Joseph Prince - Experience Victory Over Sexual Immorality
Turn to your neighbor, smile at somebody and say "Something good is going to happen to you in this service". I believe it, it's not a cliché, I believe it. I really believe it. The gospel is all about God's goodness. The gospel is all about God's goodness. When God's goodness is being preached it is amazing how man responds. Now we say that we respond to the goodness of God, but actually man in the natural, I'm speaking about man in the flesh, they cannot receive the goodness of God. They suspect, they doubt, they do anything but receive the goodness of God. That's why when grace is being preached, man is still asking, is it that good? Can God be that good? Can anything good come out of Nazareth?
Man in his flesh does not think well of God. Man in his flesh only has hard thoughts about God. And the devil has throughout the years down through history, ever since he tempted the first man, the number one way that he causes man to leave the presence of perfect love is to put the thought that God is not that good. He's holding out something. He doesn't want you to have, when God gives you restrictions, it's because God is not interested in you. God is not that good, and he has succeeded in making people think that God is not good. So man in the flesh cannot think well of God. So beware of that. It is the manifestation of the flesh. Today I want to share with you the goodness of God. The goodness of God leads us to repentance. Can I have a good amen?
But before I do so, I want to answer some questions that is very prevalent. In fact I've answered all these questions time and time again. By the way, I would recommend highly that series that was shown just now "What About" series, because it answers a lot of questions that people are asking about grace: What about Ananias and Sapphira? What about Hebrews chapter 6? What about Hebrews chapter 10? What about working out your salvation? What about Paul's sufferings? What about those who are not healed? What about, what about, what about, what about, what about? So I would encourage you, especially if you are a preacher to get that series and compare Scripture with Scripture You don't have to take everything that I say but compare Scripture with Scripture Amen? Can I have a good amen?
And one of the things I want to share before I start preaching the Word that God has placed in my heart, I want to answer a few questions first. Number one, the first question, there is this thing coming back again and I've answered this many years ago, but it's coming back again. And it is this, that people are saying: the Lord Jesus said "Many will come to Me in that day". At first He says, "Not everyone who calls Me 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven. But he that doeth the will of My Father who is in heaven". Let's read that okay, so you don't think I'm just quoting it "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven But he who does the will of My Father in heaven". So the idea that these people are trying to portray is that just because you call Jesus "Lord" does not mean you'll make it, does not mean you'll be saved.
Now we're here standing at a precipice because if justification by faith is not the gospel, if grace is not the gospel, and if Jesus said, "I give My sheep eternal life", John 10 "And they shall never perish". And here it says that people who call the Lord 'Lord' can still lose their salvation okay, we have to study a little bit closer. So remember that He says, "Not everybody who says to Me 'Lord, Lord' shall enter the kingdom of heaven. But he who does the will of My Father in heaven Many will say to Me in that day 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, done many wonders in Your name"? And then I'll declare to them, 'I never knew you.' not I do not know you at the present moment. You have changed so much, I do not know you present tense. No 'I never'. This is not present tense, 'I never knew you'.
Can the Lord say that of us? Once He knows us, we are born again He knows us, can He say, "I never knew you"? So first and foremost you just got the answer, alright, the first part of the answer. "I never knew you depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness". So these are people who are not saved, people who didn't put their trust in Christ. But in that day, verse 22, "Many will say to me in that day". Now that's the key, that's the key. When Jesus returns, alright, with one blast of His mouth the fiery sword of the Lord destroys the anti-Christ. And all the armies that follow him are destroyed. Their spirits cast into the lake of fire. He will set this earth right. Amen.
Righteousness will once again reign on this earth. There'll be no more sex trafficking, there'll be no more children being abused, there'll be no more murders, there'll be no more children dying before their time, there'll be no more people dying early, there'll be no more hospitals, when the Lord Jesus comes back. So we all think of the meek and lowly Lamb, the Lord who came in His first coming. He came yes, as the Lamb to die for our sins. But if you read the book of Revelations, He's not coming back as a Lamb, He's coming back as the Lion. He's coming back to destroy. Now some of you who are politically correct you don't like that, you say "Well I think that, you know Jesus should be loving and understanding of people and the different lifestyles and different kind of opinions and all that".
Let me tell you this, God never created a democracy, God created a theocracy when God made the earth. The reason why sin is sin because we have someone to answer to. He never made us lone rangers and you know anyhow you can just function the way you want to. Everything you do has repercussions in the universe it affects one person, it affects the animals it affects everything around you. But the world has come to a place, they don't want to acknowledge God, and yet they need God's power, God's love, God's grace. Are you listening, people? Okay, anyway when He returns, all dominion, all empires, all kingdoms will fall, before the One who is the center of the creation of God. The One that God so loved the world God sent Him to die for our sins., He could have let us perish and go to hell all of us, and create another creation. Amen?
He did not choose to do so. In fact, for Him to create He only had to speak. But for Him to redeem He had to bleed. He chose to bleed. He came to where we were. We saw last week He took on human flesh, the likeness. Not sinful flesh, but the likeness of sinful flesh. There was no sinful flesh in our Lord Jesus. And He dwelt where we dwelt, just like God of old with Israel in the wilderness. Israel would go from place to place, God went in a pillar of cloud, in a pillar of fire from place to place. When they had the tabernacle, when they all lived in a tent, God lived also in a tent called "mishkan", the tabernacle. When finally they crossed the river Jordan and they had to attack Jericho, the stronghold Jericho, the Lord Jesus appeared with a sword in His right hand. Why? He appeared as a warrior, because His people are in warrior mode.
He always wants to be where you are Amen, are you listening people? And finally, by the way when they were suffering under the furnace of slavery in Egypt, crying out in their fiery trial, being oppressed and bullied by the Egyptians, the Lord appeared in a burning bush as if to say, "I'm feeling your heat I am come down to deliver you". I want you to know something. This God is a wonderful God. He is a good God. He is a holy God. He has righteousness. He has standards for the universe. He tells the storm and the waves of the sea "Hitherto you shall come, up till now you can come here, but no more". Even the tsunami finally hears the cry of God from heaven, say "Stop! Enough"! Alright, God ordained it. Everything in the universe obeys God except man. Amen?
So here we have, the world will be set right when He, the One deserving of the throne of David, He will sit on that throne and reign in righteousness, in love, and we'll have heaven on earth, amen. That's called the millennial rule of Christ. And that has been on my heart these few weeks as you can tell. So remember this. And those of you who are against you say, "Whoa I can't imagine a Jesus who is violent". You must understand one thing, if your child is about to be harmed, you see a mother bear or a mother lion, fight even against animals that are bigger. Whether it's a lion, another lion or an elephant, the mother will fight to her death to defend the child. I call that love. You don't call that politically correct. I call that love.
And yet those of you, some of you who say "Whoa I can't worship a God you know, I cannot admire a God who kills people". You must understand, He is not out to kill people. He is out to save people. But there are people who refuse to come under His grace, under His love. And then they end up on the other side of anti-Christ. They are hell bent to kill. Well God is gonna kill those people in the book of Revelation. Amen? And you cannot say that, "Oh I cannot respect a God like that". Because deep down inside your heart you watch movies, where you want the hero to fight. You see the hero sees bad things going on, the hero sees a girl is about to be raped, he sees a small child is about to be beaten up. And the hero stands down there, you want him to respond you hypocrite!
But I'm not here, we're not there yet where the Lord returns, taking vengeance on the anti-Christ. And years and years of the cry of all the martyrs, and children going to heaven before their time, but He will come back, and He will... He's the kinsman-redeemer, He will redeem them, and He will avenge them. That is the Hero of heroes. I know some of you, you cannot imagine the Jesus of the Gospels and the Jesus of Revelation. I can, in fact that makes me worship Him. Amen, because I like watching shows where the bad guy gets a good hero whacking him up. I love shows like that. I love shows where a guy is abusing a girl, slapping her around then the hero comes, amen close the door whack all the guys and free the girl. I like shows like that. And you don't pretend, you like shows like that also.
