Joseph Prince - There's Life When You See Jesus In The Word
All right, we are continue our series on 2 Corinthians chapter 3. Remember, we shared that this chapter is awesome because it teaches you how to be a minister and I don't believe it's just minister in a sense like a pastor or an apostle or an evangelist. No, I really believe it teaches you to be a minister in any area of your life. If you're a mother, you're a minister, all right, and your congregation are your little ones, amen, or your teenagers. If you're a father, the same, amen? You are the king of the house, the priest of the house, the prophet of the house, amen. So how can we minister well? How can we minister well? How can we make a impact upon the lives of those that God has entrusted to us?
You know, our children, really... they're ours and yet they're not ours. They are ours for a while. They are ours for us to steward but children come from God. God put them in your belly, all right, in your womb, and God allows you to steward the child for a while. You know, it's kind of sad. It makes the whole thing quite sad because you're with them only for a while. And success is when they're able to leave you successfully, all right? You always see them but then you raise them for God. Always remember you're not trying to, "This is mine. This is mine. This is mine". No, you're gonna raise them for God, amen. You're a steward over your children and that makes every moment precious. That makes every moment that you put in their life precious, hallelujah, all right? So it's important that we learn to minister and not be a minister of condemnation but of righteousness.
So we left off verse 7, all right? It says in verse 6: "God also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life". I told you all the word "letter" here, all right, the new covenant and old covenant. New covenant is spirit, old covenant is letter. When God first gave the law, letter here is the law, all right? Today, there is a teaching quite prevalent among the Charismatics that says that when you read your Bible you must ask the Holy Spirit to help you or else what you are reading are letters that kill. You need the Holy Spirit.
So, by saying that, all right, some of our young people are looking at the Bible as letters that kill, you know? You need the Holy Spirit and then to make it such that only those who can interpret it, all right, can bring out the life. No, no, no, no, folks, it's not referring to the Bible. Letters that kill is not referring to your Scriptures, regardless of who said it, all right? But context, context. Always leave verses in its context. You take the verse out of the text, con-text, take the text out of the con, becomes a con. Leave the verses in the text, amen. All right, the verses here talk about old covenant, new covenant. The next verse talk about ministry of death engraved on stones. There is the Ten Commandments. He's talking about the Ten Commandments, the law as letter that kills. Those and those only are the letters that kill. Are you listening?
When you read the Bible, these are not letters that kill. Oh man, the words of God are Spirit and they're alive. The only part that kills and even the fact that it kills, do you know of any human literature that kills? No, even the highest and the loftiest human literature cannot kill. The fact that the law can kill tells you the authority comes from God. Hence, this is a cunningness of the devil. He knows he cannot kill. He kills with an instrument. He uses the law but it's authorized by God with the power to kill evildoers so that they do not propagate their evildoing to the next generation. Even the killing power of the law is actually holy and good because can you imagine if an evil man spreading his lies, making inroads into different territories, raping women, killing children, amen, and his mind is all, you know, is all warped. He wants to be a king of the world and he wants everyone to serve him, and the people are poor and he's oppressing them.
So God authorized the law to kill him. Are you listening? So whether it's through a war or whatever it is, there is a justice from God. Do you understand? So the law is designed to kill when you fail. Now, if you fulfill the law perfectly, oh man, vaya con Dios. Hasta la vista. The blessing of God will be on you. But the problem with men is that they spend time on the killing side of the law. Why? Because no one can keep the law, at least not in their minds. Even right now, I speak, you know, I don't know what you think about me, the most lovable pastor, amen? You think so? Praise God. I don't think so; I know, ha. Hallelujah, praise God. The most important thing about the law is to realize that it's from God. The most important thing. And the next thing you must know is why did God give the law, okay? Once you miss this part... this is where a lot of people miss the part. They think that God gave the law so that you can keep it so that God will bless you. No, the law wasn't given to you for you to keep.
There's a verse in the Bible in Romans that says: "The law entered that the offense might abound", all right? Let's say you're not supposed to drive down 100 kilometers down the road. You're not supposed to. But as long as there's no law, there is no transgression. You do not know that you are doing something dangerous. You do not know that for the past month there has been ten deaths on that road. You don't know because there's no law, okay? So the law is put down there to restrict, to stop you, okay, from further destruction, amen. But the law does not empower you to drive slowly. It cannot. Many people, when they see that thing, they speed even faster, all right? They normally will go, you know, when they see a speed sign or whatever, they will go like normal, okay? But after they pass a speed sign they start speeding even when they've got no desire to speed.
It's almost like they feel like, "Okay, I was too slow just now. I must speed, right"? Take away the sign and they go steady, you know? But we need signs. In a civilized society we need all these signs, okay? But not for holiness because holiness is not outward. Holiness is inward. There are people who don't steal because they are deathly afraid of the police. But their heart is full of stealing. There are people who wanna molest another girl because their heart is full of lust for that girl but they dare not because they just heard someone got rotan. They got, you know, scourged and by that guy's scourge, all Singapore is healed, you know? So we are restricted outwardly and rightly so. In every civilized society they should govern with the Ten Commandments. They should govern. But the Ten Commandments is there not to empower you to do right. They are there as a warning. They are there, all right, to bring the right hand of the law on you. Are you listening?
