Joseph Prince - God's Plan To Prosper You In The End Times
Praise God, How y'all doing? I just want to say to all of you that you are very precious to me, the church. Lately, I've been just thinking about y'all and you know, as a pastor, let me just give you a little glimpse of what it's like to have the entire church, especially a large one, like ours on your heart. Every time you think about the church, you start thinking in terms of how the Lord sees our church where we are at. You know, God has blessed us in so many ways. We thank God that, you know, he has increased us in every area of our lives, he's increased our church numerically as well as also the people that are in our church, they blossom into families, amen.
Now they have children of their own, and we have also increased financially because we know that for all the assignments that God has for us, we cannot do it without finances, right? And I look at all these things and I tell myself, what is it that the Lord wants us, especially in our church? You know, I don't want to miss God. And many times, as I prepare my message, I get overwhelmed. You know the feeling, overwhelmed. Like you want to make sure that the message you have is from God, and you don't want to preach based on what you see. And people are doing well outwardly and all that. You know, when you say hi, they say hi with enthusiasm. But you can't judge just based on the outward, amen?
You do not know what's going inside. There could be one crying beside you right now. There could be one that is struggling with a bad report from a doctor. There could be one who has a child that is sick at home, and the person is worried. So, as we come, it's important that the Word comes from the Lord, and that is something that I feel overwhelmed by because I always tell those who are preachers, when I share with them about preaching or teaching, I always tell them that it's most important never to judge based or preach according to people's faces, you know? And if you have a word from the Lord, you have to release that.
Today's message, I honestly, I will tell you that I didn't feel like preaching it, and I'll let you know why later. At first, the Lord gave me this message early, and I felt like because I didn't want to be exposed to criticism and I didn't want to like, you know, have people say things or whatever. But so I started preparing to preach another message, something that is more like my style. So, I prepared the entire day and I was all prepared only to find at 12 about midnight, I wasn't happy inside. And I knelt down, asked the Lord why, and the Lord says, "I gave you the message, but you didn't want to preach it. And you won't be happy inside. Nobody will know it even you preach it, nobody will know it".
And that's the thing I want to tell preachers, we cannot just preach because it's time to preach. We gotta satisfy one person and that's the Lord. And although you can preach from anywhere in the Bible, and it will be scriptural but a Sunday sermon, or a sermon for any particular season in life cannot just be scriptural. Scriptural is number one. It must be Scripture, amen, but it's gotta be words in season. It's gotta be the prophetic Word. For such as the Word that God has given me and as I go along, you understand why.
And it seems like God is very concerned over you prospering in every area of your life, and I even shudder to use the word "prosper" because it is so shunned even today by the church world. In some places, they advocated strongly, they are still preaching strongly on it though I feel that to a certain extent, it has gone to an extreme where it's just focused on the material and the financial. But still, the word "prosper" is in the Bible. The Hebrew word is tslach, and in the English we say prosper. Every time it appears prosper, or prosperity, or prosperous in the Old Testament, it is always tslach. And that is something that there is a church world out there that is very quick to say you are preaching the prosperity gospel, and I'm jealous over the gospel. I said, I'm jealous over the gospel. I'm jealous that if people hear the true gospel, the gospel of Jesus Christ, amen.
So nonetheless, this is the sermon that I had, and I release it and, you know, I got more in my spirit than I'm able to share in this service, but we'll see what the Lord has for us, okay? And I know that if I preach myself happy it's because I've released that so-called Word that he has put on my heart. It's a prophetic message for our time. Number one, it is a dark time, morally, in many ways, it's a dark time, a time of darkness upon the earth. Isaiah 60 tells us, "Arise shine, for your light has come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon you".
Straightway I just want to say this to those who subscribe to the interpretation that this is referring to the millennium, there is a millennium coming where Christ will rule on earth. And Christians don't have to be hiding their faith anymore, feel ostracized, they'll be out there, amen. They'll be shining as the stars in the night, amen? In a world that is still fallen, but Christ will rule on this earth 1,000 years, the Bible tells us. That's the millennium, but this is not a millennium passage, why? Because the Bible says, the next verse, "Behold the darkness shall cover the earth". When Christ is here, there'll be no more darkness, amen? He is the light, and the light has come. "Arise, shine, for your light has come," it tells you in the first verse, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon you.
When will this happen? "Behold, the darkness shall cover the earth". That's what we are seeing right now. We are seeing the darkness cover the earth, moral depravity. We are seeing powers of darkness oppressing people, people falling sick with all kinds of funny conditions that, you know, it's like, it happens to their child and it happens to the other sister, the other sibling, it happens to the parents and yet, it might not be a bacteria or a virus that can be passed on. It's just something that seems to hip and hop and just move here and there.
You know, it's like strange things happening because there's darkness. It's not just a moral depravity. It's also the spiritual darkness. It seems that the devil knows his time is short. In the words of the Bible, in the Book of Revelation, "His time is short". His lease on earth is running out, amen? He knows his time is short. He knows that Christ is returning. He doesn't know when, he knows it's soon. He also observed the signs of the times. So, the Bible says darkness will cover the earth and deep darkness the people. You know, when it says deep darkness, it is deep. This is depression, just a feeling of melancholy, a feeling of sadness, you don't know why. And this deep darkness will cover the people, but the Lord will arise over you. When you see this happening in the world, child of God, the Lord will arise over you and his glory will be, what? Seen upon you. So, it is a glory that is visible glory, a glory that is manifested in such a way that everyone can see it.
The Bible says that Potiphar saw. Potiphar was an Egyptian. He saw that the Lord was with Joseph and all that Joseph did, the Lord made it to prosper. So, a heathen could see that the Lord was with Joseph. It was that a visible token, amen. How, we're not told. I'm sure that part of it are the results of Joseph's work in the field, bumper crops and all that, but even some of his men might have produced that. It could be other things, the fact that whatever he does prospers. When he steps into the room, there is a peace. There's a glory that can be seen on Joseph. And this is gonna happen to you, child of God, in the last days, in the days that we're living in.
"The Gentiles will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising". Something will happen to your family. "Lift up your eyes all around, and see. They all gather together. Your sons will come from afar". The one that's gone astray will come from afar. "And your daughter's shall be nursed at your side". Your daughters, the one that's gone astray, will love to be by your side, amen? So, there's family reconciliation in these last days. "Then you shall see and become radiant, hallelujah, even shine even more, and your heart shall swell with joy because the abundance of the sea shall be turned to you. The wealth of the Gentiles shall come to you".
Truly speaking, the gohim, the Gentiles here, refers to the non Jews. But for the child of God, it refers to the unbelievers. Their wealth will come to you when darkness covers the earth. When? When darkness covers the earth. So, is there such a time in the Old Testament because the Bible tells us whatever we read in the Old Testament is not history past. It's actually history past that will be reproduced because Ecclesiastes says it like this, "That which was is that which will be". All history repeats itself, amen? So, even the people of God, God is saying, "Study the life of Joseph because it'll be reproduced in your life," amen. What worked for him will work for you, amen.