But you come to church, "Oh I just want God, Jesus to be holding a lamb all the time". Not this church okay, and I'm a preacher of grace, I said I'm a preacher of grace. Are you listening, people? So how do you explain this? "Many will come", the key: "In that day". In that day when they see Jesus return, everybody panic! When they see Jesus is the One, nobody will profane His name anymore. So when they come to Him they say, "Lord, Lord". You think they will call Him "Lord, Lord"? In that day, yeah of course, of course! Every ruler on earth, everyone who has blasphemed Him, whatever they believe it is, those who don't believe in the Bible, those who don't believe in God, they will all when they see Him they will say, "Lord, Lord". "Hey Lord, we did a lot of good things in Your name".
In your name? That is what they said Jesus didn't say, "You did this in My name". They said they did things in His name. If Jesus said they did things in His name, it'll be the name of the Lord Jesus. But if they said they did things in His name, they did things they thought in the name of God, "I did things in Your name". No way, it is not in Jesus' name. Jesus says, "I'm sorry", no Jesus don't apologize. The days of apology are over. Are you listening, people? These people are not saved. Another thing you need to know is this "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven but he who does the will of My Father in heaven".
So I have seen people stand behind the pulpit and say things like "Not everyone who says to Him, 'Lord, Lord' will enter the kingdom of heaven! But he who does the will of the Father". And then he never tells you what is the will of the Father, because that is control. If you want to know the will of the Father alright you keep on coming. Because now you might be on a shaky foundation, you might lose your salvation, "Not everybody who calls Me, 'Lord, Lord'". See people love to use this verse to control. But if the gospel of grace is true, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved, and your house". Then how do you reconcile this? That means he who does the will of the Father, and what is the will of the Father? Believe on Jesus!
Not everyone who calls him Lord, Lord is saved in that day, but he who does the will, those who have proclaimed Jesus Christ as their personal Saviour and Lord. Not in that day when they realize He is God saying to Him in that day 'Lord, Lord'. But today, if you call him Lord, you believe in Him in your heart, you are doing the will of the Father! Okay? Proof, John 6:40, the words of Jesus "And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life and I will raise him up at the last day". Can you see that? Amen? What is the will of Him? The will of Him is that everyone who sees the Son, and many a times when you're preaching Jesus and people see Him in the sermon, and they believe in Him, guess what? They are saved. That is the will of the Father, that everyone believes in the Son.
What is the will of the Father? Everyone believes in the Son. And be careful of people who try to say that the will of the Father there is your works again, your behavior. If they do that, they are negating the gospel of Jesus Christ, it's the spirit of anti-Christ in the pulpit. There is no compromise, when it comes to preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. It's the gospel of grace and peace. Amen people, are you with me so far?
Next question I want to handle is this "Pastor Prince, if I have a Christian company, not just a church, okay, a Christian organization. And everyone are Christians. I'm a Christian boss, and my people are all you know, have been influenced, impacted by the gospel of grace. And they all know that, and, you know, Pastor, people who believe in grace they are very humble people. When you talk to them they say, "You know boss it's really God's grace on my life". They are very humble people. It's easy to work with humble people. But my question is this: It's year end and I need to reward them. I need to give them their assessment for their remuneration". How many understand what I'm talking about so far, alright? I'm using a Christian organization because a worldly organization don't think about grace. You understand, there's no grace in their decision-making. But for a Christian boss, grace is there.
"Now Pastor Prince, if I give everybody by grace whoa, everybody get five months bonus. Because five is the number of grace what. And then next year, they'll get five hundred dollar increment. Again five what, Pastor. You know, is that what I must do, Pastor Prince, is that what I must do"? You know, friend, and these are the questions we get when we travel overseas, people ask that question. Pastor Mark traveled to Taiwan last week, they asked him the same question. I want to tell you this because I've given the answer here before, and I want to say it again, so that those who were not here you are able to take this home and keep it somewhere, Okay? The answer is here, in 1 Corinthians 15. How do we assess our employees? How do we assess people that are under us? "But by the grace", Paul is talking, "But by the grace of God, I am what I am. And His grace towards me was not in vain". Now listen, "His grace towards me was not in vain".
That means it is possible for the grace of God in your life to be in vain. That means God gives you the grace, you have the love… okay for example grace to work among children. Number one, you must have a love for children. God gives you the grace, then you have the love for children. When you look at children, there is a slight smile on your face, and you have ideas going in your head as to how to make Jesus more real in their lives. You have creative, innovative ideas to make the Sunday school more exciting. You have that grace every time you think about it. But then you think about your responsibility at work, you think about the amount of time you have, but the grace is there. And then finally there came a time where you decide, you know what, then you feel the passion. You think about God's work you feel the passion, alright, but God will never force you.
So God never force even though He's King. He will not knock your knees together and make you fall and say, 'Obey'. He'll never do that. Amen. Even right now you are free to get up and walk away. He will never force you and freeze your butt on the seat, amen? So the thing is this, He will give you the desire for children ministry. If someone don't have the desire for children ministry, sometimes Christians have this idea that God will ask you to do things in the ministry you have no desire for, and you have to take up your cross, I don't believe that for one moment. That cannot be applied for that. When it comes to ministry, there must be a gift. A gift will give you a desire to flow in that direction. Amen?
So if someone doesn't have love for kids, we don't want them among our kids. And the kids also don't want them among them. Okay? So what do we do then? You have this grace, it's coming on you, you feel it every time you think about children, you feel like "Yeah one of these days I must sign up. Yeah one of these days I must sign up One of these days I must sign up". But you didn't. You prioritize your work. You prioritize something else. And you do overtime, you're tired on Sunday. And then you want to work but then you cherish your partying on Saturday night, and you're not willing to lay down anything. Then the grace that God gives you, just for you, you know, He didn't give this grace to anybody else, He gave it to you, what an honor, was in vain. Then guess what? It dissipates. It dissipates.
Then he goes on to say, after he says "His grace towards me was not in vain". That means God can give you grace, but it was in vain, "But I labored", Paul says, "I labored more abundantly than they all". Now I assume from the context here they all refers to Peter, James, John, Bartholomew, Thomas and all the rest I labored more abundantly than they all "Yet not I", you see how quick he is to give honor where honor belongs? "Yet not I, but the grace of God who is with me". Are you listening, people? In other words, if the grace is there and you step in it, first of all, you see the grace, the calling, the wooing of grace to get involved in this ministry to go with Pastor Prince to Israel. You feel the grace to do it. You feel the grace to want to participate in this ministry. You find out, "Oh man, I can sing a better song. Hey hallelujah. You know, the guy up there, oh how terrible man, the way he sings. I can sing better".
Okay you have the grace but don't have the humility, alright? Takes some time, let the grace work. So the thing is that the grace will start working. Will you say YES to the grace? Will you flow with the grace? Now, Paul flowed with the grace, and ended up doing much more than all the rest ever did. Yet it was not him, but the grace of God that was with him. So for a boss, for the employer, you cannot decide based on looking at people's grace. You decide based on, "I know your works. I know your works. I know your works. I know your works. I assess you based on what you produce. I assess you based on what you have brought forth. I assess you based on results". But you say, "But Pastor Prince, that is not grace"! No it is grace, listen carefully, if you use the grace there'll be the fruits. In fact it shows, my assessing your works, tells me you have been using the grace, that the grace has not been in vain! Are you listening?
Maybe you start off as a receptionist, but you love to answer calls in such a way that you have a ear to the Spirit when someone is in trouble, you don't just say, "Yes, oh yeah he'll be back, Pastor Lian is not around. Yes…" hang up. You have you know, "Well sister is there anything? We can always... I can try to contact someone, this pastor is available alright". And people hear that, and bosses see that, and they see the flow of grace is on this person, that person will not remain as a receptionist. Nothing wrong with starting as a receptionist. So bosses cannot judge based on, oh based on grace, everybody get five percent. No, it's based on works. Like Jesus looked at the churches in Revelation, "I know your works. I know your works". Works reflect whether the grace has been used in your life. God gives you the grace to do something. When you use and flow with the grace God gives you, God rewards you for using the grace He first gave you, Amen? So are you clear on that? Bosses are you clear on that?
