Joseph Prince - Be Led By The Spirit Into Every Blessing

Good morning, church. Praise the Lord. God bless every single one of you that have come, and all those watching at the different venues. We believe that our God is a good God, and our God has so much goodness that he wants to pour it out. If you are, you are perfect goodness, all right, you cannot, you cannot want to pour it out. It's painful. If God suffers pain, or he suffers grief, it's in the area of not being allowed to pour out, not being allowed to give. Love is not love till you give it, right? A bell is not a bell till you ring it. So, same thing. God, if God is perfect love, the nature of love is to pour out, amen, just pour out on a few people around you. Just say, "Hello, how are you? You're seated by God's servant or God's man," all right, a king's kid. And tell them, look at another person and say, "You are just too blessed to be stressed, so don't worry. All right, put a smile on your face. You look like you are baptized in Tom Yum juice". No, don't say that, don't say that. All right, say, "Something good is going to happen to you". Bless them, amen. Praise God. Hallelujah.

If you are perfect love, then the nature is to pour it out, and that's why God created man. Never forget, God didn't create man to suffer for Jesus. Somehow Christianity is left with that idea that it's a life of suffering. And although we will be persecuted, not we may be, we will be persecuted for righteousness's sake, for Jesus's sake, it's a privilege to be persecuted for his sake. But persecution is not suffering the evils that Christ redeemed us from, amen. And if you study the Word of God, you will study the substitutionary work of our Lord Jesus in Isaiah 53. You'll find that he bore our diseases, and that's why we pray for the sick. We don't believe it's God's will for you to be sick, amen? You can suffer for Jesus in the sense that people speak bad about you, they'll write about you and because you're a believer, and you take your stand, amen, that Jesus is the only way. Praise the Lord, amen. You will suffer. Praise the Lord.

But you will suffer for love's sake. Sometimes you don't have to suffer. You can take the easy way out, but you will suffer because of love's sake. Love by nature, all right, is sacrificial, and because of that, there's suffering involved, amen, setting aside our wants. So, but you don't suffer by receiving the things that Christ redeemed us from. So, never allow that to come into your life, amen. And don't allow any preaching or teaching that you feel like the main purpose of Christianity, amen, the gospel of Jesus Christ that Christ died to give us is a life of suffering. No, no. And then they will write things against us, of course, saying that we are prosperity preachers and all that. Whatever the idea is, okay, I really don't care about it. I'm more interested in what the Bible has to say and what the Word of God has to... and these are the words of Jesus I quote, John 10, verse 10. "I come that you might have life," not suffer, "and have that life more abundantly. I come that you might have life and have it more abundantly".

You cannot say that a life, all right, where you're pain-ridden and you are bed-stricken, and you are always living from day to day in terms of your sustenance and in terms of your finances, and you don't have enough and all that. Forget all those that criticize people who preach that God wants to supply. Meditate on these words, amen, "I come that you might have life". Why did you come, Lord Jesus? "I come that you might have life and have it more abundantly," amen? So, anything short of life more abundant is not his will for you. So, hear it from Jesus's words. Don't listen to this theologian, don't even listen to me, amen, if my words don't line up with what Jesus says, amen. My job here is to share with you what the Lord says, amen. The gift that he has given me is to expound on Scriptures, all those things that Christ has done for us, and the beauties of his person, the glories of his work, amen, the wonders of his grace. That's my gift, amen. And that's what he has given me to do. Praise the Lord.

I'm not here to talk about my opinion. I'm not here to talk about what this theologian says. And I'm gonna say it again, he came that you might have life. Why do you come, Lord Jesus? "That you might have life". And a lot of my heart is beating, I'm alive. "No, son, have that life more abundantly," amen? "My daughter, I want you to have that life more abundantly, life more abundant". It sounds good even on our lips, amen. Look at somebody and say, "Life more abundant". You know, the Bible tells us that, let's put up Luke... sorry, Leviticus 14, Leviticus 14, yes, verse 1 to 4. "The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 'This shall be the law of the leper for the day of his cleansing.'" Now, stop. When you read things like this and God devotes an entire chapter, in fact, more than one chapter, on leprosy in the Book of Leviticus, you know that he's not just referring to leprosy because many people don't suffer leprosy today. There are still people suffering leprosy. And everything in the Old Testament is a type. It's a shadow of a substance.

So, what is leprosy? Leprosy is something that, in those days if they contract leprosy, right, they're cut off from their families, amen. They live isolated, amen. It's almost like a life sentence, amen, where most of the cases, they don't get cleansed. Many of them, they literally sort of degenerate and their body parts rot away. But it's more than just a physical thing the Lord is talking about. It's our sin. How many of you know that one of the lessons that Moses had to learn before God could use him before the burning bush was this, God says, "Put your hand in your bosom". He put his hand in his bosom. God says, "Take it out," and his hand was leprous. That's the first thing you need to do and to understand that whatever you touch, no matter how many good things that you do, amen, if you are a leper, everything you touch is unclean, amen. And we cannot accept that. But there is a beautiful illustration, a beautiful verse in Leviticus that says if someone is a leper from the top to the bottom of his feet, amen, when he goes to the priest, the priests will pronounce him clean. What does that mean? If he's full of leprosy, the priest will pronounce him clean.

Now, listen carefully. When leprosy takes its course, it cannot spread anymore. It's like this. If you say you are, "I'm quite good, I'm not that bad," amen, that leprosy is dangerous. But if you say, "I'm a sinner, through and through, I'm a sinner," amen, then the Lord says, "No problem. I pronounce you clean". Because only sinners need a savior. Only those who are sick needs a doctor, amen, amen. You qualify, you qualify. But you say, "I'm half good, I'm half, I'm not really that bad". Many of us, we come to Jesus not believing that we are, in our flesh dwells no good thing. I'm not referring to your new nature. I'm referring to in your flesh dwells no good thing. And after we become saved, we have to go through a journey where we tell ourself, "My goodness, I didn't know I was really that bad".

Many of you experience things after you become a believer. Okay, don't put up your hand, all right, your wife is beside you. So, but how many of you understand that? Amen. Growth in Christ is not getting stronger and stronger, amen, in every way you feel that you are stronger, all right? You can overcome this, overcome that. Actually, you feel weaker and weaker in and of yourself. But then there's a greater and greater dependence on Christ. That, my friend, is spiritual growth. So, any failure you had recently that shocked you, all right, it's just a way of telling you even though you are saved, you cannot depend on your flesh, amen. You still need Christ. Can I have a good amen? So notice it says, "This shall be the law of the leper for the day of his cleansing: He shall be brought to the priest". Notice the passive voice, "He shall be brought".

How many know that if we were not brought by the Holy Spirit to Jesus, we'll never be saved? One time Jesus told the Jewish people of his day, and there were many of them following him, he turned around, he said to them, "None of you can come after me, except the Father first draw him". You know, the Bible says from then on, and I know that verse very well, from then on, they did not follow him anymore. Many of them turned away and walked away. Why, what's wrong with that statement? All right, he told them that they could not have come to him unless the Father draw them. They didn't want to think that way that they are helpless. It takes God to bring them to Jesus. They thought they came to Jesus because they are smart, because of who they are, and they know someone who is wise or whatever. But Jesus says, "No, you would not have come to me unless the Father first draw you".

And I know that verse because it says, John 6, verse 66, 666, number of the Antichrist. They walked away. Then Jesus turned to his 12 and says, "Will you also go away"? He's so cool. He's not like running after, "Please come back". He says, "Will you also go away"? They say that. Peter said, Peter said to him, "Lord, where shall we go"? You have the words of eternal life, amen. And those people walked away from their blessing. They walked away from their salvation. They walked away from their prosperity, amen, literally because they walked away from life more abundant. You know, the Lord doesn't run after you. If you turn away from him, he doesn't run after you, amen? He respects your choice, all right? But then you turn away from your own blessings. What a sad thing to face eternity for many people. When they come to the brink of eternity, they look behind them, wasted life. They look in front of them, the dark abyss. And it's dark, by the way, very dark, a dark eternity is in front of them.

