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In Today's Gospel Partner Episode...
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I want you to know you're
not like the people of the world. You are in the world
but you're not of the world. Hope is a positive
expectation of good. Today,
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the world says what? "Don't
raise your hopes." Can I tell you something? Don't
raise your hopelessness. The
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reason you can believe for a
confident expectation of good is because at the
cross, Jesus bore all your
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sins. If you are sick in
your body, you should have hope that you will be well!
If you are suffering from an
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addiction, you must have
hope that you will get out of it! It's not just: "I
hope it will happen one day." But you are without
any power. No! The God of
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hope is behind your hope! Hi, this is Joseph Prince.
Thanks for tuning in. I just
Welcome Message By Joseph Prince
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want you to know that you
are able to watch this sermon for free today
because of the support of
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our Gospel Partners. So to
all our partners, thank you for making a difference! As
you watch this video, feel
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free to navigate to
different points using our chapter headings. Please
also leave a comment to
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share what you have received
and how you have been touched by today's sermon.
Be bless as you feed on
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God's Word today! You know what a joy it is
every time I see all of you,
01 God has a beautiful plan and purpose for your life
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I feel like this is God’s
dream being fulfilled. In the heart of the Father for
aeons before time, God had
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you in mind. The Bible says
that we were born in predestination to fulfil
this dream, to be conformed
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to the image of Jesus. So
that’s the first dream that God has when God planned for
a family, even all creation
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is to serve this purpose.
The second thing is the church. God’s dream is for
the church. Amen. Yes there
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is Israel, Israel was chosen
to demonstrate to all the nations around the world.
“You know how does all these pertain to me Pastor Prince?
Last night I didn’t have a good sleep. This past week
has been terrible for me, I
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have had challenges after
challenges and last week I got a bad report from the
doctor, how would all these
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God’s dream affect me?” Well
many a times the larger
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incorporates or encompass or
includes the lesser. All our
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needs actually compared with
eternity is less. Amen. We
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understand God’s purpose, we
fit in, we see where we have lost our bearings. Where we
have you know, not followed
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that compass, the true north
which is God’s plan for our life. Today we see the world
no longer wanting to follow
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God’s pattern. We see the
world abusing their bodies,
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abusing the gifts that God
has given. All the gifts that God has given, whether
it’s their body, we only have one body by the way,
take care of it. This house
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you live in, you got no
other house you know. I know you are Singaporeans, I know
you can buy more than one
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house, I know you can invest
but this is not like HDB you know. This is not like
selling off a property and
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then buying another one. You
got only one property, this house that you live in. God
has given you this house, take good care of it. Amen?
And the devil wants to
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destroy it. The devil wants
to destroy it. There is a very beautiful verse in the
Bible that says, “My flesh
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shall rest in hope”. And
it’s in reference to Jesus when He was in the grave, He
knew the Father would
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resurrect Him. He knew
resurrection day is coming. So He says, “Even my body
rest in hope”. And His body
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never decayed. He is the
only Man whose body never decayed, because there is no
sin in Him. Amen? All the
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sin that He carried in His
body was finished at the cross, put away, and when He
was buried, on the third day
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God raised Him from the
dead. You will not allow your Holy One to see
corruption. So God’s dream
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is for all of us to be
conformed to the image of His Son, the pattern Son,
the model Son, the sample
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Son. Amen? And then God’s
dream is the church. All of you are the church. That’s
why I say I am so happy to
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see all of you. Amen? You
are the church, not the building. And the church,
the devil has you know down
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through the centuries, the
devil has attacked the church, made the church
appear like it is a
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hierarchy, it is an
ecclesiastical order, it is a building, it is a city, a
place, makes you think that
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the church is a massive type
of human government. It is not. The church is the
greatest organisation you
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can say it, in the entire
universe. Where God stores
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His wisdom. If you want
wisdom, the place to go is the church. Amen. If you
want the supply of health
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that the world cannot give
you. Peace that Jesus says the world cannot give. Amen.
Relationships that is
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blessed of God because God
is the One that gave relationships, and God put
the first man and woman
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together and God instituted
marriage. God is the One that gave marriage. Amen?
But today man is abusing
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everything that, by the way
the word ‘Abuse’, ‘Ab-use’. ‘Abuse’, abnormal use, Amen?
If I need to nail something
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into a wood and I use my
shoe ok? I am abusing my
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shoe, how many know that? If
I take someone’s head, the
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bad image, anyway, that is
abuse. Abnormal use. Say ‘Abuse’. So there is all
kinds of, there is physical
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abuse, your body is not
designed to take some of these drugs and you are just
pumping your body full of
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the drugs and you know, you
know you are addicted but you don’t seek for help,
that’s abuse. Amen? Then
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there is also abusing your
body in other ways like overeating, Amen? No Amen
for this one for sure.
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Overeating Amen? Over
drinking, over staying up late, Amen, not having
enough rest, that’s not
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using your body correctly,
that’s ‘Ab-use’. Abnormal use of your body, Amen? A
marriage, Amen, if you
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physically disparage,
discourage, hurt, Amen, your
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loved one, your spouse,
that’s abuse of your spouse,
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spouse abuse. Or even
physically, if you hit your spouse, that’s physically
abuse, Amen? Sexual abuse,
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look at God’s pattern. A man
and a woman. In the beginning, God made man and
woman and God brought them
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together, it’s God’s idea,
and everything that God dreams for man is full of
glory, Amen? It’s the
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fullness of joy, Amen? It’s
the intenses of all pleasures. God’s ideas, “My
thoughts towards you are
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thoughts of good and not
evil”. Because God is a good God. His heart is love. It
is always giving. Love is
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always giving. And He never
skims on what He gives, Amen? He gives with a large
hand, with a bountiful
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heart, Amen. Yesterday my
son and I, my son was saying that there is a verse he
learned from Rock kids, “If
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any of you lack wisdom, let
him ask of God”. Amen, and then we look at the verse
together. We try to find the
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version that he memorised
from. So finally I showed him all the versions, he saw
the version, New International Version, he
was so excited, “This is the
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one! This is the one!” So I
said, “Let’s read it”, “If any of you lack wisdom, let
him ask of God who gives to
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all generously and does not
fault find”. That version says, “He does not fault
find, He gives to all
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generously”. That’s how God
is. When you see God, even when you come in prayer, you
see God is generous with
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you. Can I have a good,
Amen? So today because of abuse, we are in the state
that we are in, and God
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never says, “Unless you line
up, I will not touch you. Unless you change I will not
heal you”. God never does
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that. God comes in the
fullness of His love. He comes when man is at his
extreme wickedness, there
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was a time. You know the
most extreme wickedness of man is not the other
historical events, you think
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of all the dictators and all
that and what they have done. Wicked as those things
are, the most wicked thing
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is when God sent His Son,
who did no sin, in Him is no sin, he knew no sin, and
then it’s almost like we
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take Him and we put Him on
the cross. He came loving, healing and we put Him on
the cross. It’s almost like
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telling God, “This is what
we think of your Son”. And then God took the cross and
made it the very thing to
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redeem all of us from those
things that are destroying us. Amen? Sin, destruction,
the curse. You know you
9:19
cannot out-sin the grace of
God. You cannot. When man
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comes to his end, usually
many a times God waits for man to come to his end. Like
in the Bible, if you want to
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look in the Bible, the Old
Testament, it starts with man in the garden in
innocence. Even in a perfect
9:40
environment, man still wants
to sin against God. Amen? Then God gave the Law.
Alright? You obey this and I
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will bless you. Again, man
cannot, and God knew that man cannot. But man does not
know that he cannot. Today
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even man does not know that
he cannot keep the Law. There are still those who
fighting to keep the Law, not knowing the purpose of
the Law. That’s abuse of the
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Law. I am for the Law, for
the reason God gave the Law. Amen? Then the Law, after
the Law period was the
10:08
Judges, the period of the
Judges, even the last of them failed, Samson. The
blinded judge, Amen, between
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two pillars. Then God tried
Judges, failed, man failed.
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Then after judges, we have
the kings. The kings all
10:29
failed miserably, with the
last king also blinded when Nebuchadnezzar came in and
pull out his eyes. Amen?
10:35
Everything that is the
organisation or the administration of man will
always fail. Amen? Then God,
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God brought Grace. The Bible
tells us when all these, when man has come to the
end, instead of turning His
10:51
back on us, God says I was
just waiting for you to lose your strength. Like you
cannot save something who is
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drowning, Amen, in the
water, because if you jump in too early he will pull
you down, Amen? You got to
11:07
wait until he has lost his
strength. He cannot save himself anymore then he is
in the position to be saved.
