Joseph Prince - Experience God's Sure Kindness Toward You
Praise God, hallelujah. Hey, hey. What a great day, amen? It's good to be back after a short time away. I know you all, many of you came back also, amen. I met some of you during my holidays. You are everywhere. But I really enjoyed those times. Really, I enjoyed fellowshipping with your family and I mean, you wouldn't believe how people, the only McDonald's there. I brought Justin there and the only couple there from Asia, Asian face, is Singapore. And the only Singaporean there is from our church.
So, we had experiences like this throughout our holiday, and I had a wonderful time with my son, Justin. This is the first time I've been away this long with him so I taught him some skills, how to put on his shoes, how to put on his jacket. Some of which he didn't like, but he had to learn, amen. But I entirely enjoyed my time. Thanks for letting me go, amen. I want to go some more. I want you to smile at each other, okay, and say, "If you're a father, Happy Father's Day," okay? Yeah, happy Father's Day to all the fathers in the house. You're a very special breed. Take it from a father, amen?
As a father, let me just tell you this, no matter what, people always think that a mother's love, you know, and rightly so, I believe that mother's play a special part. Like Justin, some things he doesn't want me, he wants his mom. You know, when he cries, he wants his mom, all right? But the thing is this, we fathers are the ones that bear the greatest burden or the greatest responsibilities of the house. And sometimes we don't tell our wives what we go through, all right? We do our best to communicate but we are men, and sometimes we don't communicate, not because we are not interested in having a good relationship but because we don't want her to be burdened. We'd rather take it ourselves.
Can I have some agreement in the house? Is that true? So, for that, let me give you men a clap, right? Kudos to you. I honor you, I respect you. I know it's not an easy thing. And sometimes when the stress is there and it burdens you, and you forget sometimes why you are anxious or even fretful. And it's okay to be honest, okay, at times. The thing is this, that sometimes it winds up with you being tense. And your wife says, "Why you so tense"? And you snap at her and it all began with love for the family, okay, and how the devil tries to take advantage of that, how the flesh wants to indulge in that. But God's grace is sufficient for you. God's grace is sufficient for you. And the struggles you go through, don't condemn yourself for it.
In fact, the worst thing you can do is to condemn yourself for it. Every time there's a failure, every time something happens at home, the man is always the one who wants to condemn himself, you know? In his heart, he may not tell his wife but he will say, you know, "If I had done better, if I had earned more, if I had done this in a wise way or whatever, you know, this would never happen and all that". Stop that, amen?
What is done, like the Apostle Paul says, "Forgetting those things that are behind". And all the fathers in the house say after me now, "Forgetting those things that are behind and reaching forth to those things that are before, I press towards," amen? So, learn to forget. Whatever failures, whatever you've done wrong, amen, let it go. Let this Father's Day be the day, amen, that you walk in the Spirit, be the day that you take leadership, be the day, amen, that you walk in all that you have learned and learn to possess your possessions in Christ, amen?
Now, what I'm about to say is a study done many years ago, okay, many, many years ago, probably in the '50s or '60s. At that time in Florida, there were about 40,000 people, men, many of them men, who were incarcerated, all right, in prison. And at that point in time, they had about 40,000 only. There was a man, a minister, who worked among the prisoners and he shared this, he shared that most of them are men, okay, these 40,000. But among the 40,000 he said he only found at that time, at that time, he only found six Jewish prisoners.
Now, he's been to all the penitentiaries and he said he found only six Jewish prisoners. Now, this is amazing. It Intrigued him. He began to do a research. Why is it that only he found six Jewish prisoners? "Well, Pastor, because they are so sharp and so shrewd, they know how not to get caught". Okay, part of it is that, I think. But he said this, it's got something to do with their family life. In a sense that the Jewish culture is such that every Shabbat, every Friday evening and Saturday but Friday evening, they will all come together as a family, all right?
And no one is rushing off to do shopping last minute. No one is going off to go to the movies or whatever. That time must be there. Whatever can be done can be done later on, but it's a time of rest. It's a time of family gathering. And they say, y'all know, even today, even non-Orthodox Jews are doing this. And they will do the family time of lighting the candle, the Shabbat candle, and then they sing some songs. And then they'll break bread, and then they will eat together as a family. And then the father will bless the children. The father will bless the children. He also found out that many of the prisoners never had a father figure at home.
I remember Margaret Thatcher said that she want to penalize the fathers for the juvenile delinquents in U.K. This was many years ago when Margaret Thatcher was Margaret Thatcher, was the prime minister. Remember the iron lady? And when she wanted to penalize the parents, they found out the report came back that most of these juvenile delinquents didn't have fathers at home. I mean, they had fathers but the fathers are absentee fathers. So, that goes to show that fathers are so vital and so very important. And what you say means more to your teenage daughter and to your boy than all their friends and gangs put together. They might not act like it, but what you say carries more weight. And because if you've been saying things that are disparaging, and discouraging, and put them down, you know those words, no matter how much their friends try to buddy with them, and try to encourage them, or try to make them feel like, they always feel like something is missing, amen.
So, don't underestimate your power, fathers. Bless your children. When they are small, sometimes you bless them, it's very hard for them to stay still, right? I know because Justin is like that. His head is all over the place, sometimes missed, all right? And sometimes he's moving and I gotta say, "Justin, you gotta stay put". But the thing is this, something is imparted and they always remember that. I remember when I first went to Sunday school many years ago in Singapore. I can still point you to that church that I went to. My pastors know where it is because sometimes we eat around there. And I'll tell them, that's the church that I first felt the presence of God.
And someone brought my family, my mom, and I, and my brother, to church and it was just before Christmas. The first song I heard was, "Silent Night, Holy Night". The first gift they gave so happens that there was a gift-giving day and the Sunday school was, I still remember the, you know, the soldier that is a soldier that you can actually tie some like parachute and you throw it up? That was my first toy that I received in the church. But more than that when they started singing and they started praying and all that, I don't have any experience about church and all that, but all I can tell you is that as a young boy, I was probably about five years old or five plus, I can tell you that I sensed a presence that today I know is the Lord.
And, you know, you don't say, "Was that a charismatic church"? That's not important. In fact, it wasn't a charismatic church. It was a denominational church and I felt the presence of God. So, you know what? If you think your children are not experiencing anything, you know, they don't seem to register and all that, keep on praying. Keep on blessing. Keep on bringing them to church, even if they don't want, amen. And for your teenage children, even if they're under your roof, you have authority. "But Pastor, I don't want them to dislike and start rebelling and all that". Hey, they already are. All right, let them come to church, amen.
So, if your teenage daughter or son and all that is rebellious whatever, take back control, amen. And you grace people, you grace people are famous for, "If I, you know, I want to show love. You know, I just want to show love. If I show enough love then, you know, everything will be okay and all that". No, no, love will tell you when you do something wrong, will have discipline because you love the person. And even a child, when your child is this big, I remember when I first caned Justin. Oh yeah, this goes out internationally. Praise God. Pastor Prince, you know? Yeah, pastor of grace, amen.
