "Wow, you are here"! amen? Then your grandma comes to you and say, "Of course, I'm here, boy," amen? She's young. In fact, you might whistle at her first. "Stop that, I'm your grandma". Whoo, man, Hallelujah. Because everybody is young in heaven, amen? And we are young forever! Shout "Forever," somebody, amen. Heaven is more real than earth. If you think earth is real, heaven is realer. Praise the Lord. So, it's sad, because I remember being invited to a leaders' session of another church one day, and this pastor invited me. And I felt when I walked into that place, you know, you feel like a pig in a Jewish celebration. You know, you feel like you've been invited to the slaughter house. You know, you feel like you've been invited to a place where you're not welcome. And somehow the senior pastor invited me to that church and to address his leaders.

So, I was in that place, and I started sharing about grace and the goodness of God, and there was this stern-looking man on the senior pastor's right hand looking at me like that. And after I finished, he says, "Young man, I would have you know the Bible says narrow is the way that leads to life. Narrow is the way that leads to life. Broad is the way to destruction". So, I was sharing about how, you know, that I believe there'll be many in heaven, amen? And he starts telling me, "Well, narrow is the way that leads to life". Now, you don't tell a guy in front of his pastor you are wrong, amen? I was there as a guest, so I just ignored him and continued sharing, all right, because I was called to share, not to argue. So, anyway, that's how even leaders today have this mentality that not many will make it to heaven.

So, even though they're doing mission work, they're not doing it out of joy, out of an overflowing sense that, "Hey, we are victors, amen. We're on the winning side". Do you know that those who came against grace in times past, that group that comes against grace is getting smaller and smaller and smaller? In fact, they are kind of feeling ostracized, amen. And the people that are getting in touch with this gospel of grace is getting larger and larger and larger. It's a revolution that is hitting the whole earth, hallelujah! The whole earth is being touched by this gospel of grace, and we are so blessed to be a part of what God is doing. Aren't you glad you're in a church that is in the flow of what God is doing, amen? Aren't you glad you are part of this generation? Aren't you glad that you are privileged and to be part of New Creation Church?

Now, I must warn you, there are people always come, and because God is doing something here, they will try to draw disciples after themselves. All right, be very careful of people who come to you saying, "The Lord said to me, God said to me. God said to me". All right, don't kowtow to people like that, because, child of God, God speaks to you also. If you feel uncomfortable inside, listen to it. Many a times God does not speak to us with a voice. In fact, if God speaks to you in a voice all the time, something is wrong, because if God is talking from outside, I question why is he not talking from inside? Don't you know you are the temple of God and the Spirit of God dwells in you today? Oh, yes, Old Testament, God talks from outside because they don't have the God inside, amen? And God spoke to the prophets because the prophets are the only ones who have the Holy Spirit on them, but not in them. They were not cleansed by the blood of Jesus yet.

So, only when Jesus came and died on the cross, all right, the Holy Spirit can come and indwell us. And because God is now in us, don't look for a sign in the sky. Don't look for a sign outside you, all right? It's the leading will come from inside. And many a times when you are so close to someone, the Bible says that we are joined to the Lord in one Spirit. God doesn't use voice all the time. He's so close to us, so intimate in our innermost recesses that God just bears witness with our heart, we know, amen. We meet someone, and they start saying, "Well, you know the Lord told me this and the Lord told me that". We feel something scratchy inside. All right, that's the Lord warning you, amen, run from this man. Or you find like when God begins to bear witness in your heart, amen, something good, something peaceful, amen, then God is saying yes. All right, now you don't have to be smart to know the eh and the mmm.

So, be very careful about all these people that come to you and try to give you a course on how to hear God's voice. You know, it is so silly, you know, it's like we don't give babies when we are born, how to hear the mother's voice, and a baby recognizes the mother's voice even when the mother is amongst other ladies. The moment the mother speaks, you can see the baby turn to the direction. The baby recognizes the mother's voice, and the baby don't have to be mature. She only have to belong to the mother. You don't have to be mature to hear God's voice. You're a child of God. "Well, Pastor Prince, the Bible says that as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God". Well, the phrase "sons of God" is referring to those not under law but under grace. Israel are children of the law, teknon, the Greek word. We are sons, huios, the Greek word, amen. The Bible says Jesus was born under the law to redeem them that were under the law that we might receive the adoption of sons, all right? The Holy Spirit leads sons, not children.

Listen carefully, we are not baby. The moment we are born in terms of inheritance, we are sons, all of us. Are you listening? So, it's not hard to follow God. It's not hard to hear God. You know, every time you are down and there's a friendly voice on the inside, that's God talking to you. That's God leading you. Every time it lifts you up, amen, it never crushes you, that's God. If you hear something inside that discourages you, that scolds you, that condemns you, that is not God. Even though he try to impersonate the voice of the Holy Spirit, that is not God. God always lifts up, God always encourages, God always builds. Can I have a good amen, church, amen? So, you don't have to have a course. You know, I remember one course I was involved with these meetings years ago where this teacher of the Bible was trying to teach people how to follow the inner witness. Actually inner witness is a valid teaching.