What a terrible time to discover all the mockery you make of Christ, salvation, of other Christians, and all that. And saying that, "I will live the way I want to. I want to max my life out". The more you indulge in a hedonistic pursuit, the more you indulge your desires and all that, the more empty you become. Where is that more abundant life? And to come, to look behind wasted years, wasted life and in front of you, an uncertain... and for sure we know is certain, darkness, Christless eternity. For them, what a time to die, and what a way to die. So, friend, the Lord loves you. Can I have a good amen? And the Lord came because no one spoke about hell more than our Lord Jesus did, amen. So, notice, "He shall be brought". The Holy Spirit brings us to Jesus. Can I have a good amen?

Now, because of time I'm gonna tell you what happens when he's brought to the priest. And who is our priest? Our Lord Jesus Christ, amen. So, who brings us? The unseen, unseen person here is the wonderful person of the Holy Spirit. He brings us to Christ. And then but don't you think for one moment you're so smart to come to Christ? Amen. We're all so blind that the Lord is the one the Holy Spirit brought us to Jesus. Can have a good amen? Amen. So, always remember that when your friends are in darkness, whatever, have that compassionate heart, have that love. Don't say that people like this, you know, the world and all that. All right, the world is the world because the gospel is not being preached. God designed the gospel to save sinners. Can I have a good amen? Amen. So, when the gospel is preached, good news. Gospel means good news in the Old English, God spell, amen. That means good news. But the good news is so forgotten. Anyway, in this procedure of cleansing for the leper, he shall be brought to the priest, and the priest will examine him, all right, to see whether he is cleansed.

Now, by the way, this chapter was never put into effect because there was no lepers cleansed in the Old Testament. You say, "But Pastor Prince, Naaman was cleansed". Naaman wasn't a Jew. Naaman was a Syrian, a Gentile. No Jew was cleansed in the Old Testament. Are you listening? So, in other words, the day of cleansing was never happened to them until Jesus came. And Jesus preached in the Sermon on the Mount, and he preached a most beautiful, a most splendorous, a most heavenly sermon. You know, it's like beyond anyone can ever think of. Love your enemies, I can't even stand people around me. You know what I'm saying? Love your enemies. But it's like the Lord's saying, "I know you can't, that's why I preach way beyond you. But I'm gonna come and live inside you. And I'm gonna live that life for you". What do I do then, Lord? "You rest in me," amen. Like I said, you cannot. "You cannot, son, you cannot, daughter, but I can".

So, the Lord will live inside us, and then he will live his life through us. He's the only one, the man who preached the Sermon on the Mount is the man who can live the Sermon on the Mount. Can I have a good amen? So, the thing is that right after he preached the sermon, the Bible says he went down the mountain. When I was in Israel a number of years ago, I took some time out from my group, which are all my pastors, all right? And the pastors still remember this. I took some time to walk to the other side. So, I went to the other side of the Sermon, many of you have been there, the Mount of Beatitudes. It's still so beautiful. And the place where Jesus was preaching, amen, you can tell where most likely he is. It's not such a big space. He must be around there somewhere on the hill, amen. The people are down there. But I went this way, because why this way? This way goes straight to the town of Capernaum. And right after the Sermon on the Mount, the Bible says Jesus headed to Capernaum where he proceeded to heal the centurion servant in Capernaum, and the rest of the account in Capernaum.

So, to go to Capernaum, you don't go down to where the crowd is. That is going towards Tiberias area, amen. He would have not gone down this way. He went down this way. To further confirm this, at the end of the Sermon on the Mount, the Bible says, "And he went down the mountain and great multitudes followed him". If he went down to where the multitudes were, they don't have to follow him. So, obviously, he went this way. The multitudes followed him. They were saying, "Where's he going"?

Now, it's very beautiful, and this revelation came to me. Never heard anyone preach this, but this came to me when I was there. There was a leper hiding somewhere there. I say he's hiding because when I went down there, I saw a lot of volcanic rocks that, you know, the whole area is strewn. The whole area by Lake of Galilee is strewn with volcanic rocks, okay. And there was a lot of rocks that tumbled and all that. And all of a sudden, it's like I had a vision of that leper hiding in one of those rocks. He cannot be appearing among the crowd because they would stone him to death. And I just imagined that he was eavesdropping, he was listening to the Lord saying, when he spoke from that mountaintop, and we have tested it, his voice carried through the valley, amen. It's a natural acoustic, all right, up on the hill. And he could hear God saying, "Don't worry about your life, what you shall eat, what you shall eat, nor yet for your body, what you shall put on. Isn't your life more than food? Isn't your body more important than your clothing? Look at the birds of the air. They sow not, neither do they reap, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much better than they"?

And the leper was listening, and he was crying. Perhaps even a bird would come fleeting onto a rock near him. And he looked at the bird. If God cares for the bird, Jesus is saying, how much better are you than the bird? And he was weeping, all right? And all of a sudden, he saw Jesus... by the way, we are preparing a video of quality to show you that event, all right? It's something that I have in my spirit. Every time we have something in God I want to put in my spirit, I want you to see it, amen. So, it's in the process. So, the leper sort of looked at his hands, you know, and he imagined like the last time he saw his little boy. Like his boy was running towards him, and the mother hold the boy back. You know, and the boy, "Abba, Abba". It's like we'll try to put all that down, okay? Can you imagine that, how you feel if you're a leper? And here is Jesus walking towards your direction, Jesus walking towards him. Isn't the Lord wonderful?

You know, he would traverse the entire lake of Galilee because he can hear the cry. You know, the Gadarene demoniac, when he cries across the lake, you can hear it on this side of Capernaum. And every time you hear a shriek, a cry, all the people will say, "It's that man again". And he was crying, cutting himself day and night, cutting himself with rocks and stones, bleeding. And yet he was so demonized, the Bible says, a legion was in him. And yet God will not allow demons to touch your free choice, just like God will not touch your free choice. No matter how demon possessed a person is, God will not allow the demon, all right, to touch his free choice. And that's why when Jesus came, he ran towards Jesus. Even though he was not in full control of himself, all right, he could run to Jesus. And Jesus could hear that cry. And that's why Jesus traversed the entire lake. And that's why the devil raised the storm to stop Jesus from going that side. And that guy became an evangelist. When Jesus spoke one word, go, all the demons left. The Bible says you want to be with Jesus?

By the way, the Bible says he was naked, cutting himself, suicidal. Every time you see people wanting to shed their clothes all the time, all right, demonic spirit, all right? Another thing, cutting themself is a demonic activity. Demons will make you hate yourself, cut yourself. Young people today, they want excitement, they cut themself, literally cut themselves. They don't realize that it's in the Bible. And Jesus cares. I said Jesus cares, amen. For women that shed their clothes for money, whether it's for the movies or whatever, deep down there's a cry, a little girl that wanted a father's love. Jesus cares. And Jesus went across the lake, cast demons out. And the Bible says that man was clothed, seated at Jesus's feet. That means he was finally at rest and in his right mind. These three things is what life more abundant is all about. To be clothed with righteousness, amen, to be rest, be peaceful, amen, to be in your right mind.

