Joseph Prince - Practical Leadership Keys To Living Holy

TOPICS: Holiness

The heart of God is so big compared to us. God is so generous. We learned a few weeks ago about the parable, the Lord of the vineyard, how the Lord is so generous, he loves to give, and give, and give again, amen? That he wants us to just be in a place of obedience and dependence. These are the two keys that makes our walk with him our Christian life successful. To trust and obey, there's no other way, the hymn says. And when he tells us do something, it's always for your good because God is successful already. Whether you obey, you don't obey, he is successful, amen? His benefit, I mean he's a God who dispenses benefits. The profit is not for him, the benefit is not for him, it's for you when you obey.

So, when he tells you, you know, even simple things in the promptings of the Spirit. "Don't go on this road," amen. "Don't get too close with this person," amen. It's because he loves you and he sees your future, amen? "I am the Lord, thy God who teacheth thee to profit and who leads you by the way that you should go". I love that. "The Lord thy God who teaches you to profit," amen. And when you follow the cloud, like the children of Israel did where the presence of God manifest in the cloud, as long they follow the pillar of cloud, they were always protected. They had victory over their enemies, all their needs were supplied, amen? Follow the cloud. Today the cloud is not outside, the cloud is inside, the Holy Spirit is inside us, and he speaks to you.

And lovers don't yell at one another. Lovers don't yell. Amen, you don't go pass by a park and there are two, I love you! That means I love you, I love you too. If you are Japanese, I'm just teasing, okay? I love the Japanese people, and I love Japanese food, hallelujah. But lovers don't yell. Lovers speak in whisper tones, amen? The longer you marry, your voice volume increased for some reason, amen? But if you can learn that, even the Bible says a soft answer turns away wrath, amen.

So, the Lord speaks to us in that quiet whisper. Elijah encountered God. He went back to Mount Sinai. You know, when he was a Cherith, God never told him, "Why are you here, Elijah"? When he was at Zarephath God never asked him, "Why are you here, Elijah"? But when he went back to Mount Sinai God says, "Why are you here, Elijah"? Amen? And then he expect the God of the law, who gave the law, to thunder as he did calling down fire from heaven but instead, God was not in the breaking of the rocks. He was not in the whirlwind. He was not in the fire. He was in the still, small voice. It's there actually in my latest teaching that we just showed up there about Elijah, how to overcome depression and I shared all that. But really, God is not yelling at us.

Sometimes I wish that he'd tune up his voice. You know, "God, speak louder to me. This way or that way, you know, lead me". But he whispers. His love whispers, amen? And all the people said amen. Hallelujah, are y'all blessed? We are continuing from where we left off last week. Remember last week what is our lesson on? Child training, right? God loves us so much he will train us, and the way he trains us is not by giving us an accident. You know, I heard someone years ago when I was a young Christian and it really scared me so much, you know, that I remember there's an accident that happened to someone and then I was driving, not I was driving, I was being driven, rather. I didn't drive in those days. I was probably just a teenager and this guy was driving me and then he says, "I do not know what happened to this church leader who was involved in an accident, a terrible accident". And he says that, "I wonder why God is disciplining him".

And that dropped into my mind, and I told the Lord later on, "If you want to discipline me, Lord, please talk to me first, you know, and then tell me. Don't let me experience things like that". I mean, it scared me, man. And, of course, years after that, I began to realize it is not God's discipline, amen? And sometimes it's our negligence, and also there's an attack also from the enemy, but we can believe God and usually the enemy doesn't attack until, you know, we okay, that's another message altogether on warfare. But let me just tell you this, God doesn't discipline with sickness, with accidents, amen, with tragedies. He doesn't do that. But God does discipline, he loves us. If we refuse to change the way we talk to people, we'll meet somebody who is worse than us and then it might show us how ugly it is that we have a revelation of that and despise that characteristic in our life, amen. Or, you know, you are harsh and then you meet like Jacob, he meets someone who is even more conniving than him, right? He met Laban, and Laban was the washpot that God used.

So, we studied all that last week, but just to recap real fast, people say that, you know, someone who died and passed on early in his life and all that, God disciplined him. Well, the Bible disciplined child training, doesn't say that. In fact, it says this in Hebrews 12 it says, "Shall we not much more ready be in subjection to the Father of spirits"? Talking about correction. We have had human fathers who corrected us. We paid them respect. "Shall we not much more be subject into the Father of spirits and live"? So, if you die in a car wreck, it's not child training because you don't live, right? But when we submit ourself to God's training, we live, we live. And many a times, God is helping you not to have your life cut short by the enemy on this earth.

You know, some people want to go to heaven, hey, we'll be in heaven forever. In fact, if you are in heaven, you are no earthly good, right? The Lord needs you here. We need more people in the kingdom of God on earth, amen. These are the ones that God can use, the Holy Spirit indwells them. Then, drop down. It tells us again, "No chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterwards". Now, verse 10 first, I want to show you this. "He for our profit. Our fathers chasten us as seem best to them, but he for our profit". Don't forget, "For our profit". Say it. And then the result is takers of his holiness. Now, in this instance, yes, God does say be holy, right? But in this instance, it's not be holy, it is partakers of his holiness. You get his holiness, amen? The result is that you learn to walk in his holiness like you confess, "The Lord Jesus is my righteousness, holiness, he is my holiness," amen, amen?

You know, there are some bad thoughts that I used to have that oppressed me a lot. One of the ways out for me was that I started confessing, "The Lord Jesus, the Lord Jesus is my holiness". And somehow there's a separation. I found that the oppression got lesser and lesser, the more I confessed, "The Lord Jesus is my holiness". That's learning to partake of his holiness. I was being child trained by the Lord. And then verse 11 says there is an afterwards. At the present doesn't seem to be joyful. "Nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness".

Now, righteousness here is not something that you do, okay? It's a gift. It's not talking about righteousness, it's talking about the fruit of righteousness. You have the fruit, the result, of realizing that you are the righteousness of God in Christ, that Jesus is your righteousness, he is your holiness, amen? And the entire thing starts off, Hebrews 12, starts off with, "We are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of faith". And the word "looking" there is looking away from all these witnesses, looking away from everything that will distract you unto Jesus. There's no one like him. Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of faith. "Our" there is in italics, it's not in the original. He's the leader and he's the author, he's the beginner. He's the captain.

The word there also mean captain. And he's the completer, the finisher of our faith, amen? Of faith. So, if we have an example of all the heroes of faith, Hebrews 11, and chapter 12 opens, "Turning away from all of them, looking unto Jesus," amen, "the author and finishers of faith". Can I have a good amen? And any message that helps you look at Jesus is strengthening your faith. It's imparting faith to you, and faith is heaven's currency, if I can use that word. All right, you give God faith, God gives you what you need, amen? God operates by faith. Praise the Lord. Okay, today we go on, we drop down all the way to this passage here. We have learned that. So, why did I mention about looking to Jesus? I believe that child training happens because we need training, we need chastening because we took our eyes off Jesus.

Many a times, that's the thing. It's not so much this sin, that sin, this sin, that sin. Living in sin, of course, if you are living in sin, for example, you have, you know, you are having an affair with someone nobody knows about it and all that. If you're a child of God, God loves you too much to let that go on and he will train you, amen. He will give you a wake-up call because he loves you too much. Now, if God doesn't, you might not be saved. "I would have you know, Pastor Prince, I'm a Christian". Yeah, just like, you know, you go to McDonald's, you become a Big Mac. So, today's lesson, we're gonna go on from there. Everything is context because people are saying, "What is holiness then, Pastor Prince"? What is holiness? It's almost like there's a camp called grace and there is a camp called holiness, amen?

