The firstborn blessing as seen in the story of Jacob and Esau:
Jacob and Esau were the twin sons of Isaac, but because Esau came out of his mother’s womb first, he was recognized as the firstborn. There was an instance when Esau sold off his birthright to Jacob in exchange for food, and thus despised his birthright. It was also implied that Isaac favored Esau, while Rebekah favored Jacob.
“And Isaac loved Esau because he ate of his game, but Rebekah loved Jacob. Now Jacob cooked a stew; and Esau came in from the field, and he was weary. And Esau said to Jacob, ‘Please feed me with that same red stew, for I am weary.’ Therefore his name was called Edom. But Jacob said, ‘Sell me your birthright as of this day.’ And Esau said, ‘Look, I am about to die; so what is this birthright to me?’ Then Jacob said, ‘Swear to me as of this day.’ So he swore to him, and sold his birthright to Jacob. And Jacob gave Esau bread and stew of lentils; then he ate and drank, arose, and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.”
— Genesis 25:28–34 NKJV
“sold his birthright to Jacob” — This was the firstborn blessing that Esau despised.
Many years later, when Isaac felt that it was time to give the firstborn blessing to Esau, he asked Esau to prepare a meal for him with game he hunted. While Esau was out hunting, Rebekah prepared game for Jacob to bring to Isaac in Esau’s place and helped Jacob disguise himself as Esau. Isaac, having poor eyesight, was deceived and blessed Jacob with the firstborn blessing. When Esau found out and begged his father for the firstborn blessing, Isaac declared a different blessing over him as the firstborn blessing had been given to Jacob. The blessing could not be reversed.
This is the firstborn blessing that Jacob received:
“Therefore may God give you
Of the dew of heaven,
Of the fatness of the earth,
And plenty of grain and wine.
Let peoples serve you,
And nations bow down to you.
Be master over your brethren,
And let your mother’s sons bow down to you.
Cursed be everyone who curses you,
And blessed be those who bless you!”
— Genesis 27:28–29 NKJV
This is the ‘leftover’ blessing that Esau received:
“Then Isaac his father answered and said to him:
‘Behold, your dwelling shall be of the fatness of the earth,
And of the dew of heaven from above.
By your sword you shall live,
And you shall serve your brother;
And it shall come to pass, when you become restless,
That you shall break his yoke from your neck.’”
— Genesis 27:39–40 NKJV
Though Jacob was imperfect and he wrongly deceived his father to get the firstborn blessing, he was someone who respected the birthright, and God honored that.
“plenty of grain and wine” — When we compare the two blessings side by side, we will notice that only the firstborn blessing (Jacob’s) has the mention of “plenty of grain and wine.”
The grain and wine in the firstborn blessing were not natural grain and wine, which were staples in the diet of that day. This grain and wine were supernatural. It was a picture of the holy Communion. The holy Communion imparts life and health to us. God does not give us just enough grain and wine, but an abundance of it!
This story shows us how we as believers who have the firstborn blessing through Christ should not despise our birthright for there is so much abundance in that blessing that God wants us to enjoy. Once we have been blessed, the blessing is irreversible!
These are notes on the sermon, Activate The Gifts Of The Spirit, preached by Pastor Joseph Prince on Sunday, 31 May 2020, at The Star Performing Arts Centre, Singapore. We hope these sermon notes will be an encouragement to you!
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God enjoys being in a relationship with us. He delights having us in His presence when we pray and talk to Him.
During this time, we are physically distanced from our friends and families and long to be in their presence again. In the same manner, the Lord also desires for us to come to Him. While He is always with us, He appreciates it when we acknowledge Him and draw near to Him.
One way to spend time in the Lord’s presence is to partake of the holy Communion regularly. When we partake of the Lord’s Supper, we bring to remembrance Jesus’ finished work at the cross.
When we look at the Temple of Solomon (on which our theme of the year is based), we see the Lord providing for us plenty of grain and wine (a picture of the holy Communion), every step of the way.
There are three chambers in Solomon’s temple.
Recap of the three chambers:
The three chambers are a visual representation of how our year will be.
The first-floor chamber, which contains plenty of grain and wine (elements of the holy Communion), represents God’s abundant provision for us.
Grain, which is used in baking bread, is a picture of Jesus’ body, which went through scourging and the fire of judgment to become the bread of life for us.
Wine, which is achieved through the crushing of grapes and a period of aging, represents Jesus’ blood that was shed for us for the forgiveness of our sins.
The grain and the wine represent Jesus’ sufferings at the cross for us.
Today, when we partake of the Lord’s Supper, we are proclaiming His death till He comes (1 Cor. 11:26).
The Father delights in being reminded of His love for us. When we worship the Lord by bringing Jesus in His glory and beauty, He is filled with joy!
Just a few days ago, Jews celebrated the Pentecost, the Feast of Shavuot, which started on Thursday (May 28) and ended on Saturday (May 30).
The Festival of First Fruits (of which is the barley harvest) and the Pentecost are celebrated fifty days apart from each other.
It is interesting to note that during these dark times, where people have been called to stay home due to COVID-19 concerns—the Passover, Festival of First Fruits, and the Pentecost have been celebrated.
Pastor Prince believes that something special is happening in the Spirit, and there will be a lifting of the dark atmosphere that the world has been facing. For whenever there is a feast, nothing stays the same, the situation only gets better.
The Bible says that the Jews celebrate Pentecost as the giving of the law.
The Pentecost was first celebrated after they came out from Egypt, when the law was given at Mount Sinai (see Exod. 20). On the same day of the Pentecost, God gave the Spirit (see Acts 2:1–4).
While the Jews celebrate Pentecost as the giving of the law, we who are under grace today celebrate it as the coming of the Holy Spirit.
Comparisons between the giving of the law and the coming of grace:
The law demands; grace supplies.
Whether it is in our jobs, finances, or parenting, God will supply us the willingness, and give us the performance we need to go through every fresh challenge.
As believers, we have the Holy Spirit in us, which we receive by faith. Because we have the Spirit, we are supplied with every good thing!
If you have not received the baptism of the Holy Spirit (the gift of tongues), you can pray to receive it. Once you pray, believe that you have received it by faith, and start speaking!
There is power when you pray in the Spirit. Even if you don’t feel it.
Faith has nothing to do with your emotions and everything to do with the integrity of God’s Word. When you ask Him for the baptism of the Holy Spirit, He will surely give it to you.
The church is not a building or an old religious organization. It is God’s most brilliant plan from the beginning. In the Old Testament, it was a hidden mystery. In the New Testament, it was brought to life through the ministry of the apostle Paul. You can think of the most successful organizations you know out there. The greatest of all is the church of Jesus Christ, made of living souls and beings. To be part of the church and enjoy the church is our heavenly Father’s heart for us.
God calls the church “the bride of Christ” and “the house of God,” and says that we are one with Jesus Christ.
“But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect.”
— Hebrew 12:22–23 NIV
“the church of the firstborn” — We are the church of the firstborn because Jesus is the firstborn. In the Old Testament, the firstborn is the one who receives a double portion of all that the father has.
An example of someone who had a firstborn spirit is the prophet Elisha:
Elisha was the servant and apprentice of the prophet Elijah. When Elijah was about to be taken away (to be with the Lord), he asked Elisha what he wanted. Though Elisha was Elijah’s apprentice, Elisha asked for the inheritance of the firstborn blessing—he asked for a double portion of Elijah’s spirit (see 2 Kings 2:9). Upon hearing Elisha’s request, Elijah told Elisha that he would receive the double portion he desired if he witnessed Elijah being whisked away in a chariot of fire, which he did. While Elijah was being taken away, he cried out, “My father, my father…” (2 Kings 2:12).
This story demonstrates how the spirit of the firstborn is the spirit that cries out, “My Father!”
When Jesus (the firstborn) was at the cross, He cried out “my God,” instead of “my Father,” so that through the divine exchange, we could receive the spirit of sonship and call God our Father. This is our portion as the firstborn.
As the firstborn, we are entitled to the firstborn blessings. The significance of the firstborn blessing is explained in the story of Jacob and Esau.
The firstborn blessing as seen in the story of Jacob and Esau:
Jacob and Esau were the twin sons of Isaac, but because Esau came out of his mother’s womb first, he was recognized as the firstborn. There was an instance when Esau sold off his birthright to Jacob in exchange for food, and thus despised his birthright. It was also implied that Isaac favored Esau, while Rebekah favored Jacob.
“And Isaac loved Esau because he ate of his game, but Rebekah loved Jacob. Now Jacob cooked a stew; and Esau came in from the field, and he was weary. And Esau said to Jacob, ‘Please feed me with that same red stew, for I am weary.’ Therefore his name was called Edom. But Jacob said, ‘Sell me your birthright as of this day.’ And Esau said, ‘Look, I am about to die; so what is this birthright to me?’ Then Jacob said, ‘Swear to me as of this day.’ So he swore to him, and sold his birthright to Jacob. And Jacob gave Esau bread and stew of lentils; then he ate and drank, arose, and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.”
— Genesis 25:28–34 NKJV
“sold his birthright to Jacob” — This was the firstborn blessing that Esau despised.
Many years later, when Isaac felt that it was time to give the firstborn blessing to Esau, he asked Esau to prepare a meal for him with game he hunted. While Esau was out hunting, Rebekah prepared game for Jacob to bring to Isaac in Esau’s place and helped Jacob disguise himself as Esau. Isaac, having poor eyesight, was deceived and blessed Jacob with the firstborn blessing. When Esau found out and begged his father for the firstborn blessing, Isaac declared a different blessing over him as the firstborn blessing had been given to Jacob. The blessing could not be reversed.
This is the firstborn blessing that Jacob received:
“Therefore may God give you
Of the dew of heaven,
Of the fatness of the earth,
And plenty of grain and wine.
Let peoples serve you,
And nations bow down to you.
Be master over your brethren,
And let your mother’s sons bow down to you.
Cursed be everyone who curses you,
And blessed be those who bless you!”
— Genesis 27:28–29 NKJV
This is the ‘leftover’ blessing that Esau received:
“Then Isaac his father answered and said to him:
‘Behold, your dwelling shall be of the fatness of the earth,
And of the dew of heaven from above.
By your sword you shall live,
And you shall serve your brother;
And it shall come to pass, when you become restless,
That you shall break his yoke from your neck.’”
— Genesis 27:39–40 NKJV
Though Jacob was imperfect and he wrongly deceived his father to get the firstborn blessing, he was someone who respected the birthright, and God honored that.
“plenty of grain and wine” — When we compare the two blessings side by side, we will notice that only the firstborn blessing (Jacob’s) has the mention of “plenty of grain and wine.”
The grain and wine in the firstborn blessing were not natural grain and wine, which were staples in the diet of that day. This grain and wine were supernatural. It was a picture of the holy Communion. The holy Communion imparts life and health to us. God does not give us just enough grain and wine, but an abundance of it!
This story shows us how we as believers who have the firstborn blessing through Christ should not despise our birthright for there is so much abundance in that blessing that God wants us to enjoy. Once we have been blessed, the blessing is irreversible!
In the days of the early church, the people valued the grain and the wine, for they went from house to house breaking bread, partaking of the Lord’s Supper as often as they could.
If you are battling a condition in your body, the way to receive health is through the partaking of the holy Communion often, and with a revelation of what the elements represent. When you partake, don’t do it as a ritual. God wants you to receive it with a sense of His love.
“Then Isaac answered and said to Esau, ‘Indeed I have made him your master, and all his brethren I have given to him as servants; with grain and wine I have sustained him. What shall I do now for you my son?’”
— Genesis 27:37 NKJV
“with grain and wine I have sustained him” — The word “sustain” here is in reference to health, which is what we need in life to sustain us.
Life in abundance is more important than having an abundance of food. Likewise, having a healthy body is more important than having an abundance of clothing.
Jesus is the firstborn in the sense of position (He has always existed). He is one of the divine persons in the Godhead as the Son, but came into position as firstborn when God raised Him from the dead.
Today, we are the church of the firstborn because of what Jesus has done for us at the cross.
This is our portion of the firstborn blessing: We share the same inheritance, same goodness, and same fatness (abundance), as Jesus!
Besides the grain and the wine, we have also received kingly and priestly portions. God sees us as kings and priests.
In the Old Testament, the positions of kings and priests are those of great authority and influence.
This is what Jesus did for us at the cross:
“... To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.”
— Revelation 1:5–6 NKJV
“kings and priests” — We are made kings and priests today because Jesus has already washed us from our sins. Right now, God does not see us in our natural flesh, but He sees us in the Spirit as kings and priests.
A king does not have to work to make things happen, He only has to speak. This is why when Jesus was on earth, He only needed to speak and the leper was cleansed, deaf ears were opened, the dead were raised, and the storms were calmed. We have this same authority today.
When you know something is not God’s will, you can use your kingly position to speak to that area of affliction (e.g. nightmares and depression). Speak to the condition: “Depression, in the name of Jesus, loose me and let me go! In the name of the Lord Jesus.”
What is God’s will for you? To prosper in all things, to be in health, just as your soul prospers (see 3 John 1:2).
You have the power to speak to that depression, that nightmare, that tumor, and command those conditions to leave, for they are not God’s will for you. You don’t have to plead God to heal you—His will is for you to be in health!
Keep declaring freedom from those afflictions until you see them flee! Like Mark 11:23 says, speak to that mountain (your problem) and it shall be removed. You don’t have to tolerate any of your problems. You can speak to them in the authority of Jesus’ name, and you will see things change.
When you know that you are under attack, the attacks lose their power the moment you start speaking against them. Jesus demonstrated this power of speaking when He cursed a fig tree and it dried up at its roots, although the result of the tree wilting could only be seen the next day.
We too have this same inheritance, birthright, and position as a king in God’s eyes, so let’s use our authority against all the forces of darkness! How? By speaking.
If you are always losing your temper, speak to that evil spirit that is affecting you (from the outside, it cannot be from the inside because the Holy Spirit lives in you), and command it not to trouble you anymore. Pastor Prince shares how a few years ago, he spoke against the spirit of strife that he saw was affecting a couple nearby, and he saw how the man immediately calmed down and reconciled with the lady.
The firstborn blessing includes not only a kingly portion but also a priestly portion.
Priests are those who minister to God on behalf of the people. Jesus, our High Priest, knows what we need and ministers to God on our behalf.
When we worship God, we are actually operating in our priestly role.
In the Old Testament, there are many benefits and blessings that the Lord gives to priests. Others get the breast of the lamb that was offered (a picture of Jesus’ love demonstrated at the cross), but the priest that offers the blood of the lamb gets the right thigh of the lamb (a picture of Jesus’ power).
When you fulfill your priestly role by choosing to worship the Lord, you not only get to experience His love but you also see His power move in your life and meet all your needs.
Pastor Prince shares that when he finds it difficult to discern what the rhema word is for the church for that Sunday, he takes a step back and worships God. He talks to God about the beauty and excellencies of Jesus. And he finds that after he has worshipped God and given God his portion as a priest, there is divine inspiration for his sermon preparation.
Give God His portion and you will turn around and find that He has met all your needs.
Both the kingly role and the priestly role have to do with speaking.
There is another role that employs speaking, and it is the role of the prophet.
The Bible says that Jesus is a King and a Priest, but He is also a Prophet. As we are the church of the firstborn, we too have the prophetic gift present in us. All these roles operate through words, and not human labor. It is a picture of grace—when we speak, we see miracles and breakthroughs happen.
As we have the firstborn blessing, the prophetic, kingly, and priestly characteristics should manifest in our lives. We are called to use this prophetic gift by speaking words of inspiration from the Lord into people’s lives.
Prophecy is not always about speaking about the future. Prophecy is also divine utterance that produces comfort, strength, and edification (1 Cor. 14:3).
The prophetic gift is not just reserved for pastors or leaders. We all have access to this gift because it is the right of every believer. We are in Christ, and we have His portion of this gift.
The gifts of the Spirit are God’s best gifts for us, and He wants us to covet earnestly for those gifts.
“But covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet shew I unto you a more excellent way.”
— 1 Corinthians 12:31 KJV
“covet earnestly” — God wants us not just to covet for these spiritual gifts, but to have a yearning, passionate desire for them.
“best gifts” — These supernatural gifts are the nine gifts of the Spirit that are given to every believer because of grace—not given because one is “holier” than another. The word "gifts" is "charisma," which means "grace gifts."
These gifts come when you are baptized in the Holy Spirit. By operating in these gifts, we can minister grace to people and bring worship unto the Lord.
The nine gifts of the Spirit can be divided into three categories:
1. Priestly flow—to say something
2. Prophetic flow—to know something
3. Kingly flow—to do something
Pastor Prince shares many personal examples and testimonies to explain how these gifts can manifest in everyday life.
These gifts are not limited by time and space, so we can use them to release a word even through video calls during this time that we cannot meet in person.
We need to covet earnestly the best gifts, especially in these days that we are living in. Some gifts may manifest in some more than others (e.g. those whom God has appointed as prophets will flow more in the prophetic gifts), but all these nine gifts are our portion as believers.
Pastor Prince prays for the following conditions:
Pastor Prince closes the service by emphasizing the importance of stirring up the gifts of the Holy Spirit by praying in tongues, and to start exercising your kingly and priestly role by praying for your loved ones. As you pray, God will begin to show you things to speak forth with the authority you have, and you will start experiencing your firstborn blessing.
He also reminds us that because our God is supernatural, we are supernatural people who don’t operate by the natural ways of the world. Instead, let us be people who flow in the Spirit.
“In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, this coming week, the Lord bless you with the blessings of Abraham and the blessings of Deuteronomy 28. The Lord keep you, every one of you, from the COVID-19 virus, from every infection, from every disease, through the blood of Jesus Christ. The Lord lift up His countenance on you and your loved ones, and grant to you and your families His shalom well-being, wholeness, and peace. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.”
We hope these sermon notes blessed you! If they did, we encourage you to get the sermon and allow the Lord to speak to you personally as you watch or listen to it.
© Copyright JosephPrince.com 2020
These sermon notes were taken by volunteers during the service. They are not a verbatim representation of the sermon.
These are notes on the sermon, Five Times More Favor And Provision, preached by Pastor Joseph Prince on Sunday, 15 November 2020, at The Star Performing Arts Centre, Singapore. We hope these sermon notes will be an encouragement to you!
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When we see the difficult situations happening all around the world, we need to know what the Lord is doing in our lives so that we won’t get discouraged and disappointed by what is happening around us. It is vital that as children of God, we know that our God is working all things out for the good of His people.
Sometimes the Lord will allow shaking so that the things which can be shaken will be removed. That’s when we’ll start to recognize the things that can stand the test of time and circumstance because they will remain. Then we will know to build our trust on the right foundation—on Jesus and His Word.
Pastor Prince believes that we are living in exciting times in spite of all that is happening in the world right now. God is accelerating the reach of the gospel of grace and the manifestation of His promises in our lives as we approach the day that Jesus returns, the day He will set the world right.
“But the path of the just (righteous) is like the shining sun,
That shines ever brighter unto the perfect day.”
— Proverbs 4:18 NKJV
As a believer, even as the world gets darker and darker, know that for you and your family, the days ahead can only get brighter and brighter. We have God’s Word for it!
We are continuing from last week’s sermon, All That Is Mine Is Yours—Discover Abba’s Heart For You. Today, we will be looking at the gospel of Jesus Christ as expounded in the book of Galatians, as well as the story of Joseph in the Old Testament.
When you study a doctrine in the New Testament, you can always find shadows of it in the details of the Old Testament. This is because the Old Testament is the New concealed, and the New Testament is the Old revealed.
