Break The Cycle Of Misfortune (Full Sermon) | Joseph Prince | Gospel Partner Episode

Feel like you’ve lost favor and success? In this full sermon, Pastor Prince reveals biblical answers to seeing restoration in the unfruitful areas of your life. About Gospel Partner Gospel Partner is a publishing house committed to advancing the gospel of grace. Our mission is to find ways to make Jesus-centered, grace-based teaching resources completely free for those who cannot afford them. 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: https://www.gospelpartner.com Here are other ways you can support the mission: • Become a supporter on Patreon:   / officialgospelpartner   • Become a supporter on Buy Me A Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/gospelpa… Through any of these ways above, you will be supporting our ongoing commitment and publishing mission to (1) accelerate our content development work, (2) support the innovation of our technology, and (3) make more resources available for free to people in need. Do note that as we are a publishing house with a focus to advance the Gospel through resources, we do not accept tithes, offerings, and donations. About this episode You are watching the sermon, Break The Cycle Of Misfortune, preached on Jan 7, 2024 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… 0:37 FREE MASTERCLASS ON HEALING 1:13 Let’s Take A Praise Break! 6:46 01 Introduction: An important message for our times 14:25 02 Have you lost your fortune? 27:29 03 Here’s one truth to prioritize this year 37:35 04 What’s so significant about Sunday? 48:03 05 Be established in the truths of His finished work 57:09 06 Press in to hear God’s Word as the world gets darker 1:04:44 07 Don’t be distracted by what’s around you! 1:18:00 08 Want to receive Jesus? Pray this prayer 1:18:53 09 What are your 3 prayer requests for 2024? 1:21:51 INTRODUCING THE NEW JOSEPH PRINCE APP Sign up for our Gospel Partner newsletter & get access to a FREE MASTERCLASS ON HEALING: https://www.gospelpartner.com/healed If you are dealing with a health challenge, we are believing with you for your breakthrough, and we speak the Lord’s healing over you. As you stand in faith for your complete healing, be sure to practice both faith and wisdom. Be sure to consult a qualified medical practitioner or healthcare provider regarding your health status, and do not, on your own accord, disregard any professional medical advice or stop taking your medication. We are praying for you and look forward to hearing your praise report! Check out the brand-new daily experience on the Joseph Prince App. Download now: https://www.josephprince.com/app Subscribe and be the first to know when a Gospel Partner episode is released: https://www.youtube.com/c/JosephPrinc… You can also find us at:   / josephprince     / josephprince     / josephprince   #gospelpartner #josephprince #2024sermon

God has a good word
for you this year.

Today, I want to share with you

how you can restore
what you have lost

in the area of your good fortune.

The name Eutychus
is fortunate or prosperous;

there’s a meaning to it.

It applies to your life—
how to restore

the kind of success that
God wants you to have.

This year, live life 24 hours a day;

Sunday is a special day
ordained by the Lord.

It’s a day where He reveals
His finished work and His person.

No wonder the Bible says
everything that’s

a curse will become a blessing.

It’s a picture of
being under grace;

a new order has come.

I said, a new order has come!

Hi, this is Joseph Prince.

I want to warmly welcome you

to this week’s
Gospel Partner episode.

If you are new here,

my team and I would love to
connect with you

and send you weekly
encouragements, pastoral insights,

and exclusive content
when you sign up

for our Gospel Partner newsletter.

I will also be sending you
this special gift,

so please look out for it
in your email inbox.

I pray that as you listen to
today’s sermon,

you’ll experience a
fresh and personal touch

from our Lord Jesus.

God bless you!

Praise God.

Are you ready to present your
three prayer requests

to the Lord later today?

Praise the Lord.

But before that,
we have some testimonies,

a couple of testimonies to share with you.

And one of the testimonies,
in fact, has to do with

the three prayer requests.

In fact, the first one, and it’s
a sister from Singapore,

and she writes that she works in
the IT or information technology industry.

In June 2022, she was made redundant.

Nowadays, you know
when they retrench you

or they let you go,
they say you’re redundant—

not a very nice word to use on people.

I was made redundant because
the company wasn’t doing well.

By God’s grace, I landed
another job a month later,

but before the year ended,
I was let go again as my role was outsourced.

Now, they outsourced, so redundant.

What a double whammy
to be laid off twice in such a short time.

So, my 2022 didn’t end so well,
but I saw the opportunity

to put my job expectations down
as one of my

three prayer requests for 2023,

which is to get a position where
I can be a blessing instead

of letting grudges and
condemnation consume me.

I turned to the Lord for His direction.

Praise the Lord for that.

God led me to take my job search restfully
and showed me that it was a good opportunity

for me to explore other areas like cybersecurity.

My church friends also stood in faith with
me and prayed for my job situation.

In March 2023, I was approached by a headhunter
for a position in a multinational corporation

(MNC).

I went for the interview and prayed for wisdom,
favor, and good success.

So before you go for an interview, before
you sit for an examination, pray for wisdom,

favor, and good success.

I followed my dad’s advice on looking up the
company.

That’s good advice as well from the father.

I also felt the Lord tell me to enjoy myself
at the interview.

How many of you enjoy yourselves at the interview?

So, how do you think you can contribute to
a company?

Well, alright—with a smile on your face
and look excited throughout the interview.

I felt calm and answered the questions honestly
and truthfully.

At the end of it, I was shortlisted for the
second interview.

At the second interview, I felt a peace that
surpassed all understanding, and later I was

informed that the company would be offering
me a contract role.

I believe this is a huge open door for me.

Interestingly, the dance item just now about
an open door.

My past few jobs were in small and midsize
enterprises, and I’ve been praying for bigger

opportunities.

Furthermore, this role also gives me time
to learn how to fit into a big corporation.

Eventually, I was given an offer, which was
30% higher than what I expected and 65% more

than my last drawn salary.

I was also given 18 days of annual leave and
a mobile allowance.

Wow, what about a mobile phone, right?

Besides that, I would also be covered by the
company’s insurance.

I barely contained myself when I heard the
news.

I had never, capital N, V, R, I had never
gotten such a big offer before.

And do you know how kairos the call was?

And she said, “Do you know how kairos the
call was?

It was during my birthday month, right before
all the birthday celebrations.

It was my best birthday gift ever.

No words can express my gratitude and happiness
on receiving this blessing.

Thank you, Jesus.

Praise the Lord for this beautiful testimony
on God answering her prayer.

Next testimony comes to us from a sister who’s
Korean.

She says, “I’m a Korean who has been attending
New Creation Church since 2017.

There’s a friend of mine whom I have kept
in touch with since high school.

Though we don’t send messages to each other
often, we would still exchange birthday greetings,

and we follow each other on a social media
platform.

From her pictures, I could tell that she travels
a lot with her mom, and it’s evident that

she cares deeply for her.

Not long ago, I messaged her, complimenting
her resemblance to her mom, and she immediately

replied, saying that her mom was diagnosed
with Alzheimer’s two years ago.

And that is why she and her family have been
making efforts to spend quality time with

her.

I was shocked when I heard this, and I asked
if I could share with her about the Holy Communion

since she’s a Christian.

I sent her the prayer that our church uses
to pray during the Holy Communion and a short

video of Pastor Prince’s message about the
Lord’s Supper.

Thank God for friends like that.

I also encouraged her to partake of the Holy
Communion with her mom as often as she could.

She then replied, saying that she prayed to
God the night before, and she believes that

my message was an answer from Him.

A few weeks later, she messaged me, saying
that a miracle had happened.

That was when I remembered that she was supposed
to take her mom to the hospital to see if

she could be given a newly invented shot for
her condition.

She went on to share with me that during the
examination, her mom showed no trace of Alzheimer’s,

and eventually, the doctor declared her Alzheimer’s-free.

Hallelujah!

Let’s give Jesus the praise.

And she goes on to add that her friend says
that she kept telling me that she couldn’t

believe it and thanked me for sharing the
Bible truth with her and asked me to share

her story.

And that’s what she did.

I’m amazed and thankful for this miracle.

All glory and praise to the Lord Jesus.

