Joseph Prince - Positioned In His Protection
You know, we are, increasingly we are living in dangerous times. And the Apostle Paul puts it this way, "The Holy Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the last days, perilous times shall come". Perilous means danger, danger, the word danger, peril, dangerous times. And isn't it wonderful for us to know that we have a God who watches over us? Amen, Psalms 91, okay, it says, "He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty". Psalm 91 is in the Word of God. You know, when you bring Psalms 91, and you tell people, they ask me things like, "Where do you find God's protection"? You know, and I tell them, Psalm 91, and they look at you kind of incredulous, they kind of look and see if Psalms 91 is not in the Word of God.
But it is, friend, and it tells us we can have protection in every area of life, even the times of the day, whether it's day or night, it says, "You shall not be afraid of the terror by night nor the arrow that flies by day," amen. "There shall no evil happen to you," amen, no evil, and no plague, no disease will come near your dwelling. You know, in Psalms 91 you have the names of God five times, the number of grace. You have "He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High," Elyon. "Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty," Almighty there is Shaddai. "I will say of the Lord," Yahweh, the Lord, "He is my refuge and my fortress, my God," Elohim, so you have four there. And God doesn't stop on the four, number of creation, he stops at the five, where do you find five? Right at the last verse, "With long life will I satisfy him," God says, "And will show him My salvation". Show them the verse, "With long life will I satisfy him, and show him My," in the Hebrew, Yahshua, the name of Jesus, amen, the name of Jesus, salvation.
And then you have three words for dwelling or habitation, you have the first one, "He who dwells," and this is a beautiful word, it means sit down. "He who dwells," yashav, yashav means sit down, relax, sit down, be at rest. Your dwelling place, today in Hebrew they'll say, "Which moshav are you from," moshav is the noun of yashav. Which settlement are you from? Which place are you from? Alright, moshav, they call that, yashav, from the word sit down, yashav, sit down, amen. So, you have the first word for dwelling, then it says, there shall no evil, "Because you have made the Lord," drop down, "Because you have made the Lord, who is my refuge, Even the Most High," Elyon, "your dwelling place".
Now, this dwelling place is the word maon. The Bible tells us that this word maon, dwelling place, is a place of security, a place of safety. The Bible says that David was in the wilderness of Maon, and my pastors and I, we have been to the wilderness of Maon, where David dwelt there and Saul, when he was hunting down David to kill him, he came so close to David in the wilderness of Maon in a mountain range called Sela Hammahlekoth, which is the rock of the vision. Now, my pastors and I, we climbed that mountain where you have a steep drop on one side, and the other side goes into a valley. Now, the Bible says that David was going on this side of the valley, and Saul and his army, alright, they got wind of the fact that David was in that area, and they were coming on this side, which means they will finally merge, they'll meet, and Saul is out to kill David.
So, David, unwittingly, not knowing that danger was on the other side, he was in the wilderness of Maon, and saw this army was coming, he was right before, and we were on top of that mountain. So, when Saul came on this side, David came on this side, and they're about to meet. The Bible says, David was just praising the Lord, and David says to us, now, "Because you have made the Lord, who is my refuge, your dwelling place," your maon, your dwelling place, a place of safety. Right before they met, a messenger came to Saul saying that there's an attack launched by the Philistines against our people, and Saul and his army left, not knowing that David was on the other side, amen. How many of you know that we praise God for the protection and for the deliverance that he gives us that we are aware of? But many-a-times the Lord has protected us more than we know, the Lord has delivered us more than we can tell, amen, just before we arrive to the danger.
You know, we thank God, when we are in trouble, he delivers us out of it, and we praise him, but for those troubles we never got into, we don't praise him for it. So, there's every reason to praise the Lord, come on, shout his praises, hallelujah, every reason to praise the Lord. Even for things you do not know yet, for things that he is doing behind the scene, amen. Now, the Bible says, "He who sits in the secret place of the Most High," we begin there, alright. In fact, this message came about when the Lord spoke to my heart these words, "If you find your position, you will find your possession". Position before possession. Now, some of us, we are looking to possess something, and the theme of this year is possessing your possessions. Alright, we think that if we can just possess that, alright, possess this, possess that, you know, I'll be fine. And we go about it after the flesh.
Now, when I say after the flesh, let me explain to you, because this phrase has been so misunderstood. Let me quote from the Scriptures in Galatians chapter 4. "Tell me, you that desire to be under the law. Do you not hear the law? For it is written that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bond mate and the other by a free woman". The bond mate, we know it's Hagar, she brought forth, who? Ishmael, and the free woman, the lawful wife, is Sarah, and Sarah brought forth Isaac. Then it says, "He who was of the bond woman," the slave girl, Hagar, "He who was of the bond woman was born after the flesh," what does that mean? That means he was brought forth naturally with human strength. Abraham was still virile, Abraham was still young, relatively, at the time, alright, and he sired the child through his own flesh.
