Joseph Prince - Speak Out What You Believe In Christ
I'm gonna share about the two incidents where Israel drank water out of the rock. There are two instances of this account, all right? And I should not say, it's not same account, rather, there are two separate incidences. One happened at the beginning year when they came out of Egypt, the very first year of the 40 years, all right, in the wilderness. The very first year when they came out of Egypt, they were thirsty and there was a miracle, which we're gonna look into in a while's time. And the other incident was right at the end of the 40 years of wandering in the dessert, actually the wandering happened only 38 years.
Okay, the first two years was not judgment. The judgment only happened when they didn't believe God that God had given them the land. So, it was 38 years they wandered in the wilderness, W-O, W-A, wandering, wondering, amen? Are you wandering wondering? Become a wonder boy and wonder woman. All right, so they were wandering in the desert all these 38 years. That's the reason why in the gospel of John Jesus came to a man who was impotent in his feet, all right, and he was at the pool of Bethesda, the house of grace. And the Bible says that he was 38 years suffering from that disease, 38 years in that condition. So, it's a picture of Israel in the desert. Thank God Jesus came and Jesus put an end to his impotence, amen? Jesus raised him from that place, hallelujah. And the same thing will happen to you when you study these beautiful incidences.
So, we're gonna compare and contrast and see what's the difference. One happened the first year, one happened in the 40th year, the last year of them wandering in the wilderness. Okay, so let's dive right into it. Are you with me? So, let's go right now to Exodus 17, the very first year this happened, all right? Then we look at 40 years later. All right, so this first year they just came out of Egypt. "Then all the congregation of the children of Israel set out on their journey from the Wilderness of Sin", so telling, "according to the commandment of the LORD, and camped in Rephidim; but there was no water for the people to drink. Therefore the people contended with Moses, and said, 'Give us water, that we may drink.' So Moses said to them, 'Why do you contend with me? Why do you tempt the LORD?'"
I'm so glad you are my church, because Moses had a church that really speaks their mind. And Moses calls it tempting the Lord. So, next verse, "And the people thirsted there for water, and the people complained against Moses, and said, 'Why is it you have brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?'" How many interested in pastoring people like that? All right, so they were crying out. They're murmuring and complaining. "So Moses cried out to the LORD", it's a good move, okay? Instead of crying out to somebody else, cry out to the Lord. Instead of crying out over the phone, cry out to the Lord. "Saying, 'What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me!'"
Thank God this has not happened in church, and it shall not happen in Jesus's name, amen? There's no weapon formed against me shall prosper. It might come back on you seven times, okay, so don't do it in Jesus's name. I bless you in Jesus's wonderful name, amen. Next verse, verse 5, "And the LORD said to Moses, 'Go on before the people, and take with you some of the elders of Israel'". Now, look at this phrase, "Take with you some of the elders of Israel". Keep that in mind, okay? Moses went up to the rock and God says, "Bring some of the elders of Israel with you". So, you follow me here? All right, keep that in mind. "Also take in your hand your rod with which you struck the river, and go". So, the rod of Moses is a rod of judgment.
Now, turn to your neighbor and say, "Rod of judgment". Don't forget, the rod of Moses is the rod of judgment by which he smote the river. What happened to the river? The river turned into blood. John 1:17 says the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. The first miracle of law was to turn water into blood, resulting in death. The first miracle of grace was to turn water into wine, resulting in celebration and life, amen, for that couple. What a wonderful thing to have Jesus kick off your wedding, all right, and having him turn the water into wine.
So, here we have a beautiful picture of the rod of judgment and how the rod of judgment actually was the means by which God brought the people out. Actually, I should not say judgment was the means. You can say judgment, but it was the blood of the lamb that brought the people out. Finally, God is like, you know throw his cards one by one, you know, and every card just made Pharaoh harder and harder in his heart until finally God says, "This is the ultimate weapon, the blood of the lamb" and Pharaoh had no answer, okay? That's why preaching judgment does not help. Preaching the blood of Jesus and the love God is the thing that really helps people, that really sets them free.
And pastors and budding ministers ought to take this lesson. Always remember it's the goodness of God that leads people to repentance. It is not the judgment of God that leads people to repentance. It's the love of God, amen? Some people go, "Pastor Prince, you need to preach more on repentance. I don't hear too much of repentance". Repentance is happening all the time in our church. The word "repentance" means change your mind, metanoia in Greek. Metanoia means changing your mind. Every time you come to church, you are changing your mind about God, about yourself, about the way you see the world. Did you know that? Repentance is happening all the time.
You know when Peter met Jesus and Jesus says, he's been working all night, caught nothing. Jesus says, "Launch out into the deep. Let down your nets for a big catch". And the Bible says, you know, the catch was so large that the net started to break. And when he finally got the fish into the boat, the boat began to sink. He had to call for help. How many like that kind of blessing? You have to call for help to contain the blessings, amen, and then bless others as well. And then Jesus smiled at him, and you know what Peter said to Jesus? "Depart from me, Lord, I'm a sinful man". Jesus says, "Don't be afraid, Peter". Literally the first words, "Fear not. From now on you'll catch man".
Which one happened first, the blessing or Peter's repentance? The blessing. You see under law, you repent and then God blesses. Under grace is the goodness of God that leads you to repentance, amen? So, let's go on, next God said to him, "Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock in Horeb; and you shall strike the rock", you shall what? Strike the rock. "And water will come out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel". Now, I always thought that he struck it in front of everybody, all right? But actually, maybe the rock was high up. He went up somewhere where it was out of sight from the larger part of Israel and only the elders saw what happened, okay? Are you with me? He struck the rock.