11:14
So don’t wait until you come
to that time. Amen? God is, your weakness doesn’t turn
God off, God loves it. God
11:22
loves it, Amen, when you are
willing to be weak because His strength is perfect,
when our strength is gone.
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He’ll carry us when we can’t
carry on. Raised by His
11:44
power, the weak become
strong. His strength is
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perfect. His strength is
perfect. My grace is
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sufficient for you for my
strength is made perfect in your weakness. So sometimes
we go through all these
12:08
sufferings and we don’t
realised that God does not want you to suffer but many
a times the suffering is
12:14
self-imposed plus there is
an enemy of your soul. We wrestle not against flesh
and blood, but against
02 There is hope in this hopeless world
12:19
principalities and powers,
Amen? These are principalities and powers
and they are no respecter of persons. They will attack
your children if they get a
12:27
chance. Amen? And that’s why
we are not, listen carefully, we are not in the
world, before you hear the
12:35
good news sometimes got to
know what’s the bad news, or else the good news is not
good. If there is no
12:40
problem, if it ain’t broken
why fix it? But it is broken. Amen? If something
is broken, praise God, thank
12:50
God. If your phone is broken
and the guy sitting beside you right now is a phone
repairer and he has his tool
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box with him, Amen? Are you
happy? Amen? I know you are addicted to your phone many
of you. So are you happy?
13:03
Yes. But if it’s not broken,
it’s not good news to have someone like that beside you
right or not? Am I right?
13:11
Amen. So let’s talk about
the bad news first. The bad news is that there is an
enemy of your soul. And he
13:17
is the one behind your
restless sleep, not God. He is the one behind your
broken heart. He is the one
13:25
that destroyed that
marriage. He is the one that brought those symptoms on
your body that you are so
13:32
afraid of when you hear the
diagnosis of the doctor. He is the one behind every
sickness and disease. We are
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in a fallen world. We got to
face the facts. Amen? And there is sin. I say there is
sin. Without sin, you won’t
13:45
have all these problems that
man is facing. Today the world don’t want to talk
about sin, Amen? They don’t
13:51
want to talk about judgment.
There is judgment at the end. Yes, and without
Christ, there is a Christ-less eternity, there
is hell. Jesus talked more
14:00
about hell than anybody
else. And it’s not spiritual. Jesus says it’s
the worm does not die, cannot be spiritual. The
fire is not quenched, cannot
14:08
be spiritual. It is a place,
Amen, it is hell. Amen? So today people don’t believe
in hell anymore, Amen. They
14:13
want to talk about God of
love, you know God is just. Like I said before, if I
sinned against my son
14:19
Justin, he might not trust
me for a while, Amen, he might even cry. Not much
repercussions. If I sin
14:25
against my wife, it might
mean I sleep on the couch outside. Alright so far I
have not done that, alright.
14:35
If I sinned against you as a
friend or as a colleague, Amen, you might not just
give me anymore assistance
14:40
or whatever, you just ignore
me. That’s the price I pay, that’s the penalty. If I
sinned against my boss, I
14:46
might not be in for
promotion anytime soon. But if I sinned against the
president, if I sinned
14:52
against you know in a major
way, I did something really bad, whatever, I mean the
repercussion can be, not
14:58
just imprisonment, can be
death sentence. Even in the natural we talk about this.
And the world understands
15:05
this, and yet when people
sinned against God, they think it’s nothing. We are
sinning against a thrice Holy God. Amen? God is Holy,
Amen? And sin will be
15:14
punished, but God so loved
the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that
whoever believes in Him
15:20
shall not perish but have
everlasting life. This is the gospel of Jesus Christ,
that God intervened when all
15:25
of us actually on like a
chute, going down on the rubbish chute to be burned
in an incinerator, and you
15:32
wouldn’t even know, you can
shout, “I don’t like God”, but you are going there.
Listen, you can shout all you want, you can use the
breath that God gives you to
15:39
shout up to the highest
heaven, alright that you don’t believe God and all
that, you are still not going to change your
destination. You cannot, you
15:45
see, yes you are free, but
you cannot change the result of your choice. You put your
finger in the fire you
15:51
cannot say, “I choose to put
my finger in the fire but I do not choose to be burn”.
Sorry, the consequence is
16:00
established. Finger in fire,
burn. Very simple. It’s like
16:06
two and two is four, equals
burn. Amen? So the thing you
16:12
can shout and all that but I
look at the world that is professing themselves to be
wise become fools. We have
16:18
much more help than we ever
have people at our fingertips. Amen? We got
assistants, we got things to
16:24
help us save time, and yet
we are rushing for time. We are supposed to be happier
now, we have more wealth.
16:33
Many countries are
developing, Amen? Right? But
16:38
it’s not enough. Even our
previous or present phone is
16:44
not enough. There is a new
phone. The phone is supposed
16:50
to help us save time. All
these devices are supposed to help us save time, like
the washing machine, helps us save time to washing and
all that, and it’s
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convenient, helps us save
energy and effort, and you know time use for other
things. But we don’t have
17:02
time for family. We sit down
in the same table, four, five, six, seven of us, and
then we are looking at
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something else. Things that
cannot love us, things that cannot repay us. Amen?
Archibald Hawke, a man, a
17:17
professor, a Christian
professor said this that there is a condition called
‘Anhedonia’, ‘Anhedonia’,
17:26
‘Hedonia’, from the word
‘Hedonistic’, like you know, ‘Pursuit of pleasure’. ‘An’
means ‘Neutralise’. That
17:32
means it is, there is no
more pleasure. We are a society that doesn’t
understand what is pleasure
17:39
anymore. We have so much
pleasure that pleasure is no more pleasure. We become
jaded. So when God tells us
17:48
His ways is to enhance your
pleasure, is to complete
17:54
your joy. “These things I
have spoken to you”, the Lord said, “That my joy
might remain in you, and
18:00
that your joy might be
full”. God is not a joy killer, He is a joy giver.
Have you noticed when the
18:06
devil takes hold of someone
in their mind and all that, they become depressed? Have
you noticed that there is no joy? That’s what the devil
produces. He produces
18:14
depression. And then he
tells you, “Alright you take this tranquiliser it will
help you”. Next thing you know, you are addicted to
tranquiliser. You try to
18:21
stop the tranquiliser, you
go in spiral downward in an even worse depression. So
what’s the answer? Another
18:28
type of tranquiliser to
neutralise the effect of the first tranquiliser. Amen?
And then now you are a drug
18:35
addict. Amen? “Pastor, where
are we heading with this?”
18:43
Good news is coming. And
recently I read in Singapore
18:48
that more young people are
committing suicide. They have, they have more
clothing, and shoes, and
19:00
gadgets, Amen, and
knowledge, and social media,
19:07
I think they are supposed to
have more friends right? And yet they are still unhappy.
Are we missing something?
19:16
Yes. We forget, sin is sin,
and there is a devil. We need to find God’s plan,
Amen, and God wants you to
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know His plans, He loves
you. And all the people say? Amen. So now that we are
saved, alright I am speaking
19:30
to the people that have put
their trust in Christ, Christ died for our sins and
rose again from the dead without our sins. He
effectively put them all
19:38
away through His blood.
Amen? And when He rose from the dead from then on your
identity is now in Him. So
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Romans 5 tells us,
“Therefore since we have been justified through
faith, we have peace with God”, not trying to look for
it, “Through our Lord Jesus
19:52
Christ, through whom also we
have gained access by faith into this grace”, into this
favour, “in which we now
19:59
stand”. Folks once you are
justified by faith, you have access. It’s like speaking
to this generation.
20:05
Everything you must have
access, Amen? You go into a building, you got to have
access to that building. You
20:12
got to know the password,
the pin, the code, anything. Your ATM, got to have
access. You got to have
20:18
access to your ATM, you got
to have the, your pin number, am I right? Well now
that we are justified by
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faith with God, we have
access into this place called favour, grace. In
this grace where we stand,
20:32
wherever you go is grace
ground. I want you know you are not like the people of
the world. You are in the world but you are not of the
world. Therefore the things
20:39
of the world should not
affect you, should not come on you. But we know
Christians are also known
20:44
for divorce cases,
depression, and being drug addicts and things like
that. This should not be.
20:51
But God wants you to be set
free, and whom the Son sets free is free indeed. Amen?
We are not going to join the
21:00
ranks of people, Amen,
justifying their sin,
21:06
negating God, making
themselves cast as God. “I know better than God”.
Always saying, “How can God?
21:13
How can God? How can God?”
You with your peanut brain want to judge the Almighty
God? Wrong. We got the whole
21:20
thing in reverse. Amen. God
is the judge. Compared to
21:25
Him, you won’t last long you
know. He will outlast you. Let me tell you this, Amen.