Hallelujah.

Praise the Lord, church, for these wonderful
testimonies.

And right now, let’s welcome Pastor Prince.

One of the things that you will hear us say
often,

if you have not heard already, is that we
talk about the rhema word.

In the Greek, there is “logos,” which is the
general word.

You know, it’s more of the general word, a
discourse, a teaching,

a body of doctrine that is delivered in the
form of logos, amen.

Logos, okay?

Like for example, you say “eulogy.”

In English, you say “eulogy.”

“Eulogy” is actually in the New Testament,
which is taken from Greek, not English.

Everywhere you see “blessing,” okay, it is–not
everywhere.

Some of them is “makarios,” but many of them,
they are from the word “eulogy.”

“Blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly
places in Christ,”

“eulogia,” eulogy, where you get “eulogy.”

But unfortunately the world today, when you
talk about eulogy,

it’s like going to a funeral, all right.

You come up there and say a few good words.

So “eu,” E-U, is “good.”

In Greek, E-U is the word “good.”

“Logi” is from “logos.”

Good word, you see that?

So “blessing” means “good word.”

So God has a good word for you this year.

That’s how He blesses you.

You see, when I prayed for you just now, I
released a good word over your body, all right?

God releases the good word through me, right,
but its His healing.

But the good word produces, produces the blessing
of health in that area.

So “eulogy” is not something for funeral.

Unfortunately the world is like– all the
Bible words, right,

they minimize it, they downgrade it.

For example, fifteen, grace, fifteen minutes
grace in this car park.

You know what I’m saying, right?

“The riches of His grace is eternal,” right?

Fifteen minute grace.

Okay, you can redeem your coupon.

Redemption become, like, just–instead of
paying, just a small coupon, right?

No, the word “redemption” is so beautiful.

It’s to buy you back from the slave market,
the slave market of sin and darkness.

The Lord came and bought you back.

The Greek word there is “exagorazo,” from
the “agaro–agora,” the market.

He exogaro you.

He redeemed you.

Isn’t it beautiful?

That word is used also in Galatians 3:13,
“Christ has bought you out from the curse

of the law,” amen.

And the curse of the law we know.

We can see it in Deuteronomy 28.

It is basically three-fold: sickness, disease,
spiritual death is one of them,

as well as not prospering, not having enough,
amen.

There’s also others within this, like under
sickness, there’ll be depression.

You know, you’ll wish that it’s day.

At nighttime, you’ll wish that it’s day, and
when day comes,

you wish it will be night, amen.

Your life will hang in doubt.

All that is in the curses of Deuteronomy 28.

Christ redeemed us all from the curse of the
law.

Can I have a good amen?

Today, I wanna share with you how you can
restore what you have lost

in the area of your good fortune.

Now, those of you want to criticize me, get
your pen ready, okay?

I’m gonna say some things today that I think
will give you a lot of material, so get yourself–

go get your pen, all right?

Don’t waste time, all right?

I’m gonna tell you right now, if you have
lost your prosperity, all right,

I’m gonna share with you how to get it back,
amen.

If you have lost–the thing where people,
you say,

“This guy is very fortunate.

That guy is very fortunate.

You know, his company is very fortunate.

You know, he’s a fortunate man.”

Well, I tell you, I wish I’m–no, that guy,
he’s a fortunate per–lady.

She’s a fortunate lady.

He’s a fortunate–that boy is very fortunate
to live with–”

you know, that kind of thing.

You love being fortunate, right, amen?

It’s in the Bible, okay?

Well, anyway, good things happening.

When you lose your prosperity or fortunate,
all right, what do you do?

Why?

What happened?

Where do you go?

Now, the Christian life is not a life of just
things going smoothly,

there’s no crooked places, there’s no trial.

No, there is, especially if you’re a believer.

The Bible promises you one suffering.

What is that?

You will be persecuted.

People will persecute you.

See that person with a pen, getting ready
to write something against me, you see?

I even welcome their persecution, amen, right?

So I even prepared them for it.

So the Bible says, “All that live godly shall
suffer persecution.”

In fact, the opposite, Jesus said in the Sermon
on the Mount,

He says, “Woe to you if all men speak well
of you.”

So I’m gonna share with you, but basically
this is a truth about the church,

but you can also narrow it down because there’s–in
the Word of God,

there’s a first interpretation and then there
is a second interpretation as well, amen.

So when God shares a story and God puts names
there,

there’s always for a purpose of illustration.

The Apostle Paul said of himself that, “I’m
a pattern,”

and the word “pattern” there is “hupo tupos,”
which is actually–

“tupos” is the word “type.”

“I myself am a type,” he says.

For example, when you see him being lowered
to escape the persecutors

and those who tried to kill him, all right,
his fellow believers, those who love him lower

him down in a basket, amen.

That basket was used.

Look up the word “basket.”

There are two kinds of baskets.

so you know it’s Jewish, 12 tribes.

This one here is Gentile, seven nations.

Seven nations in the Bible always mention
about the Gentiles.

And the Apostle Paul was lowered in which
one?

The big one, the big basket, so it’s a meaning
there.

You get what I’m saying?

The Apostle Paul’s journey, even in the book
of Acts,

his shipwreck when he was on that boat, the
entire thing talks about the church life,

amen.

You can also talk about your own life.

That’s a secondary application.

All the way when he bought the ship and how
it ended up in a shipwreck,

and finally on an island called Honey, place
of milk and honey, the Promised Land, amen.

And how things did not prosper when they didn’t
listen to Paul.

Paul said things like, “You should have listened
to me on that ship.”

He told the captain of the ship, and he’s
actually a prisoner, he says,

“You should have listened to me,” amen.

Paul’s teachings.

Are you with me so far?

Whenever we deviate from the Pauline revelation–
I’m gonna share with you a bit more.

And you are thinking, “Well, Pastor Prince,
we follow Jesus’s teachings.”

I understand that.

Follow me now as I bring you to this story
on why you lose your fortunate position.

“As we sailed away,” Paul and Luke, his partner–
Luke is a doctor, by the way.

“As we sailed away from Philippi after the
Days of Unleavened Bread,

and in the five days joined them at Troas,
where we stayed seven days.

Now on the first day of the week, when the
disciples came together to break bread.”

You see, the first day of the week is Sunday.

On the first day of the week, they came together
to break bread.

What is that?

Communion.

Do you know who is there or not?

Who is the speaker?

It’s Paul.

What a wonderful opportunity, right, to come
together to hear Paul.

If we wrote this, we will say, “Upon the first
day of the week,

they had a guest speaker,” because this place
is Troas.

Troas is, by the way, Troy.

You know Troy, Helen of Troy, Trojan horse.

“Trojan” is from the word “Troy,” all right?

This is Troas.

This happened in Troas.

And so Paul just arrived in Troas, Troy, okay,
and he was looking for believers to gather

together.

And on the–notice they gathered on the first
day of the week to break bread, not even to

hear Paul.

Wonderful as that privilege is, they came
together to break bread.

The church has deviated from that, number
one.

Number two, let’s keep on reading.

“Now on the first day of the week, when the
disciples came together to break bread,

Paul, ready to depart the next day, spoke
to them and continued his message until midnight.”

See, what you all got to complain about, huh?

“There were many lamps in the upper room where
they were gathered together.

And in a window sat a certain young man named
Eutychus.”

It’s pronounced as Eutych–I know some of
you say Eu-tie-kus,

but actually is Eu-teh-kus.

“Who was sinking into a deep sleep.

He was overcome by sleep; and as Paul continued
speaking,

he fell down from the third story and was
taken up dead.”

So all those of you up there, all right, while
I am preaching,

don’t sleep or else you will sleep very deeply,
right, based on this story, right?

Okay, do you think for one moment God mentioned
someone by name–

He never–it’s not always He mentions someone
by name,

but when He does, there’s a meaning to it,
right?

And straightaway, I’ll give you the name of
this man, Eutychus.

His name means “fortunate.”

Do you see the E-U in his name, Eutychus?