All right, whether you have sense of peace or no peace, that's how you follow God. But instead of that, he makes it so complicated. He says there are five lights on the inside. It becomes a traffic light. There is a green and extremely green, and there is an amber, all right, and an orange light, and then an extremely red light. You need to know. You start wondering to yourself, since when, all right, does one teach a child all these things about the mother's voice? The mother's voice is a child's inheritance. In fact, children usually purposely have to avoid hearing that voice. The problem with children is not they cannot hear the voice. And that's why the Bible says, today if you hear his voice, amen, in that Hebrews 4, today if you hear his voice, harden not your heart. That's the problem. It's not you cannot hear God's voice. It's that you don't want to hear, amen?

If you are living in adultery, you don't want to hear even though the voice is a loving voice, it's a friendly voice drawing you out of a life of frustration, of losing your best years on a road that leads to destruction. God's voice is leading you out because God loves you, and yet, you know, it's hard for us not to hear his voice. And then we're teaching people how to hear God's voice. People get weird. Some of the weirdest people I meet are people who are involved in this so-called prophetic, prophetic, prophetic, prophetic meetings, prophetic this, prophetic that. Now, I'm a prophetic person, let me tell you this, all right? But your prophecy has got to be real, has got to be solid, substantiated with evidence, all right, you gotta prophecy to thousands, amen? You know, I've proven that down through the years in my prophecies and the Bible talks about prophecy that we are to use daily and in every meeting of believers, and that prophecy is not directional. It is edification, exhortation, and comfort. You feel like writing a note to fellow a sister or you feel like SMS-ing a brother, do it if it's to edification, encouragement, and comfort, because many a times God is using you in prophecy.

The simple gift of prophecy lifts people up. Don't get weird. You know, you hear God's voice and if that voice contradict God's written Word, it is not God. The problem, why these things happen is because many a times people are going, running after prophetic teachers, prophetic person. They're not rooted and grounded in the local church. All right, that's the biggest problem. Sometimes, you know, like a sheep following the shepherd, the shepherd is a good shepherd and you see all the sheep, they are well fed. None of them are scrawny and skinny. They are well fed. They're all bearing young when they're mature, and they're well taken care of. Even their fur and all that is well groomed, and you can see that the shepherd has done a good job. But if there's one lamb following the shepherd and he's always vomiting, always throwing up, very scrawny, very skinny. And when he throws up, there are thorns and briars and all that, you cannot blame the shepherd, because if the shepherd is wrong, then all his sheep would be like that. Obviously, that one particular lamb has gone her own way to find her own food and then come back to the shepherd to vomit. Are you listening, church?

So, what is the problem here, and how do we get off this treadmill? Number one, I believe that people don't differentiate between law and grace. They are mixing the covenants together so they start thinking like only a select few can hear God, and this select few will teach others how to hear God. Let me tell you this, all right, God speaks to you all the time. In fact, the reason you came here today, God spoke to you. You feel good inside to go to church, you come to church, amen, amen? You don't feel good coming to this church, don't come, very simple solution, amen? And find a place where God has for you, amen, that you'll feel rested and joy and peace flowing. Can I have a good amen?

So, what is this narrow way and what is this broad way? Because we want to find out. We don't want to be on a path that leads to destruction, amen? Don't forget, this destruction is not eternal destruction because once you have Christ, you are saved forever, amen. Your righteousness is an everlasting one. But this path that leads to the broad way of destruction is for this life. That narrow way that leads to life is for this life. So, let's find out what Jesus said. Number one, from Jesus's own words, Jesus says, "I come that you might have"? All right, and have it more abundantly. Then Jesus said something else in another place. He says, "Come unto me, all you that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you? Give you what?

Now, of all the things Jesus could have said, of all the blessings of God that he could be elucidated on, what was the blessing above all the rest that Jesus said he came to give? Rest. And what happened is that many a times these people get into all this tangent. They don't have rest. The basic problem on the inside, they don't have rest. And God says that that narrow way is a way of rest. Do you know that the whole world is on a broad way of works, works, works mentality? Amen. Toil, labor, toil, labor. Let me say from the onset, all right, I'm not talking about your career. I'm not talking about your job. God gave job to Adam before Adam fell, but after Adam fell, God says by the sweat of your face, you will eat bread. In other words, the curse was that in his work, there'll be internal unrest, sorrow, stress, amen.

So, God wants you inwardly free from works. God wants you to be at rest. Rest is the way that leads to life. This life more abundant Jesus came to give us is a life of rest. Look at Deuteronomy chapter 6 up here. God promised the children of Israel, "So it shall be, when the Lord your God brings you into the land of which He swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give you," say it, "large and beautiful cities which you did not build". Does God want you to have a large and beautiful house? If he does not, why make mention of it as a blessing?

