Joseph Prince - Live Undefeated In Christ
How are y'all doing? Ready for God's Word? Always remember that God's Word is God-breathed. You might not like the structure or this story or whatever, but whatever is designed is designed by the breath of God, amen. Secretaries, God's secretaries are the authors, like Moses, like Paul. They are just God-filled. God-breathed on them, and they write. Paul's letters are different from Peter's letters. Peter's letters are different from Matthew. Matthew is different from Mark.
God uses human personality, just like God uses human personalities in preaching as well. God does not bypass human personality. But it is very beautiful that when God's Spirit breathes on the human personality, the words that come out is the expression of God himself. Now, there are teachings that say that the ideas are inspired but the words are not. It's just the idea. Now, that is error. Every scripture is God-breathed. In fact, Paul makes an argument in Galatians when he says just from one word, God said to Abraham in the Old Testament, God said, "In your seed," singular, "all the nations of the earth will be blessed".
And Paul seized upon it, the fact that the word seed does not have S. It's singular. He argues for the fact that this seed is Christ himself, that in him alone all the nations of the earth will be blessed, just based on one letter, amen. So, I have a sermon on this that I did sometime back. You can ask the counter for it. But it's important that you understand in the plenary inspiration of Scripture, every word is inspired. Now, when I say that, I mean the original Scripture. Every word is inspired. That does not mean that there are certain expressions that the translators put in to help you understand, sometimes it's more of a hindrance, like some new translations, new versions.
The Greek and the Hebrew of the old is word-for-word inspired, but when man tries to improve on it, it's translated into Chinese, into Japanese, into different languages, Spanish, or even the King James, there are certain expressions you find in italics that is supposed to help you understand. That means it's not in the original. Sometimes it hinders, so keep that in mind. All Scripture in its original state is inspired. But we take advantage of all the helps we have. We compare the new versions and what it says about this verse. That's perfectly all right, amen? You ready for God's Word? Let's dive right into it.
Last week we started with Genesis 18 and how the Lord... such a homely picture in Genesis 18 that God would come to a man's home, amen, share the secrets of his heart, eat with a man, amen, and God brought two angels with him. We know it's the pre-incarnate appearance of Christ. But what a homely, beautiful, comfortable, restful picture. God at home with his people. Isn't that beautiful? And we saw that Abraham instantly knew his divine visitor. He did not, like Joshua when he saw the man with the drawn sword, he had to inquire who he was. "Are you on our side or are you on the other side's side"?
You know, he had to inquire. Gideon had to inquire. At first he didn't know the divine visitor. Many of them, they had to inquire. But Abraham, may we all be like him, instantly he knew who that divine visitor was. The Bible says he was nearly a hundred years old, but we saw last week he ran. A hundred year old man running. Whenever your eye is on the Lord, you run, amen. Your body will not know it's old. Your body will only know it's Maker and it's Redeemer, amen. When there was a storm and Jesus was walking on the storm, remember, to the boat where the disciples were in jeopardy, in fear, in great consternation, Peter looking at Jesus said, "Bid me come," and Jesus knew that Peter's eyes was on him, Jesus says, "Come".
And Peter did the supernatural as long as his eye is on Jesus. Of course, he took his eyes off for a while, and he started becoming natural, so the greatest superhero, I told my son the other day, the greatest superhero in the whole universe is the Lord Jesus Christ, amen. It's the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the greatest superhero. The one who died, I mean, it's greater than any romantic drama. The one who gave his life for the woman that he loved, you and I. And now we are his bride, waiting for the wedding day. Isn't it romantic? I mean, don't make it dry, orthodoxy, and theology. The whole thing is beautiful.
God so loved the world that he gave his only Son. His Son didn't have to come and gave his life for us. So, we see in Genesis 18 a family picture, a picture of how God wants our families to be like. God present, amen. God sitting, eating with us, amen. The unseen guests, divine guests, and then he revealed his heart. I just want to call your attention to the fact that I mentioned last week that the Jewish people today, they don't mix dairy products, they call it kashrut laws, with meat.
Now, that's the rabbinical law, okay? But here we see Abraham getting meat, a young calf, and also yogurt, butter and cheese. So, definitely in the Scriptures it seems all right, okay? But there was a death. The young calf had to die. Just when the prodigal son came home, the young calf had to die. It's a picture of our Lord Jesus Christ. Blood had to be shed for that reconciliation, because God is a holy God, amen? God is a holy God. And we must never forget that God being holy, God has to judge. Today my sermon is understanding this part of God's nature. I take great, you know, I say this with great trepidation, because I don't want you to go home with the wrong impression or the wrong idea of God, because there's a lot of teachings already.
People, you know, in the movies that they produce on the book of Genesis, judgment is always the perspective. Judgment is always the focus. All right, God's anger is always the emphasis. So, for me, I want to be careful. Is there judgment? Yes. "But, Pastor, God is love". What God is is love. Who God is, he is God. And because he is God, he has to judge. There's no one above him to judge. If he doesn't judge, that will be the end of mankind. There will come a time, all right, sin will be rampant, and man will be normal. They will destroy themselves. God has to judge. But I want to tell you one thing. God's nature is not to judge.
In Micah 6:8 God says, "He has shown you, O man, what is good and what the Lord requires of you to do justice". Say to do justice. "To love mercy". Say love mercy. "And to walk humbly". Say walk humbly with God. So, three things, God says do justice, love mercy, and it's an advice especially to leaders of God's people. God says sometimes you have to do justice. This is a word to all the magistrates, to all the judges, to all the people that have to execute justice. So, the thing is this. They have to judge. But as judges, when you even judge, you should never love judgment.
That's what God says in Micah. Do justice, but love mercy. Your heart loves mercy, and the word mercy there is grace, hesed, which is translated by Delitzsch the Hebrew scholar as grace. Love grace, but do justice. Sometimes we do that for your children, amen. We discipline them, we do justice. But we love mercy, and how fast we are to run to them, so to speak. The moment their heart is soft, you know, they've learned their lesson, amen, how fast we are, right? Talking about normal parents, amen.
So, God wants you to love mercy, but there are Christians, some sentimental Christians who love mercy and also do mercy. That's not God's way. Sometimes you have to do justice, amen. Your children want you to stop them, give them boundaries. They want you to parent them, amen. They don't want you to be their best friend. They want you to be their father, their mother, amen. Friendship comes later. And please, don't rob them. They are not orphans, amen. So, here we have God coming to the house and God revealing the secrets of his heart to Abram and Sara, saying that this time next year Sara will have a son. That's been their dream all this while. What a beautiful picture. God eats, God celebrates with them, and then God gives this wonderful news, amen. It was such a beautiful, warm, intimate surrounding.
You know, I want to tell you something. Twelve disciples walked with Jesus. They were familiar with him, but few were intimate with his mind, the counsels of his heart. It doesn't mean you walk with Jesus and you are familiar with him, that you commune with him. Communion and familiarity are two different things. Intimacy and familiarity are two different things. The centurion never walked with Jesus, the one in Capernaum. He told Jesus, "I know who you are. Just speak the word and my servant will be healed. Because I have servants under me". He didn't even spend walking around Galilee with Jesus. He just met Jesus, but there was that revelation of the Holy Spirit to see who Jesus was.
The disciples were lacking, but they were familiar, but not intimate. This centurion was intimate with his thoughts, and it pleased Jesus. Jesus was so happy. All right, we see another one, the Syrophoenician woman. We see glimpses of people. Zacchaeus, they looked right through the veneer of the flesh of our Lord Jesus and saw the God of love and grace, amen. And that's why they persevere. They know that he will grant them, amen. Are you listening, people? May you all have eyes, and me also. May we all have eyes to see and a heart to hear. We just don't want to be familiar with the Bible, look at all those portions, but we are not intimate with the thoughts of the Holy Spirit in that passage. Are you listening?