All right, it’s actually made out of two:
“Eu,” good; “tugchano,” “tychus,” “tugchano,”

from “tugchano.”

“Tugchano” is to hit the mark.

What is sin?

Sin is defined in the Bible, all right, in
the Greek as well as in the Hebrew word, “chata,”

is to miss the mark, amen.

Sometimes I take a paper, I wanna throw it
at Pastor Mark, I missed it.

I missed the mark, all right, and Pastor Mark
go around,

“Ha ha ha ha,” he laugh at me, all right?

So I missed the mark.

When you miss the mark, it’s like an arrow.

You miss the mark.

That’s sin.

Sin is missing the mark.

God has a higher life for you, God has a greater
life for you,

God has an overcoming life for you, but you
are settling for less.

You are missing the mark, amen?

So the word “success” is to hit the mark.

Guess what?

“Tugchano” is to hit the mark.

It’s the word “success.”

It’s the word “fortune.”

It’s the word “prosperous.”

In some word studies, you find the name “Eutychus”
is “prosperous.”

So it’s fortunate or prosperous, or you can
say “successful.”

Now, when I say that, okay, the one with a
pen,

I’m always referring, okay, to prosperity
the way the Bible teaches it.

Joseph was a prosperous man.

He was in the house of–he was a slave in
the house of the Egyptian,

and the Bible says he was a prosperous man.

He has no bank account.

He has no financial statement to his name.

In fact, he hardly have good clothes to wear.

He was a slave, but the Bible says he was
a prosperous man.

A new version says he was a successful man,
and all that he did, God made it to prosper.

When he planted watermelons, it became bumper
crop, amen.

When he was in charge of a few other slaves,
they were highly motivated.

That’s success.

Success is not about money, Mr. Pen.

It’s not about money, all right?

You can say–but, but it also includes money,
but it’s not a main priority.

I want the church to be prosperous in the
sense of Galatians 1.

You see, before the–before God’s people can
take possession of their inheritance

in the book of Joshua, right from the first
chapter God tells him what?

“I want you to,” what?

“Meditate on My Word.”

What’s the result?

What’s the result?

“You will make your way prosperous and you
will have good success.”

Not bad success, good success, amen.

Good, “eu” in Greek.

Success, “tugchano,” Eutychus, right?

Good success.

Bad success is that you are successful, but
you lose your family.

You are successful, right, people know you
all over the place,

you are famous, but you are struggling with
something,

a secret that people might find out, amen.

You feel like taking your life even though
you are famous.

So all these things don’t satisfy.

That’s not success.

God wants you to have good success.

Time to enjoy your loved ones, amen.

So the Bible promises that before they embark
on the Promised Land,

God–from the start, God says, “I want you
to be prosperous.

I want you to have good success.”

So for Joshua, that means as a military man,
he will prosper.

I’m–when I say “prosperous,” I mean in the
Bible sense, amen.

If you are prosperous in all that you do,
it will also result in financial blessing.

Am I right?

But to run after money–the love of money,
not money itself.

The Bible doesn’t say money itself.

The love of money is the root of all evil.

All evil in the world, the root of it is the
love of money.

And you can have no money and have love of
money.

It’s not just wealthy people have this, okay?

Okay, lah.

You don’t say okay so it doesn’t matter, okay?

It is so, amen.

Right from the start of Psalms, the book of
Psalms,

right from the very start, God says,
“If you do this thing, meditate on My Word

day and night, whatever you do prospers.”

When I say prosperity for this church, amen,
I mean prosperity the way the Bible teaches

it.

Whatever you do prospers.

Sometimes God even bring good out of your
mistakes, all right?

That is something that you cannot learn from
books.

You cannot make yourself prosper in all that
you do.

“Well, Pastor Prince, I used to be that.

I remember I was so blessed.

I enjoyed the presence of the Lord, but somewhere
along the way,

I don’t know what happened.

I lost it.

I lost this prosperity.

I lost this flow.

I lost this good fortune happening to me.”

Well, let’s see what happened.

“Eutychus was sinking into a deep sleep.

He was overcome by sleep; and as Paul continued
speaking,

he fell down from the third story and was
taken up dead.”

Now, Luke was Paul’s partner.

He wrote–Luke was the one that wrote the
book of Acts.

He’s a doctor, physician.

When he says he was taken up dead, later on
they say,

“When he was brought alive, they were not
a little comforted.”

That’s the Bible way of saying that they knew
he was dead.

If he was just resuscitated, no point in saying
they were not a little comforted.

He was dead, deader than dead, dead, mateo,
kaput, all right, dead.

So, you feel like your prosperity has died,
used to be alive in your life, it’s dead.

How to bring it back?

And this is a message for pastors and leaders
as well,

although I’m preaching to you, your personal
life,

because this can apply to your personal life,
but it’s more of a secondary interpretation.

But the primary one is like–
the primary one interpretation is actually

to see the church
and see why the church has lost its good fortune.

It’s a time–it’s for our time.

That’s why the Lord gave to me.

He says, “For our time.”

Why?

Because it says in verse 7, “He continued
his message until midnight.”

It’s a dark, dark, dark time in the world.

You see, so instead of seeing this as just
a story that God puts down there to amuse

all of us,
He has a meaning in all these stories, even

in the name.

Let’s finish reading.

So the guy fell down and was taken up dead.

“But Paul went down, fell on him, and embracing
him said,

‘Do not trouble yourselves, for his life is
in him.'”

In other words, Paul raised him to life.

And the word “life” here, “His life is in
him,” actually Paul is saying,

“His soul is in him,” which means his soul
came back.

And for the Jewish people, they understand
the term.

Like for example, the–Jairus’s daughter died.

Jesus called back her soul, amen, by one word,
“Talitha kumi,” all right?

Her soul came back.

So at what stage the soul leaves and all that.

So Paul is saying, right, his soul is in him.

That means for them, they understand he’s
been raised back to life, okay?

“Now when he had come up, and broken bread
and eaten, and talked a long while.”

Again, you see, he talked a long while.

You all, lah, you know, you talk a long while
can raise the dead, you see?

“And talked a long while, even till daybreak,
he departed.”

My son asked me one time–in fact, no, yesterday
he asked me.

I was sharing with him some of this truth
because we are so full,

he came near me, all right.

Whenever he comes in my study, right, I gotta
pull to–or not?

He loves to be with his father, so I just
put him on my lap, I hug him, and I said that,

“I’m gonna share with you this story about
Eutychus,” and he start listening.

He enjoyed it, and then he says, “Abba, how
come Paul preached so long?

Do you think he’s a coffee drinker?”

I said, “I don’t know whether he’s a coffee
drinker.”

“Hmm, maybe he drink the 5-hour energy drink.”

I said, “But I tell you something, okay?

Your father is the same, you know?”

Sometimes, I go out with the pastors, right,
we go to the certain place at 10 o’clock,

all right,
drink coffee or whatever.

I can finish preaching to them at 2 a.m.,
and I’m preaching, you know?

Am I right?

Because it’s not just a job.

You enjoy the revelation so much, you know,
you cannot–

you know, you don’t want to keep it to yourself.

You wanna share with the world.

You wanna share with those who are–and those
who are near you will get the blessings.

I mean, sometimes we say that, “Hey, if only
we have a video,”

you know, sort of like that kind of– but
sometimes the flow comes,

no proper setting like a studio setting for
recording.

We just share it, amen.

I think it’s a problem when a pastor doesn’t
share the Word,

just joke joke all the time outside, talk
about other things,

talk about natural stuff, worldly stuff.

Is he really called?

Because if you are called, you cannot stop,
right?

So Paul knew that tomorrow he’s departing.

He wanna share with them as much as he can.

You get what I’m saying, right?

And he departed.

“He preached until daybreak, he departed.

And they brought the young man in alive, and
they were not a little comforted.”

So it’s not a matter of resuscitation, it’s
a matter of resurrection.

He raised this guy from the dead.

That’s why it says, “They were not a little
comforted.”

The Bible term is very–it’s quite amazing.

The Bible uses the word like, “They were not
a little comforted,” all right?

