Joseph Prince - Is Confession Of Sins For The Believer?
Are you all ready for God's Word? There is no doubt that we are living in the end times. The imminent return of our Lord Jesus Christ can take place at any time. I'm so glad when Jesus splits the clouds and comes back for us, Hollywood or the world out there, they already have an explanation in place. You know, the devil, he's not stupid, all right? He already has in place, you know, stories and more and more like never before, you know, this decade has seen more fiction in terms of movies as well as fiction books and all that on aliens, on life somewhere out there. We've never seen an abundance of it like the way we see it in this generation.
People believe in aliens more than they believe in angels. They believe in aliens more than they believe in God, you know, and they have their own versions about aliens. So when we disappear, all right? Don't forget we'll disappear in an atomic second, the Bible says. Now you see me, now you don't. It sounds like movie title again, all right? Now you see me, now you don't. We disappear, you know? And Hollywood has titles like "Invasion of the Body Snatchers", "Close Encounters of the Third Kind".
You know, all this is just preparation for the people to explain away our disappearance. And for them it's a disappearance, for us it is receiving our new body; a body like Jesus's body, a body that is meta. It's physical, it has flesh and bones, but it is not subject to mortality. A body that is immortal. A body that can never grow old, never be decayed, never contract disease, never can be tired, never can be bored, never can fall asleep during preaching anymore. I mean, you know, never feel bored. That's the best part. You know, feeling bored is not an absence or presence of someone, just like loneliness is not because people are absent from you. I mean, you can be lonely with people around you. You can be lonely in a family. You can be lonely in a crowd. Loneliness is a work of the flesh. It is something that, when the love of Jesus fills your heart, you can be alone, you can be in a crowd, but your heart is filled. Amen?
And when your heart is filled, you're able to minister to your loved ones and your friends from a position of strength as opposed from a position of weakness, and then you put undue pressure upon that relationship, you know? Sometimes a wife; not necessarily a wife, can be a husband also, may place demands on the spouse that the spouse is not filled enough to be able to give from a position of strength. So when he's pressed long enough, he unleash, you know, anger and resentment or, you know, bad words comes out, you know, from his mouth. Negative words, words of disparage. And he doesn't mean it, but he himself needs ministry. Amen.
And how many of you know that every successful marriage needs a third party? His name is Jesus. Amen? He is that center person that brings a couple together, that brings two persons together, all right? You need a third party, all right? You cannot be focused on each other all the time. Even for those who are dating, it's a matter of time. You will find problems because we are not perfect. But when you look to Jesus and all his beauty and glories and excellences, all right, as we admire him, we are drawn to each other. Amen? Are you listening, church? All right, so this is wonderful. Amen. We are definitely in the end times.
So the only thing we are waiting for now, the only blessing that we are waiting for now, the only blessing that no matter how much you confess, how much you claim it and all that you cannot have until Jesus comes, the only blessing is our new body. Until then, we can believe God for health, we can believe God for healing, we can believe God for strength, all right? But until we receive the new body, we'll still have challenges here and there, all right? But don't forget we can trust God for health, trust God for longevity. But what are we waiting for? Death, the Bible says, is the last enemy to be put under our feet. Amen? The price has been paid at the cross. In his resurrection, Jesus conquered death.
So he's going to come back for us. And the Bible tells us that in those days of the Apostle Paul when he wrote this, he gives us a very beautiful analogy. He says that you are sealed with the Holy Spirit, which is the earnest of our inheritance. Now, the word earnest literally in the Greek means down payment. In those days, they would go to the market, the agoras, all right? The agora is the Greek market, the Roman market. They would go there, and when they purchased something, okay, let's say they don't carry it. It's too big. What they do is that they would place a down payment, and the down payment is the guarantee that they will come back another day for the actual possession of it.
So likewise, Jesus saved all of us. He has overcome death for all of us. And the earnest is the... what is a down payment? The Bible says the Holy Spirit. He gave us the Holy Spirit. Amen? So we have the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit, hallelujah. Greater is he that is in you than he that's in the world. The Holy Spirit is the guarantee that Jesus Christ is coming back for the entire you, your body as well. Amen? So very, very soon, turn to your neighbor and say, "There's hope". Very soon you'll start looking good. So don't give up, all right? Very soon you will live forever. Very soon no more disease, no more sickness, no more tiredness, no more boredom, no more growing old. Amen? And we'll have a body that is forever like Jesus's body. When Jesus rose from the dead, he wasn't a ghost that rose. He was a physical body that rose from the dead. But there's no more blood because in place of blood is the resurrection life flowing in our bodies. Amen?
Now, in the last days, the Bible says, "Church, arise and shine for darkness will cover the earth and gross darkness the peoples, but you will shine". Isaiah 60, I believe it is. All right, "Arise, shine. Your light has come. The glory of the Lord is risen upon you. For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth". Whenever you read your Bible, always remember to whom is it written, all right? What is it talking about? Let me just give you something I wrote in my Bible many years ago actually, and this Bible has been with me for quite some time.
I wrote a quotation from Myles Coverdale, who was a 16th century Bible translator. He's the first to publish the complete English Bible. Myles Coverdale said this, all right, in the 16th century. He says this: "It shall greatly help ye to understand Scripture if thou mock not only what is spoken or written, but of whom and to whom with what words and what time, where, to what intent, with what circumstances considering what goeth before and what followeth after".
