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Watch 2022-2023 online sermons » Joseph Prince » Joseph Prince - The God Who Goes Before You

Joseph Prince - The God Who Goes Before You


Joseph Prince - The God Who Goes Before You
Joseph Prince - The God Who Goes Before You

Thank God for Psalms 91, amen? And every one of you have put your trust in Christ, you dwell in the secret place of the Most High under the shadow of the Almighty. And of all the Psalms, if you ask any Jewish person which is the psalm of protection, they'll tell you Psalms 91, right? And Psalms 91 has promises of protection for day and night, even the timings. The arrow that flies by day, or the terror by night, or the deadly pestilence, diseases that are fatal. It talks about God will cover you with his feathers and under his wings, you will take refuge, amen. Even promises long life. With long life will I satisfy him. You know, people say things like, "You know, when you time comes, it's your time to go, you go".

All right, the Bible doesn't teach that. The Bible says that you decide what is long life for you and what is long life for you may not be long life for another person. Someone is happy to go at 80. Some will say, "No, I'm not satisfied yet". So, God says your satisfaction will be the criteria. "With long life will I satisfy him or her," amen. So, God says that. There are some things you do in the book of Proverbs that says you can shorten your life. Some things you do can add to your life, amen? It's not up to God. You can say that, "Well, I just believe that it's time to go, means it's time to go". Well, what if you bought a plane and it's the pilot's time to go? Everybody's going, everybody's going. No, no, no, no, friend, there's no such thing as, you know, God has appointed a time for you die, all right? Even the Bible says a time to die is that time is decided by you, amen? That time is you decide you're happy to go.

Now, that's Bible, amen. Doesn't mean people are living that way out, amen? We are in a fallen world and in a sense, you know, everything that is manmade, even security systems that are manmade, they all can fail, but God can never fail. I said, God can never fail. God knows the end from the beginning, God know what's gonna happen before it happens, amen? But I just want to pause here for the sake of those who are here for the first time or you just been here. I want to say this that this earth is fallen earth, it's a fallen world. Man is a fallen creature. All right, none of the things you see about disease, sickness, deformity, destruction, death, children dying and all that is God's will. It is not God's will, I want you to know that. God didn't make this world with death. God didn't make this world with disease. God didn't make man to grow old and die.

In fact, God hates death, the Bible says. The last enemy to be put under our feet is death, 1 Corinthians 15. God calls death an enemy. Have you thought of that before, amen? That's why Jesus wept, where? At a funeral. Jesus wept because he knew, you know, he was gonna raise Lazarus in a while from the dead. So, I don't think he was exactly crying just for Lazarus. He was crying about the fact that the Father, his Father had a plan for man, a beautiful love plan that man should walk with poise and confidence in his love, in his goodness, live with God, amen. Body full of strength, amen, forever young, forever strong. God meant for him to have a mind that is balanced, that is sane, that is sound, that is not given to depression, but look at man today. They need medication even to put their mind on a keen, you know, stability on a keen, I'm telling you, church, that we are looking at a world that's fallen. It's not God's dream.

So, someone might ask a question, "Well, if that's the case, then why didn't God stop the earth from being fallen? God is able to do anything, right, Pastor Prince? You are saying that this is not his will but these things are happening". Well friend, you need to understand one thing, okay? When God made this earth, God put man on it. When God made man, God created a man with a freewill so man is a free moral agent. Now, if I use my power, even unconsciously to man, all right, I use my power, albeit so subtly, to stop man from doing wrong things and I've made man a free moral agent, I've actually done him an injustice. Am I right? So, God made an earth, the first couple Adam and Eve, God made everything on this earth just for them, all the gold, the silver, the precious stones, all the food of the earth, the fruit trees that were there and all that, all were for them.

God says, "Of all of them," look at the language, "you may freely eat," not just eat, freely eat, God says, "but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, don't eat of it. In the day that you eat of it," in the Hebrew, "dying, you shall die". You don't die immediately, but your body's in a state of dying, then you shall die one day. So, of all the things that man can freely eat, man chose to eat from the very tree that God told him not to eat from. Now, you say, "Why didn't God stop him"? You see, if God used his power to stop man, God can do it. I mean God can, you know, God can make man stretch his own hand from a great distance from his face, and then with great velocity pull it back, pow. God can do it. But if God did it, will that be right when God has made man with a free choice? And then you say, "Well, why did God plant that tree"?

Another, you know, famous question people like to ask. "Well, if everything is good and there's nothing to choose from, what's the point of having a free choice"? So, at least for the sake of integrity, you must give a choice, a chance to exercise choice. So man, man was given a choice to eat everything that's good and man, 99.9% is good except for that one tree that God says don't take. And guess what. The devil tempted Eve and Eve seduced her husband to take from that tree and as a result, man fell. So, God has to work with the free choice of man and thank God it's not over, amen. From the very first prophesy that God said, "The woman's seed," a woman does not have seed, man has seed.

So, from there, God already prophesied a virgin birth. The woman's seed will crush the serpent's head, God told Satan, and hence you see a battle, a battle royale that's been going on in the spiritual realm. You can't see it now, but what is happening in the world today is a spiritual battle. It's a spiritual battle. It's not just nations having, you know, North Korea decide to have nuclear testing. There's a spiritual battle going on. There are spiritual beings vying for position, vying for territorial authority and power, but I want to announce to you when God sent his Son, God sent him as the federal head of a new human race, amen? As the first Adam fell, the last Adam obeyed. The first Adam was surrounded with everything that's good and still fell. Jesus, the last Adam, was surrounded in the wilderness with everything that was dry and nothing supplying, and yet he obeyed. He was tested, tempted three times by Satan himself and he did not kowtow. In fact, Satan fled from him in the midst of desert. Can I have a good amen?

The Bible says, "By one man's disobedience," Adam, "we all were made sinners". "By one man's obedience," Jesus, "we're all made righteous," if you will only receive it. It is not your obedience that makes you righteous. You want to obey today because it's the result of his obedience, amen, amen? But his obedience made you righteous, therefore your righteousness, your right standing before God, is not placed on a platform where you can have it today and it can be gone tomorrow. No, it's an unshakable foundation. It is his obedience that made you righteous. Can I have a good amen? And all the people said? Amen, praise the Lord. Y'all can go home already. This is good enough, amen. You might not even hear this in some places, you know? You still hear people asking questions, "Well, if God is this"? And you never exhaust your questions about God, amen?

I'll tell you something, if I can answer every question I have in my head about God, hey, I'm God. I thank God that I cannot resolve God out. I cannot comprehend this infinite being. How can a finite being with a peanut brain, okay, comprehend this amazing God, amen? And yet God sent his Son in Hebrews 1:3 as you bring the ark out please, "who being the brightness," Jesus, God's Son, "who being the brightness of His glory". Everyone say, "Brightness of His glory". And now say, "And the expressed image of His person". Say, "The expressed image of His person". Now, the brightness of his glory is the gold. Jesus is the brightness of God's glory. You want to see God? Look at Jesus. He is the brightness, the outraying of God's glory. You cannot look at God's glory any more than you can look at God's created glory, all right, the sun. And it's only created, but can your eye look at the sun for some time? No, no way, amen?

So, likewise, no one can see God's glory, but Jesus came became visible and he was the outraying of God's glory. So, that's gold without, gold outside. And then the Bible says he's the expressed image, the exact. In fact, one definition says facsimile, all right, exact, expressed image of his person, God's person. You know know what God is like, look at Jesus. Sometime people think of God and Jesus as apart. No, no, Jesus is exactly the expressed image of God's person. You know, when the leper came up, came up to Jesus and said, "Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean". And Jesus says, "I am willing". Jesus touched him, a man who has probably not been touched for years. Jesus touched him and said, "I will be clean," and immediately his leprosy left. That tells us that God does not like people suffering from leprosy because Jesus is the expressed image of God's person. Can I have a good amen?

When people were hungry, Jesus took five loaves and two fish and fed five thousand men, all right, not counting the women probably and children will be ten thousand. He fed them with what little they had, he fed them. That tells us that God does not like people hungry, amen, because Jesus is the expressed image of God's person. He went about doing good. He never made anyone sick just to tell them that God is teaching you a lesson by making you sick as we've been taught today, all right? At least you will have an example in the gospels where Jesus saw a healthy guy and said, "Come over here, you are too healthy. What I'm gonna do, you do not know but it is to teach you some divine lesson," okay? And the guy say, "What's the lesson"? "Never mind, it's just a lesson". And it's so vague, all right? And he gave him some eczema or some disease. No, Jesus doesn't do that. He's the expressed image of God's person. That tells us God wants you healthy.

So, he is the brightness of his glory, gold outside, the expressed image of his person, gold within. Don't forget, the wood in between, amen, he was cut off in the prime of his days, amen? Wood, completely man, completely God, the God man Jesus Christ. "And upholding all things by the word of His power". You all see this crown. It's literally called crowns all across, amen? He who was once crowned with the crown of thorns is now in heaven crowned with glory. And he crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies, amen? So, that crown there is this one here, "Upholding all things by the word of His power". That's kingly power. Upholding all things by the word of his power is this crown. "Then when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high".

