Joseph Prince - Think Young, Stay Young

Praise the Lord. Let's give Jesus all the praise. He deserves it, amen? It's all about Jesus. Praise the Lord. Come on, lift your voices to him. Thank you, Lord, for all that you've done, Lord, for all Europe. Thank you, Father, for the souls saved. Thank you, Father, for all that you're accomplishing in their lives, Father. We give you praise, glory, that you who began a good work in them will continue until the day of Jesus Christ. And I thank you, Lord, for your manifest presence, Lord, even today. I thank you, Lord, those that came in sick will leave healed. Those that are bound with depression and are on prescription drugs, Lord, and addicted, they'll be set free. I pray marriages, Lord, will be put back together, Lord. You'll cause husbands to fall in love with their wives again and their wives with their husbands, that new honor and respect, Lord, and love with come into the hearts of the children, Lord, for their parents. I pray, Father, that this be a jubilee service in the name of our Lord Jesus. And all the people said amen.

God bless you. You may be seated. Thank you, Lord Jesus. Praise the Lord. In 2015, I went for a solo trip to a nearby, not too far away, on an island somewhere by myself to seek the Lord. And with my wife's blessing, you know, I went there, prayed because I felt like I was at a crossroads. I need to hear the Lord, okay? And in 2015, I took that time all by myself on this island and just nearby here, I won't tell you where so that you won't go there the next time, okay? And my whole purpose was not to eat nor to enjoy. In fact, I didn't do much, you know, like doing what people do and all that. I just spent time praying, all right, and studying and seeking the Lord. It was at that time the Lord led me to this movie. You might think it's one of the Martin Luther's latest ones, all right, the latest one that Hollywood produced. It's not the latest one.

What the Lord led me to was something that was done in the '80s by BBC, right? And he led me to watch it, and I never really, I know about Martin Luther generally but when I watched it, boy, it stunned me. I knew then why the Lord wanted me to watch it, because there was some things he went through, I went through exactly the same. For example, he found out the word "repentance". In the movie they talk about it. The word "repentance," he found out because he studied Greek. He says the word repentance is not right doing. Penance, where the church that he was in, all right, they used the word "penance" in their Latin Bible, but the Latin came after the Greek. The New Testament was written in Greek and Greek says metanoia. He found the same thing, and he says metanoia's right thinking. It's a changed mind, metanoia, mind, changed mind.

Remember I preached this for years even before 2015. And I found out in 2015 for the first time that Martin Luther had this revelation. And then not only that, this part really touched me. When he was kidnapped by his friends, by his powerful, you know, the Lord to put in Wartburg Castle. The castle still exists, by the way. And he was kept there for his safety, all right, because there was a bounty on his head. He actually spent time in a room, all right, writing the German Bible, okay? And he wrote it in a very short time. But then he felt, many people know his story know about this part, he felt Satan himself came into the room.

Now, I think personally Martin Luther is someone that if God is raising the man of the hour, Satan himself, not his minions, all right? I know you think minions is very cute, but it's not exactly. Minions of the devil is not cute, all right? So, the minions will pay attention on people that are less, you know, but I think Martin Luther had a personal visit. He felt that the evil presence in his room. And when I was in my retreat, I was struggling with some things, okay, because again, you know, the so-called established leaders, some of them that I deeply respect, had some strong things to say. And then I don't want to be proud. You know, I don't want to be someone that just because, you know, I have this revelation or whatever that I don't listen to other people.

And I want to make sure that I'm really right with the Lord, that in this matter. But I'm asking the Lord, "Lord, I keep on hearing these thoughts in my mind. 'Who do you think you are? Who do you think you are, you know, that God should give you this rediscovery or revelation? Who do you think you are? You are proud. You are this, all right? There are many other established leaders much older than you. You know, why you should you be the one?'" And all these accusations comes and I really am struggling in my retreat.

And guess what. In that study in Wartburg Castle where Martin Luther was when Satan came to him, it was exactly, and I found out only two years ago in that retreat, I found out the same words were spoken over him. And the words were, you know, "Who do you think you are? You're a proud man," exactly the same things. And I was stunned, I was stunned. You tell me what did God speak to you during the retreat? It's all about Martin Luther and how he faced the same struggles. And the same devil is still the same devil, but thank God, God is the same God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, the God of Martin Luther is our God, amen? Praise the Lord. Thank God for this man, amen, that God has raised. Praise God.

The struggle in the church today, if you look at Galatians chapter 3, is this in Galatians 3 the Bible says, "Therefore God who supplies". And the word "supplies" here is constantly supplies the Spirit to you. How many of you want God to constantly supply the Spirit to you, amen? You know, I used to grow up with this teaching in the church where... when I say grow up what I mean is after I was born again as a teenager. I was in this church where they thought that you can leak, even though you have the Holy Spirit, you still can leak, you know? And before the day was over, you don't have much of the Holy Spirit left. So, but the Bible says that God supplies, constantly supplies you the Spirit. And God also constantly works miracles. The same tense is used, God constantly works miracles among you. And the word "among you" can be in you, can be among you, amen? Isn't it wonderful? You know, right now we don't see it, God is working constantly behind the scene, amen. Praise the Lord. Praise the name of Jesus, amen, amen, amen.

And here it says, "Does God do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith"? Which is it? God supplies you the Spirit. God works miracles among you, does he do it by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith? By the hearing of faith, amen? Amen, just by listening to God's Word, especially the revelation, right, of righteousness as a grace gift, you become righteous by faith, that is what produces miracles. That's what brings miracles in your life. "Just as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness," drop down, "Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith". So, grace is not something that God taught of because the law didn't work. God says man tried the law, the law didn't work, so we'll try grace. No, grace is before the law.

Now, when I say that, when you talk to people, you need to say that grace came after the law, the law came first, all right? Generally speaking, Moses came first before Jesus Christ came in the flesh. But Jesus Christ came in the flesh, listen carefully. When the Bible says that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh, it's the acid test of anyone who believes in the true Jesus of the Bible. They must say, "Christ came in the flesh," that means he's deity, not just human, but also God.