Turn to you neighbor say, "You need this". All right, so Jesus went all the way there, right, to where the guy was. And the man, the man came up to Jesus. And the Bible says in this story, Matthew 8, when he finished the sermon, he went down the mountain. There's no way that leper was among the multitude. I never thought of that. That's why we need to meditate on the Word. So, when I was there, you know, in the Mount of Beatitude, I walked towards his direction. I could just imagine. I walked by myself and looked at all the slabs of stone and all that, one of these probably hid the leper. He cannot be seen in public. So, Jesus walked to where he was, and he appeared before Jesus and said, "Lord, if you can, please, if you can, make me clean. If you are willing". Not if you can, if you are willing. He knew Jesus could. "If you are willing"? But he doubt whether Jesus was willing to use his power for him.

How many of you know that that's the reason why Jesus walked towards that direction? And Jesus touched him. Oh, a leper has never been touched by anybody. And how he has not been touched, the human touch that makes a person, you know, feel like a human. Jesus touched him first before he cleansed him. And Jesus says, "I will". Listen, those of you who are sick, if you're wondering whether it's God's will to heal you, he says, "I will. Be clean". And immediately the man was cleansed. Are you listening? Immediately. And then Jesus says something very profound. Jesus says to him, and you know, people don't understand fully what he's saying. He says, "Now, go. You are clean. Go offer the gift that Moses commanded". This chapter, "Offer the gift that Moses commanded".

For the first time, he told them to go to the priest, he told him to go to the priest of that day and offer the gift that Moses commanded. For the first time in Jewish history, a man was cleansed. And what a testimony when he came to the priest, and the priest says, "Who made you clean"? And the priest, for the first time, he's the first priest to go through the procedure. Where, right after this, they'll bring two birds, two pigeons or two doves, and then they will kill one, okay? And then the blood of the one that's killed, okay, they will take the live one and dip it in the blood, all right, of the one with the water. And the blood and water mixed together. They will dip the live bird into it and let the live bird go free.

So, in Israel, every time they see a bird perched on a tree or come on a rock nearby, and they see that it's stained with blood, that means it's an offering. And how we know in heaven today, Jesus has died for us? He's that first bird on the cross who died for us, for our sins. Not only that, he rose from the dead. He's in heaven with the marks of what he has done. The only thing that man made in heaven will be those wounds by his side and his hands and his feet. And we'll always see that forevermore. And every time we see that, we'll think of how much he loves us. Can I have a good amen? And if we go on reading, it tells us that if the man is too poor, and usually lepers are very poor, they don't have to bring a lamb for a sin offering, a trespass offering. And in fact, he can bring two birds, okay? One for a sin offering, one for a burnt offering. And sin offering, it tells you very clearly that when this is offered, it use the word, "the blood of the trespass offering".

So, they're supposed to bring a lamb, okay, but he's too poor to bring a lamb. So, birds are easily caught. Birds in Israel, they are plentiful, amen. Those who have been to Israel, you see. In fact, most migrating birds will pass by Israel. That's why Israel is a great spot for birdwatchers, amen? In fact, many of you have seen birds in the evening where you crossed the skies of Israel, right, when you were there? Because it's a migrating spot from Africa to go to Europe. Europe, when weather is cold and you know, they want warm weather, they just pass by Israel. And when they are tired, Israel is the place they perch. So, they're easily gotten. So, a poor person can get two pigeons or two birds, okay? And when the blood is shed, listen carefully, it's called the blood of the trespass offering. I feel like God is anointing people and right now healing people in different places. Listen carefully. The blood, whenever you talk about the blood of Jesus, amen, the Holy Spirit responds. I'm gonna tell you why, okay? One bird is killed, the blood of the trespass offering is put on the poor leper, on his right thumb.

Now, say trespass offering. Remember trespass offering means that you get much more than what you have lost. Are you listening? Trespass offering means if you have been cheated, someone sins against you or whatever, amen, you will get much more than before you lost that item or object or animal or whatever. All right, this is in the trespass offering. So, it's a picture of where sin increased, grace superabounds. In the very area of your weakness, God's grace will triumph. So, let's say your problem is pornography, amen, well, that's the very area that God's grace will triumph. If you allow it to, it will triumph in that area. Let's say your area is bad temperedness. Well, in the very area of your bad temperedness, people will look at you and say, "What a tenderhearted man, what a loving man," amen, amen. I'm telling you, church, this is what the gospel, the power of the gospel is all about. Praise the Lord. Can I have a good amen?

So, they put the blood of the trespass offering on the right thumb of the leper, okay? Say right thumb. This is for the things that you do, the things that you touch. And then the blood of the trespass offering is put on the right lobe of the ear and also on the right toe. Okay, that's the thing, right lobe of the ear, which means the things you hear will be from now on anointed and cleansed, amen. The things that you do will be touched and cleansed, so whatever you do prospers. Like Joseph, whatever he touched, the Lord made it to prosper. And then the right toe, wherever you walk, you're a blessing. Wherever you walk, amen, it's gonna be blessed for you as well, amen, amen. God will put you at the right place at the right time. The blood will take care of you so that the blood will protect you from all evil. Praise God. So, right ear, all right, right thumb, right toe for the feet.

Now, watch this. Before the chapter ends, it says that now put the oil, the priest will put the oil on the right lobe where the blood is. So, where the blood is, the oil comes on the blood. And then the right thumb, where the blood of the trespass offering was, the oil comes on the blood, amen. And then the right toe, the oil comes on the blood. What's the oil a representation of? The Holy Spirit, the anointing of God. I'm telling you, church, wherever the blood touches, the Holy Spirit answers, amen. When the blood is honored, the Holy Spirit responds, amen. The Holy Spirit is, you don't have to be conscious all the time, "The Holy Spirit's in me, the Holy Spirit's in me". You just have to be conscious that you are being cleansed by the blood of Jesus. 1 John 1:7 says that if we walk in the light as he is in the light, it's not a matter of how you walk, it's a matter of where you walk. Once you are saved, you are in the light. You are walking in the light. And the Bible says when you're in the light, doesn't mean you are perfectly free from sin, but the blood of Jesus Christ, present tense, continuously cleanses you from every sin, every itemized sin, you are cleansed from it. And you must live in that consciousness.

The Bible says you are righteous by the blood of Jesus. So, what are you more conscious of today, your sins, your failures thus far, or the blood that ever cleanses you? Right now you're in a wash cycle. The blood keeps you clean. The monkey's off your back to try to be forgiven, to try to be kept clean. It's not your responsibility anymore. Your part is to believe that the blood cleanses you all the time, and the Spirit answers to the blood. When you are conscious of that, man, you are anointed because the Spirit comes on you. Whenever you're conscious of the blood, the Spirit comes on you. Where the blood is, the Spirit comes.

Now, this leper has become a gainer. He has something now that even an average Jew in ancient Israel at that time don't have, because only kings are anointed with the oil. Only priests are anointed, only three groups, all right, prophet, priests, and king are anointed. But now this lowly, this poor leper who has been cleansed, gets the oil. He joins the category of the kings, the prophets, and the priests. What an honor. And that tells us that whatever you have lost by sin, God's grace will superabound. You know, I get criticized for preaching this, amen, but it's the Bible. It's the Bible, people. Instead of be despairing that you have sin, okay, you have sin. This is not to encourage you to sin, all right? In fact, Paul preached like is so strong that people say, "Paul is saying let us sin more that grace may abound". But if you look at the verses before Paul brought up the question, you will find it says, "Where sin increased", pleonazo in Greek, increased means you can count it, all right? Grace, huperperisseuo is not pleonazo, all right?

It does not say in your King James you use both words the same. But actually, it is where sin abounds, grace much more abounds. But in the Greek, where sin increased, grace super bounds, which means you cannot measure it. The word huper, huperperisseuo, beyond its banks and much more on top of that. So, instead of despairing that you have sin, realize this, now because of this sin, because the devil tempted you or whatever it is, and because of this sin, amen, now there's more abundant grace, superabounding grace, in this very area. So, it wasn't God's will that David had Bathsheba for his wife. But of all the wives that David had, it was through Bathsheba, of all the sons that he had, it was the son through Bathsheba that God raised as king to succeed David. Now, that's not to say, all right, commit adultery. We're not saying let us sin more that grace may abound. But where that is sin already, you're already in despair because of the blood, amen. In the very area you respond to God, there'll be much more grace.