But the thing is this, the Bible says, "Spare not for his crying," Amen. Because you know why? You never hit a child on the face. You hit him, you hit him, all right, spank him on the seat of learning, and you don't leave a mark. You never leave a mark. Amen. That's abuse. There's a fine line, all right? But if you discipline correctly, okay, the child will always, children cannot be reasoned with. I know parents say, "I talk to my child". Yeah, perfect. Why not bring him to work and make him the vice president of your company? The thing is this, they understand discipline, but how many parents can say amen? After you discipline them, they become so loving. They become so loving after that.
And by the way, I can count with one hand the times I had to use a rod 'cause after that I just mention the rod, Mr. Cane, and oh, he start crying already, all right? So, he's one of those sensitive souls, but maybe yours is not that type. Yours must really use a few times. But the thing is this, all right, be a father, all right, be the leader of the house. Do not allow them to run the house. Don't tell them to tell you what they like, what they don't like.
Until today, even you are born again, you're a new creation in Christ, all right, you still like the food that your mother gave you. No matter where you travel in the world, all right, there are some things that, you know, old things are passed away but these old thing don't seem to pass away. You still like that food. And sometimes you tell your wife, "You don't make it exactly the way my mother make it". Dangerous, amen? But there's something about it, why? Because it was put into your mouth since you were young. Whether you like it, you don't like it, it was put in your mouth. The Bible says, "Train up a child in the way he should go. When he's old, he will not depart from it".
I'm gonna tell you something right now that you don't hear in all the teachings that you hear about train up a child in the way he should go. This verse has been used many times. One day I was reading it and it says, chanak, which is train. Train up. You never train down. Train up a child in the way he should go. The word "in the way he should go," I've heard people say that it's the child's temperament and all that. But when I read that in the Hebrew, it says in the way of his mouth. Literally it's, "peh". The word "go" in the way, the way there, the way go is direct, but in the way of his mouth. Way there is the way he should go is the way of his mouth.
Isn't that interesting? You teach them what to say. You teach them also mouth also for eating. You put what kind of food in their mouth, junk food, food that doesn't edify, or spiritual food, amen? You put that kind of food in their mouth, not just I'm talking physically. Whatever you put in their mouth, for years to come, they will not depart from it. They still like that food, right? How about spiritually? So, whether they like it, they don't like it, you know, if you feed them with the Word of God, they will not depart from it. That will be a taste. Even if they depart for a while, when they come back to it again, somehow they hear, "The Lord is my shepherd, you know, he leads me beside the still waters".
Now he's a 50-year-old man and he's stressed and he listens. Somehow he starts to listen or pick up the Bible, a Gideon Bible in the hotel room and he's very restless. He can't sleep. He's worried about his business and all that. He open up and he reads, "He restores my soul. He leads me beside the still waters," and all the memories come back. He will not depart from it. That's all I gotta say. That's not my sermon. Praise the Lord. Give Jesus the praise. Hallelujah. Now that you've taken time, fathers, from my sermon. Fathers are precious, amen? Turn and smile at a father. Make sure he's a father first. Are you a father? Are you a papa? Are you a papa? Are you an Abba?
I just want to share this testimony with you. There are some of you are wondering, "Well, Pastor Prince, I don't understand why my healing has not manifested. I have fasted. I have prayed. I have also pray in the Spirit over my condition. I take communion, all right"? So, for those who are asking these questions and have done it for a long time and there's still no manifestation, maybe this testimony might help you, okay? And I think that many a times when we are doing these things and there doesn't seem to be a manifestation, there could be something that's motivating you doing those things that needs to be addressed. Now, this is a new testimony and it's from Kevin from Florida.
I suffered from epilepsy for 25 years. The condition also caused me to have grand mal seizures. Whenever I had a seizure attack, I will be unconscious for 30 minutes and wake up with my body bruised and my tongue bleeding from biting. All my brothers in Christ would pray for me and tell me what I needed to do to get my healing. I did all I was taught to do, yet nothing worked. I also went to a neurologist who prescribed different sorts of medication for me but to no avail. I tried everything. I prayed in the Spirit, confessed healing Scriptures, fasted, took holy communion, bound and loosed things, and even took classes on general healing, but all to no avail. This epilepsy, cost me two marriages, my carpentry business, and almost my own life. I couldn't understand why I was still suffering from epilepsy when I knew and believed that Jesus' finished work at the cross took away all my sins and sicknesses. So, after 25 years, I still believed that I wasn't seeing my healing because I was doing something wrong. Then by the grace of God, my pastor gave me a copy of Pastor Prince's book entitled, 'Destined To Reign.' After I started reading it, I could not put it down. I felt a heavy burden taken off me. I ordered all of Pastor Prince's resources and started watching his television broadcast. I realized that I had been unconsciously condemning myself as I believed I was not right with Jesus.
You see, when you condemn yourself, nothing that you do that's right is gonna work because your motivation is wrong. Do you understand, people? Like I've shared before, we don't pray for victory, we pray from victory, amen? So, you confess or you even take communion, you must take communion knowing you are healed. And some people still see it as a literal body, as a literal cup. Don't do that. This is not transubstantiation, okay? You gotta see it as a time to remember the Lord that you have been healed. "But there's a symptom in my body, Pastor Prince". No, go by faith.
All right, it's a time of declaring your faith. Praise God. But it's not a time to get, it's a time to declare what you have, and you gotta have a revelation from the Spirit that you have it already, okay? So, this is the thing. "I realized that I have been unconsciously condemning myself as I believed I was not right with Jesus. I always thought I had to perform for Jesus to heal me. Now I know how to rest in his faith and just believe that he can and he's willing to bless me because he loves me. Pastor Prince, after 25 years, I am now seizure free". Praise God, hallelujah. To Jesus be the praise, the glory, and the honor.
I thought you would like that because especially people who were asking questions about, you know, why, why, why? You need to get back, all right, spend time with the Lord. Don't follow a formula apart from the Lord. Never do that, amen? Praise the Lord. Always it's the presence of the Lord and if you don't understand something, go to him, amen? "But Pastor, I don't know how to hear God's voice". Ask him to teach you how to hear this voice. Don't go to a book. Don't go to a tape or cassette or whatever. Those things will come later, amen? But you ask him and he will teach you based on your own bent, your own personality, your own temperament, your own style. Can I have a guide amen? And you will know when you hear him. Praise the Lord. Are y'all ready? Praise God.
All right, because of time, I will just keep some things I've been wanting to share in this message, but it's all good. In Luke 14, there's one beautiful parable, one of the most beautiful parables. And Luke 14 is just before Luke 15. In Luke 15, we have three of the most beautiful parables of our Lord Jesus, which is the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the prodigal son, all right? That is in Luke 15. But in Luke 14, actually, there is a parable that is one of the most beautiful, I feel. And I felt that when I read it, it will be remiss for me not to share with the church, you know, the things that God was showing me. And I really want you to see this, and you can have a revelation of this parable's gonna change your life. Praise God.
You know this story opens up, because of time, we don't have time to see everything. But this parable opens up in Luke 14 with Jesus being invited to a Pharisee's house. So, he went to the Pharisee's house and he sat down there but his mind, the mind of Christ, you know, he breathes the breath of heaven, his royalty from heaven. And he looks at the first thing he noticed that offends his mind is how the people take the top positions in the house, this Adamic flesh that always wants prominence for themself. They are puffed up in self-importance, offends his mind. He noticed that first. He noticed how they choose the top positions, and he shares with them the importance of how you should take a lowly position.