But watch this phase, "Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock in Horeb". I told you last week that in the Bible, you will find Jesus in every page. He's hidden there in the shadows and he is the treasure. He is the pearl of great prize. He is the precious thing that when you see, all right, church, remember this, all right, when you realize, actually the pearl of great prize and all that is you as well as well as a treasure is you. But when you are in him, you become a treasure and a precious pearl, amen? Church, when you bring Jesus out, miracles happen. When you bring Jesus out, demons flee, powers of darkness flee when Jesus comes. He's the light. When he comes, darkness flees, all right?
Now, watch this, I'm gonna show you Jesus. "Behold I stand there", he says, "on the rock in Horeb". Actually the Hebrew says, the face of the rock. Look up here, this is the huge rock, okay, a huge boulder. He stands down there. He lifts his hand. He says, "Behold". And literally the word there is "hei, look, hei, I'm standing here in front of the rock. I'm standing in front of the rock, strike the rock". Wow. "Because there's no water. There's no miracle. There's no healing for the people unless I'm struck". "Why is that so, pastor? Why didn't God just bless the people? God is a just God. He deals with judicial truths".
God cannot just bless the people unjustly. There must be a righteous foundation for God to bless the people. And that's why at the cross, the mercy of God and the justice of God met. Like the song we sung just now, hallelujah. That was written by our worship leader, by the way, Shawn. All right, he says, "Pastor, I took your teachings and I put it into words". Isn't it beautiful now we have songs that people can sing where the mercy and the justice met, amen, at the cross. Are you with me?
You see, all of us don't deserve even water, let alone bread. We don't even deserve the oxygen. We have sinned against God. We have sinned away our inheritance. We have sinned away our blessings. And if we go by what we deserve, we deserve hell. But you know what? God gave us heaven. God gave us life. God gave us water, God gave us bread. God gave us blessings, but it comes at a great cost. Somebody has to pay for our sins and therefore the Lord says, "I will stand there in the face of the rock, strike the rock and water will flow out". It's a picture of the cross. And literally at the cross when Jesus hung there at the end, all right, he died because he died so sudden, unlike the rest, they had their legs broken and then they died slowly, but Jesus died immediately after he dismissed his Spirit, the Bible tells us.
And then the Roman soldiers, wanting to confirm this. He's an expert. He has done so many crucifixion, he knows that someone is dead, all right, and we want to confirm it. So, he pierce the side, the side of Jesus, all right, with a spear and out of it came? Your Bible says blood and water, but I want to say this, out of his side came the bride of the lamb, the bride of Christ. Just like the first Adam, in order to bring Eve, God had to put him to sleep, the first Adam. And from his side, God took a rib and the genes of the rib, God made a woman. All right, God took Adam, I mean in his sleep from his side. Likewise, the church of Jesus Christ came from his side, hallelujah. From the place of love, not from the head to dominate him. Not from his feet for him to trample on her, from his side for him to love.
Turn to your husband now and say, "Love me". Okay, praise God. All right, amen? That's why whenever you come near your husband, do you feel like, "Wow, I'm home"? You don't? Darling, do you feel that way? Okay, my wife feels that. She fits very nicely, amen, praise God. Any lower, she'd be in my arm pit, praise God. Now, verse 7, next verse please, "So he called the name of the place Massah", which means temptation, "and Meribah", which means strife, "because of the contention of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the LORD, saying, 'Is the LORD among us or not?'" What a terrible thing to say.
All right, so that happened the first year, the first year of coming out of Egypt. Now, we fast forward. Are you ready with me? Go real fast, fast forward all the way 40 years of wandering, wandering, wandering then finally the 40th year. All right, Miriam just died. In four months' time Aaron would die. Then later on, Moses would die, all right? All in that same year, but in the 40th year something happened in the very first month. Let's follow the story in Numbers. "Then the children of Israel, the whole congregation, came into the Wilderness of Zin".
Now, this is not the same wilderness. It's a different wilderness. In the Hebrew, it's a different spelling. All right, there's sin, this is Zin, all right? "And they Came into the Wilderness of Zin in the first month, and the people stayed in Kadesh; and Miriam", the sister of Moses. You know Moses's sister was Miriam? Aaron was Moses's brother, okay? So, Miriam died there and was buried. "Now there was no water for the congregation; so they gathered together against Moses and Aaron". After 40 years, they are still coming against their pastor. That's why I appreciate you all, amen?
Next verse, "And the people contended with Moses and spoke, saying: 'If only we had died when our brethren died before the LORD! Why have you brought up the assembly of the LORD into this wilderness, that we and our animals should die here?'" Verse 5, are they dead? They're not, right? People like to talk about dead. When you bring us out here to die, you're still alive, right? You know, I mean God will never see to it that you die, so stop talking death. Death and life is in the power of the tongue. "And why have you made us come out of Egypt to bring us to this evil place? It is not a place of grain or figs or vines or pomegranates; nor is there any water to drink. So Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the door of the tabernacle of meeting, and they fell on their faces. And the glory of the LORD appeared to them". Verse 7, "Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying", listen carefully, "Take the rod".
Now stop. I want to show you something about this rod. This is not the rod of Moses. It is not the rod by which he smote the river and turned it into blood. It is not the rod of judgment. It is the rod of Aaron, his brother. The rod of Aaron, if you remember, has something miraculous attached to it. What is it? It blossomed. It had a branch that had bud, blossoms, and fruit, almond fruit all at once. Usually when you have the budding stage, the seasons, there's no blossom, there's no fruit. Then you have the flower. Then comes the fruit stage. But this came all at once. What is that a picture of? Life and the rod was cut off. It is life out of death. It is a picture of resurrection.