The camp of grace are people with torn jackets and, you know, holes in their jeans and sometimes long hair and all that, and the camp of holiness are ladies with their, you know, their buns so tight, you know, that when they blink, the whole bun shakes. And guys wearing black all the time or, you know, that kind of thing. We tend to put these people, you know, in this characteristic ideas that we have. Neither is the grace camp people like that, doesn't mean so, all right? It can be a very normal person. So, we're gonna look at what grace looks like, what holiness looks like, and there is no, listen, there is no animosity or enmity between grace and holiness. So, let's not create one. I'm a strong believer that grace is the root, holiness is the fruit. Can I have a good amen?

So, one of the things that people like to say is, "Follow peace with all men," which comes right after this passage. You drop down you find, pursue peace with all people. I like to say all men because I read my people from the Old King James. "Pursue peace with all men, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord". And they always say to you like in a very firm tone, you know, in a very grave tone, they will say, "Pursue peace with all men and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord". You know, they gotta have that kind of tone. It's like in other words, the idea is that you can lose your salvation, you won't see the Lord. But that's not the idea here. Don't forget what we shared last week John 5:24, "If you believe on Christ, you have passed from death unto life and you will not come into judgment".

John 5:24, memorize that, all right? You will not come into judgment never again. You have passed from death into life. If you believe on Jesus Christ and what he did for you on the cross. In other words, death and judgment is behind me. They're not in front of you for the child of God, okay? So, whatever message you hear and all that cannot mean that you can lose your salvation, you will never see Jesus in heaven. Doesn't mean that. This verse doesn't mean that and we'll come to that, all right, presently. We're gonna come to that.

If you talk about, "What about the passage, Pastor Prince"? These are valid passages in the New Testament. These are not Old Testament passages where it says, "Be holy for I am holy," all right, and they're referring to 1 Peter chapter 1. By the way, we all want to be holy. All right, guys, you want to marry a girl who was holy. Amen, you don't want a girl to be going around with every other person and then you are one of them, you know? And same for the ladies, you don't want to, you know, marry a guy who is actually seeing you as a notch, you know, on his belt. In other words, you're just one of his conquests. Do you want a guy like that?

No, you know, it's funny, you know, that when we produce a movie, even the world produce a movie, the hero or the heroine is always patient, always loving, always stands up for the poor, the oppressed, and they are always people of integrity. You don't find them lying all the time. I know that are some shows that have changed but basically the theme of the story is always that, amen? The jealous one is always, okay, even Korean drama, all right, the jealous one is the one that gives the eyes, you know? The depressed one is always the number two, amen, amen?

Okay, y'all don't want to help me here, never mind it's okay. But the thing is that the world values these qualities. The army look for leaders that have these qualities, integrity, leadership, amen, with vision, with charisma, but charisma alone without the character is nothing. It's just a froth on your teh tarik, on your tea, that's it. There's no substance, amen? I've drunk teh tarik with froth, sometimes it's good, sometimes it's bad. I've drunk teh tarik without the froth and sometimes really good, amen? So, it's nice to have the froth. You know, I like to see the froth because presentation is important, amen? But it's nothing, it's nothing really, it's no substance, so that's charisma. But what God is looking for is character. You don't marry charisma, you marry character. Can I have a good amen? Because that's who you live with.

So, when the Bible says, "Be holy for I'm holy," in 1 Peter, before we come to that passage, do you realize what are the verses that precede that? Before you come to be holy in all manner of conduct, I'm aware of that passage and I'm sure that many of you have read that or people who are coming against grace, for example, they always bring up his passage. But have you read the verses, like two verses before that? It talks about grace. Let me show it to you right now. "Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ," okay?

Let me show you the context. All right, drop down to verse 14 all the way. "As obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former". Now, this is where they start, God wants us to be obedient children not conforming yourself and we agree, right? Verse 15 they go on, "As He who called you is holy, so also be holy in all your conduct, because God has said, 'Be holy, for I am holy,'" okay? So, that's where they start. That's where they focus on. Straightaway, "Be holy for I am holy". Now, if that is possible, in fact, it's a quotation from the Old Testament repeated here and it's valid still for today, but if they can be holy in the Old Testament without grace, without Jesus having died on the cross, then there's no point for Jesus to come. His death is in vain, am I right or not? So, we must come back to grace, amen? Only by grace.

So, we go back to grace and here it says, "Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ". At first reading, you think of it this way, we are going to encounter the grace at the revelation of Jesus Christ because of the word "at". So, we start thinking that he's gonna come again. The apokalupsis, the unveiling of Jesus Christ. He's gonna come and the word "revelation" is an unveiling, okay? So, he's gonna come in the clouds and then the grace will come to me, but that's not the teaching here. In the Greek, the grace is coming, present tense. The grace is coming, not to be brought to you as in the King James and New King James. It is not the grace that is to be brought.

That is future tense, am I right? But in the Greek, it's actually the grace that is being brought to you. Number one, you need to know that. Number two, all right, it says to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. "At" gives you the idea that it's the coming of the Lord, but it's not at, it is the word "en" in the Greek. The grace that is being brought to you in the revelation of Jesus Christ. Whenever you read the Word of God and the Holy Spirit unveil Jesus, whenever you hear a sermon and the sermon unveils the Lord Jesus Christ, grace is being brought to you. That's what it means.

You want more grace? See more of Jesus in the Word. Listen to sermons that unveil the Lord Jesus Christ, not sermons about what you need to do, what you need to do, what you need to do, what you need to do, what you need to do, because that is the law and the law says, "You shall not, you shall not, you shall not, you shall not". The focus is on you. If you can shall not, shall not, you don't need Jesus. You can shall not. That's bad English, I know. It gets a point home, okay? So here, and thank God for Young's Literal Translation. Young's is a Hebrew and a Greek scholar and he has a Bible called YLT, all right, Young's Living Translation. And look at this, he's very accurate. "Wherefore gird up the loins of you not being sober, hope perfectly upon the grace that is being brought to you in the revelation of Jesus Christ".

Can you see that? So, when you see Jesus, grace is being brought to you. Same author, Peter, in his second epistle says, "Grace and peace be multiplied through the knowledge of Jesus, our Lord and God," amen? So, the same idea, it's not the coming of the Lord. Yes, the Lord is coming back, amen, but it's not then we receive the grace. The grace is being brought to you. Every time you hear preaching about Jesus, grace is being brought to you. And the word grace by the way is charis which is where you get the word charisma, favor, grace. Amen, grace brings everything that God has into your life. Grace is God giving to you. Grace is God working for you. Law is I working, grace is God working. Law is I performing. Grace is God dispensing. Can I have a good amen?

So, if you put them together now, go back to, show them the entire passage, once the grace is there, then as obedient children. When you see Jesus, that's being an obedient child, amen? And then your life, you're able to put aside the former lusts because of your revelation. But as he was, but it's all continuation, "As He who called is holy, so be holy in all our conduct". You cannot read this verse without understanding grace and the revelation of Jesus Christ. It is what changes people's lives. For example, this lady, I'm gonna share with you right now, listen to how she became holy, right? And don't be afraid of the word "holy".