And when someone comes and tells you to go higher, you know, you will have honor in the presence of all the rest compared to if you go higher, someone asks you to go lower, then you get shamed. He says that whoever exalts himself shall be abased, whoever abase himself shall be exalted. So, that is the kingdom of heaven. You know, God's ways is always... you know, people, the son of Adam want to be everything, think that they're everything. A few are offended right now as I'm saying this, all right? I don't know which service venue but I'm telling you, all right, the son of Adam is always wanting to be everything, when actually they're a speck of dust. They were made from the dust of the earth and God breathed into man. Jesus, however, is truly everything but he made himself of no reputation, amen.
So, let's not forget that and thank God today we are not nothing. We are sons and daughters of God. We are new creations in Christ. But let's never forget, all right, that the Lord left the flesh with us. He didn't cause our flesh to be born again, so it's always there to remind us that in and of ourselves, in our flesh dwells no good thing. We are still as dependent on him as the day we got born again. Can I have a good amen? So, he looked at all this going on, then he shares this. And then the Bible says the people were following him. You must, understand they were not following him because they saw him as Savior.
They did not know their real condition. Had they come to him as Savior, he will gladly open his arms and he will gladly speak words that are more in accordance with their condition. But they refused. They see him as a teacher, granted, just like Nicodemus saw Jesus as a rabbi, you know? That is still not the way to be born again. He came saying, "Rabbi, we know you're a teacher come from God". Saw him as a teacher, come from God. But no man can do these miracles. You must be born again. Jesus responded, "You must be born again".
In other words, go through all that, all right, go through all that seeing Jesus as a teacher to give you another formulation of laws and principles for you to adopt, so that you can succeed in life, but he himself is nothing. He's just a teacher, he's a good teacher, nonetheless. But it's his laws and what he teaches that's more important. No friend, he is the Savior. And before you come to what he teaches, you gotta know him as Savior before teacher. You know, offended his mind that multitude are following him and you read carefully, the Bible says: "Great multitude followed him," in Luke 14. And then the Bible says: "He left the house and a great multitude followed him".
Now, I want to tell you something. Before he turned around to the great, but the Bible used the word "great multitude". I said the Bible used the word "great multitude". And before he turned around and addressed the multitude, I want to tell you something, he gave us one of the most beautiful parables besides the next chapter. He turned to those great multitude after he shared this great parable. If they're not willing to receive then he had told them, "If you're coming after me as a teacher, fine. You wanna be my student"?
That's the word "disciple," by the way. If you're gonna be my disciple, you must hate your father, mother, children," and all that, all right, and in a sense you've got to put him first in such a way that your love for your natural ties seems like other people who are natural hate. Of course, he is not telling you to hate. Are you listening? He turned to them. "If you wanna be my disciple, pick up your cross. Follow after me". That was after he shared this parable because he knew that the great multitude that came to him did not come to him because they saw him as Savior.
But watch, the same story. He turned around to the great multitude, "How to Dwindle Your Crowd". Jesus, his sermon never taught in churches. He turned around and says, "You wanna come after me, all right? Okay, put me first beyond your father, mother, children, and all that. And pick up your cross, follow me. Deny yourself," okay? Follow the story. That's the last part of Luke 14, then come to Luke 15. Then see Luke 15: "Then all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to him to hear him". "Then all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to him".
In other words, he addressed the great multitude that followed him because they saw him as Savior. Sorry, they saw him as teacher and great teacher nonetheless. They honored him. The honor was there. But they didn't see him as Savior. And he spoke tough words. "If you wanna be a disciple, this is the cost. Count the cost". Then another group came. "Then all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to hear him and watch his spirit. And the Pharisees and scribes complained, saying", so they are still there, "And they said, 'This Man receives sinners and eats with them'", he saw them, his response to them. He saw his response. He probably held their hand, he smiled at them. They saw his response. "This man receives sinners and eats with them".
May you have the same accusation. If not, I wonder if you are a Christian because Christian means Christ-ian, okay? And they accused him of that, "So he spoke this parable to them, saying: 'What man of you, having 100 sheep'". All of a sudden, it's like Jesus had opened the floodtights of his compassion open. He was at home now with sinners. Why? Because sinners see him as savior. They're not looking for new methods, new principles. They see him as Savior. Then his floodgates of his heart open up and he starts sharing about "What man of you, if you lose 1 sheep, you will leave the 99 and look for that 1 sheep"?
Well, no one does that, but he did. And when he finds it, he looks for it until he finds it. I love "until he finds it". And when he finds it, he picks it up, put it on his shoulders, brings it back. In other words, he finds it, he carries it, he brings it back. We must not forget this. It wasn't the sheep that sought the Good Shepherd. It was the Good Shepherd that sought the sheep. Somehow we say things like, "I was seeking the Lord one day and the Lord revealed himself". Or people say, "I found Jesus". No, he found you. He wasn't lost. I understand the expression, okay? I understand.
Maybe we should say, "Well, the Lord found me. The Lord found me. I was rebellious, all right? All these years and the Lord found me. I was lost and I didn't know how totally lost I was but he found me". That's the correct word to use, all right? But people say, "I found him," all right? It wasn't the sheep, the lost sheep, that found the shepherd. It was the Good Shepherd that found the lost sheep, y'all, amen? And then, the next one is so you have the Good Shepherd, Jesus, and all the Trinity is involved. The Triune God, one God, the divine persons are involved. Father, Son, Holy Spirit.
So there was Jesus. Then you have the next parable, the lost coin. The woman sweeps through the house to find the lost coin. When she finds it, she tells her friend, "Rejoice with me, I have found the lost coin". Just like the good shepherd says to his friends, "Rejoice with me, I've found the lost sheep". So that's a picture of the Holy Spirit, the woman sweeping the entire earth to find that lost image of God, the lost sons of Adam, to make them sons of God. And then the last one is the prodigal son, right? You all know the story, all right? The father saw him from the horizon. The father started running to him.
So you have Jesus, you have the Holy Spirit, you have now the Father God. So you tell me, who is behind our salvation? All three. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, the Triune God, is behind your salvation. Can I have a good "amen," people? And if God was to be interviewed and asked for his reason for saving you, in these three parables one thing constant is this: the joy of the one who found the lost item. God's answer will be this: "It gives me joy to seek and to save the lost". This is a message the world needs to hear. Not religion. This is the message the world needs to hear, that God finds joy in saving you. God finds joy, even when the prodigal son came home, the father had not one bad word to say to him, all right?
The father didn't say, "Stone him". By the way, do you know there's a Mosaic law that says if a son is a rebellious son - one day I'll do more teaching on that - and he is a glutton, he is a wine-biber. It says that. And his son is a rebellious son, that he has to bring it before the elders and tell the elders, "My son is a rebellious son," then the Bible said they'll stone him to death. That is the law. Well, they were under the law when Jesus shared this parable yet when the son came home, he wasn't stoned. He was kissed. So some things have changed, people. The law and grace. The law demands, grace imparts. The law demands that you love God but grace says, "I will love you. I'll find you. No matter how long it takes, I'll find you. You can run away from me".
