Joseph Prince - The Year Of Hazon Vision
Welcome, church, to our Vision Sunday 2021. We're gonna get used to saying that, 2021, 'cause 2020 has an alliteration, right, to it, but 2021 is a brand-new year for us. Actually, 2021 commences the new decade, right? Praise the Lord. And I believe with all of my heart that God has special things in store for you, new things in store for you, things that is unprecedented, things that have never been accomplished before. You know, the Bible says God says, "Behold, I will do a new thing," amen?
So, there are a lot of new things God has in store for you, and I'm so excited. But to unpack what God has for us this coming year, and God has, you know, in his mercy and grace shown me some of the things that he's doing and will be doing and will continue to do this year, but what he's doing has already started this past year, 2020, especially towards the end of the year. And the Lord has been doing something. And this message, the theme of the year, I receive from the Lord much earlier, towards the end of last year, probably around the month of November when God began to speak to me. I didn't expect it.
In fact, usually, I'll pray about it and, you know, in the following weeks the Lord will begin to speak to me bits and pieces here and there. But this time round, I was doing my own personal study at home, and the Lord spoke to me supernaturally. The Lord spoke to me and gave me the theme of the year for 2021. Lots of changes. Lots of transitions happening this year, but it's all gonna be good for his people. Hallelujah. Praise the Lord. You know, as we look at the year of time and space, once again we thank God for it. Because of the theme we are encouraged. We are encouraged that God is doing things beyond time and through spaceless regions, amen? Like, when we are on Zoom online, we're reaching more people than we otherwise could, right?
If we have a physical meeting, even some of the gatherings, like, we just had our Zone X, our youth conference, and that those two nights we had more youth tuning in, amen, being impacted by the gospel of Jesus Christ than we could if we had physical meetings for those two nights. So, God is indeed doing great things through time and space, and it is by no means over. It doesn't mean that 2021 means that the year of time and space is no more. God always adds on, okay? God always adds on. And why do we talk about the theme of the year? Is it necessary to look at the theme of the year? Yes, because we need to hear what God has. God works with time.
God works with, in fact, in the Greek there are words like chronos. There's words like Kairos. Kairos is usually a season, a season where God is doing a special thing, amen? Things that he has not done before. Special seasons. Seasons of favor, amen, are kairos. You know a kairos? Usually, it's good seasons, seasons of favor. And so, God works with times and seasons. Just like in the natural there are four seasons, God works with seasons. God works with days, amen, weeks, months, years, and there are Hebrew words for all this because God works with days and time, although God is outside time. But we are time-bound. We are in this space of time. The Bible says we need to learn to be wise, amen, so that we can redeem the time. We can buy back time. God can even restore the years that the locust has eaten, amen?
Well, last week, I shared about what God said to me, but last week's sermon was actually tied up with what God spoke to me in November when he gave me the theme of the year 2021. God actually gave me both passages. Acts 9, which was the message I preached last week, how to have beautiful days in this coming year, amen? How to have beautiful days in this coming year. That's not the theme, but that's what God said to me for Acts 9 when the story of Tabitha raised from the dead and how Peter stayed with Simon the tanner by the seaside, in Joppa. "Joppa" means beautiful. Let's take a look at that again. "So it was that Simon stayed many days in Joppa with Simon, a tanner".
So, there are two Simon here, and we end off by saying that there is a key here. "Simon, Simon" in Hebrew means "hearken diligently". In other words, the word "hearken, Simon," Shimon, is repeated twice, amen? Is repeated twice. The greatest commandment begins with Simon. It says, "Shama". That's Simon. "Shama, Israel". "Here, O Israel". But when it's double, like in Deuteronomy 28, "If you hearken diligently," the Bible says, amen, "all these blessings will come on you, and overtake you". So, here we have hearing repeated twice, and we have many days in Joppa. Say, "Many days in Joppa". And notice "Joppa" means "beautiful" in Hebrew, so many beautiful days. That's how God spoke to me.
And if you're wondering, I'm taking liberties with this verse. "You know, Pastor Prince, you're making something out of this like types". Well, lemme just say this. We think of types as only from the Old Testament, like the story of Joseph, he's a type of Christ, and rightly so. And how he was rejected by his brothers, though loved, dearly loved by his father, amen? And the rejection of his brothers became the bread of life to the Gentile world, amen? In the case of Joseph it was Egypt, right? And as a picture of Jesus, how his earthly brethren, the nation of Israel, rejected him. As a whole they rejected him and how he became the bread of life for 2,000 years to the Gentile world, amen? But he has not forgotten his brothers, and how the story of Joseph tells us all that.
Joseph was betrayed for 20 pieces of silver, Jesus was betrayed for 30 pieces of silver. There's a lotta similarities, and I cover a lot on that. So, we think of types as coming from the Old Testament, types of the bronze serpent on the cross, but we don't think of the stories, especially in the book of Acts or even in the gospels, as types. You know, when the woman with the issue of blood, who was bleeding and she was no better although she went to many doctors. Rather, she grew worse. And she came behind and touch the hem of his garment. That's the picture of the robe of righteousness. And the woman was bleeding and as long... the woman is a type of the church. As long the church is bleeding, as long as the woman is bleeding, she cannot conceive seed, and that's why the church is not fruitful. But when the church touch and touch the hem of his garment, the robe of righteousness, not her righteousness, but his righteousness, she was healed. Hallelujah. And she became fruitful, amen?
So, there are secrets that God hides even in the stories, in the gospels, as well as... even the man who was impotent in his feet, amen, who was lying there in the Pool of Bethesda. The Bible says this man was 38 years in that condition. Why? Because it's a picture of Israel. The Bible says that Israel wandered in the wilderness. We say 40 years, but actually, officially, the Bible says 38 years. And that's mentioned in the Old Testament, 38 years, so it's a type of Israel that God raise, amen? Jesus raised from his disease and from his sickness, sick bed. The Lord raised him so that... it's a picture of what the Lord wants to do for the nation of Israel when he came, but they rejected him. "But as many as receive him, to them gave he power to become sons of God".
What about the book of Acts? Can we see types there? Yes, we see Paul sailing on a boat, and that ship is actually a picture of Christendom, made up of people who are truly born again and people who call themself Christians but they're not born again. But, nonetheless, they're all in this ship called Christendom, amen? And you find that they refused to listen to Paul. Paul told them, "Don't look at circumstances when the... and when the south wind is blowing, it's warm, amen? It's balmy, it feels good, but do not be led by your outward circumstances". Paul was led by the Spirit, and Paul says, "You know, guys, I perceive that this voyage will be with much danger". And they refused to listen to Paul, so Christendom has suffered all these years because of not listening to the Pauline revelation. The Pauline revelation is the gospel of Jesus Christ. Therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith. Therein is the grace of God, amen, unraveled, praise the Lord, like never before.
So, the entire Scripture and all the writings of Peter, James, John, and all that they're important, amen? The entire Scripture is God-breathed, and they're all written for us, but Paul's revelation is written to us directly. So, we need to listen to Paul. As a result, they didn't listen to Paul, and they experienced shipwreck. But, nonetheless, they listen to Paul at the end, so none of them lost their lives, and they ended on an island called Malta. "Malta" means "honey". The island of Malta, or Melita, it means honey, and it's a picture of our destination, praise the Lord, when we start listening to Paul again.