You know, the opposite of holiness is not sin. I shared that in Israel a few months ago. The opposite of holiness is commonness, being common. Because the word "holy" in the Hebrew, hagios, in the Greek is hagiosmos, in the Hebrew is kadosh where you get Kodesh Hakodashim, Holy of Holies. And it means separated. It means to set aside, amen? Not in a self-righteousness, "Don't come near, I'm better than you". No, no, no, no, Jesus moved among the crowd. The common people heard him gladly and no one is as holy as the Lord, amen.

So, holiness is what you ladies do when you put things in your jewelry box and you have a combination, why? Because those things are precious and some things you don't serve openly, your plates, for example, you have plates that you bought, very expensive plates, and you put them on display, amen? They're fine china or special kind of, you set them apart. They are not used for common use, amen? Diamonds are expensive. They are precious because they are not common. Stones are not, they are common. God is saying to you, "Be uncommon". That is being holy.

So, don't allow this definition of holiness frighten you into thinking that you gotta look a certain way, you gotta dress a certain way. Yes, of course, you know, when you come to church and you're dressing and all that, don't dress to lure. Don't dress, if all you gotta do to get attention is to have lesser cloth on your body, amen, then, you know, you are actually cheapening yourself, amen. If your motive is using that to get attention, all right, then I can say that there's nothing much there is, okay? Why? Because you're cheapening yourself. No friend, you are precious, amen. You are holy. You are full of his grace and dignity, amen? Don't, you know, I mean, even the tabernacle of God is covered completely well, okay? What's the problem? Not enough cloth, is it? Okay anyway, this lady, okay, let's look at this. God wants you uncommon, I said. When the world is depressed, you have the peace of God. You are uncommon.

All right, when marriages are breaking up, breaking down, you know, and people are saying it's very common nowadays. No, you are uncommon. When people say it's common what, for everyone is using profanity, and this word, and that word, and all that, it's very common. Yeah, that's why stones are not precious, they are common. But you, young man, young lady, you are uncommon. Dare to be uncommon. Dare to be different without a self-righteous attitude. No, no self-righteousness but full of grace, be uncommon. But what's gonna happen is that the Madras crabs, you know, there's a crab, they call it Madras crabs. And those crabs they will not allow, you can put them in a basket all of them there, don't have to put a lid 'cause every time one comes out, the other one for him down.

Another one climbs up, another one pull him down, all right? The world is full of that. They don't want you to stand out. They want you to be commonplace. They will say all kinds of things to make your common 'cause deep down in their hearts, you convict them. Mmm, oh, I love it. Praise the Lord. "Preach it, Pastor Prince, hallelujah". Be uncommon. Let your marriages be uncommon, amen. The easy way out y'all know is divorce, amen. Be uncommon and practically, that's called holy. That's holy because opposite of holiness is not sin, it is commonness, amen. That leads to sin. And that's, okay, her name is here. A lady from Wisconsin.

I received Jesus into my heart when I was four. When my father became a pastor, I wanted nothing to do with it. I burned a Bible, and I told Jesus to get out of my heart. At 12, I was drinking and experimenting with smoking pot. My teen years were filled with pot, cocaine, ecstasy, drinking, and promiscuity. I was always angry, depressed, and I tried to commit suicide on my 16th birthday. I had no self-worth and absolutely no hope for my future, but I was able to walk away from drugs without any addiction when I turned 18. It was a miracle. I realized God's hand was upon my life the moment I received him into my heart at four years old.

Later that year, I got into a serious relationship with a man 11 years older than me. I got pregnant and terminated that precious life inside me. I was a total mess. I couldn't stand to be alone. I would drive my car and want to run myself into every tree. Then my mom gave me a sermon by my pastor who have been studying Pastor Joseph Prince's teachings. I played it so there won't be silence and I felt hope and life for the first time. I also believe my pastor when he said, 'Just keep going back to God, all these bad things will fall off you.' I became hooked to the grace message. I downloaded every podcast by my pastor and Pastor Prince and listened to them for four hours every day for two years. I also read Pastor Prince's books.

If there was anything he said to memorize and declare out loud, I would do it. For the first year and a half, my behavior didn't change, but I never stopped listening and all the bad things did fall off me eventually. I stopped drinking, smoking, and living promiscuously. I had hope and dreams for my future. I also learned who I am in Christ and the great love of the Father has for me, my worth as his beloved child, well-pleasing to him and the gift of no condemnation. I had post-abortion counseling and I believe my child is waiting for me in heaven. Then I found out I had genital herpes, an incurable sexually transmitted disease. I was devastated but with the foundation of grace, I believed God would work all things together for good and that I would receive my healing.

Two years later, I met my fiance and had to tell him about my disease. Fear consumed me, so I told God that I didn't have faith, but Jesus did. I rested in his faith and thanked God for healing. I got tested again and found that the Lord had freed me of an incurable disease and made me whole. I've been married for four years now, and my life is absolutely amazing. My husband and I own a successful business, and we are building an amazing future together. Because of Jesus's finished work on the cross, my heart is bursting with joy and life just gets better every day.

To God be the glory. Thank you, Lord Jesus. This is to you, Lord, for your glory. Amen, thank you, Lord. Hallelujah, amen. I'm sure the Lord is very pleased when he hears testimonies like this being shared so the world will know that there's an answer, amen. The world is crying, sighing for him. They don't even know they are crying out for the bread of life, but they're very hungry. They are so thirsty, but they're crying out for the fountain of life, and they don't know him. You know, we are blessed. We know him. Let's share that Word, amen. It's called the gospel. We wish we have more room to bring all the pastors and all the people that are hungry. Right now our problem is that it's a net-breaking, boat-sinking load of fishes. We had to call for help from other boats, amen.

There is no competition between ministries and all that. We all need each other in these last days when the grace revolution is unearthed, amen. God is restoring the gospel again in the world, amen. God is restoring the gospel and the gospel is not do right, get right. Do bad, get bad. It is you can receive good you don't deserve because Jesus took all your bad, amen. He bore your sins. There's no more a sin problem between you and God because Jesus bore your sins away. It was God who sent his Son for this purpose because God so loved you. We gotta get back the gospel. We gotta preach the gospel. You know, I looked at ministry sometimes and I don't hear the gospel and at the end of it, they ask for money and they say that, "help us preach the gospel"? What gospel? I didn't hear the gospel, and make sure your money is going into the gospel, amen.

I'm not talking about this ministry, any ministry preach the gospel, make sure that's where you put, your money must be on good ground. Seed on good ground flourishes, amen? So, let's go right now to the passage we have before us. "And pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord". Number one, it's not talking about going to heaven to see Jesus. It's not talking about seeing Jesus physically. It's talking about that revelation that you and I have when we see, "Ah, I see the Lord. I see how beautiful he is," amen. Do you know it takes a condition called holiness to be able to see that? And that's why sometimes you gotta take time away because you are so busy, you are so cluttered down with responsibilities and deadlines to meet and all that, and phone calls, and emails to check up on, you know?

At the end of the day, you go to a tombstone wherever it is, you know? You read the whole thing, this lady, you know, check on her emails and return every call. But here she lies still at the end of the whole thing. You know, make sure your life, your life is precious, more than just, yes, be responsible and all that, but don't be bound by these things. Your life is precious. Jesus says, "I came that you might have life and have it more abundantly," amen? So, what is this saying? It's like wow, I see the Lord. Maybe you are reading the Word, you see the Lord, amen? You see the Lord in the story of David. Wow, your heart is warm. You have an Emmaus Road experience, that is grace being brought to you, amen. Now, that is what it says, holiness without which no one will see the Lord.