And how it happened was this, there's another event where they complained, as usual. They were murmuring against leadership, against Aaron who was the high priest, the first high priest of Israel. They complained against him, and then Moses says all the leaders of the 12 tribes bring each your rod. So, they brought him the 12 rods and he kept it, including Aaron's rod. He kept it in the tabernacle where God dwelt at that time. Next day, he says, "Come, collect your rods". They all took back their rods, but Aaron's rod was the only rod that had bud, blossom, and fruit, which means he's the one that God has put his mark on.
All right, listen carefully. The mark of the true minister is that resurrection life flows through him. All right, when he ministers, there's life. Are you listening? All right, that is the mark of a person called by the Lord. There's life out of death, amen. So, now God says to Moses in the 40th year, 40 years after the first striking of the rock, this time God says, "Take the rod". What rod? The rod of grace, priestly grace, not the rod of judgment, because the rod that blossomed, all right, and had fruits and all that, was the rod of grace because now Israel has a high priest.
Have you noticed just now in Exodus the first year, there was no high priest. There was no Aaron mentioned, only the elders of Israel, right, correct? But here you have Aaron, the high priest mentioned. No elders mentioned. Now, see how accurate the word of God is? Do you know that when Jesus died, you know who delivered him to the Romans? The elders of Israel, remember? Where was the high priest? There at the cross. There's no high priest yet. There's no high priest until Jesus rose from the dead and became our high priest and that's why high priest is a beautiful subject. I love to preach on the high priest because you understand?
Listen, the way God sees people like that, God doesn't judge you based on you. God judges you based on your high priest. If your high priest is good and you are bad, God accepts you and bless you like you are good. As your high priest is, so are you in God's eyes. Now, if you are good but your high priest is bad, which usually is the problem in ancient Israel, guess what. God rejects the entire nation because you are accepted in the person and the merits of your high priest. Guess what. We have a high priest that never dies and he's good forever. He's righteous forever. And God looks at you and God says, "You are righteous because as you are, as Jesus is, so are you in this world". Amen, church?
Whoa, hallelujah. I just preached myself happy. That will raise the dead, amen? So, here there's no mention of a high priest, so accurate. And here there's a mention of high priest, Aaron, bring Aaron, take the rod. Okay, take the rod, "You and your brother Aaron, the first high priest of Israel, gather the congregation together. Speak to the rock". Say, "Speak". Now not hit, speak. Not hit, not beat the rock anymore, speak to the rock. Once Jesus has been crucified, he does not have to come down and be crucified again.
You know sometimes people say, "You know, if only I can see Jesus, I can see him being scourged in front of me, I'll have faith to believe. If I only I can see him dying there at the cross, you know, I will believe I'm forgiven". No, he doesn't have to come again. He does not have to die again. One sacrifice avails for all time. Its efficacy is forever. Are you with me? Another thing is this, there's something about us when we do wrong, the spirit of beat comes on us, the spirit of beat. You want to beat people, you know? Something goes wrong, he didn't signal, now I want to drive in front of him and jam brake. The spirit of beating that driver comes.
You know, you feel like you want to beat someone. Either you beat your wife, or you beat your children, and I don't mean physically. One of the worst beatings is verbal beating. It's called tongue lashing and by your stripes, you think you are healed. So, the worst kind, the worst kind of beating is when you beat yourself for something you've done, you know? You kick yourself, you know, and there are people who hurt themself, you know that? There are people who sabotage their relationship. Just when it gets really good, they sabotage it. They don't know why but they feel they don't deserve a good relationship, so they go from relationship to relationship to relationship.
They always sabotage it. They sabotage themselves. When they're about to get a promotion, they sabotage themselves and they don't know why. There's something about beating themself and that's why we need to see the cross. When you see that Jesus was beaten for your sins, everything inside you becomes, ah, rest. You can stop beating yourself because another was beaten in your place, amen?
So, God says, "No more beating. Speak, speak to the rock". Say, "Speak to the rock". Now, who is the rock? Jesus. Do you know, church, that the word rock here and the word rock in Exodus, the first year is different in the Hebrew? Let's go to Exodus one more time, the first year one. Exodus, all right, you see, God says in verse 6, "I will stand before you there on the rock". See the word "rock" there? It's zur in Hebrew, zur means a large boulder, a large boulder. Can you see that? Now, watch this, 40 years later, go back to Numbers again. All right, God says, "Speak to the rock". That rock there is sela. Sela means cliff.
Now, why was there a boulder here and now there's a cliff, high cliff? Speak to the cliff. Because Jesus is no longer on the cross. He's no longer an individual on that cross. As a boulder, he's now lifted and ascended on high. So, when you speak to him, see him ascended with all authority, with all power, with all dominion over heaven and earth, amen. And speak to the cliff. Whoo! You see how accurate the Bible is? You like all these treasures? Teaching is what's gonna help you. It's gonna feed you, it will strengthen you, put some foundation underneath you. Amen, because God's Word is the manufacturer's handbook.
I remember when I first got my VCD player years ago, all I knew was play, pause, forward, backwards, rewind. Later on I found out it can record, after many months. Now, why didn't I know my inheritance? It was mine, but I didn't know my inheritance because I didn't read the manufacturer's manual, and the Bible is the manufacturer's handbook, amen. It's all about Jesus. It's all about your inheritance. You want more? Let's go on, Numbers. God says, "Speak to the rock before their eyes, and it will yield its water; thus you shall bring water for them out of the rock, and give drink to the congregation and their animals. So Moses took the rod".
Notice he had to go and take the rod because it wasn't his rod of judgment. It was the rod of grace, Aaron's rod. He had to go and take the rod from before the Lord. Where was the rod placed? In the tabernacle. Where was it? In the ark. Moses had to go, with God's special permission, and take the rod from before the Lord. Okay, so watch me now. He's holding this rod, all right, with his beautiful blossoms, its fruits. He's walking before the people and there's this huge cliff, towering cliff. And the Bible says, this is what he said. Next verse, "And Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock; and he said to them, 'Hear now, you rebels! Must we bring water for you out of this rock?'"