In other words, he was born after the flesh. "But he of the free woman," of grace, of Sarah, was born after promise. Which things are an allegory, for these are the two covenants. Law, effort, human effort; grace, God's promise, not our effort. Which means we sit down, we rest, God does the work. Actually, the flesh produces instant results, because Sarah, grace, was so slow in bearing fruit, it seems to us by all natural calculations, it seems like it took a long time for grace, for Sarah to produce fruit. But when Abraham went to the slave girl, Hagar, she produced Ishmael straight away. But herein lies the difference, if you wait on the Lord, if you trust the Lord, the quality of what you produce will be different. Are you listening? If you do it after the flesh, it'll be limited and confined by the flesh, but if it is by the spirit, it'll be limited, quote-unquote, to the limitless, inexhaustible supply of the spirit. And we all know that Isaac proved to be greater than Ishmael in every sense of the word, and he received, 'cause it goes on to say, "The son of the bond woman shall not be heir with the son of the free woman". Can I have a good amen?
Now, we have this idea that, you know, Christianity is like this. Alright, one day we start off like this, we got born again, praise the Lord, but we are born again to start a journey, okay. And one day we will reach the finishing line. Now, this is religion, people. What God has done actually is not even this natural, after the flesh things. Let me just blow your mind a little bit, okay. God has taken us straight from the starting point and put us here in the finishing line. And where it's finished, where Jesus says, "It's finished," there we start, this is our position. Colossians 2, "You are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power". You are complete in Christ, so, in other words, we think that, many-a-times we think that our Christian walk is a walk where one day we will achieve completion in Christ, but God is saying, no, the moment you are born again, you are complete in Christ.
Now, our understanding is playing catchup. Doesn't change the fact that you are complete in Christ. If you look up the word complete, here in the Greek it is the word pléroó. And pléroó, the first meaning is "liberally supplied," liberally supplied. So, right now you are in this place, complete in Christ, there's nothing that you need, you are complete in Christ. You lack for nothing. The Bible doesn't say you will be complete one day, it says, "You are complete in Him," in Christ, "who is the head of all principality and power," amen, you are complete. "But, pastor Prince, you don't understand, I have this symptom in my body". Then that calls for, what? A realization that you are complete in Christ, so this is a lying symptom. I'm liberally supplied with healing and health, I have it now, I'm not trying to get it.
So, there's a world of difference between this posture, this position of knowing and resting and sitting down, I'm complete in Christ, and this pain is trying to tell me I'm not, but I already am. So, this is a lying symptom, and I reject it, and I don't care how long it is, I'll outlast this symptom, because God's truth is the truest reality, the greatest reality there is, can I have a good amen, people? It makes a world of difference compared to this than this posture of, oh no, I'm being attacked in my body, but I know there's healing available for me, and I'm going to get this healing, alright. I'm going to do my best to get this healing, amen. And you can even take communion to receive healing, as opposed to you are taking communion, but it's just bread and a cup, amen. It doesn't transmute into the real body of Jesus, that's a dangerous teaching there.
Alright, but you must understand is you're already healed, I'm taking it to declare my faith, to proclaim I'm already healed. There's a world of difference compared to I'm trying to be healed. This produces stress and strife. This produces rest and peace. Can I have a good amen? When you find your position, you find your possession. Your position is your possession. Even under law in the Old Testament, alright, before I come to the Old Testament, I wanna finish the dwelling in Psalms 91. Then we have this, "No evil shall befall you, Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling," come near your dwelling, yes Lord, amen.
Now, "Your dwelling" is a different word here. So you have yashav, "He who dwells in secret place," you have maon, "The place of safety," now you have your tent. This word in the Hebrew is ohel, which is a tent, a nomadic tent, in other words, your family. No plague will come near your family, "No evil will befall you, no plague will come near your dwelling," your ohel, your tent. Your entire family is under this. No plague, the Lord just said this to my heart, there's someone here watching this right now, you have been plagued by this, this idea that you might get a stroke one day. For some reason, this fear has come into your heart. I don't know who you are, but this fear has come into your heart. Let me tell you this. I just, I've thought on Psalms 91 so many times, but for the first time I looked up the word, maybe not the first time, but first time it registered with me that this word plague, no plague will come near your dwelling in the Hebrew is the word stroke. No stroke will come near your family, no stroke will come near. Receive that in Jesus's name, can I have a good amen.
Now, even under law, back under law, God says, if you keep all my commandments, alright, and you do them, which no one can, the Bible says for as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse, for it is written, cursed is everyone who continues not in all things which are written in the Book of the Law to do them. The moment you start on the ground that you are justified by the law or can receive your blessings under law, you are under the curse, why? You must continue in all things, and no one can. So, by the same token, the moment you take a position on the grounds of receiving the blessing by keeping the law, you are under the curse, because you must keep all or else you come under the curse, and the law is no respecter of persons, okay. But grace, the Bible says the law is not of faith, but we are justified by faith, amen.