But God is not after behavior modification. God is after heart transformation. Can you, in your heart, think well of somebody else? Can you, in your heart, don't want to lust because you feel a loyalty to your wife, you feel a covenant love for your wife? Can you, in your heart, have a desire to be joyful, to love people, all right? Such things cannot be governed by the law. So that's why Jesus came. True holiness cannot come from the law. The law is holy but cannot make you holy. It is righteous, it cannot make you righteous. You understand? So we keep the outward law, understand this, as a society. We keep the outward law as a nation. But who really has a revelation that inside their heart they have, you know, not just a, "I'll do it for the sake of doing it, all right, but if I get a chance, I'll not do it".
And sometimes you find people like this, all right, when they are in Singapore, all right, they are docile, they are, you know, they don't say much but when they leave Singapore they become Singapore's enemy. They talk bad about our country, all right? In the first place, why? Because it was never a heart thing. You don't see the reason. You thought that the government put the sign down then, 90 kilometers, just to kill your speeding fun. You don't see that it's put down there because there's been a lot of problems on this road, all right? All you care about is your old selfish self. So you go out there, you say, "Oh, there's a lot of restriction down there, a lot of restriction down there", you know, and there's all the problems in your new country. I say there are problem in your new country. I know we've got no, you know, four seasons. We got 40 season of food. I tell you, God is fair. God is blessing us, amen?
How many remember I prophesied in '05 about a coming financial crisis? How many remember that? I prophesied about a financial crisis that's coming in '05. The Holy Spirit came on me and I gave this word, all right. I don't show you again because we've been showing you quite a few times this few years because every part of it has come to pass almost like one year this part came to pass, another year this part came to pass. It was a prophecy of the future, next few years, immediate years, and then, in '08, you know, the crisis hit and Singapore is also part of the financial, you know, meltdown and all that. And what happened was that in my prophecy in '05 before the crisis happened, you all heard this, right? I thought of showing you all the whole thing again but because of time, anyway, you all saw this so many times already.
In the prophecy I shared that nations that used to be prosperous, all right, on this side and nations used to be poor on this side, will trade places, all right? China, India, and all that. And we have been seeing this switch going on and that was before President Obama was president of US. Then I said, "What about Singapore", all right? I said this: "Singapore will rise. Singapore after, you know, the crisis will rise". It's almost like Singapore will be the first to rebound. Do you remember that prophecy? Well, two days ago on Thursday, front page in the papers, it says two records already for Singapore, all right? A rebound that has no parallel in history, amen. Number two, the quickest rebound in Asia. In fact, the rate our economy is growing is probably faster than US, China, and India.
So I really thought of playing that prophecy again so you all can see, you know? I'm not trying to show off about the prophetic part and all that. By the way, all your psychology in the world, all your human learning of persuasiveness, cannot predict the future. But the thing is this, church. Down through the years we have... God has given me words, all right, to help you all. It's not so much myself. He will take care of me, amen? But it's more for you all. I just felt last year because I gave a number of words already, I didn't want to share with the whole church because it is one thing, you know, to tell a church, "Invest in gold", and all that and, you know, if something go wrong, let's say, you know, I missed it. I eat the roti platter last night and thought it was the voice of God or whatever, I can take the risk but if you take the risk and you put everything aside, you know, no, it's not right. I'm not being responsible, amen? But praise God. God does speak through his people and no amount of high IQ can get God to talk to you. No amount of, "You must know how to psycho people".
You know, somebody told me that, you know, you must learn how to psycho people. I look at him. He look like a psycho. You know, whenever people talk like that, you know, they think they can psycho people, at the end you'll find that they always end up with nothing, all right? Because they're so full of self, so full of my effort, my wisdom, my this. We can only humble ourself and say, "Lord, my trust is in you. It's your favor that will bring me through", amen? All right, look at this, verse 7: "The ministry of death, written and engraved on stones". So let's rejoice over Singapore's recovery, amen? Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. "If the ministry of death, written and engraved on stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of the glory of his countenance, which glory was passing away", all right, "how will the ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious? For if the ministry of condemnation", now he calls it a ministry of condemnation, "had glory, the ministry of righteousness exceeds much more in glory. For even what was made glorious had no glory in this respect, because of the glory that excels".
So last week, I stopped here. I shared about how some revivals down through church history use a lot of law, a lot of condemnation, you know, and even great men of God, men of God that I highly esteem and respect like, Charles G. Finney, like John Sung, you know, great men. But they will use the law. They will use the law until you're bleeding from every pore, you know? And people run, people scream, to be saved. These are wonderful men of God, you know, but they will use the law to bring you to a sense of guilt so that you'll see your need for Jesus, all right? Now, it was glorious meetings. These were glorious meetings, amen. Bars were shut down, people's lives were transformed, but the Bible says we ain't seen nothing yet. Though the ministry of condemnation had glory, verse 9, God didn't say have no glory. Ministry of condemnation has glory. It has glory.
But, Bible say: "The ministry of righteousness exceeds much more in glory". In other words, the Holy Spirit is saying, "You ain't seen nothing yet", amen. A ministry where when you preach that God is not demanding righteousness from you today because of what Jesus has done, because of what Christ has done, God is conferring righteousness to you, amen. See, the law has a problem with you because the law cannot confer righteousness. The law demands righteousness from you. And then, the law has this other side that gives it the bite. If you cannot keep the law for righteousness, the law has to slay you. Do you understand? All right, that's like to put yourself under law is to come under the slaying power which is authorized by God. And it's not written for believers, actually.
So believers should not come under law. And there's the biggest debate right now all over the world and I believe one of the reasons why God raised this ministry is to combat this error that's come into the church. Are you listening? All right, then another thing that's happening was this: the Bible says, go back to verse 7. All right, the Bible says: "The ministry of death, written and engraved on stones", we covered that is the Ten Commandments because the Ten Commandments of all the laws is the only part that's engraved on stones. I'm not gonna go back there. Get the message. "It was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of the glory of his countenance, which glory was passing away".