Today I'm going to share in such a way and teach in a manner that you will see this quotation coming to pass. I'm going to show you who is it talking to and what goes on before and what goes on after, okay? One of the biggest problems people have today, all right, with the grace message is that they cannot take the full naked truth that there is no more unforgiven sin for the believer in Christ. I said the believer in Christ. You know, the Bible tells us that we as children of light. In 1 Thessalonians 5, verse 5, very clear it says, "You are", let's all read together, "You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night or of darkness". We are sons of light. We are sons of the day. Amen.
In fact, the verse before this talks about Jesus coming again. It says that you don't have to be like people of the world, that the coming of the Lord will be, to them, like a thief in the night. You are not children of the night. We are children of the day. We are children of the light. Can I have a good amen? Everyone who's born again, you are all sons of light and sons of the day. But today the teaching that's going on that makes you feel like one day you can be a son of light and another you can be a son of the night. One day you can be in the light, another day in darkness; or sometimes the same day you can be in the light or in the darkness. There is no assurance, okay? Let me tell you this. Even in the Old Testament, you know, when the children of Israel were slaves in the land of Egypt.
Now, I didn't say you cannot do darkness. You can be a son of light doing darkness. You can be a prince doing the works of a pauper. You know what's a pauper, right? A poor man, all right? You can be a king doing a work of the clown. You know what I'm saying? Doesn't make you a clown. I know your friend called you that, but you are a king and a priest of God. Amen? And so sometimes sons of day may commit works of darkness, but they don't become dark. You can act like a monkey. Doesn't change the fact you're a human being. Amen? Just because you're a monkey doesn't mean that you're, you know, our parents sometimes used to tell us like, you know, "Don't look at people like that or your eye will get stuck that way", you know. You don't act like a monkey. One day you'll become a monkey, you know. You don't swallow seeds and all and then a tree will grow. You know what I'm saying?
So we are so afraid. We grew up with this idea. And worst of all, preachers bring this into Christianity. They bring this into teaching. If you commit a sin, you become a sinner again. Now that's the extreme, of course. But there are some who wouldn't say that, but they imply that your forgiveness is on probation, all right? Probationary basis. And then God is observing as how you will behave, all right? There's no such thing as eternal security, which means once Jesus save you it is not eternal. If it is not eternal, then tell me what is John 3:16 all about. "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life". If everlasting life is not everlasting, then why say everlasting, you know?
You might as well say everlasting life provided you walk with God, or put some clause down there. It doesn't say anything. It just says that those who believe in Jesus Christ they have eternal life. Amen. Everlasting life. Aionios in the Greek; eternal, everlasting life. The same word, aionios, is used of God's eternal being. Is God on temporal existence? No. The same word is used for our redemption. Our redemption is eternal. Once you accept Jesus Christ... now I'm not talking about professing Christians. There are those who call themselves Christians, but they never were born again. They never believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm talking about genuine believers. You are sons of light. Amen. You are sons of the day.
And remember when Israel was in Egypt as slaves, the Bible tells us God sent one plague after another against the Egyptians, against Pharaoh because Pharaoh refused to let God's people go. Do you remember one of the plague was a plague of darkness? Let's look up here in Exodus 10. "So Moses stretched out his hand towards heaven and there was thick darkness in all land of Egypt 3 days. They did not see one another nor did anyone rise from his place for 3 days, but all the children of Israel", the people of God, "had light in their dwellings". The darkness was so thick that the Egyptians cannot see in front of them. It lasted for 3 days. But the children of Israel, God's people, had light in all their dwellings.
Now in case you say, "Pastor, what's the big deal"? For many years I read this and I didn't realize that the light we are talking about is supernatural light. Because if that light in the dwellings of the children of Israel was caused by a lamp or a candle, then the Egyptians had the same resource. They can avail themselves of the same resource. Am I right? To chase away the darkness, they only have to light the lamp, they only have to light their candle. Obviously they cannot even light their lamp. The darkness was so thick. The darkness for the first time swallowed up the light. But in the dwellings of the people of God, come on, people of God. In all the dwellings of the people of God, there was light, and this light is supernatural light. This light is extraordinary light. It is not a light that's caused by a lamp or a candle. It's not man-made. It is not something produced, okay? It is something given as a gift of grace.
And here I want to tell you this; that in these last days when darkness covers the earth and darkness covers families, God's people, God's families, God's houses, amen, of which you all are in, you'll have light in all your dwellings. Let's receive it in Jesus's name. Amen. Say, "We have light in our dwellings". And this light, again, is not natural light, okay? Remember this. When we say God created light, it is more like God says, "Light, penetrate through. Light, become", you know. Let me show you Genesis chapter 1, verse 3. "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth", verse 1. Verse 2, "And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of waters". And verse 3, God said, for the very first time in the Bible, you hear God speaking. This is the first time you hear God speaking.
Many years ago... I shouldn't say many years ago. A few years ago, I actually asked myself, "It'll be interesting to find out what was God's first word in the Bible". And of course God brought me to Genesis 1, all right? And Genesis 1, verse 3 says, "Then God said, 'Let there be light' and there was light". Now y'all need to know one thing. He's not talking about creating the sun. The sun was not yet created. You know, this is the first day by the way. You know when the sun was created? On the fourth day. So we're not talking about light light, as in light of the sun. We're talking about light; some light here, revelation, children of light. Amen. Somehow, you know, if you are sick, things look darker at night. When your children are having the flu or crying, even their crying sounds worse at night. Whatever you're going through, loneliness or whatever, depression, is worse at night.
