Joseph Prince - Impact The World With The Father's Lavish Love
Are you ready for the Word? All right, Psalms 8. You wanna turn to your Bibles, you can turn to your Bibles as well. Psalms 8 is the Psalm of David. David begins the psalm. There are only nine verses in that psalm, and the psalm opens up with, "O Lord our Lord, how excellent is your name in all the earth". It ends with the same, "O Lord our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth". Amen.
Now, David, when he looks at the handiwork of God, he says, "When I consider the heavens, the stars, the moon, the work of your hands, what is man that you are mindful of him"? And then David says something very profound about man, all right, he says here, "For you have made him a little lower than the angels. You have crowned him with glory and honor. You have made him to have dominion over the works of your hands. You have put all things under his feet".
Isn't that amazing? When God made man, when God made you, God crowned you with glory and honor. And this word crowned is the Hebrew word atar, which means to surround, okay? It's not so much a crown on your head as it is like God crowned you all over, amen. It's all around you, all encompassing like in a golden light. And crowned with glory, the Hebrew word is kavod, and honor. This word honor in Hebrew is the word hadar, and it's a beautiful word. It's the word beauty, splendor, magnificence. Imagine when God made man, God made man with beauty, all right, in magnificence. God made man to carry his splendor, his beauty.
Now, the other word glory is the word kavod in Hebrew, kavod. And kavod is the word glory, where you get the glory of a sunset, the glory is the manifestation of the essence of who God is. So man was created to bear God's glory, amen? He was crowned with the glory of God, amen? Do you know the word glory in Hebrew is also used for weight, heavy, kavod? One of the words in Hebrew for curse, all right, to curse, is the word to make light of. Amen, to make light of. In other words, crown with glory, God crowned man and made him a heavyweight. In other words, whatever you say carry weight, amen.
When Jesus walked on earth, he's an example of a man crowned with glory and honor, the man that God meant for every man to be, amen, walking in glory and honor. And when Jesus spoke to the fig tree, it died. Jesus spoke to leprosy, it departed. Jesus spoke to demons and they left. Jesus spoke to the storm and it was calm, amen. His words carry weight. But when someone's words does not carry weight, it falls to the ground. It is light, all right? That's the meaning of the Hebrew word curse, is to make light. When someone makes light of someone else, it's actually cursing the person. When someone comes into the room, people stand up, they are giving weight to the person. That person has glory, okay.
So God crowned man with glory and honor. Well, where is the glory and honor today? When God crowned man with this glory, this glory is not just for authority in his words, but also in terms of defense. Man was protected. Imagine how did Adam control the dinosaurs, all right, the elephants, the mammoths. They are huge. Did he use a stick? No, Adam only had to speak and the dinosaur would obey. He had to speak, all right, and all the animals kowtowed to Adam, amen. But God also said to man, "Have authority over ever creeping thing that creeps". So you have authority over creeps.
Smile at your neighbor and say, "Uh-huh". You have authority over every creeping thing, but what is happening right now to man? Even something that is creeping that you cannot see with your physical eye, a germ, virus, a bacteria, can destroy and put a man flat on his back. What has happened to the glory and honor? What has happened to man? Something happened and the Bible calls it the fall. When man sinned, man forfeited. It's like the golden light around man, poof, disappeared, and man became subject to sickness, to disease. Man became subject to destruction, and he became old. He started to age, all right, and finally die.
So this is what happened to man when sin came in. The Bible says the wages of sin is death, so quit before payday, because the word wages means salary. "The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord," amen. So man sinned, he forfeited the glory, and now his body and everything about him is subject to every creeping thing that creeps. He no longer has authority in his words, all right. But what happened is this. God's original plan is something that God still has in his heart for man, his love for man. He wants man to live the best life. Jesus calls it the abundant life.
Jesus said, "I come that you might have life and have it more abundantly," amen. Plant life is bios life in Greek. Animal life is also bios life. Then human life is psuche life, soul life. And then the highest form of life is something that the people of the world do not have, and that's what Jesus came to give. He says, "I come that you might have life," and that word there is zoe, all right? Aionios zoe, eternal life. "And to have it more abundantly," Jesus said.
He didn't come to give us laws and more laws. He didn't come to give us rules and new rules. He came to give us life, amen. He didn't come to make bad people good, he came to make dead people live. Everyone is dead in sins and their trespasses. Jesus says, "I come that you that might have life," so once you accept Jesus Christ, you have that uncreated life, that life that God himself lives by, the life that cannot die, the deathless life, the sin-free, curse-free life. That's the life that Jesus came to give and that's what you and I have today.
So we know, I mean, even intrinsically, all right, in our hearts we know when we receive the life of God, something has happened inside us, but we can't put words to it. What has happened is that we have received the very life of God and we have restored back to us that glory and honor that was lost, amen. Now, whether a believer walks in it or not, whether a Christian walks in that glory and honor or not is something else, but it has been restored.
Do you know the word hadar I mentioned just now, beauty, God crowned man with beauty, amen, splendor, magnificence, the word hadar, glory and hadar, all right? That word hadar is also used in the work of Jesus in Isaiah 53 when it says that he was wounded for our transgressions. He was wounded for our sins. He was crushed for our sins. He was bruised for our iniquities. The Bible tells us clearly in that same passage there was no beauty in him. His whole body was mangled. His face was so hideous, they beat him until the Bible says he was marked more than any man. It was a horrible sight, and the Bible says there was no beauty in him. And the word beauty there is the word hadar. There was no hadar. Guess what? Jesus took our ugliness. Jesus took our disfigurement and gave us beauty for ashes, hallelujah, amen.