Study the life of Abraham and Lot, both are called righteous, but one is a defeated righteous man. One is a victorious righteous man, which will you be? So, they are written. 1 Corinthians 10 please. It says, "Now all these things". In this chapter, he got through talking about the children of Israel in the wilderness. Then he says, "All these things". The reason we study the Old Testament, we study Bible characters like David, Abraham, and the rest, we study events, circumstances of the Old Testament. The Old Testament has value for us today. We are not, not under law now, we are under grace but God has hidden great truths. It's the glory of God to hide the Word, the matter, the debar. But it's the glory of kings, all of us, to search it out.
It's like when we used to play the game last time, you know, there's a hidden animal or hidden figure in the picture that you have. Spot the hidden animals, things like that. Do you love that? I love it, and I know Justin loves it. And when Jessica was small, she loved it also. I myself love it until today. I like to spot things. So, the Bible is like that. The Old Testament is the new hidden, the New Testament is the old open. Put it simply, all right, the Old Testament is in the new revealed, where it was, the new was in the old concealed.
So, we study it. All these things happened to them as, what? Examples, tupos, in the Greek, types. All of them happened. We will not apply exactly what they do, but the principle of what they are doing corresponds to us and everything has a meaning, amen. So, whatever happened to them happened to them as examples to who? "And they were written for our admonition upon whom," watch this, "the ends of the ages have come". They are written for us, upon whom the end of the ages have come. We are the people who are living in the end of the ages. So, everything that happened in the Old Testament happened for us, examples for us, what to learn, what to adopt, amen, what to avoid, what to imbibe, what to receive, amen.
Romans 15 also says the same thing. "Whatever things were written before will return for our learning, that we, through patience and comfort of the Scriptures, might have hope," elpis in the Greek. Hope means that through the Scriptures, we study the stories of the patriarchs, we study the story of David, the stories of Ruth, Esther, and all the Old Testament stories. And then from the stories, from the Scriptures, which were written for our learning, we will have hope. Hope is a confident expectation of good. So, even if you received a bad report from the doctor, when you study the Scriptures, you have hope for your future, amen.
All darkness or depression on the mind is based on that you look into the future and you see nothing but darkness. Hope is seeing brightness where darkness was, amen. God is a God of hope, the Bible says. This phrase, "God of hope," when God saw darkness in Genesis chapter 1, the Bible says God said, "Light be," the very first words of the Bible by, Vayomer Elohim. God said, "Light be," Ehi Or God's first word, Vay Or God said, "Light be" when God saw darkness. God is a God of hope. He doesn't call darkness as darkness. He called forth for what he want to see and he saw light. He called for light and he saw light, amen. So, throughout Scriptures we learn. See, I just gave you an Old Testament Scripture so that we can learn what to speak into our circumstances. Can have a good amen?
So, from here we look at an example in the Bible. Actually this continuation from last week. Last week, I touched on the power of the blood, how God said to the children of Israel. Can we have the picture of the blood on the doorpost? And remember God told them to put the blood on the doorpost, amen, on the lintel, right on top, and on the two side posts. The next picture, we have the two side posts, can you see it? And the Bible says God says, so the blood is not put inside for the people to see. And many a times Christians want to know, "Do I feel like I trust the blood? Do I have enough faith in the blood? Is God really pleased with my faith". "I'm such a doubter. I'm not a strong believer".
Hey, stop looking at yourself. The blood is not for you to see, the blood is for God to see. And God says, "When I see the blood, I will pass over you. I will not allow the destroyer to come into your house". So, my faith is in God. If God says, "When I see the blood, I'll pass over over you," it's for God to estimate the blood, not for me. Only God can estimate the value and the preciousness of the blood of his son. It doesn't really matter. Folks, it's not a matter how big your faith is, or how feeble your faith is, it's a matter of how trustworthy, how faithful is the one you trust.
So, people with great faith has seen more of the faithfulness and the trustworthiness of the person that they put their faith in. You can have great faith in this speaker, all right, it will do a miracle in your life, but your great faith is on unfounded ground. It's not on stable ground, it's not on solid ground. But if I have little faith in the right person, even the hem of his garment will bring healing. So folks, it's not how strong your grasp is. It's not how weak your touch is. It's not whether you know Jesus completely or not. It is the right person. Stop looking at your faith and start looking at the one that you have faith in. So, the blood is for, you know, we stopped down there, we go back, we are happy already.
All right, always remember that the work of Christ makes your salvation, makes you safe. Let me put it simply, the work, the work. Say, "work" of Christ on the cross makes you safe, but it is the Word of God. What God said about, "When I see the blood, I'll pass over you," that makes you sure, amen? So, some people are not sure, but they are still safe but they waste their time in worries and anxieties. So, the next picture tells us there's a cross, right? We superimpose the cross because actually God always foresaw the cross. And again, it's hidden back then. God said, "When I see the blood". So, the angel of death is not allowed to come into this family because there has been a death, amen? So, it's a picture of the cross. Can I have a good amen?
By the way, in this story God says, the Lamb must be killed for the first time it appears between two evenings, between two evenings. Your Bible says, "in the twilight," in the New King James, "in the twilight". All right, but the word there is in the plural, between two evenings. There's only one event in history that was two evenings. When Jesus died, he was crucified at 9 a.m., he died at 3. And when he died, before he died from 12 to 3, that was the first evening. Normally, it's not evening, right, but there was an eclipse. God covered the earth. I should not say eclipse, I should say God covered the earth and that is documented even in the annals of Chinese history. At that time, darkness covered the earth, not just Israel, the earth for three hours when the son of righteousness became sin with our sin. God shielded the whole thing.
And at 3 o'clock when he expired, he breathed out his last breath, amen, he died as an offering for sin, all our sins. The Bible tells us it became light again, amen. Just prior to him saying, "It is finished," it became light again. That means the offering has been accepted. Then he cried "finished," amen. So, they brought him down. That was just before 6 where the Jewish time, the new day starts, the Sabbath starts. So, by then there was another evening. So, God was prophesied even in Exodus 12 when he mentioned the first Passover, the death of his son, the only one to die within two evenings.
So, here we have the blood of Jesus. We covered that last week. I shared my own testimony about my daughter, the bloodline against the bees, and I talked about the story of Adrian Lim, the serial killer in Singapore and how I was a relief teacher for that student that was kidnapped and was released, all right, all that was in last week's sermon. But something else happened because, why are we looking at this event? Because it happened in the most darkest time right after the compromise that Pharaoh offered. "Leave your children behind. Y'all can go and worship God". He told Moses. Moses says, "No way," amen?
And because of that the locusts came, the plague. Right after that, he was hardened again. And this time was the plague before the final plague, the death of the firstborn. And plague before the death of the firstborn, that plague, the second last plague is actually darkness. This is what happens in Exodus 10 God says, "A darkness which may even be felt," God told Moses. So Moses stretched out his hand and there was thick darkness, thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days. They didn't see one another". No one rose from his place for three days, but all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings.
Let me tell you this, when darkness covers the earth, and it is covering the earth, amen, the people of God will have light in their dwellings. I want to tell you something. This light is supernatural light. Why do I say that? Because if it's all the households of the Egyptians, plus the palace of Pharaoh, were all in darkness except for the children of Israel's dwelling place. Had it been natural light, Pharaoh and all the Egyptians can just light up a lamp, that'll resolve the problem. But this darkness that God says can be felt, this thick darkness is supernatural darkness. It's an evil darkness. And yet, the children of Israel had light in their dwellings. It's a picture of your families. It's a picture of your families in the End Times. Make sure we are following God's program, amen.