Same thing in Acts 20. Paul was preaching, and they were all gathered in the upper room on the third floor, and the Bible tells us there was a young man, and he was sitting at the window. His name was Eutychus. No meaningless details in the Bible. "Eutychus" means "good fortune," and I titled that message one time when I preach to my church, called "How the Church Lost Its Good Fortune," because Eutychus slept while Paul was preaching. Again, Pauline revelation was not received. And he was sitting on the fence, so to speak, and he fell off from his position. And how a believer loses his good fortune because he's forgotten that he has been raised to the heavenly places, far above all principality and power, in Christ. He has forgotten his high calling. We are to walk worthy of the high calling. He has forgotten his position of rest and therein he fell from grace, but, nonetheless, Paul embraced him, a picture of embracing this generation, embracing especially the young people.
The Bible says Eutychus was a young man. Embracing this young generation with a Pauline revelation that God is not mad at them, that God sent his Son to die for them, amen? That God's grace is reaching out to them, and the Pauline revelation will raise them from the dead. So, we see all that in the stories of the book of Acts. So, how about this? Many days in Joppa. Can we see something there? Yes, amen? And it was from here that God began to speak to me about this coming year, the theme, and what he's gonna do. And look at this. This is the last verse of Acts 9, and if you go on to the very next verse of Acts 10, this is where it gets very, very interesting. "There was a certain man in Caesarea," or see-sah-reah, depending on how you wanna pronounce it, "called Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the Italian Regiment".
Now, we all know this story, Acts 10, how God reach out to the Gentiles, and in this story here we have the first word here, Caesarea. And "Caesarea" actually means "severed". You know, like a woman. If she has a problem in her giving birth and all that, she may have to undergo cesarean. That means what? Severed. There's a severance, all right? There's a severance involved, so that's what it means. Now, I wanna say something to you. That all these things have meaning. Look at this. "Called Cornelius". "A certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius". He's a centurion of what was called the Italian Regiment. It's very interesting that in the New Testament all the centurions are very... they're seen in a positive light. They're not evil people. The centurion of the cross was the one that said, "Certainly this was the Son of God".
The centurion who approach Jesus on behalf of his suffering servant say to the Lord, "Speak the word only, and my servant will be healed". And Jesus says, "I've not found so great faith, no, not in Israel," so centurions are the ones shown to be in a positive light. And even this centurion. His name was Cornelius, so the name is given. Whenever the name is given, right, there's a truth there that God wants us to see, amen, for those who are hungry to search more, amen? Cornelius is very interesting, and this was the thing that really open my eyes to this entire passage. I've never really bothered about this until God spoke to me, and God says, "Look up the name Cornelius, and look up the name Cornelius". And it means this: that which pertains to the horn, or the crown.
If you look at Cornelius, his name is actually not from Greek, but from Latin. Notice even in our English letter C-O-R-N. Cornelius. You have the corun, right? In Latin, "corun" means "the horn or the crown," where you get the word "corona". Corona. Does that ring a bell, corona? Coronavirus. What is corona? Corona is actually a crown, a crown, just like they use the word "coronation of a king," right? Corona. Corona. Coronation. Corona. "Corona" means crown. Even our English word "crown" we still have the letter C-R and O and N, all right? Crown, the coronation. It's from the Latin "corona," the Latin word for corona. So, Cornelius, Cornelius means "that which pertains to the corona, to the horn".
And horn here, by the way, when they look... why do they call coronavirus? And also you know that for sure this passage has truths, and God wants to give us light about the times that we are in, even for this year 2021. If you look at the word "corona," why do we call it coronavirus? Why? Because they say that this virus, if you look carefully at it, it has this crown-like projections, right, or horn-like projections. It is like a circle, but it has this crown-like spikes, horn-like spikes, and that's why they call it coronavirus, okay? Now, I believe God is sovereign. If God wants a certain name to be the name to be called by, by the world, he'll make sure that name is establish, so I believe that God has his hand in this, and God foresaw all this, and God put in the story here of Cornelius that which pertains to the horn or the crown.
And if you look at the Hebrew the word "horn," horn is actually, the symbol means "kingly authority". My horn is exalted, amen? Or my crown, my authority is exalted. In fact, let me give you an example of the word "horn" that's used in the Old Testament. Here is the Magnificat of Hannah. You all know Mary's Magnificat. This is the prophecy of Hannah. Hannah says, "He will give strength to his king, and exalt the horn of his anointed". There is the word "horn," right? The word "horn" is there. It is a picture of what? It's a picture of kingly authority, kingly power. Corona. Horn. Very interestingly, not every Hebrew word coincide with the Latin, or I should say Latin coincide with the Hebrew. I believe Hebrew is much older, right?
It's not every word that in Hebrew you have the same in Latin, but this one here, corun, corun, the Hebrew word for horn is "ceren," or keh-rehn. Ceren. That's how you pronounce it in Hebrew, ceren. So, if your name is Ceren, your name means kingly authority, kingly power. That's how they call the horn. When David says, "Exalt my horn," amen, "lift up my horn," that means "lift up my authority, amen, over my enemies". Praise the Lord. So, "He'll give strength to his king, and exalt the horn of his anointed". So, these are all the same words. Horn come from the Hebrew word "ceren," or can you see the words here, the letters there? Ceren. You have a C. You have a R. You have an N. Corun. Corona.
So, I said all that to establish that this passage here in Acts 10 is referring to the times that we are in, right? Cornelius, the times that we are in, when we are... we are faced with this pandemic, amen? What is God saying to us? And, very interestingly, we see a lot of truths here, but before that I just wanna say this to you. Some people are wondering, "Well, Pastor Prince, you said just now, well, we can have many beautiful days". No, I didn't say every day is gonna be good and every day is gonna be beautiful. Even the Bible says that "stand therefore in the evil day," all right, "with the armor of God on". Stand when, what? In the evil day, but thank God the evil day when you're under attack. No, this is singular, the evil day. Stand therefore in the evil day. Singular. But God's good days are many.
Look at 1 Peter 3. It says, "For he that would love life and see good days"... Notice "see good days". "Days" are plural. Good days are plural. Evil day is singular. May you have many good days in this coming year. Is it scriptural for believers, amen, for Christians who believe God for good days ahead of them? Then why did God, sort of, tease us with his Word here by saying, "He that will love life and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil"? We'll touch on that. You know, it's not possible to touch on everything this one sermon.
See, I'm so excited. I wanna share everything I can, but in the weeks to come, just like the first Sunday of the year of time and space this past year, I wasn't able to unpack everything that God had or God has for us. But in the coming weeks we were able to unpack them, amen, portion by portion, muscle by muscle, amen? And we're able to see the full picture, so keep on tuning in and keep on hearing, especially these few weeks, amen? All right. So, is it scriptural? Yes. Even in Job 36. "If they obey and serve him". And the word "obey" there is "shama". Listen. "If they listen to him and they serve him, they shall spend," what? "Their days in prosperity, and their years in pleasures".
Now, if God doesn't want us to have this and this is a bad thing to have, why did God promise this? And, by the way, this is not uttered by Job's comforters. Neither by Job himself. This was uttered by Elihu. Elihu was a man who spoke for God in the entire story. You still remember there were the three Job's comforters, and there was Job, and Elihu. Elihu is a type of Christ in the entire story. He's like a mediator, and he began to show Job what Job need to see, amen? So, Elihu said these words. "If they obey," they listen to God, "they serve God, they shall spend their days in prosperity," days in prosperity, "their years in pleasures". What did David say in Psalms 23, verse 6? He says, "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life".