Now, we all want peace with all people, right, amen? You all want that, right? You don't want to war. You don't want animosity, you don't want strife. You want peace and on this part here, you want holiness, that state where, you know, that the condition where you are able to see the Lord. And what do you do when you're cluttered down with all your responsibilities and all that, you take time. Make sure that every morning, "This is my time with the Lord". Let no one bother you. Sometimes you might even go for short holiday made for yourself. Say that, "I gotta take time away to be an effective worker, to be a loving husband, and a good parent. I need to take time away. I don't have time for the Word, so I need time.

I take one day, you know, tell the Lord it's a time of saturation. I'm sure when you come back, you'll be a greater father, amen, a more loving husband. Ladies, allow your men to have that kind of time. Or sometimes you don't even have to go away, you know? You just learn to prioritize every morning, "This is my time". After lunch, "This is my time, no one bothers me". And the devil will bother you. All of a sudden, you find you receive calls you never expected; you have distractions and all that. Don't allow the devil to take you the from the place of Mary and becoming a Martha, amen? The open ears is what Jesus prize in Mary, the open heart and the open ear, not the busy hands and running around feet. Ear, heart, not... okay? He says, "This is one thing needful". He loves it, he loves it, and doesn't mean won't do anything.

In fact, when your ear and heart is engaged, you end up doing the right thing at the right time like Mary did. She anointed him at the right time. The ladies that came on resurrection morning were too late. She did it at the right time, amen. So, follow peace with all man. We want that, holiness without which no one will see the Lord. Then the Bible says, "Looking carefully, lest anyone fall short of the grace of God, lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled". "Looking carefully," diligently, in the Old King James, "lest anyone fall short of the grace of God, lest any root of bitterness". So, long before there's a root of bitterness, someone has fallen short of the grace of God. Long before you see the golden calf, Israel fell short of the grace of God at the foot of the mountain, Mount Sinai.

Remember this, they had grace. They were not perfect people. In fact, idea of grace is unearned, undeserved favor. So, how can you deserve it? But when they came out, God opened up the sea for them. They didn't deserve it. God gave them grace. It was a covenant of grace, amen? They murmured, they complained. God gave them water from the flinty rock, hallelujah, to quench their thirst. They complained, God gave them manna from heaven, amen? By grace, by grace, by grace, but here long before you see bitterness in someone's life, they fell short of the grace of God. Yes, even in New Creation Church. You see someone having a root of bitterness, thereby many, many be defiled.

You see what I'm saying? When the root of bitterness springs up in their heart, not only they cause trouble for themself, they cause trouble to many people. And now especially in the social media world we live in, they put their bitterness down. And those that read it, their minds become defiled. "Oh really"? "Yeah". "Oh, really? This is what this person is like, is this what that person is like"? You become defiled because you read those stuff and there's death in the pot that you are reading. There's death in the pot. I was telling my wife just yesterday that there's so much death out there, even in children teaching that is not Christ-centered. You know, be careful what you're children is watching. Don't just abandon them.

I know it's very peaceful. Just put an iPad in front of them, the TV in front of them. You need to know what they're watching. You need to know the censor is on. You need to know the boundaries that they are told. Don't just leave them alone. Your children are too precious to let the world who don't care about them educate them. You need to know what they are watching. You need to know what they're seeing. A lot of witchcraft is out there in children's shows. You need to be very careful, amen? For me, I believe with all my heart that when you see someone with no holiness, bitterness, right? What is bitterness, the opposite of what? Following peace. Am I right? But long before there's a root of bitterness, you know what happened? They fell short of the grace of God.

Once again, Galatians 5, verse 4. "Christ has become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law, you are fallen from grace". Now, falling from grace is not when you sin. "Oh, this guy fell from grace. This man fell from grace. He ran off with his secretary". That's what we like to say. No, falling from grace is, and when you fall from grace, Christ becomes of no effect, right? That's terrible. If you are sick, you want Christ to be of effect, amen. If you are broke, you want Christ to be of effect. If you are depressed, you want Christ, who is the true shalom of God, to be of effect? Am I right? So, the question, what makes Christ of no effect, this powerful, all powerful Christ? What makes it of no effect in your life?

"Oh Pastor Prince, God can do anything, everything. God is Almighty, you can". No, there are some thing's God cannot do. God cannot make you pay your tithe, all right, number one. You know that. God cannot lie. Y'all know that, right? God cannot lie. There are some things God cannot do. God cannot lie. Oh, no, he will not. No, will not means he can, but he choose not to. No, cannot. My Bible says God cannot lie. Therein lies my strong foundation to trust him, amen? I know his Word is true, praise the Lord. So, long before someone has bitterness in their heart, somewhere along the way you backtrack, they fell from grace. And how is falling from grace accomplished? By trying to be justified by the law, therefore Christ is become of no effect.

When you're justified by the law, you are getting your sense of like, "You know, I'm right with God today because I've kept the law. You know, I". So, you're law conscious. You are fallen from grace, and Christ becomes of no effect. A case in point is that the Pharisees who boasted in the law cannot receive from Jesus. I know many of them are sick, but they can't receive from Jesus. But prostitutes, tax collectors, the social outcasts of his day could receive readily from him. The leper received from Jesus. According to the law, you cannot touch the leper, but the leper didn't touch Jesus, Jesus touched the leper and the clean made the unclean clean, amen?

You know, leprosy can be very, very smelly to be near a leper, especially when it's full of leprosy, the Bible says. Jesus not only spoke the Word. He could accomplish the whole thing, his healing, by speaking the Word even from a distance. Jesus came to him and touched him. I love the Lord. I love him, don't you? Well, back to this again. Okay, "Follow up peace with all people and holiness". So first, what's gonna happen is that just like Israel, the moment Israel says, "kol asher diber Adonai" in Hebrew, na'aseh, all right? "We will do everything you tell us to do," that is pride. That is self-confidence. That is presuming on their strength, which they have none.

Straightaway after that, you will see a golden calf. They broke the very first commandment, they broke. They should never have said that? In fact, they boasted that they will keep all of God's commandments, even before God gave them the Ten Commandments because that portion when they boasted is chapter 19. Chapter 20, then God gave them the Ten Commandments. How can you boast on something you've not even heard. It's man presuming on his strength, and there are a lot of people like that. They are self-confident. Now, Pastor Prince, isn't that good be self-confident? No, God wants you bold, not self-confident. Boldness is having your eyes on Jesus. Self-confident is just trusting yourself. "I did it my way". Nope, his way is eternal.

And I'll tell you one thing, all those who believe in my way, look at the fruit of their life. Look at the end of their life. Look at the result of those around them, amen, when you do things your way. Do things God's way and God kind of results will be in your life. So, the golden calf, they never planned to build the golden calf. They fell from grace. When they put themself under law, they boasted in the law. They fell from grace and then the golden calf appears. The very first commandment they broke. Now, here is says, "If you fall short of the grace of God, you will have a root of bitterness," right? Then the next verse says, "Lest there be". So, there's lest any root of bitterness, now lest there be. When you fall short of the grace of God, there'll be sexual sins in your life like Esau who, for one morsel of food, sold his birthright.