Blood is put on the mercy seat once a year, amen? And that is when he had by himself purged our sins. So mercy seat is him purging our sins, washing us from our sins in his blood. Some people have this idea that Jesus, because he's God's Son he sat down. No, his right to sit down is because he has done a perfect work in putting away our sins. Read your Bible. When he had by himself purged our sins, sat down. The priests in the Old Testament never sat down. One thing they have a table of showbread, but they never have a chair because their work is never finished. But when Jesus came, he finished his work. He sat down. The fact that Jesus is seated means your sins have been efficaciously put away.

Well, last week, we saw the ark of the covenant. Of all the furniture pieces in the tabernacle, tabernacle is like a makeshift camp. God went camping with his people. When God brought his people out of Egypt from slavery after so many years of bondage, God brought them through the Red Sea. God brought them to the other side. By the way, they went through the Red Sea without the ark, without the tabernacle. But at the foot of Mount Sinai God gave them instructions to build the ark, why? Because God would give them the Ten Commandments.

Now, the two tablets of stone, remember that, okay? God would want them to have something to house the Ten Commandments in because the Ten Commandments, left naked and bear when brought before the people, will kill them. Not because it is bad, but because it is perfectly good. It's perfectly holy. It's perfectly righteous but man is sinful, man is unclean, man has sin, and the soul that sins must die. The perfection of the law demands that or else it's no more the law. So, those who preach that man cannot keep the law, they truly respect the law. They know that man cannot keep the law. Those who say we can keep the law are the true antinomians because they have no regard, no understanding of how holy the law is. Well, man say, "I'm not so bad as the prostitute over there that I know that lives down there. I'm not so bad as this guy over here. He does this, he does that behind his wife's back. You know, I'm not so bad as this guy".

Well, let me tell you this, Jesus brought the law, not just outward, but inward. He says, "If you commit adultery with your eyes in your mind, you have committed adultery". Everyone is guilty, amen? Then he says, "If you hate someone in your heart, you have murdered". Everybody has murdered. Sometimes we even murder in our sleep. Have you ever committed a crime in your sleep only to wake up and realize it was a dream and you were so grateful? All right, sometimes God gives you a sample of that so that you will not do the real thing, okay? And you see, friends, we make the law as if it's something that everyone can keep, but God gave the law for the sole purpose of showing man's sin. I have a higher regard for the law. The law is like a mirror, nothing wrong with the mirror but if the mirror shows ugly, you cannot blame the mirror. That means what? The mirror is righteous, holy, and true. It reflects accurately. Can I have a good amen?

All right, so when man boasted, you see, just because someone says, "You know, we, pastor, we need to tell people to keep the law," does not mean they'll end up keeping the law, amen? For me, I believe in moral excellence, but moral excellence does not come by deliberately trying to keep the law. By trying to keep the law, we end up breaking the law because the strength of sin, 1 Corinthians 15, the strength of sin is the law, just like grace is the spring of holiness. So, what we sometimes disagree on, you hear, you know, someone against grace, someone for grace and all that is that, how to arrive at moral excellence from here? I believe it's only by grace and not by the law. In fact, when Israel put themself under the law, long before God even gave the Ten Commandments, Israel said in Hebrew... That means, "Whatever you say, God, whatever you command us, we can do it".

Even before God gave the Ten Commandments. And guess what? The next thing you know, they built a golden calf to worship saying, "This be thy God, Israel, who brought you out of Egypt". A golden calf they worship, giving the glory to the calf that cannot talk, that cannot see, that cannot hear their cry, why? Because the first commandment is, "You must have no other gods besides me," God said. So, when they put themselves under law, sin become irresistible. When you put yourself under grace, holiness, moral excellence become attractive. I find that the more I experience the love of Jesus for myself, my attraction to sin becomes lesser, and lesser, and lesser, amen? In fact, the more you try to keep the law, you find sin become irresistible, amen?

And that's why we need to understand that trying to keep your diet is a sure formula to failure 'cause the moment you're off your diet, you will whack all those things you cannot eat while you're on your diet and you'll get back much more than what you had before you started. Plus, your body thought it was under starvation for a while, now your body is on a low metabolic rate to retain everything. Now you cannot burn off those things that you previously could. I say it a lot, don't ask me to repeat, get the CD, amen? It's gonna bless you. But I have more to say about that afterwards. But let's go back to this. All right, so this furniture piece we started last week when God says, "God stepped forth Jesus to be a propitiation," very big word but it actually means a mercy seat because the Greek version, the Septuagint, in the Old Testament whenever he mentions the ark of the covenant, he calls the mercy seat, all right, in the Greek hilasterion.

The same word used mercy seat in Romans 3, God sent Jesus to be a hilasterion. Jesus is the mercy seat. He is the ark of the covenant. And we learned that the ark is made of a box of wood, acacia wood. Do you know that acacia wood, like cedar wood, is impervious to termites? Termites cannot bore a hole into it, you know? It is immune to all kinds of diseases that will attack trees, other trees, therefore the illustration of acacia wood is used for incorruptibility and wood in the Bible is always mankind. All the trees of field will clap their hands, mankind.

So, Jesus was like a tender plant, growing in a moral morass, a place where everything was muddy, and it was dirty, and unclean, and this beautiful tender plant grew up to be a tree. But in the prime of his life, he was cut off. He was cut off to prepare a mercy seat, ark of the covenant. And it was carved into shape, into a box, acacia wood. The wood speaks of Jesus's humanity, amen? God, as God, cannot be comprehended by man but if God can become a man, we can understand him, amen? Let's say I take a walk one day and I step on an ant that died, squashed. With all apologies to Ant Man. And they were on a date, their first date, and I just squashed her boyfriend, all right? And I'm telling the girlfriend, "Hey, hey, I didn't mean it. I really didn't mean it. I didn't see your boyfriend". And she won't understand. She'll be running way from me because we are different levels, you understand?

You all laugh, I'm trying to illustrate. We are different levels of life, you understand? I'm too high a life for that ant to understand but if I can become an ant. So, Jesus became a man, why? So that this wooden box, all right, will be overlaid with gold, overlaid with gold, gold within and gold without. Not only the gold is outside, the gold is inside, the inner side. Gold outside, gold inside. Gold without, gold within, in between the wood. That means Jesus is 100% man and 100% God. Because he's 100% man, he sat where you sat. You feel tired, he feels tired, amen? You feel thirsty, you feel hungry, he felt it. All the gamut of human emotions, Jesus felt it without sin, amen? But we feel something, but we don't have the power but because it's hundred percent God, he has all the power, amen? Praise God.

And he lived among us. I said, he lived among us. He lived, I mean, he could have chosen the Jerusalem Royal Hilton or, you know, the best places to be born in, but he chose when he took off, you know, his outward form of regalia as the King of the universe, he came down and he was born in a manger, a smelly, dirty manger. He chose to be born in a poor family. And for those of you who argue about Joseph and Mary being wealthy and all that, let me tell you this, when Jesus was born, all right, prior to Jesus's birth, prior to the coming of the wise men, all right, Joseph and Mary were poor, why? Because they brought the offering for a new baby. They brought a pair of doves and only the poor bring doves. The wealthy bring a bullock to be offered. The middle income bring a lamb. The poor bring a pair of doves. The very poor bring a handful of flour.

So, God will always take what man can to reflect anything on his Son, even the handful of flour is Jesus the bread of life, amen. And the bullock is strong to labor. So today, whether you're wealthy spiritually is whether you have a large comprehension of Jesus like a bullock-sized revelation of Jesus or you only have an idea about his earthly life, no concept of what his death has accomplished and that's a fine flour. So, friend, Joseph and Mary did not stay poor because Jesus was there, all right? The wise men came, and they brought gold, frankincense, all the very expensive items because of the baby, and they became wealthy. And by the way, the wise men did not come the day that Christ was born. They came when he was about two years old. I'm sorry, I spoiled your nativity scene, but that's in the Bible, okay? All right, so God said the Ten Commandments, the two tablets of stone, put it inside the box, okay?

Let's look at a cross-section of what's inside. Now, if you look inside the Ark of the Covenant, you see three items. Number one, you see the two tablets of stone, the Ten Commandments written with the finger of God. It's inside the ark. Do you know the ark, the first mention, actually, of the ark, is not in Exodus. It's actually in Genesis. The Bible said when Joseph died they buried him in, or they put him in a coffin. The word "coffin" is the word "ark". Ark, exactly the same word, ark. So it's a coffin for the two tablets. God is saying, "If you bring the ark out, everyone will die because the ark's perfect holiness will bring judgment on everyone who comes short of it". And folks, we come short of it.

So the only place to put the two tablets of stone is under the Mercy Seat where, once a year, in Israel, in the ancient time, blood is sprinkled on the Mercy Seat. It's called, in Hebrew the Mercy Seat is called, in Greek hilasterion, in Hebrew, kapporeth. That's why you have Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, Kippur, covering. Watch this: Blood on the Mercy Seat. All it takes, people, is just one drop of blood. And when blood is sprinkled on the Mercy Seat, this is where Psalms 91 is referring to. The secret place under the wings of the Almighty, the El Shaddai, amen? We dwell here. Praise the Lord. Jesus is our Mercy Seat. Can I have a good "Amen"? Hallelujah, amen.