Can we believe God for 2021? That all the days will be pursued down, amen? Hunted down. The word "goodness and mercy shall follow," actually the word "follow" is a bit tame, right? It's more than follow. It is the Hebrew word "radaph". It's the word used for hunting down an animal, hunting down the enemies, hunting down. Goodness and mercy. Not maybe. Surely goodness and mercy shall hunt you down, my friend. Hunt you down, my bro, amen? Hunt you down all the days of your life, even in 2021, amen? May you have many beautiful days in 2021. Praise the Lord. Thank you, Jesus.
In 1 Samuel 3, the Bible tells us, "Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord in the presence of Eli. And the Word of the Lord was rare in those days". He was probably about six to eight years old at this time, and the Word of the Lord was rare in those days. You know, when the Word of the Lord was rare, it's sad. It is sad because before God does anything, God gives us his Word. His Word is what brings all the blessings of God from heaven down to Earth, amen? "And the Word of the Lord was rare in those days; there was no frequent vision". There was no frequent vision. Before God does anything God gives a vision, and that's why I'm sharing this message, amen, for this coming year. Before God does anything God gives a vision, amen?
And the reason that God gives us this vision is because the Bible says without vision the people perish, so God gives us a vision. And he said when you have these two combined... there was the Word of the Lord was very rare in those days, and there was no frequent vision. Now, this vision is a vision from the Lord, and the word used there, in the Hebrew word, I'm gonna teach you this Hebrew word right now. Is called hazon. Say, "Hazon". Say it, "Hazon". Hazon vision.
Hazon vision is not vision that you get because you, you know, you ate too much pizza last night. You had a dream, and you woke up. You say, "I have a vision from God". No, no. It is a prophetic vision. It is vision from God himself. God puts a vision in your heart, amen? It can be a vision for your family in 2021. It can be a vision for your ministry, your career, your church, amen? It can be a vision of health, amen, and of radiant health in your body for this coming year. But if it's a vision from God, it will sure come to pass. It is said in those days when there was no frequent vision, hazon vision.
"At that time Eli, whose eyesight had begun to grow dim so that he could not see, was lying down in his own place. And the lamp of God had not yet gone out," the menorah has not yet gone out, "and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was. Then the Lord called Samuel, and Samuel the boy said, 'Here I am!'" "Hineni" in Hebrew. "Here I am". Now, friend, I wanna say this. Without vision, the Bible says, the people perish. Do you know that this word here "without vision" is the same word "hazon"? Hazon. If you look at the ESV, the ESV says, "Where there is no prophetic vision the people cast off restraint".
It is not for the lack of money that people cast off restraint. It is not for the lack of not having this, not having that, not having the right connections. No, friend. The Bible tells us clearly without vision, without a prophetic vision, the people perish. The people cast off restraint, amen? Our life will be a life of just a downhill, you know, a life of defeat, a never-ending spiral of depression... if we don't have a vision, we see no purpose for the future. And that's why God is restoring hope to his people in these days, because hope is a positive expectation of good in your future.
When you look at the future, do you see darkness or do you see light, amen? What God wants to do is to restore to you that vision, amen, even for this coming year, because what the devil has done is that he has robbed the church. He has robbed God's people of visions that are positive, beautiful days ahead, amen? Good days. That the devil robs you of vision before he robs you, amen? Because the Word of the Lord usually, when God gives a Word, the Word of the Lord and the vision is actually synonymous. When God gives a Word, God usually gives a Word in vision form, right? And the Word of the Lord came to Abraham, and God says, "Fear not, Abram". And it says, "The Word of the Lord came to Abraham in a vision," in a vision. God said, "I am your shield and your exceeding great reward".
So, God came to Abraham in a vision of what? A magen, a shield, and God says, "I'm your shield". So, with that vision dominating his thoughts and his heart how can he not face life with positivity, amen? Face life with hope, amen? Expect a good expectation of the future in his heart, because God has appeared to him, and God says, "Whatever the devil throws at you, I am your shield and your exceeding great reward". Hallelujah. Amen. Amen. Praise the Lord. So, before God does anything, God gives his people a vision, amen? Do you remember that Abram actually told the Lord, "Lord God, what will you give me, seeing I go childless, seeing I go childless?'" How was Abram seeing himself?
In fact, this is the next verse right after God says, "And the Word of Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, 'I am your shield.'" "Fear not, Abram". Show them the context. "Don't be afraid". See, God's Word came to Abram in a vision. By the way, this word "vision" is the same root word as hazon, same root word, and he says here, "Do not be afraid". God says, "I'm your shield". Now, how do you receive God's Word? In a vision, and then he sees a shield, amen? And that shield is supposed to affect your heart. That picture is supposed to affect your heart, where faith springs, amen? And then, you know, all of a sudden you find fear flies, amen? Fear takes flight, amen, because faith has come. But how did God give you his Word? Through pictures, amen?
And God says, "'I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.' But Abram said, 'Lord God, what will you give me, seeing I go childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?'" So, there we can say, "God, what will you give me, seeing this pandemic is on? Lord, what can I have, Lord? What job can I have, seeing I have been retrenched? Lord, what future can I have, seeing, amen, this has happened to me? Lord, I cannot even sleep at night for fear and worry. I've received this bad news from the doctor, seeing I have this condition," amen? Is that what you see on the inside? Amen. And that's what the devil wants you to see, but God always comes to you in a Word, in a vision, amen?
When God encourages us, he will tell you you're blessed, right? But how does it say you're blessed? He will say, "For he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper". So, I have a picture of myself like a tree by the rivers of water. In fact, I took a picture of myself in Israel by the rivers of water, because I see myself as that man, amen? You know what I'm doing? I'm building faith, amen, faith images in my spirit. The Bible says a good man, out of the good treasure of his heart, listen carefully, Jesus said, "A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart," it all begins with the heart, "brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks".
You know, we've been focused on the mouth to say even positive things, to confess the Word of God, but we're not dealing with our heart. It is the heart that brings forth what is in your mouth, right? Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. So, you're believing something, you're seeing something inside you, but you're trying to say something positive that God... and you know in your heart doesn't work. You feel like hypocrite, and you'll say, "This thing doesn't work, you know? God's principle that Pastor Prince is teaching, you know, that doesn't work for me because I still have that fear. I still have that". No, friend, you gotta change the image of your heart before you speak, amen? Praise the Lord. Hallelujah. Amen. God want to flood your heart with light this coming year. God want to restore to you the vision that you have lost, amen? Are you ready for the vision of the year? Sit back. Relax. Here it comes.
The year of hazon vision. The year of hazon vision. When the Lord gave this to me, all right, we have that Hebrew word and we have the English word, hazon vision. Not just any vision. The vision that is from God, that prophetic vision. It is the year of hazon vision. God be restoring visions in your heart. You'll be focused on vision this year. You'll be setting out visions from God after prayer, and those visions will come to pass, because vision is the missing element. Many a times in this process of faith, a lot of people are focused on saying the right thing, saying the right thing. In fact, you know, some of the focus right now is on the mouth, on the mouth because of the Hebrew year 5781, but actually, what precedes the speaking is the heart. And the heart is affected by vision, so God is gonna affect your heart, amen, in a positive way. God's gonna cause you to be full of his vision this year, amen? And out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. That's when it happens, amen? Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord.