When darkness covers the earth, yes, it's very discouraging. We look at the darkness and it's trying to swallow up our children, our teenagers, our families, our spouse sometimes, you know? But if we stay true, even in the End Times, God will put a difference between the Egyptians and the children of Israel, amen. So, last week, we touched on the blood, how important the blood is. Without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins. Jesus took the cup the night he was betrayed, instituted the Lord's Supper, or Communion, and says, "This cup is the new covenant". Say, "New covenant". "In my blood, which is poured out for many for the remission of sins," not for the consciousness of sins, for the remissions of sins, for the sending away of sins, for the forgiveness of sins.
Many times your word "forgiveness" in your King James Bible, all right, it is actually the word "remission," for sending away of sins. And yet we are conscious, we are not conscious it is send away. We are conscious it's still on us. That is partaking unworthily when you feel it's on you when Jesus says it is for the purpose of sending away.
Today, another truth that we can learn for our families, for us and our families for a time of darkness. There's something that happened after the last darkness for three days, and then Pharaoh still hardened his heart. And Pharaoh told Moses this, and God says to Moses, "Go to Pharaoh and tell him yet I'll bring one more plague". And this time the cry will be such throughout the entire land of Egypt like I've never heard before. God gave him time and time again, ten plagues, and yet he kept on hardening his heart, lying, promising something, renege on his promise, harden his heart. At first, he hardened in his heart, then the Bible talks sovereignty of God, God hardened his heart. It is something that is frightening when you look at a man hardened his heart, knowing it's God and yet hardening his heart against God. But what can we learn during this time?
In Exodus 11 the Lord says, "I'll bring one more plague on Pharaoh, this is the last plague and on Egypt. Afterwards, he let you go from here. When the let's you go, he will surely drive you out of here altogether. Speak now in the hearing of the people, and let every man ask from his neighbor and every woman from her neighbor, articles of silver and articles of gold. God says ask, ask from the Egyptians gold and silver. And the Lord gave the people what? Favor, say favor. There'll be favor on God's people in the Last Days. I said there'll be favored on God's people in the Last Days, amen.
Favor will come on God's people. Don't be afraid of the darkness. Don't be afraid of being swallowed up by the darkness or your loved ones being swallowed up. Know this, God will put a difference between the children of Egypt and the children of Israel, amen. It's happening because even prophecy of the future, like the Book of Revelation, is nothing more than history told us now about the future, the history of the future. So, we learn from the Bible, and we have hope. Are you with me so far? Next chapter says they plundered the Egyptians, and the gold and silver, they came out. You know, they came out with plenty of gold and silver.
Psalms 105 please. The Bible says this, how God brought them out, God brought them out with silver and gold, and there was none feeble among his tribes. There was none feeble. You know how many of them there were? About two million to about three, and there was none among the 12 tribes, not one, not one on crutches, not one aged man, cripple, not one that had to be carried by anybody else on a stretcher, not one child with deformity. They all walked out, not one feeble among the few million, and there were 12 tribes.
Now, what has happened to us? If that can happen to them with a natural lamb, which is a picture of the real lamb, a shadow of the substance our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the true Lamb of God who takes away our sin, what has happened to us? Number one, we don't partake. And they partook the lamb when the blood was outside, what were they doing inside? They ate the lamb, the roasted lamb. So that's the discerning the body of the Lord, amen, in Communion. If a shadow can do that for them in Psalms 105 when they came out, we have the substance. But for the lack of preaching, faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. We have negated it. Some of us wish that we were back there the children of Israel. No, no, you don't want to be there. If they see our future, they will wish they had been here after Christ has died and risen again, amen?
The Messiah has come. They'll want to be where you are. Remember, I told you a few weeks ago that if Solomon, the richest man, the wealthiest man at the time, if he saw your television, he saw your refrigerator and all that, he feels your air conditioning and all that he'll say, "I want to be here. You are the richest man". And yet, we get so complacent, so unhappy, and we have a posture of faultfinding and complaining. Because, you know, at the end of the day, your latest gadget doesn't satisfy. Only God can satisfy the vacuum in your heart. You must have an object that is greater, amen, for your heart to be satisfied. Your heart cannot be satisfied with pleasure, hedonistic pursuits, with games, gambling, with even, you know, playing around with sin, and, you know, your heart is too big for that. That's where you end up frustrated.
You must have an object worthy of your heart, amen? God designed your heart to contain him. You gotta have the Lord Jesus Christ as the object of your heart. And yet many a times you will feel he's too big for your heart. That's what satisfies. No child, no matter how adorable, can satisfy that place. No spouse can take that place. And all the people said? Amen. So, during that night, we are comparing with that time as well as our time. It's just like our time. The last plague was darkness and the death of the firstborn was the last one, right? And yet they came out with gold and silver. Don't shun that. Don't throw it away. Not only were they healthy, all right, they were wealthy.
Can you understand why I don't want to preach? Because I know the labels go on prosperity gospel and all that. But you know what? I'm more concerned about you receiving God's Word, and God wants that, amen? So, I don't want him to arrest me anymore the way he did, because he loves you. Now, where are we at this time? Something is happening. Proverbs 13 tells us this in verse 22, "A good man leaves an inheritance to his children's children, but the wealth of the sinner is stirred up for the righteous". You know the wealth of the sinner? That you envy, all right. This tech giant, wow, this billionaire, wow, that billionaire from China, that billionaire from America, that billionaire and all that, you envy them, amen, the Bible says they are working for you.
You see, this is the Bible. The wealth of the sinner, doesn't say the wealth of the wicked. There are sinners who are not wicked. You didn't get that. There are sinners who are moral, but they're still sinners. We're all sinners until we are born again. That's why we need a Savior. We cannot adopt a morality, all right, because morality cannot save us, nothing but the blood of Jesus. And there's no neither salvation in any other name but the name of Jesus, the Bible tells us. So, here it says, "The wealth of the sinner". That covers more than just the wealth of the wicked that you hear people say. Wicked is confined among the sinners, but sinners are everywhere. They are storing up for you. Are you the righteousness of God in Christ? Okay, so we know that this will happen.
"But pastor, so far I have not seen it happen". Wait a minute, hold your horses. I told you just now, when did it happen? Did it happen in the fifth plague on Egypt? No, did it happen to the children of Israel on the seventh plague? No. Did it happen on the eighth plague? No. Even on the ninth plague, did it happen? No. But on the last plague, the same night they came out, they came out with gold and silver, all the back payment plus interest. And there's a purpose for the gold and silver. It's not to squander it, you know, on their own lusts and pleasures. It is to build God's house. They use that to build the tabernacle, amen, out there, remember? The menorah, the seven-branch candlestick, is made of one slab of gold. Nothing was affixed to it. There are no separate parts attached to it. They hammered into plates.
The seven branch is hammered from one huge slab of gold. It's a picture of Jesus Christ through the beating, the work of Christ, though the beating and all that the church came forth, the seven branch. The candlestick is always a picture of the church of the Holy Spirit. Are y'all learning? We're looking, we are looking into our times by looking at the Scriptures. When did this happen? So we can be excited that when darkness covers the earth, we can rejoice. Number one, we have light in our dwellings. Number two, we are protected from the destroyer. We covered that last week. You don't have the sermon, get the sermon last week.