And then they got up after they ate, and they walked as if they were going towards the plains of Jordan. We'll continue our story from here, amen. And Abraham walked them there. And by the way, they were laughing, right? I mean, Abraham was laughing. Most likely, Abraham was laughing also. But Sarah was laughing when she heard that she would have a son at 90 years old. She started laughing. "Shall I have pleasure"? We covered all that last week, amen. And the Lord says, "Did I hear Sarah laugh"? She said, "No," in the tent. "No, I heard you laugh". So, when the boy was born, they called his name Laughter, Isaac.
So, here they were, they were about to go to the plains of Jordan, and Abraham walked with his divine guest, and the two men, which are two angels. The Bible says angels can turn into a form of a man. I heard last week I was talking with Pastor Darren. Pastor Darren was telling me when he was in Perth, you know, it's not so nice to drive at night because they don't have, like, street lamps and all that. So, he says that he was caught I think somewhere having dinner or whatever, and darkness fell real fast, all right? And Singaporeans are not used to it, right? So, he says the road is pitch dark, and as he drove he was kind of hoping that he can see his way around, all right? He knew his way back to his cottage or wherever he was staying. And lo and behold, a truck came through with bright lights shining way down the road, and all he did was that he followed the truck. And the truck brought him home.
Now, I've heard many, many times, now, I'm not saying it's an angel, but it very well could be. Many of you have these kind of experiences. I don't want to give a particular experience because you might not identify. This kind of experience is when you're about to cross the road and you don't see anything. You just happen to cross and you feel something pull you back, like a wind. And then there's a motorcycle that just came from nowhere. How do you explain that? Who pulled you back? These are simple things that we take for granted. But the Bible says, "Be not forgetful to entertain strangers, for some have entertained angels unaware".
So, if you see them wearing a coat and their coat is high, right? You know it's an angel, why? All right, so they don't appear like that. They appear like a man. So, the Bible says even when Abraham was talking to the Lord, the Bible says the two men went toward Sodom. So, let's follow the story now. And the Lord said, "Because the outcry", all right, the men went, "The Lord said, 'Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grave, I will go down now and see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry against it that has come to Me; and If not, I will know.' Then the men turned away from there and went towards Sodom, but Abraham still stood before the Lord".
So, the two angels went towards Sodom as if they knew the mind of the Lord and they both straightaway went. So, two of them went, and Abraham was on a higher plain. Hebron is higher, but from Hebron, a distance down you can see the Dead Sea, and you can see the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. And remember when Lot, his nephew, was given the choice, because they are shepherds, all right, and caretakers were fighting among each other, and Abraham says, "No, it's not nice for us to fight. There are Hittites and Peruzites in the land. You take the right, if you take the right, I'll take the left. You take the left, I'll take the right".
What a humble man Abraham is. And the Bible says that Lot saw the beautiful, fertile crescent of the Jordan Valley. It was lush, it was green. It's not like today, the Dead Sea area. It was green, there were rivers running. The Bible says it's like the Garden of Eden. It looks like Garden of Eden. So, he's a man that went by sight, Lot. And he chose by sight. Later on, when enemies came to invade and plunder the land, it was Abraham that rescued him. And after Abraham rescued him, tithed to Melchizedek and all that, there's no record that Lot ever tithed. Lot went back to the city of destruction. So, this is something very interesting, all right?
I want to tell you something about what the Scripture says. But before we go on reading, I want you to go to Genesis, I'm sorry, 2 Peter 2, 2 Peter 2. If we have 2 Peter 2, yeah. "And turning the cities of", this is New Testament now. "And God turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, making them an example to those who afterward would live ungodly," next. "And delivered righteous Lot," underline that, righteous Lot. So, Lot was righteous. Today I'm going to share with you about a defeated righteous man, a man who had a family and lost his family. He finally ended up with only two daughters, but it's not a proper relationship. A man who was called righteous, but defeated. Abraham is righteous, but Abraham was exalted.
When all the destruction was happening, he was on a mountain looking down. I said looking down. The world is heading towards judgment. The King is going to return to set this world right, and there will be a millennium rule of our Lord Jesus Christ. Then the gospel of the kingdom will be preached once again, all right, before he comes. Then when he comes, that kingdom will be established because finally it's no more an absentee kingdom. The King, kingdom is the King. There's a King. The King is here. And the Bible says his scepter is the scepter of righteousness. He will judge for the poor, amen. And God said, "I'm going to send my Son," okay? My Son will rule. The return of the King.
This is the return of the King. And when the King returns after seven years of what Daniel prophesied, amen, the seventieth week of Daniel, the last part is to be fulfilled will happen in the three and a half years of Great Tribulation. All right, Jesus will come back at the end of that Great Tribulation. Israel will look up, and they will see him return. He will save Israel, amen, and he will establish his rule from Jerusalem. The Bible says that. And then there are scoffers that come in these last days, saying, "Where, where, where is the promise that's coming? We hear people preaching on end times and days and nights".
Today, slowly, slowly, you'll find that the preaching of end times is now put on the shelf or even totally cast out. The Bible says, Peter says, in the end times scoffers will come, saying, "Where's the promise of his coming? Where, where, where? Since our fathers fell asleep, everything has gone as normal". And the Bible says these people are ignorant of one thing, okay? This is what the portion says in chapter 3. Next chapter, "The Lord is not slack concerning His promise," his promise to return. He's not slack, he's not slacking concerning the promise of his return to save us.
Before the return of Christ, let me explain. I'm going to say this one more time. I've said this a number of times. The Rapture is not Second Coming. Rapture is a private affair for his church, all right? He says, "I go to prepare a place for you, and when I go, I will come again and receive you unto myself". That's the Rapture. 1 Thessalonians talks about, all right, the Lord will come and harpazo in Greek, he will seize us. It's a story all over again of Enoch. Enoch never saw death. Enoch was raptured. Enoch was the father of Methuselah. And God said, "Flood is coming".
And I want to say something to you. God is not a God that jumps on the gun straight away. "Oh, you sinned, I'm going to blast you". No, God waited. God waited. "God is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but He's longsuffering towards us, not willing that any should perish". Not willing! He's not willing! He's not willing. Are there those who perish? Yes, but God, in God's heart, he's not willing. "Then why don't he save them, Pastor Prince"? Free choice. Man was not a robot, was not created a robot. God gave man a choice. You can get up right now and walk away. God won't stop you. Jesus said, "How I wish Jerusalem, Jerusalem, to gather you as a mother hen would gather her chicks". But notice the four words. "But you would not". Would, it's a choice. "And now you are left to yourself, and armies will come around you".
And that happened, we know it happened. So, God is not slack, okay? "But He's not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance". So, why is God delaying? He's waiting for more to be saved. Good God. Don't despise his slackness. Don't despise his slackness. And I see a story in the Bible of a terrorist, and what did God do? God knocked him off his high horse, literally, and saved him and made him the greatest apostle of grace that the world has ever seen, the apostle Paul. I thank God for that. God doesn't deal the way man, you know? What a heart. So, Enoch realized, God told Enoch judgment is coming. You will find Enoch's prophecy in the New Testament in the book of Jude.
"Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints to judge the ungodliness of the ungodly, of the ungodly speeches they have spoken against him". All right, and Enoch saw it, and God says, "Enoch, judgment is coming". Enoch says, "God, I'm ready. The flood is coming to the earth, I'm ready". And God says, "You will have a son". He said, "Yes, thank you, Lord". But God says, "I want you to name him Methuselah," Indian name, Mutusala. Okay, it's Methuselah, okay, but actually in Hebrew mut is death, so Methuselah. You call his name Methuselah Say, "Lord, what do you mean? His death, when he dies, he will bring, like an arrow, his death will bring. What does it mean? What does it mean, Lord"?