So we know that those who accept Jesus Christ and his finished work, they are now crowned with glory and honor. Then we need to ask the question, if that is so, how many believers are walking in it? How many believers are conscious of it, number one, and how many are walking in it? We're gonna cover all this in this sermon. You ready, amen? So that glory and honor is something that you want, because that weightiness, for example, when you have a condition in your body. Your eye is twitching. You can speak to your eye. You can say, "In Jesus's name, eye, stop twitching. You are giving people wrong ideas," amen?
Amen, you got a knee condition, you speak to your knee, "In Jesus's name, amen". All right, your hair is falling out, you say, "Hair, be fruitful and multiply in Jesus's name," amen. You got a heart condition, say, "I command every valve, every artery to open up and free-flowing blood, flow through in Jesus's name," amen, amen. Speak to your kidneys. Speak to your liver. Whatever you're concerned about, amen, you can speak to your body because you have been restored that glory, that weightiness, amen.
Jesus walked through life speaking to situations. He spoke to trees and trees died. He spoke to demons, they left. I'm telling you, church, the world will say you are crazy when you do that, but you know what? It's better to be crazy and healthy than to be smart according to their definition and die young. Can I have a good amen? All right, every cancer that has been healed in our church, all right, has come through a spoken word in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, amen, amen. And the thing is that the body of Christ is so afraid.
We saw last week that when it comes to dealing with the world, you know, the church has learned a phrase. We love the sinner, we hate the sin. But many times when you look at Christians who are saying this... I'm sorry to say that, all right, I'm believer myself. I'm a Christian, but many times their emphasis is more, "We hate the sin". You hardly see them in practical ways loving the sinner. Are they relating to the sinner? Are they spending time with the sinner? I'm not saying be like the sinner. And it's amazing to me when Christians act shocked that sinners sin.
You know, it is amazing when Christians act shocked that sinners sin. We don't act shocked when we see a driver drive, a cook cook. Sinners sin, amen, but we are shocked. It's like we are shocked a drunkard is acting drunk. If someone unclean touches a person who is clean, the person who is clean becomes unclean. We saw that last week from Haggai. Then we saw that under grace, Jesus Christ came down the mountain and he touched the leper, and the leper is unclean. Under law, anyone touching the leper will become unclean, because under law uncleanness is what? Contagious, but under grace, holiness is contagious.
Jesus touched the leper and the clean... wow. That was an emphasis. The clean made the unclean clean. So what does that tell you? That tells you under grace, holiness is contagious. Then the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 7, we saw last week, he said this. He said that if you wives have a husband who does not believe or you husbands have a wife who does not believe, please do not divorce your spouse, all right? Because it says in 1 Corinthians 7 the unbelieving wife is sanctified. The word sanctified is made holy, wow. The unbelieving wife is made holy by the believing husband, and the unbelieving husband is made holy by the believing wife.
There again you see the principle of what? Holiness is contagious. And then it says, "Or else your children will be unclean. But now your children are clean". I wish I can preach that again and again because many believers have this attitude, all right, "Don't go there, don't do this. Don't do that. Don't touch not, taste not, handle not," all right? They are so afraid. They are so sin conscious that they believe everything can defile them. If that's the case, then you might as well live in a mountain somewhere and don't meet anybody. No, the Lord has called us to go into the world and preach the gospel of Jesus Christ to the world.
Now, going to the world, he didn't say, "Go and be worldly," all right? "Do the things the world is doing. Live like the world. Sin like the world". He didn't say that. He says, "Go into the world nonetheless and be a contagious believer," amen? Infect the world, quote, unquote, with the holiness of God. Praise God, hallelujah. Are you with me? All right, but we have this attitude, all right, you know, I can go as far as I can from the world. That'd be good, all right? And we are so sin conscious. And sin consciousness speaks of a lack of understanding, a lack of revelation of how perfect Jesus's payment is to God. The cross of Jesus Christ is the love of God making payment, complete payment, to the justice of God. Can you understand that?
Now, don't think of Jesus as loving and gracious and God the Father as stern and judicial. No, it was, "For God so loved the world". It was God who sent his Son. So God sent his Son, all right, to satisfy the claims of justice. Because if we have to satisfy it, we cannot, therefore the claims of justice against us will demand our life, will demand our destruction, amen. Are you with me so far?
And there are people who think that when God gave us the gift of righteousness, which is the core message of the gospel, it is amazing how the devil is raising up... In fact, the Puritans used to warn us of this, and many, many people, the reformed preachers of the Reformation days, they would warn and they used strong words against other preachers who would preach justification, all right, by works or by performance. And very quickly when you talk about righteousness by faith, somebody will come in and say, "Yes, yes, yes, but the Bible says, 'Faith without works is dead.'" And they are misquoting the book of James.
The book of James is not talking about moral works as such in the sense like... two examples were used about someone justified by works, all right? One was Rahab the prostitute who received the spies of Israel, okay, and sent them another way. Do you know how she did it? She lied. So if that is an argument for morality, it's not a good example, but that was the illustration used by James. Another example he used for works of faith is Abraham putting his son on the altar. Now, think about it carefully, all right? There never was a call for a human sacrifice. That was the first time, and God didn't want a human sacrifice.
You all know the story, but that's tantamount to what? Murder. So both illustrations used by James is no argument for morality, all right? Works of faith is not anything to do with morality. It's gotta do with when you believe God, there'll be results. There'll be an outflowing of works in your life. But it's nothing to do with the gospel. The gospel is you are made righteous without your performance, righteous without works, and anyone that preaches otherwise is a heretic. And the Bible pronounces a double curse on any preacher that comes against the gospel of righteousness by faith.