All right, now we can see that actually there'll be a transfer happening. The wealth of the sinner is stored up for the righteous. Proverbs 28, verse 8, "One who increases his possessions by usury, high interest and extortion, gathers it for him who will pity the poor". Those who pity the poor, God says those who are squandering, those who are taking advantage of others, amen? There are. There are corporations and all that taking advantage of the poor. I was reading about this particular place in Bolivia where there's this mountain that, in fact, for years and years, for probably more than 200 years, they've been mining silver from there.
In fact, one time the largest amount of silver in the world actually came from that one mountain and how so many people have died, so many of the villages that go into the mountain to mine the silver, they have died because they are breathing in all the particles that is very bad for their lungs. Most of them passed away before they are even 50 because the condition of the lungs, and yet corporations become very wealthy, very wealthy. Well, all these such things that's happening, God says they will gather it for him who will pity the poor in the End Times. Are you listening?
Get ready, people. Ecclesiastes 2, "God gives wisdom and knowledge and joy to a man who is good in His sight". Look at Pastor Lawrence. That is a man good in His sight. Now, all of you are thinking, wah, because he's so kind you say, "Pastor Prince, he's so nice". He is nice. He is kind, but actually all of us are good in his sight. What makes us good? The blood of Jesus, being justified by his blood in God's eyes now. So, God gives to a man good in his sight, wisdom, knowledge and joy. But to the sinner, God has a ministry. God has an assignment for the sinner, and this the assignment that God has for the sinner. "To the sinner, he gives the work of gathering and collecting, that he may give to him who is good before God".
Now, this is vexation for the sinner, of course. This is vanity and grasping for the wind. They work, they work, they work, they work, and God says, "Okay, now the time is gonna happen you're gonna transfer it. God is the Lord of the heavens and the earth. Ultimately, all gold is from him and all gold will go back to him. Are you listening people? So, there's an assignment for his people and there's an assignment for those who are not his people. God can even make the wrath of men, the Bible says to praise him. You throw lemons at God, God will turn it into lemonade for his people to drink. In fact, God says because of the hardening of Pharaoh's heart, God gets glory.
Now the whole world knows the story of the Ten Commandments 'cause the movie as well. God still gets the glory today. Are you listening, people? But the problem is this, God's people have forgotten God's ways. I'm gonna tell you something about one principle in the end times, and this has been always relegated to Old Testament and it's Malachi. Malachi tells us about this transfer. Let me tell you this first, when will these take place, all these take place? In James it tells us the timing. It corresponds with Exodus 12 when darkness covered Egypt. At midnight God says, "I'll pass through the land when I see the blood".
Now, watch this, the darkest time. When will these happen, when will the transfer happen? Because a lot of Christians saying, "It didn't happen to my generation". Another Christian will say, "It didn't happen to my grandfather's generation". Yes, the transfer did not happen then. It's happening to our generation. Why do I say that? Look, look at the timing, and it tells us very clearly. In James chapter 5 it says in verse 3, "Your gold and silver are corroded and their corrosion", God is talking to the sinner, the ungodly sinner, the ungodly rich, rather, the wealthy people who are ungodly and God is telling them your riches and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will be a witness against you, will eat your flesh like fire. You have heaped up treasure in the last days.
You see that? What do you mean heap up treasure in the last days? You have heaped up treasure. Bible interpret Bible to be transferred. Something will happen. It will not be illegal, don't worry. It'll be legal. But can I tell you something? If I'm gonna transfer my wealth to someone, it's gonna be someone faithful, isn't it? I'm gonna transfer to someone who is not faithful, am I right? So, let's learn from Jesus, our Lord Jesus who gave his life for us because he loved us. Jesus himself says in Luke chapter 16 Jesus says, "He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much".
Now, don't take that and run out and take it out of context and say that, "You see you're faithful in small things, then God will give you big things," you know? Yeah, it sounds good, I mean the general principle but the least here refers to money, the context refers to money. The entire passage here you read, it refers to money. Jesus says if you're not faithful in the use of money, the Bible calls money least in God's estimate. And yet it is a means of exchange, only good for this earth. "He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much. And he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much. Therefore, if you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon".
Money, default mode of money is always unrighteous. I know there are a lot of people saying, you see money on the ground, a good man picks up, it is good money. A bad man picks up, it is bad money. The Bible doesn't say that. The Bible says money by itself is unrighteous because is used most often in an unrighteous way. It's tainted, but there's something you can do with it. You can sanctify it. I said you can sanctify it. How do you do it? You tithe. Now you know why I don't want to preach on this. I'm telling you what the Lord refused to let go because he loves you. If you're wondering why your life is so hard financially, why things are happening that, you know, you have no explanation for, like the devourer is devouring, perhaps this is the answer.
So, right from the start let me tell you again, my style, this is not a commandment, it is for people who can receive. So, rest, breathe, nobody's asking for your money, all right? And I have a moral authority to preach this because I don't draw a salary from this church. Let that sink in for a while. I don't draw a salary from this church, something that my wife and I decided a long time ago and we still abide by that, not because the board did not want. So, I think that that gives me a place that I can preach this, but I think every pastor ought to be supported by the church. So, what is unique for me is not commonplace. Don't make this common. If you're watching this, you're a board member of another church, this is not common. Don't do that to your pastor. But I want to tell you this, there's a way to sanctify the unrighteous mammon, you know how?
Give them Romans. "The first fruit is holy, the lump, the rest, is also holy. If the root of a tree is holy, so are the branches". You know what God is saying by this? Anything that you want to make holy... You know what's holy? Holy is separated unto God. Like in your house, the toilet bowl is not holy, it is common use, right? But your wife may like precious, you know, like ornaments or things like that or jewelry, jewelry and all that. Where does she keep it? She don't keep it on top of toilet bowl beside the toilet paper. Where does she put it? Special safe, under lock and key, am I right? Or she put it in a drawer somewhere safe, am I right? Those things that are precious, she's set apart. The word holy means set apart. When someone says you stand out back then, you will say you are holy.
So, God wants his people to stand out. Predominantly, not holier than thou or righteous, or more righteous than you attitude. That stinks to high heavens. God hates phariseeism, amen? Even the Pharisees having the attitude holier than thou. Jesus move with the common people, yet he was distinct. It is something called royalty among common people, and yet you know that he's not someone that is servile. He's someone regal when you're in his presence. That's what God wants from his people. The smell of heaven, and the mean of royalty is on you. Even though you're humble, you're not servile. You're humble yet there's regal, a princess quality about you. That's what God wants from his people. You are a royal priesthood. That's the kind of holiness you stand out.
Now watch this, how do you sanctify the unrighteous mammon? Well, whatever is holy the first fruit, whatever first fruit of anything, your time, you know, your energy, whatever it is that you give 10%, money, if your first fruit is holy, guess what happens to the 90%. It becomes holy. So, actually, God doesn't ask for 90%. He's the senior partner. He doesn't ask for 90. I told my daughter that, you know, if I am God, I'll ask for 90 'cause 90 means it's small or what? "I'm God, and you live off 10%". That should be right and yet people complain about the 10% they give to God. Listen, you don't want to give, don't. Okay, this for those with revelation, okay? The senior partner only asks for 10%, why? Because if the 10% is holy, the rest of your money is holy. And whatever is holy, the devil cannot touch. Always remember that, always remember that.