Number one he called them rebels. Number two and they were rebels with a cause and they were thirsty. The next thing, "Must we fetch you"? Since when God says you must fetch water? We are all just messengers, bearers of good news, carriers of his anointing. It's him. It's he's the one. But he say, "Must we fetch you water of this rock"? He was mad. After 40 years, you feel that he deserves it. But watch this now. He was mad. He was angry. And the Bible says, "Then Moses lifted his hand and struck". What did God say, speak, not beat. He struck the rock twice, wham, bang, and water came out abundantly, and the congregation and their animals drank. Now say this, "In spite of". In spite of the fact he disobeyed God, water came out abundantly for the people to drink.
Now, I want to say something to you right now. Just because a ministry has miracles, anointings happening, does not mean the preacher is necessarily obeying God. You know why the waters flow abundantly? Because of grace. Remember, don't forget this, Jesus died and released grace, all right? This story happened after Jesus has died. So now, isn't it amazing when you read carefully, all right, the first account, Moses obeyed God to the letter, and yet, there's no mention there, the word "abundantly". The waters, it just said it will give forth its water, not the word waters will flow abundantly. And yet Moses obeyed God. But here 40 years later, Moses disobeyed God and yet the waters flowed, but flowed abundantly. Why? Grace, grace. Say it. Are you with me? Grace. That doesn't mean the minister is obeying God.
All right, I'm gonna show you something very powerful here. And that's why some people say, "Well, Pastor Prince, I went to the service because there were miracles there". Yeah, but what is the man preaching? Is the man preaching from the Word? Is the man confessing Jesus Christ as the Son of God? Is he pointing everything back to Jesus? Is he a minister of grace or judgment or worse, mixture 'cause mixture is more deceitful and subtle. Are you with me? He whacked the rock twice. Look up here. The rock, the cliff. You know who's the body of Christ? He whacked the rock twice. You know who's the body of Christ? Talk to me, church. Talk to me. You know who's the body of Christ today? And your husband, and your wife, and your children. We are the body of Christ. Instead of speaking to the rock, all right, about our needs, about our wants and our desires, we beat the rock.
How do we beat the rock? You can't beat Jesus personally now. You know how you beat it, how you beat him today? By beating his people. While some sermons I hear when I was a young believer, I still remember going to some church, and I have this person preaching, "Don't you try to fool yourself". Take off the glasses, "God will find you. Don't think you can hide from God". You know, this finger-wagging religion they call it, you know? "Don't you think you can hide from God. One of these days, one of these day, the rooster will come home to roost. Be sure your sin will find you out". And a bony finger start pointing, you know? Any of you been there before? I mean, at the end, you do not know you are saved, or you're lost. You came in, you felt safe, especially during the praise and worship. By the end, you felt lost, lost as a goose.
In fact, the goose came home to roost. Judgment, whacking, whacking, whacking. A lot of people are saying, "What's wrong, you got up on the wrong side of the bed? Go back and sleep". Some of them, "I've been fasting these few days. I've been fasting these few days, and God's been showing me some of your sins. And I'm telling you, God's been showing me, God's been showing me. One of these days, the rooster. One of these days". You know, and I feel like saying, break your fast, whoa. It's like, you know, have you seen preachers angry, just angry preachers, angry? You think to yourself, why is he so angry? Because he thinks that's the way God wants him to be.
Now, Moses thought that way. All right, look at Moses now. He beat the rock twice, all right, a ministry of beating God's people. Once Christ is crucified, that's all the beating there is. All right, one beating is efficacious forever. You don't beat the people anymore. When the people are not performing, when your children are not performing, don't beat them, love them into the performance. Love them into good behavior. Love them into the life of God. No one can withstand the love of God.
Imagine, you know, when I travel overseas to preach and all that, my wife comes to me and my wife tells me, "Darling", she doesn't do this, okay? Nope, she doesn't. All right, she points at me with her finger-wagging religion and say, "I warn you, huh? You better not commit adultery when you're away or else I will kill you personally, all right? And darling, let me just tell you, I love you but I warn you, all right, don't watch any pornography, all right? And when you talk to a girl in church in the conference, you don't talk to her more than one minute. You understand or not, all right? Or else when you come back you're gone, you understand gone. They won't even find your ashes, all right"?
Can you imagine, all right, talking to me like that before I leave? All right, how many know when I leave it's like, hallelujah. Okay, how many understand? Now, now, now supposing, supposing, all right, she comes to me and say, "Darling", she holds me and say, "You know, I love you so much. I know I'll miss you so much when you're away. All right, I love being with you, so I know I'll miss you but enjoy yourself, okay? Have a good time, all right, the Lord is with you and I'll pray for you that God will anoint you and many souls will be swept into the kingdom of God and lives will be fruitful and blessed. But until then just know, there's someone here who loves you dearly. You're always on my mind", she say, all right? Imagine, when I leave her, I don't feel like leaving her anymore, amen?
All right, ladies, let me tell you this, no matter how hardened the guy is, all right, their hearts can be melted. Those moments when you are patient and you keep on being patient, their hearts can melt, all right? Take a guy who is born-again, it's very hard for them remain hard for too long. Imagine my wife talk to me like that, amen. Even if I'm tempted, all right, that memory of that love will always call me home. How many understand? It is the love of Christ, not the laws of God that constrains us.
"So, Pastor Prince, is it okay for us to at least"... No, no, no, I'm not saying it's okay for us to sin. I'm just saying, all right, what is the power? You see, people who preach judgment and all that, they're against sin, but so am I. I'm against sin. Where we defer is how to overcome sin. They believe it's by the laws of God. I believe it's by the love of God, and we need to preach the love of God until people have their nostrils, their eyes and their ears coming out of, you know, the will of God coming out of all these pores of their being, a total saturation, and I won't rest until you're totally baptized with the love of God.