Some of things are better in the daytime. Even the problems still exists, but somehow daytime is almost like a message from God, you know. We are not children of the night, although I study at night, okay? We are not children of darkness. So this is not the light of the sun. The light of sun was only created on the fourth day. This is the first day. So in the Hebrew, let me show you the Hebrew. Reading from right to left, the Hebrew says, I'm going to read you the Hebrew, okay? Vayomer which means said from Amar. Vayomer Elohim. God. Yehi or. Let there be light. Vayi or. There was light. Like or, you know, from urim, lights. Plural, from or, all right? So vayomer Elohim. Yehi or, vayi or.
So some time ago I asked myself, "I wonder what was the significance of the first time the Bible record that God spoke recorded in the Bible". So I came to this and I said, "I wonder what he says in the Hebrew", okay? So I saw in the Hebrew that the first time God spoke God actually spoke his name, where it says, "And said God, vayomer Elohim, Let there be'". Can you see let there be is yehi, yehi is yud hei. Can you see that? Yehi is yud hei. Remember the Tetragrammatons' God's name Yud Hei Vav Hei? Yud hei is the first two letters of the name Jehovah. Yud Hei Vav Hei. Now you see yud hei. So literally God is speaking of Jesus. He's saying, it's like, "Jesus, manifest light". Yehi or.
So it was very interesting, but of course I'm not Jewish. So I brought this revelation to Israel and I shared with my Jewish believer friends and they were stunned. They said that, "Where in the world did you get this"? You know, they always like ask where in the world you get this, but it's not in the world. You know, it's from the Holy Spirit. Amen? Amen? And they said that this is amazing, and they never saw it that way. But it's the first time, all right, that God spoke. I mean, God spoke. God actually mentioned the name of his son Yeshua. We saw that the last time I preached, right? When he was on the cross, all right? This is Jesus of Nazareth, Yeshua. And in the Hebrew, the acrostic spelled what? This is Yud Hei Vav Hei, the name of God.
Get that message. I believe it will be on DVD. So you can see the visual impact, all right? So actually God's name is there. Now, I'm showing you all this to tell you that this light is not light of the sun, okay? The sun was created on the fourth day. This is Jesus's light. We walk with Jesus, we walk in the light. I said, you walk with Jesus, you walk in the light. But what about these people telling us that, you know, sometimes, you know, you're in the light, sometimes you are in darkness? So let's go to 1 John chapter 1 and you look at verse 7. 1 John 1, verse 7, "But if we walk in the light as", let's read the whole thing, "This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you that God is light". Everyone say, "God is light". There are only two definitions of God in the Bible. Only two. God is love. God is light. Okay? God is love. God is light. "And in him is no darkness at all".
Very emphatic in the Greek. No darkness at all. Not one little hairline of darkness. "If we say that we have fellowship with God and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth". All right? Who is he writing to? Who is John writing to? This epistle of John. John is writing this. John, the one who claimed that Jesus loves him more than anyone else, the disciple whom Jesus loved. This is John's letter. John is saying, "If we say". Now these other people who say. "If we say", all right, "that we have fellowship with God, we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth". Is he talking about Christians who are backslidden? Let's keep on reading. "But if we walk in the light".
Now, he didn't say if we walk according to the light. Some Christian says, you know, once you know some things and you've been to church for some time, you have been a Christian for a number of years, you need to walk according to the light. I understand their expression. It means let's walk according to what we know. I understand that. But you cannot say that is this verse. This verse is not saying if we walk according to the light, and then as God is in the light. Nobody can walk according to the light that God has. No one, including this speaker. No one. It's not talking about walking according to the measure of the light, it's talking about location, location, location.
I'm saying that because you are Singaporeans. Location. Where are you? Where are believers today? We are believers walking in? They are walking in the light. "But then, Pastor Prince, why he says but or if"? But if we say we have, but if we walk... why? Because in chapter 1, I know in the original there are no chapters, but nonetheless some of it has a picture of writing to certain people in the first part and the second part is writing to believers. 'Cause in the first part you don't find "My Little Children" at all 'cause later on you'll find 1 John 1:9 in this one that's most disputed in the gospel of grace, all right? You'll find it in this passage.
So let's go with the light one first. "If we walk in the light, in the light". Where the Christians, where do believers walk in? In the light. Location, location, location. Where? Where? When you eat, where do you eat? When you drink, where do you drink? When you pray, where do you pray? When you wake up, where do you wake up? When you sleep, where do you sleep? Always in the light. Amen. I'm going to ask you another question. When you sin... we're not inviting you to sin. Sin is evil. Pastor Prince is vehemently against sin, okay? All right? But answer this question. When you sin as a believer, where do you sin? In the light. Or else why is the blood there in the end? "And the blood of Jesus Christ his son cleanses us from all sin".
Some people say, "All right, when you don't sin, you're walking in the light". Let me face you. When you don't sin, you're walking in the light. But when you sin, you are now in darkness. If that is the definition, why is it that in this verse 7 it says, "When we are walking in the light, as God is in the light, we have fellowship one with one another and the blood of Jesus Christ his son cleanses us from all sin"? In other words, walking in the light, those who are walking in the light, they still have sins that the blood takes care of. In other words, let's do this again. I'm walking in the light and when I have a bad thought, I say something wrong, I do something wrong, the blood cleanses me and keeps me in the light. I never go into the darkness. Can you understand that, church? How many can understand? Just wave.