Now listen carefully, all right? When Moses came down the mountain with the tablets of stone, all right, when he came down, his face was shining. It was shining. Now, it was not a shine that attracts. Why? It was a shine, literally it says, "You shall not, you shall not". It was a shine that came from God but it was a shine that condemns. If you don't measure up, you are out. If you're not what God wants you to be, you are condemned. No wonder the Bible says in Ezekiel 34, "the people left him. The people were afraid to come near him", all right? Moses had to call them back. They ran away from him. He had to call, even his own brother, Aaron, ran away. He had to call for Aaron and all Israel to come back to him. And then because of that, he put a veil on his face. Moses put a veil on his face so that the shine will not frighten them. The shine will not make them feel sin conscious. He put a veil when he talked to them.
But the Bible says in chapter 34 of Exodus when he goes into the presence of God he will remove the veil and he'll talk to God. One day, the Bible says if you read the passage in 2 Corinthians 3, one day all Israel will turn to the Lord. When you turn to the Lord, the veil is no more. Are you listening? All right, so here is an amazing thing that when people share this, many a times they don't share this part: when did Moses's face shine? Was it the first time he received the Ten Commandments. You know the story. He went up, Exodus 20. He received the Ten Commandments or rather, God, spoke the Ten Commandments, Exodus 20. Then after that, God invite him up, right? God gave him the tablets of stone.
Then Moses went down, all right, to the people and what happened? Straightaway there was a golden calf. They were worshiping and dancing around it. There were all kinds of orgies and all kinds of terrible things going on at the foot of the mountain when only a few moments ago, all right, the day before, they had said what? "All that the Lord can command us, we will do it". This is the testimony of every believer, everyone that wants to come, every Jew, every Christian believer, who wants to come under law, this is testimony. Your heart is sincere but sincerity doesn't cut it, all right? They really want to be under law. See what happens now. The very first commandment, you are seeing it right now. They're dancing before it.
And God was grieved and Moses carried the two tablets and Moses saw the whole thing and Moses broke all the Ten Commandments. Technically he's the first one broke, okay, all right? That's why God said, "Take two tablets, you don't feel well", all right? So he broke the tablets at the foot of the mountain. But notice that God wasn't angry with him. It's amazing. Look throughout the Scriptures, you cannot find God angry at Moses. You know why? Because Moses had wisdom. If Moses brought the stones into the camp, everybody, all Israel would die. So Moses broke it to show that they're not worthy to receive it. And he was angry because God was angry. So whenever you are in sync with God. Another time, God was not angry, Moses was angry. Moses got into trouble, all right? Hitting the rock. But the thing is that this time God is angry, Moses is angry. All right, he's representing God.
Now, when Moses came down the mountain, he destroyed the golden calf, he disciplined them all. Three thousand people died. But listen, was his face shining? You don't find the shining face of Moses in that event. But he came down with the law. There was no shining face. When did Moses's face shine? All right, Moses's face shone in the second giving of the law. God invited Moses up to the mountain again, all right, on another day and, at the mountain, God spoke to Moses and God told Moses, "Hew now two tablets of stone and I'll write upon it again the ten words", all right? So Moses went up there but this time God passed by Moses. Moses saw God, all right, in the cleft of the rock, hallelujah. And then God passed by. He saw the back parts of God, amen.
And that's why when the woman, the issue of blood, touched Jesus, she took her healing from behind. Jesus had to stop because he has not come to give healing on the side. He doesn't just want to give you healing. He wants to give you himself. He wants to give you his love and he turned around and made her look into his face, and his face says, "Your sins are forgiven, all right? Don't feel guilty taking this healing. I want you to be well, more than you want to be well. And I'm so glad you are well. Your faith make you well". Oh, hallelujah, hallelujah. If she took the healing and went away, you know, you can feel guilty, maybe you stole a healing, you know, that kind of feeling? That's why Jesus turned around. Oh how precious is our Savior. How lovely is he, amen?
So God says, "You can only see my back parts". Why? Because Christ has not yet come. So we only see the back parts of God. And the story of the Old Testament is that they are always seeing the back parts of God. God is always leaving, like a bad marriage, you know? You always see the wife's back, she's leaving. Sad. Every time they've seen God, God leaves. But we, in the new covenant because of what Jesus has done, God left Jesus at the cross when he was carrying our sins so that God will say to you and I, "I will never leave you, nor forsake you", amen? You always see the face of God and the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, hallelujah, praise God.
So it was the second time when Moses went up the mountain, all right? This time, law is given but tempered with grace. God introduced himself as the Lord merciful and gracious. The Lord merciful and gracious, all right? And Moses became the mediator, all right? And that's when God actually instituted the Mishkan, the tabernacle of Moses, the offer, bronze offering, where every guilty sinner can bring a lamb. A lamb is a picture of Christ there. He will lay his hands on the lamb's head, passing his sins into the innocent lamb, and also the innocency of the lamb is passed on to him. It's a two-way traffic thing. When you lay your hands on a innocent lamb and he watches the lamb being killed and the lamb is put on the altar and the fire of God consumes it, and this guy walks away with something he never had when he came: the innocence of the lamb. That makes him a marked man for blessings. And it's a picture of Jesus Christ. Are you listening?