As the boy grew up, he noticed that God kept the boy strong and healthy, and the boy lived and lived and lived. And Enoch, the Bible says, Enoch had a revelation, by the way. When he was born, he had a revelation already. Because the Bible says after Methuselah was born, Enoch walked with God. So, this revelation of the end times will cause people to walk with God, and his name means what? When he dies, it will come. That means the moment this boy dies, the judgment, the flood will come. And they watched, and the news was spread far and wide. Watch this boy, every time he has a sneeze and all that, all the neighbors come running with their handkerchief and their chicken soup.
And every family had their own chicken soup. Every time, you know, the boy, they will help the boy up. I mean, they don't want to see him die. And he became the longest living man to record on earth. He lived longer than Adam. Methuselah lived 969 years, why? Not willing any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. That's the heart of God, people. That's the heart of God. God says, "Yeah, it's going to happen. Yes, yes, the iniquity is full. It's going to happen. Your boy will be called, when he dies, it will come". Then God waited. What a heart. That's why it's called longsuffering. I like the old English, longsuffering. Every marriage must have this longsuffering.
Some of you suffer for a while, you whack. You let fly some words. Longsuffering, the first characteristic of love. Love is the modern says patience, but the word longsuffering. I love it, I love it, amen? So we see a Rapture, and we see another group that goes through the flood, delivered but in the flood, delivered nonetheless, but delivered out of the flood. He came out to a new world, Noah. So, there are people already in heaven, like Enoch, never died, like the Rapture. We will be Raptured. But then there are people who will be saved later, and they will go through the Great Tribulation, and they will be delivered when Jesus comes. And that's what it means.
"He that endures to the end" is referring to those 3 1/2 years. Jesus talking in the context of the end when he mentioned Matthew 24, "He that endures to the end shall be saved". He's not referring to "you last long enough, you'll be saved". No, we are all saved. The word "saved" is also delivered. He that endures to the end shall be delivered because he is returning. So when he comes, it's not like the Rapture. The Rapture, will be twinkling of an eye, we will all go up. If you are born again, every born again person goes up, no matter how faithful, at what level of faithfulness, just like you got saved not by your faithfulness but by his grace, you are also Raptured by his grace. Because Rapture is receiving your brand-new body that will never grow old, never decay, never die, never feel pain, never feel bored, never fall asleep when the pastor is preaching, amen? It's a glorified body, an incorruptible body.
And the Bible says, "We shall not all sleep but we shall all be changed". So everyone who's born again is going up. Don't buy this partial rapture theory, amen? The picture of Enoch, we are the first, those who are saved before the judgment. But those who are saved in the judgment, they will go through the judgment protected. Some will die as martyrs, but many of them will be protected, amen? In the book of Revelation, "144,000 sealed with protection," amen, and they will persevere to the end, and the Lord will come and deliver them. Are you listening, people?
Now we're about to see a story of same thing, same thing. God is hiding all these future events in the Bible. We have a man looking at the judgment of Sodom and Gomorrah from a higher elevation. Just like the church in the book of Revelation, they are crowned already in the earlier chapters. They already in heaven, but they are looking down at all the judgments falling on the earth. The church is a home of God, worshiping, singing, and God is at home with the church because of the death of his Son, so it's a homely feel. God is sharing the secrets of his heart.
In fact, when God told Abraham about Sodom and Gomorrah, it starts like this: "Shall I hide from Abraham the thing which I'm about to say, seeing that Abraham will be a great nation, for I have known him that he will order his family". I covered all that last week. But notice that God treats Abraham more than a disciple. He treats him like a friend. And you know how Jesus treats us? John 15:15: "No longer do I call you servants," this the upper room the night before he died, "for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called, I have called you, I have called you friends," I have called you friends.
Imagine, friend, same thing like Abraham. Abraham is called a friend of God. And he said, "Shall I hide from Abraham"? What is a friend to Jesus? A friend is someone you can share everything, "For all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you". Isn't that beautiful, amen? He treats you like a friend. He will tell you things before it happens, amen. So, Abraham knew it was gonna happen long before the people of Sodom knew, even before the Lot knew. Abraham saw the judgment but from a place of elevation. He's not involved in the judgment. He has nothing in the judgment. Nothing burns his stuff up. He's breathing fresh air in the mountain looking down. That's what's gonna happen to us. You understand?
"Apostle Prince, the Bible talks about those, 'One shall be taken, one left,' and all that". I'll teach on that another day, okay? Because the "one taken, one left" is not the Rapture. In fact, the church doesn't even appear in Jesus's account. It's referring to the Jewish believers. It's all Jewish account. "Pray your flight be not on the Sabbath". It's all Jewish account. Flee to the mountains. Ours what? Flee where? Mount Faber? So it's all for the Jewish believers then, all right? "Pastor Prince, that's why I don't read it. It's not so important". Not so important?
Do you know Matthew 24 is the... they asked Jesus only three questions, all right? When the stones of the temple be overthrown? When will be the sign of your coming? Second one. What is the sign of the age? And Jesus gave them the longest response in all the gospels, the longest, okay, friend, not the longest sermon, there's a Sermon on the Mount, but the longest response, and you tell me it's not important? One day we'll teach on it. And some people, the Rapture, they don't believe in the Rapture, and they believe Rapture and Second Coming are the same.
Imagine Jesus come back, we are raptured halfway, then he say, "Okay, turn around, we're going back again". My son will say, "Huh"? You know? No, it's two separate events. It's a secret revealed to Paul. Paul says, "I show you a mystery". Rapture is a mystery. Second Coming is not. All the patriarchs of the Old Testament, all the prophets, they prophesied of the Second Coming, not the Rapture. It was hidden from them. Paul says, "Behold, I show you a mystery". A mystery means it was hidden in the Old Testament. "We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed". That no partial rapture theory. All believers will be changed. Are you listening, people?
Then comes the millennium. Jesus comes, returns, amen? It'll be 1,000 years of perfect felicity, perfect happiness, perfect order of things on earth, no noise pollution, no pollution of any kind. This 1,000 year rule is not the final rule because we know final thing because the final one is new heaven, new earth, amen? But look at this. God want to show man beyond the shadow of any doubt that man in and of himself, he cannot. Anything that depends on him, he cannot. So, the millennium is like this. Now faith has become sight. They are seeing Jesus visibly. The nations of the earth through their television will see Jesus visibly, amen, everyone!
So what excuse do we have today when you try to talk to them about Jesus? "No, I can't see, what. I can't see, I can't believe". Well, the excuse will be no more. They will see him. They will see him do miracles still. They will see him, a boy, when he comes, a boy who on crutches and all that, he will heal on television. Everyone will see it. The King ruling, no more corruption, no more robbery. So what excuse do you have? What excuse does man have? I can't see. I can't see. Unless I see, I will not believe like Thomas. Now you see, okay? Next one. There's a song that says, Philip Wilson has a song that says, "The devil made me do it".
So even Christians and non-Christians, unbelievers, will say, "It's the devil. The devil made me do it," you know? A lot of things are blamed on the devil today, right? I mean, he's responsible a lot of things, I'll tell you this for sure. Even the wars and any bad thing on television is the devil, okay, in the news, for sure. The Bible says the devil is causing things. The devil is trying to stop the seed from coming. The story of Lot, Sodom, and Gomorrah, the promised seed. That's why the flood of Noah, which is my another message altogether, is trying to stop the seed from coming, which is the Messiah, the crusher of the devil's head, the serpent destroyer, the dragon slayer. He's trying to stop him from coming.
But watch this people. During the 1,000 year rule of Jesus, Satan is bound. Satan is bound. It takes only one angel to bind him, by the way. He's bound for 1,000 years, the Bible says, "So that he will not deceive the nations". So what's your excuse? You won't see Satan anymore causing problems in this part of the world, causing tsunamis and all... no more! Satan is gone. I mean, bound, not gone, bound. Now their excuse gone. Some people blame, you "know, I cannot accept Jesus because my child is like this". "How about that child down there"? Even they found their own child, another child. "How about that person down there? How about my grandfather? How about this? How about that? This person is sick. That person is deformed. This person is handicapped, mental as well".