So we have access by faith
21:33
into this grace. So now we
have access by faith into this favour. Grace can be
favour. It’s favour, this
21:38
place of favour with God.
Favour ground. We boast in the hope of the glory of
God. That means hope is
21:45
always future. Hope is a
positive expectation of good. In fact, Vine defines
‘Hope’, the Greek word for
21:53
‘Hope’ is, think of ‘Elvis’
ok, then you will understand this. You memorise this
‘Elpis’, say ‘Elpis’, not
22:01
‘Elvis’, ‘Elpis’. Shouldn’t
have mentioned ‘Elvis’ then. Instead of ‘V’, ‘P’, ok.
‘Elpis’ is a ‘Positive
22:08
expectation of good’. Vine,
this Greek scholar. He says
22:14
that ‘Elpis’ is a
‘Favourable and Confident Expectation’. He also said
it’s a ‘Happy Expectation of
22:22
Good’. In fact the most
frequently used is ‘The Happy Expectation of Good’.
That’s hope. Amen? And the
22:30
Bible says we boast,
literally the word is ‘Boast’ in the positive
expectation of good in our
22:37
future, and this good is the
glory of God. Glory of God manifested in our lives,
Amen? In our person. For sin
22:47
is defined as ‘Coming
short’, or ‘Forfeiting the Glory of God’, we are back.
Amen? And the Glory will
22:54
manifest in your marriage.
It will manifest in your body. It will manifest in
your relationships. It will manifest in everything you
touch, think, say, and do.
23:03
Amen? Praise God. So next
verse it says not only that we glory or boast in
anticipation of the glory of
23:11
God, not only that, we also
boast in our sufferings. The Old King James says
tribulations. Sufferings,
03 How should we view our sufferings?
23:18
now this is like weird, if
you think about it, “We boast in our sufferings?”
Sufferings is not from God.
23:25
Look at God’s original plan
in the Garden of Eden. No one suffered. Everything was
there in abundance. Alright,
23:30
suffering came because of
sin. But it’s just telling you, when suffering
happened, now God is going
23:36
to deal with the world as it
is because of what Jesus did at the cross, now suffering
will produce something in
23:42
you, if you know the plan of
God. So whatever suffering
23:48
is, Amen. It does not say
you will stay in that suffering. It says that
suffering, when we boast in suffering, knowing this,
suffering produces
23:55
perseverance. I told some
Pastors you know the other
24:00
day that, “I don’t think I
will be the Pastor I am today had I not learned in
my teens, suffering”. Not
24:06
learned. You don’t learn,
don’t go to a school to learn. I am more or less
forced into it. Amen? I
24:12
suffered, I suffered
thinking that I had committed the unpardonable
sin. I suffered very young.
24:18
Compared to my friends, I am
thinking to myself, “Why can’t I have an enjoyable
life?” I suffered having sleepless nights. I suffered
feeling like demons talking
24:25
to me at night, oppressing
my sleep. I suffered thinking I have lost my
salvation. I suffered all
24:31
those things at a young age.
18, 19 years old. You know when I looked back it
produced something in me,
24:38
perseverance. So much so
that the other sufferings now, and I suffered people
saying bad things about me,
24:44
Amen, even as a pastor. I
have suffered, Amen? People saying lying things about me
and I feel like defending
24:51
myself and the Lord says,
“No, suffer it”. Like David did, alright because I want
you to know, you cannot
24:57
defend yourself. But when I
look back now whatever people say doesn’t matter.
It’s like there is something
25:05
inside me already that I
have persevered through that and now is like what you
call it ‘Chicken feet’,
25:13
‘Water off the duck’s back’.
This is just a little comment, Amen. “Who said
it?” “Oh that person said
25:18
it”. “Ok fine”. Amen? It’s
no more, I really don’t, I
25:24
am not one of those that
there are ten comments, one negative comment, you zero
your mind on it and you
25:30
think about it, you are
obsessed with it. I got no time. I don’t even have time
to look at my social media.
25:35
I don’t even know what’s the
latest following. Amen. So, I know many of you, you
can’t understand that kind
25:41
of life right? Amen? You are
looking all the time right? Halfway I’m preaching you
are also looking. Amen? You
25:47
know what I call that? If
your name is James, that’s call ‘James Bondage’. I am
trying to say it nicely.
25:55
It’s bondage. It’s bondage
to have to look all the time to see how many are
following, how many are you know. And uh, “But, Pastor
Prince, you got no one
26:02
following you.” Maybe, ok?
Maybe I, that’s the reason why I don’t want to uh, look
at it, alright? But, but, really uh, that’s not the,
uh, the life that God wants
26:10
us to live. It goes up when
someone comments well, and it goes down when someone
comments really bad. To see
26:16
who is following you, or,
or, or fear of missing out, you know, the FOMO syndrome,
Amen, or I call it FOLO,
26:22
alright, Fear of Losing Out
here in Singapore. Amen? And, and, you know, heh,
it’s a bondage. It’s really
26:28
a bondage. Life should be
happier than just at, every time there’s a, there’s a
“ting”, you gotta look in
26:33
your phone. I mean like,
life gotta be, come on, life gotta be simpler than that,
happier and peaceful. Can I
26:42
have a good “Amen”? No, I’m
not knocking those phone and all that, I have a, I have a
handphone and I carry it everywhere I go, ok, not
now, Amen? But, it’s a
26:51
function. It’s a tool. I do
not serve it. It serves me.
26:56
When it calls, I don’t
kowtao and obey all the time and say, “Yes, master, here
I am. What is thy message?”
27:02
“Open the gate first.” “Yes,
master.” “Release me. Access
27:10
code. Your thumb print or
whatever.” “Yes, master.” I’m sorry, I’m trying to
make you fear, to see that
27:16
the whole thing is bondage.
Whether it’s James Bondage or Jane Bondage, I mean
it’s, it’s bondage. “Pastor,
27:24
you are so corny.” I know.
Perseverance will produce character; character, hope
You see, see what produces
27:29
“hope” – positive
expectation of good? Suffering produces
perseverance, perseverance produce character.
Character. That’s what I’m
27:37
looking for when I, when I
think of uh, leaders to govern this great people; to
provide over-sight for this
27:44
great people here in New
Creation Church. I look for proven character. I don’t, I
don’t just go for, “Oh, you
27:51
know, I mean, I look for
proven character. Character of people who know that they
are weak, depending on His
27:57
strength. People who have
gone through hell and come out the other side, knowing
the, the, only the Lord, His
28:04
strength, Amen, His love
that matters. Not human effort. These are the ones,
proven character. Then, it
28:11
will produce hope. Hope for
your future. And Hope does not, Listen carefully. Hope
does not put us to shame.
28:16
When you have hope, it will
not put you to shame. Today, the world says what? “Don’t
raise your…?” Can I tell you
28:23
something? This is your
pastor talking to you. Don’t raise your hopelessness.
It’s already there already.
28:31
Don’t raise it anymore. You
don’t need help to raise your hopelessness. Every
time you look at the News, it’s raised. Every time you
hear someone say something,
28:39
it’s raised. The world, by
default mode, is negative. Amen. You don’t hear, uh,
uh, you know, News does not
28:47
thrive on, on good news.
Today, uh, 3-million and uh, 500-thousand and 345 planes
landed safely. Which is
28:58
true. Maybe not 3 million
but I’m just rounding off figures somewhere from my
head. I’m just saying that
29:04
there are thousands and
thousands of planes that landed safely but they will
not announce that. They
29:09
announce the one that has a
engine trouble. Right? That’s how News work. But
then what do you focus on?
29:16
That one. So, you take the
plane, guess what? Maybe mine is the one. You are the
one. Instead of being
29:26
powered by “one”, you are
being disempowered by that one bad news. Huh? That’s
not hope. It’s the opposite
29:34
of hope. It’s no positive
expectation, expectation of good. The Bible says God
wants us to have hope. Amen.
04 God wants you to raise your hopes!
29:40
God wants us to have hope.
And this hope will not put you to shame. And the world
says, “You raise your hope, you’ll be disappointed.” You
raise your hope, you’ll be
29:47
disappointed. Because once
upon a time, when we were younger, without Christ,
yes, we raise our hopes, we
29:55
were, we were people that,
young people are very optimistic; you know what
I’m saying? They, they, they have a positive expectation
of good, they believe they
30:01
can become the president,
uh, they can become the, uh, uh, uh, a doctor; they
believe they can become an
30:06
astronaut, you know, they
have, they have hope. But then, without Christ, hope
has no power. Amen. The
30:16
reason you can believe for
a, a, a good in your future, for a, for a confident
expectation of good, for a
30:24
happy anticipation of good
in your future, is because at the Cross, Jesus bore all
your sins and cancelled out
30:31
all the effects of those
sins and the harvest of those sins. There’s no bad
things that will come back to haunt you. All your,
your, your harvest of wages
30:39
of sin, the harvest of your
sins, have all been, been uh, been uh, harvested at
the Cross, if I can say
30:46
that. And, and those
harvests is, is cut down. Amen. When Jesus cried
“finished”, there’s nothing
30:51
waiting for you in the
future except good. So, believers should raise
their, their hope. Elpis.