When you come to Jesus, you end up with more than before you came. And then you are marked for blessings, all right? All heaven zero in. All the blessings of God are like heat-seekers and you have that heat. And it's aiming for you and it's on its way, amen? Praise God. This is the gospel, hallelujah. This is the gospel, amen. Praise the name of Jesus. Now, when Moses up there, God spoke to Moses and God gave him, yes, the Ten Commandments. It's almost like God gave him at last. But God showed him the glories of his Son. God showed him the tabernacle, what the furniture means, that Jesus, the light of the world, the table of showbread. Jesus said, "I am the bread of life". Begin to show God was talking about his Son.
You see, God's mind is not about law. God's mind is about his darling Son. And then finally, God gave him the Ten Commandments. And watch this. When Moses... by the way, you know where they put the Ten Commandments? Did he break again? No, because this time when he came down, he put the Ten Commandments in the ark of the covenant and overlaid with the mercy seat. The ark is Jesus Christ. There's only one person who can keep the law and he says, "Thy law have I hid in my heart". That's Jesus. When you accept Jesus, God gives you A-plus for law-keeping because it's in him. You understand? When you accept Jesus Christ, God give you A-plus for law-keeping, even though you're a rascal. That's how God does it. So the only safe place for the law is in the heart of Jesus, amen, who can keep it. Hallelujah.
Now listen carefully. When Moses came down the second time with his new set of law, that's the time his face shone. Isn't it amazing? In other words, it's a mixture. There was law, yet he saw God's grace. Because he saw God's grace up in the mountain, which he didn't see the first time he took the Ten Commandments, but because he saw God's grace, merciful and gracious, now he has grace and he has law in his hands. When he comes down, his face shone. Now, stop here for a while. The ministry of condemnation, or "Ministry of death, written and engraved on stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of the glory of his countenance, whose glory was passing away".
So, he's talking about what? First giving or second giving? Second giving. And yet, it is in second giving of Ten Commandments, God calls ministry of death. It is when you have some grace, some law, ministry of death, God calls that. That is an... I wish I can shout this from the housetops, or the steeples of every church. It is not pure law alone that causes man's face to shine. And because his face was shining, it could become deceptive. On one moment you think the law is good, but actually it wasn't the law producing the shine. It was grace producing the shine because he was spending time in God's presence who introduced himself up in the mountain as "I the Lord God, merciful and gracious". And yet, there was the law, which in the first giving of the law, there was no shining face.
So, in other words, it's a mixture of law and grace. It confused the people, all right? And that is what is being preached today. Today in the churches, in evangelical churches, all right, they don't preach pure law. They don't circumcise every child that's born. They don't observe literally the seven feasts. Some are adopting that now, but they don't, you know, stone you. Thank God, right? But the thing is that almost every evangelical church will tell you, unless they have this revelation that you cannot live by law, they will tell you, "We are not saved by law. We are justified by grace". They will tell you that they have grace. But now that you are saved, you must keep the law. That's Galatianism because the law is not the rule of life. You don't invite Hagar back to raise up your son. Hagar is the law. Sarah is enough to do a good job. So, they are saying, yeah, once you are justified without law by grace, but after this, you must keep the law. In other words, grace is only to help you get started.
Now, this is mixture and the Bible calls it the ministry of death. And we wonder why the body of Christ is depressed, why the body of Christ is sick emotionally, why the body of Christ is struggling, people are still feeling guilty, because I'm telling you, folks, if you preach pure law, it's better, you know? Because at least if you preach pure law, everyone scream for mercy and they look for a way out. Then they can say Jesus, you know, at least if you preach pure law. You know what I'm saying? I mean it will drive you to your knees. It will bring you to the end of yourself. It will destroy every pride. It was designed by God that every mouth may be stopped and everyone become guilty.
But the problem is that when you say this is law but God's grace, God loves you and God understands and all, but you can keep the law and do your best, you know, but if you fail, God loves you. No, no, no the whole thing is all out of whack. Mixture is the ministry of death. Mixture is more dangerous than anything. Better have pure law, pure grace. At least pure law will drive men into despair that they will see their need for Jesus. But when you have mixture, you never really, really know where, you know, the moment you start feeling... the law starts to work on your conscience, you start feeling guilty. Someone comes and says, "Oh, God loves you", you know? "And now God loves you, you can keep the law again". So, it's a very dangerous union. It's spiritual adultery. Are you with me?
All right, and the reason the Bible says is because they cannot look steadily at the face of Moses whose glory was passing away. This is very interesting. The Bible tells us that Moses didn't pull a veil on his face so that to spare the people only. He put a veil on his face because he realized the glory is dissipating. The glory keeps on going. Are you listening? It's fading away. So the thing, he's quite smart as a leader, because if he didn't put a veil on his face, people look at his face, "Hey, what happened to your glory? This morning, your face shining, you know? This evening no more shine. What you do, huh, Moses? Hey, you did something bad. And Moses must have sinned. Moses must have sinned. I think he backslide".
You know human nature's like that. So, he's very smart. He didn't let them see the shine. He put a veil because so that they cannot see the glory was passing away. The glory of the law is passing away. You can hold on to it all you want to, but it's passing away. I feel for you, you know, it's passing away, okay? Now next, verse 8, "How will the ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious"? That's the ministry of conferring righteousness. So, ministry of righteousness means what? God confers righteousness to sinful men so that he can stand before God in all boldness. What a ministry. That's the gospel of Jesus Christ. And on what grounds, on what righteous grounds can God confer righteousness? The cross of Jesus Christ. God cannot just confer righteousness just presumptuously. God does it on a righteous ground, all right, God is righteous in making men righteous. Righteous to what? To what Jesus did at the cross where the innocent, where the just died for the unjust, amen. He met fully all the claims of divine holiness and righteousness.