They blame God. Anything, they blame God. They will now blame man's sin and the condition that came out of sin. I'm not saying that that family is suffering from something the father did. Sin comes from Adam. So that all the genes, our genes, have fallen. I'm not referring to jeans, bro. G-E... I'm referring to G-E-E-N. I want to see whether you're awake or not. I know it's G-E-N-E, okay? But it's all fallen. So here and there, sometimes, this person is healthy, third and fourth down the line might not be healthy, but thank God for the Communion. Thank God for the work of Jesus. We can believe God for healing, amen?
But that "excuse, I cannot accept a God who does things like that," will not be in existence. There will be no more sickness. All doctors are out of job, no more hospitals. The Great Physician is ruling. And even his ministers, all of us, will be here. We are the only ones incorruptible body, 'cause there will be still people on earth, normal people, and everyone will rule. Some rule more cities, some rule less, depending on their faithfulness. That is faithfulness, all right? But we will all rule. So we are mixing together. Are you listening? So, Satan bound, no more sickness.
And some say, "You know, it's easy for you to say these kind of things. It's easy for America to say that. It's easy for you in Singapore to say that. It's easy for you to say that. You have a car. You have a house. But where we live, we hardly have clothes to wear. We don't know where our meal is coming from. If this a God who loves us, you know, this what we are going through". There will be no more poverty. The whole earth will be wealthy. I mean, it's back to Garden of Eden conditions. There is no lack, amen. Sickness no more. Do people still die? Yeah, but longevity. Death will be an exception then. Longevity is the rule.
In fact, Isaiah prophesied of that time. He says that if a man dies at 100 years old, he's a child. That's not normal during that time. Are you excited? This is amazing, amen? No more wars! He will make wars to cease to the ends of the earth. People complain today, "Well, if God is God, why are there so many wars..."? All those complaints against God, God will have a rule where, "What's your excuse now"? And then, the Bible says the eternity's gonna rule, will be with him. It's God's vindication of his person, of his Son, and that's why his Son had to die, amen?
You see, people, there are some grace teachers today that are teaching. They are teaching things that other people, you know, some people are very smart. When they write an article, what they do is that they write articles on grace teachers and you grace teachers, some of you, you give grace a bad name. You know, they say that everybody is saved, hallelujah. They seek sentimentalism. Everybody is saved, all right? No, no, no, no, no, my friend. Everyone has to believe to be saved. The provision is for all, but you have to believe. Some write articles, and they put these kind of names on down there. Then they put my name on the other side of the page so that they give an illusion that I believe these things. But y'all know better.
I think that's not noble, and that's not Christian to do, all right? So there are those who teach everybody to save weird, and there are those who are teaching preterist things that everything is just spiritual in the book of Revelation, the end-times is just A.D. 70 and all that. And when you ask them about 1,000 years, they say, "Oh, it's a spiritual expression," and they always go back to "God owns the cattle on a thousand hills". That's the only thing they always go back to. But in the book of Revelation, times, 3 1/2 years times and times and a half and all that, it's literal time. One thousand years there is literal. So you ask them, "If it's figurative that we are now, after Jesus died, figuratively, we are all in a thousand years, so why is there still sickness"?
And during a thousand years, Satan is bound. Yeah, he's bound. You call this world today Satan bound? Well, if this is millennium, does it get any better? So you must be careful of these kind of weird teachings, and the worst one of all is this: there is no more hell. Grace teaches no more hell. There's no hell, all right? Fire just means God refined them and God refined, some of them, even extreme to say, even the devil be saved. When I read my Bible, all right, God talks about hell as a place of torment. And if you argue from aeon, aeon can be used for a period, all right, I'll tell you this. Don't argue based just on, I mean Greek. I can argue based on Greek.
Look at what the Word of God says. The things that are seen are temporal. The things that are not seen are aeon compared with temporal. And the word "aeon," you say it's temporal. How do you explain this? It's used for God, the eternal God. The temporal God? It's used for eternal redemption. Temporal redemption? Are you listening, people? You can even argue based on context, all right, so never mind. Y'all didn't come here to hear theology. Y'all come here to Satan-proof your family, right? So let's finish the story, all right? Praise God. So go back to Abraham negotiating, and the last part, let me just read to you. Okay, God says, "Shall I hide from Abraham"?
So he's gonna share like to a friend, "The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great," and I'll come down and see what's going to happen, "Then the men turned away from there and went toward Sodom, but Abraham still stood before the Lord". Next, "And Abraham came near," you see the boldness? Once God... God wants him to be bold. God wants him to intercede. Let me ask you a question. If God wants to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, why didn't God just go and destroy? Why didn't God go find a man that he knew would pray? So even though God is a God of justice, he's always wanting someone to pray, someone on earth, because God gave this earth to man, and in a sense, right now, in a sense, God doesn't have full reign on the earth, until Jesus comes. Are you listening, people?
So God wants man. Why did God visit Abraham? Why didn't he just go down to the plains of Jordan and destroy Sodom and Gomorrah? God wanted to be interceded. Reminds me so much of Jonah. You know, Jonah, the most reluctant and the most successful evangelist. God told Jonah, "Go preach to the city of Nineveh," the headquarters of the Assyrian Empire, and the Assyrians have been very wicked. You can go to the British Museum and see the pictures on the wall of the Assyrian Empire then and how they break the legs of the Jewish people. You'll see the capture of Lachish, a Jewish city. And God said, "Go, preach to them. Tell them I'm going to judge Nineveh for their wickedness". And our friend didn't go. He went the other way. You know the long story, right?
All right, he went down to Joppa. He left God, always go down. I always say that when you leave God, you go down. He went down to Joppa, from Joppa went down into the boat, from the boat they throw him down into the sea, all right, and the sea became calm, and then he went down into the whale's mouth. And there's been more than one instance in history of a man still alive in the belly of the whale. I believe he's a whale. I know, "Pastor, Bible says 'big fish.'" Good for you, all right? My own personal opinion, all right? This is my pulpit. I give you my opinion, all right? It can be any fish. Let's not argue about that. That's not a point of a sermon, all right?
Big fish, he got swallowed by a big fish, and the big fish gave him a first-class lodging all the way to Nineveh, and this is how he arrived at the terminal, all right...? Slide down... He slide out. Then he came out, jaundiced, the gastric juice of the whale. His hair is all gone, eyebrows gone. There's no hair on his body, amen? He looks jaundiced. You know, the gastric juice makes you look jaundiced. Then he come down there. He's angry. Then he told the entire city, "Yet in 40 days, God will overthrow the city". Then he walk off, all right? I counted in English in King James eight words. The shortest sermon that ever preached in Hebrew. I look up the Hebrew. In Hebrew, five words: "Forty days, you die". God will overthrow you, all right?
And yet, the very next verse, "The entire city repented". So I tell you the most unwilling and the most reluctant evangelist with the shortest sermon ever preached to entire city, got the greatest results that he did not want, he did not want. He didn't want them saved! So he was angry like a spoiled kid, sitting on a mountain to see God will... God will not destroy. He looked, whether God will destroy. Finally, he realized God is not gonna destroy. Forty days came, God didn't destroy, and this is why he complained to God. He says to God this: "It displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he became angry. So he prayed to the Lord, and said, 'Ah, Lord, was not this what I said when I was still in my country? Therefore I fled previously to Tashish; for I know that You are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger, too slow for me, and abundant in lovingkindness, One who relents from doing harm.'"
