Joseph Prince - His Resurrection, Proof Of Your Righteousness
Praise the Lord. I'd like you to turn to at least two or three persons around you and tell them that something good is going to happen to you. Something good, I really believe it. And smile at somebody else and say, "I'm just to blessed to be stressed". Just too blessed to be stressed. Praise the Lord. We celebrate Resurrection Day today, amen? Praise the Lord. It is the day 2,000 years ago our Lord Jesus Christ rose from the dead.
I was speaking to my Jewish friend in Israel who is also a believer and I told him, "Isn't it interesting, and please confirm with me if I am right when I say that it's not often that Passover falls on a Shabbat," which is Sabbath, you know, on a Friday. And he says, "Yes, you are right. It's not always on a Friday". And 2,000 years have come and gone since our Lord rose from the dead. He died literally on the Passover of the Jews. So, he died on the cross. We celebrate Good Friday to commemorate the death of our Lord on the cross for our sins. And the Passover, this past Passover, was on Friday night where Jewish people all over the world celebrate the Passover. And it's not always on a Friday night, and that's amazing.
And I just wanna let you know that 2,000 years ago, death died today. Death has always been an enemy to God. Then if you ask the question, "Why then did God allow death to happen"? well, the Bible says, "The wages of sin is death". You should ask the question, "Why is there sin that caused the wages to come"? Sin brings forth death. Why is there sin? Why did man sin? When God placed man in a perfect environment, an expression of his infinite goodness, God placed him in an environment, in a Garden of Eden. "Eden" in Hebrew means delight, paradise. He had everything that the heart can wish for. He was surrounded with the love of God. He was blessed. He had more than enough. There was no sickness. There was no disease, hence there's no hospitals. There's no need for all that and man was living in perfect bliss and happiness.
Why sin? Why sin against the goodness of God? Why listen to the enemy of God and rebel against the loving heart of a God who gave you everything? That's the question we need to ask. You know, it's so easy to ask questions like, "Why did God let this happen"? Why did man allow sin to come in between him and God? You see, when God made man, God did not make robots. You know, if only God made robots, amen. If only God made robots, there'll be no fall, hence there'll be no death, there'll be no disease, there'll be no decay, there'll be no aging, there'll be no destruction of any kind. But then God didn't want robots. And on the other hand, sometimes I think, "If only God used his power to influence man's free choice".
So, God gave man the gift of free choice, but if only God used his influence without letting man know. That's what some men would do if they had the power, but not God. Because if God did that and God influenced your free choice without you knowing with his power, and he can exert influence over your free choice, and God can stop Adam from taking that fruit of that tree. God could have done that, right? But it wouldn't be free choice. So, for free choice to be free choice, it has to be free choice. If there is no free choice, there'll be no fall. Always think of that, remember that. If there is no free choice, today man would be in perfect happiness, amen. But no, God gave man free choice. And when you give someone free choice, there's always a risk that he will choose the dark side, which man did and man fell.
Now, you are free to choose, but you're not free to choose the consequence. Like for example, I am free to put my finger into the fire, but I'm not free to choose not to be burned. No matter how much I have free choice, I cannot choose no burn. No, if I am free to put my finger in the fire, I'm not free to choose the consequence. So, man choose sin, to rebel against God, committed high treason, bow his knee to an outlaw spirit, Satan, who hates man anyway. Just like a woman who has been spurned by her husband, you know, she hates her boyfriend and she can't get at him, so she takes out his picture or his photo and she destroys and mars that photo.
So, God is too powerful for the devil to attack him directly so the devil attacks his image. You are made in the image of God. You know, don't think like, "Oh, God is like me"? No, no, you are like God. You were made in God's image. So, the devil attacks you. The devil hates you because God made you in his image. Not only that, God made you to benefit, and to inherit, and to receive everything that he has for man. That's why God made man last. God made everything there is on planet earth to prepare for man and God made man last to be the beneficiary of all that he has made. This is the love plan of God.
And friend, if you do not know anything about God, the first thing and the most important thing you need to know about God is that God loves you. And that's why God has a loving plan for you, not a life of defeat, a life of bondage, a life of addictions, and then finally death. Death is an enemy to God. God prepared everything for man and does not include death in that preparation. It's perfect health, perfect happiness. But man had free choice and man rebelled against God. You know, it reminds me of this preparation thing.
I remember one of the first times I brought my little Jessica to Disneyland, I remember that there was some rides. She was about two plus, and there were some rides I'm not too sure whether it was fitting for her because I don't want her to have nightmares at night, you know? So, I would take the rides first. All right, I would queue up, take the rides first, and then I will say, during the ride, "Oh, she will love this. I think she will love this. Actually, this is great," all right? On another ride, "No, I don't think she will like this. It's too dark". And then if there's a good ride, I'll come back and I'll bring her for the ride that I have taken.
I want to announce to you that God has gone ahead of you, and he has prepared everything for you, and he's coming back to fetch you for the ride. And the best thing you can do is to follow him, flow with him. He knows all the pitfalls. He knows how to go, all right. He's our Good Shepherd, the Good Shepherd. When he's your Shepherd, "The Lord is my Shepherd". The Lord is not everybody's Shepherd, but when the Lord is my Shepherd, I will not lack. Can I have a good amen? Amen. You will not lack for anything. You will not lack for health. You will not lack for strength. You will not lack for guidance. You will not lack for purpose. You will not lack for anything in your life because the Lord is your Shepherd, amen.
It's the privilege of the sheep to be led. You just have to follow. It's a very, you know, it's like "Following the Shepherd for Dummies". You just follow. Can I have a good amen? You know, there'll be those who will try to reason out the resurrection of Jesus Christ. They will say things like, "Oh, you know, somebody came and stole his body".
Well, you must understand one thing. In those days, the Bible says this in the Gospels. There are too many verses for me to show you, so I'll just tell you right now, when they seal the cave where they buried the Lord Jesus, the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea, they had a rolling stone put over it. And the Bible says that because Jesus claimed that he would rise from the dead, the Pharisees told Pontius Pilate, "Make sure ensure the tomb".
So, what they do to ensure it, all right, to make it doubly secure, is that they put a seal of Roman Empire on the tomb front, on the rolling stone, which means there's a seal there. Not every tomb has a seal, but the Lord has a seal. So, if anyone breaks that seal to open up, he faces the wrath of the Roman Empire. Not only that, the Bible says they had Roman guards. Again, not every tomb has Roman guards. Our Lord's one has Roman guards.