Now, your problem is that you fell into this sin that you're saying the devil will come to you and say, "Now, what can you expect? You can expect bad health. You can expect, you know, the rooster will come home to roost in the year of the rooster, all right? And you know what's gonna happen? Your kids will be in trouble because of your sin just now and because of this and that". There's a fearful expectation of evil as mentioned in Hebrews 10. There is this fearful expectation of judgment. And that's what the devil wants to bring. But this preaching of grace, where sin increased, grace superabounds, will set you free from that. It will tell you because of this sin, all right, my children will be doubly blessed, amen. My future is doubly bright, amen. Now, it will irritate the religiosity of people, and they'll say, "You're giving people license to sin". No, we're not giving people license to sin. We are giving them the reason and the power not to sin. Can I have a good amen?

I have to stop here for a while because God is touching and healing people right now, amen? I want you to respond. Now listen carefully. Last week, we had a lesson from the Holy Spirit, amen. I mentioned about pain on the right hip. There were various people standing up and all that. And there was one person stood up, and she didn't get healed. The manifestation is for immediate, you understand? Now, healing is for everybody, but that lady didn't get healed. I was thinking, I was asking the Lord why. And the Lord said to me, "It's not the right part of the body". The Lord wanted to heal people with a right-thigh condition, and she had a left-thigh condition, all right? It's important to listen to the Holy Spirit, all right?

Now, God's will is for everybody. You can take Communion. You can believe God by faith every day you can believe God as you take Communion, you are healed, amen? And your manifest might come thirty-fold, sixty-fold, and finally, hundredfold. But when the gifts are moving, it's important that we obey implicitly. If God says right ear, it's right ear, amen. If God says right hand, it's right hand. And no wonder there was nothing. And I was asking the Lord why, and I told you all that last week, right? So, right now God is healing, and respond. If you respond, it's immediate. Now, when you come to me and pray by faith, I pray for you by faith, and the pastors pray for you and all that, it may or may not be instantaneous. But one thing for sure, they shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover. Though it's future, shall is a very powerful word in the English.

And someone is being healed of a right shoulder, the shoulder blade, okay? If that is you, just stand to your feet even in the venues. All right, God knows people in the venues, just stand to your feet. Those with a neck condition, you can't turn your neck completely, will you stand to your feet? And also, I see a lung, a pair of lungs, and I see like you have had an X-ray done, and there were dark spots seen on your lung. Will you please stand? Thank you, Lord Jesus. All right, wherever you are, even in the venue, will you just stand? The Holy Spirit's there, okay? It doesn't depend on Pastor Prince's eyes. It's the Holy Spirit's eyes. Praise the Lord. Just stand to your feet.

And those with pain in your body, will you stand? All right, pain in your body, just if there's pain. Okay, right now. I'm not talking about "I had it last week". Okay, never mind. All right, today, pain right now. Someone with a tooth condition, back, right upper tooth, okay, and you have that bothering you. Now, I do not know if you are having that pain right now, but it's this period of your life you're having that pain, will you please stand as well? Okay, the Lord wants to heal you. Thank you, Lord Jesus. All right, who is that one with the tooth condition? You've been having that, yeah, I felt it was someone over here. There's someone else with that condition.

Now, way back, are you the one with the back right, at the back below, the tooth is below? God is healing. That's you, sister? Yeah, I felt like it was some... now, right now lift your hands. Do you have the pain now? Do you have the pain now? Okay, put your hand there. Father, in the name of Jesus, I thank you for your perfect healing, Lord. Receive it, sister. In the name of Jesus, Father, heal that tooth, Lord. Lord Jesus, save that tooth in the name of Jesus. Do it right now. In the name of Jesus. Thank You, Lord Jesus.

Sir, will you lift your hands? Thank you, Lord Jesus. You're the one with the upper right now? Do you have the pain now? All right, but during this time, it's come on and off, right? Okay, lift up your hands. So, you can tell if God heals you, but right now he's healing you. Right now in Jesus's name, be healed. I command that tooth to be completely healed, Lord, save, redeem that tooth, Lord. In Jesus's name, thank you, Lord. Amen, amen. Now, you can't tell until after a few days, right, because you have that condition. But you have been healed. Amen, sister? How is it? All right, the camera pan on this lady with the stripes. See my finger? Okay, that lady. How's the pain? It's gone? Praise the Lord. Thank You, Jesus.

Now, let's pray a prayer, all right, for everyone here. Now, in fact, the moment you respond, God starts to heal, amen. Thank you, Lord Jesus. I command that those pair of lungs to be healed in the name of Jesus.

Someone is being healed in their lungs as well in a venue. Right now God is touching your lungs, amen. I see that black dot there removed completely. In your next X-ray you will see what the Lord has done, amen. Please write to the office and let us know please, in Jesus's name. And the rest of you with pain and your condition, whether I called you or not, but you have pain in your body right now, in the name of Jesus, start doing what you cannot do before. Start doing what you cannot do. He can't move your back, move your back. You can't move that shoulder, move that shoulder right now in Jesus's name. In the different venues, start doing what you cannot do right now. You can't move your arms like this, move your arm, amen. Move your neck, in Jesus's name. Move it right now in Jesus's mighty name, amen. Thank you, Lord, for healing, Lord. Thank you, Lord.

Now, if you know, those who are standing, you know the pain has left your body, some of you are like this gentleman. You're having it during this period of time, but right now you might not have it, amen. So, we can't tell. But those of you who have pain as you stand up just now, now the pain is gone. Do a big wave of... yeah, look at all, look at all these people. Wave, wave real big, real big. Camera, pan, pan around. Look at all these precious people. Amen, amen, amen, amen, amen. Give Jesus the praise and the glory, amen. Thank you, Lord Jesus. Praise the Lord. You may be seated, and those in the venue as well, amen. Praise the Lord.

And don't forget, there's a storehouse in heaven with many, many, many, beautiful, young body parts that's not being claimed. You're probably still using your old body part thinking that, you know, "I'm using medicine, hopefully it will not degenerate further". God has better than don't generate further, amen. Where sickness is, healing superabounds. That's the logic, amen. That's the thing, the spiritual intelligence that God is imparting right now that instead of having an expectation of judgment, we have an expectation of hope, amen, a hope for the future. Can I have a good amen, church?

Now, the Holy Spirit is in us. I want to repeat this, okay? Many of you, you are all ministers. When you go out there and you're out there in the world, remember you're a priest, you're a royal priest, amen. Pray for the sick. Don't be afraid, pray for the sick, amen, especially when God leads you, all right, when God leads you to pray for them. You might have a colleague and all that and God impresses on you. Now, I'm gonna talk about the impression of the Holy Spirit.

Don't forget, the Holy Spirit answers to the blood. And if you think it's not important, let me just tell you this, all right, the baptism of the Holy Spirit is so important that Jesus made it a point to emphasize that before he went back to the Father. After he rose from the dead, he spent 40 days with his disciples and not only that, 500 disciples saw him, amen. And before he ascended, these are his words. In Luke 24, this is what he said, "Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high". Say the promise. See, the promise is definite article. The promise of my Father. So, in the entire Old Testament, we have many promises of God. But there is the promise. Can I have a good amen?

Say the promise. So, what is the promise? It's one definite promise that is alluded to. There is an emphasis that all the prophets talk about in the Old Testament, amen. Or at least they allude to it, but what is the promise, amen? It's the promise that you'll be endued with power from on high. What is this enduement with power from on high? All right, let's look at Acts. "Being assembled together with them," now Jesus is about to ascend to heaven. "Jesus commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father". Say the promise. What is the promise of the Father, definite article, one and only promise, the promise of the Father? It's the promise of the Father that brings all the other promises into fulfillment in your life, amen.