Right now, in your mind, you're running away from God. You think you're running away from, I'm running into launching, I'm running into intellectualism. My friend, you will need a god and you have made your brain, your puny peanut brain, your god. Told someone the other day that if we need to understand everything before we can enjoy it, even those who say that "if I don't understand, I cannot accept". Even their puny brain cannot understand for many of them how the air condition works, how this medicine, how that thing, many things in life we don't understand. We just enjoy it. So based on their reasoning, they should not be enjoying it. Never mind, it's okay, all right?
So I just tell you this. God will find you. Run if you can, he will still find you. But you know what? Wasted years, wasted nights, wasted days. If you respond, because right now he's finding you through my preaching, amen? Anyway, I haven't started my sermon yet. I just give you the background, right? This is the background. Luke 14, Luke 15. Isn't that beautiful? When someone comes to him as a teacher, look at the words. "Then all the tax collectors, sinners drew near," wow. Parables of grace.
You know, friend, if we can just meditate on this, it will answer a lot of questions that people have. "What about this parable? What about that"? Parables of judgment, you know? It'll make us understand better the heart of God, okay? You don't understand anything, just understand one thing: God is good and God is love. Does God judge? Yes, he does but I think many of us are not ready to understand fully because I believe that Jesus Christ is returning and is returning to judge the earth. Not judge us. He will come to rescue us. He says, "I go again. I go away but I'll come again and I'll receive you unto myself".
Now, those who teach that he'll come in judgment. How is that receiving the church to himself? So there is a rapture. And some people today, you know, it's like very popular not to believe in the Rapture anymore. It's still a gospel truth. "I will come again and receive you, the church, unto myself". Those of you who are born again, those of you who are his, "I'll receive you unto myself". Before he comes back as the judge where the whole world will see him. You understand?
All right, Luke 14, the beautiful parable. I must get to it, at least before we close, right? All right, "Then he said to him". He's still in Luke 14 now, before Luke 15, right? So he's giving them a chance to understand grace. He says: "He said to him, 'A certain man gave a great supper and invited many.'" Gave, beautiful. I always thought it was, "Made a great supper". He gave. I want to tell you something about the great supper. When your friend invite you for a supper, do you expect to pay for it? Okay, if you have a friend who expect you to pay for it, then he's not a friend, okay? If he invited you for a supper, right? If you're invited for a supper by a friend, do you bring your own food, your own cutlery? No, everything is provided for. Am I right?
So, "A certain man gave a great supper and invited many". Why is it called "great supper"? That's why I underline it. Why is it called "great supper"? Now Jesus shared this beautiful parable so let's not be in a hurry to finish the parable. Let's try to get every nugget we can out of it. Let's chew on it, as if we have time, amen? All right, why is it a great supper? A supper is great because of what it costs. A supper is great according to what it costs.
Imagine a businessman who sells everything that he has to give a great supper for the poor. What would you think of him? Wow, that supper is costly. That supper is great. And if God spreads the feast, my friend, what a feast. If God spreads the feast, what a feast. It will be a feast like no other feast, amen? Even Belshazzar's feast, all right, had the writing on the wall. No feast will be like this feast. Jesus says, "He that comes to me shall never hunger". What a feast. What kind of food is that that would cause you never to hunger? "He that believes in me shall never thirst". What kind of drink is that, amen?
And yet one feast leads to another feast. It fattens you up like a fatted calf, amen. Then you've gotta fast or go on a diet. No feast like this feast, spread out by God himself. God gave the feast. Everything is ready, "and sent his servant at supper time". Supper time is evening time, evening meal, "to say to those who were invited," that's what the Lord's Supper is called, "the Lord's Supper," amen. Are you listening, people? It strengthens you before you go into your dark hours, amen. You need the Lord's Supper. So it is also one of the food spread. "And sent his servant at supper time to say to those who were invited".
I wish I can stop here, the servant, and talk to you about a lot of servants that's not named in the Bible. Abraham sent his servant, his trusted servant. Of course, in other chapters we know him as Eliezer but Eliezer, by the way, means God is my help. So he's a helper. The Holy Spirit is the helper, and he's unnamed. Because the Holy Spirit doesn't draw attention to himself. He draws attention to Jesus. And any ministry that's anointed of the Holy Spirit, doesn't draw attention to themself. They draw attention to Jesus, amen. So he send a servant to find a bride for his beloved son. Joseph told his servant, unnamed servant, to gather all his brothers to his house for a feast.
Again, it is a picture of the Holy Spirit as Joseph is of the risen Christ. Boaz, a picture of Christ, came to his fields of Bethlehem, saw this maiden from Moab. Her name was Ruth and he asked his servant about her. And his servant told him what she has been doing. The Holy Spirit will bring good reports about you. And again, that servant is unnamed. So I hope you enjoy this kind of thing 'cause I want to go fast because of time but cannot just let go. "Sent his servant at supper time to say to those who were invited, 'Come, for all things,'" say all things, "'are now ready.'"
So if the servant goes to you and say you're invited and all things are now ready, hey, you don't come to give. You come to receive. I repeat, you don't come to give. You come to receive. You don't come to bring. You come to enjoy. Jesus is sharing this parable. Let's go into his mind, let's go into his heart. What is he after? What does he want people to understand? "All things are now ready". All things are now ready. Salvation is ready. Justification in Christ is ready. Peace I leave with you. Peace is ready. Health, it's called the children's bread, is on the table.
Hey, that's ready. All things are now ready. Power is ready. Anointing is ready. Wisdom is ready. You just have to come in, receive. You see, under law, God is demanding. Under the gospel, under grace, God is providing. God so loved the world that he gave. Under law, God demands love. "You shall love God with all your heart". Under the gospel, God in grace gave his Son. Because he so loved the world, God gave. Do you understand? We are no more under the principles of the law where God is demanding from us. Take that out of your mind. We are under grace where God is supplying to us. God is providing us. God is giving to us.
And fathers, don't think of the "Oh wah, man today after hear Pastor Prince share all that, I see all this as new demands". No, they are new supplies, y'all. God providing, God anointing, God giving, God imparting, God give blessing, God bestowing, amen? "Come," the servant says, the Holy Spirit says. "All things are now ready". Not in the future. Now is ready. They all, all those invited. Invited, now, friend, invited. Not commanded. It starts with invited first. "'Come, all things are now ready.' But they all with one accord began to make excuses. The first said to him, 'I have bought a piece of ground, I must go and see it. I ask you to have me excused.'" Hey, who buys property and then, later on, go and see it? What a lousy excuse.
Next one. "Another said, 'I have bought five yoke of oxen,'" that's like cars, huh? "'And I am going to test them.'" Who buys and then tests? So it's another excuse. Very weak one. "'I ask you to have me excused.' Still another said, 'I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.'" So I tell you something, okay? I won't go into that. Very simple. It's excuse. This excuse may have some validity because... no, there's no validity to all three excuses. And these three are given as the example because all are invited but they give excuses one consent.
I'll tell you something about men. Tell men if they want to be right with God, torture themself, lacerate your bodies. They will do it. Tell them they gotta climb one of the highest mountains, they will do it. Tell them they have to fast, they will do it. Tell them they have to make long prayers, go to a certain place, they will do it. Tell men, "Come, everything is provided for," and it's very hard to find one. One son of Adam unless God has to, as we will see what's gonna happen.