Now, back to what Jesus said. "If you're not faithful in the use of unrighteous mammon," verse 11, who will commit to your trust the true riches"? Wow, you know, try not to think of God's way the way the world thinks. "God help those who help themselves". Where, where do you find that in the Bible? "Uh". No, the Bible didn't say that, Benjamin Franklin did. No, God helps those who are helpless. We are too strong in ourselves. If we realize that, we will pray more, we'll depend on him more, amen? Another thing is that, well, if God can trust you, you're faithful in church, you are faithful in your service, God will trust you with money, God will allow money to come to you. That's not what the Bible says. You got it opposite. "No, no, Bible says", no, doesn't say that.
Another thing that people say, "You know, if your heart is into something, your money will follow. If your heart is into sports, you will invest in things, you know, you'll travel to watch a World Cup or whatever, your heart is there. That is natural truth, yeah, but that's not what Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus says, where your money is, where your treasure is, your heart will follow. So, even if I don't feel like it, I put my money there, my heart will follow. If I put my money into the things of God, amen, my heart will follow. If I give to you, my heart will go after you. Think of it, meditate, meditate. It's the opposite of contemporary natural wisdom of man. Again, Jesus actually said, "If you have not been faithful in the use of money first, God will not trust you with the true riches," wisdom and things like that because you don't even handle money well.
So, in God's mind money is least. "Show me how you handle it". Hang on. "Preach it, Pastor Prince, hallelujah, amen, whoo"! Okay, let me just tell you this, in God's mind, stop and meditate. It says, God cannot trust you with that which is least, money, who will commit to your trust the true riches, ministry, wisdom, position, honor, dignity? You know, these are true riches, isn't it? And if you're not faithful in that which is another man's, who will give you what is your own? So God said, "Bring the tithes". God didn't say, "Pay me the tithes". You know what's the difference? "Bring me," is mine actually, "bring me". If I lend you a car I say, "Bring me my car," all right? You don't say, "I pay you my car. I pay you the car". No, doesn't make sense because you are bringing back what belongs to me. So God says, "Bring me".
So, if you're not faithful in that, which is another man's, who will give you what is your own? You look at people who want a ministry of their own, but which ministry are they serving under? God always put you under a man. Before Elijah had a ministry, his own God put him under Elijah. But Elijah had a double portion of the miracles that Elijah had, and yet he was faithful to wash Elijah's hands. And I find this is such a powerful truth in the church. I find that every time there's a problem with someone in the church, usually it's the leader. When I say a problem, a problem that causes problems for others.
Pastor Prince has never checked anyone's tithing until now. Look at me. Look into my eyes. I have never checked anyone's tithing, never. The tithing records have come back to me from others. I've never asked for the book. I've never asked to see. I've never looked at anyone's records, never until today.
I can counsel a person who is serving the church and I know him well, and he's having a financial crunch, you know, he's faced with something. And I pray for him. I try to get words for him. I tried to help him. And yet, you know, it's like, there's no breakthrough. So, I try my best months after months, you know? And I would call him, I would just pray for him. I was wondering, what is happening? Then one day I looked at him and the word rose inside me and said, "Are you tithing"? And he start smiling, "Oh, about that," you know? In the office when they check records, exactly from the very month where his finances went down, the tithing showed that just a few, one or two months before that, he stopped tithing. Isn't it an amazing thing? It's the phenomena. If the first fruit is holy, the lump is holy.
So, the scientists tell us that we only use one-tenth of our brains. Have you heard that before? No, nine-tenths, nine-tenth lies submerged, you know, wasted. And many of us is doubtful we even use one-tenth. What if you give your one-tenth to God, the lump, the rest, becomes holy. That's a key right there. Are you with me so far? Now, many years ago, I read about an experiment done by a man who was a miller, you know, he gets the wheat and he mills it. He makes biscuits out of it. His name is Perry and what happened is that he heard his pastor preach this verse, "Unless a grain of wheat falling to the ground and die, it abides alone. But if it dies, it bears much fruit". So, what happened is that he began to experiment. It's called the great tithing experiment.
If you look at the July article of "Times Magazine," if you can subscribe to "Times Magazine" online, they have the entire thing there. Gordon Lindsay reports on it. I'm gonna report, in Gordon Lindsay's own words and this is what he says. Perry says this, Perry Hayden, the man who had the revelation to experiment on the tithe.
On Sunday morning, September 22, 1940, I heard a message preached on John 12:24, 'Unless a kernel of wheat fall unto the ground and die, it abides alone. If it die, it brings forth much fruit.' Being a miller and being interested in actually proving God in a rather unique way, I was led to do something the following Thursday that has since been heard all the way around the world. I planted 360 kernels of wheat, one cubic inch. It takes 2,150 cubic inches to make a bushel so you can see what a small beginning the project had. When we planted the wheat, September 26, 1940, on a plot 4 by 8 feet, I told those present that in 1941, we were going to tithe the crop, and I replanted. I was taking Malachi 3:10 seriously, and I recommend right now that my readers study this verse as well as the 11th verse. In Leviticus 25, verse 3 and 4, we find to sow the field for six years and let it rest the seventh. This is what we set out to do. In 1941, we cut the world's smallest wheat field. Immediately, we turned over a tenth of the yield to the local church, the quaker church, and replanted the remaining 45 cubic inches in September 1941. In the summer of 1942, we cut the second crop with old-fashioned cradles and found the yield was 55 fold, or 70 pounds. Again, we tithed the wheat and replanted the remaining 63 pounds on land that for the third year in succession had been furnished by Henry Ford.
Y'all know who's Henry Ford, all right, the autocar maker, one of the first millionaires in the world, amen. Ford motors, okay? He got involved with this, and Henry Ford is a Christian by the way and a tither. By the way, there were other people got involved in this experiment. R.G. LeTourneau the road manufacturer, amen. Heinz of Heinz products. Kraft, your cheese Kraft, they're all tithers. By the way, John D. Rockefeller, probably the first, today, but probably the first trillionaire besides Solomon, he said this, "I never would have been able to tithe the first million dollars I ever made, if I had not tithed my first salary, which was 150 per week". "We cut the world's smallest field in 1941, immediately returned it to the church and replant the remaining 45 cubic inches in September 1941. In the summer of 1942, we cut the second crop with old-fashioned cradles and found the field was 55 fold or 70 pounds".
Now, I read already, actually. He says that, "the land for the third year was finished by Henry Ford who owned a large farm near Tecumseh. In 1943, this acre of land yielded 16 bushels from the one bushel of seed. Henry Ford himself came out to see the wheat cut and furnished a reaper to cut it an old-fashioned thresher from his famous Edison Institute Museum at Greenfield Village. Not only that, but Henry Ford again furnished land for the fourth crop. In 1944, this crop of 14 acres yielded 380 bushels. Again, the tenth of the crop was tithed and the remaining clean and replanted, and replanted. Henry Ford furnished the land for the fifth crop, it was 230 acres. In the summer of 1945, a fleet of 40 combines was sent to the field by Ford. The yield from the dynamic kernels was 5.555 bushels".