So, long before there's a fornicator or a profane person, by the way, this Greek word for fornicator, you see where it's familiar or not? It's the word "pornos," all right, pornos. That's the word for fornicator, sexual. So, long before there's pornography manifesting in our lives, long before there's sexual immorality in our lives, God created sex. "Amen, Pastor Prince". I thought I just let fly that one just for a while, amen? Look around for religious people, their hands are folded, their eyebrows are raised. God created sex. The very first commandment God gave man is, "Go have sex". God told Adam and Eve, "Be fruitful and multiply". The first thing he told them, right or not? What I said.

Now, if that bothers you and all that, and God can make it very, very, very, very dutiful and there's no pleasure. There's nothing at all, you know, just do it. You want a child? Okay, just go into this and just hug each other, all right, or beat each other for a while. You know, God can make it very complicated. You won't see anything now because you do not know because you were not even created, how to argue? But God gave us these things. Where the devil comes in, he perverts. The devil has no original thought in his mind. He just takes what God creates and he perverts it.

Now guys, one thing you don't do in these last days, don't throw away your common sense because common sense nowadays is the uncommon sense in the world. Okay, when someone try to ask you to buy something, you know you don't need it, common sense says, no, no need, all right? No, no, no, no thanks, no, common sense. We buy things we don't need with money we don't have to impress people who don't care. So, who has at the end of the day, all right? Learn to say no and learn to say no without feeling guilty. Okay, anyway, "Lest there be any root of bitterness, lest there be any fornicator or profane person like Esau, who for one morsel of food, sold his birthright".

Later on, drop down, "When he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected for he found no place for repentance, though he sought it diligently with tears". I used to think that he cried and cried to make himself repent, and he can't find repentance. No, no, it's not that. The word "repentance" is metanoia, change mind, change your mind. He actually tried to change his father's mind, and he found no place to change his father's mind, though he sought it carefully with tears. He begged his father to change his mind. The father dispensed the blessing on the younger one already. And you cannot blame the father because if you rewind this entire story, you find there was a time that he despised his birthright. He sold his birthright to his brother for one morsel of food.

Remember that? And now the father dispensed the blessing on the younger one. He's got nothing to, you know? So, the picture there it's very clear that Esau is a person who is bitter and try to kill Jacob his brother. He's a person who is given to sexual immorality. In fact, we learned from here that he's given to sexual sins. How do you know you fall short from the grace of God when God's grace is not effective in your life? Is it possible for Christian to fall from grace, hey, Galatians was written to Christians and Paul says Christ becomes of no effect. He is in you, but he's of no effect. You are fallen from grace, whoever is justified by the law.

Is it possible for a person? Yes. And how can you tell you're fallen from grace? Two things, there'll be bitterness in your heart. You're always bad tempered. For some reason your wife look at you, "What happened to you nowadays? There was a time that you are loving on people. You know, you are loving to the club. You are loving to the receptionist. You're loving to even strangers out there. You know, you are kind. You help people. You are generous, you know? And what happened to you? When you're full of grace, that's what you do. You are, you know, you just love people sometimes to a fault. But when you are fallen from grace, you're bitter. Your words are cutting. It's a root of bitterness coming in.

Number two, you can tell you're fallen from grace when you have sexual problems. You find all of a sudden your eyes, you cannot stop your eyes from looking, of course, the full-fledged one will be either committing sexual immorality with someone that is not your wife, or your husband, or watching pornography, which is just as worse, though it's not the deed. So, we see the problems and pastors are worried about the problems. Preachers are concerned about this in people. They see it in people so they try to push against it when actually the route is falling short of the grace of God. That's why we need to rediscover the grace of God. Grace is the route, holiness is the fruit.

So, let's back by looking at this. To help you understand, I drew out this chart yesterday and had someone help me design it and all that. But I drew the chart roughly and this is what I saw to help you understand. First of all, God wants us to follow peace with all men, all right? Then holiness without which no one will see the Lord, am I right, right? So, on the part of follow peace with all men, instead of following peace of all men, what do you have from the passage we read, root of bitterness? Now, do you agree, root of bitterness is taken in place of following peace is the opposite, am I right, right? Instead of peace with all men, you have bitterness, which is attacking, hurting people around you.

Holiness, instead of holiness, in place of holiness, you have fornicator or profane person, pornos. You have sexual sins, right? Would you agree that it's in place of holiness, am I right? And it's all because of falling short of the grace of God. It's all because of falling short of the grace of God. So, the way the Bible does it is from reverse, from the bottom it says, Look carefully, looking carefully, lest anyone fall short of the grace of God, lest there be root of bitterness, lest there be fornicator, and that will negate following peace with all people and holiness without which no one will see the Lord.

Can you see where it's missing today? Can you see why the testimonies I've shared on people's lives were transformed? They heard the grace of God. They didn't hear the holiness. God is holy, but that's not the gospel. The gospel is that God is coming to man in grace, amen? Grace is actually the highest holiness ever because only grace can bring a holy God and sinful man together. Now, it is based on the foundation of Jesus's finished work, amen? So, the very thing we need to focus on, look carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God. How do I know I'm falling short? I'm becoming law conscious.

What is law conscious? You wake up, you, the whole day all of a sudden, your mind, you heard something. No, that's why we need to hear grace all the time because grace is not natural. Grace is not natural. I'm the preacher of grace and I realized it's not natural. I need to remind myself again what's grace? If I whack you with my words because you deserve it, I didn't minister grace with my words. Grace is undeserved favor. I gave you what you deserved, amen. Are you listening? Esau is a good example. Now, Esau lived before the law. So, how did he fall from grace? He fell from grace by being performance-oriented. He believed that because he's a, you know, he's a hunter, he's a wild man, his father loved him because of what he did, which was never true.

You see the life of Esau, he's a performer, a performer, whereas Jacob was a homebody guy. You know, and every time you see him performing, he was trusting his own performance. What was the result? He had bitterness. He had sexual problems. Now, no one will tell you these two problems, bitterness and sexual problems in the church today, is because of self-performance. They will say, "No, they need to perform more". In fact, because they're not performing more, this is a problem. The devil has hoodwinked, in fact, causing people to fall short of the grace of God. Another example is this, the prodigal son. Y'all know the story of Luke 15 Jesus shared about the prodigal son and the two sons, this younger son asked the father, "I can't wait for you to drop dead". It's in essence that's what he's saying. "I want my inheritance now".

The Bible says he went far away and spent his, all his money on riotous living. When he came back, all right, okay, he was at the pigpen and then even the pig food looked good and all that. Then he says, "Even my father's house, the servants have bread enough and to spare. I'll rise and go to my father". Now, he didn't go back to his father because he loved his father, he went back to his father because he was hungry and he realized even the servants have bread enough and to spare. But as long you take your step towards God, God will run to you, regardless of your motive. All of us, when it comes to God in the first place, we didn't come to God because we love him, but God took us in.

Many of us go to God for fire insurance, lake of fire insurance, okay, amen. But, you know, we fell in love with him later, right? We fell in love the Lord later. We found out how wonderful he is. Anyway, the son came back, the father ran. The father ran. The father ran to hug him. The father kissed him. The father gave him the best robe. The father, "Put a ring on his finger, killed the fatted calf and all that, and let us make music. Let's dance. Let's celebrate. My son was lost and now he's found". And then they were celebrating, then the son, the oldest son, the brother, older brother came from the field and asked the servants, "What do these things mean"?