So next verse, Jesus sharing this parable. "So the servant came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house, being angry," always remember the things that makes God angry in the Bible because many of you are conscious of the Old Testament anger, all right, under law and all that. But in New Testament, see what makes God angry: when people refuse to receive what God has provided. When people refuse to take what he has given. And it's a anger out of grief, it's an anger out of because you love the person. "Then God said to his servant, 'Go out quickly.'"
There's one time that God says, you know, God is very cool. Every time, you know, God says, "He that maketh haste, he that believes shall not make haste". The Bible say: "He that is hasty of spirit exalteth folly". Jesus moves with a rhythm of grace. He's always cool, always like slow but always on time. Even when the person is dead, he can raise the person back to life again. There is a rhythm but there is no rush about Jesus. There is no hastiness about our Lord Jesus. You read there, one thing good is that if you have a season of reading through the Gospels, you know, Matthew or John, you will find Jesus.
You are impacted by the person. If he is just a fiction, I'll tell you this. The writer is even greater to produce a person that is so glorious and so amazing that no hero of fiction can even come close. And to have little things that keep on speaking to you like what I shared with you just now, Luke 14, Luke 15, that must take an author, a divine author. And yet this one place where God says go out quickly. When it comes to salvation, when it comes to his blessings and grace, God says, you know, "You are late". It's not matter of like, "One day I will". No, you are too late. Get it done quickly.
Zacchaeus, make haste and come down. The only time Jesus tells you be a hurry is when he knows that you are lost. He'll take you by the hand and go through Lim Chu Kang Cemetery or Abbot Cemetery. I don't want you have in Dallas and all that, but I'll tell you, you walk through a cemetery then you realize that people who were 14 years old will die, people who are 11 can die, people who are 20 can die, at 50 they can die, at 60 they can die. Then it will sober you up. You don't have time not to be in haste to be saved, amen? He says, "'Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in here the poor and the maimed and the lame and the blind. 'Master,' the servant said, 'it is done as you commanded, and still there is room.'"
Of course, there's always room for one more. There's always room for you. There's room for me, hallelujah! With, God, you know, even the first instruction of the first Passover lamb in Egypt when the angel of death would pass over through Egypt to kill all the firstborn, God says, "Put the blood on the doorpost". And God says take a lamb, all right, it was the lamb's blood that's put on the doorpost. God says, "And if the lamb is too large for the household or the household is too small for the lamb, then invite your neighbor".
The lamb, that lamb can die for the sins of everyone that ever lived, everyone that will ever live, and all the people, the billions on planet earth today, and still have more to spare because of the kind of man that died on that cross is no ordinary man. Wow, there is still room the Holy Spirit, the servant says, there's still room. "Bring here the poor, the maimed, the lame, and the blind". Maimed are those missing body parts and all that. Let me tell you this, okay? All of us fit this. All right, we are either poor spiritually.
You say, "Pastor Prince, I'll have you know, I am worth blah, blah, blah, blah, blah". I'll tell you this, there's plenty of poor people with plenty of money. They are poor spiritually. When you go to the grave, you leave everything behind, right? And the thing is this, God wants you rich spiritually. So maimed, yes, many of us are maimed. Blind, halting, lame, yes, all of us are lame, plus the fact that all these people give lame excuses. So question, my question, what kind of guests does God invite to this great supper? I know when you invite, when I invite, we invite the V.I.P.'s. We invite those who can give us back, we invite those who are selected, and by invitation only. Who does God invite? The poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind, and have a good amen? And, you know, they're not lacking, you know? And yet there's still room.
Next verse, "Then the master said to the servant, 'Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled. For I say to you that none of those men who were invited shall taste my supper.'" All right, now, I believe that the Lord Jesus in this great parable also hides for us eschatological truths, the End Times, all right? So, you start with the streets, the lanes of the city, right, then now you come to the highways and the hedges. Highways, you know is broad ways, broad streets, you know, modern travels, highways, highways in the sky, highways in the sea, highways on the road. And then the last move of the Holy Spirit is among hedges.
You know what's hedges? Fence, the bamboo curtain, the iron curtain. God is gonna move in China. God is gonna move in a mighty way in Russia. God will move. God will move where there is a fence. That's the last one, you see? And I believe it's not. There's no accident in his parable. When the wisdom of God is there personified speaking his parable, all right, even the order has a meaning, okay? So, he says, "Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them".
Now, you know what's compel? I look it up in the Greek, it means force. It means force. God says, "I say to you none of those men were invited". It started with an invitation. God invites you to enjoy his blessings. It came to a point where love compels you, where things will happen in such a way that you are almost like compelled.
"Pastor Prince, I'll never come to church, but my son is sick". Don't wait for that to happen. God didn't make your son sick, but you know what God can do? Many people don't realize that God's hand of protection is on us, and all God has to do is to lift a finger. You understand? In a world that don't acknowledge God and his protection over themselves, over their nations, God just have to lift a finger and all sudden we see our need for God. But I tell you something, whatever this compelled is, it's a compelling of love. At the end of the day, in case you sit down there and say, "I was invited and I took it". No friend. At the end of the day, it seems like the parable is saying, "Nobody was there that's not compelled". Isn't it sad, that God spread a feast and man is so blind that he has to be compelled to come and eat.
And that's what I was trying to tell you just now about your children. There is a sweet compelling, but it's compelling nonetheless. We are going to church. "No, I don't feel like going". No, I didn't ask whether you feel, we are going to church. Especially grace people, they need to learn that. "That my house may be filled," wow. Let's look at the food that's on the table. Remember Jesus said one time when Jesus came, there was a woman, a Syrophoenician woman. The furthest Jesus went was that place, northern part that's near Phoenicia, Syrophoenician near Syria, rather.
And there was a woman there who was a Canaanite, in other words, she's not a Jew, but she pretended to be a Jew. Do you remember that? All right, that woman came to Jesus and she said, "Oh, Son of David". Now, listen carefully. Ben ha David, son of David. It's a term used by the Jews of their Messiah. Our Lord and Savior Jesus, yes. But we don't call Jesus Son of David, you understand? He's our Lord. For us, the Jews has the son of David's gonna come because from their promise for them was from Abraham all the way down, the king is coming. The Mashiyach is coming, all right?
So, Mashiyach will be a son of David, he will sit on David's throne. Even the Christmas story, the angel says he will sit on his father's throne, the throne of David. God will give to him the throne of David. So, she was pretending to be a Jew to get a blessing from Jesus. And the Bible says Jesus did not answer her a word because when you come in pretense, you get no response. He wants you to come being real, being real, hello. It's okay to come to God in prayer. You must come to God and say, "I don't feel like praying, but I'm talking to you. I don't feel like doing this, but I'm talking to you about this, Lord".
You understand? He loves it. He loves it. In fact, if you're honest with him the first few lines, you will sense his presence already. "I feel like I'm talking to the wall, Lord". Tell him, tell him, be honest. He loves this unveiled kind of openness. We use great plainness of speech and not like the people under the law. Speak openly with God. Tell God your fears. Tell God your worries. Tell God your temptations. Tell God your anxieties. Pour it all. It's not a matter of like, "Now I cast all my cares on you, Lord". No, tell him your cares. Tell him, "I'm worried about this, Lord". But make sure the door is closed and no one is at home or if there's within a year short distance, pray softer.