People have this idea, all right, "Well, Pastor Prince, you are for righteousness by faith. I am for the law. I am for holiness". Now, this pretension to holiness as if they are custodians of God's holiness, all right, it betrays, all right, a lack of revelation about the finished work of Jesus. It's tantamount to saying Jesus did not do a good job at the cross. Grace has the utmost respect for the law, and respect for the law means it is so pure, it is so perfect, no one can keep it. Jesus said it like this, "You think", he told the Pharisees, and it applies to the self-righteous Christians amongst us in the world today. He says you think committing adultery, sleeping physically with somebody, he says if you mentally undress a woman lustfully in your mind, you have committed adultery.
You think, "Thou shalt not kill" means taking a knife and stabbing someone, all right, physically killing someone. He says if you hate somebody, you have committed murder. Now, that's God's standard of the law, amen. He brought it outward into inwards, thereby all of us are guilty. Why did Jesus do that? Jesus did that so that everybody will become guilty under the law. That's the purpose of the law, so that everyone can be justified by Christ. No one else but Christ and Christ alone. Can I have a good amen, church? Amen?
So there are those who have this idea, you know, it's like, "Oh, people believe in grace. We believe in holiness". They don't realize a man of God many years ago in the 1800s says, "Grace is the truest and the highest holiness there is, because only grace can bring a sinful man and a thrice-holy God together". So, but the thing is this pretension to holiness is like, "We believe in holiness. Those people believe in grace," you know, these people are insulting the finished work of Jesus. I'll tell you why, because they think that for God to give the gift of righteousness to sinful man, God has to lower his standards, God has to compromise his holiness.
Nothing could be further from the truth. Jesus's death on the cross met fully all the claims of divine holiness. Jesus's death on the cross magnified God's law. Jesus's death on the cross fulfilled God's law and put it aside, amen. You see, what does fulfill mean? Jesus says, "I didn't come to destroy the law. I didn't come to destroy, but to fulfill". Has he fulfilled it? He has fulfilled it. We are no more under law. We are under grace, amen.
What is fulfilling the law? For example, you are making payments to the bank. Once you have fulfilled your obligations, my advice, stop paying, amen. You are no longer under obligation. So the thing is this, people have this idea, "Oh, you know, law is higher. Yes, saved by grace, they are wonderful. Once you are saved by grace, you gotta keep the law". They are still bringing back Moses in place of the Son. Moses the servant can never be greater than the Son. Mount Sinai and Mount Zion cannot amalgamate. There's no such mixture. The Son reigns in the house forever, the servant is only temporal. The servant gives way to the Son, all right? The law was given by Moses, the servant. Grace came by Jesus Christ the Son, amen.
So when we say we are under grace, we are under the Son, amen. Are you with me, church? So the thing is this, God did not lower his standards. God did not compromise his righteousness and holiness to give the gift of righteousness to sinful man. In fact, when sinful man comes to a thrice-holy God and call upon the name of Jesus, if God withholds righteousness, that gift, from man, God will be unjust.
That's why the Bible does not say God is merciful and kind to forgive us our sins. The Bible says God is faithful and righteous. Those are judicial words. Yes, God is kind, but how is he kind? He sent his Son. He's merciful, how? He sent his Son. But when he forgave us our sins, it used the language of the courts, judicial words. He's faithful and righteous. You know, when God forgave sinful man, it was not at the expense of his holiness. It was not at the expense of his righteousness. It was because he is righteous to what his Son did for us at the cross that God gave us the gift of righteousness.
Today you and I have the gift of righteousness, and the more you act like you are embarrassed, you know, it's fake humility. It's nothing but fake humility. "Oh no, no, no, you know, these clothes are too nice for me to wear and all that. No, no, no". And someone died that you might wear these clothes. If you put on these clothes, your body will be healed, your mind will be peaceful, and blessings will come to you. It's like a magnet because these clothes does not belong to you. It belongs to Jesus, but he wants you to wear it. He died to give you this coat that he had, that glory and honor.
And you act like, "No, no, lah. No, lah. Let me perform well. One day I'll pay for it". That is pride, stinking pride. It sounds like, you know, you care about, you know, you're trying to be humble, but it's not humility. True humility is, "Thank you". And who do you glorify when you say thank you? The giver. The recipient cannot be glorified. Are you with me, church? So we gotta get off this idea, all right, that even our children, you know, today's world, you know, I feel for parents. I'm a parent myself. I have a teenager and I have a baby, and God designed me to have this so that I can speak to both crowds of parents.
You know, people ask... I used to wonder how come, you know, the separation, you know? I have a teenage daughter and I have a baby who wants to play ball. He can't even walk. He likes to kick a ball. So I have this, and God told me one day, "Because you have two groups of parents in your church always". Amen. I'm so glad that God is making my life an example, amen. And you will see later on, the way I look, all right, forgive me, it was designed for a purpose. You will get to hear it afterwards. Everything about my life is for the gospel of grace, that his Word will go out to the four corners of the earth, amen.
But I feel for the parents today. I'm a parent. I understand, you know, with the advent of Internet, with all the social media around them, with all the kind of challenges they have that we don't have when we were their age, this generation. But how do I look at them? I look at this, what Paul says, "Where sin increase, grace superabounds". Now, Paul did not say, like some claim that he said, "Let us sin more that grace may abound". Neither did I preach that. But Paul did say, and I wanna preach, "Where sin increase, grace superabounds". Get hold of that grace, amen. Grab that grace, amen. Flow in that grace. Don't be sin-conscious, be grace superabounding-conscious. Hallelujah.