And there's one thing God's eyes can look into a man's heart. God's eyes can see your thoughts, God's eyes can see through walls, God's eyes can see through layers and layers and layers of mountains or even the valleys below and the seas below. God's eyes, nothing is hidden. Everything is naked and open unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do. But there's one thing God's eyes cannot look through, and that's blood. When there's blood, God cannot see the three items of man's rebellion. You know, the Ten Commandments, man rejected God's standard. Man comes short of God's standard, but the blood is over the tablets of stone. Are you listening? That's why the Bible says in Galatians 5 that if you try to keep the law, if you try to keep the law, you fall from grace. "Whosoever is justified by the law, you are fallen from grace". That tells you grace is high ground. Grace is higher than the law. Mercy rejoices against over-judgment, amen? Amen.

And that's why when the people of Beth Shemesh, they tried to look into the ark, they lift it up. Even Indiana Jones teach you that. "Raiders of the Lost Ark," right? They tried to look inside. Death came in; why? God is saying, "I want the Mercy Seat, the blood of Jesus, to cover all of man's rebellion. Don't let me see man's rebellion", amen. So the two tablets is man's rebellion of God's standard. Aaron's rod that budded, you see the white almond flowers, that's Aaron's rod that budded because all of them were jealous that Aaron, they say, "Oh, it's COI, Conflict Of Interest, Aaron is Moses's brother that's why he made him the high priest," amen? So God said to Moses, "Tell them, all the 12 tribes, each one bring, the leaders of each tribe bring their rod".

So all the 12 rods plus Aaron's rod was collectively put before the ark, amen, overnight. The next day they came to collect and all their rods, you know when you cut off the tree, right, there's no more life. Well, all of them took back their rods the same, but Aaron when he pick up his rod, also cut off, right? That's how you get a rod. But Aaron's rod had blossom. Budded, blossom with white almond, a almond tree is white in color blossoms, and then almond fruit. It's a picture of resurrection, life from the dead, amen? So, it speaks of, how did it come about, this occasion? Man's rejection of God's leadership. God says, "Put it under the Mercy Seat, under the blood".

And then we have the golden pot of manna. What was the occasion for the manna from heaven, amen? Where do you find that story? Manna you find the manna? Where do you find the manna? Amen? In Exodus after they came out of Egypt, they crossed through the Red Sea, amen, and then the Bible tells us that they were hungry and they complained. They told Moses, "Did you bring us out here to die, Moses? Is there any food here"? And then God says, "Moses, I will rain," not judgment. God could have said that. "I will rain bread from heaven". And then Jesus came 1500 years after that, Jesus came and said to the Jews, "I am the bread of life. Your fathers did eat manna in the desert and they are dead. This is a true bread which comes down out of heaven, that if a man eat thereof, he will not die. And I am the living bread which cometh down out of heaven that if a man eat of me, he shall live forever". And listen, "And the bread that I will give is my flesh which I will give for the life of the world".

Every time you take Communion, remember that. "The bread that I will give is my flesh which I will give for the life of the world". Remember when God told Adam and Eve, in the process of dying, that's why aging is nothing more than dying, "Dying, you shall die one day". The moment man start... so God never meant for man to die. So that dying is now reversed because the bread that I will give is my flesh which I will give for the life of the world. Remember that when you take Communion. You are taking his life. I said you are taking his life. And then the Jews strove among themselves, saying, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat? We don't understand". But thank God we do, all right? So, praise God.

Now, the cherubim. These two cherubim, notice their eyes. They are guardians when you go to heaven one day, amen, I mean, now you can go to heaven. I hate the idea of going to heaven one day because you can go to heaven anytime, the throne of grace. This is the throne of grace. There's blood there now. And that blood is not the blood of bulls and goats. It's the blood of Jesus on the real Mercy Seat. The blood of Jesus is there in heaven. That speaks better things than the blood of Abel, amen? All these are visual aids, you understand? All these are, like, visual illustrations, kindergarten stage 4, Israel, to learn the ABCs so that when Jesus comes, he is the true Lamb.

When John the Baptist saw him and says, "Look, look, behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world". And all the while, this atonement, this Mercy Seat, it covers, the blood of bulls and the blood of goats and the blood of lambs only cover sin from year to year. It covers but the sin is still there. It's like you sweep it under the carpet, the problem is still there but it's covered, it's covered, it's covered. Because there's no way the blood of bulls and goats can take away sins, until Jesus came. And John the Baptist says: "The Lamb of God, look, look. The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world," amen? Amen, church?

So these two cherubim, in heaven you will see them. They are the guardians of... they are not God. They are the guardians of God's righteousness and holiness. They are first mentioned in the law of first mention, all right, we learn that they are guardians of God's righteousness. When God drove Adam and Eve out of the Garden, they stood at the entrance with a flaming sword. They would not allow anyone to come in. They are guardians of God's righteousness. So their eyes represent God's eyes. It's like God's eyes. But every time they look down, they see man's rebellion: the three tokens of man's rebellion. But once in a year, the blood is there. And you know what they see? The blood speaking blessings upon the people, amen? And now, people, the blood of Jesus is permanently in heaven. So when God looks at you, God does not look at you with judgment. God looks at you with mercy and love, amen? Whoo.

In 1 Peter 1:12, it says that our salvation, our gospel, even angels desire to look into it; 1:12, look at the last part: "Things which angels desire to look into". You know, angels are very inquisitive. They are listening to my sermon right now because... "Angels never know, the joy that's mine. For the blood has never washed their sins away, though they sing in heaven. There will come a time when silently they'll listen to us sing 'Amazing Grace'. It's a song holy angels cannot sing 'Amazing grace, how sweet the sound'. It's a song holy angels cannot sing. 'I once was lost, but now I'm found'". Hallelujah, amen? So, angels are desiring to look into it, amen. The things that we are talking about right now, they're desiring to look into all the beauties and glories of salvation. Why would the Son of God come down to die for men? Because the Son of God did not come to die for fallen angels.

When Lucifer fell and became Satan, the Son of God did not come and die for fallen angels, but the Son of God came and died for man that is lower than angels. So, angels are desiring to look into the salvation. And, folks, everything about the cross, just understand, this is a visual aid, you okay? When I travel, I bring my wife's photo. Of course, now it's in my smartphone and I look at my wife's photo to remind myself how beautiful she looks, right? But when I come back and I'm having coffee with her, I'm still looking at her photo, something is wrong, all right? She will say, "Baby, give me the phone," right, amen? And you better not say to your wife, "This one looks younger". Then you will need my book on "Divine Protection," amen? But what it is, it is a visual aid. It helps you to understand, like in kindergarten, the ABCs, you know, a apple is help you understand A is for Apple, you know that kind of thing?

So, these are visual aids. Don't get distracted with the visual aids. Don't miss out on the visual aids. I used to be, people were asking, "Where do you think the Ark of the Covenant is, brother"? "Well, brother and sister, I have studied on this and I'm telling you it's a waste of time because some say it's over here, some say it's over there, some say it's in the Temple Mount underneath, okay, which I happen to believe it is". Anyway, but the thing is that some say it's in Ethiopia. Doesn't really matter. The real Ark of the Covenant came. His name is Jesus. One time I asked the Lord, By the way, this might come as a surprise to some people. Even the Bible scholars, they don't consider this: that when Jesus was here in Jerusalem, the temple that stood at that time, the temple of Herod, did not have the Ark of the Covenant.

Do you know that? In the Holy of Holies, it's empty. Because many years before, Solomon, a man blessed by God with wisdom beyond that of any man except Jesus, Solomon knew that there would come a time the Babylonians would come in and take away all the furnitures of the temple. Plus, if he don't hide it, the ark. So Solomon hid the ark. That's why some believe that he hid it in Ethiopia because it so happens that Solomon has many girlfriends, okay? One of them was a Ethiopian girl that came in, Queen of Sheba. "Sheba, Sheba, andale, andale". She came and visit him, all right? She knocked on the door, said, "Andale, andale, andale," and then supposedly she went back pregnant and then that's the Ethiopian story over there, okay? So some say it's over there. That's the reason they say it's over there. But, listen, by the time Jesus was here, the temple that stood did not have the ark.

So one time I was one of those that was very keen to find out where is the ark. I would read books on it, buy, you know, books on it, watch "Nat Geo" docu on this kind of things and all that. But it's a waste of time, I will just tell you that because the real ark has come. I ask... how I knew this was his, I asked the Lord one time, I asked the Father, "Father in heaven, isn't it sad when Jesus was here, the temple did not have the ark". And the Father answered me and said, "Because he was walking outside, opening the eyes of the blind, unstopping deaf ears, raising the dead, cleansing the lepers," hallelujah. Who needs a visual aid when the substance has come? Hey, trust me, kissing a photo is not as good as kissing the real girl, amen? I know, I just kissed my wife just now. So, it's a visual aid to help us understand, okay?