Can God hear your prayer? You speak soft? Yes. He's inside you. He knows the thoughts of your hearts. Remember Samuel's mother, Hannah? The Bible says only her lips was moving, and she was praying for the boy Samuel and what a miracle. She got her son with lips moving, no vocal sounds, and she got her miracle boy. So, "You gotta pray hard"! Not in the Bible. What is pretty hard? What is pray hard? That's what you do when you got a problem in the toilet, all right? I recommend grape juice or prune juice. There are times, you know, the spirit's intensity is such and you pray with groanings and all that. I'm not gonna talk about that. I'm talking about normal prayer.
So, that woman came to Jesus and pretended and Jesus answered another word. During that dispensation that Jesus was under, he was born of a woman, born under the law. People don't understand that. They say that, "Pastor Prince, you are minimizing the words of Jesus in the gospels. No, you gotta read it and differentiate whether he's talking to Jews under the law or he's talking about the church. In fact, Jesus mentioned, "Tell them mention the church". He did mention only twice and on this rock of your confession are built that he's the Christ. Peter's confession, "I'll build my church". Another place if they refuse to listen to you, tell it to the church.
All right, so he foresaw that there's gonna be the church made of called out ones from Jews and Gentiles, but the disciples didn't understand what he's trying to say, all right? So, it was not a time for him at the end of all his words in the gospels. People say, "Well, I believe in the gospels. I read the gospels and adopt Jesus, fine, no problem but you must discern, was he speaking under the law to people who are under the law, or was he speaking, all right, to people who are, if you want to talk about the Sermon on the Mount, listen carefully, I believe the principles apply to us today. But one day, the Sermon on the Mount will be instituted when the king returns. It's the sermon, it's the constitution of the kingdom when the king is here. But the king was rejected.
I tell you which sermon we are completely under. I'm not saying we're not under Sermon on the Mount. Listen carefully I say that, principles are still applicable, you understand? But that was the constitution of the kingdom of heaven that will be instituted when Jesus comes. Now, where we live is the upper room, all that Jesus shared down there. Can you think of this? Can you comprehend this? At the end of his life in the upper room, he says, "I have many things". Hey, not few, "Many things to say to you, but you're not yet able". All the words that Jesus talked about he says, "I have many things to say to you, but you're not yet able". But when the Holy Spirit comes, he will guide you into all truth.
He was also alluding to Paul's ministry that the Holy Spirit will teach truth, the church truths, the present-day truths, grace, the gospel truths. Are you listening, people? There's no competition between Jesus and Paul, you know? Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are words of Jesus and Paul's words are Paul's words, no. The Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are Jesus's words when he was on earth. Paul's letters, and he wrote three-fourths, are Jesus's words when now he's glorified and exalted in heaven. It is a now word.
So, during that time when the woman was pretending, Jesus cannot respond to her because he was under dispensation of the law. He said, "The Son of Man is", then he told her this, the Son of Man has come but for the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Then he said this, "It's not right for me to take the children's bread because healing". She wanted healing for her daughter, deliverance. Her daughter was oppressed. She wanted healing and deliverance, and Jesus calls healing and deliverance, what? Children's bread. It's not right to take the children's bread and to give it, listen carefully, use the word the diminutive term in the Greek for dogs, puppies. It's not right to take the children's bread and give it to puppies.
Now, you must know one thing. During that time, the Jews call all of us dogs, not you today, lah. Anyone who is a Gentile is a dog under the law, but Jesus used the diminutive term. Jesus used a household term. Jesus gave her a loophole. He told her it's not right to take the children's bread and give it to the puppies. Puppies are always under the table. She got the loophole. She says, "Truth, Lord". Now, she calls him Lord. Now, she knows she's been found out and she calls him Lord. "Truth, Lord". But even the puppies eat the children's crumbs that fall from the master's table. Jesus smiles and says, "Great is your faith, woman. You got it, great is your faith".
And now there's a way, a loophole, even though they were under the law at that time, for the Gentile to receive the blessing, though it's not time yet. It's only time after Jesus died, open up the floodgates and now Jew and Gentile all over the world, anyone can be saved. By that time, he gave her a loophole, isn't a wonderful? So, healing is on that table. I said, healing is on the table, hmm? I want to read to you another testimony. This is a lady from India.
I suffered from a skin condition for many years. I had painful sores filled with pus on my face, making it difficult even to sleep. I could not wash my face properly as the sores were painful. When one sore dried up, another would break out. I did all I could, saw many doctors, got many skincare products, avoided foods that might aggravate the condition but nothing worked. One day I gave up and cried asking God why this had happened to me. I was born in a Christian family. Although I always had faith in God, I found it difficult to believe that God would heal me. I searched for solutions on YouTube and came across a video from Pastor Prince titled Why Jesus Is The Answer. My questions were answered. I listened to more of his videos, took note of all the Scriptures related to healing and read them over and over again. I started to believe that I am the righteousness of God in Christ, and that he was leading me into a life of victory. Slowly, I saw healing taking place in my body. Even when I found traces of redness or sores, I was at rest. I know that I'm beautiful because the one inside me is beautiful. I am now completely healed. My parents asked me, 'Your skin looks good, honey. What are you using?' I told them all I did is to believe God for healing.
Praise God, hallelujah. So, healing is the children's bread is on the table. Now, you're no more under the table, you understand? You're not a Gentile. You are seated on the table. I want to close with this story. Ah man, friends, don't let the pleasures of sin. You know the pleasures of sin deceive for a moment, just for a moment, but this supper satisfies forever. "He that comes to me shall never hunger, believes in me shall never thirst," amen?
I want to share with you one beautiful illustration of this great supper in the Old Testament. David was now king. After years of wandering, being persecuted, hunted down like a partridge, being chased around like a criminal, now he's king. He's seated on his throne. King Saul, who persecuted him, has died. David has a relationship with Jonathan, Saul's son. They made a covenant where they shed blood, which means all that David has belongs to Jonathan, all that Jonathan has belongs to David. They are covenant brothers, but Jonathan died with his father, King Saul, on Mount Gilboa, and I've been to Mount Gilboa. My pastors and myself, we walked that mountain range, and I would see, you know, traces of the walking place down there and I would just imagine, was it here, was it there that Jonathan died, that Saul died?
Well, David is now king, and David looked at the scar on his hand, on his wrist and this is what David said, "Then the king said, 'Is there not still someone of the house of Saul, to whom I may show the kindness of God?'" Now, this word "kindness of God," kindness is the word hesed, which today when you go to Israel, the believers in Israel, the Jewish believers, they are New Testament. Wherever it says grace in the New Testament, it is all hesed, hesed, hesed, hesed. David looked at the sky and he remembered Jonathan from the house of Saul, and I want you to see a picture here because, you know, Jesus shared in the road of Emmaus that everything in the Bible is all about him.