30:57
Are you listening, people?
And this hope, the Bible promised, will not put you
to shame. If you are sick in
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your body, you should have
hope that you will be well. If you are suffering
addiction, you must have
31:09
hope that you will get out
of it and you will be delivered from it and much
better, much free-er, much stronger than ever before.
Amen. If you are advancing
31:17
in years, you must have hope
that there are people who are young and strong and you
will feel stronger and younger than you were to,
half your age. When you were
31:25
half your age, uh, Amen, you
were weaker, you were always tired, you’ll be stronger
than that age. You gotta
31:31
have hope. So, when you hear
people talking about hope, you don’t get angry. You
know, he’s just painting pictures for people to be,
uh, to be hopeful about.
31:38
Amen? And see? I told you
there’re, there are a lot of evangelists of hopelessness.
We don’t need anymore. Amen.
31:44
We need people to give hope
and the Bible, the Bible preaches hope. Amen. When
you read the Bible, it gives
31:50
you hope. The Bible says
that through the comfort of Scriptures, we might find
hope and consolation.
31:56
There’s a verse that says
through the Scriptures we find hope. Now the God of
hope God is called the God
32:02
of Hope. Now the God of Hope
fill you with all peace and believing, in believing.
Amen. So that you can have
32:08
hope. It tells us that. The
God of Hope gives you hope.
32:13
You have a God. It’s not
just a, “I hope it will happen one day.” But you’re,
you’re without any power to
32:19
see it come to pass. No. The
God of Hope is behind your hope. So, if you are
oppressed, Yes, you can be
32:26
free, but uh, you can’t
imagine how is, how does freedom look like, Amen, how
does a peaceful night of
32:32
rest look like, how, how is
freedom from, from uh, bitterness and unforgiveness
look like. How is life like
32:39
without being negative
towards people all the time, fault finding with people
all the time. You know, how
32:44
can, how, how does it look
like, Pastor Prince? Amen. You gotta have hope first
before you can see it. No, Pastor, the Bible says that
faith is more important. The
32:51
Bible says that Jesus turned
to the woman who touched his, the hem of his garment
and she was healed, Jesus said “your faith made you
well”. The Bible says
32:58
without faith it’s
impossible to please God. You are right. Faith is like
the currency of heaven. Show
33:03
God your faith, He shows you
what you want. I, I’m putting it very simply.
Amen? Like, if, if you go to
33:10
Euro, Europe, you must have
the Euro. You go to Japan, you gotta have the Yen.
Alright? It doesn’t work for
33:15
you, they mana accept your
Singapore dollar? Amen? Not because there’s no value,
it’s not their currency. The
33:22
currency of exchange. So,
Heaven’s currency is faith. Yes. And faith comes by
hearing and hearing by the
33:29
word of God. That’s why you
are hearing now. Amen? But,
33:34
friend, have you ever read
this verse? Hebrews 11 verse 1. Faith, Now, faith is the
substance of things hoped
33:43
for… Which one comes first?
If English is your language,
33:52
tell me now, which one comes
first? Faith is the substance of things hoped
for… Which one comes first?
34:02
If there’s no hope, faith
has no substance. Cos faith
34:07
is the substance of what?
Things hoped for. You gotta have some, you gotta have
hope. Hope your body will be
34:13
well. To, and some people
are taught, you know, some, I, I, your, your background,
you are taught that you gotta have faith; faith is
what heals, not hope. I
34:20
understand that. But listen
carefully. Without hope, there’s, there, there can be
no faith. You gotta believe
34:29
that your child will be
well. You gotta have that hope. You gotta pray, like,
you know, thanking God for
34:36
that. Amen. Then your faith
will work because faith is the substance. Hupostasis,
which is “under”, “Hupo”,
34:45
“stasis” is “stand”. Faith
is the thing that makes you stand, in the things that
you hope for. Faith
34:54
undergirds you. Amen. For
the things that you hope for. So, faith is actually
under your feet in this
35:00
verse. Hupostasis, which is
the Greek word “Substance”. “Hope for” is in front of
you; your goal, your
35:08
destination. So that pain in
your body, you gotta hope for a future where you are
free from it. It can happen
35:15
in one fell swoop, it can
happen gradually as you partake of the Lord’s
supper, Communion. There’s a lot of sick people, you
know. There’s a lot of pe,
35:22
uh, physically sick, I mean.
There’s a lot of sick people in the world. Someone knows
someone, very close who is
35:28
sick. And that’s why the
Lord has provided “The Lord’s Supper”. Amen. And
it’s called “The Lord’s
35:35
Supper” not “The Lord’s
Breakfast” because it is for the night seasons of your
life. It is, the Bible says
35:44
the Passover was, was
instituted, Amen, between two evenings and the Bible
says “twilight” time. But
35:52
they actually partake,
partook of it night time. The Passover. Jesus, in the
L, in the Last Supper, He
35:59
instituted the Lord’s
Supper, Amen, for us believers. After He took the
Passover, He, He, institute
36:08
the Lord’s Supper. The Lord
in the night, in the night that He was betrayed, He
took bread. Maybe it’s a
36:15
night season as well. Maybe
you have been betrayed. What do you do? Take the Lord’s
Supper. Remember Him. Maybe
36:22
right now, you feel like,
like all your exercise, all your observing good diet and
all that has betrayed you.
36:30
All of a sudden you are
stunned. The doctors give you this, this diagnosis,
this prognosis and uh, you do not know what to say
because you’ve, you’ve eaten
36:37
well, I mean, you, you, you
observe all that; you feel betrayed, don’t you? Or you
do a lot of things for
36:43
someone and then that person
turns around and pours the love or favour on somebody
else instead. You feel
36:49
betrayed, don’t you? Well,
Jesus, in the night that He was betrayed, 1st
Corinthians 11, took bread.
36:57
I think it’s an example for
all of us. In the night season, take bread. Remember
Him. And, by the way, the
37:05
bread is not just for
physical healing, alright, the broken body of Jesus, is
also for your deliverance, for your oppression, your
mind. Your mind. Your mind
37:13
that is full of worry and
care. You know the, the, the old English word for
“worry”? Is, is a, is a word
37:19
that means “strangle”. And
sometimes worry does that, isn’t it? It, it strangles
you like, you can’t breathe.
37:24
When you worry about
something, it’s like hah, you gotta wake up because
you are so full of worry. Worry is from the word
“strangle”, an old English
37:30
for the word “strangle”.
That’s where worry comes from. Fear, anxiety, it’s
the same. Oppression. I tell
37:37
you this, it’s gotta do with
your mind. The Lord’s Supper, when Jesus, on the
road of Emmaus, at the end of the journey, the
seven-mile journey, He went
37:44
into the house of the two
and then He took bread. Amen. The guest became the
host. And when He took the
37:50
bread, the Bible says, He
broke the bread, their eyes were open. Their mind was
beginning to comprehend. The
38:00
understanding returned.
There’s another verse where He appeared in the upper
room then “open He their
38:06
understanding”. So, the
Lord’s Supper is to open your understanding to the
wisdom of God. Amen. Many a
38:13
times, if you are oppressed,
you are depressed, you can hardly even hear a sermon
like this. You’re, you’re
38:19
tst, tst, tst, listen,
listen, chuup, chuup, yup, yup. It’s not going to
happen. Chuup. Now. Now.
38:24
Now. Now. Faith is. Now.
Now. Be in the “now”. People cannot be in the “now”
because you know what? Fear
38:32
and worry got to do with,
nothing but, nothing to do with the “now”. Fear is
something to do with the future, alright? Worry is
the future. Guilt,
38:41
condemnation, regret, the
past. So, if you are in regret, you’re worry, you’re
not living “now”. You can be
38:49
in a very beautiful place.
You are in Hawaii.
38:54
“Aloha-oi, Aloha-oi”, and
they, and, and they are
39:03
dancing in front of you,
calling, “Oi, Oi, Oi” so many times and you are
like…. You are, you are
39:12
worried. You are living in
the future, not living in Hawaii. I’m just giving you
an example that, you know,
39:18
people don’t live in the
“now”. The Bible says, “Now, faith IS”. Both “now”,
between “faith” is “now” and
39:27
“is”. Both are present
tense. Live in the “now” and you live in the realm of
faith. The Bible says the
39:33
time of salvation is now.