Wait for the promise of the Father which Jesus said, "You have heard from Me," amen. "For John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now," amen? So, right when he said that, right after this, he ascended to heaven. And by the way, he went up to heaven bodily, all right? And when the disciples were looking at him going up bodily, an angel of the Lord appeared and says, "Why are you looking up at him like this? The same Jesus will come back in like manner". So, those preterists who teach that, that Christ came in AD 70, all right, and through the Roman army to destroy Jerusalem and all, it's a judgment from God, let me tell you this. He didn't come spiritually. He'll come back physically. Can I have a good amen?

All right, the angel says he'll come back in like manner, the same way you see him go, amen. So, Jesus went up bodily, he'll return bodily. Where did he go up? All right, the area of Bethany in Mount of Olives, okay, that's where he went up. That's where his feet will touch down in the Second Coming of Christ, amen. In the Rapture, which we are looking forward to, it can happen any time. It can happen this week. It can happen today, amen. We'll have a brand-new body, but his feet doesn't touch down. The Rapture is not Second Coming of Christ. In fact, it's still Second Coming of Christ, but it's Second Coming in two phases where he comes for the church first. And that will launch seven years of Tribulation, and there'll be literally hell on earth, amen. And then he rescues his bride before that happens. And then at the end, he'll come back. But in the Rapture, his feet will not touch down. He will call us in the air, we'll meet him there, amen. We'll have brand-new bodies, bodies that will never decay, never grow old, never die, amen? And then we'll be with him forever.

And don't forget, the judgment seat of Christ is not a place of receiving judgment for your person, but whether you'll get rewarded for the things that you do or not. Don't forget, when you stand in the judgment seat of Christ, you are standing in your brand-new body. The moment the call is made, you are completely transformed. Your body becomes incorruptible. Turn to your neighbor, smile and say, "Boy, there's hope for you," amen. Hallelujah. We all look like Mr. Universe and Miss Universe, amen. Praise God. We all like Pastor Lawrence. Okay, anyway. We'll be with the Lord forever, but Second Coming. So, they saw him go up but before he went up, what did he say? The promise. So, ten more days after 40 days is the day of Pentecost. When the day of Pentecost was fully come, God sent the Holy Spirit, amen. And he says like this very... give them Acts 2, the first part. "When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, there came a sound from heaven like a rushing mighty wind".

Why does it say when the Pentecost was fully come? Because the first Pentecost in the Old Testament was the giving of the law. God gave the law, okay? That was the first Pentecost and the result was 3,000 people died at the foot of the mountain. But when the day of Pentecost, in the New Testament, a New Covenant had come because Jesus has died, he has paid for our sins, the blood has been shed, now the Spirit answers to the blood. Are you listening, people? When the day of Pentecost had fully come, all right, the Holy Spirit came. So obviously, the day of Pentecost for the Jew even today is only on this side here. It's very sad because the law demands, but never imparts. The law is holy, but it cannot impart holiness. The law is righteous, but it cannot give you the gift of righteousness. But what the law demands, the Spirit supplies, the Spirit imparts, the Spirit gives. Can I have a good amen?

All right, the law demands righteousness, the Spirit of God imparts righteousness to you, amen. It gives you the gift of righteousness. So, whatever we need today, the Holy Spirit imparts to us. He's not there to demand. Whenever you think of the Holy Spirit as demanding, you have put the Holy Spirit in a place where he does not belong. He is there to impart. He is there to help. Can I have a good amen? All right, so on the day of Pentecost, first Pentecost, the law was given, 3,000 died. The New Covenant Pentecost, this day when the day of Pentecost had fully come, the Spirit was given and 3,000 people were saved in that day. And Peter, in that sermon, before 3,000 got saved, he preached that sermon that got 3,000 people saved. Peter actually said when he stood up, all right, give them Acts 2, drop down. "This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses. Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God". He's telling them what happened to Jesus after he rose from the dead. He was just, he just saw Jesus go up to heaven ten days ago, and now he tells them that "being exalted to the right hand of God," hallelujah. "The one who was crowned with thorns is now crowned with glory and honor", hallelujah.

Every crown, crown him with many crowns. Hallelujah, amen. He's worthy of it. "And having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear". So, it's like Jesus in heaven saying, "Hey, now you have the gift, I paid for it. Now you have it". And it's a dream of all the Jewish people in the Old Testament to have this promise, but they cannot have it and the Old Covenant because Christ has not yet died, amen. But it's like, Peter is saying here, he has received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit. Now, he's pouring it out, which you now see and hear. They were praying in tongues, the Bible says. And when the Holy Spirit filled them, they will all speaking in tongues. And it's something that people can see and hear, amen. This idea that you are saved and then you are baptized in the Holy Spirit immediately, it's not scriptural.

Now, you have the Holy Spirit once you are saved. Don't doubt that. You have the Holy Spirit. But it's one thing to have the Holy Spirit. It's another thing for the Holy Spirit to have you. I can drink water. Water is now inside me. But if I jump into it, I dive into the swimming pool, I'm now in the water. Baptism of the Holy Spirit is you diving into the pool, amen? Once you are saved, you have the water inside you. But, you know, baptism of the Holy means immersed in the Holy Spirit. Hallelujah. Have you had that? Paul told the believers in Ephesus in the Book of Acts, Paul passed by the city of Ephesus, and he saw believers there. And he asked them, "Have you received the Holy Spirit since you believed"? So, obviously he was referring to the baptism of the Holy Spirit. How many know in heaven, one of the first things Jesus was so glad to receive from the Father was the promise of the Holy Spirit? And he shared it forth, which you now see and hear, Peter told them, amen.

Remember when Jesus was walking on earth on one particular day, the great day of the feast, Hoshana Rabbah in John 7. And Jesus, on the last day of the great day of the feast, which is Hoshana Rabbah the Jewish people call it, the great day of the Feast of Tabernacles, the final day, Jesus stood and cried out saying, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink". How hard is it? You know, the commands of grace are actually enablings? If you are thirsty, you come and drink. Is that a command? All right, the imperative, is that really a hard thing? If you are hungry, eat. You understand? The New Covenant commandments are commandments that actually is part of your nature, amen. "If any man thirsts, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water".

Next verse, "But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive," that's you and I, "for the Holy Spirit," listen, "The Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified". Are you listening? The Holy Spirit was not yet given because Jesus was not yet glorified, amen. So, in other words, when Jesus was glorified, what does that mean? The Holy Spirit's given. But then that begs the question, "But Pastor Prince, there were people who were anointed by the Holy Spirit to perform certain things like Samson". Let's look at this Samson, okay, Judges 14. "And the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him, and he tore the lion apart". Wow. So, isn't this the baptism? No, it's not. The Holy Spirit comes for a certain task and having performed that task or that person under the anointing performs the task, he leaves.

And that's why David, after he committed sin with Bathsheba, he prayed this prayer. "God, take not your Holy Spirit from me". Of all the blessings he had, and he had so many blessings. He's a man after God's heart, God's face, and God blessed him like no other man, amen, since Abraham. And yet of all the blessing he says, "God, don't take your Holy Spirit from me". But we can't pray that prayer today. To pray that prayer, all right, betrays spiritual ignorance. The Holy Spirit has come to live with us forever. And then he could say, "Take not your Holy Spirit from me" because the Holy Spirit comes, and then he goes. Especially when they have done the task or whatever, he leaves, all right? Or when they sin, he leaves. And that's why for the believer, it says, "Grieve not the Holy Spirit". Why? Because he never leaves. If I leave, okay, I don't have to stay around you to suffer, amen. But the Holy Spirit can be grieved, why? Because he loves you, amen.