So, let's see this beautiful parable. Who is David? David's a picture of God. Who is Yonathan, Jonathan. Yonathan in Hebrew means the gift of God. It's a picture of Jesus Christ who died and rose again, hallelujah. Jonathan did not, but Jesus did. Always the type cannot compare to the antitype, but the story is there. So, David's like God, and God has a covenant with Jesus, Jonathan, from the house of Saul, humanity, house of flesh. All about come from the house of flesh, amen? So, the thing is that if God makes a covenant with man directly, many of us think that even the new covenant is a covenant between God and ourselves. No, it's not. If it's you, it'd be broken before this day is over. If it's me, it'll be broken before noon. So, man will be the weak link.
So, God cut a covenant with a man, yes, but the perfect man, our Lord Jesus. God cut a covenant with Jesus. Are you listening? God cut a covenant with the Lord Jesus, who represent man. So, based on two infallible powers of persona, God cutting a cabinet with the perfect man, Jesus Christ. So, it's David, Jonathan, are you listening? Jonathan is from the house of? Saul, the house of flesh. Jesus came, the Word became flesh. Do you know that Jesus is actually, before he came as a baby, do you know that he was actually exalted in heaven? Do you know that he is glorified, would you like to see Jesus in heaven before he came as a baby?
I'm gonna prove to you that it's referring to Jesus. But first, let's read Isaiah 6. "In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord". Say, "The Lord". Jehovah in the Hebrew. "Sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, with two he flew. And one cried to another and said: 'Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory!'"
Now, go to John 12, talking about Jesus, John 12. "These things Isaiah said when Isaiah saw His glory and spoke of Him". And if you read the reference in John 12, it's referring to Isaiah 6. This same Jesus is the one who's seated in glory, in heaven, that even the seraphim veiled their faces and cry, "Holy, holy, holy". Too glorious, too bright for any creature gaze. This is our Lord Jesus in heaven, but he set aside all that glory and came down into the womb of a lowly maiden, a virgin by the name of Mary. Born in an ill-repute town, Nazareth. That's why they say, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth"?
Nazareth was the busy area where caravans and all that going from the south to the north, and north or south will always stop over and it's known for it's ill repute reputation. So, when someone says you're a Nazarene, it's always something bad. Today it's something wonderful. He was born there and he moved in a lowly way. This is the one that Isaiah saw. Isaiah saw his glory, cleansed the leper, unstopped deaf ears. Those who were maimed he made whole, healed the blind and the lame and made them walk again. This is Jesus, glorious Jesus, and gave himself finally to wicked men, scourged by men, spat upon, delivered to the Jewish high priest, Caiaphas, then delivered to the Gentile ruler, Pilate. And this same Jesus is the one that Isaiah saw that Seraphims veiled their faces, and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.
Isn't it amazing? I love it, I love it, I love it. So, David represents God. Jonathan is Jesus representing men from the house of Saul. Jonathan died. David says, "Is there anyone I can show the hesed of God. And Ziba said to the king, 'There is still a son of Jonathan who is lame in his feet.'" Now this boy, ever since he was young, when they heard Saul died on Mount Gilboa, the whole family said, "Now David's gonna kill us". Because David is next in line. So, they said that, "And Saul has been persecuting David, now David's gonna kill us".
So, the maid carried the child, she fell, broke the child's legs that he never recovered from and poor Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, became lame. And all of us have been dropped in our lives. When I remember that times that we were dropped, but you know something? The sons of Adam all have fallen short of the glory of God. So, God is saying, "Is there anyone"? Imagine everyone out there in the world, they need to hear that God is asking, "Is there anyone I can show kindness to? Is there anyone I can show grace to, anyone from the human race? Is there anyone? My heart is so full. Is there anyone"? And Ziba says, "There's one. Jonathan still has one son. He's lame in his feet". And the king said, "Where is he"? Ziba says to the king, "Indeed he is in the house of Machir the son of Ammiel, in Lo Debar".
Debar is God's Word. It also means pasture. Lo means no, a place of no Word from God, a place of no pasture, what a place to be. That's humanity. They try to cover themself with city blocks and all that kind of thing. They try to cover themself and pack themself with a lot of modern things, but inside they're empty, Lo Debar. There is no word. There is no pasture. He leads you beside the still waters, makes you lie down in green pastures. Then David says, "Go fetch him". Then David sent and brought him out of the house of Machir the son of Ammiel, from Lo Debar".
Can you imagine the first time this young man heard the horses coming and realized it's David's men? Matia. He said, "Oh no, David found me". Mati means die. "Is your name Mephibosheth"? "Yes". "Follow me". All the way to David's palace. "Now when Mephibosheth the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, had come to David, he fell on his face and prostrated himself. Then David said, 'Mephibosheth?' He answered, 'Here is your servant.' David said to him, 'Do not fear.'" The first word from the mouth of God to any sinner that comes to him is "Don't be afraid".
You know people say, "Pastor Prince, you must preach more on the fear of God". You know something? If God appears tonight in any nightclub, what is the response? "Amazing grace" Forget it. I'm asking you, what do you think will be the response if God appears to the greatest hardcore sinner in his bedroom tonight? He will tremble. He'll probably wet his bed. The first response to God in the Bible, anyone is Menorah, Samson's father, all the people that met even an angel from heaven. They're all fearful that the heavenly messenger must always say, "Don't be afraid".
So, you want me to teach the fear of God when naturally people are afraid of God with the wrong kind of fear? Now, I do teach the fear of the Lord that is New Testament fear, but that's another message altogether. I covered on some of that recently, but people instinctively fear God. What they don't understand is God's love.
"Do not fear, Mephibosheth. Do not fear, for I will surely," not maybe, "I will surely show you kindness for Jonathan, your father's sake". And God is saying, "Man, woman, I will surely show you grace, kindness, for Jesus's sake". "And will restore to you all the land of Saul your grandfather. You know how much land is that? You realize Saul is a king? I will restore to you all the land of Saul your grandfather, and you shall eat bread at my table continually. It broke Mephibosheth's heart. Look at Mephibosheth's response. His response, Mephibosheth, oh, sorry. Okay, the response is not here. So, he said, "So Mephibosheth dwelt in Jerusalem". This is the last verse, "For he ate continually at the king's table," continually at the great supper.
And you know something? He was still lame. So, but that tells me you don't have to be perfect even after you're saved. Your walk with God is still not perfect, come and eat. When you eat, you get strong. Now, the response of Mephibosheth was that he broke down. He says, "Why, why would you want to take a look at me"? Same response as Ruth to Boaz, you know, "Why, why have I found grace in your sight"? Mephibosheth says, "I'm like a dead dog. Why would you even look at me"?
And you think about it, all of us deserve eternal judgment, but he takes us from eternal judgment to everlasting justification in Christ, amen, eternal favor in Christ. It broke Mephibosheth's heart. All the hard thoughts he had towards David, all these past years, all the bad thoughts he had of David, all the prayers he prayed to Jehovah God that David might die, he repented. That's why it's called repentance towards God. That's where it must happen first, change your mind towards God, but it was the kindness of God that broke his heart.