And somebody say something to you, "I don't care, man", in your heart, "I'm loved. I can't help it if you're blind, 'cause I'm loved". All right, you know what I think about you? Doesn't matter. The King of the universe, the judge of the entire world thinks I'm cool. I'm righteous, amen, okay? The highest authority, are you with me? All right, watch this. Then Moses, he beat the rock twice, verse 12, "Then the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, 'Because you did not believe Me, to hallow Me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them'".
Whoa, wow, 40 years he almost made it! You would have thought he's entitled to a bit of anger, but here God said to him, "Moses, because you did not believe me to hallow me". The word "hallow" means, the word from the word "holy". Hallow is from the word "holy". The word "holy" means set apart. It's not this religious idea of religious holiness by the way you tie your hair, or ladies have a bun so tight, you blink, the whole thing shakes, you know? You know, but your tongue is as long as you can be sitting in the kitchen and you lick a spoon of honey in the living room. All right, you kill people with your tongue.
What's the point of having a bun so tight when your tongue is killing people? So, set apart means you stand out with the glory of God. People know you, there's a shine about you. There is a glow about you, amen. We're not called to fit in, we are called to stand out, stand out for Jesus. It's got nothing to do with your dressing, nothing to do. In fact, I don't understand why they always have ministers of judgment on TV in Hollywood movies. There's always some guy, you know, who's the father of the girl, whatever, and he's reading the Bible and he's always, he's always grumpy. He looks like he's baptizing in Tomion juice. Laminate, that is, for our overseas friend. You know, just angry, and always quoting Bible. "It says in the Bible, Thou shall not commit adultery. Thou shalt not bear"...
It's always the laws part, have you noticed that? They never have a minister looking like me, you know? And thank you for the few amen. All right, nevermind. It's okay. Jesus love me and my wife does. You still do, right, after the illustration? You know, she's a second illustration, the second one, amen. Praise God. I'm going home man. Okay, they never have, they always have, you know, a guy wearing black looking very grumpy. When someone sins, they always have that, you know, I don't know why they don't have a minister that preaches on the love of God, share about God's love. Yes, God is just but his judgment was exhausted in the body of his Son. You don't hear that, why? Because the devil cannot proclaim that. Are you with me?
So listen, God says, "Moses, for this, you didn't set me apart. You didn't make me appear holy before the people. You're not going into the land with these people". You see, church, let me tell you this, the waters will flow abundantly, at least for a while. But if a minister insists on whacking the people, beating the people, there comes a time the people will enter maybe somewhere else, but he will not. Are you with me? Frightening, isn't it? It's a message for all pastors and ministers. Stop beating the people or you won't see your Promised Land. You won't enjoy what your people will enjoy because when God says in the Book of Revelation, "You don't repent, I will remove your candlestick", that was spoken to the pastor of the church, not the people.
God is telling, and God is not saying, "I'll remove your salvation". He says, "I'll remove your candlestick". And candlestick in the Book of Revelation is the church, a type of the church. I'll remove your church means what? The people don't lose their salvation. The people get transferred to another candlestick where someone else will preach to them the Word of grace. But that church shuts down.
You know when I drive around Europe, for example, I see many, many, churches that once upon a time revival was happening in those churches. They were alive with God's power. I read some of it in the revivals, you know, of history, Christian revival history. It's amazing but these churches today, you know what they're used for? Bingo night, gambling, a place for people to come and study on the occult. But they meet in the facade of the church. What has happened? The candlestick was removed. Who removed it? God, where the church is not a building. The church is its people. So, if you preach judgment and you beat the people all the time, there comes a time, God says, "The people are going in, but you are not".
When I read that, I'm a preacher of grace forever, amen? My mama didn't raise no fool, amen? You see the word "hallow" means, God says, "You didn't make me appear holy before the people". Now, isn't this interesting? The way God appears holy is when you portray God as gracious. You see, God wasn't judging the people for their murmuring. He wasn't judging the people for their complaining. Are you with me? Why? Because grace has come. Even though complaining is sin, murmuring is sin, God saw beyond their faults and God saw their thirsts and God said, "I will give them waters, and I'll give them waters abundantly"!
And yet, Moses, who represents God, made God appear harsh, made God appear angry, and stern, and judgmental, which God wasn't! "And because, Moses, you didn't portray me accurately, you're not going to the Promised land". It's very serious for God when we ministers, we ministers misrepresent him. Are you with me? Hallow, you didn't make me appear holy. Hallow is old English for holy. Isn't it interesting that God appears holy when he's gracious? Do you know when you go to Israel, you see these people. Many of them are in New York, Jewish people that have these curls, you know, as their side burns and they wear black and all that.
You know what they call them? Hasidism, Hasidism. You know what's Hasidism? It comes from the word "hesed". Hesed is praise the Lord for his hesed endures forever, his mercy, his grace endures forever. They call these people, all right, grace ones, holy, the highest holiness is grace. God says, "You didn't present me holy. You didn't hallow me. You didn't make me appear gracious. You made me appear stern, hard. You didn't hallow me". So, God says, "You didn't present me as hallowed, as holy". And God says, "You will not enter the land. This was the water of Meribah, because the children of Israel contended with the LORD".
Now, I'm gonna show you some things, folks, that's gonna bless you. How many still remember, all right, the teaching on aleph tav? All right, now aleph, facing y'all, Hebrew reads from left to right like Chinese. So A to zed. There are 22 letters in the Hebrew alphabet, all right? The first letter is aleph, the last letter is tav. So, aleph tav, okay? Now, watch this. The very first verse of the Bible is "In the beginning", this is the way it's written in the Hebrew Bible from where our English comes from, okay? "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth".