So when I look at the world today, and I say there's super-abounding grace, there is hope for our young generation, amen? Amen. And we look at our kids. Well, what are we going to do? Tell them see not, touch not, taste not, all right. Might as well you tell them born not. But it's too late they are born, amen? So the better thing for us to do for them is to fortify them with the glory and honor which is not just a crown of weight and beauty, but it's also a defense, a defense against the world, and I'm coming to it, all right?
Look at this in 1 John, chapter 2, "Do not love the world or the things in the world". How many times you hear, all right, people saying, "Don't love the world. Don't be worldly. Don't love the world". What do they mean when they say, "don't love the world"? What is it mean, don't love the world? All right. Some Christians even have this idea, and they feel guilty whenever they admire, you know, God's creation, the mountains, the flowers, the hills. And they say, "You know, we should not love this world so much". God made this earth, not S-A-TAN.
All right, there is a beautiful hymn called "This is My Father's World". And it was a pastor who wrote that hymn. That hymn was written probably in 1800s. And this pastor, he lived in a beautiful cottage where his background, all right, are rolling hills and mountains and rocks and beautiful gardens and orchards, and he got inspired. Every time he took a walk, he got inspired. He calls this place, "This is my Father's world". Can we say that David looked up and he saw the stars, the moon at night, and he says, "God, your handiwork, not Satan's".
So when the Bible says, "Don't love the world, Pastor Prince, it refers to music," all right? Like when you play the guitar. Electric guitar is demonic. You know, the drums is demonic. Have you heard of that? You know, some of you are protected. You are shielded. But there are Christians who call this worldly. You see the drum. You see, the drum is very hated today, right now. All right, but why? Because it's the rhythm of the jungles of Africa. Have you heard that before? You know, it's like music, what makes music worldly? What makes clothing worldly?
So let's keep on reading. "If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world", he's about to define the world for you. And the way God says, no, don't love this world. All right, what it means. "The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and pride, the pride of life is not of the Father but is of the world". So in other words, music is amoral.
Now, I personally love to hear classical music. My wife will tell you that. I love classical music. I love listening to Mozart, especially Bach. I love it, okay? She would tell you that. We go overseas, all right, she'll tell me, "Can you switch off the thing at night," because it keep on playing. I like, you know, to repeat the same, you know, I love classical music, but is it worldly? Some people say, "Yeah, it's worldly. It's not praising God". But the thing is this, what makes a music worldly is what it's filled with. Is it filled with the lust of the flesh? Is it filled with the lust of the eyes? Some songs you hear today, it's lustful, amen? Some songs are just innocent love. Romance, amen?
So before you jump the gun and say worldly, be very careful that you don't lose your children over something that doesn't amount to a hill of beans in God's economy. And now is the song that talking about vulgarity and profanity or even sex and all that, you can tell them it's a worldly song. It's not a good song. You can tell them that. No problem. But you know, don't call everything that is not Christian worldly. Worldly, in these three categories. Your dressing. For example, if you reveal more flesh than you ought to. All right, there are areas of your body reserved for your spouse, isn't it? Don't make people think you don't own enough cloth, amen?
So the thing is this, actually, God wants you depending on the glory and honor. If you depend on dropping certain parts of your clothing to reveal more flesh to get attention, you're very, very poor, indeed. There's not much of you. To show more is less of you. Ladies are more attractive. Dress well, yes, amen? Okay, that's another branch altogether. I can see someone, people breathing very heavily, very deeply. So, but what is worldly? What is worldly? It is what you fill it with, amen? Books, magazines, all right. A lot of it is lust of the flesh. A lot of it.
Okay, I agree. You need to be very careful about some of these things. But again, this idea of like, you know, how do we fortify our children? Do we say, "Touch not, taste not, handle not," you know. And I'll tell you what, they will do it in secret. So what's the best way to fortify them? How to help them? Okay. It is to build them, build from within, amen? Something that will fortify them against the world. Listen, why is someone loving the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life? For so long, people preach against these three things, but you know, the solution is there.
Look up here. "If anyone loves the world". "If anyone loves the world". The world here is not physical world. It refers to what? It refers to lust of the eyes, the flesh and pride. If anyone loves the world, what's John's diagnosis? What's John's diagnosis? "The love of the Father is not in him". Now, is the love of the Father not the love for the Father? We say that, "Oh, this guy doesn't love God enough. That's why he is worldly". No, the Bible says, "He doesn't understand how much God loves him. That's why he's worldly".
Ask yourself, every time you indulge in the flesh, all right, or the lust of the flesh or the lust of the eyes or you're proud is because you do not know how much God loves you. So you are compensating. You are filling up your insecurities. That's why you are jealous because you always think that somebody's blessed, you got less. You cannot believe in a big God who loves you, who can bless other people and have many, many, many, not many. Much, much, much more blessings left over for you, all right? God doesn't have to bless somebody else at your expense. You don't have to be jealous. Jealousy reveals a small heart. Are you with me?
Why do we steal? We cannot believe God provides. Why do we commit adultery? We cannot believe God can satisfy us through our marriage, amen? God cannot bless our marriage and turn whatever is bland into intoxicating wine. We cannot believe that, amen? Why do we lie? We cannot believe that God will defend us for speaking the truth. So the thing is this. The love of the Father, you know, the consciousness of God's love is not there.