But even then, in the Old Testament, God says, "If you keep all my commandments," alright, "If you keep all my commandments," and God knew they can't, but there's a promise to come, God says, "I'll set you high above," "God will set you high above," high above. God will set you high, position before blessing, position before possession. "I will set you high above. And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you". The Lord will set you high above, and all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, so before all the blessings come upon you and overtake you, the Lord will give you a position. Do you know, their dream is our reality. Today we are seated with Christ far above, far above all principality, that is set high above all nations of the earth, we are set high, far above. If it says, far, it's good enough. If it says, above by itself, it's good enough. But no, it says, far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but in the world to come, can I have a good amen? Praise the Lord.
The Bible says, we start here. Christianity doesn't begin with D-O, it begins with D-O-N-E, it begins with done. Finished, we are complete, not going to be complete, amen. Now, walk in the spirit, walk in the completion, amen. We don't walk to be complete, we walk in the completion, can I have a good amen? So, you come to the sense that you are full, that you are filled, you don't come to the sense of emptiness. And this is what it all comes down to, the practical part, okay. You need to remember that before you go to face the affairs of life and the fight of life every single day, you need to spend time with the daily devotional of Joseph Prince, okay, praise God, hallelujah. I recommend it, because I know what I wrote, okay? So, you need to spend time feeling, alright... now, I'm careful about using the word feeling, but when feelings come, celebrate them. But we live by faith. But God wants you to feel secure, you are seated with Christ.
Never leave the house feeling vulnerable. In all the media today, alright, the bad news and all that in the media today and everything that you read in the magazines and papers and what the world's coming to and all that, leaves you a feeling vulnerable, feeling unprotected, feeling like something bad can happen any time to me or to my family. That feeling is not from God, God wants you to leave your house, right, feeling loved, totally loved, seated with Christ, completely protected, liberally supplied, highly favored. You are in that place, now, being conscious of who you are and where you are seated, you go out and face the affairs of life. Even a simple thing like correcting your children, for example. Alright, you can come with a sense of emptiness, a sense of, like, I've got to do this, and you are doing it after the flesh, and the result is never good, amen. But if you come there feeling that, I'm loved, but I need to correct my son on this, alright, you come to a sense of God is with you, amen, you are not alone, praise the Lord, and you come and correct him in the spirit, it's gonna be good. Are you listening? Phew, I said a lot, let's digest for a while.
So, those that are planted in the house of the Lord, those who are seated with Christ, you start there, those are the ones that will flourish outside in the courts of our God. Psalms 92, we saw Psalms 91, this is Psalms 92, it says, "Those who are planted in the house of the Lord Shall flourish in the courts of our God". When you watch television and when you watch or you read the news and all that, whatever means you're using on your smartphone or whatever, if you watch for too long and you start feeling like you're vulnerable, your family's vulnerable, that's the time to stop and remind yourself of your position, amen. And the devil come and whisper, well, that happened to so-and-so, it can happen to you, that happened to so-and-so, it can happen to you.
That's the time you must quote Psalms 91, where it says, "A thousand shall fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you". Quote that, "A thousand can fall at my side, and ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you". What's going to happen when you take this place, you plant yourself in this place, I refuse to be removed from this place where I know that I am highly favored, totally loved, liberally supplied, completely protected, what's going to happen to you? The Bible says, "They shall still bear fruit in old age; They shall be fresh and flourishing".
Let me tell you this, your age can be old age, doesn't mean you have to be. In fact, if the word old age is not there, we might think, of course, they are bearing fruit and they are fresh and flourishing because they are young, so thank God the word old age is there. In other words, when old... I won't tell you what's the old age. When I was 15, I thought 30 was very old, now I think something ahead is very old, alright, it always goes farther and farther, you know? Alright, but listen, the age is old, but the person is not. "They shall still bear fruit in old age; They shall be fresh and flourishing". Real quick, I don't like the English here, because it doesn't bring across the Hebrew. The Hebrew says fresh is the word dashen, flourishing is raanan, and the dashen means full of sap, the tree is full of sap.
You know, it's not dried up, it is not like a withered prune, it is not withered and dry, no sap. Literally in the Hebrew, dashen, full of sap. And the word flourishing, raanan, look out in your Hebrew, literally it says green leaf. Green leaf, your leaf is perennially green, we are evergreen, people, we are evergreen. In heaven one day, we'll see that old age was not God's plan, because everyone in heaven is young. The angels are young, remember when the disciples saw the angels at Jesus's tomb, the Bible says they looked like young men. Even God the Father is young. No one is old in heaven, so why not start here? You can be full of sap, full of sap, evergreen. That's my old neighbor talking about me again. And for what purpose, for what purpose, for our own honor? No, to show, "To declare that the Lord is upright; He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him," give him praise, hallelujah, praise the Lord.