Actually, he heard music and dancing. You know, for people who are legalistic, people who are bitter people, they don't understand music and dancing, must ask people, "what do these things mean"? For them, it is strange fire. So, they must ask, "What do these things mean"? And then, "Oh, your brother came back. Your father has done this". And he was angry, root of bitterness. Watch this, all right? "He was angry and would not go in," root of bitterness. "Therefore, his father came out and pleaded with him. So he answered and said to his father, 'lo, these many years I have been serving you.'" Notice the I. "I have been serving you. I never transgressed your commandment at any time". Oh yeah? Then he's the first. "I never transgressed your commandment at anytime. I serve you, yet you never gave me young goat".

Why does he want a young goat to celebrate with the father? The young goat was killed when the younger son came back to celebrate together, but he wanted a young goat, not to sell. He has no heart for his father, "That I might make merry with my friends". Once again, "I never transgressed your commandment". He's a man under law. He's a man who is law conscious. He sees a demanding father, amen? And that's why you see the root of bitterness. You see the sexual sin. Where's the sexual sin? Okay, it says here, drop down, next verse. "As soon as this son of yours". Didn't even say, "My brother". "As soon as this son of yours", I know that I'm in trouble or Justin did something wrong when my wife says, "Your son. Do you know what your son did"?

So, I know I am the disciplinarian. Do you all do that? "Your son, you know what your son did"? You know that you're in for, all right, that'll be a long night, okay. "As soon as this son of yours came, who has devoured your livelihood with prostitutes, harlots, you killed the fatted calf for him". Now, if you read carefully, we don't have time to show you this, but the Bible doesn't say he spent time with prostitutes. We assume he did and he may very well have done it, okay? But the Bible says in the King James, "He spent time riotous living".

In the New King James it says, "Prodigious living". Doesn't say he spent time with prostitutes. You can do all the things without, most likely he did. But of all the things that the younger son did, the older brother mentioned about he spent time with prostitutes, why? Why is he conscious of that? You think about it. Usually, you know, we are bitter towards the very things that, you know, that we are conscious of and that we look at others because he points it to us. It unveiled himself. So, he is angry, root of bitterness. He's most likely has a problem with lust.

I guarantee you look at any religious person, I don't care what denomination he is, whatever it is, if he's bitter and he has sexual problem, he has a problem with grace. He's coming short of the grace of God and long before this, if these two things are very strong in your life, ask yourself, "Have I lost the sense of how much God loves me? Have I stopped listening to messages that point me to Jesus and his wonderful person and the love of God? Am I conscious of the love of God for me? Have I had a fresh revelation of his grace"? 'Cause I tell you this, you remember those times when you are full of grace, amen.

You even gave something to the gas attendant at the petrol kiosk, right? You were kind. You were helping people. You saw people carrying things and too heavy and said, "Can I help you"? You know, you are full of love because you're full of grace. They are just the beneficiaries. Okay, go back to Hebrews 12, oh by the way, I need to tell you this. The father said to him, "Son, he said, "you never gave me," right? The father says, "Son, you are always with me and all that I have is yours". Revelation. "All that I have is yours". He's saying, "Why didn't you kill that goat? It's your goat, bro".

So, the problem is that when you a law conscious, all right, you see God as a stingy God, demanding. He demands that I serve him. He demands that I keep all his commandments. He demands, he demands. You are demand minded, whereas people full of grace, they are supply minded. God is dispensing me the grace. God is giving me. I'm so full of his goodness, amen? If bad things are happening, God is working it out for good, amen, for my good, amen. Praise the Lord. And you're always conscience of God giving, God dispensing, God ministering. That is someone who is under grace. Joseph had no bitterness because he told his brothers, "You sold me here, but God sent me here".

He saw God working, he saw God ministering, that's why he had no bitterness towards his brothers. You thought you sold me here, God sent me here to preserve many lives". Okay, "son," there are few Greek words for son. One is child, child. Do you know this is the first time the word "child" appears in this entire story? You know, it says, oldest son, youngest son, you know, all that. All that is huios, which is full-fledged sons, sons with rights and privileges, amen. When the father, when the father said of the younger son that came back, "My huios, my full-fledged son with rights and privileges". Jesus made us sons of God. As many as receive him, they become huios of God, sons of God with rights and privileges, amen?

But notice the father looked at this man, this older brother who is self-performing, who is looking at self, not toward the father's goodness. And it says, "child". In the Greek it says, "Child, child, all that I have is yours. You're always with me, all that I have is yours". He's a child. No doubt spoken with tenderness but child. That's why when Israel was a child, they were put under law. When Jesus came, he brought huios, he brought sonship. But notice how he spoke of the younger son. When the younger son came back, "My son was dead, and now he's alive. He was lost but now found". My huios was dead, and now it's found.

Even though he spent time like that he came back, he's a huios, why? God loves it when you come back to his grace, to his goodness. Not one word from the father's lips about, "You know, you took all my money, you know, huh? Go join the servants' quarters. I'll let you know when it's right you come back". David did that with Absalom and there's a root of bitterness in Absalom? He put Absalom under law, in a sense, caused bitterness. I'll tell you one thing though, all right, by the way, learn, learn the difference. This is hardcore rebellion and how you treat a hardcore rebellion. God broke that the rebellion by his grace. Now, if you say, go back to Hebrews 12. We are bringing this to a close.

You say, "Well Pastor Prince, this whole passage I don't know, you talk about grace of God, but maybe it's not talking about law and grace". Well, I'm glad you mentioned that, okay? We ended just now in verse 17, right, verse 17. You know what comes after verse 17? Verse 18, and verse 18 says this, "For you have not come to the mountain". All of a sudden talking about Mount Sinai. That may be touched. It's a palpable, touchable mountain. "And that mountain burned with fire. And he had blackness and darkness". You have not come to blackness and darkness. And the word darkness here is the same word, the same word as the word "dark" in terms of depression, amen.

Darkness. God told Moses when the moment the people said to God to Moses, "All that God commands us, we can do it". God told Moses, "I come to you in a thick cloud, a cloud that makes you hard to see". And then the next chapter of the Bible said, "God, descended on Mount Sinai to give the Ten Commandments". There was darkness, there was fire. How can there be fire and darkness at the same time? Yes, just like an eclipse moon can be red but not bright. By the way, I saw it, pictures of it that night. The longest eclipse, you must stay up. My family was gone, but I stayed up to pray for y'all, wah. No, No, I'm just kidding. I wanted to see if this phenomena. It was amazing. How can a lake of fire, a place of darkness? You're not there.

"Oh, if I go to hell, what? You know, I'm making friends with people anyway. My old friends are there". Yeah, that's what you think. You can't even see the person in front of you. It's a place of thick darkness, the Bible says. Yet, there's a fire. Very interesting that when Jesus was transfigured on the Mount of Transfiguration, Peter, James, and John were there. The Bible says a bright cloud overshadowed them. Where Jesus is, there's no thick darkness, it's a bright cloud. And the darkness there on Mount Sinai, it's exactly the same word that tells us in the last days, the days that you and I are living in, gross darkness shall cover the people, but the Lord will arise upon you.

Same word, gross darkness and that's why people kill themself. The darkness comes on their mind. No one kills themself when their minds are cheery and bright. Darkness is coming upon, gross darkness, but the Lord will arise upon you. His glory shall be seen on you, amen? Are y'all learning, people? Is this helping you? Okay, let's look at the mountain again. So, there are seven things about the mountain, blackness, darkness, tempest, sound of trumpet, and the voice of words, the Ten Commandments. "So that those who heard it begged that the word should not be spoken to them anymore". Say, "Moses, you talk to God, don't let God talk to us".