It's getting quite quiet here in this Presbyterian church. So God says, "I bring you to a land, all right, with large and beautiful cities which you did not build, houses full of all good things, which you did not fill, hewn-out wells which you did not dig, vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant". So, notice this phrase, all these phrases, which you did not build, which you did not fill, which you did not dig, which you did not plant all speaks of it's all finished. It's all finished. It's a life of rest. Do you know your salvation, the greatest blessing, do you know how salvation starts in your life? You know how you receive salvation? By resting in what Christ has done, amen. Once you rest in what Christ has done, you have salvation, amen? You rest in what Christ has accomplished.

So, in the greatest blessing of all blessings, it comes into your life through rest. What makes you think that every other blessing comes other ways? Are you listening, church? This life of rest is a promise that God wants us to enter in. Some of us do it, but I'm telling you, a lot of people, even Christians and people of the world, they do not know this narrow way. Why is there a narrow way? Because there are very few who are restful. Even they call themself, "We're the young and restless". But for our youth ministries, amen, there in Arrow Ministry, they are the young and cool. Young and cool, amen. Praise the Lord. God wants you to be at rest because faith is a rest. Do you know there's one thing God tells us to be afraid of? Now, there are many things in the Bible, the Bible tells us many things, all right, in terms of not to be fearful of.

Again, time and time again, the Bible rings out with this favorite phrase of God, "Don't be afraid. Fear not for I am with you. Be not dismayed. I am your God". Even Jesus's favorite phrase when he was walking in the gospels, in all the four gospels it's "Fear not, fear not, fear not". To the sick person, he says, "Fear not". To the one who's daughter has died, "Be not afraid," amen? And when Jesus walked on the water, the disciples were afraid. They thought they saw a ghost. Jesus says, "Don't be afraid. I am," amen. So, time and time again, even at the Mount of Transfiguration when he was transformed, the Father says, "Listen to him". What were his first words? "Arise and don't be afraid," amen? So, he'll always telling us don't be afraid. Don't be afraid, amen? But there's one thing God says to be afraid, to be fearful of, one thing. And this is where it comes from.

Hebrews 4, verse 1, "Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it". The one thing God tells us to be afraid of is that be afraid that you're not restful. Be afraid that you're not in rest. And you know what? It's interesting. Look up here, people. All the things God tells us to not be afraid of, we are afraid of. The very thing God tells us to be afraid of, we're not afraid of. Isn't it interesting that how opposites, you know, we are to God's ways and plans, and yet God loves us, you know, and never lets us go, amen? So, God tells us, let us therefore fear lest a promise being left us of entering into his rest any of you should seem to come short of it. In other words, there are people who come short of this rest, God's rest, why? "Unto us was the good news preached," gospel means good news, "as well as unto the children of Israel: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it. For we which have believed do enter into rest, as God said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world".

The reason we have rest is because God finished everything from the foundation of the world. Do you know that I think it was Einstein who said that if you go into a time machine, there is no such time machine, okay? But if someone can build a machine that can travel at a speed of light, okay, they say that if you can travel at the speed of light, time is no more. Have you heard that theory before? And it was Einstein that brought forth this theory. He says that if there's a space machine that you can go in, all right, and you set beyond the speed of light, you can go out into the universe, let's say, somewhere, all right, be lost in time, outside time. And when you come back, your friends will all have grown old, but you are still young because we all live in a time continuum. You understand? God doesn't live inside time, God is light. God is outside light. God created light. God said, "Let there be light," okay? So, when you are in God's rest, God says, "My rest," you'll be in a timeless zone. Do you understand? And he says all the works are finished already.

Now this is something strange. Do you know that God saw everything that was needed in your life and God finished everything before you were born. God completed everything necessary for your salvation, your survival and everything pertaining to life and godliness. God finished everything and then God gave birth to you, planted the seed. When the love between your father and mother came together, God planted it but all the works needed for your life was accomplished already. Do you know the Bible says in Revelation 17 that even Jesus, the lamb was slain from the foundation of the world? Now, please don't try to understand all this with your head. Understand it with your heart. Everything that God has finished that need to be finished and accomplished, he has finished it, even salvation, even before he made Adam. Don't ask me how. I can only understand it in my heart. The Bible said all the works are finished. So, what God did is this, God tells us to walk in the works prepared beforehand, already finished.

So, Jesus, knowing this secret, Jesus, everywhere he went, he saw the works all finished. He saw a man who was lame, who could not walk for many years. He says, "Rise, take up your bed and walk". You don't tell a man who is lame for many years, all right, for 38 years, to rise take up his bed and walk unless you see him in the finished work already walking. He saw a man whose hand was withered and Jesus say, "Stretch forth your hand," talking to the man like his hand was okay. You don't say that unless you can see the finished work of God in his life. God did not rest on the seventh day because he was tired. God doesn't get tired, neither is he weary. God rested because all his works are finished and he invites us to enter into that realm where everything is finished. You say, "How can I, Pastor Prince, my body hurts"? But God sees the finished work of your health. "Pastor Prince, my teenage daughter is in sin". But God sees her raising her hands singing praises to Jesus. The works are finished and God tells you to enter into rest. Seeing what he sees, the works are finished. He says, "When you pray, believe you have received and you shall have". Are you listening?