Why is that important? Because how does saying Jesus Christ came in the flesh means he's deity? Well, he's the only one who can come in the flesh. The rest are all born into this world, okay? To say that Jesus Christ came in the flesh is redundant if he's just a man. Every man came in the flesh. Hello, right? If every man, everyone is born all came in the flesh. It's redundant to say that this is how you know the Spirit of God. Every spirit that confess Jesus Christ come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that denies this is the spirit of Antichrist. But every child came in the flesh, right? Every baby born, you can say he came in the flesh. No, it means that deity came in the flesh.

So, in the Gnostics at that time of John was saying that Jesus is just born at an event, at a point in time he was born, he's human, that's all, all right? Okay, yeah, he's a man of God and all that, but he's not deity. No, the Bible says, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and then the Word became flesh and dwelt among us". Same John who wrote that. So, Jesus Christ has come in the flesh means he's hundred percent God, hundred percent man. Very God, very man. Can I have a good amen?

Okay, now, back to this. So, God foresaw that the Gentiles, non-Jews, that's you and I as well, amen? Most of us here are non-Jews, right? Right? God foresaw that we will all be justified, made right, how? By works or by faith? By faith. All right, so when God saw that, God preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand saying, "In you, all the nations shall be blessed. In you, all the nations shall be blessed". All the eqnos, all the different ethnicity groups, all the different, different races, okay, will all be blessed, amen? Not just the Jews, amen? But all the nations by faith. Can I have a good amen? So, we drop down. Now here, based on this faith, keep in mind, this is justified by faith. Those who are of faith, of this faith, are blessed with believing Abraham.

So, when you believe you are justified by faith, not by your works, you are blessed with believing Abraham. And my, my, my, my, how Abraham was blessed, amen, amen? God treated him like a righteous man, amen. God took care of his family. God protected his wife when she was about to be taken by another king. God protected him, and God protected him from harm when people, you know? God protected him during war. Okay, he went for a battle to rescue his nephew Lot. God blessed him with gold and silver. That's in the Bible, amen? God gave him favor. So, we know that the blessing of Abraham, even in his old age, he was productive. Men, he was virile. He was productive, amen, that shows that he's healthy, amen. His wife at 90 years old, could produce Isaac, amen.

And by the way, 90 years old, when she was 65, Pharaoh the king of Egypt, wanted her. When he was nearly 90, Abimelech wanted her, and these are people that go by their eyeballs, all right? So, which means she was healthy. Not only that, God renewed her youth, and God made her beautiful. So, these are the blessings of Abraham. Can I have a good amen? So, here it says but then if you switch back to saying, "Yeah, we are justified by faith, but all right, we gotta keep the law as a rule of life". We're not justified by the law. "Yeah, I agree with you, Pastor Prince, but we must keep the law as a rule of life". Then the Bible says, "For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse". Doesn't even say those who break the law. Doesn't even wait for you to break. It says, "If you are of the works of the law, you are under the curse; for it is written, 'Cursed is everyone who does not continue.'"

So, it's not a matter of saying, "I do my best". No, Bible says you don't continue, you're under the curse. So, the very fact you take your position, and the ground of blessings in your life on the ground of whether you deserve it or not, whether you have obeyed God or not, you are under the curse. So, you must believe you are justified by faith and that's how you come under the blessings of God. Can I have a good amen? Now, we're gonna look at this and then we're gonna look at Romans 4 right now in verse 13. I'm preaching the gospel. How many know I'm preaching the gospel? This is the gospel of Jesus Christ. And this is the big struggle in churches, in many churches today because people write things about grace. But actually the struggle is between law and grace.

And those who take the stand, they will tell you, "I'm for grace. I'm for grace. I believe we are saved by faith. I believe we are justified by grace. I believe that we are blessed by grace, you know? But". And the but comes in. They will say, "The law is not to save us, but the law is a rule of life," rule of life. Keep that in mind, okay? The law is not the rule of life, Christ is. Christ is my wisdom, amen? The law tells me don't commit adultery, but the law never says love your wife. Doesn't tell you how to love your wife. The law doesn't tell you, but grace gives me the love for my wife, amen? Grace can do that. Don't give up, amen? You need to come under grace more and more, amen. You need to put your husband under grace more and more.

You need to say, "I'm under God's grace". Praise God. You find your love for your husband or your wife is not there, all right, or it's getting weaker, all right, and you're having strange thoughts and all that, let me just tell you this. The answer is not going back to the law. The law will strengthen your flesh. It's to go under grace even more. Somewhere along the way, you have lost the fact that you've lost sight of the fact that God loves you, amen? And you're not to look at your husband as the love that cannot satisfy, only to God alone with his love that deeply satisfies. And then from that overflow, God does something beautiful in you that your husband can even see, amen? Now, that can happen the other way as well, okay, if your wife has no more affections for you and all that. I believe that God wants to revive and bring jubilee into marriages, amen? Praise the Lord.

It's sad, isn't it? The one you married, all of a sudden, you become like one of the many people out there. You look at the many people out there. They treat one another with disrespect, no more honor, no more hello, no more please, no more. It's just like they live life to life. Really, is that what you want? Is that really what you want? Why don't you invite Jesus to turn the water into wine? Why don't you invite Jesus into your marriage and say, "Lord, I really don't want to live a life like that," amen? "I'm want to love my wife". Love is not a feeling. It's a decision, amen? Can I have a good amen on that? Praise God. So, if you want to, you can, all right, but stop blaming the other person, amen? A clear sign that you are under law is that you blame the other person. It's still a theory thing, grace is a theory to you, not a revelation in your heart, amen?