Now, sit back and watch this visual aid as the ark opens up. If you open up the panels, on the right, the sides, gold within, gold without, this is what you'll see... The cross. So, it is the person and the work of Jesus. Everything the Father has in mind is all about Jesus and the finished work. It's all about Jesus and the finished work. And do you know that whether Israel knew this or not, they could not understand why the cross, because the cross was not an invention during Moses's time. The cross is a very cruel form of execution that the Phoenicians and, later on, the Romans got it from the Phoenicians, and it's quite a modern-day, compared to Moses's time, okay? And that's why when David prophesied before the cross, the execution of the cross was implemented, David prophesied in David's time, 3,000 years ago, David says, "They pierce my hands and my feet". So, "pierce my hands and my feet" is crucifixion.

It was a Messianic psalm that, because the capital punishment at the time was stoning. But this was crucifixion. So God was prophesying his Son. Let me tell you this. The cross is the place where everything, all the attributes of God, met. God is love. You see it at the cross. God is just, you see at the cross. God is light, amen. God has inflexible righteousness, amen, holiness, unbending holiness, amen. And that's why when you sin, you're in trouble, amen? On the other hand, God is love. So how do you see all these attributes at one time, God's love, God's righteousness? At the cross. Because, at the cross, even though God is just and he will punish sin, hey, you want a judge that is just. You don't want a judge that, sort of like, because of money given to him, he's sort of, like, pander to people who are wealthy and then he sort of like, he's strong on people who are poor. In some countries, you may have that.

Let me tell you this. You want a judge who is just. We want a just judge. But we also want a judge whose essence, whose person, whose being is love. God is love. The Bible defines God as love. But God is just. So at the cross, you see his love, you see his justice because his justice, you see Jesus being punished. The Son that he love being punished, but Jesus did no sin. In him is no sin. He knew no sin. But why was he punished? Because he was carrying our sins. So you see God's judgment. God did not say, "Oh, he's my Son. Okay, boys will be boys. Never mind, I'll sweep everything under the carpet". No, because he was carrying our sins, your sins and my sins, he was punished. He was judged. He was cursed that you might be blessed. He was rejected that you might be accepted, amen. He wore a crown of thorns so that you and I today can have the peace of God guarding our hearts and minds, amen, people?

So, at the cross, you see God's love. You see God's love, why? It's not you bearing the judgment. It's not you, your children, suffering at the cross. God provided his Son to be the lamb that takes away your sin and also the one who takes your punishment. So you see God's love blending with God's justice, righteousness, and mercy met. Mercy and truth kissed at the cross. At the cross, you see all the attributes of God magnified, glorified. All the claims of divine holiness fully met. The law of God magnified. The Ten Commandments honored. And Christ fulfilled the law. We're not under the law because we break the law. We're not under law because Christ fulfilled the law. That's why we're under grace. At this point, we go home, we learn it, amen? Are you blessed?

And the way they camp. Look at the camp, encampment of the 12 tribes of Israel. In the camp, God says, "Three tribes to the North, three tribes to the West, three tribes to the East, and the South part," sorry, this is the East part. The East part has the largest number of people in the tribe of Judah, so it's longest. So, look from the helicopter point of view. I do not think that the tribes knew how they would camp. But, if you look from a helicopter point of view or a mountain point of view, you see the cross. No wonder that Prophet Balaam, when he was hired to curse Israel from the mountaintop, he look at it and says, "How can I bless those whom God, how can I curse those whom God has blessed"?

When God looks at Israel, he has not beheld iniquity in Israel. He did not say, "There's no iniquity, no sin, in Israel". He says, "God did not behold it," okay? Our comfort is not that there's no sin in us. Our comfort is God does not see our sin. Why? So God sees the blood. God sees the blood of his Son, hallelujah! Amen, people. And this is how is camped. You're going to see how the names are. Show them the names. These are the 12 tribes, okay?

Now, back to this again. Okay, folks, now we go one step further today. Let's look at the poles here. What are the poles for? You saw how they brought in just now? They did that because they are backslidden. They are following the way of the Philistine. They put it on rollers, all right, and bullock cart Indian style. Indian, you know, is... all right? No, no, no bullock cart, all right? No bullock cart and no... by the way, it's very heavy. Even right now it's very heavy. And back in those days, the priests are to carry this on their shoulders. David had to learn that the hard way. The priests are to carry this on their shoulders. And the Bible says you'll put poles on the feet.

By the way, everything described about the ark is all personified. It's all, like, humanized. It's all in terms of his hands. Instead of at the side, at his side put this, at his foot put this. Interesting, huh? And by the way, you might think that the altar of burnt offering is the first thing mentioned in the creation of the Phoenicians during Moses' time, but no. God mentioned the ark first. God starts from inside, outside. Men start from the altar of burnt offering where your sins are forgiven, and then men goes inside. It's good to see God's perspective. This is what Jesus meant the place of protection. Amen?

By the way, listening about protection is the first step to working in protection because if you start expecting protection, God works with faith. The currency of heaven is, like, you go to Europe today, you have to change to Euro. You cannot use your Singapore dollars. They won't accept. Does that mean Singapore dollars has no value? No. It just means that you are in a different country. Well, the currency of heaven, the bank of heaven is faith. You cannot buy God's blessings with your money, all right? But you show God your faith, and he will show you the supply. Amen? Are you listening?

Jesus turned around and says, "Your faith made you well. Your faith has saved you". Your faith. Amen? Your faith. I got so many testimonies. The testimony I want to share is something that is important about hearing about divine protection, reading about divine protection. Amen? This is from a guy from Washington, United States. In a world full of bad news, we need to hear the good news. Faith comes by hearing and hearing the Word of God. Amen? And where can you find it? Not in the world, but in the Word of God. Amen? This person, this man says he's from Washington, United States. "I can't even begin to explain how Pastor Joseph Prince's teachings on Psalms 91 and praying powerful prayers are transforming me. I am overwhelmed with gratitude about my heavenly Father's faithfulness towards me as I write this. While working as a window washer, I would listen to Pastor Joseph Prince's..."

Now, I don't know how he does it, okay, window-washing and still listening at the same time. "I would listen to Pastor Joseph Prince's teaching series entitled 'Truths from Psalms 91: God's Promise of Protection Review.'" You know, my daughter, for example, she cannot study unless there's noise. And I get, one time I stepped into her room, was noisy, so playing praise and, you know, worship music so loud. And I said, "How do you study"? She said, "I can study".

You know, this is the music for her, all right? One time she was in a very quiet room. We had a quiet room. We're on holiday, you know, and quiet room. She cannot study there. I asked her why. Too quiet. So I'm telling you this generation from city people, right, if they go to the countryside and they smell the fresh air, it'll knock them unconscious. And the only way to resuscitate them, all right, you'll back your car, you know, you'll back your car to where they are lying down there, and your exhaust comes really nearly close. I guarantee you they'll wake up again, all right?

All right, anyway, I don't know how he does window-washing while listening to my sermon. "While working as a window washer I would listen to Pastor Joseph Prince's teaching series entitled 'Truths from Psalms 91: God's Promise of Protection.' As soon as I finished listening to them, I would replay them all over again". Some of us don't even do that. We listen to the sermon on Sunday, we think we got it. He would replay them all over again.

"One particular week, two accidents occurred where God's protection was evident. The first accident happened when I was helping my boss fix one of our ladders with the help of an electric grinder. I thought I should wear safety goggles, but just as I took a step to get them, my boss switched on the electric grinder, and that immediately sent a piece of aluminum shrapnel flying towards the inside corner of my eye. But even though the metal piece was hot and sharp, it only left me with a minor burn and cut. The wound healed the next day. Two days later, I was working on the back roof of a house when a piece of my equipment began to roll off. I tried to catch it but ended up slipping and falling off the roof. It happened so fast, and before I knew it I somehow landed on some grass, did a roll, and ended up back on my feet".

Now, listen. "I don't know how I managed to clear the back patio that was 15 feet wide and the fence that was 8 feet high". He had fallen at least 18 feet from the roof, but no bones were broken. "I wasn't even sore from the fall. I believe God had protected me and will always continue watching over me". Before that, he was listening and listening and listening. Praise the Lord. Thank you, Jesus. Amen, amen, amen, amen, One more testimony in how grace will give you moral excellence. All right, wrong one. I got so many testimonies, like I told you, all right? This is a precious story. And this lady is from Florida, and she says, "Pastor Prince, I'm a 48-year-old woman who was involved in an adulterous relationship for over 20 years. When I received Christ", that's a long time, okay, "When I received Christ in 2013, I confessed my sin to a church leader, and I was told that I would lose my salvation if I continued in this relationship".

Now, she was told if she continued, she would lose her salvation. Look at the result of that. "He referred me to the Bible that kind of a woman caught in adultery. Although the leader..." Now, how many of you know adultery is wrong? Yes, we all agree it's wrong. Amen? Okay, I'm alone. It's wrong, okay? I'm here to tell you it's wrong, but listen. We're not talking about that. We're talking about how to arrive to the moral excellence from here. It's not by law, it's by grace. She said that this guy told her, the leader told her that she will lose her salvation. "Well, although the leader intended to help me". and she knew that, "The leader intended to help me, I ended up feeling afraid, more insecure, and I believed that the Lord would not and could not forgive me".