Remember what God said to Abram. God said to Abram, after Lot left... and it's interesting because Lot, his nephew Lot, he was a lot of trouble. Lot his nephew came along with Abram. And, you know, he was a lot of trouble, but when he left, when he left, when Lot left... by the way Lot's name, L-O-T, his nephew, Lot's name means "veil," a veil. When Lot left, Abraham began to see, and the Lord says, "Lift up now your eyes, Abram, to the north, west, south, east". And God says, "Look all around you," now this is what God says, "for all that you see, all that you can see, Abram, I will give you. All that you can see I will give you," amen? God's principle is: see it first, and then I'll give it to you. See it first, and you will have it.
So what the devil wants to do is to trouble your heart. He wants to put images in your heart and mind, you know, from social media, from, you know, from pictures that you see all around you. And usually, they're negative, they're depressive, and they are things that cause you to be dark and pessimistic in your outlook because he wants to affect your heart. He knows that your heart is where all the good things come forth, you know, what the book of Proverbs tells us, the book of wisdom tells us, that "guard your heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues," the forces, "of life". Not death, amen? Guard your heart, for out of it are the issues, the forces, of life, amen? Praise the Lord.
Now let's go back to the story of Cornelius. Acts 10. "There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the Italian Regiment, a devout man and one who feared God with all his household, who gave alms generously to the people, and prayed to God always. About the ninth hour of the day he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God coming in and saying to him, 'Cornelius!'" Notice he saw in a vision. We always think that "if a angel appears in my room, I don't need a vision," amen? Just like I look at you, and I see you in my room. Why would I need a vision? But still vision is involve when heavenly beings are involved. God gave him a vision, and he saw an angel come to him. And the angel says this. The very first word from the heavenly messenger's mouth was this: that which pertains to the corona. I'm talking about, I'm interpreting this in terms of our times, amen, the way God gave it to me, amen? The very first word, that which pertains to the corona, to the horn, amen? God has a Word for us.
Now, Cornelius is not a picture of the disease, of the virus, amen? No, no, no. He is a picture of someone who lives pertaining, like we say, we look back, you know, 50 years from now they'll say, "That generation went through the coronavirus. That was the generation. They are the ones that pertain to the coronavirus". So, that's a picture of Cornelius, and he saw in a vision. It start with a vision. Who says that in the New Testament, in the new covenant, God doesn't give visions? In fact, if anything, God says, "I'll pour out my Spirit in the last days, the days of the new covenant. And your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams".
That's why... young men shall see visions, old men dream dreams - I see visions. Pastor Marks, you know, dream dreams, amen? Your young men shall see vision, but what's the difference? Actually, there's no difference, right, between vision and dream because they're all pictures. If anything, they're pictures, amen? And God speaks in pictures. God knows pictures affect your heart, amen? It will affect your faith. Be careful to guard your heart this coming year, amen, especially from the onset of the year, because out of your good treasure of your heart you'll bring forth good things this coming year. Amen. Praise the Lord. Thank you, Jesus.
Does God have anything for us to see for this coming year as well, something that we can expect him to do? Yes, in this story that God says pertains to the corona, the Bible says, "About the ninth hour of the day he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God"... Well, I was reading this, and the Lord said to me, "The ninth hour". There are no insignificant details in the Bible. The ninth hour is actually 3 p.m. in the afternoon. In that day and age, by the way, in Jesus's time, in that time, in Israel, they said there are 12 hours in a day. It starts from 6 a.m. Their workday ends at 6 p.m. Twelve hours in a day, so the ninth hour will be at 3 p.m., okay?
Now, incidentally, our Gregorian calendar is also 12 months, right? So, if you look at this entire thing, it is something to do with the 3 p.m., the ninth hour, will be around September and October. But this story actually happen, and then later on Peter also had a vision on the rooftop in the same chapter, but Peter had it the next day. So, in other words, Cornelius had it first at 3 p.m. There are no insignificant details in the Bible. He had it at 3 p.m. He saw the vision of the angel that came to him and says that which pertains to the corona, to the horn, to the crown. And then, the next day, the Bible tells us, Peter had a vision.
So, in other words, if we take September in 12 months, all right, the ninth hour will be about the month of September. What happened in September? Israel celebrated their new year. They always celebrate their new year first before us. Their new year came on September 18, 2020, all right? So, it's been about three months already of their new year. And, for us, it starts January 1, 2021, so something happened already. God is doing something this year, something good. And it's a good message, isn't it? And notice God is saying, "It got something to do with the message that this man will bring to you, Cornelius". So, it's something that God has established. I'm getting very excited because this whole thing, you know, I'm getting ahead of myself, but I just want you to see it.
Now, I'm not preaching from the standpoint of what happened in this chapter, because I know this chapter is about God reaching out to the Gentiles for the very first time, amen? God used Peter, because Jesus said to Peter, "I'll give unto you the keys of the kingdom of heaven". You see Peter opening the doors of the prison here, amen? God gave him the keys. Jesus gave him the keys, and he's now using the key, amen, to open the door of utterance to the Gentiles, the utterance of the gospel of Christ. But for so long, the Jewish people felt like, even the believers among them, that salvation is only for them.
And Jesus himself said to the woman at the well, "Salvation is of the Jews," amen? But God's heart is bigger than just, you know, his love overflows, amen? It's more than just the nation of Israel. He has love for the entire world, and that's why Jesus told a Pharisee one time, "For God so loved the world that he gave". Notice He didn't say "God so love Israel". "God so love the world that he gave his only begotten Son". When Jesus rose from the dead, he says, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel," but they forgot. They were bound by their prejudices, and they refused to fellowship with the Gentiles because they felt like the Gentiles might defile them. And now we look at the story of Peter, but before that, remember what the angel said. The angel said, "Cornelius"! "And when he observe him, he was afraid, and say, 'What is it, lord?' 'Your prayers, your alms have come up for a memorial before God. Now send men to Joppa, and send for Simon whose surname is Peter. He's lodging with Simon, a tanner, whose house is by the sea. He will tell you what you must do.'"
Now, in chapter 10, it does not tell you something that... later on, when Peter was recounting the theme, Peter actually said something extra that the angel said. Let's look at Acts 11. "Peter will tell you words by which you and your family will be saved". That's what Peter will do. He will tell you words by which you and your family will be saved. Now, notice salvation comes with words, amen? We know that Jesus did everything at the cross for us to be saved, amen? He bore our sins. He rose again from the dead when we were justified in him. Everything is done, but the Bible says you confess with your mouth Jesus is your Lord. So, he will tell you words by which you and your family will be saved. This is what the angel said to Cornelius, so Cornelius sent some men, amen, two of his servants plus one of his soldiers that he trust, okay? "So when he explain all these things to them, he sent them to Joppa".
Notice that while the coronavirus was raging in the land, amen, we already established that, you know, this whole story, in typology, we see that the month of September has happened, the ninth hour. And while this is going on, Peter, God's people, were living in beautiful days, amen, were living in Joppa. Hallelujah. And he sent them to Joppa. "The next day". Now, this is the next day. That would be 2021, prophetically speaking. "As they went on their journey and drew near the city". So, notice that they arrive the next day. In other words, previous day at 3 p.m. Cornelius had a vision, amen? The next day, amen, we talk about the previous year. We'll talk about next day will be this year, right? This year, they went on their journey, the messengers, and drew near the city of Joppa. "Peter went up on the housetop to pray, about the sixth hour".
