Joseph Prince - Pray The Prayer Of Protection (Special)
So the thing is that you want to understand what's happening around the world today? We are the end-time generation. Amen? God says, we look at the times past, does God protect his people in times past? Yes. "In that day," God says, "I will set apart", God is talking to Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. "I'll set apart the land of Goshen," the place of drawing near. Goshen means drawing near. "In which my people dwell". Notice God's people dwell close to him. "That no swarms of flies shall be there, in order that you may know that I am the Lord in the midst of the land. I'll make a difference between my people," God told Pharaoh, "and your people. Tomorrow this sign shall be". So even when plagues come, God makes a difference between his people and the people of the world. Are you listening, people?
Don't fear the things that people of the world fears. You have a God. Amen? Like one bird told another bird, "How come these human beings are running around so stressed, so tensed, so worried, you know"? The other one says, "Well, I guess they don't have a heavenly Father like you and I who feeds us". Well, Jesus said if God feeds the birds of the air, how much more will he feed you? Amen? So here it's very clear God makes a difference. No swarms of flies shall be there in the place where you draw near to God, and flies represents evil spirits. Beelzebub, one of the names of Satan, literally is lord of the flies. Some of you remember your English literature. All right?
Now we go to chapter 10 of Exodus. The people of God are still in slavery in Egypt, and God sent Moses. Sign after sign, plague after plague, and Pharaoh's heart was still hardened. "Then the Lord said to Moses, 'Stretch out your hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, darkness which may even be felt.' So Moses stretched out his hand". That's really dark, okay? "Towards heaven and there was thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days". Now look at this. "They did not see one another, nor did anyone rise from his place for three days," in Egypt. But the slaves are also in Egypt. "But all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings".
I used to read this and never stop to meditate until one day I was reading this and I realized that this light is supernatural light. Because if this light is caused by the oil lamp, which they used in those days, the same resource is available to the Egyptians. But the Egyptians cannot light that night. It was thick darkness, but there was supernatural light in the dwellings of the people of God. So in these last days there'll be a supernatural light in your families. Dwellings means your families. You have a supernatural light. Amen? All right. So that's the past. In the past, God kept his people protected, God made a difference. "Between my people and your people," God told Pharaoh.
Fast-forward beyond even our time. Let's go to the Book of Revelation. We are not around. We are in heaven in our new bodies. We are looking down at the 7 years of tribulation. The Book of Revelation predominantly, all right? The church is only mentioned in chapter 2 and 3, and then from then on you don't find the church anymore because the church is ruptured. From then on you see the church in heaven, okay, when the tribulation happens on earth. Okay, the Bible tells us that God will raise... who will preach the gospel then because all the preachers are gone, all the teachers are gone, all the pastors are gone, all the missionaries are gone? So who will preach the gospel of the kingdom at that time? God will save and raise 144,000 Jewish evangelists. Amen. We're talking about the future now because Israel is left behind. Okay? Those remnant that are saved will be going up of course, and I'm believing God for a great revival in Israel. Amen?
And I believe that many, many, many Israelis are going up, many Jewish people are saved by then. But those who are left behind, they'll be saved after. Probably they saw what happened and they'll be saved after; and they'll be 144,000, the Bible says 12,000 from each tribe. Twelve tribes of Israel, 12,000 from each tribe makes up 144,000. But even then, when evil things are happening on earth, look at this conversation between angels. Revelation 7, "Then I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God, the seal of the living God. And he cried with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea". And this angel said to the other angels, "Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads". So whatever this seal on the foreheads of God's 144,000, it protected them from the harm that will come on earth.
The reason I'm showing you this is because in principle there is a seal on our heads that the world does not have. "What is this seal, Pastor Prince"? Revelation 14 tells you what it is. "Then I saw the lamb standing on Mount Zion", let's go back to Revelation 7 again. Go back to seven. Okay. Is that verse 4? "I heard the number of those who were sealed; 144,000 of all the tribes of the children of Israel were sealed". Of the tribe of Judah, 12,000. Of the tribe of Reuben, 12,000. Of the tribe of Gad, 12,000. Twelve tribes, 144,000. In Revelation 14 it tells us what's a seal. "Then I saw the lamb standing on Mount Zion".
Now this is Mount Zion where? Heavenly Jerusalem, Mount Zion, and the lamb is there. So this is heaven. Amen? And look at this. "With him were 144,000". So there is a rapture of these Jewish evangelists. Probably after 3 1/2 years of the tribulation, they go up. And once they are up, all right, the last 3 1/2 years are the worst. It's called the great tribulation. So the 144,000 when they are up, notice what the seal they have. "Who had his name," the name of Jesus, "and his Father's name written on their foreheads".