And New Creation Church will know the significance. "The value of this little crop at the marketplace of 155 per bushel was at that time, in the '40s, 1940s, $8,610.25. The tither of 861.03 went to the friends church who in turn gave it to the Tecumseh Hospital. And now comes the interesting outcome after Henry Ford had turned over the fifth crop to me, the 5,000 bushels of wheat was sold to approximately 250 farmers in Michigan and nearby states". They had to agree to plant the wheat in 1946 to pay a tithe of their crop to their own church. Now the farmers got involved. "In the summer of 1946, we expected to harvest $100,000 worth of wheat, 1940s money, all from 360 kernels planted six years before which for five years had been faithfully tithed".
You can go to the YouTube, not now, all right, and give them the title, "Dynamic Kernels Wheat Project," okay? You can go back and watch it yourself. There is another one, this one is about one minute plus long. This one here "Dynamic Kernels Tithing Experiment" is longer. It's 44 minutes. You can see Henry Ford coming on the scene. You can see Henry Ford and you can hear testimonies of Mr. Heinz and all that, and just take time to watch it if you can. But back to this again. Folks listen, God, God, God is very wealthy. He owns the cattle on a thousand hills. He's after you to be blessed. You know what I'm saying?
All right, the world out there, all right, as far as they're concerned, "Oh, that church is asking for tithe. The church wants money and all that". I thank God that, you know, I established just now that I have that moral authority, all right? But I'm telling you right now, folks, it is not a matter of enriching the church, it's a matter of enriching yourself because this is God's way. In fact, for them to experiment, they didn't take the profit. Everything goes to the church and even there's a church that gave it to the hospital. So folks, this is God's way. You're faithful in that which is another man's, God will commit to you that the true riches.
Now, for longest time, I always thought that Malachi is in reference to tithing in the Old Testament, right? And I established with all of you that it's not. I'm gonna prove to you why. By the way, Israel is now backslidden from God and God says to Israel, "Return to me". Let's follow story, okay, in Malachi. Drop down to verse 7. Okay, God says, "Okay, return to me and I'll return to you, says the Lord of hosts. But you say in what way shall we return"? Next, "Will a man rob God? Yet, you have robbed me but you say, in what way have we robbed you? In tithes and offerings"? God's answer. Isn't it interesting? God says, "Return to me". Then they asked, "How shall we return"? God says, "In tithes and offerings".
Isn't that strange? When you say return to God, return to God. "God, I'm here". But God says, "Return to me and they says, "In what way are we to return"? Obviously, they are still in the tabernacle, they are still in the sanctuary. They are there. And yet God says, "Return to me". "How should we return"? God says, "In tithes and offerings," why? "You have robbed me". Rob means it belongs to him, right? And then he says, "You are cursed with a curse". Now, it doesn't say, doesn't say, God didn't say that "I curse you". Look at the language. God did not say, "I curse you". God says, "Guys, you are cursed".
Let me explain. The curse came when Adam and Eve fell. And then God says, God pronounced the curse never on Adam and Eve. God pronounced the curse on the ground, on Satan, on Satan first and on the ground, he will bring forth thorns and thistles. So, everything from the ground is cursed and that's why God says even in the past, you can put a seed and it will grow without any toil, amen. That's the way God ordained it. But now by the sweat of your face, you will eat bread. By stress, you will get your income today. The sweat is the curse, not a physical sweat, the stress to put bread on the table.
Now, those of you who are wealthy who are watching this, "Well, I'm wealthy and all that," it's a message for you as well. Make sure you're not having a ministry together for others. And it's possible to prosper just financially and be an empty shell. Broken marriage, broken family, dysfunctional or you have conditions in your body, that's not God's kind of prosperity. God wants to prosper in every area. Now, God says here in tithe, in Malachi about the tithing, "You are cursed because the ground is cursed".
Now, watch this, everything that comes from the ground is cursed, even the tree, okay? That's why we say grace with our food. People say, "I eat organic," or "I eat food from Eden. I eat Eden's diet". Means you don't eat meat, they eat Eden's diet before men. What he is saying is that the earth has not fallen. You are saying that you're going back to Eden as if the earth didn't fall. You're trying to redeem by your own eating. No, earth has fallen, admit it. That's why it brings forth thorns and that's why Jesus wore the crown of thorns to redeem us from the curse. Are you listening?
So, our checkbook, for example, comes from the earth. Even the chip, the smallest chip that we use today whether it's in our credit card, or our computers, or phone or whatever, even the chip comes from the sand, the grains of the earth. You can trace a lot of things. Your paper for your checkbook, your notes, your dollars, come from the bark of the tree that comes from the ground that is cursed. But listen, that's why God calls you the unrighteous mammon. So, if you take it and 10% goes to God, the rest is holy, the devil cannot touch. So, God is telling them, "Look, you're holding on to 100% and you are cursed with a curse," a specific curse they mentioned, a curse that goes back to the garden.
Now, this revelation, if you hear it preached, it came from your authorized dealer here. I preached this many years ago Ever since then, so people are saying, "God will curse you". Doesn't say, "I curse you. I, muah, curse you". Doesn't say that. It says, "You are cursed". He's declaring what's a fact. "You have robbed me". Verse 10, "Bring all the tithes". Say, "all the tithes". "Into the storehouse that there may be food in my house and try me now in this," King James. "Prove me now here with, test me". It's the only place where God says, "Test me". And the guy did that test, all right, Hadden guy, you know, so God says, "Test me, try me now in this, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open for you the windows of heaven".
The last time the windows of heaven opened, it rained and rained and rained 40 days and 40 nights. So, when you are tithing, your blessing rains 40 days and 40 nights. Next month must tithe again or else 40th day, all right. You know you put them together, it rained, the first time windows of heaven mentioned, the Bible says God rained on the earth 40 days and 40 nights. So, it's an idea of monthly. So, "Test me, see if I will not open you the windows of heaven and pour you out such blessing that they'll not be room enough to receive it". Who's talking? God. Next verse, "And I'll rebuke the devourer".
Who is the devourer? The devil. He goes about seeking whom he may devour. "I'll rebuke the devourer for your sake so that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground, nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field. You work so hard for something only to find the end, bang, the whole thing falls through. God says the destroyer will not destroy, nor shall the vine fail. "All the nations will call you blessed, for you will be a delightful land". You what it means, "You are a delightful land"? You are a delightful land, that means people want to invest in you. People want to want to be with you. They want to invest in you. They see you, they see you as someone worth investing.
"Well, Pastor Prince, this is an Old Testament Scripture". Oh, yeah? What chapter is this? chapter 3, right? What chapter is this? Let's look at how chapter 3 opens verse 1. "Behold, I send my messenger. He prepared the way before Me. And the Lord whom you seek". Now, the first part here refers to his first coming, but look at this. "And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his Temple". His first coming, he didn't come suddenly but his second coming, he'll come suddenly, all right? All right, now look at verse 2, "Who can endure the day of his coming"? This is not the first coming when he came as a baby boy in Bethlehem. Everyone can endure that, but who can endure the day of his coming if the coming of the Lord to judge will be coming with him? Who can stand when he appears?
So, the context refers to the Second Coming and he's telling us even during that time while we're waiting for the Second Coming, the Lord talks about tithing. Just because a passage appears in the Old Testament doesn't mean, all right, it's just for the Old Testament. Are you with me so far? So, there's this argument among grace people now, grace people. Let me talk about grace people. We grace people are very wonderful people. It's almost like you find grace and not do anything anymore, push, push, no wait, okay. Pain, pain, pain, cannot, cannot, cannot. You'll always be skinny, you understand or not? There'll be no muscles unless there's pain. That's how muscles are built, right?