Then a funny theory, someone said this, "Oh, actually the women and the disciples all went to the wrong tomb". Now, if somebody you love has just died and you buried him last week, do you think you know where the person is buried? Do you know how stupid that is? You know, and some of them will say, "Well, you know, the disciples came". And that's the lie that, finally when Jesus rose from the dead, the Bible says the stone was rolled away. The stone was not rolled away for the Lord to come out, because the Lord in his resurrected body transcends matter. He could appear in the upper room where the doors were bolted shut. He could appear and then disappear.
And the Bible promises in the book of Philippians that when Jesus comes again for us, he will change our vile bodies like unto his glorious body, which means our body will transcend time and space. Our bodies will be like his body, amen. Thank God, Singaporeans, that in his body he can still eat. Because the Bible says he ate fish with them after he rose from the dead. So, the Bible talks about the marriage supper of the Lamb to celebrate the Lamb of God that was slain for us, who rose from the dead, who is now our bridegroom, amen. And the Bible says God will demonstrate the triumph of our Lord Jesus Christ over death itself when God raises Jesus from the dead.
For millennias after millennias, you know, death has come for every single man. Death came marching after every single man. For the first time, a man came marching after death and killing death, because God considers death as an enemy. The Bible says that the last enemy to be put under his feet will be death, amen. God never meant for man to have sickness, to age, to grow old, and then finally die. That's not God's dream for you. God hates death, amen. God's love plan for you includes you being health forever, being strong forever, being young forever. But of course sin came in, and when sin comes in, it brings death, amen. Sometimes you see the effects around you already when there's sin. You know, people who are on drug addictions, for example, they never look better. They always look worse.
Sin brings destruction, amen. Amen. But you gotta understand, God loves sinners, amen. Just like if somebody you love has cancer, you don't love the cancer. You hate the cancer, but the cancer is in the person and the cancer is destroying the person you love. So, you hate the cancer. How much do you hate the cancer? It all depends on how much you love the person. The more you love the person, the more you hate the cancer. You pass by the intensive care and you hear people crying. Somebody has died. You have no personal stake in it. You hear somebody you don't even know has cancer, you have no personal emotional investment in it. But if somebody you love and really care has cancer, you hate the cancer to the extent you love the person.
Do you understand how much God loves you and that's why God has to hate sin? Because sin destroys everything beautiful that God has dreamed for you, amen. So, our Lord Jesus Christ came to restore us back to his very image, the image of the Son of God. Can I have a good amen? All right, let me just quote to you what Paul said by the Spirit, okay? 1 Corinthians 15, "For I delivered to you as of first importance". Now say "First importance". Of everything that Paul has been sharing, Paul says the most important or the thing that is of first importance is this. This is the crux of Christianity. It's gotta do with the death, burial, and resurrection. He says that, "I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas," that's Peter, Simon Peter, "then to the twelve".
Now, why mention that he appeared to Cephas then to the twelve in terms of his resurrection? When it comes to crucifixion, he didn't mention about witnesses, why? Because the crucifixion was a well-known fact in Paul's day. They all knew Jesus was crucified. They all saw Jesus crucified, amen, at least the people of that day. It was the headline news, amen. The Romans knew about it. The Jewish people knew about it. Everyone in that area knew about it, so Paul didn't see fit to bring in witnesses. But when it came to the resurrection, he talks about witnesses because he knew that this is one area that people will want to dispute, amen? So, it says that when Jesus rose from the dead, the first person he appeared to was Simon Peter, or his Jewish name, Cephas.
And some people think that Jesus first appeared to Peter in John 21 by the Lake of Galilee, and then he says, "Simon, do you love me"? and all that. Actually, that's not the first time after he rose from the dead he met Peter. He met Peter in a private meeting to restore Peter, because Peter denied knowing him three times. There was a private meeting that's veiled from us. "It's none of your business," it seems like the Holy Spirit is saying, amen, and it was a private restoration. But John 21 is a restoration to ministry, "Feed my lambs," okay? So, the first person he appeared is Simon Peter, Cephas, then to the 12, amen. And don't forget, Matthias has now become the 12th one to take the place of Judas Iscariot. Then the next one, "After that he appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time". Not just one at a time, but at one time he appeared to 500.
Now, that precludes hallucination. One person can hallucinate, but 500 at one time cannot hallucinate, amen. Are you listening, people? Then another thing is this that we need to understand is that during the time when they preached the resurrection of Jesus Christ and that Christ rose from the dead, which means all our sins are all efficaciously put away, and that's why he rose from the dead, when they preached that message, they received opposition from the religious leaders of that day. They received a lot of persecution. And finally, we all know many of them, in fact all the apostles except John, was martyred for their faith, for preaching the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Now, do you think under the pain of persecution and death, if they were hiding the body of Jesus somewhere in the cave, the decaying body of Jesus, that they would give their life as a martyr preaching a hoax? Amen. And those religious leaders, why didn't they produce the body of Jesus? Why didn't they produce any evidence? It would stop the preaching straight away. They could not produce any evidence. They only thing they could do was to threaten the apostles not to preach. So Paul says the Lord rose and showed himself to 500 at one time, and this was in Galilee. All right, "Most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep". They have passed on. "Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles; and last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared to me also". That's Paul, okay?
So, praise the Lord. The Lord Jesus is alive and well at the Father's right hand. And the Bible promises that those who receive him, the wages of sin is death, but the gift, say "gift". Say "gift" three times. Gift, gift, gift. We all love gifts. But the Bible says, "The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord". Now, at first glance "eternal life" means live forever, and many people define it that way, but no. If that is defined in that way, then those who go to hell also live forever, right? No, eternal life is the life of God himself, the life by which God lives, the deathless, endless life of God himself is what he gives you as a gift through Jesus Christ. If Jesus didn't rise from the dead, let's drop down. Same chapter, verse 17, "If Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins".
So, if Christ has not raised, "Your faith is futile," one translation says. "Your faith is in vain," New King James version says, or worthless, according to New American Standard Bible. You are still in your sins. Now, if we reverse that and Christ is raised, you are no longer in your sins. You see the implication there? Amen, but if Christ is not raised, then your faith is vain. You are still in your sins. "Then those who also have fallen asleep," or those who die, "in Christ have perished. If we have hoped in Christ," if Christ is not raised and those of us who hope in Christ in this life, "we are of all men most to be pitied". But look at verse 20, "But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep".
First fruits means it is a sampling, amen. In those days, first fruit, you know, actually today it's the Feast of First Fruits, amen? On Friday was the Feast of Passover. Jesus died exactly on the Jewish feast. The Jewish feast was pointing to him. You know there was a father who came home from a trip one time and he bought a large jigsaw puzzle for his little children. He thought it will keep them occupied because he has some things to do in his study and Mom wasn't around, so he gave them this jigsaw puzzle to fix. And it's a jigsaw puzzle of a country, okay? And he knew that they wouldn't find it soon enough, so they worked around it. And he was sitting in his study, looking forward to at least an hour of peace or whatever.