Notice they're exactly seven words, and there are exactly 28 letters, multiples of seven, seven times four. And there are other sevens found in this one verse that opens up the entire Bible. But notice that the middle one is untranslated. Notice that? There's no translation, the center one. It is spelled with two letters in Hebrew, aleph like an N and tav. Can you see that? That's an A and zed.
Now Jesus, in the Book of Revelation, by the way, rabbis until today, they tell us why is this aleph tav untranslated? One rabbi said like this or he represent most rabbis, he says that because God created the entire earth with the Hebrew letters from A to zed, from aleph to tav. Yeah but who is aleph tav? Jesus in the Book of Revelation, introduced himself to John because John was stunned at this appearance of the personage of Jesus because he was glowing. He was radiant and he said, "Don't be afraid. I am the first and the last. I am alpha and omega". In your English Bible actually alpha is the first letter of the Greek. Omega is the last letter of the Greek. Jesus wouldn't have spoken Greek to his fellow Jew. He would have spoken, what? Hebrew. What he's saying is this, "I am aleph and I am tav". Who is the aleph tav? In the beginning created God. What's his name? Aleph tav. That's his signature.
And do you know in the Old Testament, it appears exactly 22 times, the number of the Hebrew letters? No more, no less. That's untranslated. Three of them appears in this verse. Numbers again 20, verse 8, no, show them verse 8 first in English. All right, God says, "Take the rod you and your brother", all right? Now, we look at it in Hebrew. Follow me now in Hebrew, okay? In Hebrew, take, aleph tav, the staff, the rod. So, who is the staff? Who is that bud, blossom, and fruit? Jesus is the rod of grace. Very interestingly in Exodus, the first event, the rod there has no aleph tav. Jesus does not put his signature on the rod of judgment. He put his signature on the rod of grace, the high priestly rod, okay? In one verse, three times alef tav appears.
Watch this. The next alef tav, "And gather, alef tav, the assembly". Whoa, over here in Exodus the first event, the assembly has no alef tav, why? Because there was no church. It was an assembly of Israel, but they were not saved. They were not redeemed. Christ has not yet died. But after Christ died, all of us, even murmuring people, all right, he put his signature in front of the word congregation. He put his signature there. Are you with me? All right, three times and then you and your brother, Aaron, next. All in one verse, okay? Speak to the rock.
Now notice before the eyes of them, and he will pour out waters of him. He will pour out. He will pour out waters of him is the rock there has been personified in Hebrew, okay? And he will bring waters for them out of the rock. Outstanding. It will give forth his waters, it says. How accurate is the Bible? Another thing, all right, over here the first event, Exodus, the waters came out, and it's obvious the people drank, but you know, there's no record. If you read carefully exodus 17, there's no record the people drank. We know they drank, of course, they were thirsty, but how come the Holy Spirit didn't record down their drinking? You know why? Because Israel, at that time of the cross, were not able to partake of what Christ has done for them. But over here, all right, the church of Jesus Christ.
We are partaking. It is written that the people... back to verse 11. All right, notice the water came out abundantly in the congregation and the animals drank. It's recorded they drank. And the waters came out abundantly. Notice that? See, all this silence in Scripture is not for no reason. God foresaw Israel reject his son, so Israel did not drink. But the event itself the people drank, but it's not recorded. Later on when the church appears, the church drinks abundantly, right? It's recorded. Even though the church is not perfect. Are you with me? All right, let's look at all this. Bring them together, Numbers and Exodus on the left, Numbers on the right.
See the compare and contrast. Exodus is the first event. Numbers is the 40th year event, okay? Take some of the elders of Israel. We know that the elders cried out, "Crucify him! Crucify him!". That's why it appears elders here. But Numbers, no elders only the take Aaron, the high priest. Aaron is the high priest.
So, we have the high priest here, no more elders. Can you see that, all right?
Number two, we have rock, as zur which is boulder. Whereas in numbers he's ascended. He's a cliff, sela, cliff, okay?
Then number three, the rod used here is rod of Moses, which is judgment. The rod used here is the rod of Aaron, which is priestly grace. Are you with me, all right?
Number four, we have no alef tav before the rod here.
All right, we have alef tav in Numbers before the rod.
Number five, we have no alef tav before the congregation here. We have alef tav before the congregation. Number five, all right.
Number six, abundantly is not used here in Exodus, the first event, but the waters came out abundantly in Numbers 20. All right, there's no record of the people drinking in Exodus 17, all right, Numbers 20, the peoples and the animals drank. You see it? Even the silence of Scripture has a purpose. Do you know that in the book of... we saw, we saw last Sunday about Abraham and his son, right? And how God actually did not want Isaac. God actually wanted to see if Abraham feared him, loved him, okay? And God wanted Abraham to know that he loved God.
Now watch this, when Abraham came down the mountain, it is obvious he came down with his son because his son was not sacrificed, right? But do you know in your Bible, when you read your Bible, Abraham came down. Isaac is not mentioned. Abraham came down as if he came down alone. Why is it the Holy Spirit never mentioned Isaac? Because in the mind of the Holy Spirit, Isaac was a picture of God's son, and he was sacrificed, so he didn't come down the mountain. So, even the silence of Scripture has its divine purpose, okay? Are you with me?
Now, we'll bring all this to a close now. How to apply this in our daily life? What is the most important thing you can learn? All right, speak to the rock, God says in Numbers. Verse 8, speak to the rock. When you're in trouble, speak to the rock. Don't speak to some millionaire. Don't speak to someone whom you think can help you. It's okay to speak to them, but your trust must not, complete trust must not be in them or else you'll always be disappointed. Your trust, your complete trust must be in the Lord. Speak to the rock. You don't speak, you will beat. You will beat others. You'll beat yourself. You'll beat yourself over it, you know, because you don't speak to the rock.