Jesus Himself demonstrated this on the day that He rose from the dead. As He walked with two discouraged disciples on the road to Emmaus, He expounded things concerning Himself in the Old Testament (Luke 24:27). When we look at the Old Testament, our desire should always be to uncover Jesus, the things of Christ, and to bring Him out of the shadows. In the Old Testament, we see shadows, types, and symbols of the truths in the New Testament. We study them to get insights into the substance revealed in the New Testament.
To reveal the beauty of Christ in the Old Testament is something Pastor Prince endeavors to do in his ministry. The riches of the Old Testament can only be seen when Jesus is revealed in them. When we study the Old Testament, it is not to bring out the law, the dos and don’ts, but it is to reveal the beauty of Jesus Christ.
When Jesus taught the two disciples all the things concerning Himself in the Old Testament, He withheld their eyes from recognizing who He was in the flesh. By doing this, the Lord was showing that it is more important for us to see Him in the Scriptures than in the flesh. Just like the two disciples saw the Lord in the Scriptures, we also have this same privilege today.
The story of Abraham’s two sons, Isaac and Ishmael, and their mothers, Sarah and Hagar:
“Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not hear the law? For it is written that Abraham had two sons: the one by a bondwoman, the other by a freewoman. But he who was of the bondwoman was born according to the flesh, and he of the freewoman through promise, which things are symbolic. For these are the two covenants: the one from Mount Sinai which gives birth to bondage, which is Hagar—for this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and corresponds to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children—but the Jerusalem above is free, which is the mother of us all”
— Galatians 4:21–26 NKJV
“which things are symbolic” — The stories in the Old Testament are symbolic; they are examples to help us understand the New Testament better today (1 Cor. 10:11). May we humble ourselves to ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to us the substance of these shadows and types when we read and study the Old Testament.
The two sons (Isaac and Ishmael) and the two mothers (Sarah and Hagar) are symbolic. Last week, we saw how Hagar is a picture of Mount Sinai where the law was given and Sarah, on the other hand, is a picture of God’s grace.
We are not on Mount Sinai today (Heb. 12:18–24 KJV). Even Moses, the best of them, was afraid on that mountain (Heb. 12:21).
Today, we are under the new covenant. We are on Mount Zion where God and His angels are (Heb. 12:22)! Pastor Prince encourages preachers to move away from preaching “do, do, do” to preaching the good news, which is Jesus having declared, “It is done!”
“Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are children of promise. But, as he who was born according to the flesh then persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, even so it is now. Nevertheless what does the Scripture say? "Cast out the bondwoman and her son, for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman."”
— Galatians 4:28–30 NKJV
“we, brethren, as Isaac was, are children of promise” — We are children of promise, having been born again of the Spirit. We are the fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham.
“born according to the flesh” — To try to keep the law denotes that you are operating under the flesh. Man’s attempt to keep the law, even with the best intentions, belies the fact that man doesn’t know the flesh profits nothing. The flesh cannot accomplish what only God can do in and through us, through His Spirit. It is only those who are born again of the Spirit, those who are under grace, can fulfill the law and even exceed it.
The one who is born again is considered a mature son. When he hears the word “righteousness,” he knows that it is a gift to be received. Conversely, the Bible considers someone who thinks of the word “righteousness” as something that you have to do, a babe or an infant (Heb. 5:13 KJV).
Ishmael, who was born of the flesh, persecuted Isaac, who was born of the Spirit. This happened when Isaac was weaned from milk:
“So the child grew and was weaned. And Abraham made a great feast on the same day that Isaac was weaned. And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, scoffing. Therefore she said to Abraham, "Cast out this bondwoman and her son; for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, namely with Isaac."”
— Genesis 21:8–10 NKJV
“Cast out this bondwoman and her son” — What Sarah said, to cast out the bondwoman, became Scripture. It is God’s counsel to all of us today (Gal. 4:30).
Those who are under the law cannot share the same inheritance as those who are under grace. Every time we try to receive healing or receive a breakthrough from God while still believing that we have to qualify for it or earn it, we are putting ourselves under the law again.
On the other hand, those who have the Spirit of sonship know that it is only by grace that they can inherit the full blessings of God.
When we are born again in the Spirit as God’s children, we are born as His full-grown sons who have the Spirit of sonship (the Spirit of the Son, Jesus, living in us). While there is still a process of growth as a believer, the moment we are saved by grace (and we have passed from being under the law to being under grace), we are immediately considered full-grown sons who are of the age and maturity to inherit all of God’s blessings. We do not go back to being infants again.
Our heavenly Father wants us to possess that Spirit of sonship where we can freely come to Him and receive our inheritance (His blessings). He doesn’t want us to have the spirit of slavery such that we are always afraid to come to Him for fear of being punished. The Lord calls us “friends” and not “slaves,” and today, we share the same Spirit of sonship as our Lord Jesus Christ (John 15:15 KJV).
We may know all the names of God, but the most important name of God Jesus came to reveal is “Father.” We receive all the benefits of what that powerful name is meant to produce in our lives just by calling Him “Father.”
“But I said: ‘How can I put you among the children
And give you a pleasant land,
A beautiful heritage of the hosts of nations?’
“And I said: ‘You shall call Me, “My Father,”
And not turn away from Me.’
— Jeremiah 3:19 NKJV
Among the body of Christ, we all share the same heavenly Father but we have different mothers. For those who insist on still being under the law, their mother is Hagar (who represents the law). But for those who are under grace, our mother is Sarah. When we face criticism from those who come against grace, we don’t have to make a stand or try to dispute them. Instead, let’s pray for them that they will come to a place of possessing that Spirit of sonship. You cannot fully inherit the inheritance God has for you until you embrace your position of sonship.
When you try to have both law and grace, you lose the severity of the law and the goodness of grace. What others call “balance,” God calls “mixture.”
It is important to remember that Sarah demanded that Hagar be cast out when Isaac was weaned off milk. Pastor Prince believes that this is a reflection of the times we are living in: The church is coming to maturity in being weaned off milk (a picture of coming out from under the law) and is now receiving solid food (the word of grace). All around the world we see more and more believers discovering grace.
Of all the characters in the Old Testament, the one who typifies our Lord Jesus the most is Joseph.
Joseph was greatly loved by his father, Jacob, as Jesus was greatly loved by God the Father.
Right after Jesus was baptized in the River Jordan and God opened the heavens to Him and said, “This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased” (Matt. 3:16–17), Jesus went into the wilderness and was tempted by Satan. The tactic that Satan used to try to tempt Jesus was this: he dropped the word “beloved.” He said to Jesus, “If You are the Son of God…” (Matt. 4:1–11). The devil knew that all his temptation would come to nothing if Jesus knew that He was the beloved Son of God.
Pastor Prince encourages pastors to remind their congregation of how loved they are by the Father. There are people who believe God loved them in the past but are questioning if God still loves them today or if He will still love them tomorrow. But the Word assures us:
“Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour had come that He should depart from this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.”
— John 13:1 NKJV
“having loved His own . . . He loved them to the end” — This is God’s promise to us. He who loved us from the beginning will love us to the very end. The apostle Paul made this truth personal for himself when he said, “ . . . the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Gal. 2:20).
This is why we partake of the Communion—to remember Christ and His love for us that He demonstrated at the cross. God wants us to always know that He loves us. As parents, when we love our children, it isn’t so that our love will be reciprocated. We just want to shower our love upon them. In the same way but much more so, our heavenly Father loves to be in our presence and to pour out His love upon us. There are times when we just have to be still and remember how much He loves us.
Joseph was loved by the father but rejected by his brothers just as Jesus was loved by His Father but rejected by His earthly brothers—the people of Israel—when He first came to earth (John 1:11 KJV).
Also, Joseph was sold as a slave for 20 pieces of silver just as Jesus was betrayed for 30 pieces of silver.
The Bible is all about Jesus. It is like God’s photo album of His beloved Son. As we seek the Holy Spirit to reveal more and more of Jesus when we read the Word, God will open more and more of the beauty of His Son to us.
What Joseph’s brothers rejected became bread for Egypt (a picture of the Gentile world). Similarly, Israel’s rejection of Jesus became the bread of the Gentile world. Just as Joseph took a Gentile bride, Asenath, Jesus calls us, the Gentile Church, His bride.
“Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord God,
“That I will send a famine on the land,
Not a famine of bread,
Nor a thirst for water,
But of hearing the words of the Lord.”
— Amos 8:11 NKJV
In a time of famine, we have nourishment because we are hearing the words of the Lord. The world doesn’t have it because they haven’t heard the good news. The empty pursuits of the world always end in famine; man’s soul remains famished. You can be a very wealthy man but still have your soul empty and famished. Only Jesus can fill that void and cause our souls to be full and fulfilled.
Joseph’s backstory:
Joseph is a type of Jesus but who is Benjamin, and who does he represent?
All of Joseph’s brothers were born of the same father, Jacob, but they did not share the same mother. Joseph and Benjamin were the only two sons who were born of the same father and mother. Benjamin was the most favored son of them all and the one most loved by his brother, Joseph.
Benjamin made his appearance in a time of famine:
“So when all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread. Then Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, “Go to Joseph; whatever he says to you, do.””
— Genesis 41:55 NKJV
“when all the land of Egypt was famished . . . Go to Joseph” — Today, we are seeing a famine all over the world but we can rest easy in the Lord because we have Jesus, our heavenly Joseph and our good Shepherd, with us and taking care of us.
“And the famine has been over all the face of the land, and Joseph openeth all [places] which have [corn] in them, and selleth to the Egyptians; and the famine is severe in the land of Egypt,”
— Genesis 41:56 YLT
“Joseph openeth all [places] which have [corn] in them” — Jesus, our heavenly Joseph, is now opening all the storehouses which have corn in them. The grain (the good news of Jesus) is now being spread all over the world through technology as churches are taking the gospel online. Jesus is not the one behind the famine, but He is our source of supply during the famine.
The first time Joseph revealed himself to his brothers, they did not recognize him. In the same way, Israel did not recognize Jesus in His first coming. But the second time Joseph appeared to his brothers, he revealed himself to them. In the same way, Jesus will reveal Himself to Israel in His second coming.
While Jacob was back at home thinking that everything was against him because Joseph was dead (so he thought) and now Benjamin was summoned to Egypt (Gen. 42:36), Joseph was all the while working all things out for his and his family’s good. Like Jacob, we can look at everything that is happening around us and think that everything is against us, but that is not true! Jesus, our heavenly Joseph is working all things out for our good behind the scenes because we are children of God (Rom. 8:28).
“When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the steward of his house, "Take these men to my home, and slaughter an animal and make ready; for these men will dine with me at noon."”
— Genesis 43:16 NKJV
“When Joseph saw Benjamin . . . he said . . . ‘slaughter an animal and make ready’” — The moment Joseph finally met his brother, Benjamin, is when everything started to turn around for good. The brothers came for bread but Joseph over-answered their request and gave them solid meat. Jesus always over-answers our prayers by exceeding all that we can ask or imagine.
Keep praying big prayers and watch God over-answer and exceed them!
“the steward of his house” — The unnamed steward or servant in the stories of the Old Testament is a picture of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit doesn’t call attention to Himself because He is there to glorify Jesus (John 16:14).
“Then he lifted his eyes and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother's son, and said, "Is this your younger brother of whom you spoke to me?" And he said, "God be gracious to you, my son."
— Genesis 43:29 NKJV
“God be gracious to you, my son” — When Joseph saw Benjamin up close, the first words that came out of his mouth was, “God be gracious to you.” They were words of grace.
Grace will locate and mark the Benjamin Generation.
When Benjamin was born, his mother (Rachel, whose name means “lamb”) died giving birth to him. The grace generation was born out of the death of the lamb of God on the cross. Out of His side came the church.
“And so it was, as her soul was departing (for she died), that she called his name Ben-Oni (son of my sorrow); but his father called him Benjamin (son of my right hand).”
— Genesis 35:18 NKJV
“she called his name Ben-Oni . . . but his father called him Benjamin” — Rachel wanted to name Benjamin “Ben-oni,” which means “son of my sorrow.” But Jacob his father intervened and named him “Benjamin,” which means “son of my right hand.” To be on the Father’s right hand is to be where Jesus is today—in a place of power, privilege, favor and righteousness.
“Now his heart yearned for his brother; so Joseph made haste and sought somewhere to weep. And he went into his chamber and wept there. Then he washed his face and came out; and he restrained himself, and said, "Serve the bread."
— Genesis 43:30–31 NKJV
“serve the bread” — Joseph had earlier declared that unless Benjamin came into his presence, he would not entertain the brothers and there would be no bread (Gen. 43:3–5). So when they finally brought Benjamin to Joseph, Joseph’s first instruction was to “serve the bread.”
Today, the Benjamin Generation (the ones who are under grace, not the law) is here in all its fullness and our heavenly Joseph is giving instructions to serve the bread (messages of grace that bring nourishment to spirit, soul, and body). Get ready to receive the bread!
“Then he took servings to them from before him, but Benjamin's serving was five times as much as any of theirs. So they drank and were merry with him.”
— Genesis 43:34 NKJV
“Benjamin’s serving was five times as much” — The Benjamin Generation will be a generation that receives five times more blessings from the Lord!
Five is the number of grace. We see this throughout the Bible. The fifth time Noah’s name was mentioned (Gen. 6:8), the fifth time Ruth’s name was mentioned (Ruth 2:2), and the fifth time David’s name was mentioned (1 Sam. 16:22) all involved them finding favor (i.e. grace, because grace is unmerited favor). Five is the number of grace and favor.
In these last days, the Benjamin Generation who is under grace, whose trust is in the grace of God, will have five times more than those who put their trust in the law.
You shall have five times more bread, which is a picture of both spiritual revelation and physical provision. Bread is also a picture of healing in the Bible (Matt. 15:22–28).
“He gave to all of them, to each man, changes of garments; but to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver and five changes of garments.”
— Genesis 45:22 NKJV
“to Benjamin he gave . . . five changes of garments” — All the brothers got garments but Benjamin received from Joseph five changes of garments. Garments are a picture of anointing (e.g. the supernatural power and ability of God that comes upon you for the different hats you wear as an employee, as a student, as a parent, as a husband or wife, etc.). Garments are also a picture of material, practical provision.
The Benjamin Generation will have plenty to eat (both spiritually and physically) and plenty to wear (both physically and spiritually—operating in the manifold grace of God).
“Bless the Lord, O my soul;
And all that is within me, bless His holy name!
Bless the LORD, O my soul,
And forget not all His benefits:
Who forgives all your iniquities,
Who heals all your diseases,
Who redeems your life from destruction,
Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies,
Who satisfies your mouth with good things,
So that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.”
— Psalm 103:1–5 NKJV
“forget not all His benefits” — Feed yourself and nourish your soul daily by meditating on all the benefits of the Lord. These are the benefits the Lord wants you to remember and keep in your heart:
“to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver” — Benjamin had an effect on Joseph that the other brothers never had. Benjamin was the only one who received 300 pieces of silver from Joseph. 300 is the number of “those chosen for victory,” and silver is a picture of redemption. It is also in Benjamin’s sack that Joseph hid his silver cup (Gen. 44:2).
The empty silver cup that Joseph hid in Benjamin’s sack is a picture of the cup that Jesus drank from in the Garden of Gethsemane (Matt. 26:39). It was the cup of judgment, the cup of all our sins that Jesus drank from. It is empty because Jesus has emptied out the judgment and the wrath that we were supposed to experience. The empty silver cup cries out God’s redemption at the cross, “No more anger! No more wrath! No more judgment!”
Of all His brothers, the one whom the Lord trusts to release His message of grace to is the Benjamin Generation.
Nothing happened until Benjamin came to Joseph. God wants the Benjamin Generation to come close to Him. He desires for us to be near to Him and to see that He only has grace—not judgment or wrath—to pour out on us. He only has gracious words for us. Will you allow Him to be gracious to you? Will you allow Him to pour out His love on you today?
It was when Benjamin came to Joseph that everything started to turn around for good, not just for the rest of the brothers but for the nation of Israel as well.
“Then He appointed twelve, that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach, and to have power to heal sicknesses and to cast out demons:”
— Mark 3:14-15 NKJV
“He appointed twelve, that they might be with Him” — When the Lord Jesus appointed the twelve disciples, His foremost desire was that they might be with Him. The power to heal and to cast out demons came after that; those things are secondary. The priority for them was to simply be with Him. The same thing goes for us today. The Lord wants us to see who He is. He wants us to hear the words of grace coming out of His mouth.
“Then Jesus said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men.””
— Mark 1:17 NKJV
“Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men” — Sometimes, we try to be fishers of men but our heart is not really following the Lord. God doesn’t want us to run after ministry. Sometimes the busyness and all the action of ministry can even take us away from the Lord and we can become discouraged. If you don’t have personal time with the Lord, if you don’t have that Emmaus road experience that warms your spirit, your ministry can become like Elijah’s. He experienced the power of God on Mount Carmel and saw great success, but he was not with Jesus. He did not experience the closeness of being in a relationship with Jesus. Sometimes a minister’s fall can happen right after experiencing a great victory. Why? Because he missed out on simply being with the Lord.
No matter what great things we set our hearts and hands to do, it all comes back to being with Jesus.
“And he said, Peace be to you, fear not: your God, and the God of your father, hath given you treasure in your sacks: I had your money. And he brought Simeon out unto them.”
— Genesis 43:23 KJV
"he brought Simeon out unto them" — After Benjamin was brought to Joseph, Simeon was finally released to the brothers (Joseph had kept Simeon behind until Benjamin was brought to him). Simeon means “hearing” in Hebrew. It is a picture of Israel’s hearing being restored when the Benjamin Generation (you and I) is brought before Jesus, our heavenly Joseph.
Whatever you’re lacking right now, whether it’s health or provision, the Lord is able to give you five times more than what you need. If we say that it is all up to His grace, we are freeing God to do as much as His grace can. The Lord wants to see us dependent on grace.
Pastor Prince closes the service by praying for people with these conditions:
Every healing can stand the test of medical science. Pastor Prince encourages those he prayed over to go back to their doctors to verify their healings. Only stop taking your medicine when your healing has been confirmed by medical reports. Then please write in to share your testimony!
This is how you receive from the Lord: be conscious of how deeply your heavenly Father loves you, and say in your heart, “The Son of God loves me. Jesus loves me.”
“The Lord bless you and your loved ones with the blessings of father Abraham. And the Lord bless you also with all the blessings of Deuteronomy 28. The Lord release upon you all the blessings of Ephesians 1 in your life. May you see many of them manifest even in this coming week.
And the Lord raise His face and smile upon you throughout this week. Amen. The Lord grant you supernatural favor everywhere you go. Doors of favor will open to you. Amen. New levels of favor. I speak new levels of favor for you throughout this week in Jesus’ name. And when you have experienced the favor of God, you will know you have been favored. Amen.
The Lord lift up His countenance on every single family under the sound of my voice and grant to you and yours His wonderful shalom peace, well-being, and wholeness. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.”
We hope these sermon notes blessed you! If they did, we encourage you to get the sermon and allow the Lord to speak to you personally as you watch or listen to it.
© Copyright JosephPrince.com 2020
These sermon notes were taken by volunteers during the service. They are not a verbatim representation of the sermon.
These are notes on the sermon, Secrets Of Jesus Hidden In The Tribes Of Israel—Part 2, preached by Pastor Joseph Prince on Sunday, 7 April 2019, at The Star Performing Arts Centre, Singapore. We hope these sermon notes will be an encouragement to you!
Be sure to sign up to get updates on the latest sermon notes by Team JP.