Yeah, some people think that Pastor Prince allow everyone to stand in the pulpit or dancing or singing "You raise me up…" You know they think as long you got a voice like that you can all be... no, no they have all been assessed. I don't care how young they are. They have all been assessed. And that's why people in the platform ministry, once a while we give them a test. We purposely correct them, and we see how they respond, whether they allow correction or not. If they have a bad attitude, they cannot go further. I shouldn't be revealing my… You see the response people have. It always tells you whether they can go to the next level. Can I have a good amen? "But Pastor Prince you must understand I have the flow to do this, but I don't have the time". Isn't that interesting? Everybody has the same time, twenty-four hours.
This child was born yesterday in Kandang Kerbau hospital with extra fifteen hours. Nobody else gets it. There's no such thing right? In fact my Bible says that there are things that you do that God can add time. Jacob loved Rachel, served seven years for her, but they were like few days because of the love he had for her. Time passes fast sometimes, but it's still time. And the Bible says, when you spend time in the Word, He will add length of days, and then days of life in the same verse. So obviously both cannot be referring to longevity. Length of days my friend, it's not always long life. It means length of days. You have all the time to do whatever you want to do. It's a blessing. I said it's a blessing. Start your day wrong, and you see how short the day is, how frustrated you feel. How when you close your eyes you don't feel good. Start the day right, and you start the day right with God.
Andrew Murray says, he calls it the "inner chamber", the place where you spend time with God. You and God alone is amazing. Whatever fears you have, you are in the presence. Hey, if I got the chance to be in the presence of the Queen of England, I'll be making sure that I dress my best, I'll be making sure that everything is fine, and I'll treasure every moment, and I'll try to memorize every word she says. How about you got a chance to be in the presence of the King of kings? With all due respect to all the monarchs on earth, the King of kings that you spend time with can do something about your situation. And even talking to Him about all the problems in your life, knowing you are talking to the person who has all the power, who has all the love for you y'all, does something to your heart. And when you step out of the inner chamber, you find that there is a fragrance that is being diffused. And you find the whole day you carry the anointing of His presence. Start the day wrong, and you know that you're on your own, even though God loves you, okay? Amen. "Amen Pastor Prince".
Alright, third question, does it help the bosses here alright? So if you get one month, one and a half months, you get three months, that is how bosses assess, based on your performance, based on… and performance is brought about by how you flow with the grace. You flow with the grace, it will be great performance, it'll be fruit of the Spirit, right attitude even. Amen? The third thing I wanna handle is this, Holiness. "Pastor Prince, what is holiness"? And number one, do not confound holiness with righteousness. I had a lady who is very famous in America, she's quite advanced in her years, an amazing Bible teacher. She texted me the other day and she said this "I watched your program, and I'm beginning to realize the difference between holiness and righteousness". People confound the two you know. Even many people who have gone through Bible school, they confound the two.
You ask them what is holiness? They say, "You know, don't do this, don't do that, don't do this". Yes, I mean it can involve certain lifestyle behavior, but holiness is actually being set apart. The opposite of holiness is not sin. The opposite of holiness is commonness. You are like anyone in the world. The people of the world sleep around with no compunction of sin, they indulge and eat and eat. Let me give a word of advice to the believers here, okay? Something is wrong if you have a passion for eating, eating eating alright, it's nothing new you know? It was the downfall of Rome, the downfall of the Greece empire. All the downfalls in history, you'll find they love eating before it happened. Another thing they love is fornication, sexual immorality.
Let me tell you this, God gave food, say amen. God gave sex, say amen. But sex is something that God wants us to have within the confines, sometimes when you confine something it explodes. When you don't confine something, it dissipates. One more time, sometimes you confine something it explodes. If you give it a lot of room like the Padang, the field, it dissipates. Use it all the time, it dissipates, have self-control, self-control, and then when you use it, explosive. He that have ears to hear, in the first floor, in second floor, in the third floor, all over the place, all over Singapore that's watching this right now, and also those that will be watching by way of television, amen. God's ways are best. God had a smile on His face I believe when God created sex. God made sex.
In fact technically speaking God's first commandment He said, "Go have sex". God told man Adam, his first commandment to Adam "Be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth". What? Just stand down there and throw up, and then Seth comes, and then Cain comes, Abel comes? I'm so glad God could have made it that way, you know. I said, God could have made it that way, you know. And ladies, He could have made you sort of like go one corner and lay the eggs. Or God can actually give the act, God can give the act without any pleasure. It is amazing that at the point of greatest pleasure is the greatest creation, that Man can ever produce this side of heaven. It's not done with pain, it's done with pleasure. And God created it. I tell you what God does. God is a good God.
Okay, the devil comes along. He wants to bring marriage... Marriage is God's idea, and God means man, woman, husband, wife within the confines where it becomes explosive. Alright, real, fulfilling sex. The devil comes and brings sex out of the marriage confinement, and the devil wants it to be something that will cause man not only to affect his body, but affects his mind, and he sleeps around, and then they think that there's nothing to it, but let me tell you this: If I put a piece of paper and I glue it to another piece of paper, I leave it for one hour and I pass the paper to you and tell you to try to separate them as accurately as possible, you cannot do it. Some things in this paper will get stuck to this paper, and some things in this paper will be on the other side of the paper, because they have become one. God ordained for Man to be one.
You can argue your case until you say "I don't believe in God and all that", but you are still going away the same way, in a box or in a fire, the way God ordained it, amen, for believers, the rapture. Because there are three time zones of the grace of God in Titus chapter 2, "The grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men". That's the past, Jesus came. Notice he's called the grace of God. I always say grace is a person, the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation. That's past. So three time zones of grace. That's the past time zone, Jesus came. Grace appeared, bringing salvation. Great news? Then the present time zone. "Teaching us" what is teaching us? Who is teaching us? The grace of God. Context. The grace of God teaches us. I teach you grace, grace teaches you from within. Pastors and leaders who don't preach grace because they are afraid of it, they cannot think well of God, God's goodness, do not allow grace to teach. Ended up, they teach. And when they teach, they don't teach as good as God's grace teaching. When Man teaches it's behavior modification, when grace teaches, it is heart transformation.
So, the present zone, the present time zone of grace is grace teaches us to deny ungodliness and worldly lust, and to live soberly, righteously, presently, in this present time. Then we come to the future of the time zone, future time zone of grace, "Looking for the blessed hope of the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ". The three time zones. See, a believer, I told you last week, a believer does not look forward to death. That's not a scriptural position. The scriptural position is the believer looks forward for the rapture. In every letter of Paul, the rapture is either described, elucidated, or inferred. We have forgotten that. Ok, that's another message altogether. Are you all learning? Now you sit down there and say, "Well, Pastor Prince I'm living together with my girlfriend, and what's the big deal? We are both happy. Happy? What's wrong with that"?
Well, the thing is this, I'll be happy if you're happy and it just ends with us, you know. But there is a God, a God who is perfect goodness, who knows that in the heart, in the heart of the woman, maybe not the guy, she cannot feel the security until she knows that you love her within the confines of marriage. Even though right now she's speaking out of her head, she is not speaking out of her heart. People change, and God knows that people need to be in an environment where they are secure. God's way ends up spirit, soul and body. And I'm telling you church, if you wanna live to 120, you wanna live a long good life, this is one area you will have to watch out for, ok? Sexual purity.