When you see your son, your daughter, not doing what you tell them to do because you know it's gonna accomplish great things for them but instead, they disobey you and they do their own thing knowing that there's a heartache waiting for them and what a heartache it's gonna be, it will grieve you. It grieves you because of love. It grieves you because of love. Only love can be grieved. If I don't care about someone, it cannot grieve me. If something bad happens to them, you know, okay, I don't know who they are. Don't give me that kind of self-righteous face, you know? I mean, many of you are the same. You read articles and all that. Sometimes you have compassion, especially if it's a child and all that. But other people and all that, you don't care. Something happening in Timbuktu far away, you don't... am I right? But if you love the person, you can be grieved. And how grieved you are is how much you love the person. Am I right?

So, the promise is something we all crave for. We should have the same desire. We should be so glad that we have the Holy Spirit, that we are baptized in the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in this heavenly language, amen. Amen. And the more you praying in the Spirit, the more you sensitize your Spirit, the more you can be led by the Spirit. Can I have a good amen, people? But the thing is this, be careful that you don't become so conscious of, you know, whether you're falling short or whether you're this, be conscious the blood is ever cleansing you. We have boldness to enter the holiest by the blood of Jesus. When you go to God the Father, realize even when you have a bad thought, all right, and sometimes thoughts, you know, floating thoughts come to our mind, which is not good and all that, realize then and there the blood cleanses you. Right now you have a bad thought towards Pastor Prince, the blood cleanses you. Praise God.

Now you can go on, amen. You don't have to condemn yourself, don't have to, you know? One of the best ways to battle this thought problem is to realize the blood ever cleanses you. If you need to say it, say the blood cleanses. You have an unclean imagination, all right? I wish someone taught me this years ago. How I battled with all kinds of bad thoughts. Sometimes I'm worshiping God and a very bad thought, blasphemous thought will come to my mind. And the devil will say, "How can you think such thoughts in the presence of such wonderful holy anointing and the presence of God"? And I wish someone would have told me at that time, that the blood cleanses me all the time. And that's why, that's how, this message came up. People who think that those who preach grace, or at least me, I can speak for myself, that we don't care about sin. It's only those who really care about sin that they are so sin conscious, amen, they even realize when they are exaggerating when they talk to someone, these are the ones with a tender conscience, okay, a conscience that condemns them that can understand grace, can appreciate grace.

So, don't think for one moment I don't care. In fact, the struggle is always this. All believers, we know when we sin, amen. And straightaway, you know, we have this fearful expectation of judgment. We expect the frown of God, amen. But if we realize then and there, the blood keeps you clean. The blood keeps you. Having therefore boldness to enter the holiest by the blood of Jesus. How can we enter the holiest? By the blood of Jesus. The blood is there to keep me clean. The blood, when he shed his blood on the cross, lightning, thunder, darkness, once the blood is shed, all heaven rejoiced. And God had a smile on his face, I believe that. You know, when the blood was shed, that's why it pleased the Lord to crush him because God loves you, amen. Once the blood is shed, God the Father knows the spiritual will answer to the blood, amen. That means you have a title now to forgiveness of sins because the blood has been shed. God's Son died in your place, and the devil cannot convince you anymore that you deserve to be punished, you deserve the bad life, you deserve, you know, you deserve all the bad things that happen in life.

Neither should you say when good things happen, all right, "Darling, I don't know why we have such a, you know, a blessing in this holiday and all that because we don't, we don't deserve it," all right? You cannot say that because obviously you don't deserve it, but you are blessed anyway. Grace is what? Getting blessings you don't deserve because it's paid for by Jesus's blood. But your name is on it. He gave it to you. So, receive the life more abundant. Can I have a good amen? Amen. Realize that but keep humble, the spirit of humility realizing you never come to a place where because of who you are, because of whose son you are, because of which family you come from, because of your accomplishments, because the titles to your name, because of what you have done, or because of people recognizing your whatever because you are popular and all that, therefore you have a title. Be careful of that because this will cause you to fall from grace. The moment you're confident in this, bang, you can expect bad things to happen because grace is no more operating. Grace doesn't ceases when there's sin. That's why people are shocked to hear. If grace stops flowing when there's sin, it will never save any sinner.

Some say, "The revivals stop because of sin". No, the revivals stop because man introduced their laws and their rules and that kind of thing. It stopped the flow of God. If sin can stop God's grace, revival will never start because revival starts where there's a lot of sin. That's why you need revival, right? You need revival among people who are dying, right? You need to be revived. Can I have a good amen? So, the promise, how come we don't crave for it more? And then we talk about Christ did something else on the cross. He did many things for us we are still discovering. Really, church, it's not just dying for our sins. There's so much more. He redeemed us from the curse. Look at this Galatians 3:13, "Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law". If you read the curse of the law elucidated in Deuteronomy 28, you will find the curses in a list of like poverty, sickness, sickness of long continuance in the King James, all right, old version. It says long continuance, and also diseases you have never heard of.

So, all that is covered in the curse of the law. And guess what? Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law. And one of the curse is also this in Deuteronomy 28, it says that you will beget sons and daughters, but they won't be yours. They will belong to another. They will go into captivity. Isn't it true, there are people who have sons and daughters, but they have the least influence on them? Their sons and daughters are influenced by other people, by celebrities or by other groups of friends that they have. No, we'll take our place back in Jesus's name. Can I have a good amen? And then says that you sow much but you gather in little. In those days because of husbandry, the nature of their work, it talks about fields and harvests. But for us, isn't it true that many of you put in a lot of time, you put in a lot of energy, you put in a lot of effort and all that, only to find a little handful. That should not be, all right? It's a symptom of the curse. There's a reason for it, but realize it's a curse. Don't call it a blessing. Can I have a good amen, people?

But listen, Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law. You know what it means or not? He paid for you to get out of the curse. And what is the payment? Having become a curse for us. One day I was meditating on this and really, it struck me, you know, when I was meditating on it that my, my, my, my, Christ became a curse for me. It's hard for me to even meditate because meditation is to mutter. It's hard for me to even meditate on it. Christ became a curse for me. Wow. But that's true. The payment to buy you out of the curse market is his blood. He became a curse on the cross. "It is written, 'Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree', that the blessing"...

By the way, this is the reason why if he died by stoning, because the Jewish way of execution is by stoning. They claim that he blasphemed, right? They would have stoned him, and they tried, but they couldn't. He had to die on a cross because only those who die on a cross, cross, it must be on a cross, is cursed. So, he had to fulfill the curse. To die for our sins, okay, is to wash us clean by his blood. But to redeem us from the curse, he had to die on the cross. And that is really amazing how God fulfilled Scripture. So, many people, you ask them the question, yes, only his death, the shedding of his blood is necessary, right, to justify us? They'll say yes. So, it doesn't matter whether he died by stoning, he died by stabbing. But why must he die on the cross? Because to redeem us from the curse. Do you understand, people, right? And it's still not being preached. So, when you tell people that Christ redeemed us from the curse of poverty, what does that mean? You start to prosper, right?

"Oh, prosperity preacher". Wait, wait, wait, wait, if he redeemed you from poverty, what do you have? Poverty still. Then he shouldn't have become a curse. If you don't believe poverty is a curse, "Let me take you by the hand and lead you through the streets of London"... No street of London, you just go to some poor places around your neighborhood. Thailand, for example, little children are selling their bodies. You see five year old carrying a two year old because the parents have abandoned them. Five year old, that's my son's age this year, carrying, be responsible for a two year old. What is this? Why? Curse of poverty, all right? We saw that Christ redeemed us, and then we saw that the price he paid was himself becoming a curse. What was the purpose? That the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus. I am so glad the word "Gentiles" is there or else people will say, "it's only for the Jews". Gentiles are Singaporeans, amen. That's national term. Gentiles are Chinese, Indians, Chindian, you know, Caucasians, whatever it is. As long as you're a non Jew, you're a Gentile.