Listen carefully, listen, listen. The goodness of God leads you to repentance. It is the kindness of God that melts the heart in repentance. It is not our repentance that melts God's heart in kindness. Somehow we, you know, in the church today, it's almost like, "You gotta preach repentance. You gotta preach repentance". My friend, Paul preached a sermon in Acts 13 and never used the word "repentance". Acts 13:38 he says, and this is one plate on the great supper, the greatest plate. This is the first taste of the great supper. "Let it be known to you, brethren, that through this Man, Jesus, is preached to you the forgiveness of sins".
This is the first taste of the blessed supper. After you taste this, taste the other one. The next verse, "By Him everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses". Justification comes after that. Friend, forgiveness of sins is immediate, it's immediate. Our justification is eternal, eternal, everlasting. He brought in, in Daniel. The Messiah will bring in everlasting righteousness. You cannot send it away. And that's not to encourage you to sin, that's to tell you, God's righteous is greater than your sin. If you're aware of it, it was swallow up sin, amen? And in this sermon, he didn't use the word "repent". Did the people repent? They did. Repent means change your mind.
In Acts 10, Cornelius's house, Peter was summoned there. Peter preached a sermon. Peter never used the word "repent". Peter says, "Unto him, all the prophets witnessed that through his name, everyone who believes in him shall receive forgiveness of sins, remission of sins". And the Holy Spirit fell. Now, he never used the word "repent". But was there repentance? Yes. You don't have to say repent for people to repent. If today you have changed your mind, you have repented. But later on a few chapters after the book of Acts when the elders in Jerusalem heard about the Gentile and Cornelius and all that receiving, receiving the Holy Spirit, they called Peter to the carpet.
When Peter told them the whole story, they said, "Then God has granted repentance to the Gentiles also". They call it repentance, you see? And by the way, it was granted. If God doesn't grant it, no man can repent himself. We're all sweetly compelled. Jonathan, at the end, ate at a table and was lame. So, we walk in the Spirit. By the grace of God, every day want to walk in the Spirit, follow God's ways of doing things. It will save us heartache. It will save us time. Save us from dying before your time. It will save you, you know, a lot of relationship problems. It will save, you know, walking God's way will benefit you.
God does not have you to walk for him to benefit. Trust me, he has angels multitudes, all right? He has men and women, you know, that loves him. Doesn't need one more. Trust me, when you are you're walking according to God, it benefits you. So, you say, "Pastor, I can't eat". This is the final two questions, okay? How can I come to the great supper? I have to make sure that my life is right. That's a big mistake. You come to the supper and you find the food that you read just now. Believe on him. One plate says, "Believe on him and you receive forgiveness of sins. Through this man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins".
Hey friend, he's not talking about your feelings, or your doings. It's all Jesus. Through him is preached to you the forgiveness of sins. It's outside you, so stop looking at your feelings, your doings. Nothing of that will give you forgiveness. It's Jesus and what he did at the cross, amen? Then someone else will say, Christians will say sometimes, "Well, before we can really enjoy healing, for example, that plate called healing, must I not bring my holiness, must I not bring my holiness? Must I not be holy for God to heal me"?
Now, listen, friend, God doesn't want you to bring anything to the great supper. It's all ready. You don't come to bring, you come to find. You come to find it's there already. Some of you are taking the Lord's Supper, all right, but you're doing it in a spirit of like, you know, "God, I want to tell you this". It's a spirit of like bringing something of yourself, your feelings. You're looking at yourself. Friend, you must come to receive a finished work. He says, "Go there, remember me".
When you do the Lord's supper, remember me, not you. "I remember my, oh". That's the time most people remember themselves and their sins. "Oh, I did that. How can I take this now"? It's not you! Oy, it's him. "Remember me"? It's not your feelings, your doings, it's Jesus, amen? "Must I bring my holiness"? No. Honestly, Christ is made unto us, last verse, 1 Corinthians 1:30, "But of him are you in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us," what? Look at all these plates at the great supper, wisdom.
"Pastor, I need wisdom. I'm so stupid, pastor. I make lousy decisions". Well, Christ has made unto you wisdom. Have you ever received that? "But Pastor, do I have to be right with God before I can come and take"? No, Christ is your righteousness. He's made unto us righteousness. What about holiness? The word "sanctification" is the same word as holiness, by the way, just let you know, all right, same Greek word, hagios, hagiosmos. Sanctification, do I have to bring my holiness? No, come, eat, Christ is your holiness. Christ is your holiness. And if you eat, food translates into energy. It becomes practical holiness outside as well. Don't worry about that.
"But pastor, I'm always broke, I don't know why". Or pastor, I'm sick. I'm always sick. I have chronic sickness". Christ is also your redemption, redemption, redeem you from all this. Come, all things are now ready, come. Come on. Come, come. It's not you. It's not your feelings. It's not your works, come. And if we have perfect righteousness or justification, and we do in Christ, we have perfect and everlasting righteousness, then it stands to reason we also have perfect and everlasting peace with God, that you always have. I'm telling you, whether you're aware of it or during moments that you're depressed, you're not aware of it, you are still justified because your justification is perfect and eternal. Therefore, your peace with God is perfect and eternal. You only have to believe God, amen. And all the people said, amen. Praise the Lord. Give him praise, hallelujah.
Now, every head bowed, just for a moment. Everywhere at the service venues, I invite you not to walk around because just for a moment, just for a moment, friend if you are here, do not say whatever excuse you want to give, as long as you're not eating, you're not enjoying what God has for you. The first thing that God wants you to enjoy, God wants you to find at his table, his great supper, forgiveness, immediate forgiveness of sins. Whoever believes in him shall receive forgiveness of sins. And then the same moment that you believe on him, by him you are justified, made righteous, from all things by which you cannot be justified by the law of Moses.
Friend, have you partaken? All things are now ready. You don't have to bring anything. There's nothing for you to bring to this supper. There's nothing for you to do for this supper. There's nothing for you to give to this supper. You just come. You just receive. If that is you, wherever you are right now, I want you to pray this prayer with me right now from your heart. Say this from your heart, say:
Heavenly Father, thank you for the great supper. But what a cost, it cost you your son. It cost you everything. Jesus is everything, and he died for my sins. I believe he rose from the dead for my justification. I have that eternal receipt. Jesus rose from the dead, that's my receipt that all settlement is complete because I have that receipt. Jesus rose from the dead and you raised him. Father, I thank you, he's alive at your right hand. And there's so many things I don't understand that's at this great supper, but I want to enjoy them all. No more excuses. I confess Jesus Christ is my Lord, and my Savior, and my God. And I believe you raised him from the dead. Thank you, Father, in Jesus's name, I am saved, eternally saved, eternally justified and forever. I cannot lose it forever. I have peace with God. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, amen, amen, amen.
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord. All right, stand to your feet. Lift your hands all across this place. All those also in GRC Dallas, Texas. Love you guys. This coming week, the Lord bless you with the blessings of Abraham, the blessings of Deuteronomy 28. Inasmuch as you are blessed with all blessings in Christ, the Lord keep you and your loved ones throughout this week from all danger, from disease, disaster, from every harm, from terror. The Lord keep you from all evil. The Lord make his face shine on you, be favorable to you. May you enjoy God's favor everywhere you go. The favor of God is all over you and your family. The Lord lift up his countenance on you and yours and grant to you and your loved ones his shalom peace, health, and wholeness. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, amen, amen. God bless you. Love you all.