Soon enough, about 14 to 20 minutes, the kids came running in and they say, "We've solved the puzzle. Here is the country," and it was exactly the country that is supposed to be solved. And he said, "How did you do it"? They said, "Very simple, behind there's a face of a man. It's the face of the King". Amen. "We put the face of the King together and we look around and we got the country". So, the same thing. All the little pieces of prophesy, poetry, types, and ceremonies in the Bible, all the pieces don't make sense when you look at the piece each individually. But when you see the face of the King in them, everything comes in line with the Word of God. The Feast of Passover, they brought the lamb to each of them, remember the story of the Ten Commandments? The night the pass over, the angel of death would pass over Egypt. Everyone had the blood on the door posts.
All right, again, the door posts on both sides, blood, blood. And on the lintel, there's blood. It makes the cross. So, God says, "When I see the blood, I will pass over you". You know, I really sometimes think, I get fed up when I watch some documentaries, and there's one done by a famous Hollywood producer trying to explain the plagues of Egypt, saying that firstborn who died is because a gas was leaking from underground and gas usually travels in such a way that all those who are below, they died, 'cause firstborn sleep below. You know, it's like, it's so absurd. Then the Red Sea. Moses brought the children of Israel before the Red Sea. Oh, the Red Sea opened up because, like, a tsunami.
After for awhile, you know, when an earthquake happens, the waters recede. But what is interesting is that after the last Israelites has crossed over, the Egyptians came pursuing them. At the right time, there was another earthquake and this time it only killed the Egyptians. What an amazing earthquake. Another professor of a university tried to destroy the faith of some Christians and he said this. He said, "We know from a topical study of the area, you know, of where they crossed and all that that it was only 2 feet of water, so it's no problem for them to cross over". So, a young man, you know, a young teenage boy at the back put up his hands. "Excuse me, Prof, can I say something"? He says, "Yeah, sure". He says that, "That's amazing, only 2 feet of water and the whole army of Pharaoh drowned".
You know, I'll tell you this, sometimes man professing themselves to wise become fools. They refuse to acknowledge the Bible as the Word of God. Well, if you say, "I don't think the Bible is the Word of God," all right, you believe in a god somewhere, and for you your god is your reason, your logic. If I don't understand, I cannot believe. Then your logic is your god. Everyone worships something, amen. You have made your logic above the Word of God. You are standing in judgment of the Word of God when the Word of God stands in judgment of you, amen.
So, all have sinned and come short of the glory. Now, God took Adam's sin, God imputed it to the human race. Now, all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. By the way, you know, we don't measure our sins by saying, "That guy is worse than I am. You know, at least I don't do this. I don't kill people. I don't murder. I don't bomb people. I don't..". You know? Yeah, but the thing is, sin is sin with God. You know when Jesus raised people, the people that we see in the gospels from the dead, there was a young girl who just died, probably within the hour, Jairus's daughter. Then there was another one who died within the day, many hours have passed, widow of Nain's son. And then we have Lazarus who died four days already, right? Jesus raised all of them from the dead.
Now, which one was more dead? You see, Jesus didn't come to make bad people good. Jesus came to make all dead people live! 'Cause we're all dead spiritually. So, some of us, the sin is there, it manifests more. Some of us are very smart to know how to manifest a sin privately. Some blah, just black everything out, you know? But like it or not, everyone has sinned. The Bible says, "All have sinned and come short of the glory of God," amen. So, the thing is this, you know, God took Adam's sin, and God credited it to the whole human race.
Now, watch this, God sent Jesus Christ. Jesus is the only righteous one that ever walked on the earth. He never sinned. He didn't no sin. In him is no sin, the Bible says. God took all our sins, God credited it to Jesus Christ at the cross. This is his plan, watch this, this love plan. God took Jesus's righteousness and credited it to the whole human race for those who believe in him, how is that? How is that? Amen, if you say earlier, "It's not fair that I suffer for Adam's sin," then in the same way today we believers, it's not fair we are blessed for Jesus's act at the cross, his righteous act. Jesus didn't deserve to become sin, I don't deserve to become righteous. But Jesus became sin, and I became righteous. The divine transaction took place, amen. That brings us to the next point that I want to share, which is Romans 4, verse 25.
Now, this is a verse that there are people who preach it differently from the way that I believe it should be translated. I'm gonna prove my point here because there are people who say that Jesus was raised to justify us, for the purpose to justify us. Let me just tell you this that I don't agree with that point of view. And listen, look up here. You're about to find out why Jesus rose from the dead. And when you find out why Jesus rose from the dead, it will make you such a stable believer, make you strong, it makes you peaceful. And most of all, it causes you to shine with the glory of God that will cause others to want him also.
Many believers do not know why God raised Jesus from the dead. You ask them, "Why did God raise Jesus from the dead"? They say, "Because he's the son, lor". God did not raise Jesus because Jesus is God's Son. That Jesus always was and is. There's a reason why God raised Jesus from the dead, Scriptural reason, and they'll be no the reason our hearts will be so settled, all right? So, let's read this. It says, "Who was delivered up," up where? To the cross because of our offenses and was raised from the dead," that is, "because of our justification," all right?
Now, because of dia, one Greek word "dia," because of, dia. This word is used twice. So, he was delivered to the cross dia our sins. He was raised dia our righteousness. In other words, by the way, I'm gonna use the word "justification" as declared righteous, which is the original Greek, amen? I don't know why in the King James sometimes they use the word "just," sometimes "righteous," sometimes "justification," sometime "righteousness," when it's all the same, same Greek word. The etymology is the same word dikaioo. Sometimes it's dikaiosunai, sometimes dikaiosis like over here, but it's the same word dikaioo. Dikaioo is the word "righteous," just, just, justified. It's the same word.
Now, watch this, all right? He was delivered up because of our offenses. He was raised because of our justification. The Old King James says, "He was delivered for our offenses, he was raised again for our justification". So, so the people who teach the reason why God raised Jesus is for our justification to make us righteous, correct? I mean, the way it sounds, right? Actually, the word dia can go both ways. It can be for or it can be because of, on account of. Now, I believe the letter, let me show you why, because the whole context demands it.
If you say God raised Jesus from the dead to make us righteous, that means you are saying the work of Jesus at the cross was not enough because Jesus became sin for us, where? At the cross. And we became what? The righteousness of God, the divine exchange. He took our sin, we take his righteousness, am I right, amen? Where? At the cross. When Jesus cried "finished," was it finish? Yes. The basis for our justification, the payment for all our sins, have all been taken care of. The moment he cried, "finished," that's why he can die because he has accomplished the work. Can I have a good amen?