Now, when Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, in a few hours' time, he'll be hanging on the cross. But what did he pray in the garden? He says, "I have finished the work you have called me to do. Wait a minute, freeze the picture right there in the garden. How can Jesus say, "I have finished the work"? Later on he'll cry on the cross, "It is finished". He has not yet gone to the cross. In fact, he was in garden and that's when the passion started, right? Yet, he prayed, "I have finished the work". But Jesus walked in the realm of the finished work. That's why he is so restful. And you know what? Whenever I see a problem now, I always tell myself, it's finished. Yesterday there was a mosquito or something bugging me while I was preparing my message and I tried to get him, you know, in an angle that can slap him to death. You know what I'm saying? "Pastor Prince, thou shall not kill".

You know in the Bible, actually the word there is thou shall do no murder. Killing a mosquito is not murder. It's a civic duty, all right? Yeah, they bring dengue and huh, right or not? I tell you what, any mosquito bites me, huh, when they fly away they sing, "There's power in the blood," amen. I'm a Spirit-filled, tongue-talking, devil-chasing, amen? Man, they feel alive. Hallelujah, in Jesus's name. So, I was looking at the mosquito and I couldn't get him in an angle where I could kill him. You know, some little things really bug you, you know? That's why they call them bugs. And I said and I remember the message, as I'm preparing the message I said, "Lord, it is finished. This mosquito is dead". All right, I do not know how, but you know what? It never bothered me. And every Saturday night, I don't sleep with my, because Jessica gets a chance once a week to sleep with her mother and I sleep in my study, all right? And I always do that because I get up way early to prepare myself. I don't want to disturb them.

So, the whole night was peaceful in my study. I slept peaceful. I don't know what happened to the guy. He died, went to hell. I do not know, you know, one thing is that the works is finished, amen. So, we walk in that realm. We see, not as the way the world sees. We see through the finished work. Everything is finished. You know, God wants you to say you are healthy in the midst of that pain. God wants you to say that "I am rich in the midst of lack". But instead your eye is focused on the stock market. When it goes down, you go down. It goes up, then you go up. God doesn't want your life to be like that. He wants your life to be restful and the only way is to pack your life to that which is unshakable, unchangeable. If you put your eyes on the stock market, it is changeable. So what, you have good news and the market recovers most wonderfully tomorrow.

All right, next month might be different case again, amen. I mean it is volatile. Don't put your faith in things like this, amen. You know how to be provided for, amen? In a sure way? Walk in the finished work. In fact, Jesus said, if you want God to provide for you, the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not lack. What's the first thing he does for us? He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside the still waters. The very first thing the Lord does in order to provide for you, he makes you rest. You know, he leads you beside the still waters. The word "still" there in the original Hebrew is manuka. Manuka means quietness, restful waters, peaceful waters. Isn't that beautiful? God lets you rest and then he provides. Isn't that what Jesus said? If you want God to clothe you really well, better than Solomon, you want God to feed you and more sure than the birds being fed, and you know, birds are being fed every day. They don't worry about lack of food. If you want all this, Jesus says, "Do one thing, worry not. Don't worry. Be restful in your mind especially. Be restful and the supply will flow. The works are finished". Are you listening, people?

All right, some years ago, I remember praying one day and I had a little mini vision from the Lord. And I saw this and, by the way, this vision has been authenticated by Scripture in Zechariah 4. I saw pipes from heaven, pipes, all kinds of pipes coming from heaven. All right, these are soft pipes but they are golden pipes, all right, just like rubber hose, you know? And the pipes were bringing golden oil, a supply of heaven in every different area of our lives. And one supply was for our marriage. One supply was for our children. One supply was for our finances. One supply is for our health. One supply is for the walk with God. All kinds of supplies from heaven, golden pipes. By the way, in Zechariah 4, Zechariah, the prophet saw a vision of golden pipes carrying golden oil. So, it's the same vision I saw, all right? And golden pipes was bringing, all the while, golden oil is falling on us, in all the different parts of our life. In other words, the supply is constant. The supply is ever flowing. It's unceasing. And then I saw, all of a sudden, I saw a believer, a Christian, he started to get worried about one area of his life, all right, finances.

So, when he was worried, the pipe that was bringing the golden oil of financial blessing was squeezed. When he worried, it squeezed. When he relaxed, he don't worry, it was released. When he worried, it was squeezed. When it was squeezed, the supply from heaven was still coming but on his receiving end, there was nothing. It was not that the supply from God stopped. God's supply was still flowing but because he was worried, it was squeezing the pipe from releasing into his life. Then I began to see something the Lord wanted me to see. The Lord says, "The very areas that you're worried about are the areas that God cannot touch". If you look carefully at all the areas of your life, those areas you got problem with today are areas you worried about yesterday. Oh, did you hear that?