Only Jesus glorified God and magnified the law, and he died in our place, amen, he died under the curse of the law. Therefore, we are no longer under law because all the punishment that the law shouts for us to give, all right, all that the claims of the law on us have all been fully met in the Son of God. We got nothing to say to the law, the law has nothing to say to us. So, don't let the devil or his messengers use the law and bring it back into your life. Are you listening, folks, amen? Jesus finished it for us. Christ ransomed us from the curse of the law. And all the people said? Amen. So, it says here, "For if the ministry of condemnation had glory, the ministry of righteousness exceeds much more in glory". Say exceeds.
All right, the ministry of grace will exceed much more in glory. "For even what was made glorious had no glory in this respect, because of the glory that excels". In other words, how can you compare a wooden staircase with an escalator? How can you compare a bicycle with a Lamborghini, all right? For even what was made glorious, last time a bicycle was whoa, you know, back in the 18th century. All right, and they had Schwinn or some other top, but, you know, it was glorious then. But compared to now, we have a glory that excels, the new covenant, amen? So, old covenant, all right, demands, does not confer righteousness, demands righteousness from sinful men. And when he does not find it, what? He curses the man. So, that's why law and bondage and death go together. Remember this, they're all associated. Law, bondage, death go together.
Now, look at the ministry of righteousness. It confers righteousness on the sure ground of the finished work of Jesus Christ, on sinful men, okay? That's why life and liberty goes together in the ministry of righteousness. Where there's righteousness, there's life and there's liberty. All right, I'm getting ahead of myself. For even what was made glorious, okay, verse 11, "For if what is passing away was glorious", that's old covenant, "What remains is much more glorious". Can I have a good amen? So, if what is passing away, look at passing away. What was passing away? The law, the Ten Commandments passing away. If what is passing away was glorious then, what remains? It's a new covenant. It's much more glorious! Say it, "Much more glorious".
Some years ago, I was reading this, and the Lord spoke to me because I was also asking God, why is it some people they receive healing and then it's genuine healing, but then later on they fall sick again, sometimes with that disease, sometimes another disease. And I see that happen. It's like the body of Christ cannot hold on to their healing. And then even holiness, you know, they're holy and they overcome a bad habit for a long time, you know, God give them the victory and then all of a sudden, another year they fall into it and this time it's even worse. I'm asking, why can't they hold on it to? And the Lord used this verse to speak to me, that's why I have them underlined.
All right, this is my personal Word from God. God says, "Because they're holding on to what is passing away". Whenever you try to get holiness, you know those law preachers, they always claim that they're preaching holiness, but they don't realize they're preaching a holiness that is passing away. I am preaching a holiness from the mercy seat that is in the Holy of Holies. It's the holiest of all. Oh, you didn't get what I said. I'm preaching holiness, all right, from the mercy seat, which is in the Holy of Holies, literally in the Hebrew, kadosh ha kedoshim, holy, like holiness of holinesses. It's the holiest thing of all is that mercy seat, grace, the throne of grace. That's where I'm preaching from.
Now, trying to impress by saying a lot of word holiness, doesn't make someone holy. You know if I have measles, and I say I have pimples, you won't get what I say. You'll get what I got. All right, just because you say a lot of holiness doesn't mean there's holiness, amen? All right, but have you got it? So, the thing is that if they are trying to be holy through an old covenant way, through the law, it's passing away. They are good today, good tomorrow, then gone. They binge. No one knows they binge, lah, only them and God, all right, because you're trying to keep the law. Everyone who preaches the law, I know they have private problems. Everyone who's teaching people to keep the law, I know they have private problems, big private problems, why? Because I know it's designed to bring out your problems.
Okay, see what remains is much more glorious. Do you want your holiness to remain? Do you want your healing to remain? You want your family to remain, amen, permanence, the idea of stability? Then make sure you go for that which is much more glorious, the new covenant, the ministry that confers righteousness on you. Can I have a good amen, church? Oh, how loving is our God? God made it so simple and we preachers make it so hard. You know, it's amazing, you know, God says just scratch your ear like this, you know? Then for us we scratch like that, go around. You have to go around the wilderness. Without the wilderness, you cannot reach your goal, all right? If you don't suffer, then, you know, it's not God. God wants you to suffer before you get the blessing. God wants you to just scratch your ear, all right? God designed it in such a way, all right, short, amen? You can go the long way.
Now, we can talk about wilderness experiences all we want to, but don't forget, there was a shortcut. There was a shortcut. All right, what took them 40 years took Jesus 40 days, all right? So, the problem with the wilderness wasn't so much, all right, that God wanted them to go the wilderness. The problem was that there was so much Egypt in them. It takes one night to bring them out of Egypt, took 40 years to get Egypt out of them. That's the challenge in the church, all right? You see a cruise on the waters, all right, on the Mediterranean whatever, it's cruising, right? It's okay for the boat to be in the water. It's wrong for the water to be in the boat. All right, so as we cruise into this world, we are in the world, but we're not of the world. Don't let the world come in. Don't let the world come in.