Now, in light of what he has done, based on what Christ has done, God raised him from the dead because we were declared righteous, amen? And that is I love Young's translation for this one, Young's Living Translation says, "Who was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised up because of our being declared righteous". God, God raised Jesus because we were declared righteous, where? The work of the cross. In other words, God didn't raise Jesus because he is his Son. Like I said, he always was and is, but God raised Jesus because you and I were declared righteous.
The idea is amazing. It's like God, Jesus will not rise from the dead if you and I were not declared righteous. We were declared righteous and this word, dikaiosis, declared righteous from dikaioo, all right, the word "righteous". Look at what Greek scholar, highly respected, his name is Thayer, Joseph Thayer. He said this, "The act of God's declaring men free from guilt and acceptable to him". This dikaiosis, declared righteous. That word in the Greek is the act of God declaring men free from guilt, and acceptable to him at judging to be righteous, at judging man to be righteous, that is, because God wished to declare us righteous, which brings with it, with the righteousness comes the bestowment of life. Did you hear that?
So, the word "righteous" or "justification" in some of your English Bible, is the same Greek word dikaioo or dikaiosis, all right, different branches of the etymology. It means this, God declared you righteous. You know, we need to say what God says. We need to confess what God has said of us. The word "confess" our sins, you know, is the word "homologeo," confess is homologeo. the Greek word. Homo means same, whatever same that follows. Logeo means say, logos, logos, all right? Homologos means what? Say the same thing with. When you confess your sins, what does it mean? Say the same thing with God about your sin. What did God say?
Number one it's sin. We agree with God it's sin.
Number two, God says it's forgiven through Jesus's blood. We say the same thing. That's true confession of sin is from the one homologeo. Not only that, we declared that God has declared us righteous, so we declare ourself righteous. Are we out of sync? No, we're in sync with God. When you declare yourself righteous, you're in sync with God. I can't begin to tell you the number of testimonies we have of people. People think that when I preach grace, the only ones that are set free are people who are bound by guilt and condemnation. Oh, nothing could be further from the truth. You'll find numerous testimonies, especially on guys who are addicted to pornography. And they found freedom after five years, after 15 years, just by confessing, "I am the righteousness of God in Christ". Are you listening, people?
And this one addiction. Another addiction are people who are bound by drugs and all that. I don't know why these two are the biggest testimonies we are receiving? And isn't this true holiness? "Yeah, it is, Pastor Prince, keep on preaching. We're with you". So, when God declares you are righteous, you need to declare with God that you are righteous. How can the Prophet Amos ask this question in the Old Testament? Can two walk together, except they be agreed? No, amen? You gotta be agreed to have fellowship.
The word, English word "fellowship" are two fellows in one ship. You cannot have one fellow in two ship, you know, his leg is here, his leg is there. You know, there's no fellowship with himself. Fellowship means you have a common, common goal. People have fellowship in the same church, people have fellowship in the same hobbies, in the same martial arts, whatever it is they are doing. They have friends there. They all have the same interest football friends, you know? What kind of friends? Same club whatever. It's all in the same goal. How can two walk together to profit us unless they are agreed? God says you are righteous, you say you are not.
Now, the thing is this, God declaring us righteous doesn't mean that we are without faults. God declaring us righteous doesn't mean that we don't sin. We still sin. But God has declared us righteous. Let me explain, your standing is righteousness with God because of what Christ has done. Now, is that clear first, God raised Jesus because God declared us righteous? Let me settle that once and for all. Are you clear on that, all right? Or else the other one is that no God raised Christ to produce righteousness in us. No, if that is so, you must also be consistent. The first part, God sent Jesus to the cross to produce sin. No, doesn't make sense. God sent Jesus to the cross because sin already preexisted. God raised Jesus from the dead because our being declared righteous was preexisted after the work of the cross, okay? It's a beautiful revelation.
You know, when you think about it, wow, Jesus would not have been raised if we were not declared righteous, hmm? Now, your standing, say, "Standing". Your standing before God is righteousness. Now, your state fluctuates, but your standing, never. Do you understand that? You're standing is always righteous, your state fluctuate. You know, our state is like this, sometimes our state we are in a happy state, we next day we are in a moody state, especially Monday morning, you know? Then we are in a grumpy state, then we enter jubilance state, then we're in moral state, then we are in a complaining state. You know, our state changes, but our standing with God always remains the same. Can have a good amen?
And I'm gonna prove to you presently from Scriptures that this is so, but let me just preach to you for a while, all right? You never, never judge your standing by your state. So, when you sin, for example, all right, you don't say, "I'm no longer righteous because I sin". No, you are still righteous, but you sin, amen. We're not denying you didn't sin. You sinned, but you are still righteous. Your standing. is righteousness, your state is something else. Your state can fluctuate in one day, but your standing, never. Now, word of wisdom, judge your state by your standing. In other words, when you have a problem like, let's say you're always grumpy, you're always fault finding, you're always irritable. Don't blame your children. Don't blame your spouse, blame yourself. Say, "Hey, you're the righteousness of God in Christ. You are crowned with God's favor and glory".
And this is something that you always manifest. You want this to continue in your life? Nobody likes to be around you. Judge that, judge that in you. And you know what? When you know you're standing is righteous, you can judge your state by your standing, and you won't feel crushed. But when you think you are unrighteous, and your state is unrighteous, and what you did is unrighteous, and you are unrighteous, you have no power to judge it. That's why my preaching that you are the righteousness of God is so important because it gives people the power to overcome that sin in their lives. It does not produce licentiousness, it produces true holiness, amen? Never, never judge your standing by your state.
"Oh, because I'm in a moody state today, I'm no more righteous. I gotta wait until this Sunday And then, you know, the preaching, and the praise and worship, and all that will rewire me into a position where God will hear me". Y'all laugh but many Christians secretly believe that because somewhere along the way, they heard this. You know, they change their position, nobody smokes in church, they smoke outside, right? It's as if the church becomes like, you know? And some people are offended when they see church, you know, having certain, certain things that there should be a cross somewhere. Hey, God is not interested in the cross somewhere in the building. God is interested in the cross in your heart. Can I have a good, amen?
So, religious people, some of them are not even born again, and they go by outward things. Again, never judge your standing by your state. Always judge your state by your standing. Okay, watch this. So, go back to verse 25. This is the last verse by the way, just let you know that Romans 4:25, this is the last verse of the entire chapter. We are about to go to chapter 5, verse 1, okay, before we close. Now, let me just share this with you as by way of illustration. Let's say we are, you and I, we are best friends, okay? And we are in a foreign country in an island somewhere. You know, they have their own laws, whatever and, and you violated the law. Okay, you did a crime, and the penalty is one year in prison. Now, they also permit your best friend to take your place, which is me.