Here again we have the timing given to us, the sixth hour, which is midday, midday. Very interesting. The Hebrew word, "tsohar," for midday or noon is also the word for roof, rooftop. It's very interesting that at midday, Peter went to the roof to pray, amen? And that's when the Bible says he became very hungry. So, we're in a time of great brightness, amen? Midday is considered as great brightness. It was a time that the Bible says that Jesus appeared to Paul when he was Saul and he was on his way to buying some Christians and bring them captive into Jerusalem. And he was on his way to Damascus, and on the road to Damascus, the Lord appeared to him at midday, the Bible says. The brightest light shone, that so much so that Paul was blinded, Saul then, was blinded, and it took the ananias, the grace of God, to open his eyes, to pray for him. And he saw anania, which means the grace of God. Hallelujah.
I'm here to tell you that we're entering the brightest time. God is saying at midday something's gonna happen. Hallelujah. Peter went up to pray at the housetop about the sixth hour. That is 12 p.m. "He became very hungry and wanted to eat; but while they made ready, he fell into a trance and saw heaven open", I love it. Saw heaven open. Is God gonna open heaven in 2021 to his people? Don't forget this. I'm gonna talk about all this. I'm not talking about the world. The world will get darker and darker. I've said that time and time again, because it's prophesied in Isaiah 60 that when God rises upon his people, when his light shines on his people, the world will get darker and darker. But God will shine his light on his people, and kings will come to the brightness of your rising, amen? So, is this the time? Is this a kairos moment for us?
That midday is happening this coming year for God's people, and it is a time when we will see heaven opened. Notice heaven was open already in this context. When was heaven open? When Jesus cried, "It is finished," at the cross. Heaven is no more brass. You know, that's one of the curse in Deuteronomy 28, is that the heavens will be brass, amen? It means you cannot even penetrate heaven. Your prayers cannot penetrate heaven, but heaven is open now to his people, to all those who believe on Jesus Christ, amen? See heaven open over you and your family this year, amen. "He saw heaven opened and an object like a great sheet bound at the four corners, descending to him and let down to the earth. In it were all kinds of four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, creeping things, and birds of the air. And a voice came to him, 'Rise, Peter; kill and eat.' But Peter said, 'Not so, Lord!'"
That's an incongruity. You don't say, "Not so, Lord". Amen? There's a mismatch here. You cannot say, "Lord," and then still say, "No". It is, "Lord". You've gotta obey, right? So, he said, "Not so, Lord, for I have never eaten anything common or unclean". Now, he's referring to kosher food. The Jewish people, they eat kosher food, right? They don't eat bacon. They don't eat lobsters, you know, all this stuff, because it is in the law, right? But here God is saying, "Rise, Peter; kill and eat". And he saw all these four-footed beasts, wild beasts, creeping things, and birds of the air. And God says, "Rise, Peter; kill and eat".
Now, is God referring to the animals themselves, or is this symbolic? But Peter said, "Not so, Lord. I've never eaten anything common or unclean". And a voice spoke to him again the second time. "What God has cleansed, you must not call common". This was done three times, and the object was taken up into heaven again. This was done three times. Three for Peter is very meaningful, I guess. After all, you know, he denied knowing Jesus three times, and Jesus restored him with three questions. Amen? He restored him to the ministry with three questions. So, three reminds him, don't be rebellious, or "Remember my love for you". Amen? My grace on you. Praise the Lord.
So, it was done three times, and three times, you know, God would say, "What I have cleansed, don't call common". I want to say a word to you. This year, don't call anyone common or unclean, amen. You know, one of the saddest things that I see in the body of Christ is that people now have labels. Oh, they are the, you know, these people... then we label that category. Then we label this category of people, or they're a part of that group, or they're a part of this, you know, this group and that group. No, no. They're all sinners whom God loves, that Christ died for. The church way is to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. It's not behavior modification from outside. It is not trying to change people with laws and new laws and legislations. Legislation will never change a man's heart, just like commandments cannot change a man's heart. It must be the gospel of Jesus Christ. We have forgotten that we are to preach to people, regardless of what kind of background they have.
There's only one category of people. If they're not in Christ, they're sinners that God loves, that Christ died for. Christ died for sinners. Amen? Amen. You cannot be saved if you are not a sinner. Amen. Only sinners qualify for the Savior. Amen? Only those who are sick qualify for a physician. Amen. So, I'm here to declare to you we have forgotten that. And many a time we think, you know, God's heart is overflowing. God is reaching out to people, and God loves people, my friend. Even Cornelius, you see, Cornelius, he actually is not saved, but notice you read just now that he gave alms always? And that is charity. He's involved in charity, and then he's praying to God always.
Now, I don't know how he addresses God, but he's reaching out to the true God. And I'm here to tell you I don't care if you're in a remote island somewhere. People ask, "How about those who never hear about Jesus"? I'm here to tell you the story of Cornelius settles that. If your heart reaches out to God, you're crying out for God, God will find you. God will send a messenger. Amen. God will send his word of salvation to you. Amen. Amen. God told Cornelius, "Your prayers and your alms are held as a memorial. Because he's not saved, they can only be held as a memorial that this man is reaching out to me. I'll make sure he finds me" Amen? Even if someone is in a remote island somewhere, don't worry about them. Amen.
Think about your salvation. You know, one of the copouts is that you ask people whether they're saved, they always say, "You know, what about those who never hear about Jesus and all that"? No, what about you? What about you? God will take care of them. Don't worry. But what about you? God is reaching out for you, my friend. Amen. Hallelujah. So, something very interesting. All this vision that he saw has nothing to do with killing the animals and eating. It's got to do with people. We know that it's got to do with Gentiles, right? The Bible says, "While Peter wondered within himself what this vision which he had seen meant", he was meditating on that vision, "Behold, the men who had been sent from Cornelius had made inquiry for Simon's house, and stood before the gate". So, he was meditating on the vision.
Now, who says also that in the new covenant God does not speak in parabolic vision or type, you know, vision in types, typical visions? Who says that? I've heard people say, you know, in the old covenant he speaks in parables and vision and all that, but in the New Testament he tells you direct. No, my friend. It is still... notice Peter is under the new covenant. The new covenant has been established. Amen? Yet, Peter saw the vision, amen, in parabolic form. So, who are the wild beasts and animals? All kinds of people all over the world. Amen? Some are cunning like the... in fact, the word "creeping things" is reptiles. They are like snakes. There are people who are like that. Then you've got those who are cultured, amen, animals that are more cultured and dignified-looking animals and all that. They are cultured. But one thing God is saying, that everyone needs Jesus. When God looks at a heart, God sees the sin. Amen? Amen.
So, everyone needs Jesus. Now, this is not universal salvation. God is not gonna say, "Well, I have cleansed. They are all saved. Don't say they're unsaved. God didn't say that". God says, "Don't call them common or unclean". In other words, they've all been separated aside, regardless of how immoral they are on the outside. The blood of Jesus, in a sense not saved them yet, but has, because he died, the whole world is in a place of favor. God is not counting their sins against them, 2 Corinthians 5, and God has committed to us the word of reconciliation, which we need to be faithful to, to tell them, "Be reconciled to God". Amen.
I don't believe in universal salvation. I believe that people need to hear the Word, amen, to be saved, yes. But God has put the world in a, you know, every, every, every day the air we breathe, amen, the rainfall that falls and brings up the harvest time and time again, time and time again, God caused the rain to fall, the sun to shine, both on the righteous and the unrighteous. What does that tell you? That Jesus' blood, when Jesus died on the cross, he has put the whole world positionally in a favorable light, amen, before God. They're not saved yet, but in a favorable light. We need to have the same mentality. Jesus did not look at people and say, "These are terrible people. They are from this group. They are from that group".