"Oh, Pastor Prince, you know I think that we must conquer all the different areas of the world and all that". God never tells us to conquer. God says preach the gospel. And even a poor person, a beggar receive, amen? He has a purpose. The gospel is for everybody. It's not just for the rich, for the poor, amen? I think that God may want, you know, someone here to be a princess or a prime minister and all that. Well, if God does it, God does it, amen? My job is to preach the gospel. Honestly, personally, I think there are Christians with no integrity. I think they should never be prime ministers. And to be a prime minister you must love the entire country and not just Christians. Praise God. Hallelujah.
If what is passing away was glorious, now go to verse 12. We're bringing this to a close. "Therefore, since we have such hope, we use great boldness of speech". Why does it say that? Why does it say great plainness of speech, one translation says or boldness of speech, why? Because in the Old Testament, Moses, all right, everything is hidden. It's like you must go through an initiation rights to be a member, you know? "Here is the Mishcon, the Tabernacle of Moses. Here, these four horns here is the bronze altar. And it's only for all the people of Israel to come here, but no one can come inside the holy place. It's only for the priest. And here you have the menorah for the light and here you have the 12 golden shewbread, table. And here is the altar of incense.
Whatever does all this mean? Why must I see through the light of the menorah? Why must I smell the altar of incense? And why must I eat the table of shewbread? Oh, you do not know now, but one day you shall know. But we know, we think we know, but we do not know. But one day you'll know, you know"? So, it's like everything is mystical. "Why do you think God made only one man and one woman? Is there a mystery there"? There's no plainness of speech in the ministry of law. Everything is hidden in a type. And today when people teach the type, I'm stunned that they don't see Jesus, all right, because Jesus is a Spirit of the Old Testament. Why is there three doors in the Mishcon, in tabernacle? Because each one is called the way, the truth, and the life. Jesus said, "I'm the way, the truth, and the life". Why was there only one, one woman? Because they are not just man and woman. They are representing all mankind to come. Whatever happens to them, happened to the rest so that Jesus will come as the federal, the new federal head, amen?
Why did God tell Moses to put a snake, I mean a bronze snake, on a cross and lift up and all those who are bitten by snake? All right, I don't care if your eyes are blue eyes, green eyes, black eyes, all right, mixture color, all right, small eyes, big eyes, slanted eyes, no eyes. I'll tell you one thing, amen, everyone who looks... one of the greatest simplicities is what you are doing right now, you are looking. Whoever looks, whoever's bitten by the snake who looks at the bronze snake on the cross, everyone was healed. And there was a story of children of Israel wandering in the wilderness. Then you fast forward to the New Testament, Jesus told Nicodemus, "You know, Nicodemus, as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so I must be lifted up". He's telling you he's the spirit of that ritual. So, every ritual in the Bible, it's exciting for us to bring out the spirit, and it's a spirit that gives life. Are you listening?
Now, stop here, I want to close because of the time factor here. I want to show you something that maybe in your King James doesn't show, but all theologian scholars all agree that what we have been reading just now is in parentheses and the reason is very important. I just call your attention to this, okay? Go to verse 7. Go back to verse 7, okay? Verse 7 starts with a parenthesis, all right? Verse 7 all the way to verse 16, all right, 16 ends with a parenthesis. Now, let's look... you know what's parenthesis? Which means he's talking about something in the mainstay of the subject, and then he, like Pastor Prince sometimes when I preach, he does a rabbit trail to explain further what he's saying. So, that's a parenthesis, okay? So, in the parenthesis, he's explaining because where he stopped was this.
Go back to verse 6 now before the parenthesis, verse 6. All right, verse 6, is there a verse 6? All right, notice before the parenthesis in verse 7, verse 6 ends with "The letter kills, but the spirit gives life". So, Paul knew that it's open for people's interpretation, what is a letter? Thank God he explained the letter there is the law, all right, and engraved on stones in the parenthesis. So, in the parenthesis, he explains law, old covenant and new covenant, you understand? All right, but actually ends there. The letter kills, the spirit gives life. It ends there. Verse 7 is a parenthesis. Now, would you like to see after the parenthesis what it says? All right, don't forget, the last statement here is the spirit gives life. Now, let's go to verse 16. Verse 16 ends the parenthesis. Verse 17 says, "Now the Lord is the spirit; and where the spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty".
Okay, okay, stop here for a while. You ask any believer, they'll tell you it's the Holy Spirit he's talking about. But notice the way it's said many a times. The Holy Spirit is always the Holy Ghost, Old King James, Holy Spirit, New King James. All right, he's never like put like the Lord the spirit. Okay, so what is this spirit? Because we must find the spirit before we close or else I cannot go to second service, I cannot have my breakfast, all right? I need to share this, because if we can find out what is this spirit, it's the spirit that gives life! How many need more life? The word "gives life", if you check your concordance, it literally says it helps you to bring young. That is make you what? Fruitful if you're barren, the spirit gives life.
If you are sick, spirit gives life means it will make you come alive. The same phrase used when this Jairus asked Jesus to touch his daughter that she may live, recover from sickness. So, whatever it is, it behooves us to find out what is that Spirit that gives life? And my time is up! So, until the next time, thank you very much. God bless you all. Make sure you tune in again, hallelujah, because man, I'm telling you this Spirit that gives life, you cannot let go, man, you gotta know what's the Spirit that gives life, amen? All right, and my time is up already. Okay, praise God. Since you all feel impatient already, you know you need to go for your chikwangue and all that so I'll let you go, all right? Y'all want to know? You really want to know? Actually I told you already, you know?