As a result of her insecurity and wrong believing, "As a result, I continued with the relationship for another two years. One day, I heard you preach a sermon on the very same passage about the woman caught in adultery. I learned that Jesus neither accused nor condemned the woman who committed adultery. In fact, he said to her, 'Woman, where are those thine accusers of yours? Neither do I condemn you. Go, and sin no more.'" The church says, "Go, and sin no more first, then we won't condemn you". No. Jesus says, "I give you the gift of no condemnation. Receive it, and it will empower you to go and sin no more". "Hearing this changed my life totally. I'm happy to say that I'm no longer in the adulterous relationship, and I'm in love with the Lord. I'm seeing myself the way my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ sees me. Thank you for delivering God's Word. May God continue to bless you and your family".

Come on, church, how to get there from here. Now, when the priests carry the ark, number one, they cannot carry the ark. No matter how many priests carry, it's too heavy, plus the solid gold. By the way, the lead itself is solid gold. This entire thing is beat out. The work of Jesus, he was beaten to become our mercy seed. Amen? One slip of gold, the lead is one slip of gold, and here gold and wood. And it's too much for a priest to carry. But the amazing thing is this. There was death when they tried to do it the worldly way on a bullock cart, right? On David learned the way of God. God says it must be carried on the shoulders of the priests like this. I'm sure that some of you have this sculpture you bought from Israel, right? How many of you have it? Oh, are you a backslidden people, all right?

Y'all go to Israel so often, and none of you bought this? This is mine, by the way. This is in my green room. It's a picture of the priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant, okay? And you see a lot of this in Israel, you know, but it's very interesting. Just to tell you that it's very heavy, okay? So what you see down here couldn't have happened without God helping. Watch this now. The Bible says when David saw the pattern of how the ark is to be carried, is to be carried by the poles on the shoulders of the priests, but it's very heavy. So how can they carry it? But the Bible says something. God helped the priests. In other words, watch this. Your part is by faith. When God tells you to serve him whether it's children's ministry, whether it's ushering, whether it's coming to church, whether it's doing something for someone, if God tells you, all right, God will never give you something that's heavy.

Jesus says, "My yoke is easy and my burden is light". Because it's from Jesus, whatever the burden is, it's always easy. "My burden is light. My yoke is easy". Easy, light. Got it? If the Lord tells you to do something, if he tells you to, it's always easy, and the burden is light. So when God tells you to do something, your part is step up by faith. When the priests stepped out and touched the poles and carried it, instead of it becoming heavy, it sort of... the thing carried the priests. How many understand that? The poles carried the priests. It's like the priest is walking on air. It's like spring on their steps. The Bible says God helped the priests. This is what...and every time you put your hand onto a task that God tells you to, whether is the ministry, whether is mission trip, whether is, like, full-time ministry, whatever it is God tells you to do it and you put your hand fourth to it, the moment you touch it by faith, God takes care of the rest.

The way of the new covenant is like power steering. Your part is to decide to put your hand on it, all right, and decide to turn this way. The power does the rest. But if it's hard, the ancient way, you know that time, all right, that's not new covenant. No wonder you are stressed. Amen? How many can tell I enjoy preaching? How many can... but sweat flying, right? Amen? I'm still hardworking, right, but I enjoy what I'm doing, okay? Sometime I enjoy it so much y'all want it to end. I am pointing at the right direction. But y'all may want it to end, but I got so much to share, and I'll be merciful, okay? But you see, you know, do what you love, and money will follow you. Don't do things for money, okay? Amen? Some of you are in their job because of the money. Do what you love.

All right, so let's follow the story. As they carried this, there's a beautiful incident I want to call your attention. By the way, the picture you saw just now, this picture here, is not scriptural. When they are traveling, when the ark is traveling, it's never exposed. It is covered over with a blue cloth. There's a covering of blue. Most of the furnitures in the tabernacle is covered with purple. The outermost cover is purple, but the ark is blue. What does that tell you? Heavenly. When you look up in heaven, what color is it? It's blue. Why did God choose blue? Because God wants you to know heaven is blue. And the high priest, his robe is all of blue. And even says this, the covering on the ark is all of blue. And the word blue is the word techelet in Hebrew. Techelet. Say, "Techelet".

And God under the law, all Jewish male must have a prayer shawl with a techelet, a tassel. And this is what Jesus refers to when the Pharisees, they want to show themselves more holy than other people. They don't even have a tassel. They have, you know, a curtain tassel that can sweep the floor as they walk. They make broad their phylacteries. They make broad their tassels to impress on people that they are spiritual. But the Bible promised that when the Messiah comes, "Unto you that fear my name shall the son of righteousness arise with healing in his wings". Kanaph, wings. Wings is also... their part of the tassel is also known as wings. And the blue part, the blue tassel is techelet, blue. Blue. The heaven is techelet, blue.

The woman with the issue of blood, she had a disease for 12 years. She went to doctors and all that. Nothing better, rather grew worse. When she heard of Jesus, she came to press behind. Your English Bible says she touched the hem of his garment, but Jewish people know that the hem of his garment is the blue tassel. When she touched the blue tassel, her bleeding stopped. She felt in her body she was healed. And Jesus turned to her and says, "Daughter, your faith has made you well". Now, listen to me. The word blue, techelet, techelet is a noun. It comes from the root word kala where Jesus on the cross cried, in English, finished, but in Hebrew or Aramaic it is kulah, exactly the root word for blue. So this whole thing is covered with the finished work. Amen?

So in its traveling mode, you don't see the ark, you only see the blue. So today ask your friends, "When you look into heaven, what do you see? Can you see Jesus"? No. What can you see? Blue. Can you see the humanity of Jesus? He's in heaven now. No. Why? There's a blue covering. Trust me. Beyond the blue is Jesus. Amen? God meant for his people to always look at the heavenly man Jesus and see the blue. And when you are discouraged and you look down, ancient Israel is reminded, "Blue. Look up". Amen? Be heavenly-minded. "Well, I don't want to be heavily-minded. I'm no earthly use". Trust me. None of you is that heavenly-minded. Don't flatter yourself, okay? We need some heavenly-mindedness, all right? Focus on Jesus at the cross. Well, the time came when Israel was about to cross the river Jordan, okay? And this is what happened.

Look at this. Joshua 3, "And they commanded the people, saying, 'When you see the ark...'" So obviously the ark is traveling. The priests are carrying the ark covered with blue. And they said, "When you see the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord your God and the priests, the Levites, bearing it, then you shall set out from your place and go after it". Go after Jesus, people. When you see the ark, put your eyes on Jesus. For you to see where he's going, you need to put your eyes on him, looking off unto Jesus, the author and finisher of faith. Look away from men, even good men. Look away from Pastor Prince. Look away from everyone but Jesus. Look unto him. Go after him. "Yet there shall be a space between you and the ark, about 2,000 cubits by measure".

I'm going to tell you right now, right now I'm going to tell you this. This time when Joshua was carrying the ark, the priests were carrying the ark during Joshua's time, this is the first time Israel was about to step into the Promised Land after long 40 years of wandering in the wilderness, okay? And the first one in is the ark. Okay, he went into the river Jordan. Do you know this place where the crossing took place is the lowest place, the Dead Sea? The lowest place on planet earth. Many of you been there. What is the meaning 1,500 years after Joshua and the priest carried the ark into the river Jordan? There'll come the true ark.

And right at the same spot, he'll be baptized. And then when he comes out of the waters, God will open the heavens and God will say, "People, this is my beloved son in whom I am well-pleased". Are you listening? There are two times...one time it occurred to me that there are two times God said, "This is my beloved son in whom I'm well-pleased". Number one, in the lowest place of Israel, the Dead Sea area, where the crossing took place, where he was baptized. The other one, the highest place in Israel, Mount Hermon, when he was transfigured; the Father said, "This is my beloved son".

So an advice for parenting. Even when your child does well, praise him, tell him you're pleased with him, but when your son does something wrong and fail, affirm him, discipline if you need to, but affirm your love in the lowest places of their life, amen? That was free, okay? So, 2000 cubits, I believe, there gonna come a time Yarden, which is Jordan, means the place of death. When you go into the River Jordan, it means a place of death. You understand, amen? Israel went into Jordan and then, before they went in, the priests would carry it, and the Bible says, let's go on. We commented, "two thousand cubits". "And as those who bore the ark came to the Jordan, and the feet of the priests who bore the ark dipped in the edge of the water," the moment the feet of the priests touched the water, the Jordan overflows all its banks.