Yesterday, Liverpool scored.

I tell you, I was not a little excited.

Today we–it sounds like, are you excited
or not, all right?

That means very excited.

I wasn’t a little excited, you know, today
it means–it can mean another thing,

but back then they were very comforted because
they knew he was dead.

There’s even a doctor there to verify, okay?

So let’s look at this story and see what secrets
we have before we leave, shall we?

So it applies to the church, it applies to
your life, amen.

How to restore good fortune in your life,
how to restore that kind of success that God

wants you to have in your life, amen?

So the first thing is this.

Have you noticed that in verse 7, there are
four time periods?

The first day of the week, the next day, “ready
to depart the next day.”

I like the Old King James, the morrow, “Ready
to depart on the morrow.”

Midnight.

Three in one verse.

Three time periods in one verse.

The fourth is found in verse 11, “Now when
he had come up,” right,

“he preached till daybreak.”

So there are four time periods in this story,
and I believe that God wants us to pay attention

to them all.

Number one, upon the first day of the week.”

This year, I believe–God puts this on my
heart really strong,

because I tell you this, I also– I’m one
of those sometimes, you know–

look, we are under grace, therefore a particular
day is not very important or whatever,

but God is saying we need to restore back
the glory of the first day of the week.

There is a difference.

Do you know what’s the first day of the week,
people?

Sunday.

It is not Sabbath.

It is not Saturday.

Sabbath is on Saturday.

You can say, “I’m taking a Sabbath day off.”

It’s not a Sabbath day off if it’s another
day.

The law is the law, amen.

Saturday is Sabbath for the Jewish people.

For them, it’s like they work and then they
rest.

For us under the new order, under the new
covenant, under grace,

God starts us with rest and then we can work.

So one principle is, “Do and you will live,”
but grace says,

“Live first, have the life, and then you are
able to do,” amen?

So there are four time periods, so the first
one is the first day of the week.

Jesus rose on the first day of the week.

When you think about it, some people say,
“You know, actually the–we should be resting,

observe the Sabbath and all that.”

There are books written on Sabbath and all
that,

to be strict about it, and the Bible says
that when you–we are talking on terms of

the law,
and the Sabbath was before the law, yes,

but don’t forget that when God ordained the
Sabbath,

it was on a Saturday, okay, because God rested
from what work?

Creation work.

And then what happened?

Adam and Eve sinned, and since then, it broke
God’s rest.

God has been working since.

How do I know?

Because when Jesus healed a man on the Sabbath
day,

they accused Jesus, and Jesus says this,
“My Father has been working up ’til now and

I work.”

So because the Sabbath rest was broken by
the sin of man,

God started working on behalf of man to restore
man.

And Jesus says, “My Father has been working
up ’til now and I work.”

Are you with me so far?

Okay, so God is telling us a new order is
coming,

a new order of rest, and that’s why the Father
ordained

the Feast of first fruits as on Sunday.

Jesus was crucified on the Feast of Passover.

Three days later, He was raised from the dead
on Sunday, not Saturday.

Saturday He was buried in the tomb, but on
Sunday He rose from the dead.

Okay, number one, God ordained based on the
Feast of first fruits.

He has fulfilled it.

So in other words, the divine Godhead is in
the choice of the first day of the week.

Are you listening?

Okay, show them.

“The first day of the week, very early in
the morning.”

That’s a Sunday.

The women came, and of course they didn’t
find the body of Jesus.

He has risen from the dead.

Drop down to John now.

“The same day at evening, being the first
day of the week,” on Sunday.

The morning Jesus rose from the dead, that
same day, that evening, Jesus appeared.

“Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said
to them,

‘Peace be with you.'”

What were they doing?

They were assembled, just like Acts 20, all
right?

Paul was there, you know?

They were all gathered together, right?

Jesus appeared in their midst.

There was fear.

Now, do you know fear is a sin?

If you read the book of Revelation, the group
of people that goes into the lake of fire,

the first one is fearful.

Never thought it’s a sin, right?

You wanna point fingers at other people’s
extrovert sins, right?

Fearful, being fearful, is a sin.

So instead of judging each other based on
their sins, let me just tell you this.

You base on the big ones that you think is
big.

God doesn’t grade on the curve.

So Mr. Writer Pen, whatever is not of faith
is sin, amen.

So here it goes.

Here it says, “Jesus stood in the midst of
them, and He says,

‘Shalom, peace be with you.'”

Now, here’s a pattern again of what He wants
to do every Sunday, every Sunday.

So this year, listen carefully, He’s gonna
appear in our midst, right,

and perform miracles.

Those miracles cannot happen, those healings
cannot happen without His presence.

So He tells us every time we are gathered
on Sunday, He’s there.

He’s there–that’s why it’s called the Lord’s
Day.

Sunday is called the Lord’s Day.

A new order has come.

We are not under the old order, under the
law, under creation.

We are under redemption.

Creation, Sabbath rest is on Saturday.

This one a new order, next day, a new beginning.

It’s also called the eighth day.

It’s called the Lord’s Day also.

Like the book of Revelation, John says,
“I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day,

and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of
a trumpet, saying,

‘I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and
the Last.'”

It’s like a pattern, telling us on Sunday
you will hear His voice,

a voice that reveals who He is.

Because when you know who He is, you know
who you are,

because God put you in Him and you’re a joint
heir with Jesus Christ.

One of the healings–one of the gifts, rather,
I should say,

is that the healing that you experienced just
now is actually yours.

You inherited it by seeing Jesus, amen.

So go back to John and you see he has a pattern
in the midst of our sin,

in the midst of our fear, in the midst of
being fearing.

Jesus came and stood in the midst.

Looks like their sin does not stop him from
appearing.

But where did He appear?

Where they were assembled together in one
room.

This was the upper room.

He appeared in the midst, and what did He
say?

“‘Peace be with you.’

When He had said this–”
Why it must say, “When He had said this”?

Focusing on the peace that He just said.

“When He had said this, He showed them His
hands and His side.”

What is that?

The finished work.

In other words, the basis for you to have
peace, peace of conscience, is to know that,

“I paid for your sins.

Here is the divine receipt.

Here is the divine receipt.

And you know something?

I bore your sins and God turned His back on
me,

poured out His wrath.”

The back parts of God is where the wrath and
judgment fell on Jesus

when He was carrying our sins.

He never sinned.

He never did any sin, but He carried our sins
and God’s punishment fell on Him

that was meant for you and I.

Now, the fact that He can–God can raise Him
from the dead, means what?

It’s a finished work.

God made Him sit on His right hand.

Such an honor place on Him.

Are you with me so far?

Okay, so he’s telling us,
“Then when He had said this, He showed them

His hands.”

So peace comes by knowing the finished work,
all right?

“And then the disciples were glad when they
saw the Lord.”

Now they see His person, they are glad.

What is this now?

Joy.

So peace and joy will happen when you come
together on a Sunday, remembering the Lord.

Now, this goes against everything you hear
about,

“Oh, those people down there, they’re only
Sunday Christians.”

Aren’t you glad they are still coming on Sunday?

Why criticize people?

You know, there are a lot of people out there
who don’t even attend church at all,

except for Christmas, for “Feliz Navidad,”
to sing that and then go home, right?

And then you are criticizing people who attend
church on Sunday.

Yes, I understand we are to be Christians
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, all the way.

Yes, I agree with that, but Sunday is a special
day ordained by the Lord.

Don’t say it’s not special.

It’s a day where He reveals the finished work
and His person.

The finished work ministers peace.

His person ministers joy.

No wonder the Bible says that everywhere you
go, you shall be a blessing.

You shall go out with joy and be led forth
with peace,

and everywhere you go the trees of the field
will clap their hands.

You will be a blessing everywhere you go.

All the crooked places made straight.

All the thorny bushes will give off flowers.

Everything that’s a curse will become a blessing
when you go out with joy and be led forth

with peace,
and here it tells you the pattern.

I believe that going out with joy and being
led forth with peace–look at the context.

It’s really after the finished work, after
Isaiah 53, amen.