And we use that term that is derogatory and all that. We forget that when Jesus looked at the people, they were wandering on the mountainside. The Bible says he saw them as sheep, sheep without a shepherd. That's why they were scattered. That's why they were doing crazy stuff, amen? They were like sheep without a shepherd, amen? Without the love of a shepherd, the care of a shepherd. Amen. I'm excited, amen. How do I finish this? Hallelujah. We all know it ends in an exciting way, because we all have read this chapter. But have you noticed that it's referring to people? God is saying, right, "From now on, Peter, I don't want you to say no more". You know, fellowship, amen. He told Peter to what? Eat those animals, right? Eat those animals.
Today we use the same term, also. You know, I feed off that friendship that I have with so and so. You know, I really enjoy, you know, it replenishes me, it feeds me, amen? This is a relationship that feeds me. When I spend time, this is a ministry that feeds me, amen? It's got to do with a relationship, amen? So, God is saying, "Kill these animals and eat". God is saying find your fulfillment, find your enjoyment, amen, find your emotional nourishment and your inner satisfaction in relationships, but don't only fellowship, amen, among people of your own, in other words, among believers, but also reach out to people.
But you say, "But as a Christian, I don't reach out to such people". Then you'll never get them saved, amen. "And what I've cleansed, don't call unclean". They're set apart. They're not saved, but they're set apart in a favorable light, amen. "Just like I was merciful to you, I will be merciful to them". There'll be a lot of salvation come this year. You know, my son, Justin, he actually said this. He prayed. I told you I just was making fun of him, sort of like making fun of the entire thing. And I said, "You know, Justin, when you pray", because I didn't want to tell him the theme of the year. So, I said, "Why don't you pray and ask God"? So, he prayed in the car.
You know, he knelt down. He was stationary. Wendy was doing something. And so we're waiting for her. And he was in the back of the car, and he was praying. He knelt down in the back seat and prayed. After for a while, he turned to me and said, "God is saying that this coming year many, many, many, many people will come to know Jesus". And I looked at him, and I was like, that's how this sermon ends. This is how this chapter ends. This is how this story ends, with many salvation, the beginning of all the Gentiles until today, we are part of that inheritance from Cornelius' time until today. If God had confined the gospel only to Israel, we're all done for. Amen? But thank God, God reached out to the Gentiles. And because of that, multitudes are saved. And especially this coming year, we're going to see more and more saved and how. Hallelujah! Praise the Lord.
By the way, back to the type for our present day. Amen? What does this talk about? This, I don't want to spend time. I don't want to come near the Gentiles. I don't want to draw near to the Gentiles. What is that? Social distancing, isn't it? It's a type of, you know, when the Lord showed this to me, it's a form of social distancing. Peter was practicing social distancing, right? Now, I'm not saying, listen carefully, you are to listen to the... as the year goes on, I don't know every detail gonna happen this year. But could it be, I need you to listen to the authorities of your country, wherever it is, amen, their directive in terms of social distancing, how much to allow into your circle of whatever. But based on this story, is God gonna do something, amen, concerning this social distancing thing? Will God cause something to happen that, you know, that everyone will agree we don't need that kind of social distancing anymore? Could it begin this year?
Middle of this year, because 12 hours, and it was noontime when God gave them the vision. Could it be something is going to happen middle of this year? Something is going to happen middle of this year or towards the middle of this year. Something is going to happen that will precipitate a greater release. I'm telling you, church, I'm so excited when I saw this, amen. Let God's will be done. Amen. Not my interpretation, but God's will. When God began to show it to me, amen, and said he's going to do something, you know, God isn't like people to, like, you know, be at odds against one another, or even like having unforgiveness in their hearts, because this causes them to distance themselves. Without the pandemic, they distance themselves. God wants people to forgive, amen?
So, you know what? Forgive your wife, forgive your husband, forgive that child, forgive your parent, amen, forgive your brother, forgive your sister, forgive that colleague. You know, the thing is this, friend. Forgiveness is really healthful, healthful, amen. It is really health giving for you. People that hold a grudge, they hold unforgiveness develop all kinds of diseases in their lives, not to mention there's always stress. Because you are not created to function with bitterness and resentment. You are created to function with love. Amen. Just like a car is not created to be functioning with water poured into where the petrol is supposed to be, amen? It's created to function with petrol. Petrol is like love for us. We're not supposed to have bitterness in our hearts, amen? Amen? Bring the cross of Jesus. Jesus forgave you of all your sins.
You know, your sins are like a billion dollar debt being canceled. Amen? Yeah, if you knew the truth, it would be like a billion dollar debt being canceled. And someone may have hurt you, amen. And to God it is a $10,000 debt. Can't you forgive that person? Forgive, because God, for Christ's sake, has forgiven you. Amen? So, here's a picture in the middle of Acts 10. we see like a social distancing problem, amen, that God's gonna do something about, amen, hallelujah. May it happen, Lord, in Jesus' name. Amen? Amen. Could it be, could it be something's gonna happen middle of this year? Amen? Somewhere around that time. Because why I say middle, because of midday. At midday, noontime, 12 hours in a day, 12 months in a year. So, we go for that. Maybe, amen. We'll see. Praise the Lord.
But there are many things that I know for sure that God said this, and when I'm sure about that I'll say, "This is God". Amen? Like I always say. Praise the Lord, hallelujah. In this year of hazon vision, just like a few years ago, it was the year of chesed wisdom, amen. Chesed is grace, wisdom, combined with grace was the hallmark of that year. But this one is literally, the word vision is the word hazon, hazon vision, and it helps also in all our advertisement and all that, whether you're wearing a jersey with that or just any advertisement, people are asking questions. What is hazon? What is this hazon? It opens up the conversation piece for you. Amen? But hazon vision is what God is restoring, what God is giving to his people in the year 2021, amen. Without vision, the people perish.
Now, Peter went down. He meditated on the vision. He believed he got the interpretation, and then while Peter thought about the vision, the Spirit said to him... we've got to learn to hear the voice of the Spirit, amen? The Spirit speaks to Peter. Then it'll be unjust for the Spirit to speak to Peter, amen, who is, come on, he's the bishop, amen? He's a man, an especially anointed man of God, hallelujah, one of those that walked with Jesus. But how about us? Of course, God is not an unjust God. God is fair. Amen? He will let the Spirit speak to you. So be led to the Spirit of God speaking to you this year. "And the Spirit said to Peter, 'Behold, three men are seeking you. Arise therefore, go down and go with them, doubting nothing; for I have sent them.'"
Let's because of time, let's drop down to them going to Caesarea. "So, the following day they entered Caesarea. Now Cornelius was waiting for them and had called together his relatives and close friends". So, while we are still online, you know, you should contact all your relatives and close friends to listen to the Word of God, that they also may receive the vision from God. Hallelujah. This Cornelius, he's not a selfish fellow. Amen? He knew that Peter was coming, and he gathered all his relatives. He gathered all of them and his close friends. "As Peter was coming in, Cornelius met him, fell at his feet and worshiped him. Peter lifted him and said, 'Stand up; I myself am also a man.' And as he talked with him, he went in and found many who had come together".
Many who had come together. Notice that many who had come together. This is important for you to know, because it's the beginning of the salvation of Gentiles, not like one saved here, one saved there, but many are beginning to get saved, and then it became like a snowball effect, all the way until our times, because we are all non-Jews. In a sense, we are Gentiles, but now we are one new man in Christ. Amen. "Then he said to them, 'You know how unlawful it is for a Jewish man to keep company with or go to one of another nation.'" A type of social distancing.