All right, either wave or slap the one beside you, you know, whichever helps you, all right? All right, now watch this now. So I'm walking in the light. When I have a bad thought or a bad word, whatever, bad intention, and I caught myself, all right, do I find myself in darkness and I have to go through some whatever your, you know, belief is, your denominational belief is, whatever, then I get back into the light? This is what some Christians believe. No, when you're walking in the light and you sin, in the light, the blood of Jesus Christ is there to cleanse you from all sin. Are you with me, church? Are you with me?
It says here very clearly, that believers walk in the light. Let me give you another proof. Proof beyond the shadow of any doubt, okay? From Jesus's own mouth, how about that? Would that be cool? From Jesus's own lips. Because whatever I say, you need to write down somewhere. Someone somewhere will try to dispute and bring this gospel of grace, which is a wonderful gospel that Jesus died to give us, into disrepute. And they will try to bring you back under mixture. There are people trying it already, all right? I told you just now, says and I stand on the shoulders of all these men. So you judge for yourself, you look at the context, you look at what Jesus says and see the context, all right?
These people say when you are in the light that means you are obedient to God. That means you are not sinning, right? But then why is the blood there cleansing you? Just remember to ask them that. All right, the next thing is Jesus's own lips. In John 8, look what Jesus says: "Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying", let's all say it. Jesus said what? "I am the light of the world, shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life". Jesus says, "I am the light of the world. He that follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life". Do you know, church, that Jesus is the light of the world? We saw it just now, he is the light that God spoke, all right? He's always with God, and God is just saying, "Jesus manifests as light". And when he manifests as light, all creation came into being.
Now watch this, church. Jesus says, "I am the light of the world. He that follows Me", these are believers, "shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life". Do you know that "shall not" there, "shall not walk in darkness", for those of you who say that Christians can walk in darkness, I say Christians can commit works of darkness. Just like I say a man can act like a monkey, doesn't make him a monkey, okay? Now, the word, "shall not walk in darkness", those of you who believe Christians can walk in darkness on some days or in one day, here and there, you know, they can walk in darkness, the word "shall not" is in the Greek, double negative, "ou me". "Ou" is negative, "me" is a negation. It's a double negation. No way, José. Okay, José is mine. No way, certainly not, all right? Never, certainly not.
And there are Christians who teach when we fail, when we sin, God leaves us. His presence is gone. And God has sworn. God has said, "I'll never leave you", certainly not, ou me. So, for the believer, all right, who is following Jesus, they will never ever walk in darkness; they have the light of life. Okay, are you with me? But then to answer, you know, the question that begs an answer, is still the portion in John that says: "A brother". What is he a brother walking in darkness. Let's look at the one in 1 John chapter 2, all right. Now we're in 1 John chapter 2. Just now, 1 John chapter 1, right? Because 2 comes after 1, folks.
So, 1 John 2 now: "He who says he is in the light". Now, so far, he is saying it. Do you remember this? When people say things, "They are Christian, they are this, they are that", all right, that's what they say. They are professors, but are they possessors of the eternal life? Just because you say you're a Christian does not make you a Christian. Are you with me? So "He who says he is in the light, and hates his brother, is in darkness until now". So someone say, "You see, Pastor Prince, you see, a believer can be in darkness". I say, "This is not a believer". They say, "No, it says, 'He who hates his brother'". His brother is mentioned here. How do you explain that? All right, next verse: "He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him". He seems like implying, if you don't love, all right, your brother, you are in darkness.
If you love your brother, you're in the light and there are those who teach this for the believer. They are saying that. But then you see, church, listen. The only way you are in the light is by being born again, not by doing anything, not even by loving. Remember the Bible says love, loving one another, is a sign, is a fruit, that you are born again. It is not the cause for making you born again. It is the result of being born again. For example, in 1 John also it says: "Hereby we know we are passed from death to life because we love the brethren".
How do we know we have passed from death to life? Because you love the brethren. I know sometime you have anger towards a brother or whatever but I can tell you, deep down, there's love if you are really born again. Learn to overcome the peripheral hate or resentment or whatever because deep down you are born again. Are you with me, church? All right, but still you need an answer for this, brother, brother, brother. Who is this brother, all right? "But he who hates his brother is in darkness and walks in darkness". So can a believer do this? Jesus just said a believer can never ever walk in darkness. Am I right? So are we having a contradiction?
By the way, that was the same gospel of John. This John is the same writer that said, where Jesus says, "Shall not walk in darkness", that's John 8. This is the same author, John. He's not contradicting himself, all right? So, how do you explain this? "Darkness has blinded his eyes". So how do you explain this? Who are these people? These people are professors, they say they are saved. They say they are, all right? "I understand it, Pastor Prince. But how do you explain the fact that he's talking about brother? Isn't brothers Christians"? Good question.
Remember this. This Epistle written by John. John, James, Peter, are three apostles that God used to write letters to the Jews, both believers and unbelievers, so when they write to the Jewish people, they use the phrase, "brothers". Are you with me? Are you with me? C'mon, follow me now. Are you with me? All right, let me prove to you, okay, Peter, James, and John are all writing to Jewish people. Now, can we learn from 1 John? Of course, amen. Can we learn from Peter's letters? Of course, they're all written for our benefit, amen? And people say, "But Pastor Prince, you focus so much on Jesus, I mean, Jesus's revelation to Paul, that's right, Paul's letters". Because Paul's letters are to the Gentile Christians. He's an apostle to the Gentiles, you understand or not? All right?