Also on Sunday, Jesus expounded on the Road
of Emmaus.

Sunday, He expounded to them things concerning
Himself, His person,

and their hearts were warmed.

That’s joy.

There hearts were warmed.

They felt the love of God.

You know, it’s like, how many of you, when
the Word of God is unveiled,

then you see it, ahh, your heart is warmed?

You’re gonna see more this year, amen.

You’re gonna see more.

I pray that you will be looking for that warm
heart.

You know, not cold intellect.

You can keep your cold intellect at home,
but a warm heart.

We want your intellect of course, lah, you
know, but–amen?

You need intellect, what, to criticize, all
right?

So bring your intellect.

Don’t leave your intellect at home, okay?

We just have to wash your intellect this way,
the blood of Jesus, and then put it back.

You’ll be okay.

Put it back the other way, I mean.

You’ll be all right, amen?

Most Christians, you know, I tell you, you
turn back their brain, right, they become

normal,
like the kingdom of God is put on the reversal.

You wanna be great, serve, amen?

You exalt yourself, you’ll be pushed down,
amen?

It’s opposite from what the world tells you.

Go for number one, right?

Take care of number one.

Forget about others.

Jesus says, “Serve, you’ll be great,” right?

Even the principle of companies that are successful
and all that,

they learn to serve the needs of the people.

A company that does that with integrity, they
will last long and they will grow.

The moment they forget it’s all about the
people and think about profit margin only,

they start to dwindle.

So even in the natural, these principles apply.

Okay, don’t distract me.

Let’s finish it, all right?

So even on the day of Emmaus, when He walked
on the Emmaus Road, it was a Sunday.

What happened?

He expounded things concerning Himself
and they ended up with the Lord’s Supper on

a Sunday.

And that’s why in this church–I don’t impose
this on all the pastors, all the churches.

It’s just a personal revelation with me.

Every Sunday, we remember the Lord’s Supper,
why?

It’s on His finished work.

It focuses us back on Him.

“Pastor Prince, it can become a ritual, right?”

You know something?

Eating your food every day can also be a ritual,
right?

Right?

Sometimes you eat, and I ask you what do you
eat,

you gotta stop and think about what you eat–ate
just now, right?

You know, it’s inconvenient, we say that kind
of thing.

No, friend, do it with revelation of course.

Do it with love, amen.

So the Lord’s Supper, got it?

Are you with me so far?

What happens when you don’t attend church
one Sunday?

That very Sunday, the same Sunday Jesus appeared
to them in the upper room,

someone was missing.

His name is Thomas.

He was absent.

We call him Doubting Thomas.

It’s a bit unfair that his name becomes Doubting
Thomas, like Alzheimer, you know?

Go back to his family reunion and the mother
ask him,

“How come your name become like–you know,
you discovered,

you should be rewarded, not punished.

Forevermore your name is like–right?”

Thank God for that person who–you know?

Thank God for all the discoveries.

But church, here we see that Sunday is important
because Thomas wasn’t there,

and Thomas became an unbelieving believer.

It’s a misnomer, unbelieving believer.

You know of unbelieving believers?

Just one Sunday, don’t attend church, become
unbelieving believer.

The world is stronger.

So he says, “Unless I see the print of the
nails in His hands, I will not believe.”

So the next Sunday, Jesus appeared–stop!

Why didn’t Jesus appear to him on Tuesday?

Why didn’t Jesus appear to him on Thursday?

“Because Pastor, at that time, Man U and Liverpool
were playing, you know?”

Why Jesus waited for another Sunday?

It’s a lesson for all of us, to tell us how
valuable and how important it is that day

to Him,
and to tell you that even the Holy Spirit–

not just the Father ordained the Feast of
first fruits on a Sunday, Jesus rose Himself,

the second person of the Godhead rose on a
Sunday,

but the Holy Spirit, the third person of the
Godhead,

came and baptized the church, the birthday
of the church in Acts–

the book of Acts in the upper room.

He came on a Sunday, Pentecost.

Pentecost is 49 days, right, from here.

Forty-nine itself is actually Sabbath.

Fiftieth day, Pentecost is 50 from first fruits,
the Feast of First Fruits.

He came on a Sunday.

So the Triune God is the one.

Some people say, you know, this idea about
worshipping on Sunday

and all that is man’s tradition.

Now you hear the Triune God is involved.

John says, “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s
Day and I heard a voice.”

I think God is telling us He will speak to
us in a clearer way.

You know, Christians are always very super-spiritual,
you know?

You tell them that we’re coming for these
three requests and all that.

“Ah yeah, every day I can make requests to
God, lah,” right?

They don’t see God’s ways.

There are occasions of seasons and special
anointing.

Even in the Old Testament, the people outside
were praying at the hour of prayer.

Zechariah, John’s father, was at the altar
of incense,

and they were waiting for him to come out
because alter of incense is a picture of prayer,

and they were praying outside because they
know that at the hour of prayer,

when you pray, God hears their prayers.

So back then, they have an hour of prayer.

For us, we can pray at all times, yes, but
there are special occasions.

You find, for example, when they came together
as a church with one accord,

one voice, they prayed, and the place was
shaken,

and they were filled with the Holy Spirit.

There are different ways of prayer.

If one way doesn’t seem to work, you come
to another way, amen.

Are you with me so far?

So there’s an anointing that God released.

Many years ago, God said to me,
“Make every year a year to tell the people

to focus on three requests,”
and I believe there’s a special anointing.

I believe that there are seasons.

Yes, you can pray any time, amen, but let
me advise you,

if you are praying on your own, things are
not happening,

maybe God wants you to seek someone out, all
right?

For example, the one that’s writing against
me,

if you find that your prayer is not working
in any area, whatever it is,

maybe God wants you to come to me to pray
for you.

In that way, you have to humble yourself.

Sometimes that happens.

For example, the Samaria–when Samaria receive
the Word of God, all right,

they didn’t receive the Holy Spirit, right?

So what happened?

The church had to send Peter and John over
to pray for them to receive.

Now, the Samaritans and the Jews, they have
no fellowship.

It’s a way of humbling them, for them to realize
although they are saved,

they need Peter and John, Jewish people, the
Jewish church people, to come over.

So sometimes, you know, we say,
“No, no, God, answer my prayer.

I’m sick here but I don’t want to ask anyone.”

It’s pride.

And God loves you so much that God wants to
break that pride.

That pride is hindering you from saying sorry
to your wife, sorry to your kids even.

This year, let’s destroy all these things,
amen, in the name of Jesus.

So let’s go to the story itself because time
is flowing, and I need to finish it off, okay?

Wow, time just flies.

Should I preach ’til midnight?

Okay, so I told you just now, right, four
time periods.

So we have first day of the week.

By the way also, first day of the week, 1
Corinthians 16, it says,

“On the first day of the week let each one
of you,”

Paul is writing, “lay something aside, storing
up as he may prosper.”

Okay, first day of the week, collection, offering.

It’s in the Bible.

Can I give another day?

Of course you can, but God’s ordained way,
and it shows how much God honors that day.

So Sunday is not man’s idea, it’s a picture
of being under grace.

A new order has come.

I said a new order has come.

So even for Thomas, the next Sunday Jesus
appeared, right?

“After eight days,” that’s on a Sunday,
“His disciples were again inside, and Thomas

with them.

Jesus came.”

It didn’t happen on a Monday, didn’t happen
on Tuesday,

didn’t happen on Wednesday.

It happened on the next Sunday.

And Jesus told Thomas,
“Reach out your finger here, look at My hands.

Do not be unbelieving, but believing.”

See, while Thomas had the privilege of touching
Jesus after He rose from the dead,

hey, yours is better because He goes on to
say,

“You believe because you have seen.

Blessed are those who have not seen and yet
believed.”

You got a blessed that Thomas didn’t have,
amen.

Okay, back to Acts 20.

All right, Paul was long preaching.

There were many lamps.

Okay, so there are four time periods.

I mentioned the first one already, and already
we are stuck already.

Stuck because of revelation and the sweetness
that’s dropping from the honeycomb.

It drops slowly, is it?