"'But God has shown me that I should not call any man common or unclean. Therefore I came without objection as soon as I was sent for. I ask, then, for what reason have you sent for me?' So Cornelius said, 'Four days ago I was fasting until this hour; and at the ninth hour I prayed in my house, and behold, a man stood before me in bright clothing, and said, 'Cornelius, your prayer has been heard, and your alms are remembered in the sight of God. Send therefore to Joppa and call Simon here, whose surname is Peter. He is lodging in the house of Simon, a tanner, by the sea. When he comes, he will speak to you.' So I sent to you immediately, and you have done well to come. Now therefore, we are all present before God, to hear all the things commanded you by God.' Then Peter opened his mouth and said, 'In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality.'"
And Peter began to preach. Peter began to preach the sermon about how the Word of God was sent to Israel. John the Baptist prepared the way for the Messiah, for Jesus to come, and then how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed of the devil, for God was with him. And then he came to the culmination of his message, and this is what happened, the Bible says. Peter is preaching and Peter says, "To Jesus all the prophets witness that through His name, whoever believes in Him will receive remission or forgiveness of sins". Listen, Peter said, "To Him all the prophets witness that through His name, whoever believes in Him will receive forgiveness of sins".
While Peter was still speaking these words, that through him, you receive forgiveness of sins if you believe. "While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word". Hallelujah. This coming year, towards the end of the year, I'm gonna see a lot of salvation. Praise the name of Jesus, amen. And God will do it in ways unprecedented. God, you know, when God gave them the Holy Spirit like this, it is unprecedented. It's a new thing. No prayer was offered, amen. Whereas for the Jews, for Peter and all the rest of the disciples, they had to gather in the upper room. They had to pray ten days.
After Jesus ascended back to the Father, they pray for ten days for the day of Pentecost, and then the Holy Spirit came, amen. And then even when Peter rose up to preach to the Jewish people, he says, "Repent, therefore, amen, and be baptized, and then receive the Holy Spirit". He talked about baptism. He talked about, then you can receive the Holy Spirit. Whereas for them, they received first, and then they were baptized after. So, it's a new thing, a new thing, amen. God is not waiting anymore. So, via the screen, amen, you can receive your miracle. You can receive salvation. You can receive healing. You can receive breakthroughs. You can receive the vision that God has for you, amen. And vision always manifest. Hallelujah. Because that which was will not be that which is. And that which has happened before in your past that's bad, that is just depressing, you know, will not happen this year to you. In the name of Jesus, God is doing a new thing. Praise the Lord. A new change, hallelujah, is coming. Hmm, hallelujah. Hallelujah. Praise the name of Jesus.
I have a special assignment from the Lord to tell you, a little homework for you to do. I want to pray this prayer every single day. Listen, friend, before I give you that prayer, I want to say this to you. God told Abraham, "What do you see? As far as your eye can see, all that you see, I give to you. What can you see? All that you can see, I give to you. All that you can see, I give to you". Abraham actually responded. Later on he says, you know, God came to him in a vision, yet he respond by saying, "I see myself childless, seeing I go childless".
You know God did right after that? God brought Abraham out, and God pointed him to the stars. And God says to Abraham, "Number the stars and tell their story, as well as number the stars". And he started numbering. Now, I don't know, probably you can google and find out how many stars can the mortal eye number. Okay, but he numbered until he could not number anymore. Maybe God brought him into prophetic vision to see the stars beyond what his natural eye can see. But he began to see the stars and the face of the stars turned into his children, babies crying. At a time, he and his wife Sarah, they had no child, and they are now in their old age. And Sarah has always been barren but he looked at the stars and he started crying out to God. And God says, "Look at the stars, number them. Tell the story of the stars and see if you can count them".
And all the faces became like children crying out, "Father Abraham, Father Abraham, Father, Abraham, Father, Abraham," until his heart was filled with that vision. And God changed Abraham's vision. God has to change his vision on the inside before God can change the outside, amen. And you know what happened? You know the story, Isaac came later on. I'll share more on that in the weeks to come. But before God does anything in your life, God gives you a vision, amen. But you say, "Pastor Prince, we walk by faith, not by sight". That is referring to physical sight. We walk by faith, but faith is spiritual sight. You see things that others don't, those with physical sight don't see, amen.
Just like Elisha and the servant and Elisha says to his servant, who was trembling when he saw all the physical armies that lay siege to their house, and he was afraid. And what did Elijah do? Elijah says, "Lord, open his eyes". And the Lord opened the servant's eyes. And beyond and around all the armies that were there that were there to capture him, he saw angelic beings and chariots of fire. And Elijah said, "There are more with us. There are more with us than with them". There are more positive things happening for you this year, than things against you, why? Because these angels will go to work. We have more angels with us than with them. Greater is he that's in you than he that's in the world. Hallelujah.
So, I want you to pray this prayer, amen. We walk by this sight. Faith is actually walking by spiritual sight. I want you to pray this prayer. Why do I say the heart and vision go together? Because of this prayer in Ephesians chapter 1. I want you to pray this prayer every day from now on over yourself and over your children, amen. And then one day, you know, when you pray this prayer, I've prayed this prayer down through the years. This one prayer I pray, I think I pray more with the understanding than I pray any other prayer, okay? I'm down through the years, I've prayed this prayer. It's a prayer for the spirit of wisdom and revelation. But notice how this spirit of wisdom and revelation operates.
Ephesians 1, "I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom". How many want that? How many want the spirit of wisdom and of revelation, and of revelation? How many want the spirit of revelation? Hallelujah. In the knowledge of him. Now, how does this spirit of wisdom and revelation operate? Now, he is writing to people who already have the Holy Spirit. Yet he says, "I'm praying that, in your case, the Holy Spirit will manifest himself as a spirit of wisdom and revelation". Not everyone has that. But now the question, how does the spirit of wisdom and revelation operate in our lives? "Having the eyes," ooh, "of your hearts enlightened that you may know. Having the eyes of your hearts enlightened that you may know".
Whoa, our hearts have eyes. And the way the spirit of wisdom operates is God opens the eyes of your heart. And the word "enlightened" photizo in the Greek, means flooded with light where you get the word "photo," right? How do you get a photo? All right, the photo is a reflection of the rays of light. So, God wants the eyes of your heart, amen, that is filled now, perhaps, with a lot of things that are negative and dark that you have looked around you. You fill your heart with the wrong things. You read books on symptoms of diseases, and you're conscious of every symptom and all that. Your heart is filled with the wrong stuff by, my bro, amen.
Listen, God wants to flood your heart with light because what you see, like a photo, will be reproduced, amen. And the way the spirit of wisdom operate, in the Bible says that there are people who receive the spirit of wisdom, even in the Old Testament. For example, Bezalel. The Bible says, God says, "See, I have filled him with the Spirit of God in wisdom, in understanding," so that he can make the tabernacle furnitures, amen. There's no way he can make all the Ark of the Covenant, the menorah, without the spirit of wisdom. In other words, when this wisdom fills you, you go like this... I don't know how to do it before but when the spirit of wisdom fills you, you go like this, "I see it. I see it. I know how to do it. Yes, I see it. I know what to do now. I see it".