That's why in Peter, James, and John you find some things people are struggling with because it must be interpreted in a Jewish context. Like, in Peter, for example, Peter says, "Judgment must begin very soon in the house of God", and all the Christians are saying, "Judgment is coming". Every generation say, "Judgment is coming to the house of God". They're wondering why there's no attendance. But actually when you look at... that statement is from Peter, by the way. When Peter wrote it, it was a few years before their house of God was burned down, the temple, by the Romans, amen. And Peter was warning them. And by the way, the temple there was called the house of God as well. Not just the church, the house of God is also the temple.
"Pastor Prince, that's not the house of God. That's just a temple". I can prove to you. Jesus called it, "my Father's house". Remember, Jesus says, "Make not my Father's house", referring to the temple. That's the house of God for that time. And it was burned down. God allowed it to be burned down. Why? They rejected their Messiah. They rejected their King. So Peter wrote to them and says, "Guys, judgment must happen soon in the house of God". He was talking about AD 70. And he wrote it before AD 70. AD 70, General Titus and the Roman Legion came and they burned down the temple. And for 2000 years, the Jewish people have been scattered until 1948. They came back as a nation. The fig tree is budding again.
All right, Galatians please. And Paul is writing, by the way, Galatians. Paul is writing and Paul says: "And when James", say "James", "Cephas", say "Cephas". Now, who is Cephas? Peter, wow, outstanding. This church, respect, man, respect. All right, Cephas is Peter, very good. All right, "John", John, the one who wrote just now. We are reading his books now, right, his letters? Notice, all three of them, they, "who seemed to be pillars". Paul is writing, all right, in this book of Galatians to the Galatians. "They seemed to be pillars, they perceived the grace that had been given to me", Paul said, "they gave me and Barnabas", Paul's partner, "the right hand of fellowship, that we", Barnabas and Paul, "should go to the Gentiles", non-Jews, "and they", James, Peter, and John, "to the circumcised".
Now you've got Scripture for it. Lay hold of this Scripture, all right? I am not saying you should read only Paul's letters. I've never said that. I've done a lot of teachings from the Old Testament. I'm a teacher of grace that teaches a lot from the Old Testament. I bring Jesus out from the Old Testament. Do I teach from 1 John? Yes. Do I teach from Peter's Epistles? Yes. Do I teach from the seven churches? Yes. But the main emphasis for the church life, the church was a mystery even in the gospels, all right, is Paul's letters. Paul's letters will cause you to grow up spiritually real fast.
See, those who teach the law, it's kindergarten. Please know that. It's kindergarten level, all right? God gave the law in the Old Testament. It's kindergarten level. "Don't do this, don't do that", all right? But when the gospel came, university level, is what Paul had and that's why he was brought to the third heaven, university. You understand? Don't for one moment let anyone make you feel to go back to the law is higher, deeper. You know, some are going back to the Old Testament and they're trying to say, "This is deeper". No, the law was given by Moses, a servant. Grace and truth came by Jesus Christ, the Son, okay? Know the difference. You want to be under the servant or under the Son? A servant doesn't inherit; the Son does. And the Son shall set you free; you shall be free indeed.
See, all this has got to do with right believing. What I'm sharing has all got to do with right believing. If you believe wrong, you won't have the joy that flows incessantly in your life. You won't have the peace that guards your hearts and mind, amen. You won't have the testimony as a believer walking in the light. So, it's important you believe right. And there are those who are joy-stealers. They will try to interpret the Bible out of its context, make themself appear like they are theologians or whatever: "The Bible was written by tax collectors, by fishermen, by shepherds", and all that. And it can be understood also by people who are simple people like me and you.
So the thing is this, church. It's very clear that James, Peter, or I should say in the British way, Peter. James, Peter, and John, all right, all three of them, they write to, they minister to, the circumcised. Who are the circumcised? The Jews. Paul and Barnabas, they go to the Gentiles. So the anointing is more for the Gentiles. Are you hearing what I'm saying? You follow what I'm saying so far? So, now back to John again. When John says, 1 John 2 just now. When he says, "He who says he is in the light", all right, "and hates his brother", this refers to a Jewish guy who claim he is a believer but he's hating all the time. So, that convinces the Apostle John, he's not a believer but he's a brother, a Jewish brother. Yo? Got it?
All right, "He who loves his brother abides in the light". Is it clear now? I don't want to spend too much time here. Another thing you need to know from 1 John chapter 2 is very interesting. You say, "Pastor Prince, what about Hebrews 6. It says that it's impossible for those who have tasted the good Word of God, the heavenly gift, if they fall away, it's impossible to renew them for repentance". I have preached a series on that. Where were you? But for your sake, all right, I will do it again, amen? Not the entire thing, just to show you something. From this same chapter, I wanna give you a principle. Keep this somewhere in your spirit, will you? Keep this somewhere in your spirit.
If you drop down to verse 18. Verse 18 says: "Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming", all right, "even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour". There is one Antichrist and there are many antichrists. You see, you realize that it's not anti-God. See, the problem in the world today is not the Spirit is coming against the gospel of grace, it's not anti-God. Many of them are coming against you in the name of God. When we talk about the centrality of Christ, his finished work, the loveliness of his person, they've got a problem. It's an Antichrist spirit. It's not anti-God. Are you listening? Keep that in mind, all right? "They went out from us".