God gave Joseph dreams when he was 17 years old. Even though he had the dreams, he was going around saying, "uh, you know, I saw you all bowing down before me, you know, you also, and, uh…" He had no wisdom he was not able to interpret the dream. But he had the dream. You know when he started interpreting the dream? When he was cast in the dungeon, alright, because Potiphar's wife lied about him, and in the dungeon there were two men who gave him their dreams that have been haunting them, and he was able to interpret the dream accurately, and the events unfold just as he interpreted. So, between the gift and the interpretation, which is wisdom there's one test. Your family is not around. Between the gift and the wisdom to use the gift, to interpret the dream that God gives you, there's a test.
You are far away from your family. Your boss's wife likes you. Nobody is in the big mansion, just you and her. She's young, she's dynamic, she's beautiful, because bosses like Potiphar would choose a beautiful one. You are young, you are virile. Just say YES, and you'll get special favors. Come on, yeah I mean, your father is not around, just say YES. For all you know, God may be far away doing something else, taking care of all the giraffes and elephants in Africa. Alright, come on, this lady is coming on strong, just say YES. Joseph said, "How can I do this great wickedness"? Before the ten commandments was given, Joseph lived before the ten commandments were given and he calls adultery "great wickedness". This is before the ten commandments was given. How can I do this great wickedness and sin against God? He was practicing God's presence, God was there with him.
Then she grabbed his jacket He ran because the only way to respond to lust is run. Run, Forrest, run! In everything else, the Bible seems to say that you know, you can apply this, apply that. When it comes to temptation, run. Sexual temptation, run. Amen. I say Amen. Don't ever say "I can handle it". In every temptation, it's always this cycle. First of all, alright, you are tempted. You're watching something, you're tempted. You didn't mean to be tempted, you woke up that morning, you didn't plan to be tempted, you planned to walk with God, you planned to read your Bible by the end of the day or whatever you had good intentions but you were tempted. Alright, we're talking about sexual here.
And then the biggest blunder comes along. You are tempted, you are watching a movie that has a lot of scenes that you know, it's not Christ-exalting for you to be sitting in that cinema. Especially when you're a pastor. And you still sit through. Why? Because you paid for it. Now, then comes the next problem – "I can handle this". The Bible calls that confidence in the flesh The next one is "I can handle it" Ok? So.. Temptation and then comes "I can handle it". I can handle this movie, I can handle this, I know there are some parts, I can handle this. I can handle her, she just asked for a lift. You know, she's beautiful, I know that, but I can handle it, it will stop there, it will stop there. It will stop there... wow short skirt... stop there I'll just send her back. No problem, no problem.
Ya, I know she's another man's wife, but she wanna talk to me this long, so I talked. She asked for my number also, so I give it to her. I can handle this, man. Everyone who says that, they mean well. Many of them, they mean well. They never plan to fall into adultery. After you handle it, you say, "I can handle it", Bible calls it confidence in the flesh, it leads to a breakout of sin, Ok, breakout of sin, you fall into sin. And when you fall into sin, guess what? You feel guilty. You feel guilty. 99.999% of people feel guilty except for one – that 000.1 heedless. Because you have a conscience, you can never escape your conscience, you will feel guilty. So now you feel guilty, and psychiatry, psychology, they say that if you are guilty, you are feeling perpetual guilt, whether it's actual guilt or pseudo-guilt, you are feeling guilty, you are doomed to repeat the behavior.
But they have no answer, with all due respect. Only Jesus has the answer. There is therefore now no condemnation, and by doing that he destroys the connection. Are you listening? Because the more guilty you are, you will say "Might as well I go all the way". That's the vicious cycle, alright? Now, look up here. Some of you... "Pastor Prince, I think all sin is sin. I don't think there's this sin is greater, that sin is greater". No, no. Sexual sin is greater "Ah, Pastor Prince, you are putting degrees on sin". Ya, I am. Make no mistake about it. There are some sins that are smaller, there are some sins that are greater. Do you remember what Jesus told Pontius Pilate? When he said, "Your people delivered You to me", Jesus says "He who delivered Me to you has the greater sin". Did he say that? Yes. "He who delivered" He was referring to Caiaphas the High Priest, "He who delivered Me to you has the greater sin".
Pontius Pilate has sinned, for the comparison greater sin, that means the sin of Pilate is still sin, "But he who delivered Me to you"... the leader of the Jews, Caiaphas, has the greater sin. Are you listening, people? There are some things you'll... one sin, let me say this, one sin will send anyone to hell. Thank God for Jesus. And God has no time for your emails. You can write to Him and tell Him, "hey, God"... it's like this. God cannot impugn on His own righteousness and holiness. Ok, keep that in mind. Now comes to sexual purity, people, I want to tell you this. When you sin against your body, it's different from sinning other sins, I'm gonna prove that from Scripture. Look at 1 Corinthians 6 "Do you not know that he who was joined to a harlot"... a prostitute is one body with her for the two, He said, shall become one flesh. But He who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with him... next flee, flee sexual immorality, like Joseph.
Why did he run? I submit to you, I believe he ran because he was afraid he might change his mind. He didn't hang around and say, "I can handle this beautiful woman". I can handle this beautiful woman. Wow, she smells good, she smells nice, I can handle this beautiful woman. Wow, she is beautiful. Hmm, I can handle this beautiful woman. Her eyelash are beautiful, I can handle this beautiful... You see, he didn't hang around there, he ran. But she grabbed his jacket, you see. Joseph is always losing his jacket, you notice that? His brothers threw him into the pit, they took his jacket, and put it with blood and tell the father he is dead. And now he lose this jacket. But finally, he has a jacket that was put by the monarch of the land, and became the most powerful man.
Always remember this, if you lose your jacket for testimony's sake for glorifying the One who redeemed you, there will be a new jacket for reigning. Before that, he cannot interpret the dream. But after he says NO, and he was actually punished for it, he was actually... I don't believe that Potiphar believed the story of his wife. If Potiphar believed the story of his wife, he won't be thrown into the dungeon. His head will roll. I think the guy suspect his wife, but he's not strong enough like most men today to stand up to his wife. So you must throw him somewhere. Alright, so there he was, everything in Joseph's life works out for good. He was there, and for the first time, for the first time we see him being able to interpret. When he received dreams earlier in his father's house, he was not able to interpret. Ability to interpret, what God tells you is wisdom.
There are people who have messages from God until the angels say, "Wah, give up… from January onward I've been telling him the same thing, he still…" God even sent, you know on Nat Geo God sent a buffalo with a name, alright, National University of Singapore. And the guy still, "which, which university should I go, Lord"? I'm just saying there are people like that And what makes a person "duh", "blur", "ooh", "duh", "hmm"? Have you seen guys... and I've seen teenagers, and I shared this with our teenagers. I tell them, if you are a teenager you look at other teenagers, if they're always indulging themselves physically, if they are watching pornography, if they are always masturbating, and they're always thinking of all that, they have no self-control, what happened is that when you look at them, they look like zombie.
Long before the movie Zombie became famous, Pastor Prince used the word "zombie", many years ago. They look like... now don't look around ok, please, give these people a chance. Revival is about to... they cannot think straight, and they are very slow, they become sluggish, they become slow. Amen. But people who say NO – "but, but if the passion comes, I have to let it go, or I'll explode"! Friend, you will not implode, you will not explode. Trust me, okay? Many successful people will tell you, your sexual energies is not released, it is transmuted into creativity, into areas of innovation, and people who are creative are highly sexed people, but they are not people who will give in to their passions all the time. And then, when they step into a room, people just feel this guy is in control. They don't know why.
God wants to bring you to that place It's called the glory of God. You understand? God loves you. Hey, God loves you Ok, back to the proof that sexual immorality is the sin that has a class of its own Every sin that a man does – by the way, the word sexual immorality is "porneia". Porneia. Sounds familiar? Porno, porneia This sexual immorality includes anything outside marriage that is not a husband and a wife. Full stop. Flee. Run. "Every sin that a man does is outside the body", so that includes fear, concern, worry, complaining, murmuring every sin that a man does is outside his body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. Friend, do you know something? God is showing some sins have certain like effects, some sins have other effects. You know what affects your body and gives you chronic sickness and problems?