Honeycomb don’t drop…pshhhh.

It drop…
slowly, all right?

In the Song of Songs, the bridegroom looks
at the bride,

Jesus looks at the church, at the believer,
and say,

“Your lips drop as a honeycomb,” right?

Slowly, with sweetness, amen?

But you’re all in a hurry, lah, so I gotta
give you some honey.

Just spread them all out, lah, you know?

All right, “There were many lamps.”

Okay, so they–Paul was ready to depart the
next day.

Ready to depart.

What does that tell you?

You all got this already.

The Holy Spirit in you bears witness.

Ready to depart.

What time period is that?

The Rapture.

The Rapture, any time it can happen, okay?

So that is forgotten.

The Holy Spirit is showing us why the church
of Jesus Christ today is not as successful,

as prosperous as it was in the book of Acts
at that time period.

You know, there was a time in the Middle Ages
when the church is no more prosperous.

They lost their Eutychus, right?

And what happened?

God raised Martin Luther, and Martin Luther
preached something that was preached already.

What was it?

Pauline revelation.

Now, here is where I come to this.

“Ready to depart the next day.”

Who was the one that gave up–that gave us,
for the first time, the revelation of the

Rapture?

The Apostle Paul.

I wanna tell you something about the Apostle
Paul.

A lot of people say, “Pastor Prince, you know,
you preach a lot from Paul’s letters and all

that.”

Listen, the whole Bible is for us.

I said the whole Bible is for us.

“Every Scripture is God-breathed and it’s
profitable,” okay,

“for correction, reproof, and instruction
for the man of God,

that he’ll be thoroughly furnished,” okay?

You’ll be perfect, complete, equipped.

Now, listen carefully.

Having said that, the Old Testament, when
you read,

if you get stuck in the Old Testament all
the time,

you can be very legalistic after that.

You can be very heavy-minded.

You can be very judgment-conscious.

My wife got stuck on Ezekiel one time and
she was telling me,

“Wah, I’m trying my best to persevere.”

She has a daily reading, right, but she was
reading Ezekiel, Jeremiah, and all that.

“Oh, a lot of crying, Poor Jeremiah.”

And then she came to Ezekiel, “Poor Ezekiel,
they all rejected him,” you know?

So I looked at her and said, “Make sure you
read the New Testament.”

“Ah yeah, yeah, I read the New Testament also.”

You gotta make sure to interpret everything
in the light of the New.

“You shall bring forth,” the Bible says, “the
treasures of the old because of the new.”

So in other words, you gotta be established
in the Pauline revelation.

Why do you say Pauline revelation?

Because God chose Paul.

That is not to say–we are not disparaging
Peter and John.

Their ministry is equally important, all right,
indeed indispensable,

all right, what they share,
but God has given a special honor to Paul

to write three-fourths of the New Testament.

And it’s through Paul’s revelation that we
know justification by faith,

which Martin Luther, when he preached,
the church was restored back to its prosperous

state
and people began to prosper in their lives.

People began to be blessed.

It was the restoration of justification by
faith.

It’s a well-known fact that it was Paul.

You know, John was there at the cross.

He saw the cross, didn’t fully understand
what happened.

He was there physically with Jesus’s mother,
Mary.

And then Peter was far away, looking at the
cross, all right?

He knew something happened.

He knew Jesus died in the general way.

Later on he preached in the book of Acts he
knew generally Jesus died for sin and all

that,
but not justification by faith.

That’s something that Jesus, the ascended
Christ, gave to Paul.

Paul says, “I took believers and I threw them
into jail.

I persecute them.

When they were stoning Stephen, the first
martyr of the church,

I was holding the clothing of the people that
stoned him.”

And he was one of the highest authority there,
giving his approval.

Go ahead, kill him.

Well, on the way to Damascus, Jesus appeared
to him and he fell from his high horse, literally.

And Jesus says, “Why do you–Saul, Saul, why
do you persecute Me?”

Paul says, “I was a blasphemer.

I’m the chief of sinners, but I receive this
mercy.”

You know what he says in Ephesians 3?

“Assuming, by the way, that you know God gave
me,”

Paul is talking, “the special responsibility
of extending his grace to you Gentiles.

As I briefly wrote earlier, God himself revealed
his mysterious plan to me.

As you read what I have written, you will
understand my insight

into this plan regarding Christ.

God did not reveal it to previous generations.”

You read the Old Testament, and it’s profitable,
okay?

You can learn a lot from there, but remember
they will not return to you.

Don’t accept the judgments there as for you.

You can learn from their lives, just like
if I read something from a celebrity that

we all admire,
a football star or whatever, you know,

Cristiano Ronaldo wrote to someone who was
a fan, and then I said, “Can I read it?”

He says, “Sure,” and I read it, but some things
are personal.

He might say, “Hey, I find that vitamin D
helps me a lot,” if he says that, all right,

“Maybe you can use that also.”

And they are kinda friends, you know, but
I read that and I said,

“Maybe that would help me also.”

But not everything there is written for me.

You follow what I’m saying or not?

So be aware of that, that’s all.

But when it comes to the Epistles, it’s all
written to you.

It’s written to the church.

It’s written to those under grace, all right?

So Paul says that, “God did not reveal it
to previous generations,

but now by his Spirit he has revealed it to
his holy apostles and prophets.

And this is God’s plan: Both Gentiles and
Jews who believe the Good News

share equally in the riches,” all right?

Now look at verse 7, “By God’s grace and mighty
power,

I have been given the privilege of serving
him by spreading the Good News.”

Drop down, “Though I am the least deserving
of all God’s people,”

because he persecuted the church before he
knew Christ,

“God graciously gave me the privilege of telling
the Gentiles,”

the non-Jews, “about the endless treasures.

I was chosen to explain to everyone this mysterious
plan.

I was chosen to explain everyone this plan
that God, the Creator of all things,

had kept secret from the beginning,”
that God would send His Son so that you will

not just be forgiven, but justified by faith.

That’s a Paul revelation, amen.

Are you listening, amen?

The Rapture is a Pauline revelation.

The Lord’s Supper, for example, Paul in 1
Corinthians 11,

he could have gone to Matthew, Mark, Luke
and say,

“Hey, tell me about–” Matthew–at least Matthew
and Mark,

he can go to them and say, “Hey, tell me about
the Lord’s Supper.”

But no, Jesus Himself revealed to John–to
Paul.

He says, “I received of the Lord Jesus.”

The same night that He was betrayed, he took
bread.

He received the revelation.

That’s why he touches more on what happened,
what is all this about,

discerning the Lord’s body.

You won’t die before your time.

You will be healed.

You will be strong.

It’s because people don’t discern the Lord’s
body.

So Paul has a revelation.

He sees the cross.

Others see the cross, they see a martyr dying
for them.

Others look and say, “Oh, poor man, you know?

He’s a good man.

Why did He die?”

But Paul, when he looked at that, the Holy
Spirit gives him the revelation.

You see, the old creation is finished there.

He’s gonna rise from the dead and you will
rise a new creation in Him.

The mystery of the body of Christ was given
to Paul.

The high calling of the church and its inheritance
was given to Paul, amen.

Are you with me so far?

The Rapture–Rapture is not man’s ideas, you
know?

Oh, someone in the 1800s, you know, came up
with this idea of the Rapture, you know?

These people anyhow just–no, my friend.

Paul himself says in 1 Corinthians 4, verse
13, he says,

“I say to you by the Word of the Lord.

I say to you by the Word of the Lord,” then
he talk about the Rapture.

Not all of us will die.

He’s coming for us, all right?

“The dead in Christ will rise first.”

Whoo hoo!

My mother will be, phew, young again.

Not–you know, not like a spirit flying, you
know?

She’ll be clothed.

She’ll have a body, a body that’s forever,
forever young, strong, healthy, can never

die.

We are looking forward for that.

So Paul preached ’til ready to depart the
next day,

or the King James says, “morrow,” the morrow.

So what does that tell us?

Just imagine this year, live life–this is
what He told me to tell you.

Live life 24 hours a day.