Whenever I find people not speaking, all right, there'll always ending up beating or beating themself. Speak to the rock. The word speak is a precious word in the Hebrew. It's the word dabar, most of time used for God's word, dabar. In fact, God has a book called dabarim, which is plural of dabar, all right, dabar. Can you see that? Speak, dabar. Okay, dabarim is plural, and it's the book of Deuteronomy. In Hebrew, they... you go to Israel you say, let's turn to the Book of Dabarim, Deuteronomy, is double word because God rehearsed once again the laws in Deuteronomy. He spoke it twice, okay? Got it?
Now watch this, dabar. Dabar is spelled like this, reading from right to left, dalet. Remember I told y'all before, every Hebrew letter has a picture? It's a Hebrew pictogram. Like for example, you drive down the road, the sign there says, across, horizontally like that, what? "No entry". Okay, you pass by another place, it says, you see a figure of a man. Another place, another door, figure of a lady. what does that mean? You know what it means, right? Okay, that means toilet.
So, Hebrew has pictograms. Okay, are you with me? Pictograms, alef an ox. The chief, number one, but dalet, the first letter dalet is door, okay? Taking this to next letters, bet, resh. Bet and resh combined together spells bar, which is son in Aramaic. Son. Aramaic and Hebrew is very close. In fact, they use the same letterings, all right? Very close. Dabar, that means door and son. What does that mean? You know how you open the door to Jesus? You know how Matthew Kong who had this condition in his body, you know how he opened the door? All right, yes, I prayed for him the night before, and he had communion in that same morning. All in one day the miracle happened. You know why? When I prayed for him, twice I said to him over the phone, we shall see good testimony come out of it. At first it was amen, quite soft. I said we shall see, I say it again, good testimony coming out of this glorifying Jesus. He said amen. All he gotta do is say amen.
Amen is the root of the Hebrew word for amen, which is faith. When you say amen, it's yes, certainly. I have a message called The Power of Amen, get that message. It's a powerful message on DVD, all right? It's a revelation from heaven, how a guy lived to more than 100 years old by the power of amen. All right, I shared that in that message, this Hebrew guy who lived more than hundred, and he attribute the power of saying amen. How, how? Read and watch. Okay, you can read the Bible and watch, you know, because it is all there in that message of power of amen.
Now, listen carefully, all right? He spoke over the elements, dabar. When you speak, you open the door to the son. When you're in trouble, all right, the way out is your mouth. When you are sick, the way out is your mouth. When you're in financial trouble, the way out is your mouth. Your mouth, all right, when you speak God's word, dabar, when you dabar, you speak, dabar, you open the door to the son. Says when God made man, God breathed into man, man became a living soul. In the Aramaic, he says, it has the word, man became a speaking spirit, man became a speaking spirit. What makes us different from animals? We speak. What makes us in the image of God? We speak and things happen.
You say, "Pastor Prince, I'm gonna speak what I don't see". God always speaks what he don't see. He only see after he spoke. Like, for example, the first day at the end it says, "And God saw that it was good". But what was good? God says, "Light be", and God saw the light, and it was good. God says, "Let the earth bring forth animals". God saw them, and God said it was good. God never saw good until he spoke. We say, "If I don't see it, I won't say it". That's why you don't see it. Man has fallen in reverse from the way God created man in his image. God, never, never, you know, look at the darkness.
The Bible says in verse 2, "And darkness was upon the face of the deep". Earth was not like a globe. Earth was a formless mass, you know, like gases or whatever out there. It was without form and void, and God saw the darkness and God says, "Light be". God called what he want to see. I know you look at the report card, it's not good, okay? All right, but you say, "Wow, praise God. It is the beginning of new things to come. This is the last time you have to carry forward". No, you can say something good.
God saw darkness he didn't say, like most of us, "Wow, so dark, ah". Then it becomes darker. Then God says in the vernacular of the Singaporean, "Wow, lucky duck". Then it becomes even darker. We all laugh, but it's what we do, you know? Then we wonder how in the world did it get so dark? Your mouth, bro, your mouth. Why do you think God gave us a pair of eyes, a pair of ears, a pair of nostrils, only one mouth? Your mouth is getting you into trouble, okay?
If you're in the wilderness like the children of Israel, the word wilderness is very interesting. You see this word dabar, dabar? All right, if you put a mem in front, all right, a mem in front, okay, every time you put a mem in front of any word in Hebrew it becomes a noun, all right? Now, it's midbar. Midbar means wilderness. It contains the word dabar for speaking. The way out of your wilderness is to speak. God hides the secret there. The way out of your wilderness is to speak. It's in your mouth. "Pastor Prince, I speak the Word. I memorize verses, I quote them". It's not just chapter and verse.
Sometimes you must learn to say things like when things happen, all right, to somebody or whatever and someone says, "Wah, never know when this kind of thing can happen to any of us". You just say, in your heart, you believe you say, "No, it will not happen to me". You must say it. It's not enough to believe in your heart. You must say it. Speak to the rock or speak over your situation or speak over yourself. This is a spirit of faith.
2 Corinthians, please. We are winding down. And since we are the same spirit of faith. Say spirit of faith. Faith is not a formula. Faith is a spirit, and it's contagious. When the children of Israel were in the wilderness, God says, "I've given you the promised land". All right, but they looked around they saw giants, all right, they were really tall, amen. And the Bible says their walls were like were so huge, the walls of Jericho, they had chariot races on top of the walls. I mean they were huge, but ten of the spies came back and said, "We cannot take the land. There are giants in the land". The two spies that came out, saw the same giants, saw the same walls, but they said, "God is well able to bring us into the land". And they were the only two that made it.