And let me just tell you this, okay? If you are under law inside your heart, and I've been there before because I thought I committed unpardonable sin. I was trying my best to keep God's commandments when I was a teenager. I did my best and so much so that I always felt like God has forsaken me. I have committed the fatal sin, or the unpardonable sin, and God is finished with me. I walked down Orchard Road with a Bible so big it can choke a donkey. And I tried to witness to people hoping that they'll get saved. And some of them got saved.

And so, when God sees them, God will see them in heaven and see and remember me in hell. I really believe I was going to hell. Based on all the books I was reading and all that, there's no way I can live the Christian life, the kind of holiness that they talk about. So, I told myself, never mind, I'll serve God and just make God feel guilty, you know, for sending me to hell. So, I did that. I was looking for grace. God was preparing the vessel that will minister to all of you, amen. And I really, really felt darkness. I felt blackness. I felt like all of God's words that is supposed to be encouraging me everything I read, instead of seeing Jesus, I saw darkness. I saw words that I begged should not be uttered again, so I neglected the Bible.

I dare not read it. This is always the experience of someone who is under law. Perhaps you're watching this and this is your experience. This is not what God wants for you, amen. Even Moses, the best of them verse 20 it says that, "They could not endure what was commanded. So much as a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned or shot with an arrow". That's how the fiery darts come. You touch the mountain, you'll be shot. "And so terrifying was the sight that Moses, the best of them, the meekest man in all the earth, said, 'I'm exceedingly afraid and trembling.'" You are not come to that mountain. That's how it starts. You are not come to that mountain.

Hello, you're not come to the mountain that can be touched. The fire, blackness, darkness, words that they beg should not be spoken to them. You know what you're come to? The next mountain. But you have come to Mount Zion. Hey Mount Zion, we learned that a few weeks ago, right? God says, "I have chosen Mount Zion". Mount Zion represents grace. It is the mountain where the sacrifice was offered, amen. It's the mountain where God says, "Here I have chosen this to be my dwelling place forever," amen. It is the mountain where we saw the sacrifice was laid on the altar of burnt offering. It's all on Mount Zion, amen? It's the place where God says, "I'll clothe the poor, amen. And I will clothe the saints with righteousness". It's the place where there's supply, amen, where there's blessing and those that trust in the Lord shall be as Mount Zion established forever.

So no more Mount Sinai, and let's look at the characteristics of Mount Zion. It says, "You are come to Mount Zion, the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem". So, it's not earthly Jerusalem, Jerusalem, it is heavenly Jerusalem. Doesn't say, "You have come to Mount Zion that can be touched," because you can touch Mount Zion. Right now we are all in Mount Zion, and it cannot be touched. Something about the world, you can see it, you can touch it, it's real. You can't see it, you can't touch it, it's not real. Actually God's promise is opposite. What you can't see is eternal. Like there are angels around us, they're eternal, amen?

Your chair, you can touch it. It's temporal. Your body can touch it, it's temporal. Don't worry, you get a brand-new body next time, amen, when Jesus comes again, amen? Your spirit, you can't see it, it's eternal, your spirit. So, that which is unseen doesn't mean it's not real. It's more real, amen? If I can say it that way. So, you are come to Mount Zion, the city of the living God, a heavenly Jerusalem to an enumerable company of angels. You don't read that just now on Mount Sinai. God was there, was there. God has moved mountains. Pastors, leaders, we gotta move mountains, take our pulpit from Mount Sinai to Mount Zion, from preaching about God demands, God demands, God demands, to God's supply, God's supply, God's grace, God dispensing.

It takes more skill to preach this. It takes the Holy Spirit to preach this. It takes spiritual intelligence to preach this. It takes discernment to preach this. It takes a hearing wisdom a hesed wisdom to preach this because to preach, "Don't do this, don't do that," anyone can do that. But to preach and unveil the loveliness of Jesus because grace is not natural. This takes the Holy Spirit. But we gotta move on our pulpits from Mount Sinai to Mount Zion, move our families from Mount Sinai to Mount Zion. Make them conscious. Even for us, we represent God the Father, right, to our children. Make sure that we're always loving them, dispensing, not buying them gifts all the time, okay? Because gifts can be a substitute for the gift, your presence. They rather have you.

Then it says, "The angels that are there, they can't be numbered", innumerable at Mount Zion. "General assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits", God has moved mountains. To the spirits a righteous man made perfect, just men, righteous men. "To Jesus the Mediator the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than the blood of Abel". So, let's look at the graph here. I've put down this for you to understand, helps you to understand. Mount Sinai, feel like darkening it so that you know it's darkness. Mount Zion is always bright, okay?

Now, what you need to do is to turn to Mount Zion. God doesn't want you to turn back to Mount Sinai, Mount Sinai. There's seven things about Mount Sinai we read just now, okay, and there are seven things about Mount Zion, the cities, heavenly Jerusalem, the angels that cannot be numbered, the church of the living God, God who justifies all of us, amen. God the judge of all who pronounced us as righteous. The righteous men are there, even those who have gone on before David, Elijah, they're all there, amen. Jesus, the mediator, the blood that speaks better things, amen. Seven things, and everything is for you. Everything in Mount Zion is for you. Everything is for you. Everything is for you. Everything is bright, everything is glorious, everything in Mount Zion is good, and everything is for you.

Hey, hey, everything is for you. Whereas Mount Sinai, everything is against you, everything is against you. Mmm, then it ends off with, go back to chapter again. "You have come to Jesus at Mount Zion. Even Jesus is there at Mount Zion, the mediator of the New Covenant. Say, "New Covenant". "And you have come to the blood, the blood of Jesus, of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel," that speaks better things than that of Abel. Abel's blood, when Cain killed him, his blood cries to God from the ground, and his blood cries for vengeance, vengeance, vengeance. Jesus's blood, when the blood was shed, he cried out for mercy, for grace, for forgiveness. It's the blood that speaks better things than the blood of Abel, amen? Are you with me so far? Are you learning this?

I sense God's grace increasing in your life. You gotta stay here, you know, you gotta stay in the grace, you know? Turn your back, turn your back fully on Mount Sinai. Faithfully, Mount Zion, that's where you are. You are come to this mountain. You're not come to this mountain, you are come to this mountain. Don't ever let anyone lead you back, even when teaching that same sound seems good. Watch out for that. It's not a mountain that is palpable, that can be touched. People want that, they want, "I want to see something. I want to build myself something I can touch and feel. I want something". No, no, that's not grace. Grace is invisible, yet you're looking by faith at Jesus, and invisible is not unreal. It's more real, it's eternal.

What you can see is temporal, right? Are you with me so far? Then it tells you this, the blood speaks better things, right? It closes with a warning and I want to close where the Holy Spirit closes. There's a warning. The blood that speaks, what? Better things. The blood of Jesus speaks, what? Better things. What better things? Forgiveness, grace, mercy, healing, shalom peace, amen, family well-being, hallelujah, peace for your mind, provisions, amen, supply speaks better things, plural, things. Better things, better things. See that you don't refuse that voice. What? Who speaks? The context must be seen. The warning is this, don't refuse the voice of grace. Don't refuse the voice of grace. Is it possible for people to refuse the voice of grace? You better believe it. Nothing irks, nothing brings up the ire and the anger of religious folks when they hear you preach grace.