No, he didn't say. I always thought that he didn't want to preach because these people were wicked to his Jewish people, but actually, he didn't want to preach because he knew God's nature, mm, mm. He's got better theology than most Christians who believe that God is very quick to judge. I'm telling you. It says, "I knew! I knew this"! All right, go back. Go to verse 3: "Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, it's better for me to die," than to see revival, "than to live"!
In essence, it's the most reluctant, all right? Then the Lord said to him, "Is it right for you to be angry"? And y'all know the story, right? God shaded him from the heat of the day. Then the bitter God, I mean, it doesn't say bitter God. Just say God. I'm thinking of... and then the God, the leaf, you know, withered up and the sun fell on him. He was so angry and God says, "You care for a little plant, should I not care for 120,000 people? They don't even know their right hand and their left". And that's the last verse of Jonah. It ends like that. The nature of our God, slow to anger, slow, amen?
Back to Abraham's story. I hope we finish this. "Abraham came near," that's boldness, "and said, 'would you also destroy the righteous with the wicked?'" Who do you presume he's calling the righteous? Huh? Lot. Remember, I showed you just now? Oh, show them again, 2 Peter 2: "God delivered righteous Lot, who was oppressed by the filthy conduct of the wicked (for that righteous man, dwelling among them, tormented his righteous soul from day to day by seeing and hearing their lawless deeds)".
Three times he's called righteous. Righteous by faith, by the way. Very clearly. But the thing is this: he's a defeated righteous man. He's watching television full of filth. Okay, he's not watching television. He's watching as good as even life, all right? He lives among them, he's even a leader. He sits in the gate of Sodom, amen? And this is really, you know, a life of worldliness, yet righteous. You see, he never lost the status of righteousness in God's eyes. No, that comes as a gift by faith, all right? But he was defeated. At the end he lost his entire family, his two girls. That's a different kind of relationship altogether.
And go back again to the story. Abraham asked God, "Suppose there were fifty righteous within the city; would You also destroy the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous that are in it? Far be it from You to do such a thing as this, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be as the wicked; far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right"? Now, this is boldness talking, right? The Lord said, now listen to the Lord's heart. "If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes". Then he say, "What about 45"?
Drop down because of time, all right? So God said, last line, "If I find there forty-five, I will not destroy". See God's heart. Drop down. Okay he say, "What about forty"? "I will not do it. I will not do it for the sake of forty". Then he says, what? "What if there's thirty"? "I will not do it if I find thirty there". Drop down, it says like, "What about twenty"? "I will not destroy it for the sake of twenty". He says that, "Lord, Lord, Lord, let not the Lord be angry and I speak but once more. Suppose ten should be found there". And he said, "I will not destroy it for the sake of ten".
I believe there are ten righteous in Singapore, and I believe there are ten righteous in America, and I believe there are ten righteous in Europe. Now, why did he stop at ten? I used to, you heard me preach before, right? You should go for one. Let's finish it. "So the Lord went His way as soon as He had finished speaking with Abraham; Abraham returned to his place". Why ten? Well, I was reading the account in the next chapter and when the angels came into Sodom, the angels actually said this, "Hurry, quickly get out of the this city. Whatever you have here, son-in-law," and he had two sons-in-law in law. Sons, sons, plural. At least minimum two, am I right? Sons-in-law, at least two, two married daughters, am I right?
And he had two daughters that never knew a man, the Bible says, that means they are unmarried in his house. And then he and his wife. Let's go. Two sons-in-law married to two daughters of Lot, right? And then you have two sons, sons means at least two, plural, two sons, sons, at least two, six. Then you have two daughters, they're not married, right? Then you have his wife and him, ten. So, I think Abraham had a purpose for saying ten. He wanted the entire family saved, all right? End up only his wife and two daughters came out. Lost his wife because she delayed and his two daughters.
Let me just tell you this, let's go to the story. And the last part here, I'll do something that I seldom do, I'll let the account speak for itself, okay? This is our family, we are living in these times. Jesus says, "As it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be before the coming of the Son of Man. As it was in the days of Lot, so it shall be". Let's follow the story. Next chapter, "Now the two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom".
You see, Abraham was sitting in the tent, he was in Sodom, he was in the gate of Sodom. He's an established man, a V.V.I.P. in this Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them, he bowed himself with his face toward the ground. Now, his reaction is not very full, okay? He bowed with his face. Abraham prostrate, Abraham bowed himself, not just his face. Abraham heart was really into welcoming the Lord. And he said, he also has this heart, you'll see in a while's time but not as great as his uncle. "And he said, 'Here now, my lords, please turn in to your servant's house, and spend the night.'"
By the way, go to verse 1 again. Verse 1 is what? Two angels came. The Lord himself is not there. The Lord didn't walk in, but the Lord came to Abraham. I pray that you and I become Christians that are righteous, of course, we are righteous by faith, but we are people that God is at home with. Some things that we deal with, God, I mean, God never leaves us but he's not gonna be involved in that. Okay watch this, I don't want to comment so much. It's self-explanatory. "He said, 'Here now, my Lord, please turn into your servant's house, spend the night, wash your feet; then you may rise early and go on your way.' And they said, 'No, but we will spend the night in the open square.'"
Wow, when Abraham said, you know, wanted to sit under the tree, right, immediately they acquiesce to his request but here they said no. They won't go into Lot's house. We'll stay in the open square. Lot had to insist. "But Lot insisted strongly; so they turned in to him and entered his house. Then he made them a feast, and baked unleavened bread, and they ate". No calf mentioned, no blood being shed. It's unleavened bread. He that have ears to hear, let him hear. Abraham gave both the shedding of blood as well as the bread.
Let me tell you this, when Joseph was in prison, there were two men, a butler and a baker. The butler had a dream that he was squeezing the grapes, the blood of grapes into Pharaoh's cup. The other guy, the baker says, "I also have a dream on my head was a basket, a bread basket, and there were three bread on my head". What does it mean? Hey listen, whenever bread is mentioned for the first time by itself, it's something bad. By the sweat of your face, you will eat bread, thorns and thistles, he bring forth. The first time wine is mentioned, Noah got drunk. Wine by itself, all right, without bread was bad, amen? But when bread and wine was mentioned for the first time together, Abraham met Melchizedek who brought bread and wine. You cannot just have the life of Jesus, unleavened bread.
There are people who, "Jesus is wonderful, I believe he's the greatest man that ever lived," but they don't talk about the cross. They don't talk about him shedding his blood. That's a dangerous doctrine. Why is Lot a defeated righteous man? He never values the blood, the cross. He never see himself, you know, he's saved by faith, but just barely. The Bible said there are those who are saved so as by fire. This is the story of the man, saved so as just by fire. Fire fell but he escaped, just barely escaped, that's all. We don't want to be Christians like that. Want to be strong Christians that commune with the Lord like a friend, breathing the fresh air on the mountain of communion. Hebron means communion. In the place of fatness of friendship, hallelujah, amen?
"He insisted strongly so they turned into him and entered his house, made them..." And there's a teaching going on among grace teachers, all right? I don't know you grace teachers, you know, it's like, God is restoring the gospel of grace and I just feel like the devil is not stupid. Some of these grace people are wonderful people, but their message is all warped. "And you give grace a bad name". Remember the song "give love a bad name," the old hymn? This is give grace a bad name. So, they say when Jesus died on the cross, it's a non-penal substitution. Jesus didn't die under God's judgment. He didn't die under God's wrath. He just died to express his love for us. It's sick sentimentalism. No hell, the Bible says there's hell. What the?
There's hell. The Bible says in hell, how much more literal you want Jesus to get? It says the fire is not quenched and the worms does not die. Go spiritualize that. And Jesus says it's forever. No one spoke of hell the way Jesus did. Sick sentimentalism. Oh, God loves everybody. Everybody will be saved. I mean it's non-penal, which means the fire never reached him. Well, be careful, when God instituted the Passover lamb, this is what God said to Israel in Exodus 12. The last plague, all right, that will kill the firstborn.