Now, I want to say, first and foremost, Pastor Prince is not saying, and thousands of you are witnessing I did not say if someone is sick, alright, there's sexual immorality I did not say that. But when you read this Scripture, the Bible is saying that if you commit sexual immorality, you are sinning against your own body. Not your mind, not your spirit - your body. Body to me means, where the sickness manifests – body. You want divine health? "Pastor Prince, I take communion everyday". Yeah, but you are sleeping with that man. I do not know, you know, I'm just saying only, alright. I'm just speaking by the Spirit. "And Pastor Prince you know we do your devotional, and then we sleep". Are you married? "No, but we do your devotional"! You are sinning against your own body.
And next time you go to the doctor or you come to a pastor and you say "Why did God let this happen"? God didn't let it happen. God didn't want it to happen. You sin against your own body. You didn't sin against anybody. Your own body, maybe the person you sinned with, but it's your own body. Can you see that or not? Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. Now here is where – where some pastors and I differ. They will say that "this person needs deliverance. This person needs to confess his sin". Now, I'm not against confessing your sins, I told you before, I'm against confessing in order to be forgiven. I believe in confessing because you have been forgiven. It's a claiming.
So watch this. When it comes to sin Paul's response is always, "or do you not know that your body is" people, "is" is present tense or past tense? The way some people teach is like... by the way, the Corinthian Christians were going into the temple harlots, prostitutes ok? That's the scenario here. Now, Paul is saying, we should be saying based on contemporary charismatic deliverance teaching, that once you sleep with a harlot you are now filled with evil spirits. But Paul didn't do that. Paul said to them, "your body still is the temple of the Holy Spirit". Hope is not lost. If you are saved, you are saved. And notice the Holy Spirit did not leave you when you were sleeping around? That's why He can be grieved. Because He has visions of grandeur for your body. He has visions of radiance for your body. He has visions of the outshining for your face. He has visions of sparkling eyes for you.
He has a vision of you being at the age of 70, 80 years old, people say, "my goodness, you still look like 50, you still look like 40". He has visions of grandeur for you. Anything less is sin, because it comes short of the glory that God has for you. Do you understand that, people? And the more you... listen, guys... you think that if I give in, I'll be satisfied this time. No, the more you give in, the more you give in, it's a bondage. Start saying NO. When it comes to sexual sin, you must say NO somewhere. I will not watch this TV series, I will not do, I will not, because for me other people can, they've no problem with that, you know. But for me, I don't know why I keep on stumbling, because I like this girl whatever, then I won't. Praise God. Ok?
Isn't it wonderful that you still have the Holy Spirit in you? "Is" is present tense. Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price. What a price? "You see, Pastor Prince, I can do whatever I want with my body". Not if you're a Christian, you were bought. You were bought. A lot of people, they go to the market, a lot of unbought goods. Unbought. Nobody wants to buy them. But you were bought. You are bought. And you are not bought with a million dollars. A million dollars pales in comparison with the price that was paid for you, with the vision of glory that God has for you. You were bought with something the whole world cannot equate - the precious blood of Jesus Christ.
Therefore, because you were bought at a price, therefore glorify God – where? In your body, and in your spirit, which are God's. How do I glorify God in my body? God says, keep yourself sexually pure, and I'll see to it that people will look at your body and see My glory. Amen? Wow. And pastors and leaders you know, instead of jumping up and down, "Yeah, it's time to whack the people"! Paul didn't whack. Paul didn't even say "confess". Paul says, "Don't you know"? Paul's response to people who are living in sin is always "don't you know, your body is", still is. Brother suing brother in court "don't you know, we shall judge angels"? There's party spirit, there's pride, there is divisions: I'm of Apollo, I'm of Paul, I'm of Pastor Prince, and I'm of this speaker, I'm of that, and Paul says, "hey, hey, hey, hey, hey! Don't you know they are all yours"? It's always "don't you know".
Brother suing brother in court, don't you know? We all shall judge angels! Not heavenly ones, fallen ones. We shall judge... what a calling that we have in our future. So the world out there... the Bible says don't be involved in the lust of the Gentiles. They can afford to be lustful, but not us. We are called to glory y'all... we are called to virtue. And if there is anyone watching me, and you are in fact right now, I don't care if you're Christian or not a Christian, but you are actively trying to seduce another man's wife, God has a special word for you. I'm serious. And by the way, in case you're wondering, all these writings are the writings of the apostle of grace, preached by a pastor of grace. The Apostle Paul wrote this. The warning I must... come on, aren't you glad it says "you are bought at a price therefore glorify God in your body"? Not just spiritually, in your spirit, but in your body, there must be something there, people.
I salivate when I look at that kind of thing, spiritually you know what I'm saying? You understand or not? I look at some verses and I salivate. Like Jabez Prayer, I salivate. I wanna be like that. Ok, if you are actively trying to seduce another man's wife or you have done it, I got a word from the Lord for you. This is by the apostle of grace also. 1 Thessalonians 4 "For this is the will of God… your sanctification", – your holiness there's one thing that God – "the will" of God. One thing that you can be practically holy, God says, watch out for your sexual area. In fact, this sin is a sin that really affects every area of your life.
A guy can be angry and still be reinstated in the ministry. A guy can be untidy and callous and still be reinstated. A guy can be a lot of problems and still be reinstated. But if a guy commits adultery, even the world will not allow it. Back to the one that's trying to seduce another man's wife, special word: 1 Thessalonians 4, "This is the will of God… your sanctification that you should abstain from sexual immorality". You see, the holy, the apostle of grace emphasized it so strong that "each of you should know how to possess his own vessel" – your body – "in sanctification and honor". Have respect for your body. Amen. Ladies, don't dress to lure. Dress to be pure. That doesn't mean you look like an old goat, but it means you shine, you look good, you look wholesome, you look healthy, Amen.
"Not in passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God". We are not like the Gentiles who do not know God. You know what I'm saying? If there is someone down here and if you wanna write something about me and all that, and they do not know God, I don't give two hoots about it. I cannot be bothered, they don't see what I see. You see, the people outside the tabernacle don't see the beauty of the supernatural light of the menorah in the tent, they don't see the four face of Jesus in the tent, it's all covered from them. Blessed are your eyes for you see. So don't be like them, don't be like the people of the world, they don't believe in marriage anymore. The thing is this, people. Don't be like the people of the world. We are born again, we are redeemed.
And the Bible says, not in passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God. Now watch this, watch this. Next verse, "that no one should take advantage of and defraud his brother in this matter". The context talk about sexual immorality. If you deceive or you take advantage of his wife, alright, "because the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also forewarned you and testified". I tell you what, I don't know what... I don't claim to understand everything in this verse, but I tell you one thing, God will always take sides. If Ananias and Saphira come to cheat His people, even they drop dead, God will let them drop dead because He is protecting His people. You can say that His mercy endures forever. Who sings that? Israel, not Egypt. Egypt, their people died, their Pharaoh died, they have no song. Who are the ones singing, "Praise the Lord for He is good"? Who is God good to? His people.
And you can be His people before the day is over by putting your trust in Jesus Christ. But God will protect His people. What if there are two brothers, both are saved and this guy is seducing this guy's wife? It says, "no one should take advantage and defraud his brother. Even then the Lord is their avenger of all such" apostle of grace huh? "As we also forewarn you and testify". You say, "Pastor Prince, I don't think this is grace". This is apostle of grace, friend God did not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness, and all the people say… "Well Pastor Prince, I reject all this, I don't believe that you are preaching based on revelation". Next verse, "therefore he who rejects this", does not reject Pastor Prince, who is a man, but God, who has also given us His Holy Spirit. Are you listening, people?