Imagine we are preaching the love of God to people. I'm on television all over the world. In America, they get to see me every night. Every night, and what am I preaching? The grace of God and the love of God. What is the result? People have been basking and enjoying the love of the Father so much that the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life just fall off. Just to preach against the lust of these things and not remind people the love of the Father. We need more preachers behind the pulpit to open up and elucidate and preach on the love of the Father for the people. Not love for the Father but the love of the Father, amen? When people know how much God loves them.
Wow, these things will just fall off. Our children, the best way to fortify them is to keep assuring them of our love and remind them that God the Father loves them. He will never leave them. Wherever they go, God loves them. If they fail, that's the time God's love is shining on them. Tell them don't back away from him. Run to him for help, amen? And I'm telling you, church, these are the things that will help us and help our children. Just telling them "Don't be worldly, don't be worldly, don't be worldly," it's not going to help it. It's not going to cut it. John didn't just say, "Do not love the world". He tell us what the world is. And it tells us the diagnosis, all right, of people who love the world. They don't have the love of the Father.
So you know what? If we talk more about the love of the Father, these things will just fall off. The world, the Christian world especially is, you know, it's amazing how funny we can become. When television first came out, you know, in America, there were many preachers, many preachers who said to the congregation, "Don't get a television. It is the one-eye monster. It's going to bring demons right into your living room". If I show you that some of the greatest inventions and innovations that has blessed mankind, that has helped mankind, all right, ease their lives, whether it's breakthrough in medicine, even entertainment or education, either through the Jewish people or Christians, all right? The number is disproportionate, and that's a fact. That's a fact, amen?
Even today Facebook, all right, came out of Mark Zuckerberg. All the Zuckerbergs, they are Jewish. Spielberg, Goldberg, iceberg. All of them Jewish. God's natural people. And we are God's spiritual people. They are the sand of the earth of Abraham's seed. We are the stars of the heaven of Abraham seed. Abraham seed is twofold, amen? And the devil hates both. So when television came out, all right, Christians start shunning television. The devils says, "Amen. Let me have television". He brought all kinds of junk and filth into television, because don't forget this, all right, nature abhors a vacuum. It's empty. If something is empty, the devil will fill it.
So instead of filling it with the gospel of Jesus Christ, television is a way to enter into people's private rooms, into their living rooms, that they will not even allow their relatives to enter. Today, I am preaching into Jewish homes every single night in Israel. I'm on every night at 9:30. You all thought when you go to Israel, you escape me, right? You switch on your TV in your hotel room, you will say, "He's on again," amen? And you know something, all right, some of these Jewish people, many of them, not some of them, many of them will not go to a church. They'll never get a chance to hear the gospel. But what God has done for us, God has opened the door, given so much favor that I'm on prime time on the Jewish, in Israel. Every night. And I get to preach the gospel of grace.
Now, listen, people are responding. There is one home, home for the elderly where they are putting me on every night. Some of the ladies there speak English. And the thing is this, they are responding. One lady whose husband is an Orthodox Jew, all right, got my message on television, okay, and she got turned on, and she got into the gospel of grace. They thought she went crazy. The husband brought her to one of the leading Jewish scholars in Israel, modern, you know, modern Jewish scholar, who wrote a thesis against Christianity. And the guy brought his wife to this man, for this man to talk to her.
Less than one hour, this man came out, told the husband, "Take you wife home. I can't convince her". 'Cause she was preaching grace to this man. By the way, she just finished translating my book into Hebrew, so my book is now available in Hebrew, "Destined To Reign", amen? And it all came, listen, it all came through television, amen? Now, you know if we remain self-righteous, how in the world will people of God, the natural people of God, Israel, even though they are blinded, ever hear the gospel? They don't come to our rallies. Are you listening, people?
Now, do I have to compromise? Do I have to sing Elvis song? "Oh, don't be cruel. Do I have to change my myself? To a heart that's true". Okay, sorry. I know some of you will write to me, but don't waste your time, all right? Now, do I have to change my sermon? No, they are listening to the Gospel of Jesus Christ straight. No such thing as going around, round.
And you see, when I scratch my ear, all right, I don't scratch my ear like this. You know, I scratch my ear, it's full of rest. Like this. Straight. So when you switch on my television show, you're not going to get a song and dance. You're getting the gospel straight. You will hear Jesus being proclaimed straight. We're not hiding from the world and trying to slowly, slowly bring the gospel. I think the world does not appreciate that. They rather we be upfront. Tell the world the truth, amen? Tell them of God's love. The name that's above every name. The name of? Jesus. Amen! Amen?
Years ago, I remember many years ago, I was on holiday with my wife in Canada. And I switch on the television for some Christian, you know, message or whatever, to edify me after a few days on the, you know, on the road with my wife and all of that. Just feel like I want to rush watch Christian television. So I watch this popular show. And this man came on, and he was mean. He looks like he's baptized in lemonade. He was looking at the camera and he had his bony fingers, this finger-wagging religion type. And he says, "Don't you try to fool God. Be sure that your sin will find you out". And then he was angry.
And I was looking, and he was burning the television with hellfire. And I was telling my wife, I say, "How can people like this be on TV"? I mean, there are people who are depressed, that turn on the Christian television to find encouragement. There are people who are lost. They are looking for direction. They're in darkness. Sinners sin because they are sinners, all right, and they're looking. And what they're hearing is, "Be sure your sin will find you out". They need to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ.