And grace people have this crazy idea about rest, you know, everything like anything that requires discipline, "It's not rest, it's not rest". I've never preached that. I even said rest is not inactivity. Rest is Spirit-directed activity. So, you ask the Lord, "What kind of exercise regime do you want me to embark on"? Maybe running is not for you. The Lord tell you, "Do brisk walking". Maybe every day is not for you. It will hurt you. God says, "Do it only twice a week," whatever. You listen to the Lord. The Lord may say, "Do this kind of exercise, do that kind of exercise, do this exercise". You listen to the Lord and you do it. Spirit-directed activity.
When you sit at home and do nothing, watch TV, you feel like lousy, why? You don't feel rested, but you're resting but you don't feel rested because you're not obeying the Lord, okay? Now, are we getting this so far? In God's mind, you must understand the ways of God. You see, this is not for everybody. So, grace people say don't have to tithe because, you know, Jesus is our tithe. The Bible says Christ is the first fruits of them that slept, those who are dead. The fact that he's their first fruit means we'll all rise from the dead, okay? But on this earth even Jesus himself said when he rebuked the Pharisees in Luke 11 Jesus said, "Woe to you Pharisees, for you tithe mint," all kinds of herbs, "Rue and all manner of herbs, and pass by justice and the love of God. This you ought to have done, justice and love, without leaving the others undone".
So, I put the color difference so you know that which topic he's talking about, okay? Color difference help, right? Green and green, yellow and yellow, got it? So, the the Pharisees are tithing legalistically, right? So, the grace people says, "See even the Pharisees tithe". But Jesus is saying they tithe with the wrong motives. They don't have the love of God compelling them. If I bestow my goods to feed the poor even, and I don't have the love of God motivating my heart, amen, it profits me nothing. So, you ought to have justice and the love of God. Justice gotta do the poor helping the poor, amen? And the love of God, Jesus said, "This ought you to have done," justice and the love of God. Watch, "Without leaving the others, tithing, undone". You know what's undone? Keep on doing it. Must teach y'all English.
So, it's not saying either or, it's telling even when he was here on earth, he's telling you do it with the right reasons. Let the love of God motivate your heart. Then there are those, "Well, in the New Testament there's nothing about tithing". I just show you the first fruit is holy is from the New Testament, and then not just that, also the principle of the priesthood of Jesus is Melchizedek. The most quoted Old Testament verse of Scripture in the new is actually, "You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek," what the Father said to the Son. Jesus is a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek, and y'all know the story of Melchizedek. Abram came to him, he brought bread and wine, that ministers health, right? And Abram responded with what? The tithe. This is long before the law was given, long before the law was given. And the the word tithe is the word maaser, right, maaser, you have seen it before. Reading from right to left maaser is the tithe.
Then later on someone, king of Sodom came and says to Abraham, "You can keep all the property since you want them already. You know, I just give me the people, a picture of the devil wanting souls. Don't mind Abram becoming rich". But Abram turned to him says, "I'll not take a shoelace from you, lest you say I made Abram rich". And the word "rich" there is aser, you see the difference? You put a mem, the first letter, it becomes tithe. In the tithe is the word "rich".
Young people, if the older ones don't get it, and they're stone, God is raising a new generation. Many of you are about to get married. One of you is gonna marry my daughter in a few years' time. One of you is gonna marry Pastor Lawrence's daughter, daughters, in the future. "Knowing the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world," must they suffer also? If the older generation don't get it, you take it. You run with it. You experiment with it, amen? Now, does that mean that everything be hunky dory, start tithing everything will be wonderful and all that? There is a warfare? Yes, imagine without the tithe. Imagine without the tithe.
Now, Abram, after he tithed, you know what happened? Have you read the next chapter? He was afraid, why? He just conquered a few kings. He was outnumbered, he and his men were outnumbered, but he conquered all those kings. Now he's afraid of retaliation. And no king is happy about being conquered and having spoils taken from them. So Abram was worried, but he just tithed. So, the Lord appeared to him and the Lord says, "Abraham, fear not. I am your shield. I am your shield," magan in Hebrew. "I am your shield". And watch this, "And your exceeding great reward". What reward? He just tithed. So, by the way, the word "reward" there, check it out in the Hebrew. It literally means salary. "I'm your exceeding great salary, your bonus. I am your magan. I am your all-encompassing shield".
I'm bringing this to a close. Listen carefully, I'll close with this, there was a time, grace please especially, please, all right. I must show you this verse real quick and then I close. Hebrews 7, "Now beyond all contradiction, the lesser is blessed by the better," talking about Abraham being blessed by Melchizedek. Who is greater, the one blessing or the one being blessed? The greater blessed the lesser. "Here mortal men receive tithes, there he, Jesus, received them of whom it is witness that he lives".
And grace people who say we don't have to tithe, explain to me this verse. There he receives them, here mortal men receive tithes. There he received them. "Oh, he already received when he died on the cross and became our tithe". No, no, no, you cannot explain that way because in the original Greek, you are not doing justice. There he receives them, receives is in the present passive participle, present tense. Right now even, Jesus receives our tithes. He is our Melchizedek, our true Melchizedek. And this got nothing to do with law. The law didn't institutionalize tithing, but we're not tithing based on the law. We are tithing like Abraham tithed.
The Bible tells us that Melchizedek brought bread and wine, Communion. Do we have Communion today? Do we receive Communion today? Well, there are grace people who don't take Communion. Anything that they do, something wrong. They only happy when they sit down do nothing. That's not the grace we preach. Are you listening, people? We serve based on the grace God gives us. You got a grace to sing, sing. No grace to sing, please help us, don't sing. And then how good you sing when the grace is there, you cultivate the grace. You can cultivate the grace and go from grace to grace, amen, but the grace has to be there. Some people have a grace to make money, yes. So, whatever it is, all of us are called to tithe. It's the secret of the End Times.
So, I'll close to this story. When Israel came back from captivity from Babylon, there were not many people. Nehemiah was their leader, the governor. So, they had to learn the ways of God. They had to rebuild the temple. And when the temple was rebuilt, they all start crying because the older people remembered the Temple of Solomon, it's nothing close to the Temple of Solomon. So, they wept, they cried. But then the Haggai the prophet says, "Don't cry because the glory of this latter house will be greater than the former".
You know who will step into the new building? Herod will start rebuilding it also, but it's the building of Nehemiah nonetheless, that was started. And you know who will step in? Jesus Christ. So, even though it's inferior looking compared to Solomon, the glory of this latter house will be greater than the former, why? The Son of God will walk into it, amen? Then Nehemiah, he was opposed as he rebuilt the wall of Jerusalem. Walls are for protection. He was opposed by, show them Nehemiah chapter 2. Okay, "When Sanballat the Horonite," he's famous for giving people horror nights. "And Tobiah the Ammonite official heard of it, they were deeply disturbed that a man had come to seek the well-being of the children of Israel".