So, back to this. "The promise that he would be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed". Who is his seed? Christ. But then in Galatians it says, "If you are Christ, you are Abraham's seed". Hey, Abraham's seed. Hello, Abraham's seed. Can I hear Abraham's seed shout, "Hallelujah"? Shout, "Praise God". Only Abraham's seed, okay? So, if you are Christ's, then are you Abraham's seed. And not only that, you are heirs according to the promise. So, the promise, what's the promise? Here it tells you the promise that he will be the heir of the world. Bang, straightaway there's a conflict. All right, because the Bible calls the devil in one place, 2 Corinthians 4:4 god, small G, "god of this world, god of the cosmos". And here God wants you to inherit the cosmos. Go, read up the Greek what the cosmos is. Cosmos is actually the world's system in terms of not being worldly but world's system, the world's goods, the world's riches, even, the world's advantages. Read it in Thayer's definition of the Greek. God wants you to possess these areas.

Now, there is a teaching going on that tells people that they believe that Christians ought to be purposely, all right, focused on certain areas of life and all that, whether it's entertainment, education, politics, and all that and purposely, you know, work your way into those areas to be an impact, an influence in those areas. Let me just tell you this, okay? All right, the idea is good, but the means is not the way God ordained it to be. When you do it purposely, you can do it out of the flesh and out of man's wisdom. You start thinking that, "for me to be in this position, I need to raise money to be in this position". Look, what I'm doing, I'm preaching the gospel. Whatever, you know, we are doing in terms of sponsoring the work is to promote the gospel, all right? I'm not doing anything else. Do you understand or not?

Whereas this teaching that's going on, all right, around the world teaches people that, you know, we need to repossess all these things and all that. And idea is good, but listen carefully. When the early church, they had Christians, the Christians were not told, here's some money for you guys, all right? Lawrence, you got good muscles also, so I want you to join the Roman soldiers, okay, Roman military. I want you to join the military and slowly etch your way up to becoming a centurion, okay? Muscles for what, all right? And then you know, but you don't find that. You don't find that in Paul's writings. All right, you don't find that in all that. And then you have to go back to Genesis chapter 1 to say that God says replenish the earth. God says take dominion over the earth and all that. And that is true, but y'all know what happened, man fell.

Now, the man that would rule this entire earth is Jesus Christ, our Lord. His kingdom is to be established. Now, if we deliberately try to put ourself here, put ourself there and all that, chances are we'll fall back in the flesh. The idea is good to be an impact. So, what I can say is this, if you are called to be a teacher, be the best teacher for the glory of Jesus. You're called to be a homemaker, be a wonderful homemaker that your children will always remember, amen. "Mommy's cookies, no one like, nothing mommy's cookies," amen. Be the best. If you're a salesperson, be the best, amen? If you're a manager, be the best, amen? Be the best wherever you are, amen. But don't feel like, you know, you have a call from God to take this area, take that area, take this area, and all that. And look, we are taking territories for Jesus Christ all over the world. Lives are being transformed, but we didn't go about trying to go this way, this way, this way to get this, amen? You're gonna scratch your ear, your ear itch, scratch straightaway.

Don't do like this. You can. You still establish your purpose by taking a long way, a lot of effort, and you might get shoulder pain or whatever, amen? So, I want to say this, this promise tells us the way to inherit the world. There's no other way. Look at Thayer's definition of the world. It says worldly riches, worldly advantages. God wants you to be in position of influence. It's good. You don't pray for a job, you pray for a position. Yeah, that's good. God is big. Why ask for small? Amen, ask God for a position, amen. Why is it that you want God to bless you with riches? Young people, I want to talk to you because it is Children's Day, so it doesn't matter, youth, children, all the same, amen. Amen, we're all the same. We're all the same. Praise God. Lawrence just turned 40 a few years ago, so he's a bit out, but we are the still same, come on.

All right, watch this. "Now, why do you want that car, that car that you are dreaming of"? "Well, I just like the car". "Really, not to impress your friends? Why do you want to impress your friends"? "Well, what they think of me is more important than what I think of myself". There you are. And more importantly than what God thinks of you? And you are in Christ, you're a prince, you're a princess. "Why do you want that job"? "Well, it pays me a lot". "Why you want that pay a lot, why"? "I want a big house. I want to have more holidays". "Then you'll be happy"? "Yes". The point I'm trying to say is that, why are we doing what we are doing? Why do you want that salary? Why do you want that job? Why do you want? Is it because of an insecurity that you're trying to fulfill, amen? We find our all in Christ, we truly do. We find our security in Christ. You are a prince, you're a princess.

I want to speak a Word to the young people, amen. When you set your ambition, your destiny, your goal, make sure, amen, you're doing something for the Lord's glory. I want to say this to you, young people, from a young person to a young person. Let me just tell you this, stop thinking that, you know, you have many years to go. "You know, I can just play around like, you know, have girlfriends and then go for my National Service, you know, in the military and all that and come back. After that I still can, you know, go on this job and that job or this job. You know, I have plenty of time". That's a bit immature, you know? "Oh, as a teenager, I can afford to argue with my parents all the time. My friends do it all the time". That is immature. And the heroes of the Bible, they were all young people.

This might shock you. Do you know that all the disciples of Jesus were all teenagers, except for Peter? Peter was probably 20 or slightly more than that. Jesus was 30. During the time of Jesus to be a rabbi, you must be 30 years old. And the Bible tells us Jesus was 30 years old when he started his ministry. Thirty is young, by the way. Then you must have disciples, talmidim, who are younger than you. You cannot have them 30-plus and all that. So, Peter was younger than Jesus. Now, the trouble with the movies, sometimes they have Peter and all that all middle-aged, you know? You know, they're all like white hair, white beard, you know? I'm announcing, okay, someone will take this idea, right? Do a movie of Jesus where they're all young. You know what I'm saying, all young, all teenagers. I tell you why. Because Peter was about 20, 20-plus because Jesus, when he paid the temple tax, it's required of a Jew, during the time of Jesus, to pay the temple tax, the half shekel. That was ordained by Moses, all right, in the Old Testament, the half shekel. But the Bible says only 20 and above will pay the half shekel. Those younger don't have to pay.