Pastor encourages us to say to the Lord, “You are so good to me.”
Even if bad things are happening—delayed answers, traffic holdups, or a child who is late for school—God works all things to work for your good.
We are made in God’s image. God created us to be beautiful and full of His glory.
So what happens when we sin? Sin is coming short of the glory of God. The best that God has for us is to be a person full of His glory. This means we shine with everything that is radiant and beautiful.
God made us beautiful. Sin mars, sin defiles, sin destroys, and sin finally brings people to an early death.
We are made in God’s image. God wants to see something happen, God speaks.
When God saw darkness in Genesis 1, God said, “Let there be light: and there was light” (Gen. 1:3).
10 times in Genesis 1, God spoke and called forth what He wanted to see, e.g. God called forth the dry land and the animals.
We are made in God’s image, and we have the power to call good things forth too.
So if you received an X-ray report or CT scan with bleak results but you want health and healing, call it forth.
Say, “By Jesus stripes, I am healed.” Call yourself well and healed in the name of Jesus Christ.
When Jesus encountered Jarius’s daughter and the man with the withered hand, He did not speak what he saw about their situation. He called forth what He wanted to see. Jesus raised Jairus’s daughter from the dead and healed the man’s withered hand.
God sees the invisible realm and the supply.
The Bible says, “For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal” (2 Cor. 4:18).
Can you see the available balance in your bank account? Can you see you are single? Can you see the tumor? Can you see the negative medical reports? Whatever you can see is temporal.
For believers, our reality is the invisible and the eternal.
God who is an invisible divine being spoke forth everything that we can touch and feel.
God does not want us to focus on things that we can see (which are temporary), but focus on things that are eternal, like His Word and His promises in Scripture.
When you want to see something good in your future, speak good.
Proverbs 18:21 says, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue.”
Don’t speak death, choose to speak life!
The only time we speak death is for those things we want dead like cancer cells and tumors. Jesus spoke death to the fig tree and the next day it was dried up from its roots.
Speak death to your tumor and let it dry up from the roots.
Speak life to your body. Say, “God renews my youth like the eagles,” and it shall be so!
God’s Word reveals scientific truths and modern day events.
Pastor shares a few examples of how the prophecies and scientific facts in the Bible have been proven to be true:
Jesus fulfilled every messianic prophecy in the Bible.
When David wrote Psalm 22:16, “They pierced My hands and My feet,” the method of crucifixion had not been introduced as capital punishment. So hundreds of years before Jesus’s crucifixion, David prophesied the Lord’s death.
Long before Jesus was born, Micah 5:2 prophesied where the Messiah would come from:
“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
Though you are little among the thousands of Judah,
Yet out of you shall come forth to Me
The One to be Ruler in Israel,
Whose goings forth are from of old,
From everlasting.”
—Micah 5:2 NKJV
We find prophecies of Jesus in the blessings of the 12 tribes of Israel (see Gen. 49).
“And Jacob called his sons and said, “Gather together, that I may tell you what shall befall you in the last days”
—Genesis 49:1 NKJV
The “last days” refer to Jesus in the gospels.
Pastor Prince recounts the testimony of the lady who heard him preach on the verse, “As He is, so are we in this world” (see 1 John 4:17). The same week she heard this verse preached, she discovered a lump in her breast. She wrote on her medical report, “Jesus, do you have lumps in your breast? As you are, so am I in this world.” When she went back to the doctor, they couldn't find the lump!
Many people have heard this testimony and so believed the same thing this woman believed about their physical conditions, so many more testimonies have been birthed!
Many times, we apply this verse 1 John 4:17 spiritually and say, “As Jesus is righteous and accepted by the Father, so am I in this world.”
But 1 John 4:17 is not only about our spiritual standing. It is also about our health.
“For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones.”
—Ephesians 5:30 KJV
We are members of Jesus’ flesh and bones.
Jesus does not have weak bones or porous bones. He does not have sickly flesh.
So when you say, “As He is, so am I in this world,” don’t just see it spiritually, but apply it physically as well. “As Jesus is healthy, active, and young, so am I in this world. As Jesus never forgets anything, so it is the same with my memory, in this world.”
The Holy Spirit has come to glorify only one Person—Jesus, the Father’s beloved Son. When we behold Jesus, the power of the Spirit works in our lives.
We are transformed from sickness to health by beholding Jesus. We are transformed from glory to glory, not by striving, but by beholding Jesus (see 2 Cor. 3:18).
Is it practical to see Jesus? It is more practical than you think. It made a man do the supernatural; Peter walked on water when he beheld Jesus.
Pastor briefly recaps his teachings on the tribes of Joseph, Gad, and Naphtali from last week’s sermon, Secrets Of Jesus Hidden In The Tribes Of Israel—Part 1.
Every time you see Jesus, something good happens to you.
“Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, who also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.”
—Acts 1:9–11 NKJV
“This same Jesus … will so come in like manner” — The same Jesus who had compassion on the widow in Nain and raised her only son from the dead, the same Jesus who told people over and over again, “Do not be afraid,” is coming back for us in the rapture.
Let’s look at Jesus in the rest of the 12 tribes in Genesis 49.
The Tribe of Reuben
“Reuben, you are my firstborn,
My might and the beginning of my strength,
The excellency of dignity and the excellency of power.
Unstable as water, you shall not excel,
Because you went up to your father’s bed;
Then you defiled it—
He went up to my couch."
—Genesis 49:3–4 NKJV
The Tribes of Simeon and Levi
“Simeon and Levi are brothers;
Instruments of cruelty are in their dwelling place.”
—Genesis 49:5 NKJV
The Tribe of Judah
“Judah, you are he whom your brothers shall praise;
Your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies;
Your father’s children shall bow down before you."
—Genesis 49:8 NKJV
There is power in praise. When you praise the Lord in the midst of your troubles, your valley of attack will turn into a valley of blessing.
When you praise the Lord even when bad things are happening, your perspective changes.
Pastor Prince shares real life testimonies of people who chose to praise the Lord in the face of their troubles and saw breakthroughs.
“Judah, you are he whom your brothers shall praise;
Your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies;
Your father’s children shall bow down before you.”
—Genesis 49:8 NKJV
When you praise, your hands are around the neck of your enemies.
“The scepter shall not depart from Judah,
Nor a lawgiver from between his feet,
Until Shiloh comes;
And to Him shall be the obedience of the people.”
—Genesis 49:10 NKJV
"Shiloh" means “tranquility” or “rest.” It is also a messianic name for Jesus.
The kingship will not depart from Judah until Shiloh (Jesus) comes. The last record we have of the genealogy of kings is in the book of Matthew ending with Jesus.
Jesus fulfilled this prophecy.
“Binding his donkey to the vine,
And his donkey’s colt to the choice vine,
He washed his garments in wine,
And his clothes in the blood of grapes.”
—Genesis 49:11 NKJV
In John 15:5, Jesus says, “I am the vine, you are the branches…”
A vine tree has no trunk. The vine is made up of many branches. The vine and the branches are one.
The vine needs to be lifted up and placed on a trellis to bear fruit. The trellis is the shape of a cross.
“Binding his donkey to the vine” — A vine has to incredibly thick and strong to be able to hold a donkey. This is a picture of our salvation and the life we have in Christ. As believers, the vine life (the life of Christ) that flows through us and into our lives is strong and robust.
“He washed his garments in wine” — From vines, we get grapes and wine. Wine is a picture of luxury and celebration. With the Lord, wine is so abundant that garments can be washed in it.
In Cana of Galilee, Jesus performed His first miracle of turning water into wine, showing He is the Lord of time. In Cana, He also performed another miracle where He spoke the word and healed a boy in another city, proving that He is the Lord of space.
This is the power of the vine life that we have in Christ.
The Tribe of Benjamin
“Benjamin is a ravenous wolf;
In the morning he shall devour the prey,
And at night he shall divide the spoil.”
—Genesis 49:27 NKJV
All the prophecies thus far has got to do with Jesus in the gospels. But in this last one, God makes mention of a ministry that will unveil Christ like no other—the ministry of the Apostle Paul.
The Apostle Paul came from the tribe of Benjamin.
“In the morning he shall devour the prey” — In the morning of Paul’s life, he was slaughtering Christians. He was rounding them up and throwing them into dungeons. He was present at Stephen’s stoning and he consented to Stephen’s death. In the morning of his life, he was “devouring the prey.”
“at night he shall divide the spoil” — In the evening of his life, he was dividing the spoil. The Apostle Paul was feeding the grace of God to the various churches. He was blessing and enriching the churches by teaching and sharing with them.
Pastor Prince reads Acts 26:6–29, when Paul stands before King Agripa and gives his testimony. Paul shares his testimony and almost gets King Agripa saved. Although in chains, Paul is a picture of love, joy, and peace.
When we partake of the message that Paul brings, we will be filled with the same love, joy, and peace.
The Tribe of Zebulun
“Zebulun shall dwell by the haven of the sea;
He shall become a haven for ships,
And his border shall adjoin Sidon."
—Genesis 49:13 NKJV
Although Zebulun was born after Issachar, Jacob blessed Zebulun before Issachar. Why?
Zebulun was blessed first because Nazareth was in Zebulun. Zebulun means “dwelling.” Jesus dwelled in Nazareth for the first 30 years of his life.
God was thinking of Jesus so much that He inspired Jacob’s spirit to bless Zebulun before Issachar.
Two weeks after Jesus rose from the dead, the disciples went fishing on the sea of Galilee (also in the territory of Zebulun) and they caught nothing. You might feel the same way with regard to your business. You might be disappointed and discouraged because you are not seeing results in the area of your expertise.
Look at what Jesus did for His disciples:
Jesus told them to cast their nets on the right side and they caught a huge load of fish. When they got to the shore, they saw a fire, where Jesus had prepared breakfast for them after they had toiled all night and caught nothing.
“After these things Jesus showed Himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias, and in this way He showed Himself”
—John 21:1 NKJV
This simple story of Jesus meeting His disciples on the shores of the sea of Galilee is worth paying attention to because He specifically chose to reveal Himself in this way.
In this encounter with His disciples, Jesus showed that He cares for us not just spiritually, but in every way.
He will meet you and provide for your needs in all these areas. He cares for your body, soul, and spirit. He has the power to meet all your needs.
We are well provided-for in Christ.
“This coming week, the Lord preserve, protect, and keep you and your family from every danger, harm, terror, disease, and all the power of the evil one in the name of Jesus. The Lord favor you everywhere you go. Favor is on you in a mighty way. You have favor with God and with men. The Lord bless you. You are blessed coming in, blessed going out. The Lord bless everything you touch because the Lord is with you. And all the blessings of the tribes are yours in Christ, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. And all the people say: Amen.”
We hope these sermon notes blessed you! If they did, we encourage you to get the sermon and allow the Lord to speak to you personally as you watch or listen to it.
© Copyright JosephPrince.com 2019
These sermon notes were taken by volunteers during the service. They are not a verbatim representation of the sermon.
These are notes on the sermon, Secrets Of Jesus Hidden In The Tribes Of Israel, preached by Pastor Joseph Prince on Sunday, 31 March 2019, at The Star Performing Arts Centre, Singapore. We hope these sermon notes will be an encouragement to you!
Be sure to sign up to get updates on the latest sermon notes by Team JP.
Pastor encourages the congregation that as they come for service and hear the Word preached, come fully expectant that the Lord is able to touch you and set you free from any bondages that you are still experiencing—depression, bad habits.
Those who are facing marital or parenting challenges or even physical conditions that others may not even know, that God—the One who loves you, knows about it.
And He is able to move in healing even in the midst of the preaching of the Word, without the laying of hands. Just like the Roman Centurion who believed that the Lord could heal his servant even without the Lord being physically there with the servant.
Pastor shares a testimony from a brother in Hong Kong who was diagnosed with a large growth in his left foot after an MRI scan. Despite the report, him and his wife continued to partake of the Holy Communion and anointed himself with the anointing oil, declaring “as Jesus is without any tumors or growth in His heel, so am I in this world.” During a second MRI scan, the doctors could find no growth or tumor and no surgery or medicine was required! The doctor had never seen anything like this in his 30 years of practice.
Continue beholding Jesus even in the midst of your challenges and know that as Jesus is, so are you in this world.
Do we look at a portrait? Is it too simplistic an answer, or a piece of impractical advice?
It isn’t about seeing a portrait of Jesus but seeing Him in His Word. Don’t chase after visions, the Word is how you can see Jesus today.
Jesus Himself taught us that when He appeared to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus (see Luke 24:13-35).
“Emmaus” — It means “warm baths” in the Greek. The disciples’ hearts were warmed when Jesus expounded about Himself in the scriptures (see Luke 24:32).
The two disciples were discouraged and despondent from the news of Jesus’ death first saw Jesus as a means to an end (Israel).
Looking away from even the great heroes of faith, but “looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith” (Heb. 12:2).
The word “looking” in this verse is to turn your eyes away from other things and to fix them on Jesus.
Why did Jesus restrain the eyes of the two disciples so that they would not recognize Him? Jesus deemed it more important for them to see Him in the Word than in person.Today, we all have the same privilege of seeing Jesus through His Word.
Seeing Jesus benefits all areas of your life, even in your marriage.
Every marriage needs a “third-party”—Jesus.
When you see Jesus in your marriage, you will not demand from one another what only the Lord can give.
The prophecies are all about Jesus and the gospel.
“And Jacob called his sons and said, “Gather together, that I may tell you what shall befall you in the last days”—Genesis 49:1 NKJV
The blessing over the Tribe of Gad
“Gad, a troop shall tramp upon him,
But he shall triumph at last.”
—Genesis 49:19 NKJV
The word “Gad” is the Hebrew word for “troop”.
In Luke 8, the Gadarene demoniac was possessed by “Legion,” a troop of demons.
During the time of Jesus, a legion in the Roman army consisted of at least 6000 soldiers—the Gadarene demoniac had at least 6000 demons in him.
Yet, as possessed he was, when the man met Jesus, he immediately recognized Him; the man recognized Jesus as the answer. And with just one word, Jesus commanded the legion to leave him and the man was set free from the troop of demons that previously held him.
Do you feel like you’re up against an overwhelming troop of enemies today? The Lord is the One who will help you triumph over them.
The blessing over the Tribe of Asher
“Bread from Asher shall be rich,
And he shall yield royal dainties.”
—Genesis 49:20 NKJV
The territory of Asher (refer to Slide 14) is where the city of Tyre is located and it also the furthest North recorded in the Gospels that Jesus travelled to during His time on Earth.
Jesus met the Syrophoenician woman in Matthew 15 in the city of Tyre.
“And behold, a woman of Canaan came from that region and cried out to Him, saying, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely demon-possessed.”
— Matthew 15:22 NKJV
The woman was a Gentile from Canaan but in the hopes that the Lord will heal her daughter, she pretended to be a Jew, calling Jesus the Son of David.
But Jesus refused to answer her when the woman was coming to Him in pretense.
“But He answered and said, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the little dogs.”
— Matthew 15:26 NKJV
Jesus likens healing to the “children’s bread”.
In those days, the Jews refer to the Gentiles as “dogs” but here, Jesus uses it affectionately, using the word “puppies” that are loved in many homes.
That gave the woman the opportunity to reveal her true identity and to believe that her daughter could receive the healing too despite being a Gentile.
The Lord saw that as great faith and healed her daughter in that very hour (see Matt. 15:28).
Jesus is the Healer and He is also the One who gives healing as a gift.
If you’re currently experiencing a physical condition in your body, you can come to the Lord just as you are. He receives you just as you are and He heals you just as you are.
The blessing over the Tribe of Naphtali
“Naphtali is a deer let loose;He uses beautiful words.”
—Genesis 49:21 NKJV
The land of Naphtali, in the regions surrounding the Sea of Galilee, is where Jesus performed two-thirds of His miracles in the Gospels. On His time on earth, the Lord went around setting people loose from all kinds of bondages.
“beautiful words” — It is on the shores of the Sea of Galilee where Jesus delivered the Sermon on the Mount, which is still regarded as one of the most beautiful pieces of writing.
Here, Jesus met the woman bound by an infirmity for 18 years.
With just a word from the Lord, the woman who was bound for 18 years was immediately healed (see Luke 13:12).
“So ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound— think of it— for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath?”
— Luke 13:16 NKJV
Jesus went around setting people free from what they were previously held bondage to. Even today, we can be bound by negative and depressive thoughts but Jesus came that we will be loosed from these thoughts.
Only Jesus can truly set us free. Don’t miss the real thing.
Pastor Prince shares a personal encounter with a brother who was unsure about his salvation. You cannot be unsure about your salvation. Don’t spend your whole life being unsure of the gospel and the salvation that you have through the Lord Jesus Christ.
Your life is too precious to miss the most important thing—knowing Jesus.
“But let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me” (Jer. 9:24 NASB)
The blessing over the Tribe of Joseph
“Joseph is a fruitful bough,
A fruitful bough by a well;
His branches run over the wall.”
—Genesis 49:22 NKJV
There was a wall called the wall of partition between the Jews and the Gentiles in the temple of God during the time of Jesus.
Joseph is one of the clearest types of Jesus in the Old Testament. Joseph was loved by his father but rejected by his brothers. God the Father gave His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, but He was rejected by His own, Israel.
“But He needed to go through Samaria. So He came to a city of Samaria which is called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied from His journey, sat thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour.”
—John 4:4-6 NKJV
Sychar was located in the area where the Gentiles lived. The Samaritan woman, who was a Gentile, was not supposed to interact with the Jews. Yet, Jesus’ blessings went over the wall of partition separating Jew and Samaritan.
Even when He was “wearied from His journey”, Jesus was still ministering and pouring out to the woman.
No matter how far or how distant you feel from the Lord, He always bridges the divide to reach you. There is no sin too great nor sinner too far gone that the Lord cannot and will not reach.
The blessing over the Tribe of Issachar
“Issachar is a strong donkey,
Lying down between two burdens;
He saw that rest was good,
And that the land was pleasant;
He bowed his shoulder to bear a burden,
And became a band of slaves.”
—Genesis 49:14-15 NKJV
Before Pastor Prince left on his trip, one place that he really wanted to visit is Nain or Nin as it is referred to now. The city of Nain is located in the territory of Issachar.
"Nain" — The Hebrew word for “pleasant” or “beauty”.
It happened the day after a series of miracles, which ended with the Centurion’s servant’s healing in Capernaum.
“Now it happened, the day after, that He went into a city called Nain; and many of His disciples went with Him, and a large crowd. And when He came near the gate of the city, behold, a dead man was being carried out, the only son of his mother; and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the city was with her.”
— Luke 7:11-12 NKJV
At the gate of Nain, two groups of people met. Jesus came with a large crowd from Capernaum while a funeral procession was leaving the city.
“When the Lord saw her, He had compassion on her and said to her, “Do not weep.” Then He came and touched the open coffin, and those who carried him stood still. And He said, “Young man, I say to you, arise.” So he who was dead sat up and began to speak. And He presented him to his mother.”
— Luke 7:13-15 NKJV
“When the Lord saw her” — This is the first time Jesus was addressed as “the Lord” in the gospel of Luke because He is the Lord of life.
At the gate of Nain, death and life met. The custom of that day was to follow the procession when you meet them but Jesus rerouted them.
“Do not weep” — The Lord comforted the widow before He even healed her son.
Jesus raised the boy from the dead and sent him back to his mother. He didn’t ask for anything in return. In the Gospels, Jesus never performs a miracle and commands the person to follow Him.