All right, so I offer it because you have very important assignment to do back in Singapore so I say, "Hey, you know what? Go ahead. Don't worry about it. I love you. I'll take your place". So, they allow, it's permitted for me to take your place. Now, when you see me at the prison, all right, you see me go into the large prison gate, all right, behind the security guard and I look behind and I look at you, you can actually say to somebody else there, "He was delivered up for my offense". Am I right? Yeah, you can say that, right? "Joseph Prince was delivered up for my offense".
So, I go in and for one year, you never see me. I don't know why you didn't come back to see me, but you never see me, okay, for one year, you never see me, okay? Then finally, one day, so much for being a best friend. One day you see me walking in Orchard Road. Now, it's been more than a year ready? All right, you stop your car, which I don't advise you in Orchard Road, all right? And you jump out of the car and say, "Hey," you know you say, "Hey Joseph, hey, you're out". I say, "Yeah, two months already I'm out. So much for being a friend. Okay, I'm out". And you say, "Wow, I didn't know it". And you know something? When you go back in your car and you see me walk away, what do you say? I've served my sentence. Actually it's not my sentence, it's your sentence. Now you see me come out.
Jesus was raised up out of from among the dead. The original Greek says, "From among the dead". When you see me come up from prison, I have served my/your sentence. Am I right? When you see me walking, can you say this to somebody else in the car, "You know what? He has been discharged from all liabilities. Therefore, I am discharged from all liabilities. He is now free from every charge. Therefore, I am free from every charge. He is cleared from all guilt. Therefore, I am cleared of all guilt". Because he never, he never went in for himself. Jesus never went to the cross because he had sins of his own, he went for you. He was raised for you. Oh church, oh, hallelujah. Can I have a good amen? Thank God for our Lord Jesus Christ, amen?
So, we can say he was delivered up for our offenses and he was raised from the dead because we were declared righteous. In other words, God says, "Yes, all your sins have been punish". And don't forget, God does not live in the time zone. God lives outside time. Like I said, you can take all your sins of your future before Jesus comes back or the day you see him face to face, God can take the sins of your entire life, put it on a cross and not a single speck of sin escapes his perfect eyes. They're all punished at the cross. So, when Jesus said, "It is finished," at across, friend, it is finished. Now, we are in the last verse like I mentioned just now of chapter 4. Let's go to chapter 5, verse 1, okay, because after four is five. Can you see the five down there in verse one, all right?
"Now, therefore having been justified by faith," whenever you find a "therefore," in the Bible, always find out why it is there for. A "therefore" is there because of what he has said in verse 25. Because of verse 25, "Now that we are declared righteous," he's telling you, do something else? By the way, the word "justified" is the word "dikaioo". I wish they put all the words righteous, righteous or righteousness, amen? But "Therefore having been declared righteous by faith, we have", what? "Peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ".
Now, why is this important? "Pastor Prince, you know, I don't understand, I'm faced with a huge, insurmountable debt, financial debt. What does this got to do with my debt"? Or you say, "Pastor Prince, next week, I'm going for a review for my medical condition, and they have seen something and they're concerned about it". Now, what does this got to do with my physical condition? Or you say that, "Pastor Prince, I have a rebellious teenage boy and all that, but what has this gotta do"?
Friend, it's got everything to do with your entire life. Because I tell you what, every problem that you have, every challenge, everything you're faced with hinges, all the fears you have, fear of the future, fear of not having enough, even if you are a multimillionaire, you are fearing about the stock market crashing or somebody else saying this, or that person saying that. And you are fearful that you don't have this permanently, or you're fearing that somebody will stop loving you, or you're fearing this, you're fearing that, you're fearing the future, your fearing your past will catch up with you.
A lot of fears, all fears come from one fear, the fear that God is not on your side. Because friend, if God is on your side, what can that disease do to you? It has to kowtow to God. God is more powerful than that disease. What has financial trouble got to do with, destroying your, your happiness and your prospects for the future when, when the Lord is your Shepherd, you shall not lack, amen? What have this depression got to do with you when God is on your side? If God is for you, who or what can be against you, amen?
So, the question we need to ask is, is God with us? Is God for us? Then we establish a question, are we declared righteous by him? And now we see having been declared righteous, we have peace. We have what? Peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. You know people always tell you, pray hard. If it's a big problem, they will say what? "Hey, pray hard, pray hard". You ever hear that? You don't find it in the Bible, you know? What is pray hard? Oh, first of all, the posture, and then you know? And then your brow must be knitted together, you know, like you're constipated. There's a prayer prayed by Hannah, the mother of Samuel, and the Bible says her lips moved, but her voice wasn't heard so much so that the priest that was on duty, or the chief, the high priest at that time Eli, thought that she was actually drunk and rebuked her for it. But yet, there was a powerful prayer that brought forth Prophet Samuel. So, what is pray hard, pray in volume?
Now, let me just tell you this, because you have peace with God, you don't have to yell. Lovers don't yell. You don't go to a park somewhere where there are lovers you hear, "I love you"! "I love you too"! You know? It's not a question of how the intensity of the volume of your voice. You say, pray hard. What is praying hard? But when you know you have peace with God, amen, you can pray anytime. You can pray soft, you know he hears you. You can pray loud to help your concentration, not for his. You can pray from your heart because he knows your heart before you utter the words. Your English can be wrong, or whatever your language is, but your heart cannot. He hears your heart, not your words, amen? In fact, Jesus never rebuked people for short prayers, but he did rebuke people for long prayers. Surprise.
Can you find a Scripture verse that he rebuked you for praying short? No, you can find where he rebuked people for a pretense they make long prayers to impress people. Many times when I hear people praying in public, I'm wondering whether they're praying to God or they're praying to us. Because the eloquence is such, you know, that I wonder, you know, when I talk to God, it's very untidy. I'll say, "Father, wow, I'm concerned about this. Please take care of this. Father, I pray that today everything will go on smoothly, he'll prosper everyone". But if I'm talking in public, I gotta have a protocol. "Oh gracious God and Heavenly Father, we do come to thee looking for you bestow mercies and kindness upon us. As we do to contemplate this day upon the resurrection of thy beloved Son. For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory," amen?