Remember when Jesus (the way he did it was so cool), He sent Peter fishing and out of the first fish that you catch, which means there are other fishes he blessed them with, out of the mouth of the first fish, there will be a tax money. "Pay for me and for you," Jesus said. Because both of them are above 20. You got it? But didn't pay for the rest. Now, most likely, by the way, marriageable age during the time of Jesus is 18 years old. Now, Peter had a mother-in-law so we know he was married, okay? So, the marriageable age at that time, 18 years old for a man. So, he probably got married, we do not know when, all right, 18, 19, whatever, but he was married by the time Jesus called him. But they're all young. The youngest was John. Remember, only teenagers will have parents pushing things for you, all right, go and talk to the teacher for you. Remember, the mother of James and John came to Jesus and said, "My boy, they are very good boys, you know? They are good boys. Put one on your right and one on your left, next time you come to your kingdom"? Only, you know, if they are grown men, can you imagine the mother bringing them, white beard, you know?

So, let me tell you this: they're all young people. They left everything and followed Jesus. Jesus was young, 30 years old, amen? Speaking to demons, they left. Spoke to storm, it was a perfect calm. Jesus had control. Jesus had power. Jesus had dignity. Jesus had princeliness. You know, something you need to have in your life is princeliness. Don't be like the world. If you are like the world, you know why stones are cheaper, so much cheaper, dirt cheap compared to diamonds? Not easy to find, amen? Be someone different. Don't be like the world. The world does this, you do that, amen, be different. The world, inwardly, they will admire you, but they will try to pull you down. They cannot let you be shining all the time, amen? You understand? So, I just want to say that because I feel that God is raising young people all over the world. I see that in Germany. I just came back from there, all right, and also in Europe and all that. God is raising young people, so young people are responding to the message by the droves, screaming, shouting, getting excited about Jesus. The old ones, you get old by not, you know, by having complaining attitude.

You see people, when they grow old, they complain a lot. "Nowsadays, this young generation. You're youngsters". Whenever I hear someone say "you're youngsters," all right, I say, "Uh-oh, getting old already". Whoever's saying that, "you're youngsters," because I don't say, "you're youngsters". "We're youngsters," amen. So, anyway, the tone becomes very, very complaining, you know, everything is complain: complain about the government, complain about the weather, complain about this, complain about Pastor Prince and what he just said just now. Okay, so, no, no, don't be like that. You also don't say "young people". Good thing you're telling the young people to be different. You also be different. Don't be a normal kind of 80-year-old, 70-year-old, 60-year-old, 50-year-old, okay? Can you be different?

Our young people are crying for your leadership. They cannot, you know, we forget that when God brought Israel out of Egypt, took God 40 years because they were unwilling. One night God brought them out of Egypt. Forty years to get Egypt out of them. They still had the mentality, the ways of the world, thinking of the world, speaking like the world. When I look at a Christian and they think like the world, they talk like the world, amen? No wonder they get worldly results. We are in the world but we are not of the world. Can I have a good amen? And then God had to wait for the generation who say, "Cannot, wah, cannot, cannot be done, cannot be done". God says, "You're right. You're right. Whatever you say, you will see it happen. You say cannot. But this group, this younger generation", and Joshua and Caleb, and they're the older generation, "they say 'can.' Because they say can, they can. Because you say you can't, your bodies will drop dead in this wilderness. You won't go in".

Read all about it. It's in the Bible in the book of Numbers. All right, they say there're giants, complaining, "Giants in the land, the walls are so thick. We are like grasshoppers," and all that. "They will eat us up. You know, we're gonna die". God says, "As you have spoken, so will I do in your years. All right, so will I do". They all dropped dead and then God told Moses and God says, "Joshua and Caleb". Joshua was quite an elderly man already at this time, amen? And yet God says Joshua and Caleb will enter because Joshua and Caleb had a different attitude. They look at the giant and say, "Hey, their defense is departed from them, all right? God is with us. Let's eat them up. They're bread for us". The other one said, what? Majority said, "No, they will eat us up". Joshua says, Caleb and Joshua says, "We'll eat them up". God says, "They're going in," amen? But don't forget, God waited. The old generation passed on. A new generation rise up. This generation that rose up, they never felt the whip on their back. They never had a slave mentality.

In fact, this is the generation that saw God open the Red Sea. This is the generation, as a boy, they saw God open the Red Sea 40 years ago. This is a generation, all right, that saw God do all kinds of miracles in the wilderness, water from the flinty rock. They grew up with miracles. They didn't grow up with slave mentality. So maybe if you don't watch it, you will miss what God is doing in this time. There is a fresh anointing being released. It's the year of Jubilee. You start looking at the world and say, "All kinds of bad things happening". Yeah, these are the beginnings of sorrows. We shared about that. But hey, God is doing something great, amen? When the people saw the killing of the babies under two years old by the order of King Herod, they say, "What a bad time to live in". They forgot the Messiah was born, that's why the killing of the babies, amen? The devil doesn't really know who is the Messiah, so he killed all the babies.

So, the sign of outward, the killing of babies is very visual. Messiah being born, hard to find because he was in a manger. He wasn't born in a palace. So, you find the same thing during Moses's time. Babies were being thrown in the River Nile, being thrown to the crocodiles of the River Nile of Egypt. Babies were thrown, why? Because a champion was born. His name was Moses. Amen, so we don't see what God is doing. We see what the devil is doing because he's very visual, amen? Jesus one time says, "Out of the mouth". Remember he was riding a donkey into the eastern gate? And that day, by the way, you can actually calculate that very day to the day itself, to the prophecy of Daniel. Daniel says, "Mark the day when the king issues a decree, all right, to restore the children of Israel back," amen? And the restoration from, you know, when they got captive, they were taken captive to Babylon. When the restoration to rebuild Jerusalem, okay, you can see that in Nehemiah, Ezra. That very day is registered in history, all right?