For me, you know, ever since I was a young boy, even as a teenager, I never worried about money for some reason. You know we didn't come from a well-off family, but I never really worried about money. Even when I had the last $10 as pocket money, I remember my elder brother didn't have the money, so one day I took my wallet and I took my $10 out as a teenager and I put it into his wallet. You know, I already found Christ. The love God was just flowing. I just put it into his wallet. Until today, he doesn't know it's from me. And somehow God still supplied. Before the day was over, God still supplied. I had a free meal. I had someone bring me out for, you know, and God just supplied. So, I have seen how God takes care of me. So, money is one area I'm not worried about. And you know my life has been a testimony of how God blesses me.

Whatever way people, you know, whether I do this or do that, I'm blessed financially. God just blessed me, amen? I don't worry about that area. Isn't that what Jesus says? Jesus says, "Don't worry about what you shall put on, what you shall eat," you know, all the physical things. He's not talking about spiritual things, talking about physical things. He say that the only thing he tells us time and time again is that "don't worry, don't worry, don't worry". You say, "Very easy for you to say, ah"? But he's giving us the secret of the life of rest. So, the more you rest in that area, the supply will flow. When you rest, in essence, you release the pipe that brings the golden oil of supply and you'll be surprised how God moves when you stop worrying.

A few nights ago, a few of the leaders and myself, we had a catch-up dinner with one of the ladies in our church who has been a great supporter of the church, and she received our teachings. And she told me this, "You know, Pastor Prince, I have to listen to your sermon every day. If I don't listen one day, things don't go well. I don't know why," she said. Now she's worth millions. Her company is public listed. And she says this, she said that, "You know, I don't know why it's human nature. Every time I worry about something, I go into my office and I tell my directors to do this, do that, do this. All of a sudden, you know what? Things get worse. But when I don't worry and I listen to the message and I just close myself just for an hour or two in the office and I just listen to the sermon and I just relax about it, somehow things work out better".

And she expressed to me a mistake that her company made not too long ago. And all of a sudden, you know, even though it was a mistake and God told her not to do it, but even though it was a mistake, God turned the whole thing around with profits. And she's able to say it's a mistake. When she stopped worrying about it, the supply just flow. And, you know, I was sitting down there and I was preparing for this message, right, this coming week. And I was listening to her and she doesn't know what I'm gonna say but, you know, she was just confirming the message I'm telling you today. When you worry about it, you know, the best way to get ideas is to relax. Some of the best ideas come when you relax.

That's why 3M company, some years ago, they have this thing called, blue skying which means the employees do nothing but look at the blue sky, understand or not? It means the down time, which means relaxation time, all right? Many, many companies are working, working, thinking that working, just sheer work is getting ideas. But there's no money problem, only idea problem. When the idea is there, the idea brings in the money. So, they discovered that so they decided to give some of their best executives blue skying time, all right? So, when they did that, what happened is that one of them came up with a creative inspired idea which today all of us used. It's called the post-it notes. You know the little Post-it Notes, all right? I could have had that idea. It's so simple, it sounds stupid. But no other company, I mean, you know, that you want something to remind you, you just paste it here, paste it in different sizes. Who can't think of that? And the glue is only put on one side, the top part. It's so simple, isn't it? But it made them, man, multiplied millions and the one that came with the idea is a multimillionaire.

But let me tell you this, something is wrong with us when we cannot rest. Now music is good, but you gotta have music all the time, like you go in the car and there's nobody, you can't stand the volume of the silence, I mean the loudness of the silence, so you put on some music. Something is wrong when you can't stand your own company. You don't enjoy your own company, who can, amen. Once in a while, you should date yourself, amen? Like somebody, he was talking to himself and somebody stopped him and says, "Who you talking to"? "I'm talking to a gentleman," amen. So, it's okay to be by ourselves. If you're afraid to be by yourself, all right, people will sense that and they won't like to be around you. People like to be around people who are strong on the inside. Are you listening people, amen?

You know, stress, this state of unrest, can hurt you physically. But isn't it amazing that this stress thing never really existed, or it exists, but it was not pinpointed until a man called Hans Selye, all right, a heart specialist, and it was only this early part of the last century that he discovered the dangers and the damages that stress can cause. So, what happened is that this guy has a clinic, a small clinic, Hans Selye. Now, of course, he's passed on but he's very famous after that because a discovery of what stress can do. But this is how he discovered it, believe it or not, he has a heart clinic and his patients would come to the clinic and it all happened with a simple chair that the patient would sit on, okay? So, all his patients are people with heart problems, all kinds of heart problems, okay? He's a heart specialist.

So, they will sit on the chair. And what happened the discovery came, the discovery of stress and the dangers of stress on your body, came through a lady who upholsters chairs because he sent his patients' chair for upholstery. And the lady came back and said, "I don't understand. All the chairs you keep on sending to us, they're all worn out on the edges, the edges". Usually most chairs that she deals with is worn out at the back, okay? Which means the patients are sitting on the edge. Some of you are moving back, resting back. All right, they're sitting on the edge. They are sitting on the edge of "When is this guy gonna finish his sermon"? You know, they're sitting on the edge. They live a very fast life. You know and she said, "You know, all the chairs that your patients' chairs that you ask me to upholster, have you noticed they're all worn out on the edge"? And he was stunned when he heard that and I have a picture of that chair, by the way, one of the chairs.