It's overflowing during this time of harvest, all right? It's like a flood, overflowing, amen? But the moment the priests carrying the ark, they were the first in, they touched the water, see what happened? Verse 16: "The waters which came down from upstream," because it's the lowest place, right? "Stood still, and rose in a heap far, very far away at Adam," 30 miles away, "the city that is beside Zaretan". What is the meaning? The ark, a picture of Jesus, is the first one to go into the rivers of death. In fact, yarden, yar means going down, den means judgment. He went down into judgment for all of us, okay? And God slapped the River Jordan, all the way, 30 miles, and the water stood in a heap. No wonder, the people of Jericho were so afraid. The giants in Jericho were afraid. I mean, everyone can see the heap. And God slapped back the judgment. Don't forget, yarden, den means judgment. God slapped away the judgment to the city of what? At Adam, a city called Adam.

By the way, the city is still there. You will pass by it whenever you go to see the place of crossing, all right? The place is there now, the original place. You can visit that place now. Thirty miles away, you will definitely pass by the city of Adam, you're sure pass. Our itinerary plus all of you going to Israel, will make you pass there. But by then many of you are sleeping. But if you stay awake, you ask the guide to wake you up when you arrive. The city of Adam is a small city. But why did God slap back the judgment all the way to the city of Adam? God is saying, "Everything that came from Adam, the death, the destruction, the judgment," God slapped back. At the cross, and Jesus went in, all right, through judgment, in judgment for us, God slapped back the judgment all the way to Adam. Yes, hallelujah.

I love my job. Love preaching the good news, amen. You all get it? And it says Adam was beside Zaretan. There's a bonus for you. Zaretan means distressed. They are distressed. All Adam's sicknesses and all his distresses were all slapped back, were all pushed back, were all reversed. You know, by the time Israel, 2000 cubits away, right, 2000, a cubit is like this, the measurement. One cubit is from your elbow to your longest finger. That's the measure of 1 cubit. Two thousand cubits away, Israel was far away. Israel never touched the water. Why? Because the water was open already. The ark went in, the water was open, Israel walked on dry ground. And how far away are they? Two thousand cubits. When will Jesus come and death will be no more? Two thousand years after Jesus is here. It is our generation.

Imagine, never die again. The whole universe is ours, and we'll have... I don't know what kind of chariots of fire, but we know there are chariots of fire in heaven, and how fast will you go when you know you cannot die anymore? It'll make F1 child's play. Amen? Death will be destroyed. Jesus conquered death, but experientially in our lives. I think that's a indication there, 2000 years. The ark going in first and where the people were. "So the waters that went down to the Sea of Arabah," let's drop down, 17. Go with 17. "Then the priests who bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan; and all Israel crossed over on dry ground". Can you see that? "Until all the people," say "all the people," "had crossed completely over the Jordan".

Not one man left behind. No one left behind. I believe in eternal security because when Jesus saves, he saves eternally. Not one left behind. Can I have a good "Amen"? Amen? Not one left behind. I love the old King James, all right, "passed clean over". Completely over Jordan, and they all walk on dry ground, amen? So, the ark, by the way, the priests are standing there in the center of the river until all the people pass. That tells us that Jesus is the first in your situation, and he's the last one out. That's the motto of the Israeli army, by the way.

Do you know that of all the armies in the world, per capita, the number of officers killed during battle, all right, the Israeli Army, the officers, many of them are killed during battle, more than any other countries in the world when they're in battle? Officers die first. Because, you know why? Officers lead from the front, Israeli Army. When they say, "Follow me," they mean, "Follow me," amen. The Lord Jesus, the first in, the last one out, amen? Pastors and leaders, we've got to be the first one in in any situation, any truths for our people, before our people can possess their possessions, make sure as leaders, we possess our possessions. If something's not working, ask the Lord, yourself, "Why is it not working? Where am I missing it"? Long, don't blame the people. Don't say. "they are rebellious people, they have no heart for Jesus," all right? Blame yourself. Ask the Lord, "Where am I missing it"? You go in first and then they will follow, amen?

Now that's God's nature. He is the first in and the first out. Now, when the ark is traveling... just now, you saw the cross, right? The way the... that encampment? Where is the ark? In the center. Show them the encampment again. Where is the ark? In the center, where the cloud is, in the Holy of Holies. That's where the tabernacle was. So, the Lord wants to be in the center. He says, "Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am". Where? In the midst. When Christ was crucified, the Father saw fit, he was crucified not on the left or right, but in the midst. When he rose from the dead, he resurrected when he went, he was resurrected, he appeared to the frightened disciples in the Upper Room in their midst.

In the book of Revelation, John heard a voice behind him and John turned to see the voice, and he saw a lamb in the midst of the throne, he saw Jesus. So the Lord wants, the Father wants you to put Jesus in the midst of your marriage. You're not meant to look at each other and draw from each other. You're meant to draw from the Lord, to minister to each other, amen. We're always self-centered: I, me, I am this, I am that, I am this, I'm that. Forget yourself. You've got Jesus. He's your supply, amen. You've got no more excuse. Jesus is the third party in your marriage, amen? Put Jesus in the center of your studies, put Jesus in the center of your career. Put Jesus in the center and everything will be held together, amen? When they travel, you know, they travel together, all in one line, right, in the desert?

You know where is the ark? In the center. But whenever there's trouble, whenever there's something, all right, the ark will go in front. The ark will be the first one in. But the Bible says: "The ark will go travel 3 days' journey long before the people came to seek a resting place for them". So, on your part, you put him in the center. On his part, he will go ahead of you and prepare the way. Give them Isaiah; Isaiah says this is God's nature, "You shall not go out with haste, Nor go by flight; For the Lord will go before you, And the God of Israel will be your rear guard".

So God can be in any place, right? So he'll be in front of you to clear the way and don't worry that enemies come from behind you. He'll be your rear guard. Don't worry about terror, God will be your rear guard. He'll go ahead of you and that's the thing. Sometimes, in my human thinking, in my natural thinking, I tell myself, you know, people don't thank God until they see God deliver them. For example, you are sick, the doctor says you have this condition on x-ray, and then you pray to God and God heals you. You go back to the doctor. Doctor says, "I can't find your condition".

Now you praise God, right? But sometimes a condition is trying to come to you like an entity, an evil spirit, and God says, "No". You never knew it, so you don't give God thanks. So God goes ahead of you and many times he make the crooked places straight. But you don't give him thanks because, for you, it's smooth sailing. But actually, the enemy had devices. You, in fact, if the truth was known, we'll thank God more than we know. God is under thanked and we are under-grateful. I'll tell you that because we only thank God, sometimes, you know, it's better for God to leave all the obstacles in my human way of thinking so that you face the obstacle, you ask God to help you, God straighten the way, now you give him thanks. But God is so merciful he goes ahead of you.

I remember when Jessica was about 3 or 4 years old, her first time to Disneyland. You know, her eyes were like saucers. She looked at all the.. the first ride we took was exactly the saucers, the cup and, you know, the spinning cup. And after one experience, she was like, "Whoa, what did I get myself into"? So I saw a bit, a tinge of fear in her eyes, and she was only a young girl, all right? This can be quite daunting, you know, to be at a big playground with all kinds of rides. So I told my wife, "I'll take the rides first. I'll take the rides first". So I'll take the rides first and I'll see that, ah, she will like this. This is very cute for her at her level, her age, all right? Or this ride is no good. It's frightening. This is scary. You know what I'm saying?

So, Daddy will go first to clear the way for her. The Lord will go before you, amen? And if you are afraid that people will come and snatch something from the back, you know, they come from behind you, you do not know, Singaporeans, especially, be careful, you know, you must go and grab it, no, before other people grab it. If not, you look here, even you delay for a while, somebody come up behind you and grab first, you know? So you must always grab first before other people grab, you know? You know, you never know they come from behind, you know, they come from behind, you know? And it's so sad because we are brought up in this culture of fear, scarcity, not enough, grab for yourself. Every supper, every meal is the Last Supper, you know? I'm coming to that.

I told you I'm coming to that, right, you know? And we live in this fear mentality, you know, and the Lord is saying, "Don't worry about what comes from behind". When you are driving, don't look at the rear-view mirror all the time. If they hit you, they will pay. Your job is to focus on the front. That's why your windscreen is this big, and your rear-view mirror is this big. You are meant to look forward, not backwards, okay? You're meant to go ahead. God will be your rear guard. Can I have a good "Amen"? He'll go before you... let me illustrate. When the children of Israel, many of you watched the movie, "Ten Commandments," right? They all came to the Red Sea and then, lo and behold, behind them they saw, like, clouds of dust as the chariots of Egypt was racing towards them.

Now they are caught in between a rock and a hard place, and they cried out to Moses, "Did you bring us out here to die? Moses, it's your fault. Now, they will kill us and throw us out to sea". And before God opened the sea, what happened? Read Exodus 14: "And the Angel of God," capital "A". Whenever it says "the Angel of God," it's referring to Jesus. Now, he's not an angel. Jesus is God. But the word "Angel" is generic term for representative of God. This is his preincarnate form. "The Angel of God, who went before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud went from before them and stood behind them". Initially, it was leading them in front. And now the enemy's coming from behind.