God said in Exodus 12, "They shall eat the flesh of the Passover lamb on that night, roasted in fire with unleavened bread". That is his sinless, faultless, perfect human life. "And with bitter herbs, they shall eat it. Do not eat raw". What is raw? Raw means the fire has not touched it. So, they see Jesus yes, he died, but it's almost like he died as a martyr. That's dangerous, friend. That's dangerous to teach that non-penal substitution. And then nor boil. "Do not eat it boiled at all with water". Now, water is even closer. You feel the heat, but you don't touch the fire. The fire never touched you.
So, the lamb's flesh is boiled but the fire never touched it. All this is dangerous teaching. You must eat it roasted in fire. Its head, and its legs, and its entrails. Remember, he faced God's judgment for our sins. This is how much God loves us. God is holy. God is just. And because he's holy and just, he much punish sin. And God knew that. How can a righteous thrice holy God accept sinful men? The cross. God so loved the world that he gave his only Son. So, when his Son died on the cross, amen, God took your sins, my sins, God laid it on Jesus. And because God has to punish sin, God punished his Son, all right, for the sins that he was bearing, but it was our sins.
So, our sins have been punished so that today if God punishes you for your sins that he punished Jesus for, God will be unrighteous. God will be unholy. God will be unjust. God arranged this whole thing in such a way that God will be righteous. When you say, "I believe in Jesus," God is righteous in making you righteous. Are you hearing what I'm saying, all right? God did not compromise his holiness. God did not minimize his righteousness. No, his righteousness is involved. In fact, his righteousness demands that God accepts us now when we believe for his Son because his Son died for us.
So, "Are you saying, Pastor Prince, when you say God doesn't remember our sins anymore that God is forgetful"? No, God cannot forget things, but because God is a righteous God, God can make himself forget judicially, why? He remembered your sins and my sins 2,000 years ago in the body of his Son. As far as God is concerned, the cross is outside time. I don't like to say 2,000 years ago because it's outside time. The Bible says we come in a new and living way. Look up the word "living way". It's a freshly slain way. It's almost as if Jesus died this morning. When you take communion, you must feel like Jesus just died this morning. It's a new and freshly slain way. Are you listening, people? With God, there's no time.
So, when Jesus died on the cross as far as God is concerned, he died in our place and now God's righteousness remembered all the sins of you and I, mankind, and God laid it on Jesus. God remembered being righteous. God remembered every iota. Man can forget, God cannot. And God punished every sin in the body of Jesus so that God today, his remembrance of that sin is that it's punished. So, in your body, in your life, God remembers your sins no more righteously. That's why you have to bring in the cross. You have to bring in the cross. Okay, let's go back to the story of so only unleavened bread. I noticed this when I was meditating on this verse, never heard anyone preach this. He just gave unleavened bread.
By the way, the one who... Joseph's story, back to Joseph's story, the butler that squeezed the blood of grapes, he was delivered. Those who believed in the blood. And the bread, unleavened bread on the head of the guy, he was hung by the... that means if you just believe in the sinless life of Jesus illustrated by the bread, but you don't believe in his cross, you still die and go to hell. That's the only way for us to be saved the blood, without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins. And all the people said, "amen, amen, amen, amen". Put the blood on your son, put your blood on your daughter, put the blood on yourself, amen. The blood protects you, people, amen? So, they ate.
Next verse, "Now before they lay down," the angels and Lot and all that, "the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both old and young, all the people from every quarter, surrounded the house. And they called to Lot and said to him, 'Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us that we may know them carnally.'" Next verse, "So Lot went out to them through the doorway and shut the door behind him, and said, 'Please, my brethren, do not do so wickedly! See now, I have two daughters who have not known a man; please, let me bring them out to you, and you may do to them as you wish; only do nothing to these men, since this is the reason they have come under the shadow of my roof.'"
How far he has fallen that he will give up his two daughters, righteous man but how defeated because he compromised. You see, even though you hear me teach and preach grace, if you live a lifestyle of sin, in fact, one of the saddest things is that we have so many testimonies of people being delivered from pornographic addiction and all that. We even have people who are willing to be shown on video testimony. Remember that guy last year when I was in Hillsong Europe, his testimony of how he was delivered from, I'm stunned that people are willing to go on video to share years of bondage set free by hearing the gospel of grace.
And then there's always someone who will say, "Well, this person, you know, is living in a adultery. When I asked him, he say he's not condemned. He's under grace, Pastor Prince's teaching". For me, it's very simple. If he's under grace, sin will have no dominion over him. Bible says, "Sin shall not have dominion over you because you are not under law, but under grace". But these are the things that the devil magnify to put grace down, to give grace a bad name. And people will not want to see all the thousands and thousands of testimonies. I have four testimonies right now in my Bible that I want to read, only four, you know, it's only a small portion of what has come in. I don't even have time to read it, all right? But people will pine out that one person.
If you want to sin, don't bring grace into it, okay, cannot, huh? Be a man. Take responsibility. The devil wants to rob people of the truth, you know? Go meditate. What does it mean? "For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law, but under grace". So, if sin has dominion, you are still not under grace. Something is warped up there, some screw loose. And I always say if you're living in adultery, all right, you are self-condemned. This is not what this church believe, all right?
I'm not condemning you, I'm condemning your action, amen? And I pray that you wake up and leave that turkey alone. Go back to your wife because you think that you have something fresh from the turkey, after you marry that turkey, you'll become like your wife also or worse. Most likely it's worse. Then what are you gonna do, find a chick? Don't do this, he said, "This is the reason they have come under the shadow of my roof". He told so Lot told the man, "Don't do this". Next verse, "And they said, 'Stand back!' Then they said, 'This one came in to stay here, and he keeps acting as a judge.'"
Look at the language of these people. They always say that we are condemning them. "'They keep acting as a judge. Now we will deal worse with you than with them.' So they pressed hard against the man Lot, and came near to break down the door. But the men," the angels, "reached out their hands and pulled Lot into the house with them, and shut the door. And they struck the men who were at the doorway of the house with blindness, both small and great, so that they became weary trying to find the door. Then the men said to Lot, 'Have you anyone else here? Son-in-law, your sons, your sons, your daughters, and whomever you have in the city, take them out of this place"!
Next verse, "'For we will destroy this place, because the outcry against them has grown great before the face of the Lord, and the Lord has sent us to destroy it.' So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law," at least two, "who had married his daughters". So we have four here. "And said, 'Get up, get out of this place; for the Lord will destroy this city!' But to his sons-in-law he seemed to be joking". Now, something happens when you mix with the world and you talk like them, you drink with them, all right, and you act like them. You use language like them and finally you tell them about the coming judgment, they will look at you and say, "Stop joking". You have lost your credibility. You have lost your weightiness, you have lost your dignity, and you have lost your influence over them.
Next, "When the morning dawned, the angels urged Lot to hurry". Setting is your own family, you know? By the time you want to be serious with them about things of God, they'll look at you, "Look who's talking". It's a sad day. Let's not wait for the day to come, amen? "When the morning dawned, the angels urged Lot to hurry, saying, 'Arise, take your wife and your two daughters who are here.'" In other words, the angels know that the two daughters they've married and the sons-in-law, gone. They're not willing to come. All right, "'Lest you be consumed in the punishment of the city.' And while Lot lingered..." Aiyoh, this man, angels come to your house, they've been saying hurry up, hurry up. And while he dillydally, while he linger, "I must take my collection of DVDs".