God says he's grieved with the ten. "I never tell you to talk back to me about the giants, the problems, the walls, how tall they are, how big they are. I told you I've given you the land". The first ten never had God in their speech. The second ten, "But God". Makes a difference. "But God has given us the land. Yes, the walls are big, the giants are tall, but God. Yes, you know, the doctors have said this is the report, but God. Yes, the lawyers have said it's impossible, but God. Yes, the money lender is coming, but God". They had God in their speech and all ten, with the vast majority of the children of Israel that didn't believe all died. Their young ones plus the two that believed God entered the Promised Land.
You know what God said about the two? Especially Caleb, Joshua and Caleb were the only ones. God said of Caleb, "He has a different spirit". He has a different spirit. You know what spirit is it? Faith. I told you faith is contagious but so is unbelief. You get a group of people sitting down in a coffee shop, all right, from the same office telling you why they can't succeed because times are bad, because the government did this, the government did that, all right? Or are they blame the government or they blame, you know, now they got flood, lah, they blame this, they blame everything. Why they cannot sell. Why that cannot be a success. They talk to one another.
Next thing you know the spirit of fear is contagious. You go back you believe what's the point of working? You feel like resigning. It's contagious. You sit down in a coffee shop among some friends and you start talking about this disease, that disease, all right, all the symptoms and all that, all right, you go back, you believe you have it. It's contagious, the spirit of fear, but so is the spirit of faith. We, having the same spirit of faith according to what is written, I believe and therefore I spoke. We also believe and therefore speak.
Do you believe you will live to a long good life? Then say it. "But in my heart, I believe, pastor". When's the last time you said it? When was the last time you were like Pastor Lawrence up here saying, "I shall live holding the bread and the cup. I shall live to be 120". Some of you are laughing in your hearts, I know, but he's the one that said it. And God looks down and God says, "He has a different spirit". "But pastor, in my heart I believe". Do you say it? I believe, therefore have I spoke. We also believe and therefore speak. You will never see good under... You are made in God's image. God saw darkness. God says, "Light be" and God saw the light was good. Speak out what you believe. Are you with me?
Let me close with this, perhaps there's someone here watching me and you're not saved. "How do I get saved, Pastor prince"? Look at Romans 10, verse 9, 8 and 9. What does it say? The word is near you in your mouth and in your heart. Notice, it's first in your mouth before it drops into your heart. You say it long enough, you start to believe it. You start to believe it, you start to say it. Things will happen. Jesus said, "You will have what you say".
If Jesus appeared right now, all right, he lays hands on every one of you and he tells you "From now on, everything you say will come to pass". Somebody said, "That's so funny I could die". Another person said, "That tickles me to death". You go out, you see a piece of cake, "Wah, I'm dying for that piece of cake". Imagine Jesus... now I'm not saying you cannot joke. You cannot, you know? But I think we joke too much on the dark side.
I see my church, New Creation Church, in the name of Jesus, people are young, and you can't tell their age. I see our church lively, healthy, energetic. I see our people prosperous. I see our people walking into a boutique, and the boutique is blessed. I see our people walking into a restaurant, people come in the restaurant. You are a success everywhere you go, amen. I see you slim. I see you blessed all over, amen. The healthiest people in Singapore is found in New Creation Church, amen?
"Well, Pastor Prince"... Yeah, come on, give Jesus the praise. Now, that's not pride. That's not pride. That is confidence in the Lord. There are two different things. I'm not boasting about me. I'm not boasting about you. I'm boasting about what Jesus has done. I'm boasting all this in Christ. I told you just now in and of ourself, we deserve nothing but hell, but he gave us everything. We must confess what we have possessed from him, okay? You can say, "Who do you think you are"? You got time. You got time or not? I'll tell you who I think I am. I'm a child of the Most High God. I'm the righteousness of God in Christ. I'm filled with the love of God and I love you, amen, amen?
So, start speaking. Start speaking when you're bathing especially, start there. maybe when you're driving alone, start speaking. "It's gonna be a good day today" when you're driving to work. "I believe the favor of God is with me. I believe I'm protected", amen? You start worrying about your child, "I believe angels watch over my child. I believe my child is protected. I believe my child is happy", amen? Start speaking what you believe, Not necessarily chapter and verse, but speak your belief, amen. And when you see darkness, you read darkness, don't say it. Don't speak anything but light and you will see good. And all the people said?
And those who want to be saved, the Word is near you, even in your mouth and in your heart that if you confess the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior, believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. That's how you get saved, by confessing Jesus with your mouth, believing in your heart. Are you ready to do that? If you're not saved, you can say that. If you are saved, you can still confess Jesus as your healer, your protector for throughout this coming week. How about that, cool? Let's pray right now. All those of you who want Jesus Christ to be your personal Savior and Lord, I want to invite you right now to say this with me, from your heart.
The Bible says... what does the Bible say? The word is near you, even in your mouth and in your heart. If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus Christ, you believe in your heart God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. That's God's Word. God has brought salvation so close to you, even in your mouth, in your mouth. If you'll just say it, confess Jesus as your Lord, believe in your heart, you'll be saved. So, I'd like to invite you to say this after me. I'd like to help you in this confession of faith, all right, but say it from your heart and mean what you say.
Heavenly Father, I thank you for the gift of your Son, my Lord Jesus Christ, who came a long way to die on that cross for all my sins. The judgment that was due me fell on him instead. And his righteousness and all the blessings he deserved has come upon me instead. Thank you, Father, Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior. You have raised him from the dead. I thank you, Father, I am blessed. I am healed. I am delivered. In Jesus's name, amen.