There was a city opposite of Nain where a similar miracle took place, and the two cities were separated by a hill called Moreh. (refer to slide 15)
When the word “moreh”—the Hebrew word for “teacher”—is there, it is there for our instruction, there’s a point of comparison that the Lord is inviting us to look at.
Comparison of what happened to Jesus in Nain and Elisha in Shunem
Pastor draws a parallel between the story of Elisha and the Shunammite woman, and the story of Jesus and the widow of Nain.
In Shunem, the prophet Elisha raised a boy from the dead. In Nain, Jesus raised the only son of the widow from the dead.
Elisha — It means Elohim saves.
Jesus — It means Yahweh saves.
Elohim can refer to a God far away but Yahweh is a God near to us, He is a covenant-keeping God.
Elisha had to go through great exertion—taking three tries and praying to the Lord to raise the boy to life. It only took Jesus one word to raise him.
“And he called Gehazi and said, “Call this Shunammite woman.” So he called her. And when she came in to him, he said, “Pick up your son.””
— 2 Kings 4:36 NKJV
Elisha had to ask the mother to pick up her son.
While Jesus “presented him to his mother” (see Luke 7:15).
In every way, Jesus is greater than even the greatest prophets that the people who saw the miracle called Him “a great prophet” (Luke 7:16).
“Issachar is a strong donkey,
Lying down between the sheepfolds.”
— Genesis 49:14 NASB
From the map (refer to Slide 15), Mount Moreh lies between the city of Shunem and Nain. It is like the donkey lying between two resting places revealed in Jacob’s prophecy.
“Shunem” means “double resting place” in the Hebrew.
“He saw that rest was good,
And that the land was pleasant (“nain”);
He bowed his shoulder to bear a burden,
And became a band of slaves.”
— Genesis 49:15 NKJV
“band of slaves” — Without the Lord, we are like a band of slaves, slaves to sin.
At the cross, the Lord rerouted us from ultimate death to eternal life; that we are no longer slaves to sin but sons and daughters of the Most High God.
“Father in Heaven, we don’t take for granted Your protection. Father, we know that You promised that those who dwell in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. A thousand can fall at our side, and ten thousand at our right hand but it will not come near us.
We thank you, Father, that arrows can fly by day and all kinds of disasters can strike at night, but they will not come near us, they will not come near our dwellings. Throughout this week, Father, be it unto us according to Your Word in Psalm 91, preserve Your people, protect them from danger, harm, and from all the powers of darkness. Father, let them live their lives, looking at Jesus and enjoying Him; wanting more and more from Your Word. In Jesus’ name. And all the people said? Amen.”
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© Copyright JosephPrince.com 2019
These sermon notes were taken by volunteers during the service. They are not a verbatim representation of the sermon.
These are notes on the sermon, His Blessings Over You Are Irreversible, preached by Pastor Joseph Prince on Sunday, 12 July 2020, at The Star Performing Arts Centre, Singapore. We hope these sermon notes will be an encouragement to you!
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Pastor Prince begins the service by reminding the church that it is important to always take time to receive from the Word of God.
Look at the story of Martha and Mary: two sisters who served Jesus differently when He visited their house. While Martha was busy and worried about serving Jesus, Mary chose to sit at Jesus’ feet and listen to Him. When Martha became upset, Jesus corrected Martha for being worried about serving Him but commended Mary for doing the one thing needful—sit at His feet and receive directly from Him (see Luke 10:38–42).
Likewise, Jesus’ heart for us is to receive from Him. He wants to serve us. He doesn’t want us to serve Him such that we become worried or troubled about many things. He doesn’t need our service but desires for us to do the one thing needed, which is to prioritize His Word.
We tend to be worried about many things that we deem “needful,” like exercise or making sure we plan ahead for our futures. These are all good things, but the Lord wants us to prioritize His Word.
It’s the Word of God that restores, heals, and delivers our lives from destruction. When we have His Word in our lives, the truth it brings sets us apart and sanctifies us (see John 17:16–17) from the commonness of the world. We are marked for His blessings, His anointing, and heaven’s best!
The primary way we receive the Word is through reading the Bible. When you spend time in the Word, you are not reading ordinary written words on a page, but God-breathed Scripture.
God speaks to us in two ways:
Pastor Prince shares a recent experience during the church’s online youth camp where he followed the leading of the Holy Spirit by praying for a troubled youth during the service. Later on, he found out from the youth pastor that there was indeed a youth who had been dealing with suicidal thoughts who was tuning in. Because this youth was listening to the preached word, his life was saved that night.
The Word of God is what transforms our lives, and when we desire it, read it, or hear it, we will receive the now word, the timely word-in-season, that we need.
Last week, Pastor Prince shared about how the enemy of our souls twists certain passages of the Bible around to bring fear, uncertainties, and difficulties in the lives of believers today. We need to read all scripture in its context and understand that certain scriptures are not written to us, but written to specific groups of people during Bible times.
Today, as believers who live under the new covenant of grace, it is important to feel secure in our relationship with God, for joy and fear cannot operate concurrently. Love, joy, and peace will flow in your life when you are secure in God’s love for you.
Take for example a child who is being corrected: when the child is in an environment that’s loving and non-threatening, the child can feel loved by the parent even while being corrected.
If we want to create such an environment for our children, if we know how to give good gifts to our children, how much more our Father in heaven, who is perfect and good to us (see Matt. 7:11)?
Recap of last week’s sermon:
In Hebrews 6, the strong word “impossible” appears 2 times:
“‘Surely blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply you.’” — When you look at verse 14, it says clearly that God will surely bless you.
“which it is impossible for God to lie” — The context of the word “impossible” here is that God promises to bless us, and it is impossible for Him to lie in the context of blessings. Let’s not simply focus on the negative use of the word “impossible,” but instead focus on the positive “impossible” that assures us that the Lord will bless us!
Don’t let the enemy snatch defeat out of the jaws of victory. Don’t always focus on the part about condemnation.
See how Jesus dealt with the sinners—He was gracious to them as if He didn’t see their sins. He didn’t hold their sins against them. Their sins could not stop His grace. Later, He would bear the punishment of their sins in His own body, just as He did for you and me.
Our Lord Jesus is so grace-minded. Let us be grace-minded too and not condemnation-minded.
“that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God.”
— 2 Corinthians 5:19–20 NKJV
“not imputing their trespasses to them” — The way Jesus went around reconciling the world was through the gracious and merciful way He dealt with sinners. Instead of seeing them in their sin and punishing them under the law for what they judicially deserved, Jesus went around dispensing His restoration, healing, and blessings.
When it comes to the way we present the gospel, we are called to preach the love of Jesus, for the only answer to sin is Jesus Christ.
“the word of reconciliation” — This preached word is what God has committed to us, for we are ambassadors of Christ. It’s not a matter of God being reconciled to us, for He is already reaching out to us. It’s a matter of us reconciling ourselves to God.
“be reconciled to God” — People are reconciled to God when they know that He is not counting their trespasses against them. The moment you receive Jesus into your life, you are given power to become the sons of God (see John 1:12).
Just like you don’t clean yourself before taking a shower, you don’t have to get rid of all your wrongdoings or sin before coming to Jesus. After accepting Him into your life, He will deal with your sins and wrong behavior, and transform your life by grace.
The gospel is not a bunch of dos and don'ts. The gospel is the reconciliation message of God who loved us so much that He sent His Son to save us.
As believers, Jesus’ finished work at the cross gives us a righteous foundation to receive God’s grace today. The law follows the natural way of thinking—it’s all about “do good, get good.” But the gospel of grace is not natural—it is all about us receiving the good we don’t deserve. It takes the wisdom of the Holy Spirit to unveil to the world the grace of God, which is His unearned, undeserved, unmerited favor, freely given to us to receive.
There is a portion of Scripture about “sinning willfully” that often confuses believers because it seems to say there is a sin we can commit that is unpardonable:
“For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries.”
— Hebrews 10:26–27 NKJV
“sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth” — In this passage, it seems as though this “sinning willfully” is something a believer can commit after receiving the knowledge of the truth. However, it’s possible for someone to “receive the knowledge of the truth,” which is to hear about or know about Jesus dying for all our sins, yet not “receive the truth,” which is Jesus Himself. People who “sin willfully” are those who only receive the knowledge of the truth and do not receive Jesus into their hearts.
When you receive the truth (Jesus), He will bring peace to your heart. God wants His peace to dominate our emotions, our mind, and to manifest as wholeness in our bodies.
God’s peace is practical for our physical bodies. Psychosomatic symptoms (bodily symptoms caused by your mind, worries, or stress) and autoimmune disorders are usually the results of us not being at peace with ourselves.
When scriptures are taken out of context and twisted to create a different meaning, they can be used to develop fear in our hearts, which is not what God has ordained. Lining up one’s life with God’s Word out of fear will never cause love in your heart for Him.
To pastors and leaders: while we envision God’s people to have the right behavior, more than that, we want them to have the right attitude—of love, joy, peace, and love for the Lord.
For example, ideally, a husband should not commit adultery because he loves his wife. However, a husband can be outwardly faithful not because he loves his wife, but because of other reasons like job security, worry about what others will say, etc.
It is important to have the right behavior, but also to have the right motivation behind that behavior. The peace of God is what causes us to have the right actions and the right motivations in our service toward Him.
—
Context of Hebrews Hebrews 10:26–27:
For us to learn about the context of Hebrews 10, let us go back to Hebrews 1:
“Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son…”
— Hebrews 1:1–2 ESV
“God spoke to our fathers” — This passage shows us that the book of Hebrews was written to the Jewish people, and not to us today, who are non-Jews (Gentiles).
“For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries.”
— Hebrews 10:26–27 NKJV
“if we sin willfully . . . there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins” — If someone comes to you and says that you can lose your salvation if you sin willfully, you would have a fearful expectation of judgment coming on you. The truth is that even as believers, we have all sinned willfully. Does that mean we’ve lost our salvation? No! We can see this from the very next verses:
“Anyone who has rejected Moses’ law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace?”
— Hebrews 10:28–29 NKJV
“insulted the Spirit of grace” — What falls into the category of “willful” sin for which there is no forgiveness is turning away from Jesus and saying that you don’t need His grace, and that you can earn your own salvation. This sin that cannot be forgiven is the sin of rejecting God’s grace.
“a common thing” — For the Jewish people, “a common thing” in this context meant that they considered the blood of Jesus like the blood of bulls and goats.
Backstory: During the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur), there was the practice of shedding the blood of bulls and goats, which was enough to cover their sins for one year. This was practiced until Jesus, the true Lamb of God, came to take away all our sins once and for all.
Today, when we act like the blood of Jesus only lasts for a day, we take it as a common thing. In actual fact, the blood of Jesus has redeemed us for eternity, is of eternal quality, and has given us eternal forgiveness!
In context, to “sin willfully” means to reject grace and go back to the temple sacrifices (self-effort, and work for your own salvation). On the flip side, when you accept His grace, you are set up to receive all of His blessings!
Once again, let us come back to the promise God made to us who are under the covenant of grace:
“saying, ‘Surely blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply you.’ that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us.”
— Hebrews 6:14,18 NKJV
God has promised to bless us and it is impossible for Him to lie. You can rest in the strong consolation and encouragement that He will surely bless you and your family even during tough times.
During this financial crisis and pandemic, it is impossible for God not to bless you, for He has sworn to bless you! When thoughts of fear, doubt, and unbelief come in, you can remind yourself that you are a seed of Abraham, and that is why it’s impossible for God not to bless you. Even when you see famine in the job marketplace, you can rest knowing that you are set apart by the Lord and His blessing is upon you.
There was once an evil king called Balak who came against the Israelites. He hired the prophet Balaam to curse the people, but Balaam ended up blessing the people instead.
“God is not a man, that He should lie,
Nor a son of man, that He should repent.
Has He said, and will He not do?
Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?
Behold, I have received a command to bless;
He has blessed, and I cannot reverse it.
‘He has not observed iniquity in Jacob,
Nor has He seen wickedness in Israel.
The Lord his God is with him,
And the shout of a King is among them.’”
— Numbers 23:19–21 NKJV
“God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent.” — Many times, this passage of Scripture is used in a negative context that implies threat and punishment, but actually this verse emphasizes how God’s blessings over our lives are completely irreversible. The actual context is that God cannot lie, and so you will be blessed, and continue to be blessed.
“He has not observed iniquity in Jacob, Nor has He seen wickedness in Israel.” — Notice that the verse doesn’t say there are no iniquities, wickedness, or sin in Israel, but it says the Lord does not see it. The comfort is that God did not see or impute their trespasses to them, as if there were no sin in their lives. That is how God sees us today!
“that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us.”
— Hebrews 6:18 NKJV
“fled for refuge” — In this context of the Lord’s irreversible blessing on our lives, there is this significant description of believers: they are those who “have fled for refuge.” This was written to the Hebrews, who were familiar with the term “refuge.” In the Jewish culture, there were cities called “cities of refuge” which were built during the times of Joshua.
“The Lord said to Moses, ‘Give the following instructions to the people of Israel.
‘When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan, designate cities of refuge to which people can flee if they have killed someone accidentally. These cities will be places of protection from a dead person’s relatives who want to avenge the death. The slayer must not be put to death before being tried by the community. Designate six cities of refuge for yourselves, three on the east side of the Jordan River and three on the west in the land of Canaan. These cities are for the protection of Israelites, foreigners living among you, and traveling merchants. Anyone who accidentally kills someone may flee there for safety.’”
— Numbers 35:9–15 NLT
“cities of refuge to which people can flee if they have killed someone accidentally” — Cities of refuge were for people who had killed someone accidentally, not wilfully. In modern-day context, these murders were non-premeditated with no malice intended, i.e. manslaughter.
“three on the east side . . . three on the west” — God positioned and spread out the cities of refuge such that they were easily accessible for those who happened to kill someone accidentally to flee to.
Even in the Old Testament, God hides pictures of His Son:
“‘But if someone strikes and kills another person with a piece of iron, it is murder, and the murderer must be executed. Or if someone strikes and kills another person with a wooden object, it is murder, and the murderer must be put to death.’”
— Numbers 35:16,18 NLT
“if someone strikes and kills another person with a piece of iron [or] a wooden object, it is murder, and the murderer must be put to death” — This clause was included in the instructions for the cities of refuge. It is a picture of Jesus’ death: Jesus was nailed to the cross by pieces of iron, and the cross itself is a wooden object. This makes all of us who nailed Him there with our sins—both Jew and Gentile—murderers. This is considered premeditated murder, and the law is that murderers must be put to death. But Jesus did something that changed our whole situation:
“Then Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.’
And they divided His garments and cast lots.”
— Luke 23:34 NKJV
“‘Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.’” — The moment Jesus prayed this prayer while He was hanging on the cross, He put all of us (whose sins nailed Him to the cross) in the category of unintentional sin, not premeditated murder. Because of this, all of us qualify for the city of refuge. We can now run to the true city of refuge—Jesus Himself.
In cities of refuge, there is protection and provision for the slayer. The person who enters a city of refuge gets to depend on the means and resources of the city. Cities of refuge were where the priests of the Old Testament resided, and the priests were well supplied. They lived a good life, they were clothed well, and they were fed the very best. God commanded it to be so.
In Numbers 18, God spoke to Aaron, the high priest of that time:
“All the best of the oil, all the best of the new wine and the grain, their firstfruits which they offer to the Lord, I have given them to you.”
— Numbers 18:12 NKJV
“all the best” — This is God saying to us that He has given us the best of the grain, the wine, and the oil.
The slayers who took refuge in a city of refuge were not priests, but murderers, yet they got to eat the food of the priests as long as they dwelled in the city of refuge. This is a picture of us enjoying God’s best blessings that we don’t deserve because we are in our true city of refuge—Jesus.
Today, as a believer under grace, you cannot commit the unpardonable sin. Once you accept Jesus’ finished work at the cross and His grace, God remembers your sins no more!
There are still curses in the New Testament, yet they are all curses against those who come against grace.
Paul pronounced a double curse on anyone who does not preach the gospel of grace:
“So then those who are of faith are blessed . . . For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them.’”
— Galatians 3:9–10 NKJV
“those who are of faith are blessed” — All you need to do is receive His blessings for you by faith, knowing that the work has been finished and that your sins have been forgiven and put away.
God takes grace seriously because when you speak against grace, you take away the very hope people have. The gospel itself is grace and peace.
“For the law, having a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect. For then would they not have ceased to be offered? For the worshipers, once purified, would have had no more consciousness of sins. But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year.”
— Hebrews 10:1–3 NKJV
“For the worshipers, once purified, would have had no more consciousness of sins. But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year.” — The blood of bulls and goats was enough to cover sins, which is why the sacrifices had to be repeated every year and they served as a reminder of sins.
There are some churches who want to bring back the reminder of sins because they believe that is being spiritual, but that’s wrong believing because sin-consciousness produces more sin. To have sin-consciousness is to doubt the finality of Jesus’ payment, which insults the spirit of grace.
Right believing is believing that Jesus’ one sacrifice has cleansed and purified us once and for all. Today, God is righteous in making us righteous because the blood of Jesus has fully glorified all of God’s holy and judicial attributes. Today, we ought to have no more consciousness of sins. Jesus has overpaid our debt greater than we can imagine!
Three ‘W’s to establish yourself well in His righteousness:
The will of the Father:
“then He said, ‘Behold, I have come to do Your will, O God.’ He takes away the first that He may establish the second. By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”
— Hebrews 10:9–10 NKJV
We all want to do God’s will.
“Your will . . . He takes away the first that He may establish the second” — The will of God is to bring in the law and then bring in grace, to take away the first (the law) so that He can establish the second (grace). By that will, we have all been set apart and sanctified.
The work of the Son:
“And every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God.”
— Hebrews 10:11–12 NKJV
“one sacrifice for sins forever” — By Jesus’ one sacrifice, He has established us forever in His righteousness, where our sins have all been forgiven and put away, never to be remembered again.
The witness of the Holy Spirit:
“But the Holy Spirit also witnesses to us; for after He had said before,
‘This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them,’ then He adds, ‘Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.’”
— Hebrews 10:15–17 NKJV
“the Holy Spirit also witnesses to us . . . Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more” — Many believers believe the Holy Spirit witnesses to us about our sins, but actually the Holy Spirit witnesses to us that God remembers our sins no more! It’s not because God is going easy on sin, but because all of God’s judicial righteousness and wrath for our sins was satisfied in Jesus’ body on our behalf. When you believe this truth that God no longer remembers your sins and will never revisit your sins or judge you for them, you are believing the witness of the Holy Spirit.
“Now where there is remission of these, there is no longer an offering for sin. Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh.”
— Hebrews 10:18–20 NKJV
“new and living way” — The Christian life is not a life of fear of coming close to God, but a life of boldness in coming to His presence in a new and living way. We can draw near with a true heart, with full assurance, and with faith, and hold on to hope (see Heb. 10:22).
“not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching. For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins.”
— Hebrews 10:25–26 NKJV
When we know this truth, there is no reason why we would want to “sin wilfully” and reject Jesus’ grace.
Under the first covenant that God brought, He knew that there was no way for us to be blessed because everything was dependent on us, on our behavior. Under the new covenant, everything is dependent on Jesus. There is no part for us to fulfill except believe on Jesus and His atoning work, and God does the rest. If you’re in trouble, or sick, you don’t need to earn the Lord’s help. He will help you because He remembers your sins no more.
Pastor Prince closes the service by reminding us that when we believe the one truth that God remembers our sins no more, we will believe the 3 ‘W’s—the will of God, the work of the Son, and the witness of the Holy Spirit, and receive all of His blessings of provision, health, and protection.