And while he lingered, look what happened. I love this. "The man took hold of his hand". There were two men, right? His wife's hand and the hands of his two daughters. So, the man took the wife's hand, the hand of his two daughters, all right? And he the other angel took Lot's hand and the other daughter, or Lot and his wife and the two daughters. Okay, it works out. "The Lord being merciful to him". Must grab you by the hand, you know, help you get delivered. You see, if I don't read all this, people will think oh God just anyhow judge or God, you know... no, God is slow. And even then the angel can say, "You still want to linger, you want to linger? All right, bye. See you in hell".
Did he do that? No. We know he didn't go to hell, of course. But look, he lingered, almost had to be forced out. The Lord being merciful, I love that, the Lord "And they brought him out and set him outside the city. So, it came to pass, when they had brought them outside, that he said, 'Escape for your life! Do not look behind you...'" We know later on the wife did. "Nor stay anywhere in the plain. Escape to the mountains, lest you be destroyed". Real quick I'll tell you this. You look at the this word, It's actually ha-Harah, that means the mountain, and I believe, I believe when I was meditating on this and looked up the Hebrew, I believe "the mountain" refers to where Abraham was, the high elevation. He's saying, "Go back to where Abraham was," amen, the mountain.
Hebron is there, Abraham is watching down, all right? But on the west side, but he wants to go the Jordan side, the east side. He said this, Lot said to them, "Please no, my Lord". See, this guy, uh. People say escape to the mountain. "No, no, please no". And then next verse, "Indeed now, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you increased your mercy which you have shown me by saving my life; but I cannot escape to the mountains, lest some evil overtake me and I die". He didn't believe the angel. He says, "See now, this city". One city down here. "It's near enough to flee to. It's a little one, please let me escape there (is it not a little one?) and my soul shall live".
By the way, this is the first time, "You have increased your mercy which you have shown me by saving my life". This is the first occurrence ever in the Bible of the word "hesed" and it was used by a defeated righteous man, a man who didn't focus on the blood, hmm? My soul shall live. By the way, another thing about him, he didn't focus on the blood. The second thing is this, we never see him tithing. He should be the one tithing because it was the spoils that came back, the spoils of Sodom, only Abraham was tithing, all right? And then the third thing we see of Lot is that his name. Lot means avail and the Bible says that in Genesis when Lot departed... show them that verse.
The Lord said to Abraham, "After Lot the veil had separated from Abram, lift your eyes now and look from the place where you are, north, south, east, west. All the land you see, I give to you and your descendants forever". In other words, there are some Christians who are still veiled. They will tell you, "Jesus didn't come to destroy the law, he came to fulfill". And you tell them, he fulfilled it and there's still a veil. The law is for today. So, there is a veil. The Bible says the veil is the preaching of the law, 2 Corinthians 3. And you end up defeated because the law is natural. If you try to keep the law... see, we are delivered from the law to be governed by the Spirit. I said, we are delivered from the law to be governed by the Spirit.
Unless you are delivered from the law, you cannot be governed by the Spirit, so if you are living trying to keep the law, you end up natural and you have lusts coming out, you know, and manifesting because by the law is the knowledge of sin, okay? Go back to the story again. We're gonna finish this. All right, "Please, let me go to this city". It's called Zoar by the way. "Let me go to this city". Next, angels said to him, "See, I have favored you concerning this thing also". Actually, note, the word "favor" is not right here. It's not the word favored hand. It's the word nasah which means, "I'll support you in this," all right? "In that I will not overthrow this city for which you have spoken".
When I read this I was thinking, Abraham is not the only one that saved, you know, Lot, but actually Lot saved the city. "I will not overthrow this city because you want to go there". Can you see that? Defeated, very sad case but still can pray and God will hear. "Hurry, escape there," The angel said. "For I cannot", I love this, I cannot, I cannot, I cannot, I cannot. Supernatural beings, strong angel says, "Hurry, escape there". "I cannot". Bring in judgment. "I cannot do anything until you arrive there".
I'm telling you this, if this is God's attitude, you think judgment will fall in Singapore? Judgment will fall on America as long as believers are not yet raptured. We'll see consequences of sin, and it will be bad, but judgment from God, no, until we are raptured. "I cannot do anything until you arrive there". What a statement, what a statement. "Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar," which means small, "The sun had risen upon the earth when Lot entered Zoar". Now next, "Then the Lord rained brimstone and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah, from the Lord out of the heavens. So, he overthrew those cities, all the plain, all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground".
If you go there to the area today, the Dead Sea Area, you still find sulfur stones on the ground. Only the area can you find sulfur stones. You take one of the sulfur stones, you stick it and burn it. Use a lighter, don't use your hand. All right, put it on a spoon, whatever. Even the spoon will have a hole after that. You burn that thing and the whole room will smell of sulfur. There's sulfur stones all over that area of the Dead Sea, even today, only that area, all right? And God overthrew everything. "But his wife looked back behind and she became a pillar of salt".
Now, there are many pillars of salt in that area now, all right, she probably delayed too long, all right, because she has lived that life, amen. She's a picture of a professing Christian, not a possessing, eternal life Christian, but professing. Married to a possessing eternal life man, but she is a professor, not a confessor, all right? I love this part, I love this. "And Abraham went early in the morning to the place where he had stood before the Lord". You know the place where he stood before the Lord, on the place of elevation? He went back to the same place. I love it. And then, "He looked towards Sodom and Gomorrah and toward all the land of the plain and he saw and behold the smoke of the land which went up like the smoke of a furnace".
He saw from afar like the smoke of a furnace. The whole place went up and he saw. That's what we'll see up there, looking down. You won't be down here. Regardless of how many preachers tell you you'll be here, you'll not be here. And we got only one person to thank, our Lord Jesus. Let me finish this, okay? Let's finish this, okay? All right, this chapter's coming to an end. Next verse, "And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out". God remembered Abraham and sent Lot out. I'm telling you, there are people... thank God for people who are praying for us, amen?
You can pray for your defeated Christian brother, your defeated Christian sister, and God will remember you and deliver that person out. Of course, it's in the name of Jesus, amen? We have no merit of our own. "God remembered Abraham, sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when He overthrew the cities in which Lot had dwelt. Then Lot went up out of Zoar". Now, you see this guy, not happy in Zoar now. A heart that's restless cannot believe God will protect him, all right? The angel said, "We'll spare Zoar". Did he ask to go to Zoar?
Now he came out of Zoar and he dwelt in the mountain. Now not the original mountain, this is not the definite article here. The mountain of Zoar is on the Jordan side. There's still a place called the place of Lot and they have a cave there, a monastery there. "And he and his two daughters dwelt in a cave". Oh sorry, "He was afraid to dwell in Zoar. All right, and he and his two daughters dwelt in a cave". Next verse, these are the last few verses, I need to read this.
"Now the firstborn said to the younger, 'Our father is old, and there is no man on the earth to come in to us as is the custom of all the earth. Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve the lineage of our father.' So they made their father drink wine that night. And the firstborn went in and lay with her father, and he did not know when she lay down or when she arose. And it happened the next day that the firstborn said to the younger, 'Indeed I lay with my father last night; let us make him drink wine tonight also, and you go in and lie with him, that we may preserve the lineage of our father,' then they made their father drink wine that night also".
Stop, where did these girls learn how to drink? How did these girls learn to drink to the point of intoxication, you can bring a man to intoxication? What examples have they seen? Be careful what you let your children watch, all right? "Oh, pastor, I don't want to be too hard on them". No friend, as long as they're under your house, you have a divine rule. Parents, I want to tell you something right now. I'm gonna give you a gift right now, a revelation. God has made you a king and a priest if your house, that's why you don't have to raise your voice, all right? You don't have to raise your voice because you just say, "I believe if you do this, it's gonna end up like this. I believe your best choice is this, is this. The Lord loves you".