I was reading this one day and God spoke to me and God says today there is a seal that Satan can see on God's people. It's on your head. You can't see it, but it's more real than physical things because physical things came up from a spirit thing. People say, "If I can't see it, I cannot believe it". That's how shallow man has become. Because everything came from God, who is a spirit. In fact, if you can see it, it won't last. If you can see it, it's temporal. This chair, you can see it, it won't last. Your clothes, it won't last. Your body, you can see it, it won't last. You won't carry this body to heaven. It cannot take the beauties of heaven. It cannot stand the perfect harmonies of heaven. You're going to have a brand new body. Anything you can see and touch is temporal.
So things you cannot see, the protection seal is on you, child of God, and on your family. But what is this in type today? In type. They had it in the Book of Revelation, the 144,000. But for us, having his name on our foreheads, having the Father's name on our foreheads means what? We are thinking of the name of Jesus. When we are in trouble, what's the first thing we think of? Not our nearest banker friend. Not another person. All right? It's not horizontal because man, whose breath is in his nostrils, cannot help where real help is concerned or permanent help is involved. Have you noticed that? You will be disappointed. Amen? God wants you to be vertical in your faith. Amen? And when you have Jesus's name, you have a Jesus mentality, you have a Father mentality. That's why I covered the Father's name last week. Were you all blessed last week? We covered the Father's name last week and how conscious of Father, Jesus, Father. That is family. Amen?
Demons tremble at the name of Jesus. At the name of Jesus every knee bows. In the world when they cannot express their deepest anger, they use the name that's above every name to express their anger in blasphemy. Why do you think they do that? You know, if the name of another person who is deemed as holy is used in that way, the world will go up in arms. We got to make sure that we are not ashamed of the name of Jesus. There are people blaspheming the beautiful name. The Bible says God has highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow of things in heaven, not at the name of God. Jesus is God, but it's not at the name of God. There's no confusion here, God says. At the name of Jesus every knee will bow of things under the earth. That's hell. Things on earth and things in heaven. Amen?
Angels, men, demons bow to the name of Jesus. Every knee will bow to the name of Jesus and to say he is Lord. Even Satan will bow his knees and say, "Jesus is Lord," in hell one day. And God has ordained that this whole world will come into the hands of the perfect man whose righteousness is the scepter of his kingdom. He rules with righteousness. He rules with equity. Amen. He will judge and fight for the poor. We'll have a king. We'll have a emperor, a sovereign whose heart is kind beyond all measure, whose touch is healing, amen, whose presence is life, you know, no one died in Jesus's presence. Even in the Gospels Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, nobody ever died in Jesus's presence. And if Jesus attends a funeral, it's no more a funeral. Amen. So when you draw close to Jesus, my friend, just know that you are in the presence of life and resurrection. Amen. Amen?
So we see the past, how God protected Israel in Egypt. We've seen the future, how God will protect the 144,000 Jewish evangelists. So protection is in God's heart. Invariably there'll be questions, and I understand understandably so questions like, "The martyrs, Pastor Prince, how do you explain that"? I shall try, all right, the limited time that we have to answer some of these questions presently. Okay? "And why did Paul suffer"? All right. If we have time, we're going to cover that as well. So let's go right now to Psalms 91. "He who dwells in the secret place of the most high," Hebrew Elyon, "shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty," Shaddai. So the Holy Spirit is talking, in fact, you will find the Triune God, Father, Son, Holy Spirit, in Psalms 91.
The first psalm is a testimony of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit says, "He who dwells in the secret place of the most high". You know who the Holy Spirit's referring to? All of us have access today, but first and foremost it is the Lord Jesus Christ when he came as a man. When he came as a man, all right, he functioned as a man, he lived as a man. He was a man who dwelt in the secret place, amen, and he was under the shadow of the Almighty. Now, verse 2 is the Lord Jesus, this perfect man, speaking. How do I know? Because this same verse, in him I will trust, is used in Hebrews 2, verse 13 as coming from the mouth of our Lord Jesus. So the Holy Spirit says, "He who dwells in the secret place," he answers, "I will say of," Yahweh, "the Lord," or Jehovah, "he is my refuge and my fortress, my God," my Elohim. "In him I will trust".