So who are these antichrists? Now, John is gonna say something to you about it. Follow now. He's gonna tell you something. "They", the antichrists during John's time, who preached heresies, "they went out from us". From us. They went out from us. So, are they Christians? Are they believers? Keep on reading. "They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us". I don't know you understand what I'm trying to say or not, you know? It's just excessive energy here, you know? So instead of swinging from a tree, I will do this.
Very clear that there are people who are in church, even for a number of years, and then they leave, and then they embrace this belief or this and that and people say, "Well, Pastor Prince, you say once saved, always saved. What about this guy"? "They went out from us. They were not of us. They were with us, but they were not of us, for if they had been of us, they would not have gone from us. They would have continued with us". Can you understand that? Are you with me? True believers will continue. They might leave for a while but they always come back. They always come back, amen? It's like your teenage kids. They might leave for a while, angry with you. They always come back when they're hungry and no more money. They're truly your children. If they're not your children, they will not come back. Very important.
Take this verse and put it somewhere in your heart. Obviously, some of the worst heresies have come from people in churches. They were not born again. Some of them think they come to church, all right? They sit in a few services. People ask them, "Fill in a form", all right? Your age, your name, your religion? Christian. Doesn't make you a Christian any more than going to MacDonald's make you a Big Mac. Any more than going to a garage make you a car. You've got to be born again. So, can we tell who is born again, who is not? Well, we know that if you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, believe that he finished the work, you are born again, amen? Are you with me, church?
Okay, my time is running so I need you to follow me real close. Are you with me so far, all right? So, in other words when we talk about Hebrews 6, notice always learn this, Myles Cloverdale says, "Who is he talking to? In what context is he talking? When is he talking to"? Okay, so watch this now, all right? I'm gonna teach you some English. If I say I, what personal pronoun is that? First person, second person, third person? First person. If I say you, what personal pronounce is that? Second person. If they say they? Third person. They went out from us, all right? Now watch this, Hebrews 6, he's writing, "Brothers, let us, let us", okay?
Now, sometimes "us" there can refer to believers and nonbelievers like in 1 John chapter 1, all right? If we say, we say. He's being nice. I said he's being nice. You know when you write things like, for example, your friend likes to scribble things. You know, he like to not vandalize, but he like to paint, you know, the walls and all that. And you put your hand on his shoulder because you are his friend, you don't say, "If you do this, your backside will be whacked". All right, you don't say that, right or not? All right, you put your hand on him and you say what? "Look, if we vandalize in this country, all right, the penalty is very high, you know? The penalty here is you might even get the cane, all right, if we vandalize in this country". I say, "if we". It's called the editorial we.
You see, does that mean that I am vandalizing? Some of you are not sure, okay. You put your hand on your friend and you say, "If we, if we traffic in drugs, all right, it's the death penalty here", all right? I put my hand on my friend and say, "If we, if we". What am I saying? Am I saying I'm doing it? But the "we" is there. 1 John 1 John 1:9, "If we say". Let's go back to 1 John again, and I think I that have stop somewhere here because of time, okay? And then 1 John 1, "If we confess our sins, He's faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness". Now go back to the context again. Context is all, "if we". "If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us".
Do Christians say they have no sin? Of course not, amen. Christians don't say we have no sin. We have a Savior, Savior from what? If we confess our sins, he's faithful and, so is John saying, all right, if we. Some people say, "See, it's we, we". They don't even understand proper grammar where that's an editorial we. In other words, he's actually saying, "if we", like I said, "If we vandalize". Doesn't mean I vandalize. "If we traffic in drugs in Singapore", doesn't mean I do it. What am I doing? I'm being gracious to the person, okay? Are you with me? So the same thing. He's telling those Gnostic, Jewish Gnostics who are unbelievers who have come amongst them. But no doubt they will not continue with them. He's telling them, "Hey, we are people who confess our sins". In other words, "We are people. We acknowledge we have sin".
And by the way this phrase here, all right, "If we confess our sin, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness". Do you agree that it is conditional? I said, do you agree it is conditional? Only when you confess your sins, all right, God is faithful and just to forgive you. So, that's where I got into bondage many years ago. I didn't understand why people don't confess their sins more because every time, even you don't do it, you are thinking it. We should be confessing all the time. Some of you had bad thoughts about me when I came out just now and you didn't confess. You know, those who advocate confessing their sins before God can forgive you, they themselves don't confess all their sins. They only confess the big ones and what they think is big, God may not think, all right, that alone is big. For God, complaining is big. Unbelief is very big.
So, we confess when we think it's convenient. If you really believe in 1 John 1:9 you better confess all your sins or else God is not faithful to forgive you. God will not forgive you. God will not cleanse you. If you go by that teaching, which I went by, I believe it was written to believers, but notice the condition. Only when you confess then God is faithful and just to forgive you and to cleanse you from all unrighteousness. How often can you be cleansed from all unrighteousness? Once and for all, right?
So, those who teach that this is a lifestyle for the believer, they're always confessing their sins before God can forgive them. They are sin... why am I so strong on this? Because it makes you sin conscious. It makes you fearful. It makes you even though you're son of light, you feel like you're in darkness. Are you listening, people? You don't have the courage to come to God. Every time you want to pray, someone say, "Can you pray for me? My son is sick", all right? And you don't have to be Pastor Lawrence, you don't have to be. God never says, "This sign will follow the pastors". No, it says this sign will follow those that believe. They shall lay hands on the sick and the sick shall recover. Sign will follow those that believe. But you're about to release your belief, your faith.