It’s never in the future. Amen. “The time of
salvation,” the word
39:39
“salvation”, Soteria is also
for healing, wholeness, deliverance, is now. If you
live in the “now”, the Bible
39:45
says God is a very present
help. He is a very present
39:51
help. Very present help in
our time of need. Amen? So,
40:00
our minds are the ones being
attacked. We are attacked like, you know, it’s crazy.
Yah, people cannot focus
40:07
because, today especially,
the phone and urm, our social media and the s, the
kind of culture that we live
40:14
in, is full of distractions.
We are so afraid of missing out that we want to have
every information that we
40:23
can have but that knowledge
isn’t re, does it remind you of the Tree of the Knowledge
of Good and Evil? The tree
40:31
that God didn’t want man to
eat from is not just a tree of evil. It’s a tree of
knowledge of good, of good
40:39
even, and evil. Amen. God
wants man to live from the tree of life. Amen. So,
knowing that knowledge, what
40:48
has it done for you, for
your marriage? What has, has it done for your health?
What has it done for your peace of mind? What has it
done for you financially?
40:55
What has it done for you
especially in your walk with God? Amen? In enjoying the,
the, the kingdom life, Amen,
41:01
that God wants you to enjoy;
the abundant life that Jesus came to give you? What has
it done for you? You spend
41:07
so much time, you should
spend time, why, but the, Isaiah says it like this,
and so relevant for our
41:12
times, he says, “Why do you
spend time for what is not bread? And for that which
does not satisfy?” Why do we
41:20
spend so much time? Amen. We
should, I’m not saying we don’t, throw away your phone
or whatever. I didn’t say
41:25
that. I’m saying control it.
Don’t let it control you.
41:32
It’s almost like there’s an
invisible chain, you know, sometimes. And, and best of
all, in church today, no one
41:39
knows you are reading the
Bible on, on your phone or you are actually surfing on
the phone. I know there are
05 Hope is a helmet that guards your mind
41:53
pastors who are not happy
when people fall asleep in
42:07
thoughts. I was so sincere.
I want to be so close to God, all of a sudden, Bang!
Blasphemous thoughts start
42:12
coming in my mind. And I
thought it was like this, from me. I never knew it’s
from outside in. I didn’t
42:19
know the devil can give you
thoughts. Like, like uh, Peter told Ananias, “Why has
Satan put in your heart”.
42:28
Judas Iscariot, Satan put
into his heart. Likewise,
42:35
how does God speak to you?
Nehemiah. God has put in my heart. Man of God, God has
placed in my heart a desire.
42:44
It is God who works in you.
Not outside. In you. In fact, God, God works in you.
The devil works from outside
42:51
because God forbid the devil
works from inside. Oh, you don’t want the devil work
from inside. What’s your
42:57
name? “Legion”. Today,
what’s your name? “Zombie”.
43:06
And that’s what a person who
is, who is uh, a zombie is a person who is half dead,
half alive. You know, the
43:13
living dead, the walking
dead. It’s literally sinners without Christ. They are
alive, their hearts goes
43:21
“Boob boob, boob boob, boob
boob”, but they are dead.
43:27
And they feed on flesh. Only
fleshly pursuits. You are not created for the dust.
You are created for heavenly
43:35
things, child of God. Amen.
Just like, a little uh,
43:41
eaglet among the chickens.
Somehow it was born among
43:47
the chickens but, when it
looks at the eagle scream high up there, with that
streak, that cry, something
43:54
inside the eaglet says I
belong there. And all the chicken say, “No, no, no,
no, no. Not practical lah,
43:59
you. Not practical lah. Wake
up to reality. Wake up. Don’t raise your hopes so
high. No chicken can fly so
44:05
high. One day he will fall.
One day he will fall. One day he will fall.” Amen?
Phoouah! Next thing you know, “Hey, you heard
brother Cockadoodledoo? “Yah, what happened?”
“Yesterday a snake came and
44:11
gobbled him up.” “Oh, but
the other day, I saw that eagle with a snake in his
mouth. He flew really high,
44:18
then he dropped the snake
among the rocks then I saw him fly down and eat the
snake.” They that wait upon
44:23
the Lord shall renew their
strength. They shall mount up with wings as eagles.
They shall run and not be
44:28
weary But before this verse,
it says, Even the youths shall faint And those who
don’t wait upon the Lord,
44:36
they shall faint. Even the
youths shall faint and the young man shall utterly fall
but they that wait upon the
44:43
Lord shall renew their
strength. Regardless of age. Amen? They shall mount up
with wings as eagles; they
44:50
shall run and not be weary
They shall walk and not faint. Can I have a good
“Amen”? Listen. Here’s where
45:00
we gotta watch it. The devil
attacks here. Anyway, you know what he does or not? He
throw that thought in you, “I’m an addict.” He use the
personal pronoun. He doesn’t
45:08
use the second person “You”.
He use the first person “I”, as if you are thinking those
thoughts. So, many a times,
45:16
I would have blas,
blasphemous thoughts and I’d think it’s from me against
God. “Aah! Oh no! Oh no!”
45:22
and then he will, when I’m
praying, bad thoughts about God, “Zhook, zhook, zhook”,
a lot of blasphemous thoughts. Then I stop
praying. Then slowly,
45:29
slowly, I, I just left. I
know He never leaves me, but
45:34
I left the Lord. Amen.
There’s just the blasphemous
45:40
thoughts and I own it, you
know, just like the saying, “You can’t stop birds from
flying over your head, but
45:47
you can stop them from
making a nest.” You can, you know. You can stop them from
making a nest. It’s not, not
45:53
sitting down there, “Is he
making a nest?” I think so,
45:58
sure looks like a nest to
me. I can’t tell because sometimes your hair is a
nest but I think there’s a
46:05
bird there. Oops, sorry, now
there’s an egg in the nest.
46:10
On your nest. You can stop
the bird from, you know, you
46:16
can’t stop thoughts from
flying. Some bad thoughts will come. Amen. It happens
to all of us. Now, here’s a
46:22
word of deliverance: When a
bad thought comes, listen carefully, when an evil
thought comes, blasphemous
46:27
thought comes, don’t own it.
It’s a bird flying, that’s all. It does not define you.
Yup, including the bad
46:38
thought you had about me
when I came up just now. It’s not you. You love me
and I love you. Hehe. Amen?
46:49
1st Thessalonians 5, it
says: Now, let us who are of the day be sober, Alright,
we, we don’t belong to the
46:54
night season but we go
through the night season. One day there’ll be no more
night, the Bible tells us. But we are children of the
day, we are children of the
47:01
light. Let us put on the
breastplate, …putting on the breastplate of faith and
love So, the breastplate
47:07
protects you, your heart.
Your heart is where the accusation comes in. The
devil accuses you on your
47:13
heart. Your conscience is
always this realm. Faith and love will protect your heart
and that’s why, regardless
47:19
of what you hear, a, a
sermon, whatever it is, if you leave with fear, if you
leave with, with, with a
47:25
attitude of “holier than
thou”, bitter towards other Christians and all that, you
have not heard the Word of God. Because the Word of God
will always cause the
47:33
breastplate of faith and
love to be on your heart, on your conscience. Can I have
a good “Amen”? And then it
47:39
says, …and as a helmet, the
hope of salvation. The hope of Soteria. Salvation is a
all-encompassing word,
47:49
all-inclusive word. It
includes not just salvation from eternal destruction,
salvation from hell, but
47:57
salvation from sickness.
Look it up. The word “Salvation” is a noun,
feminine noun, but the word,
48:03
“soteria” is a feminine
noun, but it comes from the verb “Sozo” where Jesus told
the woman, just now we
48:08
talked about the woman who
came behind and re, receive healing, Jesus says, “Your
faith has sozo you.” So,
48:14
sozo is al, soteria is also
healing. Cos sozo is in it. It’s the verb form of
soteria. Amen? Healing. It’s
48:23
rescue. Rescue from danger.
Deliverance. Protection.
48:28
H’wah! It’s, so when, when,
when the angel was sent and said, “And you shall call
his name Jesus”, in the
48:36
Greek, it will be: You’ll
call his name Soteria. Salvation. His name. It is
all-inclusive name. And He
48:43
demonstrated His name
everywhere He went. He set people free. The L-Legion,
uh, the, the guy who was
48:49
possessed with the, with so
many demons, He set him free. So much so the man
wants to be with Jesus.
48:55
Amen. He healed. Everywhere
He went, He healed all those who were oppressed of the
devil. God was with Him. Can
49:02
I have a good “Amen”? I, I
feel like the Holy Spirit is telling me to tell many of
you watching this, you are
49:09
having bat, battle with your
thoughts, you know why? You know why those thoughts
linger? Because you own it.