Watch this. It went behind, to protect them from behind. "So it came between the camp of the Egyptians," the enemies, "and the camp of Israel. Thus," watch this. "It was a cloud and darkness to the Egyptians, it gave light by night to Israel, so that the one did not come near the other all that night". In a world that's dark, we can have light. Our families can live in the light. I told you all that I never heard anyone preach before about Israel in Egypt, the night of the... I mean, not the night of Passover. When the plagues were happening. There was one plague called darkness that was so thick, you can't see in front of you. But the Bible says Israel, the children of Israel in Egypt, had light in their dwellings.

Now, I read that many times but it never occurred to me that that light must be supernatural, because if that light can be switched on with sparks or whatever, leaves and all that, then the Egyptians would avail themself of the same resource. But they could not light that night, it was a darkness, so the light in their family, the light in your house, the light in your family in a world gone dark, is supernatural light. It's light. You can have light in your dwellings, people, amen? When the world gets darker, the light will get brighter. The path of the righteous never gets worse and worse. It gets brighter and brighter. You know, the things of men, when man made something, it's good at first, it gets worse and worse and worse. Everything of man gets worse and worse and worse. Hot tea gets cooler and cooler and cooler. That's why evolution is nonsense.

You cannot have a lower form become a higher form. Everything in life shows it degrades. Everything becomes lesser. So God is the first one leading them and he is the last one protecting them. Can you see that? I want you to feel in a world that is unsafe that when you travel or when you... don't just think of traveling. Anywhere, when you get up in the morning, know the Lord has gone ahead of you. He's checked out the place. He says, "Son, come on". Jesus is saying to his sheep... he's the good shepherd, right? And what does he say to the sheep? "When he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice". "When he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them". He goes before them. He leads them, "and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice".

By the way, I'm reminded. Do you know that the ark of Noah, Noah's boat, you know, when God told them to come in, look at this, Genesis: "The Lord said to Noah, 'Come into the ark.'" Come into. God didn't say, "Go into the ark," like God is outside, telling them, "Go into the ark". No, God was the first one in, and God says, "Come into the ark". When, after the floods and all that, after the ark was floating, all right, and finally came to a rest at Ararat, they waited for some more time for the land to become dry. God said in the next chapter: "Go out of the ark".

God was the last one out, for God to say, "Go out of the ark". First one in, last one out. Jesus goes out first, because if you go back to John 10, he calls you... I'm closing with this passage. "And the sheep follow him... he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice". Now, nowhere in the Bible does it say you gotta learn to hear his voice. It's a given, it's a statement of fact: "The sheep follow him, for they know his voice". You don't have to teach sheep. You have to teach goats. But if you're born again, you're a sheep. "But... but... but..." You're a sheep, you don't but. Listen, you believe, amen? It's a statement of fact: The sheep hear his voice and they follow him.

Now, I'm not against people teaching how to hear God's voice and all that, but sometimes we complicate things. Have you seen a little baby, all right? You put a baby that's awake in a room, all right, and the mother just step in and the room is very noisy with other ladies talking and chatting. The moment the mother comes in and the mother is talking to someone, the baby's alert. The baby does not need to be taught "Seven steps to hearing God's voice. Your mommy's voice: seven steps to hearing your mommy's voice". No, so what we need to do is to build confidence in God's people that they hear God's voice, they hear the shepherd's voice. Your confession ought to be, "I hear his voice". You should be thanking God every day, "I'm hearing his voice". And God will lead you in the smallest details of life.

You see, it says here, "They follow him, for they know his voice. Yet they will by no means," the "no means" there is very strong. It's "ou mé" in the Greek, which is a double negative. "They will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers". Even young baby Christians, I remember when I was a young Christian I was reading a New Age book, all right? It's full of heretical nonsense and evil, I mean, this evil poison and those things and I didn't know better. I went to church. I was a young Christian, and I didn't feel good about that book. And I asked the elder of the church, that church I attended, I said, "Is it okay? I don't feel good. I've been enjoying this book but after I got saved, I don't know why, I feel very scratchy inside". He says, "You're right, that book is dangerous".

So, as a young Christian, you don't have to worry. Sometimes your head can be playing with you but your inside tells you, "This is wrong," "This is right". You don't live by the knowledge of good and evil; you live by the presence of life or the absence of it. If there's absence of it, don't do it. If there's life, do it. Are you listening? And don't worry. "What if I hear the wrong voice"? "They will not," strong negative, ou mé, "no means follow a stranger". You will not hear the devil's voice. I mean, you will hear his voice but you know it's him. It's a stranger. It's a strange voice. It don't feel right.

How many of you hear preaching... many of you who are here, you've decided this is your home church. How do you decide this is your home church? Because you came here, Pastor Prince did not preach something that your head is trying to comprehend... understand, we are still struggling. In fact, many people are still struggling to understand what I'm preaching. But the thing is this, but your spirit is saying, "Amen, I got it. I got it. In fact, this is what I believe. Somebody is saying outside what God has said inside, but I do not know how to put words. But he put words, because God has graced him, he has the gift, his calling, to put words". Many people tell me the same thing. Ministers elsewhere, they tell me, "You elucidate what I believed. You put into words what I've practiced intuitively".

So, I'll be scared, I'll be afraid, if I teach things that your spirit... now, your head might not say, "That's the first time I hear that". Your head might say that, but in your spirit are you saying, "Mm, this is Jesus". Now, we don't have time to cover everything but I'll give you an example, to hear his voice. The way you follow Jesus... don't forget, when the Lord is your shepherd, not your Savior, he's all, for those who are born again, he's our Savior. But when the Lord is your shepherd, that means what? You're following him. How do you effectively follow him? You hear his voice in this verse. "They follow him, for they know his voice". You follow him by knowing his voice. And when you follow his voice, when you listen to his voice, you will lack for nothing. You know he'll tell you what to eat, what not to eat.

I told you I'll close with this passage but, actually, I'm referring to this passage. Last one is the Romans... okay? Romans, this part here. "Do you have faith"? Talking about food, talking about food. I tell you I'm gonna preach with this, right? "Do you have faith? Have it to yourself before God. Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves". Referring to eating food. What kind of food can you eat? The Bible says: "Do you have faith"? Okay, between you and God. Includes drinking wine, the context. "But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because he does not eat from faith; for whatever is not from faith is sin". Now, listen, "he who doubts is condemned if he eats".

Does it mean condemned to hell? Of course not, this is krino, not katakrima. "There is therefore now no katakrima for all those who believe in Christ". We'll never be damned to hell, never, never again, okay? But there's a krino where in the Bible it says that you don't discern the Lord's body, God doesn't want you to be katakrino with the world. What is that? Disease. So I believe your body can actually, you can actually condemn, if you condemn yourself for what you eat, all right, don't push this beyond anything else, okay? Don't say that "Oh, I don't condemn myself for my adultery". That's nonsense, okay? That's stupid, and you know you're being stupid. Look at this: "He who doubts is condemned if he eats". In other words, for example, God's way... I'll tell you God's way of eating, okay? God's way of eating is this. Hunger, fullness.

Many of us have lost touch of when we are hungry, truly hungry. We eat because it's time to eat, even though we are not hungry, we eat. Sometimes, we eat because the snack is there. It's near our table, we are watching TV, so we reach out, we eat. We eat because we are sad and remember that our mother make us this food so it's comfort food. Because we are sad, someone make us sad, we eat, amen. But God wants you to eat because you are hungry. If you're not hungry, then you don't have to eat. If you are a little hungry, eat a little and then honor fullness. When you are full, ah, pull yourself back. But the thing is this. If you have a craving for chocolate. Go ahead. Go ahead, eat chocolate. But if you eat the first row and you find that you're full, nowhere else to put the chocolate, there's a law in your mind that you're gonna battle with, the police, the food police. Throw it away. "Oh, you can't do that". Why? "There's a law that says you're wasting food. 'Thou shall not waste.'"

If thou shall not waste, thou shall put on on thy waist whatever thou has not wasted, all right? The thing is this. Have no qualms. When you are full, like, you eat your rice and you are full, you find that, actually, I'm full. Just now I was hungry. Now I ate. By the way, eat slowly so that the signal can go and reach on time. You're eating all the time, actually you are full already but the signal goes slowly, okay? So eat slowly. The Japanese know that. Eat slowly, all right? Enjoy what God has given. Give thanks to God. God doesn't want our focus to be on food. He wants it to be on him.

Now, if you hear Jesus's voice telling you, "This diet is for you". If you hear Jesus's voice telling you, please go ahead. But what is good for one person may not be good for you. You better go with this, amen, and ladies, if you wanna eat that cheesecake or that chocolate cake, you have a craving for it, but you're on this diet that says no sugar. Even God says, "You bring me no sweet cane". That's in the Bible, by the way. You know that's the Bible. God tell the people, "You didn't bring me an offering of sweet cane". God likes sweet things, it's okay. No, the Bible says, listen: "Eat... do you have honey? Eat what is sufficient". Do you know honey has more sugar than sugar, amen? But God says it's okay.

Now, if you are diabetic and all that, of course you understand you have to follow what instruction the doctors give you and all that. I'm speaking generally that the principle of God is not dieting, unless Jesus speaks to you. Diet doesn't work. It works initially, and it works really dramatically, but usually, if you don't watch it, after you're off the diet, it comes back with a vengeance. Mr. Flab revisits you and this time with a vengeance. Because you know why? The body doesn't know it's diet. The body says, "Starving".