Man, you lay hands on it all of a sudden the devil reminds you, "Have you confessed all your sins? Are you sure you are right with God"? Can you understand why I'm so passionate about this? I am one who believe that this was written to believers, and I practiced it until I really lost my mind. Those of my leaders who have been with me for many years, they remember the youth leader that I was, all right, in a meeting always, I'm confessing my sins. I can't understand why people are not doing it more often. I was so earnest to be right with God.
Another question people say is this, "Well, only believers can confess our sins, our sins, confess our sins. Only believers can confess sins. Unbelievers cannot confess sins". Now, my friend, you are forgetting one thing. We are reading a Jewish book. I said we are reading a Jewish book, all right? You know what the Jewish people think of confessing their sins? Would you like me to show you? All right, that even Jews who are not saved yet can confess their sins. Let me show you Matthew. This is the story of John the Baptist, John the Baptist during the time of Christ, okay? Notice then "Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region run about Jordan, the River Jordan, went out to John the Baptist and they were baptized by him in the Jordan confessing their sins".
Question, did they confess every itemized account of sins? Can you imagine them long queue? John the Baptist, this guy has been here before 9 a.m. already. Confess one by one, one by one, one by one, one by one. "I remember when I was three years old". Now, the three hours has passed for him to confess all his sins, another one came. There's a long queue. Do you think that happened? Honestly, do you think that happened where they came to him confessing every itemized account of their sins? Then what does it mean confessing their sins? This is what it means, Bible interpret Bible.
The same thing the son, the prodigal son came home to the father. How did he confess his sins? "Father, I have sinned against heaven and I've sinned against the earth. I'm no more worthy to be called your son". What did the father say? Luke 15, "The son said to the father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, no longer worthy to be called your son" what did the father do? "The father said to his servants, Bring out the best robe". Obviously the father accepted his confession or whatever you want to call it. But wait a minute, wait a minute, wait, wait a minute. Wait a minute. This guy sinned with prostitutes. He didn't confess it, all right? He didn't even confess he dishonored his father by asking for his inheritance before the father died. All he said, "I have sinned. Father, I have sinned". The Bible calls that confessing your sins.
Now, they came to John the Baptist confessing their sin that they're a sinner. "I've sinned against God. I've sinned against the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, please forgive me. Ask God for forgiveness for me". And they were baptized. None of them were saved yet 'cause Jesus Christ has not yet died. His ministry has not even started yet when these people went to John confessing their sins. So, what I'm trying to tell you is that Jewish unbelievers have been confessing their sins all the time before Christ came. Are you listening, people? But it bound me. Somehow it's like you cannot be saved unless you confess every sin.
Now someone will say, "Pastor Prince, the Bible says confess your faults one to another". Yeah, it is so logical that I don't even have to address it. You know when you have done something wrong with someone, husband and wife, for example, the Bible says confess your faults one to another. Say, "sorry" and all that. "I was wrong", and all that and pray one for another that you may be healed. That is between each other, and I would recommend that. But with God, our sins are forgiven, past, present, future, okay? Now, the thing is this, church, all right? Let's go back to 1 John 2:12. We'll close with this. Now, this is 1 John what? Chapter what? 2. We'll close with this portion. You must listen to this part. You forget anything else, don't forget this part, all right?
1 John 1:9, show 1 John 1:9. This is 1 John chapter 1, all right? "If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just". Now, if it's writing to believers, we got a problem in chapter 2. If this verse is writing to believers, we got a problem in chapter 2, why? In chapter 2, next chapter, all right, verse 12, now John says, "I write to you, little children. I write to you, little children, because your sins". Now, "little children" here refers to all the believers, teknion. It is not baby in Christ, no. Teknion means it's an affectionate term like dear children. "I write to you, dear children, children of God". He says, "Because your sins are forgiven you for His name's sake".
Now, do you know that in the Greek, just like our English, there is also something called the perfect tense? Forgiven here is the perfect tense. You know what's the perfect tense? Even in our English, all right, in the Greek it's very strong. Perfect tense means an action that is executed, an action that is complete once and for all and needs no repetition. You can ask any Greek scholar about perfect tense in the Greek. This is in the perfect tense. Any scholar can check this out in their Bibles. It is in the perfect tense which means your sins are forgiven once and for all. It needs no repetition. Wow, now we got a problem. If we believe 1 John 1:9, the previous chapter is written to believers, what are we gonna say about this now? John is schizo.
So, you know what they say? You know what some of them say, "Oh, oh, 1 John 1:9 is practical forgiveness. This is positional". Be careful of these people. If you are sick and you go to a doctor and he tells you, "Positionally I'm a doctor, experientially I'm not", run. If you need a lawyer's advice and the lawyer says, "Actually positionally I'm a lawyer, but experimentally I'm not", leave his office. So, they tried to get by with it, with this nonsense. Either you are, either we are forgiven or we are not. Don't play games. Now, it's not written for everybody. It's written for believers, little children of God. Dear children of God. Dear children of God, your sins are forgiven you once and for all and needs no repetition. You know the bad thought you had of me just now? It's forgiven you, brother, amen.
"Pastor, we need to tell people to repent". Yeah, repent. In fact, the more you know God's goodness, the goodness of God leads you to repentance. The goodness of God leads you to changing your mind. But God's forgiveness is on you before you change, while you're changing your mind, after you change your mind, hmm? Are you blessed, church? You know, everything that the world craves is found in Jesus Christ alone. I said I'll close with this verse. I just have one verse I just want to close with, 2 Corinthians 4 and this is the final verse. It says, "It is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness". We saw that in the beginning. God commanded light to shine out of darkness. "Who has shone in our hearts today to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ".