49:15
You say it’s you. So as long
as you own it amen, it becomes yours. And it stays
because it’s yours. But the
49:22
moment you say no this is
not my thoughts, these are not my thoughts. Many of you
have had thoughts like like
49:27
you look down a very high
building and all that and the thought comes, “Jump.”
Amen? Don’t say how can I
49:32
think that way, how can I?
Don’t accept it it’s not you. But the problem happens
when young people start
49:38
accepting that and I think
that’s the reason why many are now very susceptible to
those thoughts. And they
49:44
don’t have this hope of
salvation. Hope of salvation means like positive,
confident, happy expectation
49:49
of good in your future. As a
result that you know you are saved, Jesus took your sins
at the cross, there is no
49:55
sin that will penalise you
or produce a bad fruit in your future. It’s all been
paid by Jesus. It’s a hope
50:01
of salvation. You have
salvation. You have Jesus. You have forgiveness of
sins. You have deliverance
50:07
from the curse of the law.
You have a good future amen. Only the blessings of God
are in store for you in the
50:14
future. So hope is a helmet.
It’s a helmet on your head
50:21
amen. To protect you from –
you got to have a hope. Because of salvation you are
saved that’s why the world,
50:26
the world cannot raise their
hopes and rightly so they cannot they have no
foundation for their hope.
50:32
They just hope for the best
and that’s the language they use. That is not your
language child of God. You
50:37
have a solid, rock solid
foundation to believe the best good in your future.
Amen? Jesus paid for you,
50:49
it’s a rock-solid
foundation. Why can you believe that you can be free
from that addiction? Jesus
50:55
shed His blood for it. Amen.
Why why can you believe that you can be well from that
symptom, even though it’s a
51:01
chronic symptom for years.
Because Jesus paid for it and you are partaking the
Lord’s Supper. You are
51:06
getting better and better
and better and better. Eat your bread with joy and
drink your wine happily,
51:13
cheerfully. Let your head
lack no ointment child of God. Amen. You listening? So
put on the breastplate. You
51:21
know as a young person I was
sharing with you that I read a book that says you can
lose your salvation. And for
51:26
some reason I believe this
author. I believe you can lose your salvation. The
moment I did that, bang! All those blasphemous thoughts
came. I can point to the
51:34
very time when I started
believing what I read. I don’t fault the author ok? I
believe it ok? And I believe
51:43
you can lose your salvation
which I know now you cannot amen? It’s called eternal
security praise God. And and
51:49
but I believe that. But the
moment I believed that that’s when all those
blasphemous thoughts came.
51:54
You know why? There is no
more helmet. There is no hope of salvation. Even
though I was saved, I have
52:01
salvation, there’s no hope.
Because I believe I was lost. The moment the first
thought came against the
52:07
Holy Spirit, blasphemous
thoughts, bang, I said I committed the unpardonable
sin, which is not. I nearly
52:15
lost my mind, both Pastor
Mark and I. The helmet, the
52:29
breastplate are so vital to
guard your heart from an evil conscience, from
accusations. Say I am the
52:35
righteousness of God in
Christ. Amen? And the helmet got to be there because when
the devil says no, you will
52:41
die, you know why you will
die? Because your parents died. Your father died of
this disease, your father has this disease. So your
father has it aright, you
52:50
will have it. That’s how
science goes, natural things. Now the chickens are
talking right? But you are
52:56
an eagle, eaglet. And you
are sprouting wings now
53:01
amen? You belong to the
heavenlies, not dust bound.
53:08
Not dirt bound. You belong
to the heavenlies, child of God. Listen, so when you
hear that kind of talk,
53:15
albeit sincere and all that,
in your mind, reject it in Jesus’ name. Don’t accept
natural verdict of men lest
53:23
their verdict becomes a
sentence ok? You believe that word more than your
Father’s word? Yes, I am
53:31
like my Father, tell the
person. And I’ll end up like my Father. The question is
which heavenly Father or the
53:37
earthly father? Amen?
Because when I got born again I received a brand-new
DNA amen? Amen. That’s what
53:50
old things are passed away
all things are become new amen? That is the statement
of our church. New Creation
53:57
Church. Therefore, if any
man be in Christ, he is a new creation. Old things are
passed away all things have
54:02
become new. Number two,
bringing this to a close
54:12
already. Hope is an anchor
for your soul. It’s an
06 Hope is an anchor that steadies your soul
54:17
anchor for your soul. In
those days when Paul wrote this and I believe Paul is
the author of Hebrews and by
54:23
the Holy Spirit. The picture
then was that they travelled by ship, they travelled by
boats ok? Vessels in those
54:30
days. They don’t fly in
those days. But there is a promise that God says I will
cause you to ride the high
54:36
places of the earth, I think
it’s written to our times. Amen? But during that time
they go by boats, they go by
54:42
vessels. Amen. So if they
stop somewhere in the middle
54:47
of the sea or somewhere near
a port or whatever, they cannot go in yet or
whatever, what they need to do, not in the middle of the
sea usually but where there
54:54
is even though it’s very
deep but there is ground, they will lower the anchor.
Lower the anchor. Now once
55:03
the anchor takes hold, the
heavy anchor, it drops bottom, once it takes hold,
listen carefully, the heavy
55:10
anchor will stabilise the
boat. Get the picture? Let’s read the verse first. It
says that by two things
55:17
which cannot, that is
impossible for God to lie, we might have strong
consolation, who have fled
55:22
for refuge to lay hold of
the hope set before us. Church, this is the language
to the Hebrews. They
55:30
understand the city of
refuge. Paul is using their analogy from the Old
Testament. Amen. From their
55:36
law where someone who
commits manslaughter, he kills someone, albeit it’s
not intentional, he can flee
55:43
to a place call a city of
refuge. Amen are you listening? And there are
cities of refuge all over
55:51
Israel. But he must run in
before the avenger of blood, that person’s brother or
cousin or whatever who wants
55:57
to avenge his dead brother.
He’s going to find you. If he finds you before you
reach the city he can kill
56:02
you. He can kill you
legitimately. Amen? It’s a picture of sinners and there
is an avenger of blood amen.
56:11
And he is after you because
he has a right to destroy you because you have sinned.
And the wages of sin is
56:17
death. So he is coming after
you but Jesus came as a city of refuge. Amen. And when
you enter the city of
56:22
refuge, listen carefully,
your identity is no more that of a sinner. Because
the city of refuge is
56:28
inhabited by priests. And
the priests they eat the best. They drink the best.
They have to be in the best
56:35
state because they come
close to God, to offer the offerings of the people and
the priests are never
56:41
neglected. The priests, I am
saying never neglected in a generic way. In the Bible
Old Testament there was a time even Nehemiah knew it,
they were neglected and all
56:48
that. I am speaking of God,
God’s plan for them was never to be neglected. So
the cities of refuge is a place where there is
abundance. So the sinner
56:55
lives as if he is one of the
chosen ones to come close to
57:01
God. Priests are close to
God. So it’s a picture of us going to Jesus as our
refuge. You understand that
57:08
so far? So we have fled for
refuge, to lay hold of the hope. Remember it’s
impossible for God to lie.
57:15
There are some things that
are impossible for God to do. One is impossible for
God to lie. Impossible.
57:24
Impossible. Impossible. So
that we can have a strong consolation. Those of us who
have fled for refuge to lay
57:31
hold of the hope set before
us. Lay hold of this positive confident
expectation of good. Church,
57:36
don’t just listen to a
sermon, tell yourself I lay hold of it! In your specific
circumstances whatever you
57:42
are faced with right now,
the doctors gave you a bad report and all that, shift
away from there, instead of looking at the dark future,
I told my friend Samuel
57:50
Smadja, I told my friend who
was suffering from that bladder cancer, very rare
form of bladder cancer where
57:57
the doctor says even with,
even with treatment there’s
58:02
only 20 percent of survival
chance. And he told me he started taking communion
many many times. Many times.
58:10
He said, in fact I talked to
him the other day on the phone and he said that I’ve
never taken holy communion more times than during these
months when he was
58:16
diagnosed. Even with
treatment only 20 percent of recovery. When I was in
Israel with the pastors this
58:23
past March and I looked at
him and I talked to him, I’ve never seen my good
friend so downcast, so
58:28
depressed you know. And when
we prayed for him, I had this in my spirit, this
verse from Isaiah 54,
58:37
because of Isaiah 53, what
Jesus did at the cross, Isaiah 54 says spare not.
Come on, lengthen your
58:43
cords, because they live in
tents. Lengthen your tents amen. Get ready for growth
for you will break forth on
58:49
the right hand and from the
left. You will have many children. For them in those
days it’s a great blessing to have many children amen.