All right, watch this, it is not so much the Holy Spirit mentioned here. You see, God the Father is involved. The Holy Spirit's is involved, of course, okay? But the way it's said, the Lord, the Spirit. Even the last verse, verse 18, just as by the Spirit of the Lord, look in your King James. The, the Spirit, the Lord. "The" is not there. The definite article is not there in the original. "The" is in italics. Literally, we are transformed by Spirit Lord. So, who is this Spirit Lord? It starts off by saying the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. Very good. You're right. Jesus, okay? If I dismiss y'all, y'all can go around here afterwards and ask her for some more. All right, Jesus is, you know, when you say Jesus, you won't go wrong one, actually. This church is full of Jesus, but listen, how, how, how? How Jesus, how?
You know when you read the Old Testament, the Spirit that gives life is hidden, hidden in the rituals, hidden in the stories, in the characters, hidden in the mountain, hidden in the trees, hidden in the flowers. All right, I'll tell you what Spirit gives life. Every time a preacher brings Jesus out, he show you the spirit of what that ritual is, what that tree is, he has just given you life. That's the Spirit that gives life. It's not the Holy Spirit. The whole idea there is the Spirit. And that's why from verse 6, all right, before the parentheses start, it ends with "The letter kills, but the Spirit gives life". And then you drop down to the last parentheses, verse 17, now the Lord is the Spirit. Jesus is the Spirit of the Old Testament, all right? Can you see that? "Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away".
Now, the Lord is the Spirit. Now, forget about verse 17, go back to verse 6, right? It says letter kills, the Spirit gives life. Letter kills, the Spirit lives life. Now, drop down, all right? But the Lord is the Spirit. And where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. So, many of us, we take that as, in a church environment you know, "Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. Liberty to sing, liberty to dance, you know". Even professors and doctors know to lift up one toe, you know, and there's liberty. All right, we charismatic always hijack a lot of verses. But the context there is that the moment you see Jesus in this ritual, you see Jesus in this character, you see Jesus in the tabernacle, you see Jesus in the golden lampstand. You see Jesus in the menorah. You see Jesus in the shewbread.
Oh, I'm telling you, life, life, life, life. And this is what this ministry's all about, but bringing Jesus out from the shadows because the old is the new concealed. The new is the old revealed. Like, for example, you look at Joseph. The Bible spends so many chapters in Genesis on this guy, this one guy, this one guy, Joseph. This patriarch, one guy, Joseph, why? Why is it that Joseph's story is put in detail? The Father loved Joseph. The Father sent his Son, all right, to meet his other brothers of the flesh. Well, that's God the Father sending Joseph, Jesus, to the Jewish people. He came to the Jewish people first. And what did the brothers do to Joseph? They sold him off, all right? They rejected him. They didn't accept him, although he has a gift. He has an anointing to interpret dreams, but they rejected him and just, you know, sent him away, all right? Told the father he was dead, amen? And he turned out to be the bread of life in Egypt.
For 2,000 years, our heavenly Joseph has become the bread of life to the gentile world. Israel is today suffering. Israel is going through a lot of, you know, stormy situation, never seems to cease, why? Until they shout, "Jesus is the Messiah", amen? So, they are going through that. So, while Egypt was enjoying, non-Jews were enjoying, non-covenant people were enjoying. People that don't care about our God, the God of Abraham Isaac was enjoying because of Joseph's presence, all right? Here in Canaan, Joseph's father was suffering. His family was suffering. Israel, another name for Jacob today is suffering, why? They don't see heavenly Joseph. They don't realize all the blessings that have come on mankind for 2,000 years has been the result of the wisdom of the heavenly Joseph. Every cure for every disease has come from the heavenly Joseph. And no wonder when the brothers first met him, they can't recognize him.
You know, he has all the headgear and Johnny Depp eye shadow, all right? In Jesus's first coming, they didn't recognize him. The second time they came for bread, he revealed himself. In the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, all Israel will shout, "He's the Messiah" and they will weep and he will embrace them all. He'll forgive them all. You know, they'll say, "We have done wrong. We have done wrong. We have done wrong". And he said, "Stop being angry with yourself, God sent me, all right, here to preserve many lives". And they'll weep on Jesus and Jesus says, "Stop condemning yourself, all right? It all happens that I'll die for the whole world". The whole world will enjoy the blessings that was only meant for Israel. Hallelujah. Wow, I just gave you the spirit of the story Joseph. I just gave you the spirit. Do you feel life? Do you feel life? This is what makes you strong, makes you healthy, makes the Bible exciting.
Now there's no veil, but some people teach that and tell you, Joseph, "It's important for you all to dream dreams. Joseph was a dreamer! Dream! And your dream will never let you down". And sometimes you can talk about dream, dream, dream, dream. At the end of the sermon, you scratch your head, "I thought I was in a church". You hardly hear Jesus. "Abraham laid Isaac, the son that he loved on the altar". Oh, Abraham, how his heart ached. He loved Isaac. Isaac was his only son, the son that he loved but he laid him... mark my words, one of these days, God knows what your heart really loves. Is it sin, cursing? Sin, cursing? No. What is it? Is it a child? Is it your career? When God deals with you, you gotta bring your Isaac. You gotta bring your Isaac and put it on the altar. And those who didn't, or those who cannot understand the sermon, they walk away thinking "Finished, lah, I didn't give my Isaac, you know"?