So, today when you see Jesus, I pray in Jesus' name more and more pastors, more and more leaders will preach Jesus Christ, the centrality of Christ. You know, I preached the centrality of Christ a number of years ago and my friend Israel Houghton was in the conference that I was preaching at, I believe one of Hillsong conference. And from that message, he wrote a song, "Jesus be the center of my life". Now, I was preaching about how Jesus, when he was crucified, he was crucified in the center. God made sure. I mentioned about how when he appeared after his resurrection in the upper room to his disciples, he appeared in the center. And the Bible tells us, "If two of you shall agree, where two or three are gathered together, there I am in the center".
Jesus must be in the center of your marriage, center of your children, center of our parenting, all right? Don't look to them alone. Look to him and he will help you look at them the way he sees them, and he will let you know how to parent. Jesus must be the center. John, in the Book of Revelation, heard a voice behind him. He turned around. He saw the lamb of God in the center of the throne.
I was preaching this and out of that came this song. You can ask him. He wrote from that message. Jesus need to be center. And people don't realize that the more we preach Jesus, it's very hard for the spirit of Antichrist to operate, very hard. But in churches today where you don't hear Jesus, it's back to they can't even say, "God, God, God, God". The problem is not anti-God spirit. They are not anti-God. They're Antichrist. They don't believe the work is finished. They believe that everyone must work hard for their salvation, for their righteousness. So, can you see the Antichrist spirit? And I'm telling you something, during the time of Paul, there are three groups of people.
Listen to this, this is closing. You must get this. Today we have the same problem in Singapore all over the world. Either people are looking for light, revelation, or mystical light, new age light, you know, new age. They even call light light new age. There's a group like that and there's a group looking for knowledge, education, education, knowledge, knowledge, more education, wisdom, knowledge. During Paul's time, you know who went for the light? The Jews. You know who went for knowledge? The Greeks. The Greeks seek after wisdom. They have their Aristotles. They are great men. They all look for knowledge.
You know who looked for glory? Glory, military glory, conquer more countries for glory of Rome. Romans. The Romans went for glory. They didn't go for knowledge. They didn't go for mystical light. The Jews always look for light from the Bible. Some of them go into new age like Kabbalah. Kabbalah is new age. And then they go into some other, you know? The Jews look after light. The Greeks look for knowledge. Romans go for glory. Today in Singapore alone, as well as other countries, okay, you find people either going for mystical light or they go for knowledge, education, knowledge is power. Or some go for glory, fame, glory of being rich, being looked upon by my relatives. "I'm going for glory. Big cars, big house, glory".
But you know what the Apostle Paul says? "Don't you know all these three is found in the face of Jesus Christ"? God who commanded light to shine out of darkness who has shone in our hearts to give the light. Jews look for light. Of the knowledge. Greeks look for knowledge of the glory. The Romans go for glory, and we have all three in the face of Jesus Christ. Amen, church? Hallelujah. Praise the Lord! Hallelujah for God's holy Son, amen! How many are glad he came? How many are glad he came, amen? How many are glad you are in the light? Are you in the light?
You cannot say you are in the light, listen my friend, in the light the blood keeps you clean all the time. The blood cleanses you and you cannot say you are in the light. You just say, "Pastor, all this while I've been saying I'm a Christian, but I doubt I'm a Christian, all right? I don't want to be a professor, a professing Christian. I want to be a possessor of eternal life in Jesus Christ". If that is you, I want to pray with you. Wherever you are, if you've never made this decision to put your trust in Christ, I want to help you right now.
Every head bowed all across this place. All right, wherever you're watching this, my friend, God loves you with an everlasting love. Nothing you do can change God's love for you, and this God sent his Son Jesus Christ to die on that cross for all your sins. This God raised his Son from the dead to declare that all the sins that his Son took as been put away, or else Jesus will not have been raised from the dead. My friend, have you received this wonderful salvation? If you like to, pray this prayer with me right now wherever you are watching this. Pray this from your heart.
Heavenly Father, heavenly Father, I have sinned. I'm a sinner, and I come to you because you are a Savior of sinners. You sent your Son Jesus Christ to die on that cross for all my sins. You raised him from the dead as a declaration that all my sins have been effectually put away. I confess and I believe in my heart Jesus Christ is my Lord and my Savior. I believe from this day forth I'm greatly blessed, highly favored, deeply loved. My sins, past, present, and future, have been totally wiped out, totally forgiven once and for all and needs no repetition. In Jesus's name, thank you for the blessed life, the abundant life, in Jesus's name.
This coming week, God who watches over Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps. The Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who sent his Son because he so loved us, he never sleeps. He's watching over you throughout this week. He's watching over your children. He's watching over your family, and this is a blessing of the high priest of Israel over the nation of Israel and is for us today. The Lord bless you and the Lord keep you. The Lord keep you, preserve you from all evil throughout this week. The Lord preserve your soul. The Lord preserve your coming in and your going out. The Lord bless you out of Zion. The Lord make his face shine on you and on your children, on your family and be gracious, chanan, be gracious to you. The Lord lift up his countenance on you. The light of the knowledge of the glory of God in his countenance, the face of Jesus Christ, shine on you, grant you favor, give you peace throughout this week. In Jesus's name, and all the people said? Amen.