Psalms 91 is a psalm of divine protection, and God ordained that even people say the chapters are not inspired. Yes and no, but God sometime have his own style of doing things that God will show you Psalms 9:1, 1. Verse 1 says, "He who dwells in the secret place of the most high shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty". And 911 speaks volumes, especially for the generation that we are. 911, it speaks volumes to Americans. And by the way, their helpline is not 999 like ours. Theirs is 911. So God is sending a message for modern people. Some of you know the Bible is practical, the Bible is advanced. God knows what's going to happen before it happens. Something very interesting in the Bible, in the Book of Revelation he tells us that the bodies of two prophets were lied dead before God resurrect them in front of all the nations of the world, and he says that all the nations of the world will see their dead bodies and people read that like 100 years ago, they will laugh and they will say that the Bible is not practical, the Bible is dealing in fanciful imaginations.
"How can the nations of the world see the dead bodies of the prophets in the streets of Jerusalem"? That was 100 years ago. Nobody is saying it's impossible today. So the Bible is more advanced than these mockers. God has time. Long after you die, God is still around. Let me just tell you this, okay? God has all the time in the world, and God wants us to learn from him so that we lay aside making a God out of our reason and our heads. You see, if you say, "Well, Pastor Prince, you take the Bible as sole authority. I believe the Bible is full of flaws". You see, I believe, you're making your mind your Bible. You're making your reason your sole authority. Everybody has a sole authority. They say they don't believe in anyone. They believe in themselves. They believe in their reason. They believe in their logic. They have deified their heads. Man, whose breath is in his nostrils, boasts above holy Scripture that cannot be broken. As for me and my house, the Word of God is final authority. Amen?
And, church, let's all stand to our feet right now. God does not want your hearts to be troubled, doesn't want you to be in fear. The Jewish rabbis, I learned this from John G. Lake, a great man of God who said that the Jewish rabbis, he said these words: "The Jewish rabbis teach that if one will quote Psalms 91 seven times, faith will be in their hearts". Jewish rabbis recommend people who are sick to recite Psalms 91 again and again and again. The Jewish rabbis tell us, if you look at the Hebrew letters, there are always like crowns on top. Little ticks, little crowns, they call it. You don't see it in our English Bible, but in the Hebrew there's crowns. Of all the psalms in the Book of Psalms, Psalms 91 has the most zayin. What is zayin? Zayin is a picture of the sword. It's a mark of a sword in all the letters in Psalm 91.
So the Jewish rabbis says it's a sword to cut the powers of darkness away from your life, and they do not know about, when they shared this, they leave, and hundreds of years ago, they did not know the world is becoming increasingly an evil place, getting dark, amen, where I want to do what I want to do, when I want to do it, however I want to do it. You don't tell me what to do, when I want to do it, wherever I want to do it, however I want to do it. So we are living in that world today where I, me, and my is the most important thing, and God says, you see, I don't care how you raise your family. As for me and my house, I'm going to raise the family in the way of the Lord. Like Joshua says, "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord". Can I have a good amen?
So we are in perilous times. We are in days where men are lovers of themselves. But I'd like for all of you right now together in one voice, one heart wherever you're watching this, let's quote Psalms 91. And I'm believing God, God will release an anointing, a covering, a pavilion covering you and your loved ones and your families, amen, for the days to come. We'll step into the days to come like Jesus prayed in John 17. He prayed to the Father in his high priestly prayer the night that he was betrayed and delivered to the hands of the Romans. He prayed this prayer: "Father, I pray not that you take them out of the world, but that you protect them from the evil in the world". Amen. So that prayer is answered for sure. Let's line ourselves with that prayer. Are you ready? All together now one heart, one voice read.
He who dwells in the secret place of the most high shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, 'He is my refuge and my fortress; my God, in him I will trust.' Surely he shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the perilous pestilence. He shall cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you shall take refuge. His truth shall be your shield and buckler. You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, nor of the arrow that flies by day, nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday. A thousand may fall at your side and ten thousand at your right hand, but it shall not come near you. Only with your eyes shall you look and see the reward of the wicked. Because you have made the Lord, who is my refuge, even the most high, your dwelling place, no evil shall befall you, nor shall any plague come near your dwelling; for he shall give his angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways. In their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone. You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra. The young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot. Because he has set his love upon me, therefore I will deliver him. I will set him on high because he has known my name. He shall call upon me, and I will answer him. With long life. My salvation. Amen. Amen. Amen.