Now let me close by bringing this. Friend, there are levels of sin. One sin is enough to send a sinner to hell, no matter how small, how big. But there are degrees of sin. It's like some sin cause bigger ripples, and sexual immorality is one such sin that has big, big, big ripples. But friend, sexual immorality. Once you learn to say NO, it gets easier and easier. Then all of a sudden you find that you are entering into a new world where your mind is clear, where, you know and when you see a beautiful girl, alright, you learn to thank God for her, you see her no longer as an object, you see her as a person. You thank God, alright, for her, and you focus – what a beautiful wife I have, Amen. And you know something? Your wife will get more and more and more beautiful. But if you are indulging in pornography, I'm telling you, your wife will get uglier and uglier, but no – she's not. She's not. In your mind she is.
Now for some reason, my ministry has brought – I should – now you know you know, when I say my ministry, you know what I mean, It's the ministry of the Lord, through what He has given me, has brought deliverance to people who are in drug addictions, and especially pornography. I was stunned because I didn't see carefully my testimonials, and I didn't have time, I just came back from London, and last week, last Sunday when they showed the highlights, many a times I only watched the highlights the day before, so I don't even know. And I was stunned to hear that one gentleman over there, a Hillsong delegate, was sharing openly his deliverance from pornography.
Now, friend, pastors and leaders, what would you want? People that are rejoicing over their victory over pornography, or people who are who are hiding, and then they're still sinning, and then they sit under your ministry, and you – you don't preach grace, you preach balanced grace which is a misnomer, like half Moses, half Jesus, half law, half grace. There's no such thing. But look at the testimonies of these precious people One person in the Philippines wrote this to me, and his name is Ariel:
"I was raised in a Christian family in the Philippines. My twin brother is a minister in our church where I am also serving as a worship leader and musician. After serving for many years we were both burnt out. We did not know why and we certainly were not aware that something was lacking in our lives. Thank God my brother chanced upon a YouTube video of Pastor Joseph Prince. The video excited him so much, he shared it with me. When I heard Pastor Prince preach that I am the righteousness of God in Christ, my tears immediately started to fall. I finally realized that this was exactly what I needed, to know that God is not angry with me. This really is good news. This amazing gospel of grace changed me. I had an addiction to pornography that started in my high school days. I tried to stop the addiction, but without success. I thought Christian music would help my behavior, but it did not and I felt so condemned. Whenever Sunday came, I tried to lead worship with a happy and anointed face, but in my heart I was crying and asking God to help me. Thanks to our Lord Jesus, after believing and confessing that He is my righteousness".
You see, friend, confessing sin all the time make you sin conscious and sometime, people, when they are confessing many a times, they are tempted again. I am not against confessing, I am just telling you the Bible confession of sin was under law, if I live under the law like Daniel, like Isaiah, like Nehemiah I will confess my sins because I am under that order, but to honor Jesus, I confess I am the righteousness of God in Christ. And at times, you are frank with God as a sin is a sin, but you thank God He has forgiven, you thank God, you are the righteousness, that is the New Testament. And that's what changed his life you see?
"I confess that He is my righteousness When I confess that, after believing and confessing that He is my righteousness, my desire to watch pornography has been replaced with a new desire to watch Pastor Prince program "Destined to Reign" on Trinity Broadcasting Network. I have also begun to read Christ-centred books including those by Pastor Prince and listen to all his MP3 sermons. At last I am free. Now I can lead worship without condemnation with all confidence in Jesus finished work, and most of all, with full knowledge of God's love for me. It has been two years now in case you are wondering and I know it has not been because of my self-control efforts. It is all because of God's love for me".
The testimonies that we have received, is always the same, "It is not me. It is not me". They always say it is not me. "In addition I was asked to preach for six months in my church. Everybody knows I am not an experienced preacher, but using one of Pastor Prince's books as my guide on what to preach I was able to finish the task. The result was that our pastor rediscovered the gospel and he is now preaching pure grace messages instead of a mixture of law and grace". Hallelujah.
Now sit back and watch this most recent testimony that I only got to see yesterday because I, we showed a small part of it. Praise God. -.:.- Like I said, I saw an excerpt last week when the team prepared you know, the testimony. And I said, my goodness you know, people are willing to stand up and say they had a problem last time with pornography. Most people will look down, you know. For me it's like that woman who went to the city of Samaria and said, "Come see a man, you know, who told me all that I did about my five husbands and me committing adultery at this time". And Jesus did not let that woman remain in sin. You say, "Pastor Prince, don't you love me the way I am"? Because I love you, and I know God has great things in store for you, not at this level. You know, the worst thing that can happen to my son Justin is to be two years old all the time. It is very cute, but not all the time. Something is wrong, God wants you to grow. Amen?
Let me close with this. let me close with this You know, when the Pharisees brought that woman caught in adultery, some people think she is a prostitute. No, she was caught in adultery. Say adultery. When the Pharisees brought her to Jesus, it was because the Pharisees… Now here is where all the pastors and leaders, when they listen to this "Ya it is about time Pastor Prince, you know, you got to tell them like it is". No it is not that! Many a times their approach, if their confidence is in the law, my confidence is in the grace of God. You see, the Pharisees, you know why they brought that woman caught in adultery? They caught here in adultery, think about it, the terrible thing that they would have done in that they waited until the act was done, they step in, they brought the woman without the man, because maybe it is one of them. The whole idea is that they brought the woman to contend about grace and law. This is about grace and law.
Answer me this question, do you think for one moment if they think Jesus' ministry is balanced, some grace, some law they would have brought that woman to Him? No. It must have been they knew all His ways talk about grace. It must have been, they see the way His grace is towards sinners, that they would have brought that adulteress. It is because they knew Him! That if there is a sinner who comes to Him, the sinner will never be condemned. They knew it, or else they would never have brought that woman to Jesus. They brought that woman, because they knew His ways of grace. Their confidence was in the law, they boasted in the law, but did they know the law? People who preach the law, the Ten Commandments, do they really know the law?
I tell you this, God has brought a revelation to me when I was eighteen years old that made me tremble, and I confessed every hour that any sin that almost remotely sounds like sin, I will confess it. I cannot understand Christians around me not doing it. You are looking at a man that has a revelation of the law being unbending, and those who say we can keep the law don't even understand, alright, and they have no respect for the law. If you read… So these are the Pharisees, they take the law as something they are proud of, gives them identity grace they despise grace that came through the Son of God, whereas the sinners' confidence is in God's grace. So they brought that woman to Jesus, and you know, threw her in the midst and say, "Master, Moses in the law". So they would have the Lord become Moses' enemy. That's what's happening to preachers of grace today. They want to portray us, people like Pastor Prince here as an enemy of Moses, as an enemy of the law.
Friend, listen, just because we are not under law doesn't mean the law is my enemy. Thank God for the law, without the law I won't see my need for the Savior. They try to bring the law in "Moses said that such should be stoned, what do you say"? They are trying to present, show Jesus up as Moses' enemy, but Jesus displayed Himself as Moses' Lord. You are about to see that. Now, they brought that woman to the Lord and their boast is in the law. Watch what the Lord does. Since you boast in the law, the Lord Jesus let out the heat of Mount Sinai, okay, in that entire place, since their boast is in the law, the Lord of the hill the Lord of Mount Sinai, let out the genuine heat of that place, and they all felt it when He… First of all He wrote on the ground as though He didn't hear their accusations of that woman, and I pray that you will always have this picture, whoever accuses you, your wife may be concerned, your best friend might be concerned Jesus does not hear it. He refuses to hear it.
The Bible says He wrote on the ground as though He heard them not. He is deaf, and Isaiah, I used to be puzzled with one thing Isaiah says about His servant Who is like My servant? God says. He is deaf. There is a verse there. I used to wonder, how can, how can Jesus be deaf? And after I read this kind of stories and all that, I realized, He is purposely deaf to some things. Amen. He is deaf to the accusations, and He wrote as though He heard them not. And the Bible says He put up and He let out the full heat of Mount Sinai. Yes, throw the first stone, but only the one without sin throw the first stone. Did Jesus impugn the law? No, He cannot. He cannot impugn the law, neither can I. Jesus didn't come to destroy the law, He came to fulfill! The reason we are not under law is because He fulfilled it. If you fulfill your contractual obligations, whether it is payment to the bank, stop paying! If you have fulfilled it! Jesus did not come to, to destroy. He came to fulfill!