You mark that day, you count the 17 weeks of Daniel. You come all the way when Messiah cut off, you find the very exact day when Jesus would ride, and he was the king. But riding on a donkey telling them that he's the king they were looking for, and they missed it. They missed the day of their visitation. But children realized who it was. Children said, "Hosanna to the Son of David, Hosanna". The Pharisees said, "Shut up". And then the children shouted louder, "Hosanna". And it was the youths and the children shouting, "Hosanna to the Son of David". They realized who he was. And then the Pharisees went to Jesus and says, "Why don't you make them shut up"? And Jesus says, "Listen, if they shut up, mah, the stones will cry out. The stones will rebel," amen? Then Jesus says, "Have you not read in the Scriptures," I love this part, "out of the mouth of babes, God has perfected praise". And he's quoting Psalms. But when you go to Psalms, it says this: "Out of mouth of babes, thou has ordained strength to stop the enemy and still the avenger," amen. So, out of the mouth of babes, babies, you know. Guys, not the babe you think of babes, okay? Like, my wife is a babe, you know, but not that kind of babe, but babies. Out of mouth of babies, all right, God has ordained strength and here it says perfected praise. So, when you praise Jesus, it's strength to stop the enemy and the avenger. Can I have a good amen?

You know, our kids, don't say they are too young, they are too young. Hudson Taylor, Hudson Taylor was 17 years old when he got saved. And then before the year ended in December, he decided to go as a missionary to China. You all know the story of Hudson Taylor in China, you know, the picture of him wearing the Chinese attire and the Mandarin attire. And, you know, those days, they wear the cap and all and the long ponytail and all that. Hudson Taylor was there, and Hudson Taylor at a young age, 17 years old, the year that he got saved was the year he gave himself to be a missionary. As a result, he was there 51 years and started the China Inland Mission, 18,000 souls saved, amen? Started the work. The China Inland Mission today is OMF International. And because of him, the gospel is still spreading in China today, amen? Seventeen years old. David was about 16, 17, all right, when he killed Goliath, amen. When all the nation was in fear, amen, one young teenager went down and the Lord went down with him. You're not too young to be used by God.

Stop having this mentality, "You know, I just want to spend my time". You know, your only fear, your greatest fear is to lose your phone. What's your fear in life? "To lose my phone". No, the second worst fear, the second worst fear is when you realize, "Ah, only 8% left," a second less, and you are far away and you are outside and you're far away from a charger or whatever it is. You know, these are the greatest fears we have. You know, it's time for us to break all that and stop this nonsense, come on. And stop the nonsense of trying to see how many people like and how many, you know, my likes and all that. Stop that. Don't compare your life with other people, amen. Don't compare your life with other people. I love what Jesus said to the last account of the disciple whom Jesus loved, amen. The last account is very telling for all pastors and leaders. Stop trying to copy and stop trying to adopt what other people are doing.

Jesus said this of Peter, Peter says about John, the disciple whom Jesus loved. Didn't say John but disciple whom Jesus loved. "What shall be done to this man"? And Jesus says, "If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to you? You follow me". In other words, what is that to you? If God tells this pastor to do this, what is that to you? You follow him, amen. God tells me, I follow Jesus. If this guy is doing that, "Pastor Prince, you've been doing what they are doing". And what is that to me? If God tells him, what is that to me? I got to follow the Lord. So, here we are, young people and all that. Stop being conformed to the world, stop being namby-pamby and stop being so soft, amen? It doesn't mean you go to National Service, you're strong, all right? You gotta have a inner fortitude, an inner moral strength, guys. There are princes and princesses that God is raising in our midst. It's not for no reason you're listening to this, amen? Praise God.

And stop trying to compare who get more likes and, "Oh, this guy has a girlfriend, I don't have a girlfriend and all that," amen. Enjoy your freedom. Deep down, they're not telling you they're fighting all the time also. They're not telling you that, amen? You enjoy what you got. One day you'll be married with kids and all that. Plenty of time for that, okay? But listen, hey, listen, listen, listen. Don't be angry, wait. Sit down, listen. By the way, it's being broadcast live through there right now, they're watching it, amen? And I love them. Don't you just love them? But the world is making them think that, you know, "Yeah, you're still young. You're a teenager". The idea of teen in the Bible is like you're a man. Bar mitzvah 12, 13 years old, bang, you're a man. "Go take care of your father, take care of your mother, your siblings". That's why they go bar mitzvah, all right, amen? They make you a man at 12 years old.

Jesus went to the temple at 12 years old. Now, it's 13, all right, but from 13, you're a man. Go kill a bull, amen? In some culture, they go hunting at 13, 14. Ours, we go hunting for Pokémon. Oh, don't get angry, I'm just saying, only, I'm just saying. Don't think of yourself as immature, all right? And parents, parents, please, don't treat them as, you know, immature, amen? Just affirm them. Just yesterday I brought my son and put him beside me because there are few things he was doing. And, you know, he was a bit squeamish about something. And I said, "Listen, you know, you're a soldier," amen? He is a soldier in the Lord's army, amen? "Soldiers get dirty, no problem". I said, "You know, these ladies," my wife and my daughter, I didn't say it so very loud, you know. "You see, all these ladies, they get dirty, wah, they don't like it, must clean it and all that, but for you", he didn't like it. He doesn't like to be dirty, my son.

So, I said, "Ladies are like that, they want to be clean, but guys, dirty here, dirty there, no problem". Then he told me, "See, I got this thing here, a mark". I said, "Yeah, whoa, man, right, man, whoa". Then I said, "You got scar or not"? He said, "What's that"? I said, "There, you see? I got a scar. I fell down when I was about four years old, I fell down and cut my little chin here and it was blood, the blood came out and all that, but no problem, now it's okay, you see"? "I also have one here," he showed me, whoa. He start showing, so we start comparing our scars here and there and that kind of thing. Then the mother came in, you know? Now, listen to what I'm saying. Kids are very precious to Jesus. Today is children's day, right? How you treat a child, Jesus says, "Take heed you don't despise these little ones". You know that's in the Bible in red, in red. "Take heed you don't despise these little ones, for their angels do always behold the face of my Father who is in heaven".