Lengthen your cords prepare
58:56
for success. Prepare for
healing, prepare for a healthy life. Amen so I said
I see this my friend and I
59:02
see your future. Right now
you are not planning for your future. All you see is
darkness. Friend, don’t do that. Start seeing yourself
going to America, start
59:09
seeing yourself having
holidays there. Start seeing yourself enjoying yourself,
because he has relatives and
59:15
friends in America and all
that. I start saying start planning. You are not
planning right? He said no. Start planning amen? Plan
for a person who is
59:22
successful, healthy and
strong going to all these places. And when we talked
the other day you know he
59:29
was still reminded of what I
said. What was I doing? I am giving him hope. Now some
people will say you know,
59:37
when they hear me talk like
that, the chickens will gather and say you should
not raise his hopes. Sorry,
59:44
I wasn’t talking to you. It
was an eagle to an eagle.
59:50
One eagle is hurt, I am just
telling that eagle amen, I know my Father. Today he is
completely healed.
1:00:02
Completely healed,
completely well. Had I, had
1:00:07
I received his testimony
just as our book Eat Your Way to Life And Health went
into print, had I heard his
1:00:13
testimony amen, I would have
included that last testimony in the book. By the way that
book has so many
1:00:18
testimonies. And one of the
best things to do when you have been given a bad
diagnosis by the doctor and
1:00:23
all that is to just go
through the testimonies one by one. And you’ll be
surprised, they did that?
1:00:29
Sometimes I myself who
preached the sermon, I look at their life and I – they
did that? They take what I
1:00:34
share really all the way.
And I see the life, these
1:00:40
are real life testimonies of
people. Every chapter has a testimony. Even that
Alzheimer. We are having
1:00:48
testimonies of more than one
testimony of people suffering from Alzheimer,
reversed, start recognising
1:00:55
their family members. Come
on. Taking the Lord’s Supper, yes. The whole fall
of man happened because of
1:01:01
eating. You say that just
eating alone can change? The whole fall of man happened
because of eating. And God
1:01:07
has ordained just by simply
eating, but eating the Lord’s body amen, you enter
back into all that God has
1:01:15
for you. Can I have a good
amen? It’s an anchor of your soul. So what happen? When
when a ship drops anchor and
1:01:24
a storm arises? Come on talk
to me. What happens? He has dropped anchor then a storm
arises, then the winds blew,
1:01:33
blew against that that
vessel that boat. And the waves come and hit the boat.
Will it just move off and
1:01:39
sway somewhere, amen, and be
at the mercy tossed to and fro by the waves of the sea?
No why? Because of the
1:01:47
anchor. You don’t see the
anchor but the anchor holds you. And hope is an anchor.
O I am getting ahead of
1:01:55
myself. This hope we have as
an anchor of the soul. This hope is an anchor. It holds
you. First of all you think
1:02:03
you think you have hope you
raise you hope man. You see the hope of your future the
way the Bible says that you
1:02:09
have amen. And those of you
who are planning for marriage. You say you know
Pastor Prince I look at my
1:02:20
available balance in my ATM
not much. I look at my future I want to marry this
girl, I don’t think next
1:02:27
year can do it. No friend,
if you want to marry her she wants to marry you, ok, you
want to marry her, she wants
1:02:33
to be married, ladies must
give her the respect you know. And then you are
ready, amen, you are never
1:02:39
never never really ready
until you are there, past the 50 percent point. You
are never really 100
1:02:44
percent. You also marry by
faith. Listen carefully it’s not like I need to stay with
the person to know the
1:02:50
person. You are not
following the way of God. Without faith it’s
impossible to please God. You don’t stay together.
Most people stay together
1:02:55
break up. Amen? Once you are
more than 50 percent sure there is 20 percent you are
not sure and all that, don’t
1:03:02
worry about it, that is the
person for you. Amen? If you have quarrelled that is. And
you quarrelled and you still
1:03:07
love one another, that’s the
person. Haven’t quarrel, quarrel first amen? Some
people say I love him Pastor
1:03:13
Prince. Have you quarrelled?
No. How can I quarrel with my darling you know. Ya
Pastor Prince look at this face, how to quarrel with
this face. Ok, go back and
1:03:19
quarrel first then come and
talk to me amen? If you quarrel and still want to
get married – listen what’s
1:03:24
the problem? Money. That’s
the number one thing in today, I mean in this nation
of Singapore as well as all
1:03:31
the nations of the world
that is listening to this sermon. One of the biggest
problems especially for young people is money. They
want to establish their
1:03:38
career and all that. And
because they push and push and push they compromise,
sin comes in and many a
1:03:43
times they break up you
know. They open their Christmas present too early,
the excitement is no more
1:03:50
there, they don’t want to
get married. So, the thing is this, God ordained
marriage. What you do is
1:03:55
that you have hope. The
money is not there. In the ATM you don’t see it amen.
The money is not there but
1:04:01
you fix a faith date. Show
God your faith, fix it, have
1:04:06
hope amen of a glorious
wedding even. Amen. Fix the
1:04:12
date. Agree in Jesus name.
That’s the date. We will get married on this date. Show
God your faith, God will
1:04:18
show you the money. He will
give you the supply. And time and time again we have
seen it happen in our church. It starts with hope
then faith amen. And God
1:04:27
will supply. You wait until
you have it that is not faith. You marry by faith my
friend. Can I have good
1:04:34
amen? In everything in life
you do it by faith. If you are sick in your body, start
planning. See yourself well. See yourself well. See
yourself well. Praise the
1:04:41
name of Jesus. Amen. I just
want to tell you that this anchor of the soul will
stabilise you. I did not say
1:04:49
that you will not be hit
when you have hope. In fact, the reason for the anchor is
the possibility that the waves, strong waves will
come and try to hit you. But
1:04:56
you know what? The anchor
will pull you back. In fact it’s very interesting, it
goes on to say that this hope we have as an anchor of
the soul, both sure and
1:05:03
steadfast, and which enters
the Presence within the veil or behind the veil, drop
down, where the forerunner
1:05:12
has entered for us, even
Jesus, having become High Priest forever according to
the order of Melchizedek.
1:05:17
Which is the highest order,
which is the new covenant order. Listen carefully,
it’s telling us, you know what it’s saying? This
anchor has gone, it’s like
1:05:25
first of all an anchor is
for a boat right? Amen. It’s amazing how Paul uses this
picture. When I realise what
1:05:31
he is saying it blew me
away. Listen. I’m still here, anchored. Blew me away
is an expression. Alright
1:05:37
so, when I saw that it’s
amazing. It’s like an anchor that goes into the Holy of
holies where God’s presence
1:05:43
is. Amen. It stabilises me.
I am outside here but there’s a like a rope you
know, a strong, tied to the
1:05:49
anchor. No matter how I
sway, no matter how I move and all that I will never
lose my salvation. I’ll
1:05:54
never lose my righteousness
with God. I may stray for a while, I may go here go
there but the anchor holds
1:06:00
steady, sure and steadfast
inside. You know why? The Forerunner Jesus, my elder
Brother, my Lord and
1:06:07
Saviour, He has gone in.
Amen. He is where the anchor is. It’s almost like saying
this and I realise this,
1:06:14
it’s like, it’s like in
England right, there is a
1:06:19
place called Plymouth,
southern you know, south of England there is a place
called Plymouth, where it’s a harbour. The ship will
have to cross the English
1:06:26
Channel. Let’s say the ship
wants to go to New York Harbour. The ship will have
to cross the, facing you all
1:06:31
ok, the English Channel,
then go to the main ocean all the way to, right, the
Atlantic all the way to the
1:06:40
New York Harbour. What it is
saying is like this, this ship that is still in the
harbour about to take off
1:06:48
has not even cross the
English Channel, but his anchor is anchored in New
York Harbour. Which means no
1:06:57
matter what he will make it.
Like you pull it, it’s almost like the picture of
you know, he’ll come
1:07:03
through. You want some more?
When Paul use the word where
1:07:13
the Forerunner has entered
for us even Jesus, I tell you this, time just flies, I
just got started you know?
1:07:23
Just got started. But let me
tell you this, the word forerunner, when Paul used
it during his time, during
1:07:30
that time and culture, the
forerunner is someone who comes ahead of an important
personage. Let’s say an
1:07:39
important king or a
important high noble man or
1:07:46
whatever it is during that
time ok. He will send his forerunner. The forerunner
will come to the presence of
1:07:52
the other king and say he is
on his way now, he just passed by this place. His
presence in the presence of
1:08:00
the other king is a
guarantee that important personage is coming. What
blew my mind is this, this
1:08:07
is the part that blew my
mind. When I realised that Paul was using the analogy
of his day and age, the
1:08:12
forerunner usually is a
person of no reputation. It is who he represents. The
important person is coming.