We are not, we are no longer under law not because the law has been destroyed. We are not under law because it has been fulfilled! When the Lord Jesus was a baby, they brought Him to the temple to be circumcised. The Bible tells us that Mary and Joseph brought baby Jesus and they brought a pair of doves. Now, if you study the book of Leviticus you will find that the very poor will bring doves. How the throne of David has so fallen to the point that (both of them are from the line of David), they become poor. That they brought a poor man's offering. Actually they had a lamb, the richest lamb there is. But they brought the baby and the poor man's offering, and when they came and offered, the Bible tells us that there was a old man in the temple at that time, the temple of Herod, he was always there, his name was Shi-mon, Simon, Shi-mon. You need to hear this.
Today when you go to Israel, they summarize the law all the rabbis, you know you ask them, give me one word as the summary of the law, you know what they will say? Shema, shema. Shema means the law, speaking the law. Shema Israel, Adonai eloheinu. Hear O Israel, our God is one God. Right? The Shema. The Shema is a picture of the law. So Shema was there. The law was an old man by the time Jesus came. Why did God bring the law first and not Jesus first? Because God is a good advertiser. Let people be under law for 1500 years, and then when they realize they can't they will see their need for the Saviour. Bring Jesus too soon and they won't see their need for Him. So the law is now old, Shema, and he saw the baby, and he took the baby, the Bible says he came by the Spirit to the temple, and he took the baby the Bible says, he said to the Lord "Lord, my eyes have seen your salvation".
Don't forget they are speaking in Aramaic, alright, he probably said "My eyes have seen your Yeshua". Call Him by name. "And now let your servant depart in peace". Even the law was happy to see Jesus, and the law said to God let me now depart in peace. The Bible says that he blessed Joseph and Mary. Notice, he never bless the baby. Why? The baby is greater than him. The baby is greater than Mary. The baby is greater than Joseph. He never bless the baby, he blessed the parents. And then, he departed. The Lord is just speaking to me. The Bible says in Psalms 91, "With long life…" How many want to live long? God promise you, "With long life will I satisfy him and show him my…" Salvation is? Yeshua. So this man lived a long good life, Shema was very old when he saw baby Jesus, then he says what? "Let me now depart, my eyes have seen Yeshua". God gives you a long good life so that you can see more and more of Jesus Amen?
So after the old man departed, they were carrying the baby, someone came in, it was a woman from the tribe of Asher, that is reputed to have the most beautiful women of all the twelve tribes of Israel alright, the most beautiful… It was a tradition, they said that it came from the tribe of Asher, and her name was Hannah. And Hannah, Han means grace. Like if your name is John, in Hebrew it is Yo, Yahweh, Yo, Hannan, grace. God is grace. So Hannah came in, and Hannah said to everyone. Shema didn't talk to everybody because the law is not missionary. The law does not evangelize. Grace evangelize. Hannah said to everyone that is looking for redemption, "Look at this baby! This baby is our redemption". So law went, grace came in. Are you listening?
Back to this again, okay, Jesus let out the fullness of the heat of Mount Sinai, because He is the Lord of the hill, He is not Moses' enemy, He is Moses' Lord. He was the one that gave the Ten Commandments. When He stooped down and wrote on the ground, don't forget the place that He was writing was the place that inside the temple, the precinct of the temple, and it is not earthy ground, it is not muddy ground, it is actually stony ground. Look up here, stony ground. Jesus, finger, writing, stone, what does that tell you? The Ten Commandments. He is saying, you presume to talk to me about the Ten Commandments. I am the one who gave Moses the Ten Commandments. Are you listening people?
You see at the end of this chapter, this is chapter eight, John 8, they never understand Jesus People don't understand grace, it is bigger than their mind. You know what Jesus told them? Abraham rejoiced. Right after this, at the end of the chapter, Jesus says "Abraham rejoiced to see My day". Very plain words You know what they heard? "You are not yet fifty years old, you have seen Abraham?"! He didn't say I saw Abraham. He said Abraham saw me. Look at this, drop down the verse, "Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day, and he saw it and was glad". The Jews said to Him, "You are not yet fifty years old, have you seen Abraham"? Did He say that? Did He say that He saw Abraham? No, Abraham saw Him, He is the greater one.
Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly I say to you, before Abraham was, I am". They can't take that, they can't take that, next verse tells us they took up stones to throw at Him, the midst of them and so passed by. But something about grace, even if one person rejects grace, grace cannot stop being grace, grace cannot stop giving, because that is the nature of grace. If you reject grace, you don't get from grace, because grace will understand, alright, your rejection, but you lose out and grace will just pass by. And when it pass by, the next chapter, chapter 9 says "Now as Jesus passed by, He saw a man blind". And that blind man was healed and all of them could have been healed but you reject grace, grace will still go somewhere to give, Okay?
Grace doesn't say, "Oh don't reject me la please, I am trying my best to help you know"? Grace just goes around, have you notice? He walk in the midst of them and they can't see Him. Now He is walking as God. They were all blinded, He blinded them. He didn't walk at the side you know like a pole, that is what Pastor Lawrence does, He doesn't do that! He walk right in the midst of them, and they can't see Him, why? Because they reject the pillar of cloud, pillar of fire. And that's what happen when Egypt attacked Israel, and Israel was stuck at the Red Sea, talk about between a rock and a hard place. Behind, where the enemies alright, coming, charging on their chariots and you can see all the smoke, many of them have come to destroy! In front is the deep deep Red Sea. Moses cried! The first thing God did was not open the Red Sea, the pillar of fire was leading them all the while at night in front, the pillar of fire went backward, the Bible tells us the pillar of fire was light to the people of God but darkness to Egypt. They were stuck in darkness.
When Jesus let fly, "He that is without sin throw the first stone". You know something? Straight away they were all blinded. It was too bright. Only two persons can see. Jesus, and the condemned woman. He that is without sin… Yes the law can condemn! The devil can accuse! But who can execute? Tell me. There is only one person there who can execute, our Lord Jesus and He didn't say anything to her to condemn her. In fact He became a pillar of fire for her, put them all in darkness, and then made that very place that was for her when she first arrived, the darkness, the gate of darkness, the darkness of death, the valley of death became the gate of heaven! Because Jesus was there defending her. The Bible says one by one…
You see they people who talk about keeping the law, they do not know the purity of the law oh oh, they don't know, they don't know. And then now, they didn't expect, in their heart they say "Wait wait wait a minute, we actually want to use the law on Jesus and the woman what, but we didn't expect Him to put the law on us". It is very painful you know? For us, our conscience to feel it Ya you know right? And one by one the Bible says convicted by their own conscience, one by one they left leaving only Jesus and the woman. The only one that can stone her would not, they would if they could. He could, but He would not. And He looked at the woman, they all left. Has it ever occurred to you, let me ask you, those in the middle floor, because you all look intelligent from afar. When I can't see your face you all look intelligent. They all have God you know, glorified bodies right up there.
Let me ask you this question. They all left, all her accusers all left already, left! Left the place. Did Jesus ask her to stay? No. She could have left. She could have left with her sin. She could have left with her shame. But something happened, and, pastors and leaders, listen when we preach grace, this is the result. People are so afraid of grace, but they have confidence in the law. They exalt Moses at the expense of the Son of God. Friend, she could have left and join the rest outside or go home and continue her life. Jesus never tell her, "You stay here". Never. But now she didn't want to leave Him. That place of shame, that darkness of death has become the doorway of heaven, the gate of heaven, the light of life. No more darkness, but light of life. No more darkness of death, light of life! No wonder right after this Jesus says "I am the light of the world, he who follows me shall not walk in darkness but shall have the light of life".