But sometimes I forget to say the last part, so did God hear my prayer? So, it's very untidy. I say, "Lord, that girl is beautiful. Thank you you made her beautiful". If I don't involve God in what I see, you know, when you see a beautiful girl, you put aside God and you look. When the Lord is your friend, it's perfectly okay to talk to the Lord about anything and everything. It's very interesting that in the Psalms, David will tell God, "God break the teeth of my enemies". Have you heard that before? "Send down fire"! As long as he talks to God, he's pouring out to God, it's okay. He poured to God everything about his heart. The only area that David never talked to God is about the sexual part of his life, and that was the area he fell. So, when you talk to God, darkness becomes manifest, amen.
You can talk to God about anything and everything. You feel sad, tell God you're sad. You feel glad you say, "I'm so glad I came to church today," amen? You feel appreciative towards Pastor Prince, "Father, I thank you for Pastor Prince. Thank you, amen". Praise God. Thank you, but that came after I suggest. Okay anyway, all right, so enjoy it, imbibe this peace with God. Don't let it remain peace with God. Let it become peace of God, guarding your heart and mind. When you step into Monday, tomorrow, remind yourself of this truth because they'll be times your state will be unrighteous, you will feel unrighteous, that doesn't make you unrighteous. Let me explain. Do you remember when you were a sinner? Okay, try to remember when you were a sinner. Some of you, "Pastor Prince, it was 45 years ago".
All right, imagine, just imagine when you're a sinner, or all sinners, they don't sin all the time, every second every moment, right? There are times they do, right? Am I right? You remember when you did right when you were a sinner? So, when you did right, that was your state, but you're standing as a sinner. Nothing changes you're standing. When you do right, the doing right does not make you righteous, and then all this because of what Adam did. How much more the second Adam, Jesus Christ? He has made us righteous, and we are saying, when we commit unrighteousness, we become unrighteous. Hey, when you were a sinner, when you did righteous, it didn't change your standing as a sinner. So, today when you are righteous, how can what Jesus did be less than what the first Adam did, amen? So, enjoy it. Let this peace with God translate into peace of God. And I'll tell you this, you'll become healthier, you'll become stronger.
I read a testimony recently about a lady with all kinds of problems, high blood pressure, all kinds of physical condition. When I say all kinds I mean that she had a few types of condition. But just by listening to the message and the peace of God coming into her heart, you know what happened to her? Her blood pressure went down. She had to go to the doctor to report that she's feeling giddy. The doctor checked. "Your problem is high blood pressure, right? But now you got another problem, very low blood pressure," because she's been taking medicine after she's healed. And the medicine for high blood pressure is for life. I don't know anybody know that there is a certain condition where you take it for life. And she's been thinking it and now the Lord has healed her, it went the other opposite.
I mean, it's amazing. I'm gonna read to you a testimony right now of a lady from America. Her name is Rhonda. She's from Texas, USA. "I'm an occupational therapist who treats patients in their homes. One of my patients had been severely debilitated for five years due to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lungs, obesity, and severe arthritic pain. I got her to watch Pastor Prince's program on TV, and her perspective changed after that. Things that used to bother her no longer had a hold on her, for she knew that the Lord would handle them". Just this peace, the things that used to bother her fell off. "I brought Holy Communion sets to her home and taught her to focus on Jesus's finished work and not the confession of sins when she part two of the Lord's Supper".
Now, let me just tell you this, we believe in confession of sins. But only because you are righteous, you confess your sins. You don't confess to become righteous. You see, like heaven and hell. Unless you confess your sins, you're not righteous, that puts the onus on you to always catch your sins. You're playing your own Holy Spirit trying to catch your sins all the time to confess your sins, or else you'll not be righteous. That's what I'm against. And it's based 1 John 1:9, a verse taken out of context. No, I believe in homologeo our sins which means the same thing with God, amen? But it's only after, you see the thing is that how can I be honest with my wife, if I don't have assurance that she loves me? How can I be intimate with her? How can I express with her my hidden most fears and concerns if I don't trust in her love for me, right? If I don't trust someone, I will not even volunteer any information.
So actually, what I'm teaching people produces in them and honesty to be frank with God. They can tell God, "I have this problem," and they know God won't be shocked, amen? Can I have a good amen? So, why are you confessing, to be forgiven or because you are forgiven, amen? So, she said that she taught her to focus on Jesus's finished work, and not the confession of sins when she partook of the Lord's Supper. "I shared with her that what I had learned from about staying in peace from Pastor Prince's sermon, 'Live the Let Go Life.'"
All right, I have a sermon I preached many years ago based on the Sermon on the Mount. So, I do preach on the Sermon on the Mount, yes. It's called the "Live the Let Go Life".
I also wrote her some verses to confess such as, 'Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.' She followed through with these daily confessions when worry attempted to creep into her mind and continued watching Pastor Prince teach on TV. Within a few months, few months only, she had no more knee pain. The doctor could not find evidence of lung disease. Her shortness of breath improved drastically. She lost 37 pounds, and she could independently carry out daily activities. I have been a therapist for over 23 years, and I can state from experience that no one in the natural regains their independence after being debilitated by chronic diseases for five years. Only Jesus can restore so completely and effortlessly. My patient began sharing about Jesus with a friend who had a lifelong history of mental disorder with frequent, frequent breakdowns and hospitalization. The friend went from a state of severe anxiety and depression, to a state of joy. It was as though a veil had been lifted from her eyes after she learned the truth about Jesus. The breakdown ceased and her family was in shock as they saw a significant change in her ability to cope. And her dad, who was a devoured atheist, sang Christmas carols over the holidays. What a powerful testimony of right believing in Jesus and our Daddy God. Thank you, Pastor Prince, for your obedience and preaching radical grace, and for bringing Daddy God's children back to him. Praise the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Now, I'll bring this to a close, okay? And it's important you understand this. So, the thing is this, people like to ask the question, "Pastor Prince, after you're righteous, can you lose your righteousness"? Again, you need to come back to this, your standing is permanent. Your state, which includes sinning, when you sin, you don't become unrighteous any more than when you were a sinner you do right, it makes you righteous. You're still a sinner. Now that you are made righteous, declared righteous by God, you cannot change that standing by what you do. But don't just take my word for it. I'm gonna show you right now in closing, okay? This verse of Scripture first will tell you when you were made righteous because we need to establish or the devil will come to you and try to fool you, okay? So, let's establish and recapitulate on what we have learned.
Why did God raise Jesus from the dead? Number one, why did Jesus go to the cross? Why was he delivered up and by God to the cross for our sins? Right, because we all sin. It was not to produce our sins. It was because of our sins, right? And after he bore every penalty and judgment, every stroke of the curse fell upon him for our sins. When the last stroke fail he cried, "Finished"! It's all finished, right? Then he was buried and on the third day, God raised him from the dead, not to make us righteous, because that was provided for at the cross. But God raised him from the dead to attest, to proclaim, that we have been declared righteous like I came out of prison for you, okay, as a testimony that you have been acquitted. You've been cleared of all charges.