Oh man. "What about holiness? Amen". It's almost like, my goodness, the Pharisees are still around. Not in that tone sometime, but the underlying current can be such. Some of that grace is basic when actually law was basic when Israel was nepios, Israel was an infant, God put them under law. When Jesus came, he brought them the full sonship. How do we get this whole thing inverted? I don't know. It's a cunning, evil wisdom of the enemy. Don't forget, God does say he has wisdom, corrupted wisdom. That's how he, you know, anyone preaches grace, be careful of that person. How did we come to this place? The whole context is comparing law and grace and now he's warning you, don't refuse grace. Don't refuse the voice of grace.

This voice that speaks is speaking from heaven. "If they did not escape," referring to the children of Israel, "they did not escape who refused Him who spoke on earth, much more shall we not escape if we turn away from Him who speaks from heaven". In other words, listen, when the law was spoken by God, God spoke it. When God spoke the law, it was spoken on earth, Mount Sinai, but when grace is spoken, God speaks grace now. He's speaking from the highest heavens. Don't refuse it. Those who refused the law, when God spoke on earth, perished. After you're under law, you better keep the law. If you reject it, you perish. But those today, those who are rejecting grace, how much more? The Bible says don't reject grace.

The problem today in the church, if I try to explain why people are having problems, not being able to receive healing, not being able to receive the breakthroughs and all that, I would say find out where they have fallen from grace, whereas others will say, find out where they have sin. I would say, find out where they have fallen from grace. That's what I would say. Long before your, your son became rebellious, he fell from grace. Find out the way to get him back is to get grace into his life. If not, the school of hard knocks will do it, but God will get grace back. The prodigal son came home and found grace. Some of you pray too fast for people to get out of their pigpen. The worst thing you can do for the prodigal son is to give him food in the pigpen. The pigpen was God's dealing, child chastening, child training. It didn't make him go back to grace where there was better food for him.

Some of you do not know, we don't really crave for good food because we have been eating candies and sweets for so long, we have no more craving for good food. When I say good food, I mean soba, ramen, sashimi. If you're not eating sashimi, you have not lived, amen. So, the voice. And let me close with this. It says here, drop down, "Whose voice," voice of grace. Now, voice of law then shook the earth, then shook the earth, but now the voice of grace. God has promised saying, "Yet once more, I shake not only the earth, but also heaven". I don't have time to show you. These are quotations from Haggai, and Haggai says, God will shake the heavens and the earth. You know what's gonna happen? You know the next verse? Do you know what's the next verse? The silver and the gold is mine.

When God starts shaking, shaking is gonna happen because of grace. It's happening all over the world right now, amen. Everything that's manmade in the church, everything that is manmade in our lives is getting shaken. Anything that will be harmful to you, that will hurt you, that gives you a false foundation, a false hope, is being shaken. The voice of grace is shaking it. It says this voice, and God says it will shake, not only the earth like the law did, but also heaven. "Now this yet once more indicates the removal of those things that are being shaken as are things that are made, manmade, that the things".

Don't be afraid of this shaking by the voice of grace. It's only to shake those things that are made, human made, manmade, that the things which cannot be shaken may remain, life health, peace, wholeness, amen, grace, favor, those things that cannot be shaken may remain. Because when you are trusting something that is not solid, it's best to shake your hope in that, and the voice of grace will shake everything that's manmade in your life so that things that cannot be shaken will remain. And the whole thing ends with like this, "Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken," our kingdom cannot be shaken, amen, the kingdom of Christ.

Let us have grace. And this is a very positive word. In the Greek, it is a present tense, active, which means, let us possess grace. Let us have grace. Let us listen to grace. Let us receive grace. Let us focus on grace, amen. Let's get radical about grace. Let us hold on to grace. You know why? Only grace whereby, by which, by which, only by grace, by which, only by grace can we serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear, for our God is a consuming fire. Only by grace can we serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. "We gotta have reverence and Godly fear in the church. My goodness, nowadays the church don't care about reverence".

My friend, the only way is by grace. Teach grace and reverence, and godly fear will be there. Our God is a consuming fire. Don't let the last statement, it's not just all of a sudden, God brings back the judgment again. No, it's all in context. God will burn everything that is not of him so that those things that are beneficial, profitable for you, the things that cannot be shaken will remain. Can I have a good amen? Have you been blessed? Give praise to him, hallelujah. Every head bowed, every eye closed all across this place. I love you, my friend.

Friend listen, listen, in a world that is increasingly becoming more and more unloving, everyone is looking for themself. Everyone is looking for their benefit. Every company is out for making profit. They don't care about morals. They don't care about whether they hurt you in the process. They don't care whether your privacy is being invaded. They don't care but all this. In a world where there's no love, there is a love that is everlasting, there's a love that will never let you go, and that's the reason you are listening to this message. It's a love that beckons you, a love that reaches out to you, a love that will just embrace you into wholeness, a love that will say, "My son is home". Not a word about your waste but saying that, "let us kill the fatted calf. Let us celebrate".

A father who rejoices in your return. Will you come to him? Will you come back to him? Will you come back to grace? Will you come back to more than enough? Will you come back to provisions, come back to the music and the dancing, come back to the Father's love? And behold, out there is just cold and lonely. In the Father's house, there's love and love, unconditional and a heart that will not let you go, a heart that pants for you. God's love for you is passionate.

So friend, perhaps God is telling you, and I have to say this. For the rest of you who say, "Well, I'm not gonna". See that you don't refuse the voice of grace. Yes, there is a judgment. For those who refuse it, God will have to judge. And the Bible says in the end, God is a consuming fire on all those who refuse to accept what his Son has done. You don't accept that God's fiery judgment fell on Jesus at the cross on your behalf, then you have to allow that fire of judgment to fall on you instead if you are your own savior.

But no friend, you don't have to. Jesus died on the cross for you. He absorbed God's judgment on your behalf so that God today righteously cannot punish you ever again. Train you, yes. Punish you, never. And not only that, God puts at your disposal, the riches of his glory, his inheritance that is in the saints. Friend, if that is you and you say, "I want Jesus in my life, I want to come home to my Father," then pray this prayer from your heart. I'm gonna help you right now. Say this from your heart, say:

Heavenly Father, I confess Jesus Christ is my Lord, and I believe with all my heart that Christ died on the cross for all my sins, that you raised him from the dead and he is alive today. Thank you, Father, all my sins are forgiven. Jesus Christ is my Lord. I'm greatly blessed and highly favored because you love me, in Jesus's name.

And all the people said, amen. Stand to your feet. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Smile, okay? That's why when you're at Mount Zion, there's a lot of joy. There's music and dancing. Have that spirit of jubilant, amen? My sins are forgiven, amen, God loves me. God loves me. One of the best ways to stay under grace is to always be conscious, "I am the one Jesus loves". Be conscious of his love for you, and you'll be full of grace, amen. Lift your hands all across this place everywhere that's watching this now. This coming week, the Lord bless you with the blessings of Father Abraham, the blessings of Deuteronomy 28, the Lord cause those blessings to manifest even this week, amen.

The Lord make his face to shine on you and the Lord keep you, protect you, preserve you, and your families, your loved ones, from every danger, from harm and accidents, from all the power of the evil one, completely protected, deeply loved. The Lord make his face to smile on you. Because of what Jesus has done, there is no more barrier between you and God and God is saying, "Come. The more you come, the happier, the more joyful I am". So, come boldly throughout this week. Get to know this wonderful Father who loved you, who's a Father of grace. In Jesus's name, God grant you shalom health and peace. In Jesus name, amen. God bless you. You're dismissed.