And what happened is that he began to notice, could this be linked with why they have heart condition? That was the trigger point. The lady never realized that she helped the doctor. Then the doctor noticed that outside his clinic where the carpark was, he noticed that all his staff parked their cars, not all but most of them parked their cars with the nose in. But the patients, the heart patients, they park their car with the nose out, means they reverse, why? For a quick getaway. Even the slight delay of time, they can't stand the slight delay. This reminds me a lot of Singaporeans. I'm serious. Everything we do is like the fastest getaway, the nearest to the exit, you know, that kind of thing. And back then, you know, when Hans Selye discovered all of this, the world just wasn't this modern and this progressive but already people are living that kind of life.

He began to notice and he took pictures of it. And it's very interesting that from a simple chair and the way they park their car, he began to see the lifestyle of people who have heart conditions and that's when y'all heard some of the studies he did with the mice and the mice keep on falling and all that and how they have swollen glands and things like that. And they discovered that some of these are linked to other kind of diseases, stress 'cause your immune system to fall that makes you susceptible to diseases around you. But God has a solution long before Hans Selye discovered all this. God says, "Sit easy". We are seated with Christ in heavenly places. Are you listening? And the only labor left for you to do is Hebrews 4, verse 9 please, "There remains therefore a rest to the people of God. For he that is entered into God's rest, also has ceased from his own works, as God did from his".

Now, I go back again to the earlier verses because there's one verse I want to show you. Drop to verse 4. "God spoke in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise. God rested the seventh day from all his works". God rested on the seventh day from all his works. Say, "All his works". So, God did not say, "Oh, man's sin, oh, man, I forgot to deal with that". The lamb was slain from the foundation of the world. Nothing catches God by surprise. So, the works are finished. So, God blessed the seventh day, not because he was tired. God blessed the seventh day because he ended all his work. So, number seven signifies completion of work as well as rest. We are that generation compared to the World War II, World War I, they never saw the day that we saw. We are the generation who saw 07, 07, 07. Do you realize that how many generations it takes to see that? And you know what God is saying?

You better take this seriously and be afraid that you're not restful, amen? If it concerns God that God says, "Let us fear that we come short of the rest". Let's take this seriously. And the only labor left for us, drop down to verse 11 please. Verse 10 says, "He that has entered into God's rest, he also". If you enter into God's rest, you also will cease from your own works as God did from his. So, in other words, there is this sense "There's unfinished work for my family. There's unfinished work with my children. There's unfinished work with this, unfinished work with my job, unfinished work here, unfinished". This kind of sense of unfinished gives you a sense of stress, anxiety, and restlessness. You gotta see everything as, all right, "All the works are finished and I'll just step into it. And, if need be, God will give me the idea to accomplish this work. I'll step into this finished work and whatever I don't know, God will make me know. What I forget is meant to be forgotten".

You know, last time I used to preach sermons where I need to remember everything. I'll write down everything and I'm determined to remember everything, you know, because I say that, "oh, this is a very good point. Oh, this is a very good point". Finally after I get off from my preaching and I go back, you know, this was years ago, not in this church. It was when I first started and all that, I will kick myself, why didn't I share this point? How come I didn't share that point? It was a good point. And God began to tell me, "Your point is pointless," all right? "Unless I make the point," he says. Then he tells me, "Son, there are certain points I make you forget because it's not necessary for that service and there are things that I make you say you didn't plan to say, it was meant for certain few in that service that I want to touch". So, I began to relax more in my teaching. I began to relax more in my sermon.

Now I still prepare, like I said, with the mosquito last night. So, you know, it's not that you don't prepare but the thing is that you prepare in rest. And the only labor left for us is the oxymoron, verse 11, "Let us labor therefore to enter the rest". Ha, ha, ha. The only work is to work at being restful. The only labor is to labor to enter the rest. You know what's the opposite of rest? "Lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief". The opposite of unbelief is not faith, it is rest. That tells us something. When Jesus told his disciples the reason they can't cast the devils out is because of unbelief, that means they were not in rest. Look at your life, the very areas you are worried about are the areas where it seems like no flow, no blessing, no favor. Let go of that area.

You know, I used to be worried about my little daughter Jessica. You know, I never realized that, you know, you can give so much love to something so small. When the baby came along, I used to be very carefree about life and all that. When my baby came along, there is someone else that I love more than myself, you know? I used to wonder how come something so little can demand so much of your time and attention and love? But she did. And before long, I realized that when she's down, I'm down. When she's sick, I feel sick. I'm troubled by her. And it seemed like there was no way out. That was the time when I had, you know, they call it irritable bowel syndrome. Some of you remember the story, okay? Then one day the Lord began to show me something.