Pastor Prince prays for the following conditions:
“The Lord bless you with the blessings of father Abraham and the blessings of Deuteronomy 28, even as you are blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ. And the Lord keep you, preserve, and protect you and your loved ones this week from the COVID-19 virus, from every infection, from every disease, from every harm and danger, and from all the power of the evil one, through the blood of His Son. The Lord make His face shine on you, and be favorable to you. The Lord lift up His countenance on you and your families, and grant to you and your loved ones His shalom peace, well-being, and wholeness. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, amen. Jesus Christ is Lord forever.”
We hope these sermon notes blessed you! If they did, we encourage you to get the sermon and allow the Lord to speak to you personally as you watch or listen to it.
© Copyright JosephPrince.com 2020
These sermon notes were taken by volunteers during the service. They are not a verbatim representation of the sermon.
These are notes on the sermon, How To Pray And See Results, preached by Pastor Joseph Prince on Sunday, 4 November 2018, at The Star Performing Arts Centre, Singapore. We hope these sermon notes will be an encouragement to you!
Be sure to sign up to get updates on the latest sermon notes by Team JP.
Think great prayers look like clasping your hands, being on your knees, and desperately begging God to bless you? Then be encouraged as you discover in this sermon how it's nothing like that at all!
We hope these notes will help you understand how:
In this sermon, Pastor Prince unveils what are earnest prayers that get results, from the life of prophet Elijah in the Bible. See your Abba Fatherâs lavish heart to bless you and learn how to pray these prayers that bear great results!
Pastor Prince shares about his new 28-day devotional, Anchored: Finding Peace In The Storms Of Life.
Itâs a book that brings you into real contact with Jesus, and thatâs when great things happen: You receive your miracle, your body is healed, your mind receives peace.
Every time you come to church, God deposits something new in you too. You leave stronger, freer, healthier, more joyful.
Pastor Prince shares a testimony from a lady in Virginia, United States whose husband was healed of Alzheimerâs (an incurable disease till today) through standing on Godâs Word and regularly partaking of the Holy Communion after hearing messages from this ministry on it.
Pastor Prince encourages the people to receive Godâs Word for themselves every day, just like the couple in the testimony did. This is as we face fresh battles daily that have to be met with fresh manna from heaven daily, too. Thatâs why Jesus said, "Give us this day our daily bread" (Matt. 6:11), not weekly/monthly bread.
God can heal you of diseases like Alzheimerâs and dementia. He can even reverse aging.
Pastor Prince shares about how God once corrected his idea of Him as a bearded old man. God said, "Growing old is part of the curse after Adamâs fall. In heaven, nobody is old."
God is forever young. And if we learn to walk with him, we can defy the aging that our natural bodies are subject to as well. We can enjoy the blessings of Psalm 92, which is read by Jews worldwide on the Sabbath:
The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Those that be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing. â Psalm 92:12â14 KJV
"the palm tree" â Palm trees grow straight and stalwart, every part of them is useful even in their old age, and they are evergreen. We're like that.
"a cedar in Leb" â Cedar trees are attractive and evergreen too.
"Those that be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God" â You will succeed in the world when youâre first rooted in church.
"They shall still bring forth fruit in old age" â The Hebrew word for "old age" here is seybah, which means old age, gray hairs. But even then, you can still bring forth fruit, i.e. be physically and mentally healthy.
"Fat and flourishing" â "Fat" in the Hebrew means "full of sap," and "flourishing" means "green."
"Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit."
â James 5:17â18 KJV
"Elias" here refers to Elijah, the prophet of the hour when Israel was ruled by the corrupt King Ahab and his wicked wife Jezebel. The whole nation was in rebellion against God: Theyâd forgotten how He previously delivered them from their Egyptian slave masters and led them through the wilderness into the Promised Land. They were now worshipping the idol Baal. And so Elijah prayed this prayer.
These two verses tell us that thereâs a prayer all of us can pray that will affect heaven and earth. This prayer is not just for a select few, because Elijah was "a man subject to like passions as we are," meaning that he was like any of us.
We pray not to soothe our emotions, but to bring heaven to earth and get results.
In Elijahâs case, his prayer literally affected the atmosphere: There was no rain for 3.5 years.
"He prayed earnestly," and Elijahâs earnest prayer is found here:
"And Elijah the Tishbite, of the inhabitants of Gilead, said to Ahab, 'As the LORD God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, except at my word.'"Â â 1 Kings 17:1 NKJV
"As the LORD God of Israel lives, before whom I stand" â Elijah wasnât afraid of King Ahab because Elijah lived his life before God. Neither will you fear manâs opinions or their criticism when God becomes your primary source of encouragement and strength.
Your prayers have results when you know your influence with God
God is delighted when you know you have influence with Him, and Jacob in the Bible was one such man who knew. He told God, after wrestling with Him from night till daybreak, "I will not let You go unless You bless me!" (Gen. 32:26). Jacobâs heart was in the right place.
Then, the Lord changed his name from Jacob (which means grabber, deceiver, manipulator) to Israel (which means "prince of God").
"And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God" â Gen. 32:28 KJV
When did Jacob have power with God, and get his prayer for God to bless him answered? When God touched the socket of Jacobâs hip and he became helpless. When Jacob was struggling with his human strength, God wanted to leave. But the moment he was helpless, God could not leave.
God doesnât help those who help themselves; He helps those who are helpless.
He helps you when you say, "I canât overcome this e.g. addiction to pornography, smoking, temper problem...but You can. Iâm looking to You."
Donât be like the world where everyoneâs looking to their own smarts and abilities. The faster you stop trusting in that, the faster you have influence with God and take on your identity in Himâlike Jacob did.
"And Elijah the Tishbite, of the inhabitants of Gilead, said to Ahab, 'As the LORD God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, except at my word.'"
â 1 Kings 17:1 NKJV
Notice how God calls Elijahâs bold declaration above "earnest prayer" (in James 5:17â18)? It doesnât fit our traditional ideas of prayer, which usually involves a person with eyes closed, hands folded, and on his/her knees.
Rather, the second time Elijah prayed (on his knees) in James 5:18, the word "earnestly" is not there. Weâre going to see why.
By this time, there has not been dew nor rain for 3.5 years. Not a blade of green grass was in sight. The land was parched, and it was difficult for the people to get water from the mountains. King Ahab was looking for deliverance.
Elijah issues a challenge to Baal and his prophets to turn the Israelitesâ hearts back to God (1 Kings 18:21). Both he and Baalâs prophets would kill a bull, cut it in pieces, and lay it on wood. Baalâs prophets would call on him, while Elijah would call upon God. The One who answered by fire would be the true God (1 Kings 18:24). Baal didnât answer, but God answered with fire on the sacrifice, and in so doing, forgave the Israelites for their rebellion. Now, God could righteously bring showers of blessings upon Israel, because He has judged their sins in the sacrificial bull.
In fact, the fires of judgment falling on the sacrificeânot the rebellious Israelitesâwas a foreshadowing of how our Lord Jesus would bear the judgment for our sins on the cross.
Although God has to judge sin, He is love.
"Then Elijah said to Ahab, 'Go up, eat and drink; for there is the sound of abundance of rain.' So Ahab went up to eat and drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; then he bowed down on the ground, and put his face between his knees, and said to his servant, 'Go up now, look toward the sea.' So he went up and looked, and said, 'There is nothing.' And seven times he said, 'Go again.' Then it came to pass the seventh time, that he said, 'There is a cloud, as small as a manâs hand, rising out of the sea!' So he said, 'Go up, say to Ahab, 'Prepare your chariot, and go down before the rain stops you.'' Now it happened in the meantime that the sky became black with clouds and wind, and there was a heavy rain. So Ahab rode away and went to Jezreel. Then the hand of the Lord came upon Elijah; and he girded up his loins and ran ahead of Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel."
â 1 Kings 18:41â46 NKJV
"bowed down on the ground, and put his face between his knees" â We think Elijahâs prayer here is more earnest, but God just said he prayed again in James 5:18.
This is because when we declare Godâs goodness, weâre partnering with Him. Weâre agreeing that Jesus has already borne the curse (of diseases, pains, etc.) at the cross, and given us all His blessings. In other words, praying pleading prayers (e.g. "Oh God, please heal my child") negates the truth of Christâs finished work, and gives the false impression that God still needs to be persuaded to bless us. And since the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth, He cannot bear witness with that kind of prayer, and we donât see results.
What declaring and decreeing looks like:
e.g. "In the name of Jesus, you foul spirit of depression, let this person go!" â Youâre declaring that itâs not the Lord, but the powers of darkness thatâs holding this person back. Youâre declaring that Heâs not the problem, but the solution.
Elijah prayed the way he did because he was living under the Old Covenant before Jesus came, where it was far easier to come under Godâs judgment than His blessings. Although God promised to bless His people when they kept all 10 Commandments, they only had to break one to be cursed (see Deut. 11:26â28).
Thatâs why it was far easier for Elijah to pronounce judgment in the form of no dew/rain for Israel, but far more difficult for him to pray for rain.
But Jesusâ finished work at the cross has changed everything. Now, blessings come easily because they arenât contingent upon our perfect obedience to Godâs law, but upon Christâs one obedience to God in dying on the cross for our sins and making us righteous (see Rom. 5:19). And blessings crown the head of the righteous.
God never meant for us to earn His blessings by keeping His law. God gave the law so that weâd come to the end of ourselves and receive Him as our righteousness instead. And receiving His righteousness produces righteous fruits, right living, and holiness before God and men.
Itâs Godâs goodness that leads us to repentance. And not only do we end up fulfilling the law, but exceeding it by the power of His grace.
But God was so good that He answered Elijahâs prayer anyway and sent rain. Letâs come back to the story:
"Go up, eat and drink" â While Elijah told King Ahab to do that, the prophet went up to the top of Carmel; then he bowed down on the ground, and put his face between his knees (1 Kings 18:42).
Like Elijah, remember to give glory to God when He blesses you and delivers you from trouble. Letâs also thank Him for all the blessings and protection we arenât even aware of.
"there is the sound of abundance of rain" (1 Kings 18:41) â Pastor Prince declares that he hears the sound of abundance of rain for us in 2019: Of abundance of favor, shalom peace, family blessings, etc. Just as Elijah heard the sound of rain before it actually poured, Pastor hears this in the Spirit for us.
It pays to follow God, who lives outside time. Heâs already seen your 2019 and He says itâs great. And Heâll come back, take your hand, and lead you through it.
"There is a cloud, as small as a manâs hand, rising out of the sea" (1 Kings 18:44) â Little with God always becomes much: A small cloud with God in it brings torrential rains.
"Then the hand of the Lord came upon Elijah; and he girded up his loins and ran ahead of Ahab" (1 Kings 18:46) â When Godâs power comes upon you, youâll have supernatural strength like Elijah, who outran Ahabâs chariot.
Pastor Prince shares about how he meditated on Isa. 40:31 during a run in the army, and experienced a second wind so much that he was disappointed when they were told to rest!
It was the same for the Gadarene demoniac, who evangelized to ten cities (Decapolis) after Jesus delivered him (see Mark 5:1â20). When Godâs Spirit comes upon you, you have supernatural results.
Itâs vital that we know that weâre living in the age/dispensation of grace, where itâs easy to pray and see results. Not the dispensation of law in Elijahâs time, nor of the coming day of vengeance where every sin will be dealt with (even then, as believers, Christ has borne all the judgment for our sins. Weâll be in our glorified bodies in which we cannot sin).
Weâre living in the acceptable year of the Lord, as our Lord Jesus once read from the book of Isaiah. The Hebrew word for "acceptable" here is "ratsown," a very rich word which means that Godâs free favors are profusely abounding. We see this in Luke 4:17â20:
"And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written: 'The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed; To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord' Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him."
Compare this to the original passage of Scripture that Jesus was reading:
"To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord,
And the day of vengeance of our God."
â Isaiah 61:2 NKJV
Jesus didnât continue reading to "the day of vengeance of our God" because itâs not yet come. Weâre still living in the acceptable year of the Lord, and itâs been 2,000 years now. God is patiently waiting as He wants as many people to be saved as possible. He is "longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance." (2 Peter 3:9).
Godâs free favors are so profusely abounding in this age of grace that we can even pray for non-believers and see results. In fact, not one of the many people Jesus healed in the New Testament (before this age of grace) were saved, because He hadnât died on the cross!
You can pray for non-believers and trust Godâs goodness to lead them to repentance (see Rom. 2:4)âmeaning that they stop thinking Heâs an angry God, start seeing Him as a loving Father, and come to church.
Pastor Prince shares how he prayed for a non-believer to be free from panic attacks, the heavy medication he was under, and the accompanying inability to leave home. When he met him again, the man said he was 85% healed and his doctor said he doesnât need medication anymore! He also shared that he spends time with God every morning.
No amount of arguing or politicking will change people, but sharing the gospel of grace and a Savior who loves them will transform them from the inside out.
Pray from a position of sonship, completeness, and victory.
See God as a Father, who Jesus came to reveal Him as. There is protection in seeing God as Father, as seen in John 17:11 below. He isnât far away, but so close to you.
"Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me"
â John 17:11
Itâs not about the strength of our prayer, but who weâre praying to. Long before we pray, we see that God wants to bless people. He doesnât need to be begged.
Since Jesus has carried our diseases, we can declare, "Fever, go in the name of Jesus! Goiter, die in Jesusâ name!"
If youâve declared once but havenât seen results, donât give up and keep on declaring, no matter how small you feel your faith is!
When the apostles asked Jesus to increase their faith, He responded:
"And the apostles said to the Lord, 'Increase our faith.' So the Lord said, 'If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, 'Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea,' and it would obey you."
â Luke 17:5â6 NKJV
"faith as a mustard seed" â The mustard seed is very small, and yet Jesus says faith of that size can uproot a mulberry tree, whose roots go very deep.
"you can say to this mulberry tree" â The word "say" here is in the imperfect tense in the original Greek, which implies a continuous action, i.e. keep on declaring.
Pastor Prince shares about how he used to have a skin condition on his back. Every time he bathed, he would say, "Skin condition, be plucked up by your roots and thrown into the sea!" He kept doing it for some weeks, and one day God prompted him to look for it and he saw it was gone.
God wants us to declare/decree, because as believers, He has made us kings and priests who are seated with Christ in heavenly places where weâre above all principality and power (see Rev. 1:6, Eph. 2:6, Eph. 1:19â21). Itâs customary for kings to make decrees.
Donât ask God to deal with the problem. Just own the authority Heâs given you over it, and declare!
Just like God told Moses not to cry to Him when the Israelites complained that Moses had taken them away to die in the wilderness, but to lift up his rod, stretch his hand over the Red Sea and divide it (see Exo. 14:15â16).
Mosesâ authority was found in his rod, and our authority today is found in the name of Jesus.
Just as army officers use their authority to direct tanks. They donât have to call HQ. You can use your God-given authority and declare over your situation.
God answering Elijah and sending fire down upon the sacrificial bullânot the Israelitesâis a foreshadowing of how Christ would bear the judgment for our sins. His finished work then becomes the firm foundation upon which we can pray and see results.
We're going to see how even back then, God was so good that He successfully won the people's hearts and judged their sin in the sacrifice. How much more loving will He be to you and I as believers today?
"Now Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, 'Choose one bull for yourselves and prepare it first, for you are many; and call on the name of your god, but put no fire under it.' So they took the bull which was given them, and they prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from morning even till noon, saying, 'O Baal, hear us!' But there was no voice; no one answered. Then they leaped about the altar which they had made. And so it was, at noon, that Elijah mocked them and said, 'Cry aloud, for he is a god; either he is meditating, or he is busy, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is sleeping and must be awakened.' So they cried aloud, and cut themselves, as was their custom, with knives and lances, until the blood gushed out on them. And when midday was past, they prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice. But there was no voice; no one answered, no one paid attention.
Then Elijah said to all the people, 'Come near to me.' So all the people came near to him. And he repaired the altar of the Lord that was broken down. And Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord had come, saying, 'Israel shall be your name.' Then with the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord; and he made a trench around the altar large enough to hold two seahs of seed. And he put the wood in order, cut the bull in pieces, and laid it on the wood, and said, 'Fill four waterpots with water, and pour it on the burnt sacrifice and on the wood.' Then he said, 'Do it a second time,' and they did it a second time; and he said, 'Do it a third time,' and they did it a third time. So the water ran all around the altar; and he also filled the trench with water.
And it came to pass, at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near and said, 'Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that You are God in Israel and I am Your servant, and that I have done all these things at Your word. Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that You are the Lord God, and that You have turned their hearts back to You again.'Â
Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood and the stones and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench. Now when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said, 'The Lord, He is God! The Lord, He is God!'"
â 1 Kings 18:25â39 NKJV
Elijah "repaired the altar of the Lord that was broken down" â Today, the altar represents the cross of Jesus, a symbol of God's love for the world. Let's share Jesus' love with people and they'll come to believe in Him.
"twelve stones" â They represent the nation of Israel, that God loved from old. Israel was one in Godâs eyes even though they were naturally divided (10 tribes in the North, 2 in the South). Today, God sees the body of Christ as one as well: United in the Spirit. We might not agree on all doctrine, but we can unite around the person of Jesus.
"...endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling;" â Ephesians 4:3â4
Elijah told the people to "fill four waterpots with water, and pour it on the burnt sacrifice and on the wood," three times. It was as if he was deliberately making it difficult for God to call down fire. Today, this represents Godâs relentless love for us: No matter how we try to pour cold water on it and suppress it, like Israel turned away from Him back then, God wonât stop pursuing us. As Song of Solomon 8:7, which speaks of His love for us, says:
"Many waters cannot quench love, Nor can the floods drown it."
"at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice" â It was at that time when Elijah prayed to God to send fire down. Israel offers two daily animal sacrificesâin the morning (9am) and the evening (3pm). Itâs also said that Jesus was nailed to the cross at 9am, and exhausted all our sins, judgment, crying. "It is finished!" at 3pm. Now we can pray to God anytime and Heâll hear us, because of Jesusâ finished work.
"Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood and the stones and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench" â During Elijahâs time at Mt Carmel, Godâs fire consumed the sacrifice completely. But at Calvary, Jesus, our perfect sacrifice, consumed the judgment. He rose from the dead and is still alive today!
The sacrifice is now greater than the judgment. Jesusâ resurrection is why we can be assured that all our sins are forgiven. We can come boldly to Godâs throne of grace, pray prayers and see results!
"Now when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said, 'The Lord, He is God! The Lord, He is God!'" â Not only was the righteousness of God satisfied, but God won the heart of Israel. Heâs still winning hearts today.
Have an inward posture of seeing your prayers having results, even before you pray! Donât pray to have influence with God, pray because you already have influence with Him. Donât pray to pry blessings from Godâs hand, but proclaim His blessings that are already yours.
"You will also declare a thing,
And it will be established for you;
So light will shine on your ways
When they cast you down, and you say,
'Exaltation will come!'
Then He will save the humble person."
â Job 22:28â29
"You will also declare a thing, and it will be established for you" â Declare Godâs promises when you donât know what to do, and His light will shine in your situation.
"When they cast you down, and you say, 'Exaltation will come!' Then He will save the humble person." â True humility is declaring Godâs promises when youâre cast down, not wallowing in self-pity.
If you see strife in your relationships, you can declare, "You foul spirit of strife, I command you to cease in your maneuvers. Be gone from my family in Jesusâname!" Use His name. Today, we donât pray judgment on our enemies like David did. We love our human enemies; our real enemies are the powers of darkness.