Just think of 24 hours a day.

You can make plans and all that, but the problem
even with making plans sometimes,

if you worry about it, then stop making plans.

Live now.

Tell the person that you love, you love them
now.

Live in the 24 hours.

It’s amazing what that does to worry, panic
attacks, and all that.

It’s always based on what’s gonna happen tomorrow,
what’s gonna happen next week, what’s gonna

happen next month.

Stop that.

Live within the 24 hours, because the morrow
you are departing.

He may come tonight.

He may come afterwards.

We do not know, but we live our life ready
to depart.

I’m not saying die, you know.

I’m saying He’s coming for us.

We are going up, not down.

That’s the Christian posture, “To wait for
His Son from heaven,” the Bible says.

Every generation has that privilege, but I
believe we are very, very, very, very close,

amen?

And then what happened?

Paul continues his message until midnight.

It’s dark.

It’s dark all around.

It’s very, very dark.

Am I right?

Hello?

Around us, morality and all that, there’s
moral corruption,

there’s like, oh my goodness, you cannot even
believe that 10 or 20 years ago

people allowed these things to happen.

It’s getting very dark all around.

Where are our children gonna find the compass,
the moral compass,

the godly character that builds a successful
life.

Well, it’s darkness all around.

So you see, it says, “Paul preached until
midnight.”

What happened is that we need to be listening
to Paul’s revelation all the way, even until

midnight.

‘Cause someone did not write.

Let’s follow.

“There were many lamps.

Paul continued his message until midnight.

There were many lamps in the upper room where
they were gathered together.”

Many, many lights, many lamps.

That’s a beautiful picture.

It reminds me when I read this of the time
when there’s darkness all around in Egypt

in Exodus 10.

“There was thick darkness in all the land
of Egypt three days.

They did not see one another; nor did anyone
rise from his place for three days.

But all the children of Israel, “God’s people,
“had light in their dwellings.”

Now, if you think for one moment, all right,
“Oh, that means they were able to have more

fuel, lamps,” hey, all the Egyptians also.

In fact, the Israelites were slave.

The Egyptians are not.

The Egyptians had a lot of fuel, candles,
and lamps.

They have access to all these things but they
could not product the light those nights.

It was a supernatural darkness.

They cannot get rid of it.

But in the house–therefore in the house of
Israel,

the light there must also be supernatural.

So I’m telling you, this year, this year,
your house, dwellings,

all the individual families– “dwellings”
there is plural, right?

Your house will have supernatural light.

And I’m praying that for my children, my family.

My son will be 12 years old this year.

I’m praying that he will see more and more
light,

because when you see the light you cannot
unsee it,

or else he’ll be influenced by the media,
social media,

influenced by his friends, influenced by what’s
on TV,

you know, influenced by all the–it’s darkness
all around.

We gotta pray that that light be in our families.

And then somehow when they are depressed in
that darkness, you know,

they are lost in that self-occupation, and
obsessive thoughts, and all that,

at least they know where to come back home
to where there’s light.

And when there’s–you know, you don’t have
to even curse the darkness or kick the darkness

out.

When there’s light, darkness is gone.

See, many times when you sit down here, you
don’t understand everything I preach.

Yeah, but light came on.

The light come in.

You say, “I see.

I cannot explain it, but I see it,” amen?

‘Cause that happened to me many years ago
as a young man in a church.

The light just came on.

I said, “Wow, this is real.

This is not just playing church, you know?

This is real.

God’s presence is real.

The Bible is real.”

Okay, let’s go back to the story.

Hey, you all don’t hold me back.

Quick, let’s finish off, come on.

“There were many lamps in the upper room where
they were gathered together.”

It’s a picture of–there was midnight all
around that upper room, that area, all right,

in the third floor where they were all gathered,
but there were many lamps.

That means what?

It was bright.

Paul was there, and I think all these lamps
can be down through church history

there’ve been many lamps in the church.

Martin Luther is one of them, amen, D.L.

Moody,
and all the heroes of faith that down through

the years we have seen them.

Many lamps in the upper room.

The upper room is like a picture of the house
of God, the church of Jesus Christ,

and here you can also apply in a secondary
way the lamps in your house.

Make sure there’s a lot of things in your
house that minister light.

Good books all around, amen.

Surround your family to make sure that they
see verses on–

you know, don’t fill up with worldly stuff.

Then you’ll wonder, “I wonder where he learned
that from?”

You know, from you.

You surround them and they feed on these things.

That’s why the Bible says put the verses around,
amen.

In fact, in the book of Deuteronomy, literally
it says,

“Put it on your doorpost.

Put it on your gates.”

Yeah, make sure that they have access.

Make sure they have a time to themselves.

Hope you told them yesterday.

“Have you thought about your three requests?”

Amen, take time to pray.

Get excited about Sunday.

Start getting excited and your children will
also get excited.

Tell them it’s the best day of the week, amen.

I can’t begin to tell you, God as my witness,
I’ve heard so many testimonies,

I know myself before I became, you know, full-time
pastor,

when I was working out there, that I would
preach in church–I wasn’t full-time yet.

I would preach and I’d hear so testimonies
of people saying the same thing.

I would preach, I’d put in a lot, right, but
Monday I have to go to work.

Somehow, right, Monday I got so much blessings
on Monday.

Businesspeople tell us that they got some
of their best deals on Monday, amen.

We need the help of the Lord, huh?

We need the grace of God.

One guy came to me and said, you know, in
our church many years ago,

“You know, Pastor Prince, I do not know, you
know,

you talk about favor and all that.

All that is good, lah, God favor, God helping
me,

but actually I work very hard, you know?

I work very hard to get all these sales coming.”

So he was the top salesperson that month,
you see, so he was saying,

“Oh, you know, I did a lot.”

I said, “What’s your problem?”

He said, “My problem is that I do not know
which part is God blessing me,

God giving me all this, and which part is
my effort.”

So I put my hand on his shoulder, I said,
“Very simple, very simple.”

I said, “Okay, you wanna be clear, right,
what is God’s part and what’s your part, right?

I’m gonna pray for you right now, okay?

I’ll pray for you right now.

I’m gonna ask God to remove all his involvement,
all right,

revoke all his favor, all the places where
he make your crooked places straight

even before you came on the scene, where he
worked on that client’s heart

even before you met him, where he gave you
favor with the boss

even when you are not in the room,
the boss all of a sudden think about favorable

thoughts about you.

It’s from God.

Okay, all that, I’ll tell God to, ‘Lord, not
one inch,’ okay?

Just for one month.”

I said, “Then at the end of the month, you
come back and tell me, lah.”

He put his hand on my hand and said,
“Pastor, I’m just asking only, lah, just saying,

lah, just saying, just…”

Amen?

Anyone want me to pray?

If you doubt God’s involvement, just– “You
shall remember the Lord your God.

It is He who gives you power to get wealth,”
amen?

Not any welfare state, not the government,
not the world, not your boss.

They are not your source, God is, amen.

Quick, lah, I wanna finish, quick.

All right, so let’s drop down.

What happened?

How did Mr. Fortunate fell off from his high
place?

He was sitting at the window.

Okay, one thing, let me tell you this.

Don’t sit at the window, okay?

You forget anything I preach today, just remember,
don’t sit at the window.

What does that mean?

Okay, when you sit at the window, okay, in
a way, right,

you are actually–you are sitting at the window.

It’s what you call sitting on the fence.

You can see darkness all around.

In fact, you see more darkness because it’s
white outside there.

You look in front, it’s all bright.

“There were many lamps.”

But you are in between.

That is the problem that we have today, especially
among the young generation.

This one here is a young man.

God is gonna tell us how to reach to this
next generation.

And one of the things that God told me very
clearly, all right,

is this year, reach out to the young people
on purpose,

all the Eutychus, and bring them to the house
of God.

And by the way, yes, I cannot let it go, lah,
this one.

Sitting on the window, right, window is usually
square, right?

Square, right?

You are watching everything that’s happening,
you know,

all the lights, huh, all right?

You’re not involved.

You’re not in it.