So I told God when I was in Canada with my wife years ago, I said, "God, how can you put people like this on television"? God says, "Because you, who have my message, you're not on". And God is my witness, I never want to be on television. You're looking at a guy that cannot even stand in secondary school and share in public. His ears would turn red and all the girls will start laughing, all right? I'm so afraid of public speaking. Let alone stand up in class to read. There were other guys in my class, they were much more bold, and they were even bold they had many girlfriends even. I was a shy, shy guy. I still am. Y'all don't, yeah, I still am. My wife will tell you that.
But God gave me a message, and now he's blessing the message. He's making it go all over the world. You know, we have naysayers. "Woe to you". Jesus says, "If all men speak well of you". A sign of a false prophet is everyone speaks well, isn't it? So know this, I have my critics even in Singapore, okay? It's a sign that the gospel of grace is being preached. But I submit to you this, if we are church of only 50 people and I preach the same message, I don't think I'll be criticized. Y'all think why. It's not always the message, okay? It's not always the message. But God has blessed this message all over the world. All right, we have our naysayers, but many lives are being transformed. Husband coming back to wives. Teenagers turning around.
A very famous man of God, if I mention his name, y'all will know him. All right, his grandson went into drugs, went into illicit sex and all kind of things, left the church, left everything. All right, one day, he got hold of my teaching in America, and now he's back and he wants to be a minister of Jesus Christ preaching the gospel of grace, amen? He wrote to me, all right, a personal letter. My wife is here. She will testify to that, and she read the letter. A famous man of God, and I felt like I have blessed that famous man of God by blessing his grandson.
By the way, I didn't finish it. Another one. So I told God this. I said, "God, if you open the door, all right, you open the door for me and grant me favor, all right, it must not be something with strife, all right? You know, I'm not going to please people or try to, you know, twist arms to get on television". I said that, "You got to open the door". And how God has opened the door.
All right, now I'm not saying some of the things I'll be sharing, all right, and not things that I'm saying, all right, in pride. If you think that I'm sharing things, all right, to show off and all that, many of you who have been with us for some time, you know that Pastor Prince almost never share about the impact of the ministry, okay? But these are some things I asked the Lord, "Shall I share"? Because I don't like to talk about myself. And I had to pray and ask the Lord. And the Lord says he wanted me to share, directed me to share so people would know the impact of the ministry.
God loves the world, my friend. You see this Word, "Do not love the world". In Greek, do not agapeo the cosmos, all right? But do you know something, the same word is used for John 3:16, "For God so loved the world". God so agapeo the cosmos, all right? So we need to define the world. We're going to be careful about saying the world means music, secular music. It's not as simple as that.
Now, if you look at the word world, it's the word cosmos. And Thayer's definition of cosmos, the Greek scholar is like this, all right, can mean any one of these things: a harmonious arrangement, the universe, the earth, the inhabitants of the earth. Obviously, when the Bible talks about, "God so loved the world," it is the inhabitants of the earth, okay? The whole circle of earth goods, endowments, riches, and pleasure.
So what is the problem? The problem (go back to the verse again in 1 John 2) is the love of the Father is not being preached. People do not know how much God loves them. It's almost the only time they hear that God loves that is before they are saved. Now that they are saved, "Now, back up. We'll teach you the law. All right, Jesus. Excuse me, Moses. Sarah, Sarah mother of grace, excuse me. Servant girl, Haggai come back. Raise Isaac".
All right, that's the problem. And we think we are being custodians of God's holiness, when actually, we are representing the devil. And the Bible says, "He transformed his ministers into angels of light," all right. Whose gospel is according to works, amen? So what is this cosmos? The world. Does God want us to ignore the world. No, God wants you to inherit the world, all right? Romans 4, look at Romans 4, "For the promise that Abraham would be the heir of the world". Heir of the world. The cosmos. God wants Abraham and his seed. All of you are Abraham's seed in Christ. God wants us to inherit the world. Are you listening? I said, "Inherit the world".
Now, what's the problem that believers are not inheriting the world? It tells you here. "The promise that Abraham would be the heir of world was not to Abraham or to his seed," that's all of us in Christ, "through the law". It is not through the law, it is through the righteousness of faith. It is not through the law, it is through the righteousness of faith. Amen. So who do you think is behind the reintroducing of the law into the church? The devil. Because he knows the moment you try to gain it by your obedience, you forfeit it. It does not come to us through the law, it comes through the righteousness of faith. In other words, you believe you are righteous by grace, amen, because of what Christ has done. Amen.
The Bible says it does not come through the law. So guess who is trying to reintroduce the law, all right? "For if they who are of the law are heirs, faith is made empty and the promise made of no effect". If you are the devil, you will cease on this verse and say, "Demons, reintroduce the law". Because it'll make the Christian's faith empty. It will make God's promise of no effect. Four, "Because the law brings about wrath". In other words, when people are under law or they hear the law being preached, they have a sense of God's anger. Are you listening?
It's hard to have a sense of God's anger and the sense of God's love at the same time. We got to put our people under the love of the Father. That's what purchased them from the world. But the sense of God's anger will make them end up, all right, shunning God unconsciously and embracing the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. Are you listening? You know what Jesus did? Preached the gospel. Just kept on preaching, just kept on healing, just kept on cleansing, transforming people inside out 'cause people who are transformed inside out they impact society. Amen. And I believe that as believers we keep on preaching the gospel. Are you with me, church? Amen?
All right. So walking in that glory and honor. I believe that many of you walk out from this place with the glory and honor like never before. So in closing, it's important you hear this part here because it's going to tell you how to overcome the world and how to walk in the glory and honor. Are you ready? Do you remember the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness? There were three sets of temptations.