Even our salvation in Christ is gotten by declaring (confessing) that Jesus is Lord, and believing in our heart that God has raised Him from the dead (Rom. 10:9). Not begging Him to save us.
Pastor Prince prayed this prayer over the people:
"The Lord bless you and your families this coming week. May you be drenched with His blessings. May God make showers of blessings to fall on you and your loved ones throughout this week. May you experience tangibly the blessings of God that will manifest this coming week. The Lord smile on you, be favorable to you, and the Lord Himself keep you. In the name of Jesus, I declare the Lord preserves you from all evil throughout this weekâfrom all harm, from danger, from every infection, from every power of darkness through the blood of His Son, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord smiles on you and grants you his shalom peace, wholeness, and well-being in every part of your being. In every part of your body. In JesusâName, amen."
We hope these sermon notes blessed you! If they did, we encourage you to get the sermon and allow the Lord to speak to you personally as you watch or listen to it.
© Copyright JosephPrince.com 2018
These sermon notes were taken by volunteers during the service. They are not a verbatim representation of the sermon.
These are notes on the sermon, Anointing Oil For Healing And Protection, preached by Pastor Joseph Prince on Sunday, 16 February 2020, at The Star Performing Arts Centre, Singapore. We hope these sermon notes will be an encouragement to you!
Be sure to sign up to get updates on the latest sermon notes by Team JP.
During times of trial in the world, where disease and viruses threaten to instill a spirit of fear in people, God wants us to know that we do not have to yield to fear.
Instead, God wants us to be at peace and at rest.
“And the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly.”
— Romans 16:20 NKJV
“God of peace” — This is one of God’s names: “Jehovah Shalom.” It means “God of peace” in Hebrew.
While we walk in wisdom and take the necessary precautions, it is important that we do not place our trust in natural things, but that we have faith and be at peace in knowing that the Lord protects us and our families wherever we go.
Instead of allowing fear to dictate our every move, let us continue to place our entire trust in God and claim His abundant promises of protection.
VIDEO: An animation video of the theme of the year, Time & Space, is shown on the screen. The video shows illustrations of the Temple of Solomon.
There are three chambers in Solomon’s temple.
Recap of the three chambers:
The three chambers are a visual representation of how our year will be.
God assures us that as the year continues, He will supply the provision we need, bring us to a position of rest, and promote us to a place of blessings.
At this time of the year, we are in the place of the grain, the wine, and the oil, which are stored in the first floor chamber.
The grain and the wine speak of the holy Communion elements. The oil speaks of anointing oil. The three always come together; they are not separate.
In the midst of the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, the Lord has provided us with the grain, the wine, and the oil.
VIDEO: A video excerpt from a sermon dating back to 19 August 2018 is shown on screen. It shows Pastor Prince prophesying a new strain of flu-like virus and how God has already released a new “strain” of healing among His people.
There is no need to worry, for God is always ahead of the devil. The devil plays catch up to God, not the other way around.
“The lowest chamber was five cubits wide, the middle was six cubits wide, and the third was seven cubits wide; for he made narrow ledges around the outside of the temple, so that the support beams would not be fastened into the walls of the temple.”
— 1 Kings 6:6 NKJV
“The lowest chamber was five cubits wide, the middle was six cubits wide, and the third was seven cubits wide” — The world’s space may be getting restricted, but the Lord is going to increase our space. A tight space is a picture of difficulty and stress. A broad space is a picture of deliverance and victory. Our Lord, who controls time and space, will increase us from five cubits, to six cubits, to seven cubits wide.
While we exercise wisdom when carrying out our daily affairs, we can stand firm in God’s protection, knowing that even if a thousand fall at our side, and ten thousand at our right hand, it shall not come near us (see Ps. 91:7).
We can do all we can, but only God can truly protect us and keep us in all our ways.
“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.”
— Psalm 91:11–12 NKJV
“Lest you dash your foot against a stone” — As you walk daily, you cannot foresee the oncoming dangers and pestilences, but God will keep you from even tripping over a stone.
“Behold, I give you authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing by any means shall hurt you.”
— Luke 10:19 NKJV
“trample on serpents and scorpions” — To trample on something means that you are out walking, but you do not see the danger coming your way. God will always make sure the devil is below your feet. As you go about your own way, walking with God, you will trample on the serpents and scorpions.
Psalm 91 describes it this way:
“You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra,
The young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot.”
— Psalm 91:13 NKJV
“nothing shall by any means hurt you” — The word “nothing” in Greek has a double negative emphasis. No thing, no means, in any way, can hurt you. This is how much God reassures us that nothing can ever hurt us!
VIDEO: A dashcam video is played on screen. It shows how God protected a brother in our church from an oncoming accident.
As finite, limited human beings, we cannot guarantee our protection. What we can do is simply have faith and believe God’s truth that nothing can hurt us.
Let us learn to give thanks daily to God for the things we do not realize He has protected us from.
In heaven, there is no sickness, no disease, no lack. Just as it is in heaven, God intends the same for us on earth—to be in health and to prosper in all things (see 3 John 1:2).
In these perilous times, God has ordained that we be delivered and protected by means of the grain and the wine (the holy Communion) and the oil (the anointing oil). It is time to release our faith and enjoy the benefits that He has promised us!
Not only can you use the anointing oil on yourself and your family, but you can also anoint your car, your house, your belongings, etc. Whatever you anoint is set apart and covered by God’s protection and blessing.
Using the anointing oil is not superstition. The oil itself has no power.
It is a symbol of Jesus’ finished work and God never despises symbols of what His Son has done. When you apply it with the revelation of what Jesus accomplished for you at the cross, you will see God’s power move in your situation.
Back in the time when Jesus was on earth with His disciples, they went around using the anointing oil when they prayed for healing for the sick.
“So they went out and preached that people should repent. And they cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick, and healed them.”
— Mark 6:12–13 NKJV
“anointed with oil many who were sick, and healed them” — Wherever the oil went, sickness turned into health.
The power of the anointing oil is still relevant today, even after Jesus’ death and resurrection. How do we know this?
The book of James says:
“Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.”
— James 5:14–15 NKJV
“Is anyone among you sick? ... let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord” — This was done in the church age, which we are currently in. When we anoint ourselves or others with the oil today, we do it in our Lord’s name.
Even though it might seem “too simple” to have any effect, let’s honor what God has ordained for our healing and deliverance. When we use the anointing oil in Jesus’ name, it will only result in blessing upon blessing.
“And He will love you and bless you and multiply you; He will also bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your land, your grain and your new wine and your oil, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flock, in the land of which He swore to your fathers to give you. You shall be blessed above all peoples; there shall not be a male or female barren among you or among your livestock. And the Lord will take away from you all sickness, and will afflict you with none of the terrible diseases of Egypt which you have known, but will lay them on all those who hate you.”
— Deuteronomy 7:13–15 NKJV
“fruit of your womb” — The fruit of your womb refers to your children.
“fruit of your land, your grain and your new wine and your oil” — This is the fruit of your land, where there shall be increase in your grain, your wine and your oil, and you will be blessed above all peoples.
“there shall not be a male or female barren among you or among your livestock” — Instead of barrenness, God has promised you fruitfulness in every area of your life. This blessing is for you if you are believing God for a child or an advancement in your career.
Although the devil attempts to bring the spirit of Egypt (stress and lack) into our lives, God wants to give us a land flowing with milk and honey where provision is all around us.
When we walk with the Holy Spirit, and not by our flesh, we will surely see provision and His blessings abound in our lives. He has blessed us more than we realize!
Pastor Prince shares a testimony from a sister who experienced God’s divine protection from snakes during a work trip. He also shares a testimony from a brother who was protected from a bomb blast while overseas.
Only God can order our steps to be at the right place at the right time and be divinely protected from harm.
He will cover us with His feathers, and we can take refuge under His wings (see Ps. 91:4–6). There, we find safety.
If you are afraid, meditate on the promises of protection found in Psalm 91.
“And the priest the son Aaron shall be with the Levites, when the levites take tithes: and the Levites shall bring up the tithe of the tithes unto the house of our God, to the chambers, into the treasure house. For the children of Israel and the children of Levi shall bring the offering of the corn, of the new wine and the oil, unto the chambers, where are the vessels of the sanctuary, and the priests that minister, and the porters, and the singers: and we will not forsake the house of our God.”
— Nehemiah 10:38–39 KJV
“the corn, of the new wine and the oil” — Everything we need this year, the Lord has provided in the grain, the wine, and the oil.
“not forsake the house of our God” — The house of God is not the physical building of the church. The house of God is the gathering of believers. That’s why we should not forsake the assembling of ourselves.
There is power in corporate anointing (when all of us come together as a church).
In our area of affliction or struggle, God wants us to physically apply the anointing oil on ourselves, for the power of God will flow when you exercise your faith in this way.
Pastor Prince shares a testimony from a woman whose daughter was completely healed of eczema on her heels after the family applied the anointing oil on that area. The anointing oil was God’s means of bringing the breakthrough after years of futility trying to find a cure for her skin condition.
Similarly, when we use the anointing oil, we will see symptoms and problems flee in the name of our Lord Jesus.
Pastor Prince shares a personal testimony of how he used the anointing oil around the perimeter of his daughter’s bedroom to keep bees out when she was very young, and how the family woke up the next day to see a line of dead bees along the threshold where they had put the oil.
There is a correlation between the anointing oil and the blood of Jesus.
In Leviticus, the priests of the temple were anointed with blood on the right ear, on the right thumb, and on the right toe. On these exact places, they were also anointed with oil.
This signified that whatever they heard, whatever they did, and wherever they went, would be blessed.
Today, we don’t apply blood on ourselves because Jesus’ blood is already on us spiritually because of His sacrifice. But we apply the anointing oil as a symbol of His blood and to activate our faith to release His blood-bought blessings.
“and the Lord said to him, ‘Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and cry over all the abominations that are done within.’”
— Ezekiel 9:4 NKJV
“put a mark on the foreheads” — If you do not know where to apply the anointing oil on, you can anoint your forehead. The Hebrew word for “mark” is “tav,” which is the picture of a cross.
When David was young, he was anointed as king with physical anointing oil and he became a giant-slayer.
Wherever David went, he was a blessing. Before that, he was not noticed even in his own house. However, after he was anointed, God brought him to the palace and made him king. God brought him to a place where no one could touch or harm him.
“He permitted no one to do them wrong;
Yes, He rebuked kings for their sakes,
Saying, ‘Do not touch My anointed ones,
And do My prophets no harm.”
— Psalm 105:14–15 NKJV
“Do not touch My anointed ones” — In this context, the anointed ones refer to God’s people, you and I. The disease or virus cannot touch us.
While we are all anointed in Christ, God is teaching us how to draw from His storehouse (the first floor chamber).
God protects us from what we cannot see, like the COVID-19 virus.
Pastor Prince shares a fresh testimony from a woman who was protected from the COVID-19 virus despite being in contact with someone who was infected. She and her family have cleared the quarantine period and are unharmed.
Pastor Prince shares the revelation behind the Hebrew word for “oil” which is “shemen.”
It is a picture of Jesus who was pressed and crushed for our sakes.
The first mention of oil is found in Genesis, in Jacob’s story. This is where God shows up as a God of grace.
Background: Jacob was running from home because he had just cheated his father and brother of the firstborn blessing. He came to a place called Bethel, where he rested for the night. There, God gave him a dream where he saw a staircase to heaven and angels ascending up and down on it. The staircase is a picture of Jesus Himself (see John 1:51); because of Him we can receive blessings from heaven.
“Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, ‘Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.’ And he was afraid and said, ‘How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven!’ Then Jacob rose early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put at his head, set it up as a pillar, and poured oil (‘shemen’) on top of it. And he called the name of that place Bethel; but the name of that city had been Luz previously.”
— Genesis 28:16–19 NKJV
“poured oil (‘shemen’) on top of it” — Jacob anointed the pillar he slept on. This is the first mention of oil in the Bible.
“Bethel” — The word “bethel” means “house of God.”
The oil is always tied up with the house of God.
Pastor Prince shares how he asked the Lord to show him in the Word that the anointing oil is really something that the Lord wants His people to use at this time. And the Lord brought him to Psalm 91.
“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;”
— Psalm 91:9–10 NKJV
“your dwelling place” — The oil is always found in the house of God. When you make the house of God your dwelling place, no evil can befall you.
All the promises of God are found in the house of God. The house of God is you and I coming together where there is a corporate anointing. There is power in the church gathering together as one.
Pastor Prince explains the codes that God has weaved into the Bible and reveals that the Hebrew word for oil, which is “shemen,” can be found in Psalm 91:9.
When you put the oil on something, it becomes the house of God—protected from all evil, all plagues, all harm.
So learn to anoint yourself, your house, and your family. When God’s anointing comes on you by the anointing oil, you are set apart.
This year 2020 in the Hebrew calendar is the year 5780.
Pastor Prince shares the revelation behind the meaning of the last decade 5770 and the new decade 5780.
In the Hebrew calendar, only the last two numbers are taken into account, i.e. 70 and 80 for the last two decades.
In Hebrew, the letters of the alphabet also have a numerical value attached to them.
‘70’ — The Hebrew word for ‘70’ is “ayin,” which means “eye.” It was the decade where we saw many of God’s blessings come to pass.
‘80’ — The Hebrew word for ‘80’ is “peh,” which means “mouth.” This is the decade where God wants us to speak forth by faith the blessings that we want to see in our lives.
Today, when Jewish people say ‘80’, they say the Hebrew word, “shemonim”, which also contains the Hebrew word for “oil” in it. In essence, this is the year of the oil.
Pastor Prince closes the service by praying over the bottles of oil that the congregation has brought to be set apart as anointing oil.
“Father, in the name of Jesus, we lift up this oil before You, Lord, and in and of itself it is just oil. But we ask You in the name of Jesus, Father, anoint this oil. Anoint this oil that we are holding in our hands, Father, and make it Lord, the holy anointing oil consecrated for your purposes, Father, destined to bring glory to the name of Jesus Christ.
Father, we ask in Jesus’ name, wherever this oil is applied, Father, we ask that sickness will turn into wholeness, health and life. Even the dead will be raised, Father. In the name of Jesus, we ask Lord, wherever this oil is applied, failure will turn to success, barrenness will turn into fruitfulness. Lord, we pray that wherever it is applied, we pray that in the name of Jesus, in the darkness there will be light come forth and it will spring forth speedily, Lord. Wherever it is applied, Father, in the name of Jesus we thank You, there’s protection, there’s provision, and there’s restoration.
In the name of Jesus, and Father, glorify the Lord Jesus Christ, not the oil, but glorify the Lord Jesus Christ wherever it is applied, Father. In the name of Jesus we ask, and all the people say, Amen.”
To find out more about The Bible Code that Pastor Prince uses in this sermon, watch this video:
This is an excerpt from: Secrets Of The Bible Code Revealed. C3 Entertainment, 1999.
We hope these sermon notes blessed you! If they did, we encourage you to get the sermon and allow the Lord to speak to you personally as you watch or listen to it.
© Copyright JosephPrince.com 2020
These sermon notes were taken by volunteers during the service. They are not a verbatim representation of the sermon.
These are notes on the sermon, Your Provision Is in the Vision, preached by Pastor Joseph Prince on Sunday, 21 February 2021, at The Star Performing Arts Centre, Singapore. We hope these sermon notes will be an encouragement to you!
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God gives us hazon visions (prophetic visions) for our future to help us operate in faith. Faith is the currency of heaven.
Every blessing and breakthrough you need already belongs to you in Christ, but it is faith that brings them from the invisible spiritual realm to the visible material realm.
Pastor Prince encourages us to keep on praying for the spirit of wisdom and revelation (Eph. 1:17–19) because that’s how we position ourselves to receive hazon visions from the Lord. When you have the wisdom of God, you will be able to see the answers to every problem you’re facing.
Today, we’ll be talking about how God’s provision for us is found in the hazon visions He gives us.
“The vision (‘hazon’) of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw (‘chazah’) concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.”
— Isaiah 1:1 NKJV
“vision (‘hazon’)” — The word “vision” is the word “hazon” in Hebrew, and it refers to a vision from God. The noun “hazon” is “chazah” in verb form.
“saw (‘chazah’)” — The word “saw” is the word “chazah” in Hebrew, and it means “to see, perceive, look, behold, prophesy, provide,” and also “to see as a seer.” When you have a hazon vision, you are provided with insight and wisdom regarding the plans of God in your life.
The word “chazah,” which is the verb form of “hazon,” is translated as “provide” in other passages in the Bible. For example:
“Moreover thou shalt provide (‘chazah’) out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them, to be rulers of thousands, and rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens.”
— Exodus 18:21 KJV
Context: This passage gives us a lesson in leadership on how to pick leaders.
“provide (‘chazah’)” — The word “provide” is the Hebrew word “chazah.”
The Young’s Literal Translation puts it this way:
“And thou -- thou dost provide . . .”
— Exodus 18:21 YLT
God wants you to see that you are provided for. Not by your own efforts, but by God Himself. He will see to your provision.
When God wants to provide for you, He first gives you a hazon vision.
We don’t get hazon visions from God by doing good or having good intentions. We receive them by grace. Because of Jesus’ finished work, we are under the new covenant of grace. We no longer operate under the law of sin and death where we only get the good or bad we deserve, but we now operate under the law of the Spirit of life where we are in Christ Jesus and we get the good that He deserves (Rom. 8:2).
That includes receiving hazon visions from God. In the vision is His provision.
It is important to distinguish new-age teachings like “visualization” from having God-given hazon visions. The devil can also give people visions (e.g. of wealth and expensive cars), but there’s always a price to pay, and some people end up paying with their lives. But don’t be afraid! As long as we are following after Jesus and receiving His hazon visions (which are most often found in His Word), we can be sure that we will receive God-given abundant provision that has been paid for by Christ Himself. The Lord came to give us abundant life (John 10:10)!
Let’s study the life of Abraham. Notice how when God wanted to bless Abraham, God first showed him faith pictures of the blessings before they manifested in his life.
In Genesis 13, Abraham (who was 79 years old) had just come out of Egypt after encountering troubling circumstances. God spoke to Abraham on Mount Bethel:
“And the Lord said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him: ‘Lift your eyes now and look from the place where you are—northward, southward, eastward, and westward; for all the land which you see I give to you and your descendants forever.’ And I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth; so that if a man could number the dust of the earth, then your descendants also could be numbered. Arise, walk in the land through its length and its width, for I give it to you.” Then Abram moved his tent, and went and dwelt by the terebinth trees of Mamre, which are in Hebron, and built an altar there to the LORD.”
— Genesis 13:14–18 NKJV
“northward, southward, eastward, and westward . . . all the land which you see I give to you and your descendants forever” — North, South, East, and West form a picture of the cross. This is a picture of how our inheritance as heirs of Abraham (Gal. 3:29) is found in the cross.
“I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth” — At this time, Abraham did not have children by his wife Sarah. So God gave him a picture of having as many children “as the dust of the earth”—innumerable!
“Arise, walk in the land through its length and its width . . . Then Abram moved his tent, and went and dwelt by the terebinth trees of Mamre” — When God told Abraham to walk in the land, He wasn’t telling Abraham to take a physical trek around Israel. Obviously, Abraham did not physically walk around the length and width of the land God described because all he did was move his tent. Instead of walking in the land physically, Abraham walked in the land in the spirit—he saw it prophetically in the spirit. He could not see all the land that God had described to him from where he was physically standing on Mount Bethel, but God showed him all the land prophetically. That’s how Abraham “walked in the land.”