I'm so glad the Holy Spirit saw that a lot of people will not want to receive it or have the faith to want to embrace it. They might think it's for the Jew. But the blessing of Abraham might... what is the blessing of Abraham? Righteousness. Once God pronounce you righteous man, all kinds of blessings come upon your head. How do I know? Proverbs says blessings are upon the head of the righteous. Look at your friends head beside you and say, "Wow, what a head, full of blessings," amen. And then like for example it says that, "no evil shall happen to the just," all right? That's you righteous. The word "just" is another way of saying righteous, amen. Now, that doesn't say that there are no bad times, there are no trials you go through. But those trials cannot be evil. They work for your good because no evil shall happen to the just. So, all kinds of blessings, amen. Your prayers, the prayers of a righteous man avail much. How often you read that and you say, "It's not me," amen. No, it's you.

When you pray, be careful what you pray because you're a righteous man. You're a righteous woman. Be careful what you pray. Pray for me 'cause your prayers, whoa, in Chinese, avails much. Okay, Bible language, avails much. The prayers of a righteous man avail much. Your prayers avail much. When someone goes to a colleague, whatever, and say, "Can you pray for me"? or whatever, and the guy doesn't have a connection with God, I mean, there's no connection, it doesn't avail. It comes to you. Just tell them, "Be careful. Is this what you really want," amen? Amen. Praise God. So, righteousness is the blessing of Abraham. So, "He redeemed us from the curse that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus," now, watch this, "that we might receive". The first blessing of the righteousness is, what? Of all the promises, God saw this as the greatest, that the promise of the Spirit, that we might receive the promise of the Holy Spirit through faith. So, why is it that we esteem that Holy Spirit, "Yeah, he's one of the blessings and all that". No, it is the blessing that brings every blessing. Can I have a good amen?

So, I wanna close with this. We touched on this a little bit, but let me just tell you this, the life of the Holy Spirit is a wonderful life. Many a-times, you know, if you pray in the Spirit, you pray in tongues, amen. You will sensitize your spirit to the Holy Spirit, and you will live by perceiving instead of reasoning. Why people are defeated is because they reason a lot instead of perceiving. God told Adam before Eve came, God told Adam, "Of all the trees in the garden, you may freely eat". Akal tokel in Hebrew. The word "akal akal" appears twice, eat eat. That means freely eat. Like even in, you know, in Singlish, right, we say, eat, eat, eat. We are very close to the Hebrew. So, literally in the Hebrew, freely eat. God says, freely eat. So, look at the generosity of God. People say, "Well, God forbid them the tree".

How come you focus on that one? You know how many trees there are that God says you can freely eat? "but to show you honor me and my Lordship, to show that you acknowledge me as God, that's what the tithe is all about". All right, you don't have to tithe, you get to. All right, it's for people with revelation. So, acknowledge, don't eat from this tree, but it's a tree that God gave, God planted, but for man to always not eat from it to show God's ownership. Man is a steward, amen. Are you listening? But if we go deeper, what's the nature of the tree? What's the name of the tree called? Knowledge of good and evil. So, what is wrong with the knowledge of good? It's as deadly as the knowledge of evil. "The day that you eat of it," God told Adam. Dying in the Hebrew, dying, you die slowly, you die spiritually, and you die slowly. Dying you shall die physically one day. Dying you shall die, in the Hebrew. In our English, "Thou shall surely die".

So, today man is still eating from the tree of knowledge of good, they ask themself, is this good or evil? That's not the question. Is this what the Spirit's saying to do? Are you listening? Sometimes you'll be surprised to give to someone is wrong. Like, the prodigal son was in the pigpen, and God was dealing with him of the way he treated his father, of the way he was so rude, of the way he disowned his father, the way he squandered his inheritance, and all that. And he was looking at the pigs' food and even the pigs' food looks good. The pods that the pigs were eating looks good, and he was thinking, "Wait a minute, my father's house, even the servants in my father's house eat better than this. I will arise and go to my father," and here you come along, "Ah, you poor thing," you give him money. You are destroying what God is doing. So, sometimes doing a nice thing, a good thing, might not be the Spirit thing. Are you listening?

Mark 2, real quick. All right, "When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, 'Son, your sins are forgiven you.'" Drop down. "And some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts". Where were they reasoning? Reasoning, the Greek is dialogismos. Dialogue, your English word from logic, logic, dialogic, dialogismos, all right? It's the Greek word here. They're reasoning, reasoning, reasoning. Like, just now when God was moving, there might be a few people reasoning. How can this, how can that? That's your problem. And when you live by reasoning, you cannot live the abundant life. We live by the Spirit. The Spirit is faster than the mind. You know things before your mind can logic it out. In fact, it takes mind sometimes even days before we come to the conclusion, but the Spirit can get it real fast. I'm coming to something very exciting here and it's almost time, all right?

So, I think we gotta have a conference, amen? A whole big conference. Why does this man, the Pharisee, the scribe says, "Why does this Man speak blasphemies like this? Who can forgive sins but God alone"? All right, logismos, logic out, okay? And they are right. Only God can forgive sins, and the man is God. "But immediately, when Jesus perceived in His spirit that they reasoned thus within themselves, He said to them, 'Why do you reason about these things in your heart?'" Jesus perceived in his Spirit that they reasoned. Jesus said to them, "Why do you reason about these things in your heart"? Jesus perceived in his Spirit. You know, many of you, sometimes you know things before your mind can play catch up. You're about to sign a deal. You're about to go somewhere. You just feel some, or someone talks to you and he's very nice. He compliments you. He flatters you more than compliment. But inside, you know, ladies, you have met those guys before, amen. Something is scratchy inside here. You don't feel good but whatever he's saying is all good. Whatever he's saying is all nice.

Have you been there before where your spirit, have you been in places, okay, let's use this illustration. Have you been in situation whereby you say, "Actually, I knew it. I knew it. I don't know why I didn't do it, I knew it". When you look back you say, "Actually, something told me not to go there. In fact, something told me not to enter into a contract with this person, or into a partnership with this person. Something... no, thank God I obeyed". Or you said, "Why I didn't obey"? Now you are crying. "I knew it". Have you been there before? Okay, lah, no one is responding, never mind. Work so hard, pray, you know, for you all and all that. Have y'all been there before? And you'll say, "I knew it". That's the Spirit. Never mind, don't condemn yourself. Go ahead. The blood has cleansed it. Move on, amen. Learn from now on. Praise God.

So, Jesus lived by perceiving. A woman touched, didn't touch his... you touch a body, I can feel it, right? But she didn't touch his body. The woman with the issue of blood touched his clothes, or rather the tassel. You know, but let's talk about the clothes or tassel, right, all right? You cannot feel it in your body, but Jesus stopped, turned around, "Somebody touched me". Then Peter said, "Everybody is touching you". Then he says that, "No, I perceive that virtue, power, has gone out of me". Spiritual perception, very quick. Paul was brought onto the boat as a prisoner. He left where I preached at Caesarea where I preached at stadium. He preached down there and he preached to Festus the proconsul of Judea at that time. And he preached to King Agrippa and his wife, Bernice. And I can tell you where they were seated. There's still that special seat where the king used to sit down, all right, in Caesarea.