Anyone who ill treats a child gets immediate attention from his angel. Now, I mean, I have shared this with you, but do you know that the only time the Bible says Jesus was greatly annoyed or displeased? Have you read that before? Jesus was greatly displeased, and the word there is "severe," you know, "severely displeased". The only time in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John that the Bible says Jesus was greatly displeased is this: "They brought little children to Jesus," the parents did, "that He might touch them; but the disciples rebuked those who brought the children. But when Jesus saw it, He was greatly displeased and said to them, 'Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of God.'" Do you see that? Now verse 15, "Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it. And He took them up in His arms", hey, hey, look at this. They actually brought, the parents brought the little children to Jesus.

All right, look. What did they ask Jesus for? Go back, verse 13, "They brought little children to Jesus that he might touch them". They just want a touch. They just want Jesus to touch. They know there's a power in his touch, right? But look at how Jesus responded? Drop down. "He took them up in His arms". He embraced them. He laid his hands on them. Not only touched them, he embraced them. He laid hands on them and he blessed them. Jesus always supersedes us, always! He always exceeds us. The less is blessed by the greater. Jesus will always answer exceedingly abundantly above all we can ask or think. This is our Jesus. Young people, you love, and I understand that. You know, Spider-Man has become very, very homely nowadays, right? But Spider-Man, for example, amen, you like Spider-Man because, you know, he has special powers and all that. And some of you experiment even taking a bite, bite, bite, bite, you know. Nothing happen, only got rashes and all that. But let me tell you this: it's fake. It's not real. It's not real.

Okay, can you pray for that sister over there? She's crying. All right, it's not real. Now, Andrew Garfield is real, he's real, but Spider-Man is not real. Iron Man is not Iron Man, cannot fly, okay, okay? That goes for the rest. Captain America is not Captain America, okay? In real, in real person, he has to be mature. He has to learn that self-control or master yourself is better than being mastered by something, amen? I mean, superheroes shows like themself as being mastering everything, but many a times in their personal life, they are not being able to master. But you know something? You want a real superhero? Jesus, he's a man's man, amen? You know, he spoke two words, "Follow me". And all those men, fishermen, they were very rude people and all that because they are working as fishermen. They're not really educated people. Strong guys, teenagers. They don't just follow another teenager saying, "Follow me". "Go where"? Another one say, "For what," right?

Yeah, so just think about it. "Follow me". He spoke two words and they felt the presence and the magnetism of the man. They left everything and followed him, amen? I mean, look, he spoke against the establishment that was oppressing the poor at that time in the temple. He overthrew the moneychangers' table, all right, he drove them out with a whip. He drove them all out single-handedly. And someone says, "Well, pastor, that's sin". Who tells you that's sin? "He got angry". Who says anger is sin? God gets angry, but the thing about Jesus and God, when they're angry, they're angry at injustice, at what is wrong. When we are angry, we are angry because someone did not tell us that iPhone, the latest iPhone was on sale, all right, yesterday. So, we are always selfish in our motive and our reason, you understand?

So, someone says, "Well, the Bible says God is a jealous God. I can't imagine God being jealous". I feel like asking that woman, "If you see your husband, all right, talking to another woman in quite an affectionate way, will you be jealous"? "Oh yes, but God cannot". No, you are jealous because you know that woman is not a good woman. You know that woman has her eyes on your husband. You know your husband is a bit dumb like most guys, you know? Women can tell, but guys are, "Oh, she's just being friendly, lah, she's just being friendly," you know? But your wife can tell, no, no, no, it's not friendliness. So the Lord is jealous over you because he knows if you start worshiping that thing, worshiping money or worshiping that, it's gonna destroy you. He sees the harm coming on you. He sees the broken heart that you will cry at night. He sees all that hurt that you go through. And then you turn to him then, but he doesn't want you to be hurt. He will love you enough. Even when you misunderstand him, he will still love you. And he's jealous over your well-being. Jealousy's from God. That's a holy jealousy, but when we're jealous is because, right, "Nah, she like another boy, not me".

Okay, that is different, not like God, you understand? God is jealous when he knows that someone has designs against you or someone try to fool your boy. You won't like it. We underestimate our young people and our children. So, sometimes we gotta be patient. Sometimes they show their lack of maturity. We gotta be patient, just keep quiet, amen. Parents, we all go through it. You can say, "It won't happen to me. When my son becomes a teenager, it won't happen to me". It will, it will. There'll be a time that they'll pull away and they'll spend more time with their friends than you. You just gotta be quiet, amen, and enjoy your life. Don't wait until they grow up. You know people, "Wait until they come to this age, and wait until they come to this age. Wait until they're married. Wait until their grandchildren come". Then their grandchildren, "Wait until my grandchild is", you are growing old in the process and you're wasting time. Learn to enjoy what God has for you in your life right now, amen? Enjoy the process, but go for it.

You know, my son sometimes, he just doesn't speak the most mature thing. He's only five years old. Like, I always joke with him. I always tell him, you know, "Justin, what shall I preach tomorrow"? It all depends on what his latest Bible study. He will say Samson or he will say Noah's ark. Noah's ark is his favorite, but there's times he says Thomas, "Thomas the Train," you know? So, I'm trying to think, how do I preach "Thomas the Train"? Okay, anyway, but there are times, there are times when I ask him, he will say something that confirm the message I have already.