Now, I believe that he was tempted throughout that 40 days, but only three sets were mentioned to us, all right? Do you know that all of them comprise of the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life? The lust of the flesh, his hunger, okay? How many of you know hunger urge, rest urge, even the sex urge is all given by God? It is how you fulfill it. God's way or the selfish way, okay? So in the temptation for 40 days, the devil came and says, "Turn these stones to bread". That was a lust of the flesh.
The next one, the devil showed Jesus all the kingdoms of the world. Now, how he showed Jesus, I do not know. He might have a video player, all right? But the fact remains that he showed Jesus. Supernaturally or whatever, he showed Jesus the kingdom of this world. He said these words: "Bow down and worship me". All right, he showed Jesus. That's the lust of the eyes. Jesus never yielded to that. Then the final one, "Jump down". All right? "The angels will come and bear you up, and everyone will see and say, 'Wow.'" That's the pride of life. Jesus never yielded to that. All three temptations, Jesus won. Are you listening, people?
Now watch this. Watch this. Before he went into the wilderness to be tempted, remember the story? Jesus came up from the waters of baptism, and God the Father opened up the heaven and the Father said, "You are my beloved Son". Wow. Beloved. You know what's beloved? It means you are loved, the love of the Father. The Father said to the son, "You are my beloved Son. In you I am well pleased".
Now listen. Jesus has not yet even performed one miracle, because the first miracle he performed was turning the water into wine. So having done nothing, no miracle yet, when he came up from the waters of Jordan, the Father in heaven affirmed the Son with these words: "You are my beloved Son. In you I am well pleased". Right after that, Jesus went into the wilderness and he conquered the devil.
What do you think will happen when you speak to your sons, your daughters, "You are my beloved," all right? Not because they had the gold medal, not because they have done something to impress your relatives. "But just because you are my son, just because you are my daughter, I want you to know that I love you very much and God loves you very much. Whatever happens, we'll never stop loving you". They will go out and they will win the fight of life. That's what happened to Jesus. Are you listening, people? Amen? Jesus said it like this, and I preached this revelation.
Some years ago, I had this question about how I observed some Christians seem to walk under a curse. It seems, all right? They should not be. You know what's a curse, right? You are perpetually failing. You are perpetually sick. You are perpetually this, you know, things that should not be in a Christian's life. They should be under the blessings of God. So God brought me to this passage here in Proverbs 26, where it says, "Like a flitting sparrow, like a flying swallow, so a curse without cause shall not alight".
So I was thinking it makes sense. That means God is saying when a curse comes there's a reason for it, all right? A curse without cause will not alight. But what in the world has the birds got to do with it? When you read the Bible, do you ask questions? You don't care. Okay, never mind. It's my calling. It's my calling, all right? So I asked what in the world has this sparrow and the swallow got to do with the curse not alighting, all right? The Lord brought me, now, I received this in 2005. I preached a sermon called "Good Things Happen to Those who Believe God Loves Them", about the sparrow and the birds. Follow me now, all right?
And God brought me to Matthew 10. In Matthew 10, Jesus said, Jesus is speaking here, "Are not two sparrows sold for one copper coin"? So two sparrows, two birds, one copper coin. "And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father's will. But the very hairs of your head". In other words, this two sparrows, one copper coin. They are cheap, and yet not one of them fall to the ground without your Father's attention. Your Father knows, and your Father's will. And he says this. "But the very hairs of your head are all numbered".
This morning before you came to church, you comb your hair. I guarantee you perhaps one dropped. Even then, God is updated. He knows how many hairs there are on your head. My son Justin, all right, when he was born, he had no hair, only fuzz. It took many months before his hair started growing only recently, you know, but even though with the hair that's growing right now, he's coming to 11 months, I have never bothered one time, I love him very much, but I never bothered to count his hair. But you know God does that with you? Jesus is showing that the Father loves you in a detailed way. He knows when your heart is hurt. He knows when someone rejects you. He knows when someone says something bad about you. He knows when you are worried about tomorrow. He knows you are fearful of something. He knows about it. So talk to your Father. Amen.
Jesus says, "Do not fear therefore. You are of more value than many sparrows". Two birds, one copper coin. This is Matthew, all right? Jesus is talking in Matthew here, but Jesus said something else in Luke. Very interesting, all right? In Luke, Jesus says, "Are not five sparrows sold for two copper coins"? Now you have five birds, two copper coins. One copper coin get you two birds. Two get you what? Four, right? But he says five, one trolling free. That's how cheap these birds are. And Jesus says, "And not one of them is forgotten before God".
These birds are cheap, but God doesn't even forget one of them. And he's saying, "But the very hairs of your head are all numbered," all right? "Do not fear therefore. You are of more value than many sparrows," that are not forgotten before God. You are of more value, my friend. Turn to your neighbor and say, "More value". Amen. These are the things we can share with our children. These are the things we can remind our people. Instead, we are using the pulpit to point fingers, to judge, to condemn, to beat, instead of defeat. Church, the very hairs of your head, no hair also he knows the number. You are of more value.
You know, people say, "But, Pastor Prince, we're not worthy". But you are worth the son of God dying for you. God thought of you as dear enough, worth enough, of more value for his Son to shed his blood. That's how worth you are. We are not worthy when we got saved, all right, but we are worth, infinite worth to him for him to give his Son for us. I've said before, a lady look at a dress, she'll look at the money. Look at the dress, look at the money. Which one she love more? She love the dress, money goes.