God says, "Every time you're worried about her, all right, you are doing harm to her. Every time you are carefree about her, you are blessing her". And he began to show me from the story of Job how Job was one day, you know, the devil's technique is always come and affect his rest about his children and then he start getting worried about his children. That's when bad things happen to his children. And I found out when I was worried about Jessica, she fell sick more often. It was as if I was squeezing the golden pipe over her head by my worry. But you understand, I love her. But worldly love sometimes translate into worry. If I got down on my knees just to be with you,

♪ If I climb ♪
♪ The highest mountain ♪
♪ Just to be with you ♪
♪ Would you ever ♪
♪ Let me down? ♪

And the chorus go like this,

♪ Worried ♪
♪ I'm so worried ♪
♪ That you let me down ♪
♪ If I claim the highest ♪
♪ Mountain just to... ♪

You know what song is that? It's a sick song! It sounds really nice, right? But it's sick. "I'm so worried that you let me down". Listen, the world sing that kind of song, but something is wrong when we believe that kind of philosophy. If I love you, I'll be worried about you. So, the girlfriend say, "So, you don't worry about me, lah? You don't love me"? It's like you know, if I love you, I should be worried about you. It's a whole new mindset. Actually what she's trying to say is that "show me attention" but you can give attention without worry. How many understand? So, I realized that I was doing harm to my daughter and, in fact, she fell more sick that year when I worried about her. So, I'm not perfect yet, but you know what? I've come to a place I'm not worried about her anymore and I find that she walks in robust health. The less I worry about her...

Now, being worry-free about your children doesn't mean you don't look into their studies or whatever. In fact, when you're worry-free, you're able to see things in the correct perspective. In fact, there are times you'll have inspired ideas from the Holy Spirit who indwells you, amen, to lead them in the way they should go. But when you're worried, everything is constricted on the inside, you don't even think reasonably. You start scolding your children because you love them. You understand that or not? You start being overconcerned about their studies when you forget for a moment that God can make them millionaires overnight without the degree. Now having said that, please study hard, all of you, in Jesus' name... The golden pipe will do it, amen? Praise the name of Jesus. Now, let me bring this to a close, hallelujah. Are y'all learning something?

Now, the last time I preached, I touched on the manna, that's Exodus 16. By the way, my daughter has grown up to be a lovely young girl, very healthy, very strong, all right? I realized that the more I worry about my loved one, any area, that's the area that gets the least flow of grace. So, I got a message I preach more on this called "Grace Flows in the Worry-Free Areas of Your Life". Get that teaching because I know that many of you, you might not have been there, all right, because we grew up, I mean we grew exponentially since then or you might not have heard that sermon but it's a good message to get. Grace flows in the worry-free areas of your life, amen?

You look at your life, you know, the devil is so evil. He comes to you, he gives you a lying symptom of lack or sickness in your child, you know, and you start getting worried. When you start getting worried, you actually enforce it by constricting the golden pipe. So, all he can do is give you lying symptoms. He goes about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. Have you noticed the context there? The verse before that says, "Casting all your cares upon the Lord for he cares for you". And the very next verse says, "The devil seeks whom he may devour". The context tells you the devil only devours those who are careful and who are burdened with cares. He cannot devour those who are carefree. So, your greatest blessing you can bring to your family is to be carefree, laugh and enjoy life.

People will say, "You don't have sense to worry". Say, "Hallelujah," amen, amen? "Thank God I don't have sense to worry". Have you heard that before? "You don't have sense to worry". Okay, Exodus 16 talks about the manna because they were hungry, they complained. All right, now I bring you in closing to Exodus 17. And you know what happened in Exodus 17? The hitting of the rock and the water flow out because they will complain there was no drink, there was no water so they complained. So, the water came flowing out when God told Moses to strike the rock. You see what happened immediately? Because what is about to happen right after the rock was smitten, all right, tells us a story. Now how many of you know, look up here, all right, from Egypt to Sinai is a picture of pure grace, right?

So, this period of time, it's very interesting for us to study because we are in that period eternally today, okay? We are not under law, we are under grace. And the only time Israel was not under law but under pure grace was from Egypt to Sinai. And do you know that during this time period when they were under grace and not under law, the first battle and the only battle is the one you're about to read. We close with this because it's very interesting. It tells us the only battle that we have regardless of the shape, form, the size that comes to us, the different nature of the problems, it's only one battle. All right, in chapter 17 of Exodus, "Now Amalek came and fought with Israel in Rephidim". Fought with Israel in Rephidim. Amalek came, Amalekites came and fought with Israel in Rephidim.

Now, what is Rephidim? Rephidim stands for, in Hebrew, resting places. Isn't it interesting? Rephidim means resting places. So, today we are all in resting places, right? So, Amalek is gonna come and shake you from your resting place if he could. Now, what is Amalek? Amalek comes from the Hebrew Amal. Amal, in Hebrew, means pain, wearisome, labor. In other words, put them together you have wearisome, labor, painful toil, amen? It's the opposite of rest. So, Amalek came when they were in their resting place. Do you know that God swore, because of this battle, God swore that forever he'll have war against the generation of the Amalekites. It is a war that will never cease until Jesus comes again. So, in other words, this battle is the only battle under grace for the children of Israel.