So, this time before I go to Germany, I actually asked him. He and I went out together, father-son time, you know, I was getting him snacks. He was sitting down there with me and so I was talking to my five-year-old. And I asked him, because I was thinking of preparing sermons that are maybe like, you know, high priest garments. My wife always say, "Keep it simple, you know. Many other people, they're not as deep as you, you know"? Wah, you are, huh? Okay, anyway, keep things simple. I had in my spirit like the Lord telling me, keep things simple. So, I asked my son, "What shall I preach in Germany"? Just for the fun of it, all right? Would you like to see? Show what he said real quick.

Joseph Prince: What should I preach in Germany?
Justin Prince: The sermons you preach on the other times.
Joseph Prince: My other conferences?
Justin Prince: Yeah.

Okay, this is what he said: "The sermons you preach at other times," the other conventions. Now, what he's saying struck me because, I was ready with my phone, by the way, when I asked him, I was ready, you know? Sometimes he'll say the most profound things, but this time he says, in other words, he's saying what the Lord is saying. He never said this to me. He doesn't even know what a conference is, but he says preach what you're preaching at other times. All right, he's referring to the other conference. And I was thinking to myself, wow, keep things simple, K-I-S-S, "keep it simple, stupid". You know, I gotta tell myself, amen? So, sometimes out of mouth of babes, God ordains strength. It's fun spending time with him, but most of the time, all right, please don't go to him and ask for a word. "I need a word from you," you know? Please don't do that. Please don't do that. Let him live a normal life. He's as normal as any other child, all right, most of the time he talks nonsense also.

I asked him the other day, just last week I asked him, "What do you want to be when you grow up"? He says, "Garbage truck". I said, "No, no, no, what you mean is that you want to drive the garbage truck". "No, no, no, garbage truck". So, you see my son has high ambitions, okay? Praise the Lord. But thank God later on he says he'll be a pastor. Praise God, hallelujah, you know? But then he say, "A pastor and a garbage truck". Love our young people, they need your love. Even if they stray away, all right, there'll be a time they come back because they'll see that their friends are not so mature, you know? And don't try to cling on to them. Don't try to hold on to them because, you know, that will stifle them, amen?

Young people, stop thinking of yourself as, "Oh, I'm still young, you know, I'm just only 14. I'm only 15. I'm only 16, you know". Men of God in the Bible: Daniel, when he was taken captive with all the rest to Babylon, you know how old was Daniel? Fifteen years old. When the most powerful sovereign (I'll close with this), the most powerful sovereign of the entire earth at that time, his power came from God because Israel forfeited her place as being the head and not the tail. God made the Gentile, the times of the Gentile. The first one was King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. He was the most powerful man at that time. You know, he had a dream that no man in his palace, no counselor, no necromancer, no divination, medium, whatever in his palace could interpret.

So, he asked at that time, he asked a young boy. At that time, he was 17 years old, Daniel, and Daniel interpreted the king's dream. Daniel, at the age of 15, when he was captured with all the three friends that he had, fellow teenagers, they refused to take the wine and the food of the king that was offered to his idol. And then the chief said to Daniel, "Y'all don't eat the food. The king wants y'all to eat this food, and if you don't, you'll get skinnier and skinnier and I'll lose my head". The Bible says Daniel said, "Why don't you give us this? Give us", I'll close with, look up here, go to, "I fear my lord the king". All right, the chief said, "You will endanger my head before the king". Daniel says this, all right, "Test your servants for ten days. Give us vegetables to eat and water to drink. Then let our appearance be checked before you". At the end ten days, drop down, he tested them. "At the end of ten days their features appeared better and fatter in flesh than all the young men who ate the portion of the king's delicacies".

Just because you're not conformed with your friends doesn't mean you'll look worse. God will make sure you look better than them. You know, if you dare to be different, your friends will admire you. They will secretly admire you, but they're like madras crabs, you know? All right, you don't have to put a cover on the basket, you know, full of crabs. Don't have to put a cover, you know why? Every time one crab goes up, another crab will pull him down. One crab goes up, another crab will pull him down. So, people are like that, you know, they see you rising in moral excellence, and they say, "You are just trying to show you're better than us". Just smile, beam, all right, that's your only answer. Don't fight. Don't come down to their level. Don't give them a leg up. Amen, God has given you glory. God has given you favor, amen. Just shine and then learn not to be affected by that, because one who is greater than them has spoken that you are his beloved son. Okay, right?

Look at that, drop down. "As for these four young men, God gave them knowledge". I said, "God gave them knowledge and skill in literature," Babylonian literature. Even in our studies, God can give you knowledge and skill. "Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams," amen? Go back to verse earlier on. God gave favor. Go back, all right, go back again. Go back. "God had brought Daniel into favor," verse 9. God can give you wisdom. God can bring you into favor. God does that. Can I have a good amen? All right, drop down all the way. Praise God, at the end of the days, drop down all the way, all the way down. Okay, verse 20, "In all matters of wisdom and understanding about which the king examined them, the king found them ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers in the realm".

This is the same God that you are worshiping, the same God, amen, the one who was captured so that we can be set free. In the garden of Gethsemane, they came to capture him, amen, they thought they captured him. Strong men with staves and swords, amen, they came by the numbers to arrest one man and they captured him and he says, "You found me. Let my disciples go". And that's a superhero. And then they say they will not show it before they caught him, they'll not show who is Jesus, all right? And they ask, "Who is he"? And Judas kissed Jesus, right? And when they said, "We seek Jesus of Nazareth," Jesus asked them, "Who do you seek"? "We seek Jesus of Nazareth". He said, "I Am". You know what happened to them? All the soldiers with swords, the number, all of them fell, in the Gospel of John, read it, all fell before the captive, ooh, and he waited for them to get up. He says, "You found me. Let my disciples go". Fell before him.