She could go. She did not go. She could go, she did not go. She would not go, she could not go because of His love, His grace. She is willing to stand in front of Him, knowing He knows everything about her, and knowing best of all, He loves her just the way she is. So to those of you, you are living in sin let's say, and you say "Pastor Prince don't you love me the way I am"? I love you, Jesus loves you the way you are. And this woman, the Lord loves her the way she is, He never ask her to change before He protected her, He never ask her to change… Hey He never even ask her to confess her sins. The only confession He wanted from her is this "Woman where are those that accuse you"? He wanted her to say: there is no more condemnation. He made her said it. She looked around and said, "No man, Lord". He says, "Neither do I condemn you".
I am telling you this is the secret. Look at the cycle again of sin. You see guilt? Between sins and temptation? Before you go into another cycle, another binge, remember it is guilt, that is the biggest problem in the body of Christ that causes people to repeat the sin. And this is what Jesus did, Jesus look at the woman and says "Neither do I condemn you". He asked her, is anyone accusing you, condemning you? She said, "No one, Lord"! That was a confession – I have no more condemnation. Mind you, she was just caught a few hours ago in the act of adultery, but she confessed, "No one accuses me Lord". There is no more condemnation, in the presence and only in the presence of Jesus and please, the Lord cannot impugn the law, alright someone need to pay for her sin. But Jesus will go to the cross and pay for her sin.
Meanwhile, she is paid like... base on Visa card, Mastercard. The Master says, "Father, charge her sin to My account". And finally it was all paid at the cross. Do you understand people? He didn't forgive her presumptuously, He forgave her righteously. He has to pay for it. Amen? And what did He say to her? He made her confess. That's why I want people to confess, "I am the righteousness of God. There is no condemnation for me in Christ". Especially after you sin. And she says, "No man Lord". And the Lord says to her, "Neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more". Look at this cycle, "neither do I condemn you", there is no more guilt there is no more condemnation, so no need for new resolutions. No need to say, "God, I promise you from now on I will attend all the four services on Sunday. From now on Pastor Prince will have someone cleaning the floor in every toilet from now on, instead of giving ten dollars, I give twenty dollars". God doesn't want all that, doesn't want your resolution, because those are sin offerings. There is only one final sin offering.
If you give you give out of love for the One who redeemed you If you serve, you serve out of love for the one who redeemed you. Amen? But where it was broken was here, guilt, when guilt is broken. Guys, you see a picture… Nowadays pictures are everywhere. You see a picture, and you know you are tempted, alright, straight away "I am the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus". This problem of, "Oh man I sin already. I am out of fellowship". Depend on what you believe, "I am out of fellowship. Now I need… I know I am judicially forgiven, but I am not Fatherly forgiven. Father does not deem me as a son anymore. I must confess then I become a son. Aiya, I have been doing this so many times already. Never mind la go all the way first la, watch la". That's the psyche of a lot of people who are in addictions. They think that it takes a long time for them to confess their sins or whatever because of the mentality we have taught them.
We don't confess our sins to be forgiven, we confess because we are forgiven. And even if we forget to confess, we have a Saviour who died for our forgetfulness. This message will make you Jesus conscious. Amen people? Amen? And right after that, look at this, we will finish with this, John 8 "No man Lord". "Neither do I condemn you, go and sin no more". You see, go and sin no more, a lot of people want to jump on that "You see Pastor Prince, Jesus says go and sin no more…" Oh by the way, by the way, can I ask you a question? Do you think after all the love that she has experienced, the grace and all that if she saw more than all the Pharisees. I said in one stroke she saw more of the ways of God than all the Pharisees. You think for one moment after she leaves Jesus' presence she will say "Now where was the man just now. Where is my boy-boy? Where is my honeycomb? Where is my darling"?
Do you think she goes… You can't imagine that right? Neither can I! No way no way. But we cannot preach: "Go and sin no more"! Without saying: "Neither do I condemn you". Because the gift of no condemnation is what causes people to go and sin no more! Probably the next day? Next two days? She met the same guy. "How? Baby? Should we go somewhere"? "Sorry man, I found the Man who really loves me". You see, at the end of the day friend, the guy wants to use you, but don't want to get married, tell him, "Hasta la vista baby". Maybe maybe not in that kind of tone but, you are a girl so, "Hasta la vista baby". Ok whatever it is. If the guy respect you… Don't allow a guy to respect only your body "Oh baby you got, you are the most magnificent body". Ok, you know, don't allow guys who are shallow to deal with you girls, you are worth gold. You are precious. Amen.
And our virginity? The world is making fun of people who are virgins? Because the world has lost it, and you haven't, so they can't take it. Alright? Amen. You know why we put some things in a treasure box in a safe box at home? Because they are precious. You know some things we put outside you know why? They are not so precious. Nobody have a lock on their toilet bowl. You really got to go man, "Darling which key! Darling which key"! No, you know you can't do that, right? Nobody cares for those things that you use for other things, but you see the thing is this, if you allow people to…
Like kids even will teach us a parable. Open your Christmas presents before Christmas, and all of a sudden on the same day, the joy is no longer there. Having said that, for those of you who have failed, who have sinned there is no condemnation for you but go and sin no more, Amen. Start living a life of the purity, the spirit of a virgin, Amen. So when the time comes, you can still feel the glory of being a virgin. Amen. It is still God's way. Don't forget, God is for glory, glory on your body. God is for glory on your face. God is for glory on your marriage. God is for glory. And those of you who are trying to seduce another man's wife, get ready, the Lord is the avenger. Come on give, Him praise, Hallelujah.
Alright, every head bowed, every eye closed all across this place, praise the name of Jesus, don't you love Him people? Don't you just love Him? Just like that woman who also was committing adultery in Samaria, but she had had five husbands, and currently she was living in adultery when Jesus met her. One moment with Jesus, one moment with grace made her an instant evangelist.
Friend, the world needs the grace of God. Yes, sin is sin, but sin will not be help by preaching the law, because the law is the strength of sin. The law is the strength of sin and not holiness. Grace is the strength of holiness. Perhaps you are not saved, perhaps you have no assurance if your heart stops beating heaven is your home, God is your Father, your sins are forgiven. My friend, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ died for your sins and rose again without them, and the Father has glorified Him and sat Him at His own right hand. If you believe on Him, you will have everlasting life, and in the last days Jesus, our Lord Jesus will raise you up. If that is you, wherever you are watching this right now pray this prayer with me say this from your heart:
Heavenly Father, I believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God. That He died on the cross for all my sins, and you raised Him from the dead for my justification. Jesus Christ is my Lord, my Savior. I have everlasting life, all my sins - past, present and future are forgiven. You have filled me with your Holy Spirit, the spirit of power, love, and a sound mind. Thank You Lord Jesus, that from now on I will live a life where my spirit and my body will glorify you. Keep my body strong, keep my body healthy, I want to serve you with my body. Keep me young for your glory, in Jesus name, and all the people say Amen.
Come on, give Him praise! Hallelujah, Hallelujah. Amen. Remember this: Sin is stronger than your flesh and self-effort, only Christ can overcome it. Look to Him, Amen, look to grace. Praise the Lord. Stand to your feet, people. Lift your hands all across this place. Jabez said to God "Oh that You will bless me indeed". Oh that You will bless me indeed, it is a bless me prayer, and God calls that prayer an honorable prayer. That Jabez was more honorable. So say this:
Father God, bless me indeed! Bless my family, bless my walk with You, bless my revelation, bless my body, make it strong and healthy, keep it young for me to serve You with. Bless my children, bless my spouse, bless this church, and bless this nation. And Father God, protect us from evil in the name of Jesus throughout this week, I cover myself and all my families with the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. In Jesus name, Amen, Amen, Amen.