God told Abraham that whatever he saw prophetically would be his. It is the same for us today. Whatever we see in God’s hazon visions for our lives belongs to us. The first step of receiving God’s provision in our lives is to receive His hazon vision!
Before we can possess greater provision from the Lord, our vision needs to be enlarged by Him.
The progress we make in life begins with our vision. When we were young, we might have thought that having $1,000 in the bank was a lot of money. But as we grew older, our vision widened and we realized how much we needed to be financially stable (it varies from person to person). And with this increase in vision, our finances/savings also increased.
Similarly, before we can possess God’s provision, God has to enlarge our vision. He wants us to see it first on the inside.
As you hold on to the faith pictures that God gives you, and as you focus on His goodness and grace through the seasons of waiting, you will walk in the fulfillment of those faith pictures.
We go back to Genesis 13:
“Then Abram moved his tent, and went and dwelt by the terebinth trees of Mamre (strength, fatness), which are in Hebron (association), and built an altar there to the Lord.”
— Genesis 13:18 NKJV
“Mamre” — The Hebrew word “Mamre” means “strength and fatness.”
“Hebron” — The Hebrew word “Hebron” means “association.” It comes from the root word “chabar,” meaning “alliance, friendship.” It is a picture of having association, fellowship, and closeness with the Lord. Interestingly, “chabar” is also the root word from which we get “chabburah,” which means “stripes”—as in, “by His stripes we are healed” (Isa. 53:5). So we can also say, “by His alliance and friendship with us, we are healed.”
Just like God enlarged Abraham’s capacity to receive provision by giving him prophetic visions, He wants to do the same for you today.
Later on in Abraham’s life, when Abraham was 84 years old, God enlarged his vision once again.
“After these things the word of the Lord came unto Abram in a vision, saying,
Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.”
— Genesis 15:1 KJV
“I am” — The name of God used here is the name “El Shaddai,” which means “God Almighty.”
“thy shield” — When God gave Abraham a vision of a shield, He was giving Abraham a picture of how He was Abraham’s defender and protector.
“thy exceeding great reward” — The Hebrew word “reward” can also be translated as “remuneration, salary.”
The vision God gave to Abraham is for us today too.
The conditions of the world economy, your country, your place of work, or any other negative situation you might be in cannot obstruct God’s provision in your life.
In the story of Jacob and Esau, God gives us a picture of how His provision goes beyond the material gain that the world chases after.
Backstory: When Jacob was about to meet his older brother Esau after many years, he wanted to give Esau many goats and sheep to pay Esau back for cheating him of his birthright all those years ago. In this story, Jacob is a picture of the believer who has the first-born blessing, and Esau is a picture of the world.
When Esau saw all that Jacob wanted to give him, he said:
“But Esau said, ‘I already have plenty (‘rab’), my brother. Keep what you have for yourself.’”
— Genesis 33:9 NIV
“plenty (‘rab’)” — The Hebrew word for “plenty” is “rab,” which means “abundance.”
Jacob replied:
“Please accept my blessing (gift) which has been brought to you, for God has dealt graciously with me and I have everything (‘kol’).”
— Genesis 33:11 AMP
“everything (‘kol’)” — The word “everything” is the Hebrew word “kol,” which means “the whole, all.”
While Esau had plenty, Jacob had everything. The same goes for you and me today!
While billionaires may have plenty, as children of God we have everything because we have Jesus. You have more going for you than even the richest people in the world who are without Christ. Not only does the Lord want to meet your practical and material needs, but He also wants to meet your emotional, mental, and spiritual needs. He wants you healthy and happy from the inside out!
“And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”
— Philippians 4:19 NKJV
“according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus” — We are supplied “according to” all His riches and not “out of” His riches. This is how lavishly God wants to provide for you!
Back to Abraham’s story in Genesis 15 (when God appeared to him in a vision as a shield). At this time, when Abraham was 84 years old, he had grown weary while waiting for the earlier vision of having many children to come to pass.
“And Abram said, Lord God, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus?”
— Genesis 15:2 KJV
“seeing I go childless” — At this time, Abraham had grown so weary from waiting that he was in a state of unbelief. To be in a state of unbelief is to dishonor God and His Word, and yet God did not rebuke Abraham. In fact, not one time in Abraham’s life did the Lord ever rebuke him verbally. Abraham is a picture of you and I who are righteous by faith—God treats us the same way. While God does child-train and correct us, He does not bring condemnation or punishment on us (e.g. through accidents, tragedies, sickness, etc.) for we have passed from death unto life (John 5:24, Rom. 8:1).
It is the gift of “no condemnation” that causes us to go and sin no more and live a life that glorifies Jesus. We can see this in the story of the woman at the well in John 4.
Back to Abraham:
Knowing that Abraham was discouraged and in a place of unbelief, the Lord encouraged him with another vision. He brought Abraham out under the night sky and show him the stars:
“And he brought him forth abroad, and said,
Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.
And he believed (‘aman’) in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness.”
— Genesis 15:5–6 KJV
“tell the stars, if thou be able to number them” — The word “tell” is the same word “declare” that is found in Psalm 19:1, “The heavens declare the glory of God.” The gospel story is written in the stars. Astrology has perverted the gospel story in the stars by encouraging people to look to the stars to tell their fortune or govern their lives, when in fact we are to look to the One who made the stars to know how to govern our lives.
Back in Abraham’s time, there was no Bible written yet, so God brought Abraham out to see the stars to show him the gospel.
“So shall thy seed be” — The “seed” here prophesied Jesus’ coming. Though the word “seed” here is singular, it also represents all of us who are in Christ.
“he believed (‘aman’) in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness” — When Abraham saw the gospel story, he believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness. This is why Abraham was righteous by faith and not by works (his actions). The word “believed” here is the Hebrew word “aman (amen),” which means “so it shall be.” When you say “amen,” you are releasing faith and honoring God.
If you would like to know more about the gospel story written in the stars, Pastor Prince has a sermon titled “The Stars Tell the Story of Jesus.”
Let’s look at the visions God gave Abraham:
When you put them together, you will notice that God gave Abraham visual aids to help him see the vision 24/7—one to picture during the day, and the other to picture at night.
If you are believing the Lord to have a baby, you can have visual aids (e.g. place pictures of beautiful babies in a vision book, buy baby clothes, etc.). Pastor Prince shares that when he was believing the Lord for Justin, he would cradle a small bolster in his arms to create the visual aid he needed at the time to see himself holding a child. One day, as he was holding baby Justin in his arms, he realized that he was holding the fulfillment of the dream that God had given him. For whatever you are believing God for, start having visual aids to hold on to your vision. Don’t focus on the bad news or negative statistics but focus on the vision from God that comes from His Word.
When it came to Abraham, God gave him pictures of creation (i.e. the dust of the earth and the stars in the sky) as visual aids.
Before the Bible was written, man got to know God through creation. They looked around and realized there was a Creator. We see this in the psalms:
“Day unto day utters speech,
And night unto night reveals knowledge.”
— Psalms 19:2 NKJV
However, in this same psalm, we also see how the Word of God has taken the place of creation. Now, we are to look to God’s Word to get to know Him and His hazon visions for us.
“The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul;
The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple;”
— Psalms 19:7 NKJV
Instead of just looking at images of the material things you desire, look at the visions in God’s Word!
One of God’s hazon visions for us is found in Psalm 1:
“He shall be like a tree
Planted by the rivers of water,
That brings forth its fruit in its season,
Whose leaf also shall not wither;
And whatever he does shall prosper.”
— Psalm 1:3 NKJV
You will walk in this hazon vision in God’s Word when you first see it in your heart.
Another hazon vision can be seen in Numbers 24. Context: A heathen king hired a sorcerer named Balaam to pronounce a curse over the children of Israel, but God intervened and changed Balaam’s words to instead declare the beautiful vision that God had of Israel:
“And Balaam raised his eyes, and saw Israel encamped according to their tribes; and the Spirit of God came upon him. Then he took up his oracle and said:
‘The utterance of Balaam the son of Beor,
The utterance of the man who eyes are opened,
The utterance of him who hears the words of God,
Who sees (‘chazah’) the vision (‘machazeh’) of the Almighty,
Who falls down, with eyes wide open.”
—Numbers 24:2–4 NKJV
“sees (‘chazah’) the vision (‘machazeh’) of the Almighty” — The word “sees” is the Hebrew word “chazah (behold),” which is also the root word of “machazeh,” which means “vision.” What exactly is the vision of the Almighty?
This is how God saw Israel encamped according to their tribes—He saw them in Christ (their formation was the shape of a cross).
This is the vision of the Almighty (which Balaam pronounced as a blessing over the Israelites):
“How lovely are your tents, O Jacob!
Your dwellings, O Israel!
Like valleys that stretch out,
Like gardens by the riverside,
Like aloes planted by the Lord,
Like cedars beside the waters.”
— Numbers 24:5–6 NKJV
This blessing reminds us of Psalm 1:3. The vision God has of us is that we are like a garden or a cedar planted by the rivers of waters, where we prosper in every area of life, unaffected by the stresses and worries of the world.
Let’s fast forward 20 years after the first time God appeared to Abraham and gave him the vision of having children as numerous as the dust of the earth. In Genesis 17, Abraham is 99 years old…
“When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him,
‘I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless.”
— Genesis 17:1 NKJV
“ninety-nine years old” — When God first showed Abraham the vision of him having many descendants, Abraham was 79 years old. Now, 20 years later, Abraham is waiting for this vision to come to pass. At this point, God does something different.
Look at what God told Abraham this time:
“As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, and you shall be a father of many nations. No longer shall your name be called Abram (altitude), but your name shall be Abraham (father of multitudes); for I have made you a father of many nations.”
— Genesis 17:4–5 NKJV
“No longer shall your name be called Abram (altitude), but your name shall be Abraham (father of multitudes)” — God changed his name from “Abram” to “Abraham,” which changed the meaning of his name from “altitude” to “father of multitudes.”
Not only did God change Abraham’s name, but He also changed his wife Sarah’s name. Sarah was called Sarai (captain), but God changed her name to Sarah (princess).
He changed the meanings of their names by adding the Hebrew letter “hei,” which means “grace.”
In Hebrew, you find two mentions of “hei (grace)” in God’s name “Yahweh.” God breathed “hei (His grace)” into Abraham and Sarah, changing their names and changing the way they called and spoke to each other. Within a year, the baby came!
Notice that their miracle came very soon after God changed their confessions. Every time they called each other, they were speaking forth their hazon vision in faith.
In Christendom, the emphasis is usually on speaking/confession. But before that happens, God wants us to see His hazon visions, His faith pictures, in our hearts. Seeing comes before speaking.
God had to work on Abraham’s heart until he became full of the vision of being a father of many before God changed his confession—and then within 3 months, Sarah conceived (Rom. 4:19–21).
God’s way is for us to see His hazon vision more and more until we believe it, then when we speak it forth in faith, it will come to pass.
Before you see good in your life, you need to change the vision in your heart because it is out of the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks (Luke 6:45).
Fill your thoughts with the Word of God if you are facing a health challenge, for there is health and wholeness found in the Word.
Pastor Prince shows us from Leviticus how we can begin to behold the Word and see God’s prophetic provision.
“His own hands shall bring the offerings made by fire to the Lord. The fat with the breast (‘chazeh’) he shall bring, that the breast (‘chazeh’) may be waved as a wave offering before the Lord. And the priest shall burn the fat on the altar, but the breast shall be Aaron’s and his sons.”
— Leviticus 7:30–31 NKJV
The same Hebrew letters that spell the word “chazah” (which means “see”) also spell the word “chazeh” (which means “breast of the animal sacrifice”). “Chazeh” refers specifically to the breast of the animal sacrifice and not a mother’s bosom.
“breast” — The Hebrew word for “breast” is “chazeh,” which is only used for animal sacrifice. God had a specific intent in mind for using the animal breast for the peace offering.
“the breast shall be Aaron’s and his sons” — The portion that belongs to us today is the breast of the animal sacrifice—a picture of the Lord’s love for us. Aaron the high priest represents Jesus, our High Priest, and we are priests too (1 Pet. 2:9). The breast of the animal sacrifice represents Jesus’ love for us, and we get to enjoy and feast on His love. When you read the Scriptures, let the Holy Spirit paint the vision of the Lord’s love for you that He demonstrated at the cross.
Jesus is a holy God who took our sins and the punishment for our sins upon Himself. Even the thought of it in the Garden of Gethsemane caused Him so much stress that He sweat blood. When He sweat blood, He redeemed us from the curse of needing to sweat to get provision.
Not only are we to feast on the Lord’s love for us, but Jesus Himself also feasts on His love for us. Loving us nourishes Him! We see this in the story of the woman at the well in John 4, where Jesus was refreshed after ministering to the woman (John 4:33–34).
Let’s feed on Jesus’ love and be filled with His hazon vision for our lives!
As believers under the new covenant, we can freely receive all that God wants to give to us today. This is because of Jesus’ finished work at the cross.
How can a holy God allow sinful people to come into His presence without compromising on His holiness? The answer is the cross of Jesus Christ. Because God’s beloved Son, the holy One, bore our sins at the cross, we have become the righteousness of God in Him (2 Cor. 5:21).
Not only did Jesus bear our sins and transgressions, but He also bore our pains and diseases.
“Surely He has borne our griefs (‘kholee’—diseases)
And carried our sorrows (‘makov’—pains).”
— Isaiah 53:4 NKJV
Jesus carried all your diseases and pains at the cross when He died in your place.
You can be at peace and rest always, knowing that God’s love will always be shining on you.
“He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?”
— Romans 8:32 NKJV
“with Him also freely give us all things” — God has already given up His Son, who is most valuable to Him, and He will not not withhold anything from you. You don’t have to earn blessings or provision by your good behavior, but freely receive it from Jesus today. When you have Jesus, you have everything!
Pastor Prince closes the service by reminding us to fill our hearts with visions of good things to come instead of negative reports. You can find these hazon visions from God in His Word. It is important to guard your heart (Prov. 4:23), and fill your heart with faith pictures (e.g. Psalm 1:1–3). When the visions come to pass, Jesus will get all the glory (1 Tim. 4:15).
Pastor Prince prays for these conditions:
Every healing can stand the test of medical science. Please go back to your doctor to verify your healing. Only stop taking your medicine when your healing has been confirmed by medical reports. Then write in to share your testimony!
“This coming week, the Lord bless you and your families with divine favor, shalom peace, and divine protection from the COVID-19 virus. With divine protection from every sickness, harm, accidents, dangers, and all the powers of darkness. The Lord favors you, smiles on you, and imparts hazon visions into your heart and mind. The spirit of wisdom and revelation operates mightily in you. You’re someone like Joseph of whom others will say, ‘Who can find such a man or such a woman, in whom the Spirit of God is? Who can find such a wise and understanding person?” This shall be said of you. In Jesus’ name, I bless you. Amen. Praise the Lord. God bless you all. Amen.”
Just like God showed Abraham the dust of the earth and the stars in the sky as visual aids to help him hold on to the promise of having many children (Gen. 13:16; 15:5), God wants to give you visual aids to help you see His provision in your life before it comes to pass too.
As you open up the Scriptures, ask the Lord for the spirit of wisdom and revelation (Eph. 1:17–19) that you would see His love for you and His hazon visions for your life found in His Word.
Take some time to really see them—picture them—in your heart. You can turn them into visual aids for yourself by drawing or printing them out and placing them in places where you will see them daily. Every time you hear bad news or discouraging thoughts comes to mind, come back to these faith pictures.
As you keep seeing these hazon visions of God’s provision, whether it is in the area of your health, marriage, children, career, or finances, you will find yourself walking in His provision!
We hope these sermon notes blessed you! If they did, we encourage you to get the sermon and allow the Lord to speak to you personally as you watch or listen to it.
© Copyright JosephPrince.com 2021
These sermon notes were taken by volunteers during the service. They are not a verbatim representation of the sermon.
These are notes on the sermon, Set Apart For Lasting Success, preached by Pastor Joseph Prince on Sunday, 6 June 2021, at The Star Performing Arts Centre, Singapore. We hope these sermon notes will be an encouragement to you!
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Every time you listen to the preaching of God’s Word, know that He has a fresh word for you for your situation. The amazing thing about God's Word is that you can hear a personal word from the preached Word that is specially for your condition or circumstance.
On the Day of Pentecost, people from many different nations came to Jerusalem. When the disciples were baptized in the Holy Spirit, the Bible says that they were all praying in different languages and tongues at one time (Acts 2:11b NLT). Yet the various nationalities present heard the disciples speak the wonderful works of God in their own languages, meant specially for them. God can do the same for you as the preaching of the Word goes forth!
“So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.”
— Isaiah 55:11 KJV
“it shall not return unto me void” — Though man’s words may not come to pass, God’s words are powerful. His words never fail to come to pass. They accomplish what He intends and they prosper where they are spoken forth. As you listen to God’s Word, it shall come to pass in your life!
In addition, you don't have to wait until you apply what you have learned before seeing the results.
As God’s Word goes forth, He does His work and performs miracles.
“it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save (sózó) them that believe.”
— 1 Corinthians 1:21b KJV
“save” — The word “save” is the Greek word “sózó,” which not only means “to save from sin and death,” but is an all-inclusive word that also means “to deliver, make whole, restore, and prosper.”
“pleased God” — It pleases God that His Word goes forth via preaching to save, heal, and restore people.
While Paul was preaching in Lystra, a man who was lame from birth was listening and had faith to receive his healing. Paul ministered to him and he was healed (Acts 14:9–10 KJV). During the preaching of the Word, God often imparts ideas, words, visions, and revelations to the preacher, according to how He wants to move.
Pastor Prince shares that God spoke to him, saying that He is going to do amazing things for marriages and families in this season.
Expect miracles of restoration to happen in your family relationships. God is going to give you a brand new marriage, turning water into intoxicating wine and causing you to fall in love with each other again. This will all be because of the presence of the Lord in your marriage and family.
Pastor Prince shares a testimony from a lady in the United States whose children were raised in a Christian home. Her elder daughter left home and became caught up in a lifestyle of drugs, cults, and other inappropriate behavior, while her younger daughter began acting up in school, lying, and participating in harmful behavior. They both turned away from God and were putting themselves and their family in danger. However, this lady believed that despite her daughters’ behaviors and what they believed about themselves, they were still the righteousness of God in Christ. As she prayed for the protection, restoration, and deliverance of her daughters and the family, the Lord restored their relationships such that they became even better than before!
This mother kept on looking at her daughters through the eyes of love—the way God would view them. She did not see them as rebellious or hard-hearted, but instead focused on their identity as the righteousness of God in Christ, calling forth their righteousness.
Beloved, this is the key to seeing transformation and restoration in your family relationships—see and call forth what God sees in your loved ones!
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”
— 2 Corinthians 5:17 NKJV
“Therefore” — The word “therefore” implies that becoming a new creation is a result of the preceding line.
“Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer.”
— 2 Corinthians 5:16 NKJV
“we regard no one according to the flesh” — This phrase refers to people who have been born again. Even though they may have gone astray, we are still to view them as a new creation and not regard them in the flesh or “from a human point of view” (2 Cor. 5:16 RSV), but instead call forth what God sees.
“From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view; even though we once regarded Christ from a human point of view, we regard him thus no longer.”
— 2 Corinthians 5:16 RSV
“even though we once regarded Christ from a human point of view” — The people in Jesus’ hometown were only able to see Him as the son of a carpenter (in the natural, from a human point of view (Mark 6:3)). They could not see Him as the Son of God who went about healing the sick and delivering people (Acts 10:38). As a result, Jesus could not do any miracles in that town (Mark 6:5 AMP).