You know, we use the language, isn't it? We say, "I see it". Doesn't mean we see it physically, we see it inside. That's how the spirit of wisdom and revelation operate, amen. Having the eyes of your heart. Will you pray this prayer over your, yourself every day? Will you pray this prayer over your children, amen, that God will give them the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Jesus, especially in the knowledge of the Lord? Amen. Having the eyes of their understanding being enlightened, having the eyes of their heart being enlightened, amen, flooded with light, that they may know what is the hope of their calling, what is the riches of the glory of their inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of the power of God wrought in Christ, amen, on our behalf.
Wow. It takes the spirit wisdom and revelation and eyes of the heart being open to see. May that be your prayer, may that be your reality this year, in the name of Jesus. Actually, when the Lord spoke to me about this coming year a few months back when he gave me all these passages, "Son, have you, have you realized that in your own life, I have increased the manifestation of seeing, seeing, seeing"? And that's how, in many of my sermons in the past, have you noticed that in times past, for the past years, I've moved in the spirit. I've prayed for people, but not never to this extent where I begin to see things in what God is doing in people's lives. I mean, it comes really fast, fast and furious. I'm just at a loss, but it's happening to so many people. And I'm having that right now. I'm having that right now, in Jesus's name.
And this is gonna happen to you as well, amen. You will see things. It's like a light turned on on the inside. The spirit of wisdom is manifesting. The spirit of revelation is flooding your heart. And then you will see, wow. Even in your business, even in things that confuse people, experts are confused by it, you will see it. That's it. You will say, "I see it. I see it". May that be your reality. Even right now, I'm seeing people are being touched by the Lord in special ways.
I see someone, you have a growth on your neck towards, slight towards the right side. And I see God touching that growth and it's disappearing. It dissipates. It dissipates. I curse that growth in Jesus's name. I proclaim healing in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, amen. When you have a clean bill of health, amen, from the doctor, let us know about it. Praise the Lord. Thank you, Lord Jesus.
There is someone, recently you went to the doctor and the doctor has found like growths, growth like, tumor-like growths in your womb area and now you are concerned. And you have another appointment that's coming. Right now, in the name of the Lord Jesus, I speak to those growths and I command those growths to die. I command those tumors to be plucked up by the roots and be thrown into the sea, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. In Jesus's powerful name, amen. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord Jesus.
Someone with a heart condition, and actually you had a mini heart attack this past year, and you feel the pain coming again. And right now, I feel the power of God is just surging through your body, healing you of that foundation, and you feel the power of God right now. Thank you, Lord Jesus. Thank you, Lord Jesus. Praise the name of Jesus. Hallelujah.
There's someone, you, you woke up one day, and you have this eczema on your right side. It's like this whole area of your face, and it goes somewhere, spread to the back here. But it's like, you know, you don't know why. And you've been taking some... I see you putting cream and all that. It's still not better. The Lord heals you right now in the name of Jesus, amen, and gives you a bonus of great complexion. In the name of Jesus, hallelujah. Thank you, Lord Jesus. Thank you, Lord Jesus. Thank you, Lord Jesus. Hallelujah.
Receive your healing. Even if I don't call your healing right now, just receive your healing, amen. This coming year, I say to you, in the name of Jesus, will be your healthiest year yet. I speak to every growth that is not supposed to be in your body and I command it in the name of Jesus to wither up and die and be passed out of your body in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, amen. I speak life, health, and healing to every cell, to every organ, to every function of your body from the crown of your head to the soles of your feet, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Lord, touch them right now.
I see someone with a vertebrae condition and it seems like the middle of your, your vertebra, right, somewhere in the middle, there is, it's like you're aware of it. They have described this to you like, there is an opening that's caused the nerves to affect you so much. And you are, I see you constantly getting up in the middle of the night and there's pain in your back. You're trying to shift here and there. Receive your healing right now in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. Praise the name of Jesus. It's gonna be a great year, amen. Once again, put your hand on your heart, amen. See this year, and say this:
In the name of the Lord Jesus, in this year of hazon vision, I will walk with God, I will follow his Spirit, hear his voice, receive his word, receive his visions that he has for me this year in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, Father, in the name of Jesus, let me kick off this year. Let me start off this year by asking, in the name of the Lord Jesus, give me, Father, your spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of you.
Pray that with me right now, amen. In the eyes of my heart, say that, "The eyes of my heart being enlightened, flooded with light, that I may know what you want me to know. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, thank you, Father". If you're watching this, my friend, you've never made Jesus your personal Savior and Lord, what better than this new-year time, amen, to make Jesus the Savior and the Lord of your life, hallelujah. Christ died for sinners, amen. You have to acknowledge you have sin in your life, you're a sinner, but Christ died for sinners. You qualify, amen. Pray this prayer with me.
Heavenly Father, I confess with my mouth, Jesus Christ is my Lord. I believe he died on the cross for all my sins, and I believe you raised him from the dead when I was acquitted in him. Thank you, Father God, all my sins are forgiven. I'm righteous by the blood of Jesus, and I'm greatly blessed, highly favored, and I'm always loved by you. I thank you, Father God, it's gonna be my best year yet. In Jesus's name.
Friend, if you prayed that prayer, you're now a child of God. What happened to Cornelius has happened to you, amen. Salvation has come to your house. Hallelujah. Praise the Lord. Stand to your feet, church. Let's believe God, amen, for this coming year to bring forth more beautiful days than 2020 had brought, amen. Can you believe God for that? I've given you the scriptural precedent for it. I've given you the verses just now that you can believe God. Don't let the voices of doubt and unbelief, even from Christians, other Christians telling you, "No, no, you cannot expect, as a Christian, that you will have good days. No, there are days of suffering". Friend, I'm not saying that every day, even the Bible says there's an evil day, all right, a season, amen. But thank God it's short compared to the good days. Let's believe God for that. Lift your hands all across this place. Let me pray for you.
Father, in Jesus's name, I thank you, Lord, for this year, Lord, 2021. I thank you, Father God, that we look at this year, Lord, like a clean sheet of paper, Lord, nothing written on it. We pray, Father God, that you will write, Lord, a beautiful love story, Father, of your love for us, Lord. And write all the blessings of God, Lord, on this paper, Lord, on this year, Lord, in our lives. And let them manifest, Lord. Let them manifest in such a way, Lord, that it becomes a point, Lord, of reference for people around us to see us, Lord, and that all these people around our, the people in the concentric circle, Lord, of people, Lord, around us, our relatives, our friends, Lord, they will come to know Jesus Christ, Lord, amen, because of what they see in our lives. Father, I pray in Jesus's name, I pray in Jesus's name that you will cause this year, Lord, to be the best in our health. And that's only possible, Lord, not by us observing, Lord, good diets, exercise. Though these things are good in the natural, but they are not fail-proof, but health coming from you. So, we asked you, Father, in the name of Jesus.
Say this with me, "Father, in the name of Jesus, I ask of you, grant me, Lord, that this year be the healthiest year of my life. In the name of the Lord Jesus, amen". And I see some of you exercising. I see some of you have a new vision to do new stuff. It's not resolution, new vision. Obey that, amen. Act on it. God, before God does something, he gives you a vision on the inside. And get ready also for real visions like, you know, what Cornelius had, what Peter had visions, amen. They are still formed today. Hallelujah. Praise the Lord.
The Lord bless you, amen, this coming week. The Lord bless you and your families. The Lord make his face shine on you and be favorable to you. The Lord grant you and your loved ones his shalom peace, well-being, and health. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, amen. Until the next time, we'll continue sharing what God has for us this coming year in Jesus's name. God bless you.