Are you with me? Now, what then is the resurrection? It is the divine receipt. Please keep this receipt. Now, divine receipt, his resurrection is not the payment anymore than the receipt is the payment. Is the receipt a payment? No, the receipt is proof of the payment, amen? Can I have a good amen? Now, does the receipt pay? No, the receipt is a result of the payment. Jesus's resurrection, amen, every time you think of him, praise God, you know we have a man in the glory. Yes, he's fully God, but there's something about Jesus now he never had before he came, he's now also fully man.
Do you know the one representing you as your high priest at the Father's right hand now, who lives after the power of an endless life, whose heart beat with compassion for you with the emotions of a man, with the sentiments of a man, with the intellect of a man? Yes, although he's God, amen, infinite in his omniscience yet, we have a man in the glory representing you and I. One of us is there, and one who cannot fail. Hallelujah, he's representing you. So, today when God judges you, God doesn't judge you based on you. God judges you based on Jesus.
Oh, I wish I had time to show you that, but I'm gonna finish this these two verses, okay? So, God raised Jesus like a divine receipt of the payment. Does the receipt add value to the payment? No, amen? The receipt, what's the recipient for then? The receipt is for to have a right to enter the presence of God will never come against you, but can your conscience come against you? Yes, sometimes it's not the devil, it's your own conscience. Your conscience says, "Hey, you have done this. Hey, you have done that. Oh hey, you have not done this. Hey, you've not done that. Oh, you're not done this enough. Yes, you do that but it's not enough. You do that, yes, but it's not enough. It's not enough. It's not enough. You've not done this. You're not done that. You've done this, you done that".
It's bothering you all the time. What must you do? produce the receipt. Say, "Conscience, there. He rose from the dead. He cannot rise if I was not declared righteous. Now, shut up". Amen, amen? You see, it's not a question of, when payment is made, it's not a question of you a bystander see the payment. You didn't pay or what? It was paid for you, right? When a payment is made, who must be satisfied? Many of us think that we must be satisfied. "But Pastor Prince, I'm not satisfied yet, you know"? Hey, when payment is made, it is the one who received the payment who must be satisfied. And what did God say? God is satisfied. The work is finished. And God is the one receiving the payment, and God is satisfied with what his Son has done for you. God declares you righteous.
"Pastor Prince, if only I can believe this verse 1 of chapter 5 that I have peace with God, but I don't feel it". It does not say therefore being made declared righteous by faith, we have peace with God in our emotions, in our feelings. No, feeling has got nothing to do. It says by faith. Reality is reality. Reality is reality. Whether you feel this, you feel that, reality is reality. "I don't feel that the sun is shining," it still shines. It might be behind the cloud, it still shines. You're feeling has got nothing to do with the facts. "I don't feel righteous". So what?
A guy told the pastor one time after he got married, just a ceremony was over, he told his pastor, "Hey pastor, I don't feel married". The pastor grabbed him, "Listen, you feel, you don't feel, you're married". If I was there I will say, "Hey, wait till you listen to your wife nag. You will know for sure, you'll feel married".
Let me close with this. When were you righteous? Just two versus, this one and one more verse, we close. When were you righteous? Now, there are those who tell me, "Pastor Prince, you know, you can't go deep with the people". An American preacher told me one time, "You cannot go deep with the people, they're not ready for it". With in my heart, I beg to differ. I think the body of Christ is maturing. Those who have received grace, they are no more unskillful in the teaching or word of righteousness. They now have teeth. So, I think you can receive this. "When were you made righteous"? I'm gonna give you a Greek tense. It's an aorist tense, which means aorist means it happened in your past at a given point.
There was a time in the past that you were justified. That's our born-again experience, right? Y'all remember when you got saved? You came to church or you prayed a prayer that Pastor Prince led you to pray, or your friend led you in a prayer to receive Christ. At that point, you received Christ, you were declared righteous. That's the aorist tense, you understand? That means we are not in the process to become righteous. "One of these days, I'll become righteous". No, no, friend, you have been made righteous. But the next question is the last part I want to close with is this, "Well, Pastor Prince, after I become righteous, I received Christ two years ago, but since then I have sinned, Pastor Prince. Is that still valid? Am I still righteous"?
I'm gonna give you this verse as a gift for Resurrection Day because the devil's gonna come to you and say, "Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, Pastor Prince, you know, that is true. All right, that was the past you received Christ but remember after you became a Christian, you know how many stupid things you have done, all right? How can you expect God to have peace with you and God is on your side"? No, no, no, these things are happening to you right now because you are reaping what you have sown. That's what the devil tell you. So, that's why you need to take this and put it in your pocket, all right, spiritually speaking.
This verse, we'll close this verse, Romans 3. So, the question is, after I become righteous at one given point, I was made righteous when I believed on Christ. After that, what's my position? Being justified freely by his grace. By the way, freely there is the Greek word dorean. So, if your name is Dorian, that means free, without conditions, without stipulations, freely. When you give without a price, without a condition, it's called dorean. It's a gift. Are you listening? All right so, we are being justified freely by how? His grace, that's why I love this teaching on grace, "through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus".
By the way, do you know the verse before this? It's a very famous verse. Almost every Christian knows that verse, but many, many, many believers don't know this verse. The verse before this is, "All have sinned and come short of the glory of God," verse 23. That one everybody knows. The next verse 24, "Being justified freely". Almost hardly here believers know about this verse. Why is it that we major on the negative so much? That we can memorize and even quote the previous verse, "All have sinned and come short," and we never quote this verse? Okay, look at this verse, "Being justified freely without conditions, without stipulations". If you say confessing your sins is a criteria, it's no more freely, and that's why it's gotta be freely, being justified freely.
By the way, the question is, what? After I've been made righteous, can I become unrighteous again? And the Greek tense, the Greek has tenses has is so beautiful. It's richer and more variegated, than our English tenses, our English, simple tense, present tense, past tense, very, very basic. But the Greek has tenses that is very picturesque, it's very colorful, amen? It has movement. Now watch this, "Being justified" here, here it's not aorist tense. Here is present, continuous tense. You are constantly righteous and freely too, at that, by his grace, which is released through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. It's a present continuous tense. This is my gift to you, keep it in your pocket. When the devil come and say, "You know why this bodily symptoms came on you? Because you are paying the price of what you did last month".