It is important for us to view Jesus the way God wants us to view Him—not as a Rabbi or teacher, but as the Savior and Redeemer. Until we see Jesus as the “Sent One” to die for our sins (John 9:7 ISV), our blindness to His goodness will remain.
The Lord wants to save not just you, but your family members as well.
In Acts 16, we read about how Paul and Silas were imprisoned for preaching the gospel. God shook the prison cells and all the prisoners, including Paul and Silas, were set free. As a result, the jailer wanted to kill himself because he knew he would be blamed for it. However, Paul stopped the jailer and urged him, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.” (Acts 16:31 KJV). The jailer later brought Paul and his friends back to his house, treated their wounds, and served them a meal. The Bible says that not only the jailer, but his entire household believed in God (Acts 16:34 NLT).
Once you believe in Jesus, there is now an open door in your family to be saved because of you. Your family members may not see that believing in Jesus is for their own benefit and blessing, or may even persecute or make fun of you for being a Christian. But child of God, know that because of you, there is now a big opening in your family for God to come in to bless and save every one of them.
“Then the Lord said to Noah, “Come into the ark, you and all your household, because I have seen that you are righteous before Me in this generation.”
— Genesis 7:1 NKJV
“you and all your household . . . you are righteous” — God's plan was not just to save Noah from the flood of judgment in the ark, but to save his entire family. Even though the Bible does not say that Noah’s entire family was righteous, but because Noah was righteous, God said that his entire family would be saved.
This does not mean that once you are saved, your entire family is automatically saved. They still need to make the personal decision to believe in Jesus. But it becomes easy for them to be saved because you are already saved, and so there is an open door for God to move in their lives and touch them.
During the ninth plague in Egypt, which was complete darkness, all the children of Israel experienced supernatural light in their dwellings (Exod. 10:23 NKJV). This was in spite of some of them being less obedient or even not remembering God anymore.
“For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth,
And deep darkness the people;
But the Lord will arise over you,
And His glory will be seen upon you.
The Gentiles shall come to your light,
And kings to the brightness of your rising. ”
— Isaiah 60:2–3 NKJV
“darkness shall cover the earth” — The Bible says that during the last days, deep darkness will cover the earth, and the world will get darker and darker.
“But the Lord will arise over you, and His glory will be seen upon you” — Yet the Bible says that in the midst of this darkness, the glory of the Lord will rise upon you who are saved by the blood of Jesus. Kings and people in authority will come to the brightness of your rising (Isa. 60:3) and there will be a supernatural transfer of wealth from the world to believers (Isa. 60:5 KJV) during this time.
Just as God brought supernatural light to the children of Israel in their dwellings, He is bringing supernatural light to you and your family in this season. Even as we see the world around us getting darker and darker, we shall experience more and more of the Lord’s light.
“But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings . . . ”
— Malachi 4:2 KJV
“the Sun” — The “Sun” here refers to Jesus. God is saying that unto those who fear His name, Jesus will shine so brightly on them that they cannot help but be healed.
Pastor Prince shares a testimony from a lady who experienced marital problems with her husband of seven years. She later discovered that he had been having an emotional affair and was preparing to leave her. In spite of immense hurt and suicidal thoughts, she prayed and asked the Lord to turn the situation around. As she watched videos of Pastor Prince's sermons, she felt God's love flowing through the preaching and began to declare her family restored and thank the Lord that the doors to infidelity were closed. Today, her marriage has been restored, her husband has ended his infidelity, and their love, trust, and respect for each other are growing deeper as they rebuild their relationship.
It is so important that we are listening to messages that proclaim the true God! While He is holy and righteous, the very being and essence of God is love. Love keeps on giving, supplying, and doing, and that is what being under grace is all about.
Although we are a new creation in Christ, all of us experience temptations and fleshly inclinations that rise up and cause us to fall into sin from time to time. How do we deal with these temptations?
Pastor recaps the truth he shared in last week’s sermon, The Key To Victorious Living, that we have died with Christ and have risen in Him.
“What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?”
— Romans 6:1-2 NKJV
“died to sin” — The people of the world are dead in sin, but we as believers are dead to sin. This means for us, sin is behind us.
Just as the children of Israel crossed over the Red Sea and saw their enemies dead behind them (Exod. 14:30), we are to see sin and our flesh dead behind us because we are on the other side of the cross of Jesus Christ!
“knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has
dominion over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
— Romans 6:9–11 NKJV
“He died to sin once for all” — Christ died to sin once and for all. This cannot be repeated. If we say that we need to die daily to sin, we are saying that sin is still alive in our lives and flesh. However, the Bible says we have been crucified with Christ and our old man is dead (Rom. 6:6), completely and forever gone. The “old man” refers to our flesh, the part of us that is inclined to sin.
“Likewise” — God wants you to reckon yourself in the same manner that Christ died to sin. When God raised Jesus from the dead, you were raised in Him, in resurrection life as a new man. Child of God, God now identifies you in Christ.
A lot of the troubles in our married life and relationships with our loved ones are caused by the rising up of the flesh. This can be in the form of irritableness, pride, a fault-finding attitude, or being slow to praise and quick to criticize one another. Even lust and pornography will destroy a marriage as it will change a person and how they see their marriage.
Often it is not the big disagreements or fights that hurt family relationships, but rather the “little foxes that spoil the vine” (Song of Solomon 2:15). The vine, a place where wine is produced, speaks of joy. At the wedding in Cana, Jesus turned water into wine for newlyweds (John 2:1–10)—showing that His heart is for you to have a marriage full of joy.
God knows that it is the “little foxes” that are truly holding you back, causing you to experience defeat after defeat in your relationships. The good news is that God has crucified its source. That old “you” that you dislike, the old “you” that causes you to always be defeated, has been crucified at the cross and now you are to reckon it dead!
When the little foxes rise up in your life (irritability, short-temperedness, pride, etc.), just ignore them. You don’t even need to pray against them as to do so is to say they are still alive. Don't act on them because they are already dead!
Do you know how God sees you? He sees you as a royal prince or princess. Based on the Scriptures, the meaning of holiness is “to be set apart from common use.” The opposite of holiness is commonness. To be holy is to be set apart from the world.
To God, holiness (e.g. being faithful and loving toward your spouse), is not merely upholding religious behavior or attitudes. Instead, it is being set apart from the behavior of the world (Col. 3:1, 3). It is setting your affections on things above, heavenly things belonging to the King, and not things of the earth (Col. 3:2).
Child of God, it is beneath you to get irritated over every small thing. In fact, when you stop getting irritated over every small thing, you begin to look regal and royal.
This is not the same as a “holier than thou” attitude. Jesus was a Prince who stooped down and washed His disciples’ feet, yet never lost His princeliness. People never viewed Him as doing it out of a servile spirit, like a slave. He carried dignity and glory, yet was able to humble Himself to serve others.
We are to be set apart from the world in our speech, thoughts, behavior, and lives. Where the world is depressed, we have the peace of God. When the world is asking what will happen next, we know it shall be well because we have put our hand in the hand of the One who knows the future. We know that surely goodness and mercy will hunt us down all the days of our lives until we dwell in the house of the Lord forever (Ps. 23:6 KJV).
“For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under law, but under grace. What then? shall we sin, because we are not under law, but under grace? God forbid.”
— Romans 6:14–15 ASV
“for ye are not under law, but under grace” — You are not under the requirement of working, performing, and doing, but you are under grace. This means God is working, doing, and performing on your behalf.
Now that you are in Christ, death and judgment are behind you. Your sinful nature that loves to sin is dead and gone as far as God and faith are concerned. However, as far as human experience (what we can see) is concerned, it still seems alive. It is time to understand that we are to walk by faith and not by sight.
“Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts.”
— Romans 6:11–12 NKJV
“Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body” — Many people fail to look at the context of this verse when interpreting it. It is not up to your own efforts to stop sin from reigning in your life. The word “therefore” indicates that the way to disallow sin from reigning in your mortal body is to reckon yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus (Rom. 6:11). This gives you the power and the right posture not to let sin reign in your mortal body.
“Know ye not, that to whom ye present yourselves as servants unto obedience, his servants ye are whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?”
— Romans 6:16 ASV
It is important for us to know whose sin and whose obedience this verse refers to. Many people misinterpret it as referring to our own sin and obedience, which would mean that it is our obedience that produces righteousness, instead of Jesus’ obedience.
“For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man's obedience many will be made righteous.”
— Romans 5:19 NKJV
“one man's disobedience” — It is because of Adam’s disobedience that many were made sinners. You are not a sinner because you sin. It was Adam's sin that made you a sinner.
“one Man's obedience” — It is by our Lord Jesus Christ's obedience to lay down His life at the cross that many are made righteous. You are not righteous because you obey the Lord. You obey the Lord because you are righteous.
The consciousness of righteousness will always cause you to obey the Lord, even unconsciously. However, the enemy does not want you to see this truth because he wants you to think that it is your sin that brought death in your life, and it is your obedience that brings righteousness into your life. This wrong belief will cause you to try your hardest to avoid sin and obey the Lord out of your own efforts—and experientially, this will cause sin to manifest even more in your life.
Pastor Prince shares that when he was younger, he tried his best to obey God in every area of his life. He tried to surrender as much as he could to God by confessing all of his sins almost every day. Yet instead of feeling joyful and victorious in life, he was depressed and did not have peace nor the joy of the Lord.
All these actions point toward seeing your fleshly sinful nature as still being alive, which is the opposite of the truth that sin has died once and for all (Rom. 6:11). When sin rises up in you, you are to simply ignore it because it is dead. It appears alive but is actually a mirage because it is dead.
How can we become holy today?
“But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.”
— 2 Corinthians 3:18 NKJV
“with unveiled face, beholding . . . the glory of the Lord” — We become holy by beholding Christ and looking at Him with unveiled face—a picture of being without the veil of the law in our lives.
Although Jesus was glorified on earth in His morals and character, that was still the glory of a man. He was not glorified until He died, rose again, went back to the Father, and was glorified by the Father at His right hand. Now Jesus is crowned with glory and honor, unlike when He was on earth, and this is the Christ we are to behold. As He is right now, glorified at the Father’s right hand, so are we in this world (1 John 4:17)!
“Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that through this Man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins; and by Him everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses.”
— Acts 13:38–39 NKJV
“justified” — The word “justified” here is the Greek word “dikaioó,” which means to be “declared righteous.” Here, Paul was preaching that everyone who believes in Christ is made righteous by Him alone. Only when the gospel is preached the way Paul preached it—full, unqualified, and free—can people believe it. And when they believe the gospel, transformation within happens.
“Know ye not, that to whom ye present yourselves as servants unto obedience, his servants ye are whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? But thanks be to God, that, whereas ye were servants of sin, ye became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching whereunto ye were delivered; and being made free from sin, ye became servants of righteousness.”
— Romans 6:16–18 ASV
“being made free from sin” — As the word “sin” here is a noun and not a verb, this phrase does not refer to being free from the act of sinning completely. Rather, it indicates that you are freed from the condition of sin. You are now in the condition of the righteousness of God.
“to whom ye present yourselves as servants unto obedience . . . whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness” — Here, Paul is asking people to decide whose teaching they want to obey—whether to believe you are still in the old Adam whose sin unto death has brought you in this condition, or to believe that Jesus' obedience has made you righteous. Paul uses the word “servant” to show that you cannot be set free by your own efforts from either Adam or Jesus.
Pastor Prince uses a picture of a prison exchange to illustrate this truth. You were once in a prison of sin because of Adam's sin and no matter how much you tried to do good or noble acts, nothing you did could change your status as a sinner. You were bound in that prison of sin.
The only way out of that prison was for you to die as a sinner and be resurrected in another prison. Now that you are in Christ, your new status is righteous before God because you have been made the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. In the same way that you were unable to do anything to break out of the prison of sin, you are now a slave to this condition of righteousness. No matter what you do, you cannot undo your status of a righteous man who is holy in God's eyes.
Pastor Prince is by no means encouraging sin, but if the good things that you did in the past could not change your status as a sinner, then what makes you think that falling into sin here and there can undo your status as a righteous man in God’s eyes? If this is true, it means that Adam’s sin is more powerful than Christ’s finished work, so it cannot be true!
The more you are established in this truth, the more you will reign over sin.
“ye were servants of sin, ye became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching whereunto ye were delivered” — The word “obedient” here is the Greek word “hypakouō,” made up of the words which mean “listening” and “under.”
What are you listening to? What teaching are you under? The more we talk about sin, the more we are glorifying it. But the more we talk about Christ, His righteousness, and our position in Him, the more we are glorifying Jesus for what He has done at the cross!
The devil twists the truth to make us self-occupied so that we don't see Christ anymore. Beloved, know that your righteousness is in heaven. Jesus is at the Father's right hand and your righteousness cannot be lost unless someone removes Him from the throne. And that will never happen!
Heavenly Father, I thank You for sending Jesus Christ as the Savior of the world to die on that cross for all my sins. I thank You that when He died on that cross, He bore in His body all my sins, and He was punished in my place. He cried, “It is finished!” All my sins finished at the cross. My forgiveness is complete. I'm forgiven—past, present, and future—of every sin. It is all finished at the cross. I thank You that when Christ rose from the dead, I rose in Him. Jesus Christ is my Lord and my Savior and He's my real self before You, Father. Thank You, Father God. Jesus Christ is my Lord. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Pastor Prince prays for people with the following conditions:
This coming week, the Lord bless you with the blessings of father Abraham and the blessings of Deuteronomy 28. May all the spiritual blessings of Ephesians 1 manifest in your life this coming week, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord make His face to shine upon you, may He preserve and protect you and all your loved ones from the COVID-19 virus, from every sickness and disease, from every danger, from every harm, from all the power of the evil one in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord lift up His countenance on you, grant you supernatural favor everywhere you go. This coming week, favor attends your way. And the Lord grant to you and your families His wonderful shalom peace. I see light coming into your dwelling. Receive it in Jesus' name. Marriages turning around, hallelujah, hearts softening, forgiveness reigning. Thank You, Lord. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
God is a family man. He loves families. Just as He made sure Noah’s entire family was safe from the flood (Gen. 7:1) and just as He made sure all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings in a time of darkness (Exod. 10:23), He wants to save, restore, heal, and bring light into your family life and relationships.
Friend, the Lord knows that when it comes to family, disappointment and hurt can run deep. He also knows that it is at home that we tend to see the worst parts of our flesh act up. Irritability, pride, fault-finding, and unforgiveness . . . so often, these are the “little foxes that spoil the vine” (Song of Sol. 2:15), the little things that eat away at our relationships and steal our joy.
But thank God—He has provided a way for us to break these sinful tendencies and bad habits, and instead live out our true nature in Christ.
Every time you see your flesh act up, reckon it dead. You are a new creation in Christ apart from your flesh. When you feel anger, hurtful words, or harsh criticism rising up, reckon it dead because that is the truth—your sinful nature has been crucified with Christ (Rom. 6:9–11). Know that you don’t need to react to these negative feelings because they are not the real you. Your identity is in the risen Christ, glorified and righteous forevermore.
Instead of tying yourself and resigning yourself to your fleshly tendencies and habits, choose to see yourself as Jesus is. Behold Him “as in a mirror” (2 Cor. 3:18) because God’s Word tells us that “as He is, so are we in this world” (1 John 4:17). The more you behold Jesus by seeing Him in the Word or listening to sermons that unveil more of Him, the more you will experience the Holy Spirit in you transforming you from the inside out (2 Cor. 3:18)!
As you begin to believe right about yourself (that your true nature is in Christ) and believe right about your sinful tendencies (that they are dead because they have been crucified at the cross), the more you will experience victory in your thoughts and behavior, and the more you will experience the Lord bring restoration and success into your family life and relationships!
We hope these sermon notes blessed you! If they did, we encourage you to get the sermon and allow the Lord to speak to you personally as you watch or listen to it.
© Copyright JosephPrince.com 2021
These sermon notes were taken by volunteers during the service. They are not a verbatim representation of the sermon.
| Top queries | Clicks | Impressions | CTR | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| how many times did god appear to jacob | 2 | 8 | 25% | 3.4 |
| jacob's sixth encounter with god | 1 | 1 | 100% | 1 |
| wrestle | 1 | 1 | 100% | 2 |
| jacob encounter with god | 1 | 1 | 100% | 10 |
| how many times did jacob encounter god | 0 | 10 | 0% | 5.5 |
| how many times did god speak to jacob | 0 | 6 | 0% | 5 |
| god spoke to jacob | 0 | 6 | 0% | 9.7 |
| why was jacob called israel | 0 | 5 | 0% | 68 |
| god appeared to jacob | 0 | 4 | 0% | 6.5 |
| jacob encountered god | 0 | 4 | 0% | 7.5 |
| jacob name changed to israel | 0 | 4 | 0% | 39.8 |
| jacob's encounter with god | 0 | 3 | 0% | 4.3 |
| jacobs encounter with god | 0 | 3 | 0% | 8.7 |
| why did god change jacob's name to israel | 0 | 3 | 0% | 65.3 |
| jacob fought with god | 0 | 2 | 0% | 2 |
| where jacob wrestled with god | 0 | 2 | 0% | 2 |
| abraham isaac and jacob | 0 | 2 | 0% | 3 |
| jacob's encounters with god | 0 | 2 | 0% | 5 |
| jacob name change | 0 | 2 | 0% | 45 |
| jacob's name changed to israel | 0 | 2 | 0% | 45.5 |
| what was jacob's name changed to | 0 | 2 | 0% | 47 |
| god changed jacob's name to | 0 | 2 | 0% | 72 |
| what did god change jacob's name to | 0 | 2 | 0% | 72 |
| oh god of jacob | 0 | 2 | 0% | 94.5 |
| jacob encountered god at peniel | 0 | 1 | 0% | 2 |
| jacob the man who fought with god | 0 | 1 | 0% | 2 |
| jacob wrestles with god kjv | 0 | 1 | 0% | 2 |
| the story of jacob in the bible | 0 | 1 | 0% | 2 |
| where did jacob wrestle with god | 0 | 1 | 0% | 2 |
| why is god called the god of jacob | 0 | 1 | 0% | 2 |
| jacob fight with god | 0 | 1 | 0% | 3 |
| how many times god appeared to jacob | 0 | 1 | 0% | 4 |
| god speaks to jacob | 0 | 1 | 0% | 11 |
| jacob encounter | 0 | 1 | 0% | 12 |
| how did god reveal himself to jacob | 0 | 1 | 0% | 22 |
| did jacob tithe in genesis 35 | 0 | 1 | 0% | 23 |
| isaac name changed to israel | 0 | 1 | 0% | 23 |
| you shall no longer be called jacob | 0 | 1 | 0% | 34 |
| why was jacob's name changed to israel | 0 | 1 | 0% | 37 |
| jacobs well 6th chamber | 0 | 1 | 0% | 46 |
| jacob's name change | 0 | 1 | 0% | 66 |
| why did god changed jacob's name to israel | 0 | 1 | 0% | 66 |
| jacob vs god | 0 | 1 | 0% | 71 |
| why is jacob called israel | 0 | 1 | 0% | 73 |
| sixth son of jacob | 0 | 1 | 0% | 82 |
| jacob prayer genesis 43 | 0 | 1 | 0% | 89 |
| hazon hebrew meaning | 0 | 1 | 0% | 90 |
| healing is the children's bread nkjv | 0 | 1 | 0% | 95 |
| jacob's pillar | 0 | 1 | 0% | 95 |
| jacob renamed israel | 0 | 1 | 0% | 99 |