And some people are wondering "What is my Isaac"? And some people are who gave they feel self-righteous, they go out and then when they face problems, they say, "I thought I had God's favor", and there's no favor. Are we supposed, now I think maybe we can draw some principles from that story, but it must all be secondary. The main thing about Old Testament, find the Spirit, the Lord. The spirit of the story is that Isaac is a type of Jesus. And when God told Abraham, "Take now your son, your only son, the son that you love", God was saying to himself, "I'm gonna give my son, my only son, the son that I love and bring him to Mount Moriah". Why Mount Moriah? Because the highest peak of Mount Moriah's called Mount Calvary. God was planning for Jesus to come, and then the boy carried the wood on his back. Whoa!
"Down the Via Dolorosa. Called the way of suffering"... The Bible says Isaac took the wood and the father was there. The boy says, "I see the fire. I see the wood. Where is the lamb"? This stately old man said, "God will provide himself a lamb". And that's why just before he was about to slay the boy, God stopped him. And God says, "Now I know"! God never wanted a boy who has sin in his blood anyway. He'll be an unworthy sacrifice. "Now I know that you fear me or you worship me or you love me". Same idea there. How does God know? Abraham was willing to go all the way. So, now when you see Jesus on the cross, God's Son, his only Son, the Son that God loves. Who are you that God will give up the Son that he loves to save? What kind of people are you? Who are you that God will give up the Son that he loved for you? So, now when you look at heaven, you can say, "Now I know, Father, that you love me because you have not withheld your Son, your only Son, the Son that you love". Give Jesus the praise, amen?
Oh, do you feel the life? Do you feel the life? It's all about Jesus! Now, don't put yourself as a hero in that story. You are not the hero giving up your Isaac. The hero there is God who gave up his only Son. And Abraham, you know, John, Jesus in the gospel of John, Jesus said to the Pharisees, "Abraham, rejoice to see my day". And you know what the Jew says? "You're not yet 50 years old, you have seen Abraham"? Before Abraham was, Jesus said, "I am". What does that mean? Abraham saw Jesus's day. It was on that mountain. He was about to kill his son and God says, "Stop. This whole thing is an reenactment. Look behind you". The Bible says he saw a lamb caught in his thickets but more than that he looked behind him and saw the highest peak, Mount Calvary. He saw the cross that God will send his Son. Now you have received the spirit of that story and it gives life. Hallelujah. How to stop, this kind of sermon, how to stop? I want to go into Noah's ark already, but I'm scared y'all will drown. Okay, praise God. I just realized one service, thank you, Jesus. Give Jesus a shout of praise, amen, amen, amen.
Right now I will invite everyone just to quiet yourself before the Lord. The Lord is here. You can sense his presence. He is here. Unless you really need to go to the restroom, try not to walk because it's a time between you and God, your me time with God. My friend, if you are here today and you know that when the music has died, the party is over, your friends go home, you go to the mirror and you say, "What's life about? I still have this empty feeling on the inside. Why do I always end up with this empty void on the inside"? Because when God made you, God designed you, your spirit, to contain Jesus, and your heart will never be satisfied until you come home to God. And God did not wait for you to come home. God sent his Son for your welfare, for your good. Jesus sought you. The good shepherd left the 99 to look for that one that was lost.
You might say, "I'm not lost, pastor". Oh, no one is more lost than the one who does not think he's lost. And every lost sheep needs a loving shepherd. So Jesus, the good Shepherd, left everything, came down to earth and realized that for the sheep to remain alive, for the sheep to be accepted, a price must be paid. For God to accept sinful man into his holy presence will be unjust, why? God is holy. Man is sinful. There must be a righteous foundation. God must be holy to receive sinful man and that happened at the cross. When Jesus hung there on the cross, he met fully all the claims, all the divine claims of a holy God on man. Jesus became answerable to that.
At the cross, Jesus took your sins and because he is God as well, he's able to take the sins of your entire life, thought, word, and deed, upon himself. And he said, "Father, let me be the one to become their ransom". And the Father poured everything, every judgment against lawlessness. The holy wrath, the righteous wrath and divine indignation was poured out in full upon all our sins in the body of Jesus Christ until Jesus cried, "Finished"! What a cry. What a victory cry, "Finished"! No more judgment from God left for the believer. He has consumed it all. No more punishment. No more curse hanging over your head. Today when you fail, there is no curse hanging over your head. Makes you want to love him more. And the same sin cannot be punished twice. So, if you're here, you say, "Pastor Prince, I want to receive all that Jesus has done for me".
My friend, do you realize you are trading your weakness for his strength? You are trading your sin for his righteousness. You are trading your sickness for his health. You are trading a life of unanswered prayer to a life of constant answers. You are trading shame for his glory and beauty, and that's why the devil blinds the minds of people from this truth. So, wherever you are right now, my friend, listen to the good news, "I come", from the words of Jesus himself, "I come that you might have life and have it more abundantly". It's all about life more abundantly. Life more abundantly. If that is you, you say, "Pastor, I want to receive this life. I want Jesus Christ to be my Lord and Savior", then pray this prayer right now with me. Are you ready? Wherever you are right now, wherever you are, whether you're gallery west, whether you are in... cinema. Wherever you are right now, pray this prayer with me.
Father in heaven, thank you for loving me, for the gift of your Son Jesus Christ who died on that cross suspended between heaven and earth. He became liable, answerable for all my sins and every judgment, every retribution, every curse against all sins. Unrighteousness and lawlessness fell upon Jesus. Thank you, Father, it will never ever fall on me. That's your love for me. That's Jesus's love for me. He died, but you raised him from the dead on the third day to be my high priest, to be my shepherd, to be my advocate, to make sure that what he died to give me I receive. Thank you, Father, Jesus Christ is my Lord, my Savior, I'm saved, saved, saved. In Jesus's name, amen.