All right, straightaway produce the receipt. Jesus has risen from the dead, and I'm made righteous. There's never, listen carefully, there's never a time when you are not righteous. If this verse means anything, it means this, and the tense. That's why I said you can understand tenses. Don't let people in Bible school make you feel like, you know, you don't go to Bible school, you cannot understand all these things. No, no, honestly the most important things you can understand. The other thing is, is that exercise sometimes in futility. "Oh, it's a poetic parallel. This parallelism". Nevermind, you can do without that, all right? Fisherman can understand the Bible, why not you?
Okay, listen, you were made righteous when you received Christ, but constantly, you are always made righteous or declared righteous. Even a state, there's never a standing, or never position, or never condition where you are not righteous. "Pastor Prince, when I'm moody". You are righteous. But you know what? If you're always moody, just tell yourself, "Hey, I'm the righteousness of God. I need to judge this moodiness," amen? That's from a position of strength as opposed to, "Well, I'm moody, therefore, God is not hearing me. God is not for me. God is against me. God is mad at me because I can see God's face in my wife's face, and she is mad at me".
You know, people tend to, our children especially, they project their image of God by what they see on our faces because you're the only God in human flesh they see long before they understand God, okay? So, when you are grumpy all the time, you know, they think you're grumpy, like I said before, our children, learn to smile at them. When Jessica was about, again, two plus or one, nearly two, she told me one time "Abba". She calls me daddy at that time, "Daddy, why are you angry"? Said, "Darling, I'm not angry". "Oh, okay". I said, why did she say that? 'Cause my default mode is, you know? To me this edgy. No, I'm just kidding, you know? But for her, so I remind myself from then on when I see her, smile.
When I see Justin now, smile 'cause they translate smile as approving of them, that you love them. And it's very easy to be so engrossed in your work problems and whatever challenges you have, that you forget to live in the present, and the present is the only time you have to enjoy your family. And one of the biggest reasons that Wendy and I have another baby, when actually we just want to have one, was there the first one went too fast. Before you know it, we thought that they'll be always three and four forever for a long time, you know, but wow, before you know, it's a teenager, amen? and man, they're grown.
So this time we said with Justin, we'll take it slow, slow. Enjoy every moment. Enjoy every challenge. Even when they're not well, enjoy that moment 'cause all too soon, they are grown, amen? Without losing each other in the process, okay? We don't call each other Mama, Abba, you know? To him, yes, but, you know, with each other, it's "Baby". Okay, never mind, finish off. Praise God. They justify present, so can you take this, people, and put it in your heart? Because the devil will come, you need to produce a divine receipt. He will say, "Who are you"? Produce a divine receipt, amen? Because Jesus's resurrection is the divine receipt that payment has been received. Now, I want y'all to sit back. And it's time again during Resurrection Sunday to watch this. Be blessed and the we'll dismiss you at the end of this with the blessings of God.
Praise God. For he made him to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. That was the payment, amen? The Resurrection is God's satisfaction, God's attesting to declaration that we are made righteous, amen. And God raised his Son from the dead and today, he's our high priest and the Father's right hand and soon, the Bible tells us and I believe soon, he's gonna stand up and return for us because the Bible says the last enemy, notice God calls it enemy, to be put under Jesus's feet is death, physical death. There'll be no more death in our future. In fact, it's good for you to recon right now, death and judgment is behind you, glory in front of you, amen? And the Bible says when Jesus returns, we'll have a brand-new body like his body, forever strong, forever healthy, forever young. And the whole universe, which is expanding, science tells us, why? It's your playground.
Friend, that's your future and it's all paid for right back there at Calvary by Christ, amen? If you are here today, my friend, and you have never put your trust in Christ, I want to encourage you, the Lord loves you. The Lord sent his Son to die for your sins and on that cross, the divine exchange took place. See, the reason we are forgiven is not because God has gone soft on sin. Sin is sin, but because God hates sin, there's gotta be a wages or a penalty to sin. But God is also love. God loved you so much that God does not want you to perish, so God sent Jesus Christ to be your surety, to be your substitute. And he died there on that cross in your place, bearing your judgment. And on the third day, God raised him from the dead and God says, "Because he lives, you will leave also".
Death holds no more fear. Death has no more sting for the believer. If that is you, friend, I'm not asking you to embrace a church, embrace a religion. This is not about religion. This is not about you trying to reach God. God has reached out to you. It's about you responding to his love. If you put your trust in Christ and you say, "Pastor Prince, I believe that Jesus Christ died in my place and rose again because I have been declared righteous". If that is you, wherever you are, pray this prayer with me right now from your heart, amen? Everyone that's watching this, even there over in Dallas. Everywhere that's watching this right now, if you want Christ to be your Savior, your own personal Savior, to be declared righteous, pray this prayer with me.
Heavenly Father, I thank you for the gift of your Son. I thank you the Lord Jesus Christ died in my place, became liable for all my sins. He was cursed in my place, that I might be blessed. He was condemned in my stead, that I might be justified, declared righteous. And I thank you, you have declared me righteous by your grace, and you raised him from the dead. And I thank you that his blood cleanses all my sins whiter than snow. Thank you, Father, Jesus Christ is my Lord forevermore. In Jesus's name, amen, amen.
Praise God. Come on church, rejoice with all those who prayed that prayer and stand to your feet. Lift up your hands. We believe that our lives should always be under the shadow of his wings, protected under his wings. Like a mother hen will protect her young, the Lord desires you to be protected. Yes, we are in a fallen world. Soon he will return to set the world right. But until then, we are in a fallen world. There are evil things going on. We want God. I said, we want God to be involved in our lives, to place us at the right place at the time. Can we pray for that, amen, for this coming week?
Don't take your life for granted. If you're flying, don't take your flight for granted. If you're traveling, don't take even your home, friend, don't take it for granted. Things can happen, but God is a God who protects his people. For those who believe he will, he will, amen? Lift up your hands all across this place. This coming week, the Lord bless you and your loved ones with the blessings of Abraham and the blessings of Deuteronomy 28. Every one of you in Grace Revolution Church, the Lord bless you originally with the blessings of Deuteronomy 28. Every one of you under the sound of my voice the Lord bless you're coming in and you're going out, your daily affairs throughout this week.
The Lord put you at the right place at the right time. The Lord keep you, preserve you and your loved ones throughout this week from all dangers, from sickness, from every infection, from diseases, from the powers of the evil one. The Lord preserve you, keep you, and protect you. The Lord make his face to shine on you and be favorable, be gracious to you and your families. May you enjoy the free favors of God. May you see evidences and tokens of his favorite throughout this week. The Lord lift up his countenance upon every family under the sound of my voice and grant to you and yours his shalom health, well-being, wholeness and peace. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, amen and Amen. Thank you for coming, love you.