I'm not saying that God loves Jesus less. No. But you know how much God loves you? Just like he love Jesus. "No way". Yes, just like he love Jesus. "Get out of here". No, I'm here preaching. You get out, all right? But the thing is this, all right? What does it mean? Okay, look here. Look here, all right? Jesus in his high priestly prayer. Look at the last part. "I in them, and you in me, that they may be made perfect in one". He's talking to the Father. Jesus says, "And that", He's praying, "That the world may know that you have sent me, and have loved them as you have loved me". He told the Father, "You have loved them as you have loved me", as you have loved me.
Church, every day you wake up and say, "God loves me. He numbers the hairs of my head. Every problem I have", talk to God. You're afraid of a certain sickness, talk to God about it. You're afraid of dying, talk to God. But talk to him with the consciousness that he loves you, and he will never stop loving you. Amen. Okay, last verse. Are you all learning, church? This is what purchased us from the world. Amen. Jesus heard the affirmation of the Father, that he is God's beloved, he went into the fight of life, and he won. Amen.
Let me close with this. How many want to increase that glory and honor in your life? How many want to increase that in your children? Amen? One last verse. Look at 2 Peter. Peter is writing, and he says, "For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received from God the Father honor and glory when such a voice came to him from the excellent glory: 'This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.'"
Peter was an eyewitness. Peter saw. He was on the Mount of Transfiguration. Not only the Father affirmed Jesus at the River Jordan, on the Mount of Transfiguration the Father affirmed Jesus, and Peter was there. He heard. He saw the Father affirming. And you know what Peter says? Jesus received from God the Father what? Honor and glory. When? When the Father says, "You are my beloved Son".
So when I saw this, I got the revelation that every time I say to my daughter or my son, all right, "You are my beloved," I'm actually in essence crowning them with glory and honor that will protect them from the world. Amen. A girl who feels her worth will never kowtow to the panderings of a guy who is trying to use her, okay? And if somebody tries to use rejection to win that girl, the girl says, "Okay, reject me then. I know I have more value than you think". When a person is retrenched, he says, "Your loss because my presence have been blessing this company". Value.
So how do your children receive honor and glory? When you say, "You are my beloved. I'm well pleased in you". I look at Justin. He can't even stand, but he wants to kick a ball. So we got to hold him, you know. He's back breaking process, but it's got to be done. All right? You hold him like this, by his armpit, and he starts kicking the ball and he run around, and you're holding him. He thinks he's pushing your hand away. He thinks he can stand, but he cannot. So my hand's got be there.
So he's kicking the ball. And every time he kicks the ball, all right, he's not even 11 months yet. Every time he kicks the ball the mother claps, then he look at the mother, he smiles. Then he want to kick the ball again. So we're thinking such a young age and they're looking for praise already from their parent. Maybe that rebellious teenager is suffering from a lack of praise. So they can't get the best praise, they settle for whatever praise they can get from their, "Yo, buddies, man. Respect". But let's cause them to receive glory and honor by telling them, "You are my beloved". Amen, church? That's how Jesus received glory and honor, okay?
And stop having an Old Testament mentality. Everything defaults. Everything defaults, okay? Like I said, some movies I don't allow Jessica to watch. Okay? And when I say I don't allow, I don't allow. I say, "No, not this one". And she's okay, all right, because it's full of the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes. I got no problem with that, and she got no problem with that. Why? She knows I love her. That assurance is done. But if there's no love and you start directing, directing, directing, it sounds very legalistic.
So love is paramount. Are you with me, church? And the world out there needs to hear that God loves them. Amen? When you say God loves the sinner and God hate the sin, make sure you emphasize God loves the sinner, okay, and demonstrate that love. And all the people said... Aren't you glad, church, that you are now crowned of glory and honor? Amen? And what you say, not your critic, what you say is more important than what your critic says. Amen.
What you say about your body will happen. Amen. Don't say, "Die, die, die". Say, "Live, live, live". Amen. And how long will you live? 120. Forever is also right. You'll never die again. You can step out of your earth suit, but you will live forever. Amen, church? Give the praise to God. Hallelujah.
Every head bowed. I want to invite those of you who have never met this wonderful Savior, your own personal Savior, Jesus Christ. You've never confessed him as your Lord. My friend, this is how much God loves you. God looked down, God saw you in your sins. And some of us didn't even care that we were sinning, lost, without God's promise, living a life without purpose, we were in darkness, and we didn't even care about God. But God cared. We didn't love God, but God loves us. And God sent his Son Jesus Christ to die as our substitute on the cross.
You see, God cannot just sweep everything under the carpet and say, "Sin is sin. Boys will be boys". No. Somebody has to pay. I said somebody has to pay for our sins. So God sent his Son so that God's justice will be satisfied. Jesus bore our sins, took our place, suffered our punishment, and cried, "It is finished". In other words, if you accept what Jesus has done, God's punishment will never fall on you. Never ever. God will be unjust to allow that to happen. God is faithful to what Jesus did, to declare you righteous if you accept his Son Jesus Christ. So all across this place and everywhere that's watching this right now, if that is you, pray this prayer from your heart. Say this from your heart:
Heavenly Father, I confess Jesus Christ is my Lord, my Savior, and I believe the blood he shed cleanses me from every sin. I believe you raised him from the dead and he is alive today at your right hand. And, Father, I thank you because Jesus lives, I live also. I thank you eternal life is my portion. I'm under your favor. I'm under your grace. You love me and consider me of more value than all your creation. Thank you, Father God. In Jesus's name, amen.