1:08:22
And the Bible says Jesus
took the place of the Forerunner. He took the
place of the Forerunner. We
1:08:30
are all the after runners.
But the Forerunner is the one that God is looking at.
If the forerunner is good,
1:08:36
God says you are good. If
the forerunner comes in rude, God rejects the
important personage even
1:08:42
before he comes. Amen? But
Jesus is accepted with God.
1:08:48
He is the Son in whom God is
well pleased. Therefore, doesn’t matter who you are
in the natural right? You
1:08:55
are accepted in your
forerunner amen? And for sure you will make it
because the Bible says that
1:09:01
it’s an anchor behind the
veil. Amen? Are you all blessed? And I just got
started alright. Praise the
07 Pastor Prince leads us in a prayer of hope
1:09:09
Lord. Lift your hands all
across this place and say Father I thank You my
future, the days ahead of me
1:09:20
are full of blessings, full
of good things Lord that You have in store for me. Every
day you will load me up with
1:09:30
Your benefits, with Your
goodness because You love me
1:09:36
and because of what Christ
has done, He died for my sins, He was raised for my
justification, and now I
1:09:45
have access into this favour
ground. This grace ground in
1:09:51
which I stand. I boast and
hope, I have a positive
1:09:57
expectation of the glory of
God being fulfilled in my
1:10:04
life, in my ministry, in my
career, in my marriage, in
1:10:11
my children, in all my loved
ones, in my church, I will
1:10:16
see Your glory and the glory
is always manifesting. The glory is always something
visible. Thank You Lord. I
1:10:24
rejoice in that. And I
rejoice and I boast in my
1:10:29
current sufferings knowing
they are fulfilling the objective of producing a
character that is never
1:10:40
having depressive thoughts
but hopeful thoughts. A
1:10:45
character that believes for
your goodness to be seen in
1:10:53
the future in the land of
the living amen. No death in
1:10:59
the future. No disease in
the future. No curse in the
1:11:06
future. Your blessings. Your
health. Your shalom. Your
1:11:11
well-being. Your protection.
Good days for my family and
1:11:17
I. Thank You Father. And
even my sleep will be sweet
1:11:24
in Jesus’ name. Real quick.
I just want to say this I talk about sleep because I
saw people struggling with
1:11:31
sleep. Let me just tell you
this, you don’t look forward to your bed. Bedtime is like
you, you are afraid, you’ve
1:11:38
been attacked with
nightmares. You’ve been attacked with night visions
that is scary and all that.
1:11:45
You just – or you don’t
sleep well. You don’t look forward to that. But friend,
I prophesy to you in Jesus’
1:11:50
name right now that you will
look forward to your bed. Because it’s will be a time
of refreshing. Amen? And
1:11:56
you’ll look forward because
it’s a time God gives to you. And you can’t wait to
get up to new blessings, to
1:12:01
new provisions, to new
supply amen. You will see that as I sleep, God gives.
As I sleep God gives. That
1:12:09
thought will dominant you.
And even your sleeping time becomes something you can
hope amen. In Jesus’ name
1:12:18
and all the people say? Real
quick also someone here, real quick, someone here I
see you all having lots of
1:12:26
quarrel, married couple, you
are quarrelling a lot. It’s intensified this past few
weeks. And the thought of
1:12:34
divorce has come up amen?
Don’t do it. You are under attack. The problem is that
we are not wrestling with
1:12:40
flesh and blood. It is not
your husband, friend, it’s not your wife. It is a
principality and a power
1:12:46
that is coming against you.
I prophesy to you in Jesus’ name that God says a
turnaround is coming. A
1:12:53
turnaround where the
restoration will be 120 percent. You’ll be
surprised. You never said –
1:12:58
You said I never thought
that this could be possible for our marriage. We’ve been
married so long and we thought we know each other.
But these days are sweet.
1:13:05
You will say those things.
Those things will come out of your mouth. Don’t give
up. What I’m saying is don’t
1:13:10
give up amen? You need to
take a walk from each other, walk go somewhere in the
park and all that, talk to
1:13:16
God and come back amen. And
love by faith. Love is not a feeling. Love is a decision
amen. Do the first works, do
1:13:24
the first romance. Just do
it by faith and the feelings will follow in Jesus’ name.
Amen. Praise the Lord. Are
1:13:30
you all happy you came to
church today? Amen? Now one last one, every head bowed,
if you have never received
08 Salvation prayer and prayer of blessing
1:13:36
the Lord Jesus Christ as
your personal Saviour and Lord, you never put your
trust in Him, my friend, believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ and you shall be
1:13:44
saved and your house. Pray
this prayer with me right now, say heavenly Father, I
thank You that Christ died
1:13:51
on the cross for all my sins
in my place. He bore all the
1:13:57
punishment, all the curse,
of a Holy God. Therefore,
1:14:05
there is no more curse over
my head, there is no more punishment in my future.
There is no more judgement
1:14:13
for me now. Jesus Christ is
my Lord and Saviour. And He was raised from the dead
because He is now my high
1:14:22
Priest to become my
Forerunner. Death is not in
1:14:28
front of me. Death is behind
me. Thank You Father God. My
1:14:33
future is as bright as Your
grace, as Your love in
1:14:39
Jesus’ name. And all the
people said, amen. Stand to your feet. If you prayed
that prayer just now and you
1:14:47
made Jesus your Saviour and
Lord, congratulations. You have a new set of DNA. You
are now a New Creation. Old
1:14:53
things are passed away, all
the bad things, the old things that are negative are
passed away. All things have become new. Believe it, you
are now an eagle. No more a
1:15:01
chicken amen? Praise the
Lord. So soar high, fly high. Praise the Lord. Lift
your hands all across this
1:15:07
place. Father in heaven this
coming week as all the eagles gather together Lord,
as they gather together in
1:15:13
this wonderful nest Lord
called the church, Father they are releasing their
faith for a wonderful
1:15:19
future. Even the future of
this week Father, this coming week, we look at this
week with hope. We ask in
1:15:26
Jesus’ name that they’ll run
smack dab in the middle of great blessing, a surprise
blessing that You have in
1:15:33
store. And I pray that when
they experience that they will remember this prayer
that they prayed Father. And
1:15:38
throughout this week in the
name of Jesus, be thou their shield, be thou their
defence, their protection
1:15:47
from every evil, from every
infection, from even the
1:15:52
dengue mosquitoes Lord, from
all the powers of darkness in the name of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Be thou their
1:16:00
favour in their workplace,
in their ministry, wherever they are. Be thou their
favour with one another in
1:16:07
their marriage, in their
family relationships Lord. Be thou their peace,
wonderful peace, shalom
1:16:13
peace, shalom well-being,
that they wake up every
1:16:18
morning with a wonderful
expectation of good for that day. Thank You Father, thank
You for the discernment to
1:16:27
know that evil thoughts
flying through our heads, they may come, but they are
not from us. Give us the
1:16:34
gift of ignoring them. Give
us the gift of knowing Your
1:16:40
thoughts which are good for
us and never evil. In Jesus name. All the people said.
Amen. God bless you. Love
1:16:49
you all. Amen. See you
again. I hope you enjoyed today's
episode! But don't go just
1:16:54
yet. If you'd like to
receive prayer, share your testimony, or find out more
about Gospel Partner, just
1:17:01
click the link on this
screen. If not, I'll see you in the next episode!
In this Gospel Partner episode, discover Bible truths that will help you guard your heart and mind against negative thoughts, and put an end to disappointment, discouragement, and depression.
About Gospel Partner
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If you would like to join us in this global publishing mission reaching over 150 nations, and receive access to more than 1,000 sermons by Joseph Prince, visit: • Win The Battle Over Hopelessness (Ful... https://bit.ly/3NSWZAC
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About this episode
You are watching the sermon, Win The Battle Over Hopelessness, preached on Aug 25, 2019 by Joseph Prince.
This episode was made free on YouTube because of the support of our gospel partners. Thank you for partnering with us!
Chapters
0:00 In Today's Gospel Partner Episode...
0:36 Welcome Message By Joseph Prince
1:11 01 God has a beautiful plan and purpose for your life
12:16 02 There is hope in this hopeless world
23:18 03 How should we view our sufferings?
29:37 04 God wants you to raise your hopes!
41:51 05 Hope is a helmet that guards your mind
54:13 06 Hope is an anchor that steadies your soul
1:09:08 07 Pastor Prince leads us in a prayer of hope
1:13:35 08 Salvation prayer and prayer of blessing
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In this Gospel Partner episode, discover Bible truths that will help you guard your heart and mind against negative thoughts, and put an end to disappointment, discouragement, and depression.
…...more