So you know when people are starving, you know what happens with their metabolic rate? It slows down, to conserve fat for energy for future use. The problem is that when you do that, your metabolic slows down, all right, you might lose weight for a while, but after that, you're off that diet, okay, your metabolic rate's still slowed down. But when you eat a bit here and there and all that, all right, your metabolic rate will burn up, and you will lose weight. Now, I'm not a good illustration, okay, but I try to observe this principle as far as I can, okay? Some of you, your fullness takes a long time. I understand that, like Pastor Lawrence takes a long, long time to hit fullness, but he looks good, doesn't he? And he burns up more.

So the body knows. The body will tell you. God gave you a body that is very... but we have drowned hunger, we have drowned fullness. We eat and eat when we are hungry until we are surfeited, over, and too full, and then we feel painful. That's bad. The Bible says Jesus fed the people five loaf and two fish, okay? Jesus fed the people until they were filled. That means what? When they are full. Got it? So honor hunger, get back in touch with hunger. Find out when you're really hungry and get back in touch with fullness. Babies and toddlers eat, when they're young, they actually know when they're hungry they will eat.

The problem with children not eating and all that today is because, honestly, many children do not know what it means to be hungry. We don't give them the privilege of being hungry. We overfeed them. Children know, you know, when they're hungry, they want food. And then when they are full, guess what? They don't finish their milk or they push aside the food. Parents, don't worry about it. But here comes the parent: "You must not waste food," and they put the law in their minds and they try their best to... and now they say that one out of ten children in Singapore has obesity. Now all this, take it with a caveat, okay? I'm just telling you, if you wanna eat... by the way, it says: "He who doubts is condemned if he eats". Your body condemn itself. It's not God condemn you. There's no condemnation from God.

Listen, in other words, your body can oppose itself. Now, science tell us things called autoimmune disorders, autoimmune diseases, is when your immune system fight against its own body, fight against the healthy cells, okay, doctors in this house know what I'm talking about. Now, why does it happen? Because when you eat the cheesecake, after you eat, "Oh, I shouldn't have eaten the cake, I shouldn't". You eat, eat in faith. Thank God for it. "I shouldn't have eaten it". Don't condemn yourself. If you condemn yourself, your body will say, "Oh, man, let's condemn himself". And all the body start trying to eat up, you know, your cells. You understand, or not? You wanna eat some char kway teow? That's noodles, by the way, a favorite noodle in Singapore. Eat some of it, have a taste. Eat slowly, savor it. Once you find it, "It's a bit too oily. I don't want anymore," push it aside.

Now you have tasted it. Not the forbidden fruit syndrome, always covet your neighbors. You know, when you eat your little steamed chicken with carrots, cucumber, and you always coveting your neighbor's noodles, his kway teow, you know? And you're not eating out of faith. And you're coveting your neighbor's food. "Thou shall not covet". You believe in keeping the law, thou shall not covet. You break one law, you're guilty of all, the Bible says. Those who wanna keep the law, listen. All right, thou shall not covet. The Bible say, guilty of one, you're guilty of all. You're guilty of adultery if you covet your neighbor's kway teow. So, give yourself permission. I have a taste for... today, I just feel like tasting cheesecake. Eat it. You feel like eating the whole thing? Eat the whole thing. You don't feel like eating the whole thing, throw away. Say, "Thank you, Lord. That was good". Praise the Lord. Blessed be the name of the Lord, amen. Give God thanks. And don't judge people who don't eat like you, amen?

Now, if you're on a diet, it works for you, you're happy about it, don't get angry at me, okay? If you're angry at me, might as well break the diet, okay? Eat something, get your blood sugar up, okay? Don't be angry. Let's say you are hiking in a mountain somewhere, New Zealand, Australia, whatever. And you come down after a hard day's work or, you know, in Israel we do that a lot. Walking, walking, walking. Let me ask you. There are two kinds of food when you arrive back at your camp or your hotel. There are two kinds of food. One side: candies, burgers, all right? Chocolate. Now, you're really hungry. Whole day of walking. The other side, all right, healthy food, amen? Fish, amen, steak, humus, all the good food.

Now, when you're really hungry, which will you go for? Your body, if you're in touch with your body, your body will go for the good clean food, when you're really hungry. Instinctively, you know not to go for that food, the sugary candy food. So what I'm trying to say, get back with your body, hear his voice. Say, "Lord, can I eat this today"? Okay, celebrate. Some of you, you've got no manners. Some of you, you're really, really no sugar to the point when you come for my birthday or whatever, you don't even eat my cake. I have seen people completely off sugar that when you offer them a cake, "No". One bite shows respect for the celebration.

When the guy's not looking, put it aside, amen? But you say, "Oh, no, no, no". And it's okay to eat during times of celebration. The Bible is full of it. It's okay. And for the sake of, you know, courtesy, when you go for a celebration, people give you a piece of cake, eat some of it. Don't say, "I'm not on sugar". But if you say, "Should I eat it? I don't feel good if I eat it," then don't eat it, all right? "He who doubts is condemned if he eats". You wanna eat? Eat in faith. "Thank you, Lord God, for this wonderful cheesecake. Give glory to you, Lord. Without your grace, I can't even eat this. Thank you, Lord," amen?

Now don't go crazy. Once you get full, acknowledge that, okay? Learn to eat slowly, so you can get in touch with fullness. They say the signal from the stomach to the head takes a long time. That's why if you keep on popping, popping, swallowing, swallowing, without chewing, without savoring, it takes a long time. Actually, you're full already but it takes a long time for your... that's why the Japanese eat slowly, course after course.

So I promise you, you follow Jesus's voice in eating also. Don't follow a law. Laws don't work. Laws are impersonal. They're not in touch with the way God made you. Jesus is in you. The Ark of the Covenant, when you follow the ark, all right, you will not lack. You need to lose weight, you will lose weight, amen? You need to be healthy, you'll be healthy. Follow him. And what is good for one man, doesn't mean it's good for you. What is not good for him doesn't mean it's not good for you either. Some people, some men of God I know don't drink coffee. For me, I like, I love coffee, amen. Amen? So, doesn't mean it's a law, okay? Follow Jesus. I'm just giving you one aspect of following, go back to John 10. One aspect of following his voice. Our time is up. Have you learned something today? Praise the Lord. Give him praise, hallelujah. Thank you, Jesus, amen.

Every head bowed, every eye closed. I wanna dismiss you. Friend, if you are here today and you are without Christ, without salvation, without forgiveness of sins, friend, listen. The price is paid. Jesus went to the cross and died on the cross as your Savior. All you need to do is believe in what he did. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible says if you confess with your mouth Jesus is your Lord, believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you shall be saved. Are you ready for that? I wanna lead you in this prayer. You say this from your heart. Say:

Heavenly Father, I thank you for your Son, my Lord Jesus Christ, the true ark. He took my place on that cross, bore my judgment as my substitute. He was cursed that I might be blessed. He became sin that I might become the righteousness of God in him. And thank you, Father, you raised him from the dead as a proclamation that all my sins are put away, that I have been acquitted. Thank you, Father, Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior, in Jesus's name, (and all the people said), amen, amen, amen.


Stand to your feet. Praise the Lord. Have you all been blessed? Okay, lift your hands all across this place and wherever that's watching. GRC Church, lift your hands before the Lord. There is no time barrier, there's no distance with God. God is a God outside time and space, and the blessing will go into this coming week and prepare the way. The Lord is going before you, into your Monday, into your Tuesday, all throughout this week, making the crooked places straight, removing all the obstacles the enemy has set against you, against your family. For the Lord himself will keep you, protect you, through his blood, you and your loved ones throughout this week, from the Zika virus, from TB, from dengue, from every disease-bearing mosquito, from every sickness, from terror, from all the powers of darkness, and from the evil one. The Lord himself keeps you and your loved ones safe, secure, underneath the shadow of the Most High, underneath the wings of the Shaddai. You are kept safe in the secret place, the place where the blood has been shed. You are safe. The Lord goes before you. You are safe. Feel safe, feel safe. Feel safe as you face this week. The Lord has gone ahead of you.

Don't be afraid of what comes behind you. The Lord is also your rear guard. He will guard you from behind. Don't worry about unforeseen problems and challenges that comes before you. God will put to naught the arrows that fly by day and the terror by night. God is always guarding you. Believe him. Rest in his love like a child, trusting the loving arms of the mother. Be like a child in his arms and be like a sheep, hearing his voice. And when you're confused, tell him, "Lord, speak to me. Speak to me". And deep down, deep down, just follow that flow, follow that peace, follow that leading. He will lead you into plenty. He will lead you beside the still waters. He will recover your soul. He restore your health. Surely, goodness and mercy will follow you throughout this week, in the name of Jesus, and all the people said, "Amen". God bless you. We'll see you again.
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  1. Nicholas Nesarajah
    23 May 2019 19:45
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    I would truly appreciate if you would enable us to watch the full sermon.
    Thank you.