That's why Bible says Jesus says, "I lay down my life". He wasn't killed, he wasn't murdered. He laid down his life. Remember I told you last time that the Bible says in Matthew that he bowed his head and breathed out the Spirit. Most people, their head would drop, all right? They died, then their head drop. That is helplessness. For him, he positioned himself. The Bible says he bowed his head in a restful position and then he breathed out his life. "I lay down my life and I take it up again". Not only the Father raised him, he raised himself. He take it up again. That is a superhero. And all these Iron Man, Spider-Man and all that, they cannot come into your room, but you can talk to him and he'll be there, amen? When you see a man and you see a man who is strong, princely, or you see a girl who's shining with an inner beauty, know this: they are people who depend on the Lord Jesus and the Lord shines through them. God brings them to favor.

There'll come a time you'll be in the National Service and you'll want the Lord to be there with you, amen? There'll be a time you're looking for a job and there are a lot of qualifications, a lot of demands for certain, and only God can give you, like Daniel, God brings you into favor, amen? And even after you got a job, you may be in a job where you want people to get your services or whatever, amen? God can bring you to favor. So friends, invest your life in God, amen? The Lord Jesus Christ came and he's the perfect man. Today, God has no demand. I'll close by saying this: God has no demands on you and me because all his demands have been met in the wonderful man, Jesus Christ, amen? Oh, I need to finish the verse, Romans 4:13, please show up the verse, all right? "The promise that he'll be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed," you and I in Christ, "through the law, but through the righteousness of faith". How can God today be holy and still be accepting you and I, all right, as sinners, amen?

Now, we're not sinners, I know, but talking about when we receive Christ, at a point, we were all sinners. How can God be righteous in allowing sin to enter his presence? God cannot do that, but God did because of Jesus. He can be just because of what Jesus did. Jesus took your sins on the cross, he bore your judgment, amen, and he rose from the dead without your sins, which means today God says, "I measure you by that man at my right hand. Today, all right, I'm not placing a demand on you. That man at my right hand has fulfilled all my demands. He's the man of my pleasure. He's the man of my joy. He's the man of my delight. My Son, my Son whom I love, whom I gave up for you". And you know something? All his perfections, all his beauties that you see, it's not for himself. He came to ransom us all. In other words, from now on, as you were identified with the first Adam that fell, today you are identified with the last Adam, this perfect man. That's what Adam means, the man, the perfect man Jesus Christ.

And today, God's joy is Jesus, our joy is Jesus. When you and I find our joy in Jesus and realize all of God's holy requirements and expectations is all placed on Jesus, no more on me, amen? And I see that he's delighted God's heart. I see that he has pleased God. He has glorified God, and God sees me in him. As he is, so am I. He's a prince, I'm a prince. He's holy, I'm holy. He's righteous, I'm righteous. And you know something? Jesus today in heaven, he's not an old man, no? He's a young man. I said he's a young man, amen? And God the Father is also young because growing old is part of the curse. God the Father, God the Son, they're not old. They're young, amen? But the Bible says, his hair and his beard were like wool.

Now, read carefully. It says in the book of Revelation, "He shone so brighter than the sun". In the context of that he was so bright, so glorious that no superhero can duplicate. He shone so much, he looks like brighter than the sun, wool. No one's hair, when people grow old, it's not like wool, okay? Only Santa Claus is like wool, okay? It's all gray, all right? It's brighter than the sun, it's the idea of radiance, amen? But you see Jesus, his beard is black, you know, in heaven it's all black. There's no growing old in heaven, amen? But I just want to say this: when you follow Jesus, you're following a success, you are following a champion, you are following the history-maker. You are following someone who can change your life from the inside out, amen. And because people love to follow Jesus, all right, because Jesus is in you, people will learn, all right, from you. They'll be inspired by you. They'll be drawn to you, amen? And all the people said...

Okay, I have a special prayer I've prepared for all of us from the Bible that I want us to all confess while standing before we leave, okay? But right now, if you can just close your eyes for a while. I want you to pray this prayer with me, all of you. Say, "Heavenly Father"... Those of you who say, "Pastor Prince, I really see for the first time, there's no other way to God but Jesus, that Jesus has satisfied all of God's divine requirements and demands on me. He fulfilled them all on my behalf. He died on the cross for my sins and he rose from the dead without my sins. He is my justifier. He is my righteousness". If that is you, you pray this prayer with me from my heart, but let's all pray together. Say:

Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ is my Lord and I believe with all my heart he died on the cross for all my sins. Bravely he died, bearing away all the judgment and the condemnation that was due me. He took it all away. He rose from the dead completely free from all of them. So, I'm in him today 'cause Jesus Christ is my Lord and my Savior. And because I'm in him, you treat me like him, righteous, accepted, favored, strong, young. In Jesus's name, amen.

Amen, stand to your feet, praise the Lord, hallelujah. All right, I want us to confess this together. It's from the Bible and it's about family blessing. Okay, Psalms 144, I'll read through, "May our sons flourish in their youth like well-nurtured plants. May our daughters be like graceful pillars, carved to beautify a palace". Very beautiful expressions. Go to a palace, the beautiful columns that people see, people take pictures and all that, may your daughters be like that, may your sons be like well-nurtured plants. "May our barns," your business, all right, your occupation, your house, "be filled with crops of every kind. May the flocks in our fields multiply by the thousands, even tens of thousands," all right, "and may our oxen be loaded down with produce". Are you ready? And then they confess, "May there be no enemy breaking through our walls, our families," amen? I don't care what the enemy is, whether it's a person or whether it is a spiritual being, all right, the powers of darkness, no enemy, amen? Are you ready? Lift your hands all across this place. There's an anointing on this psalm. All right, let's all start confessing it:

May our sons flourish in their youth like well-nurtured plants. May our daughters be like graceful pillars, carved to beautify a palace. May our barns be filled with crops of every kind. May the flocks in our fields multiply by the thousands, even tens of thousands, and may our oxen be loaded down with produce. May there be no enemy breaking through our walls, no going into captivity, no cries of alarm in our town squares. Yes, joyful are those who live like this! Joyful indeed are those whose God is the Lord.

Give him praise, hallelujah. Joyful indeed are those whose God is the Lord, amen. God bless you, we'll see you again, amen.