Just speak normally, calmly, and trust that God gives weightiness to your words. On the other side, the devil is saying, "No, your parents are just restricting you". Your friend says, "Oh, come on join us," but all their words will fall to the ground. Parents have this confidence, but do speak up. Do restrict them if you need to. Do tell them what is good, all right? Don't lose control. Never lose control, shout, yell, you lose power. All right, speak normally. If you have to write, you have to text, trust that God will give you weightiness. God is on your side. That's why you don't have to scream, you don't have to shout.
The moment you scream and shout, you have lost control. You don't believe God, all right? But do speak because your words carry weight. Parents, I give you this gift, your words carry weight and glory that all the friends of the devil doesn't. So speak, but do speak. Do tell them what is wrong and what is right. Tell them about your love for them, tell them about the Lord's love for them. And even if they go, all right, trust your words will penetrate like arrows to the heart, amen. God will be at the back of your words, okay? They laid with their father. "The younger arose and lay with him, and he did not know when she lay down".
Okay next verse. And, "Thus both the daughters of Lot were with child by their father". What a sad, sad, sad closing to the life of a defeated righteous man, incestuous relationship. Now, I don't care what you say, you know, you say that they thought all the men have died and all that. They learned this somewhere and whenever you learn something, all right, instead of from Scriptures, the first thing that comes out is not faith. What a sad thing, he lost his wife, he lost his other sons, he lost his other daughters, now he loses, in a sense, even though they are there, it's not a normal relationship no more. "The firstborn bore a son and called his name Moab; for he's the father to the Moabites to this day". And became a pain to the side, a thorn in the side of Israel all the days of Israel in the Old Testament. We have a light that comes out of it, Ruth.
"And the younger, she also bore a son and called his name Ben-Ammi; he is the father of the people of Ammon to this day". Ammonites also, big problem for David and his men, remember? Enemies. And by the way, the story just ends like that. We don't know what happened to Lot. We don't know what happened to his two daughters. We do not know where they went, how they died. He's referred to by Jesus, remember Lot's wife, Jesus's shortest sermon, "Remember Lot's wife," amen? And he's talking the Jews of his day about the coming of the Lord, his coming. Friend, Jesus died on that cross. God is not willing that any should perish. When he comes again, he will come, not to deal with our sins.
I'll close with one last verse. Hebrews 9, please. "Christ also was offered once and for all time". Say, "Once and for all". "As a sacrifice to take away the sins of many people. He will come again". With us Christians, not to deal with our sins. "Our" here is believers. "But to bring salvation to all who are eagerly waiting for him". So, those eagerly waiting for him are all believers. It's gonna bring salvation. And what salvation is this? Our bodies, our bodies will be incorruptible forever, amen?
Look at Amplified. "Christ having been offered once and for all for all to bear as a burden, the sins of many, will appear a second time when he returns to earth not to deal with sin". But notice that he'll come to judge the earth. He will deal with the sin of the earth, but not to deal with our sin, all right, but to bring salvation to those. Who are these those? Who are eagerly and confidently waiting for him. So believers, rest assured when Jesus comes, you are going up. You will be raptured. He's not coming to deal with your sins, but he will come to establish his kingdom on the earth.
So, the world will get darker and darker and darker, the church will get brighter and brighter and brighter. And all the people said, "amen". To God be the glory. Give him praise, hallelujah, hallelujah. You have, all of you, you have received the gift of righteousness. God loves you, and I want to see you like that man on that mountain eating with God, laughing with God, fellowshipping with God. God calling him, in essence, "A man that I cannot hide anything from. Shall I hide from Abraham? Shall I hide from Robert? Shall I hide from Mary? Shall I hide from James"?
Be that kind of man, be that kind of woman, that enjoys sweet communion. Even when judgment is so near you, it's so near you just below within sight, you're not afraid. You know it's not meant for you and yet you will pray for others, and how come you can pray for others? Because your conscience has been purged by the blood of Jesus. You know you are forgiven. You know that you are righteous in God's eyes. You know you have influence with God, and God loves for you to have influence with him. He will delay for you to pray. I like that. He will delay for you to pray. And God delayed so that Abraham can pray, amen?
Friend, this world is gonna get darker and darker. There is a teaching, it's like a kingdom now mentality. The church will get powerful, invade, invade all the areas of society, invade politics, invade all this. My friend, let me just tell you this, I don't see he's that in the Scripture. The church will get more and more powerful, amen? In the eyes of God, we'll just grow and grow more and more glorious, but the way that God is ordained is to save people one soul at a time, amen? Many souls also, but that's God's way. Right now God is, what is God doing? Calling a people out for his name all over the world. God is not out changing nations. God is out changing people, amen. God is not out trying to make a Christian nation. God is out saving souls. A people for his name, amen. And people will influence society. Can I have a good amen?
With integrity, with honor, with honesty, with wisdom. That's what we need. It all begins with salvation. Let's get salvation back in the church. Let's bring back the gospel of Jesus Christ, amen? If by chance you are here but you've never accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Savior and Lord, you have never said "Father, I'm a sinner. I need a Savior, and I thank you you love me so much you sent Jesus to die for my sins. I want to be saved. Pray for me, pastor. I need Jesus". If that is you wherever you are right now, I'll lead you in the prayer. You pray this prayer from your heart, amen, wherever you're watching this right now, even those in Grace Revolution Church. If you have never put your trust in Christ as Savior and Lord and put your trust in his blood that washes you clean as snow, whiter than snow on the inside before God, pray this prayer with me. Say:
Father in heaven, I believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God, that you sent him to die for my sins and you raised him from the dead for my justification. Jesus Christ is my Lord, my Savior, and my God, and I thank you, Father, all my sins are forgiven, I'm a child of God, You are my Abba Father and all the blessings of God and the blessings of Abraham, they are mine. And Father, fill me with your Holy Spirit and let me live the victorious life, the Christ exalting life, not for self, but for Christ and for his glory. In Jesus's name (and all the people said) amen.
Stand to your feet. I'm gonna pray a blessing of protection over you. I know that this sermon can be a little bit, you know? But I pray that I have delivered it with clarity, all right? And it's important because we are living in this world and we are not blind to what is happening but thank God while all this is going on, Abraham had sweet communion living in the place of fatness, mamre in Hebron, fellowship with God, friendship with God. Lift your hands all across this place.
This coming week, I speak over you and your families. The Lord bless you with the blessings of Father Abraham. The Lord bless you with the blessings of Deuteronomy 28 even as he has blessed you with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. You are blessed. You are blessed. You are blessed. And the Lord preserve, protect, and keep you and your loved ones throughout this week from all manner of evil. The Lord deliver you from every evil work and preserve you unto his heavenly kingdom. The Lord give you grace never to go down from the mountain of fellowship. The Lord give you grace never to be like a Lot. God give you grace to bring your family with dignity and honor, not legalistically, not with a domineering way, but yet powerful, power in your words.
Father, in the name of Jesus, grant power, irresistible power that does not have to be yelled out, but spoken in quietness with firmness, with love. To all the parents here, Father, be it, Lord, spoken Word or written Word. Thank you, Father in heaven. The Lord preserve every one of you throughout this week from every sickness, from every disease, from every accident, and dangers, and harm, and from all the powers of darkness. The Lord grant to you and your family a blessed, blessed family, a family like Abraham's family whether there's laughter, with God speaking to you intimately, where there's no sin consciousness, only Jesus consciousness, amen. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray, (and all the people said) amen, God bless you.
Father, in the name of Jesus, grant power, irresistible power that does not have to be yelled out, but spoken in quietness with firmness, with love. To all the parents here, Father, be it, Lord, spoken Word or written Word. Thank you, Father in heaven. The Lord preserve every one of you throughout this week from every sickness, from every disease, from every accident, and dangers, and harm, and from all the powers of darkness. The Lord grant to you and your family a blessed, blessed family, a family like Abraham's family whether there's laughter, with God speaking to you intimately, where there's no sin consciousness, only Jesus consciousness, amen. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray, (and all the people said) amen, God bless you.