A man had come to seek the well-being of the children of Israel. So, they are jealous. They're not God's people. They're not Jews, amen? One is a Horonite. He's a Moabite, by the way. And the other one is an Ammonite, Tobiah. Next, "When Sanballat and Tobiah and Geshem the Arab heard about this, building the wall they said, 'What is this thing you're doing? Will you rebel against the king?' 'So I,' Nehemiah, 'answered them, the God of heaven himself will prosper us. We will arise and build, but you have no heritage or right or memorial in Jerusalem.'"
Okay now, what happened is this, later on, Nehemiah left the country to go back to see the king, all right, the king of Persia, Artaxerxes. He spent some days there. When he was there, the high priest, the high priest, the high priest of Israel made friends with Tobiah, the enemy, and this is what happened. I'll close with this portion Nehemiah 13, drop down, drop down. So, he was when he heard, now, before this, Eliashib, the priest, having authority over the storerooms of the house of our God, was allied with Tobiah". Tobiah is the Ammonite who spoke against the building of the wall, right?
Now, the high priest become his friend because Nehemiah's not around. Next, drop down. "And the high priest prepared for him a large room in the temple of God, where previously they had stored grain offerings, frankincense, articles, the tithes of grain, the new wine and oil, which were commanded to be given to the Levites and singers and gatekeepers, and the offerings of the priests". In other words, was they had to remove all the tithes from that room. That room in the temple, that segment, belongs to the tithes.
So, this high priest removed the tithes to give this Tobiah a room. That's what's happening today. Some grace people say there's no need to tithe, you know why? God is good. It's all taking care of already. You know why I say that? They teach God is good, you don't have to tithe. I say because God is good, you get to tithe so you can demonstrate to you his goodness. And the name Tobiah, he made room for him. Drop down verse 6, drop down. "During all this time, I was not in Jerusalem, all right, I was with the king. Then after seven days," Nehemiah says, "I obtained leave from the king. And I came to Jerusalem and discovered the evil that Eliashib had done for Tobiah, the high priest Eliashib, had done for Tobiah in preparing a room for him the courts of the house of God".
Tobiah means God is good, Yahweh is good. So, how can God be an enemy? So, he's not a Jew, but he teaches this, God is good. You don't have to be a Christian. You don't have you're born again, God is good. Everybody say, "God is good". You don't have to tithe 'cause God is good. There is no curse on earth. You just imagined there's a curse. Everyone is nice, no one goes to war, everyone is happy. God is good. God is not a judge, God is good. He won't judge. No, God is good, that's why he has to judge sin. Because God is good to Israel, he has to stop those who are have evil purposes against Israel.
If someone is evil towards you, in order for you, like, for example, if a dog is about to bite my son, the dog will die. You know what I'm saying? Because I'm good to my son. Now, you can argue I'm not good to the dog, I agree. But in order to be good to my son, I cannot be good to the dog. So, God did this, I rather be on God's side. So, it's just pure goodness. There's nothing in God but good. You know God, even to understand that he's good is actually goodness from him to the fact that you see his goodness is already goodness given by him or as we can't see it. That itself is a gift of goodness. God is all good. There's no evil in him. And it's when you read his Word, you must know he's good.
So, this teaching, "God is good. You don't have to do anything. God is good. You don't have to tithe. Tithing is gone". Now, that's what's being taught today. And it's interesting when God showed me this, I never heard anyone preach this in terms of today, you know, talking about tithing, and yet God showed me you have to remove all the tithe. And guess who suffers. The singers, the Levites, the full-time people are not seeing the fruits because the Bible says when you bring the tithes in, there's food in the house. You have strong sermons, powerful sermons, amen? And the money is used in practical ways for the Levites, for the singers, full-time workers and that's why there are no worship coming forth, there's no food coming from many houses because the tithe is not coming in. It's been replaced by, "God is good". Humanistic God is good.
So, when Nehemiah came back, Nehemiah says, you know what he says? "It grieved me bitterly, and I threw all the household goods of Tobiah out of the room". Throw it out! Amen. Throw all that belongs to the devil. Devil comes to you and say, you know, he try to make himself appear like he's gooder than God, but he's not, he's not a Jew. Tobiah is not a Jew, he's an Ammonite. He's not born again. "Then I commanded them to cleanse the rooms, and I brought back into them the articles of the house of God, with the grain offering and the frankincense. And I realized the portion for the Levites had not been given to them. So each of the Levites and the singers had gone back the field to do work. So, I contended with the rulers, 'Why is the house of God forsaken?' Then all Judah brought the tithe of the grain and new wine and the oil to the storehouse".
Now actually, every one of the names of the treasurers that Nehemiah appointed, I actually have a name for them. You'll find it in my official Joseph Prince sermon notes, okay, and what they mean, but I don't have time, I have to close, amen? I did what you said, Lord. Praise the Lord, amen, amen. I feel like just Nehemiah, throwing out everything that took the place of the tithe, especially the teaching, "God is good, therefore you don't have to tithe," you know? God is good, therefore we tithe because he takes our 10%. No senior partner takes out 10%, you know? They want at least more than 50, at least 51% at the least.
In God's mind just like Abraham's servant when he went to find a bride for Abraham's son, Isaac, what did he do? He took ten camels. Say, "Ten camels". Actually we have that real quick. Show them, "Servant took ten of his master's camels. How many camels he took? But in God's eyes, the idea of ten in the Hebrew mind is this, "For all his master's goods were in his hand". Ten represents the whole. He took ten camels and God says everything that his master had was in his hand. When you give ten to God, listen, look up here, look up here. You know why it blesses you more than just finances? Because the tithe, when you give God the 10% of your income, some give more than that and it's up to you, between you and God. But ten is the minimum.
Listen, if you give 10%, it's not just money. It represents your blood, sweat and tears every month, every sacrifice you make to go to work, every time you feel, you know, whatever it is, you go to work, your effort, your labor, your blood, sweat and tears literally, you know? I mean, not blood, but sweat and tears, amen. All that are seeds that come back to you in money form, right? So, when you tithe that part, it's not just money anymore. It represents the whole month of your sweat, your labor, your inconveniences, whatever it is, and it comes back. You sacrifice time with family, it's in their seed and that's why it comes back and blesses the family.
So, the tithe is not just financial, okay? So, when you leave this place today, remember, prosperity is not just financial. Poor is the man who is just rich financially, but an empty shell. And all the people said? Give Jesus the praise and the glory, amen, hallelujah. Every head bowed, every eye closed all across this place. Friend, if you are here today and never receive Jesus as Savior and Lord, I want to give you this opportunity, amen. Pray this prayer from your heart.
Heavenly Father, thank you for loving me. Thank you for sending Jesus to die on the cross for all my sins. I believe you raised him from the dead when I was justified in him. Jesus Christ is my Lord and my Savior. I thank you in your eyes because the blood of Jesus has cleansed me. You see no sin in my life, no sin on me. Though I'm still weak, I thank you, Father, you never deal with me anymore based on sin, but based on your righteousness, amen. I'm greatly blessed, highly favored in Jesus's name.
Stand to your feet. If you prayed that prayer, let me tell you you're no more an Ammonite. You're no more a Horonite. You're not now a son of Israel, you're a son of God, you're a child of God, amen. Old things are passed away, all things have become new. Lift your hands all across this place. This coming week, the Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up his countenance on you and grant to you and your families his wonderful shalom well-being, wholeness, and peace, in Jesus's name. You are protected. He is your magan shield. God bless you, amen.