And the only battle and the first battle and the only battle is also the battle for all of us every day, every week. You know what's the battle? The temptation to slip into wearisome, laborious toil and works, and we have to labor to enter the rest. We have to resist the Amalekites in our lives. We have to resist this tendency to fight for your family, fight for your husband, fight for your wife, fight for your little ones, fight for your life. Fight to enter the rest, fight to be restful. There is a fight involved. The devil wants you restless. The devil wants you worried because he can do nothing in your life unless you have worry. He needs the material of your anxiety to be able to work in your life! But he doesn't have your anxiety, he cannot work because he himself is restless.

Jesus said, "The devil goes out of a person seeking rest". The devil is seeking rest. He's not in the place of rest, he is restless. When you are in God's rest, it is a place the devil cannot enter! Early this year God gave me a Word from the life of Solomon. Solomon says, "God has surrounded me with rest so that there's no enemy nor evil occurrence". The word "enemy" in Hebrew is Satan. He says, "God has given me rest so there's no Satan and no evil occurrence". How many want no Satan, no evil occurrence in your life? We're not saying he does not exist. We are saying he can't even come close to you when you're in rest. So, fight to enter the rest. When you find yourself getting worried and troubled, fight against that. Fight to remain restful.

Let me close with this, Hebrews 4, in closing please. Verse 11, "Let us labour to enter the rest". The only labor left for you to do is enter the rest. You know what's the victory for the children of Israel? When they Amalekites came, you know what happened? Moses went up the mountain. He sat on the rock and he lifted his hands. And you know something? As long as Moses's hands were lifted, Israel won. But then after for a while, he got tired. Be very careful when your leaders get weary because the Bible says in the Last Days, in the Book of Daniel, the Antichrist will wear out the saints of the most high. The spirit of Antichrist is to wear out the saints.

So, when Moses's hands got wearied, his hands went down, the Amalekites won over the Israelites. They were fighting in the valley. He was on top of the hill. Every time his hands went up, Israel won. His hands went down, when the leadership is weary, the members suffer. And you know what happened? You know what God did? God brought Aaron and Hur. Come Aaron, come Hur. Let me close with this. All right, Moses, you know what they let Moses do? They made Moses sit down. So, they are very smart. You know what they did? Both hands, they lift up Moses's hands. As long as Moses's hands were... and he was sitting down, the Bible says, picture of rest. As long as Moses's hands were lifted, Israel won until the going down of the same. And the word "his hands were steady" in Hebrew, the word "steady" is the same Hebrew word for faith.

Now, I want you to see this picture because it's time for us to support our leaders. Don't let your leaders be worn out. When the leader is worn out, Amalekites win. When the leader's hands are raised in victory, in rest, supported by other leaders, other members, what's gonna happen? Victory for the church. Give God a praise, hallelujah. Thank you very much, amen, amen? Now, as a pastor of 15,000-member church, let me just tell you this, the devil is trying his best to make me weary, make me tired. In fact, I just came out from a very trying week where almost everything went wrong went wrong, all right? But God is reminding me once again, fight. There is a fight. Your fight is a fight, the good fight of faith, the good fight of rest, amen? And make sure that you support your leaders. It's a picture of Jesus on high with his hands raised, making intercession for us and his hands will never be weary, amen? But in a small picture it's also a picture of your leaders are important, and their hands must not be weary because when your leaders are burnt out, amen, there's defeat in the camp.

Are you listening, people, amen? Thank God for people like Aaron and Hur who come and support their leaders, amen, so that Moses can just rest his hands. Praise the Lord, hallelujah. How many of you've gone up a hill before and you, you know, somebody pushed you from the back? Have you ever had that experience? Isn't it easy to go up the hill when somebody push you at the back? You are resting, yet progressing. You are resting, yet progressing. You are resting, yet progressing, amen? But before you can rest, you must trust. And let me tell you this, the Lord, the glory of God is your rearguard. He will never play you out, amen? So, you are resting. We're not saying that nothing happens, there's no progress. No, we are saying rest will give you the best progress. When you reach the top, others who go up on their own strength will be tired but you'll still be restful. And all the people said?

People, fight for your family, fight for your little ones, fight for your life by fighting to be peaceful, fighting to be restful, amen? There is a fight. You gotta fight all these Amalekites and the forces that tell you, "Worry, you need to worry. You need to be full of anxiety about this. You need to think and think and think about this". Relax, fight to rest, fight to rest. Whatever you don't know now, God will make you know when the time comes. Whatever you need to know, God will let you know. Don't have to worry, amen? Put your hands in Jesus, your rest, amen? Father, we thank you, Lord, for your Word today, thank you your Word will not return void. And all the people said, amen.