How many of you were there in Caesarea, amen? Remember when I was preaching from Caesarea? That's where Paul made his last defense. Anyway, Paul says, "I appeal to Caesar". Then Festus say, "Then to Caesar you will go". All right, he didn't want to be delivered back to Jerusalem because he knew those Jews were gonna kill him, all right, before he got a chance to preach the gospel. They already rejected the gospel. So, Paul says, "It's time for the Gentiles. I appeal to Caesar". So, he went as a prisoner. They bound him to go on board a ship. And Julius was the centurion. By the way, all centuries in the Bible, in the New Testament, are all portrayed in a favorable light, every centurion, very interesting. Anyway, this guy, Paul had failed with him. He even allowed Paul to go for a land trip when the boat sailed to Sidon. Paul had friends there, and he let Paul, as a prisoner, go meet his friends because he knew the Paul will keep his word and come back. All right, what a prisoner.

So, Paul came back with the other prisoners, okay, came back, and he was on the boat bound and all that. Probably not bound, you know, if he was on a boat, it was a prison boat, and they were on their way to Rome. And the Bible says this, watch this. In Acts, Paul said to them, "'Men, I perceive that this voyage will end with disaster and much loss, not only of the cargo and ship, but also our lives.' Nevertheless the centurion was more persuaded by the helmsman and the owner of the ship than by the things spoken by Paul". So, how many times you have the witness but then experts, helms. "I'm a helmsman. Paul, how many times have you held the oar"? How many times has he spent time with Johnny Depp? Is he able to handle the pirate ship or this prison ship? What is Paul? He's a preacher, come on. What does he know? So, the centurion believed the helmsman and the owner of the ship. Owner of the ship, he owns the ship, he knows.

But Paul says, "Hey guys, make a stop for a while. I perceive this voyage will end with disaster and much loss". He didn't say our lives, but at the end of the story, because they listened to Paul, later on, their lives were spared, but originally he says, "Also our lives," he said, right? He perceived. Even before they reached Rome, he perceived. And then, drop down. "Because the harbor was not suitable to winter in, the majority advised," majority, "advised to set sail from there also, if by any means they could reach Phoenix, a harbor of Crete opening toward the southwest and northwest, and winter there. When the south wind blew softly". Ahh. Everything seemed to be that right direction. Invest, everyone is saying, invest, invest, but the Spirit says, don't. Everyone says, go, go, go. The Spirit says, don't. What's the Spirit saying to you? Stop being proud. Stop depending on your mind. Your mind will lead you to heartaches and loss and disaster. What is the Spirit saying?

Now, don't condemn yourself, what is past is past. Understand I'm just telling you, it's time to learn to be led by the Spirit. You are here for what? Amen. You're here to learn, amen. Praise God. So, stop looking at the past. Some of y'all are looking, "Ah yeah". Okay, never mind. Forget the past. It's gone, amen. Don't worry. God is your real God as well, okay? But you cannot depend on circumstances. So, they looked at the south wind blowing softly. Hey, conducive for sailing, all right? "Supposing that they had obtained their desire, they put out to sea, they sailed close by Crete". Y'all know what happened, right? Next verse. "But not long after, a tempestuous head wind arose, called Euroclydon. So when the ship was caught, and could not head into the wind, we let her drive". Finally the wind brought them wherever slapped them here and there, they had to go, all because they didn't listen to Paul. Was it necessary? No. And finally, after many days, watch this. Drop down. "After long abstinence from food, then Paul stood in the midst of them and said, 'Men, you should have listened to me.'" I love it. All right, "Hey, guys, you should have listened to me".

A prisoner telling the owner of the ship, telling the helmsman, the experts, telling the centurion, telling the Roman soldiers, "Guys, you should have listened to me". That's the place that God wants to bring believers to, that people will look at you and say, "He was right. She was right". "You should have listened to me, and not have sailed from Crete and incurred this disaster and loss". They lost a lot of things. I'm jumping down, okay? I'm just going ahead. "And now I urge you to take heart," and yet he didn't condemn them. Look at that. "For there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship. For there stood by me this night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I served, saying, 'Do not be afraid, Paul; you must be brought before Caesar; and indeed God has granted you all those who sail with you.' Therefore take heart, men, I believe God that it will be just as it was told me. However, we must run aground on a certain island".

And that happened on the island of Malta where their ship got stuck in between two seas. It broke the back, but they all jumped into the water. Those who can swim swam to the island of Malta. And the rest of them came on planks, those who cannot swim, amen, went on planks and all that. All arrived safely. Are you listening? Because they listened to Paul. In fact, in between also Paul told them, they were trying to escape, the people that were in charge of the boat. They realized they never saw a storm like that. They tried to escape by the boat. And Paul told the centurion, "Tell this man to stay on board, or else all of us will die". And this time the centurion heard Paul, listened to Paul, okay? As a result, all of them arrived safely. I just want to share with you this, the Spirit bears witness with your spirit, amen.

So, but if you're not sure... now, by the way, if you're thinking, "Well, I've been feeling this in my heart to divorce my husband," all right, that's not the Spirit, it's the devil, all right? "I feel like in my spirit, you know, I want to start this relationship with this girl," you know, and you're a married man, all right, that's not the Spirit. That's not the Spirit. Hey! It's not the Spirit, okay, all right? "Well, I feel like giving him a piece of my mind". It's not the Spirit. You have been giving too many pieces of your mind, I can tell. All right, it's not the Spirit, okay? So, it will never violate God's Word, but it will always lead you in paths of peace and rest, and it will bring you into plenty, into a large land. By the way, Malta, the island where they all went to as refuge, in Greek it means honey. The Spirit will always bring you, if you listen to Paul, listen to Paul's epistles and all that, Paul is the one that God gave the revelation of the gospel of grace. He will always bring you to the land flowing with milk and honey, amen. Every head bowed, every eye closed all across this place, amen? Praise the Lord. Thank you, Jesus.

Friend, if you've been hearing all this and you say, "I've never made the decision to put my trust in Christ, but today, I feel the Spirit of God is tugging at my heartstrings telling me, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ," friend, I announce to you that it's through Jesus Christ that you receive forgiveness of sins. It's not received by much prayers. It's not received by fasting. It's not received by doing this, doing that, by doing extra amount of charity and all that. No, none of your works can save you. Only through Jesus Christ can you receive forgiveness of sins because Christ died for your sins, and God raised him from the dead as a proclamation that you have been acquitted. You have been justified in Christ. If that is you, wherever you are right now, you want me to help you pray this prayer where you release your faith in Christ as your personal Savior, pray this prayer with me right now. Those of you watching by way of television, wherever you are, pray this prayer right now to put your trust in Christ. Say:

Heavenly Father, I believe Jesus Christ just as he has spoken, that he came that I might have life and have it more abundantly. And I know that I receive it through forgiveness of all my sins. I put my trust in Christ that he died on the cross for all my sins, he rose again from the dead, and he's been glorified. Therefore, I have the Holy Spirit. Baptize me with the Holy Spirit. Thank you, Father. Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior, in Jesus's name, amen.

Friend, you are saved, amen. You are saved. The Holy Spirit is now inside you. Now, you prayed also for the baptism of the Holy Spirit, that means to be inundated with the Holy Spirit. Listen, anytime now, you can pray in tongues. You can pray in that supernatural language, amen. During worship and all that, the next week when you come, or even at home, all right, just pray. You don't pray, nothing will happen, amen. You gotta pray first and the Spirit will give you utterance, amen. Praise the Lord. Congratulations, you are saved, amen? Stand to your feet, church, for the blessing, amen. Praise God. We are blessings addict, aren't we, amen? We'll take everything that God has. It's a very sad, sad, sad, sad day. That's why there are tears in heaven when people look down and realize they didn't receive everything they could have had, amen, all paid for by Jesus's blood.

This coming week, the Lord bless you with the blessings of Abraham. The Lord himself protect you and your families from every harm, danger, accident, from disaster, from tragedy. The Lord himself prosper you in everything that you do. The Lord himself favors you and cause you to be led by the Spirit in everything that you do. In the name of the Lord Jesus, amen, amen. God bless you. We'll see you again.