You are sitting on the fence and you are here
and there.

Something’s very exciting, “I thought I heard
an owl crow.”

You look outside, you’re looking at the darkness,
you’re looking at the light.

And the Bible said very clearly, “He fell
as Paul continued speaking.”

And not only that, the church has switched
off her ears to Paul’s preaching,

justification by faith, Pauline revelation.

They say that, “I read my Bible, Gospels,
Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

I just read the reds, the words in red.”

Listen, Jesus’ Words–these are Jesus’s Words,
but these are Jesus’ Words where He’s speaking

to the Jews most of the time,
as well as also–many of them are applicable

to us today, for sure,
but the places where He says, “Go not to the

way of Gentiles.

Go to the–rather to the lost sheep of the
house of Israel,” doesn’t apply today, all

right?

“Take a sword with you.”

That’s one part He says, doesn’t apply today.

Are you listening?

But at the end in the upper room, Jesus said
to them,

“I have many things to say unto you.”

That means all the rest of His ministry, three
and a half years, is not–

it’s just milk, milk, and it’s not the meat
that comes through Pauline revelation.

“But Pastor, I’d rather believe Jesus than
Paul.”

There’s no competition.

Listen, Paul’s words are not Paul’s words.

Paul’s words, 1 Thessalonians 2, “For this
reason we thank God,” Paul is saying,

“without ceasing, because when you received
the word of God which you heard from us,

you welcomed it not as the word of men, but
as it is in truth,

the word of God, which also effectually works
in you who believe.”

Paul is saying, “I received my teaching about
justification by faith,

the Rapture, the Lord’s Supper, the mystery
of the body of Christ,

all that I received from the Lord.”

So in other words, you are saying,
“I read only the Gospels and the teaching

of Jesus in the Gospels,” all right,
if that’s all, then you are following the

teachings of Jesus
where He said at the end of His earthly life,

“I have many things to say,
but you are not able to bear them now, but

when the Holy Spirit is come.”

So in other words, Paul’s ministry was alluded
there as well,

because he wrote three-fourths of the New
Testament,

and Paul’s words are not Paul’s words, as
you see here.

It’s the words of the ascended Christ.

Not Christ when He was on earth, but the words
of the ascended Christ.

Therefore, all of Paul’s letters you can read
freely.

It’s all for you, amen?

Find a church where you feel that the Pauline
revelation is being expounded,

new creation realities are unfolded.

This young man fell at Paul’s preaching.

You would have thought it’d be so exciting
to hear all this revelation, right?

Why?

He was looking at two worlds, and Paul was
preaching.

You know there can be death to your mind,
which means what?

You cannot remember things anymore, right?

Death can be depression in your mind.

Death in your relationship means what?

You lose someone you loved.

You’re no more together.

Once you were so in love, now you are at odds,
finding fault with each other.

That’s death has come in.

So God is showing us why no more fortunate,
no more prosperous in that area,

why death has come in.

What’s the answer?

Do we just say, fall down dead, “Yeah, lah,
served him right”?

Notice from where he fell.

“Fell from the third story.”

That’s the place where are seated with Christ.

Do you know there are three heavens?

The Bible talks about it, all right?

Atmospheric heaven, the universe heaven,
and the third heaven which you cannot see

with your eyes.

That’s where God dwells.

So beautiful, perfect, and we are all seated
with Christ there.

How do I know this?

Pauline revelation, Paul’s letters.

Paul says we are seated with Christ, and when
you forget the truths,

you fall from your high place.

Listen carefully, in the New Testament it
doesn’t say “backslide.”

Backslide is like this, you know?

Watch, ah?

Backslide means on the same level.

It’s this… backslide, okay?

Whoa!

See, stumbling block, ah.

There’s a difference.

There’s a difference.

That’s backslide, this is stumbling block.

Make sure you don’t lay a stumbling block
in front of your brother or behind your brother,

right?

You know what’s fall or not?

Fall, up there, you fall down.

Old Testament says God says, “I will heal
your backslidings, Israel,”

’cause they are all on that level, low level.

But the fall from grace, in the New Testament
it is falling from grace.

That means what?

Grace is higher.

The mercy seat is here in the ark of the covenant.

The law is here.

When you go back to the law, you fall from
grace.

You fall from grace by trying to keep the
law, okay?

So, he fell in a deep sleep.

What’s the answer?

Let’s come to the answer, the conclusion,
and you all can go home.

All right, the answer is, “Paul went down.”

Church, this new generation of people, we
cannot just whack them.

We cannot just scold them.

We gotta go down to their level.

“Paul went down, fell on him, and embracing
him said,

‘Do not trouble yourself, for his life is
in him.'”

They embraced.

Paul’s–Bible says Paul’s handkerchiefs can
even drive out evil spirits,

and those handkerchiefs are sweat handkerchiefs,
you know?

Imagine that.

I am waiting for the day, man.

Whoo, hallelujah, amen.

The resurrection of power of Jesus is such
that you can just take a hanky,

put on someone, and evil spirits will leave
that person, amen.

Their bodies are healed, amen.

So Paul was like that.

He was so anointed, he just grabbed the person.

I’m sure he prayed in the name of Jesus and
the boy was raised from the dead.

What does he do?

“Okay, lah, since this happened, you all break
up, lah.”

We’ll meet again tomorrow.

No, they went back up.

“When he had come up, had broken bread and
eaten, and talked a long while.”

Still preached!

Say, “Okay, in conclusion, in conclusion,
in conclusion.”

And you will say, “Wow, this guy, really not
like the Apostle Paul, you know?”

Hey, now you see for yourself.

That’s why I preach this.

The guy’s writing down a lot.

Wow, this one…

“Now when he had come up, and broken bread,
he talked a long while,

even till daybreak.”

Daybreak is what?

When the new day arrives, where there’s no
more night.

The Bible says there’s one–a day are coming
that there’s no more night during Jesus’s

return.

Now, not the Rapture now.

At the end, Jesus’s return.

See, the church is waiting for the Bright
and Morning Star.

Israel is waiting for the Son of Righteousness.

What’s the difference?

Morning Star appears very early, usually about
4:00 plus, 5:00 a.m.,

you look out, you see a bright star.

Usually it’s Venus, the planet, all right?

It’s known as the morning star, okay?

Early in the morning.

Jesus rose from the dead early in the morning.

We are gonna get raptured first.

Israel will still be here, except for those
among them who are saved.

Many of them are still in unbelief, therefore
they are waiting for Son of Righteousness.

Sun later on comes after the morning, after
the daybreak.

So Paul preached until daybreak.

“And they brought the young man in alive,
and they were not a little comforted.”

It’s very, very interesting, but in the days
to come I’m gonna share with you also

about this way of raising the dead that’s
very interesting.

Elijah embraced the child that was dead.

His successor, Elisha, embraced another dead
child.

Both were raised from the dead.

Here you have Paul embracing this young man.

We do not know how old he is, probably a teenager.

He embraced him, and he was raised from the
dead.

God spoke to me about all these embraces.

I asked the Lord, because in this coming year,
all right,

there’s something about this– I must wait
until next week.

So, I’m gonna tell you not just the next generation
for the church,

but also your own children, how to bring them
back,

how to bring them back to life, how to bring
them back into the things of God,

bring them back to the high place in Christ,
amen, amen?

Because it’s not for no reason Eutychus is
called prosperous, and he is a young man.

God is telling the church that your prosperity,
your blessing lies in the next generation.

For this year, our eyes must be focused on
helping them,

giving them the tools that they need, and
reaching out to them as well, amen?

And in the days to come, I’ll be sharing–in
the weeks to come,

I’ll be sharing on what God showed me about
this embrace.

Because in all three instances, they embrace
a dead body, amen?

Praise the Lord?

Are you all blessed?

Amen, give Jesus the praise then.

So we’ve learned to value the first day of
the week,

and yet live life like the morrow is coming,
all right?

This could be the last day.

And psychologically, it’s good also to live
one day at a time.

You may plan, but please plan with no worries,
no strife, but live today.

Live just for today.

Don’t let your mind drift to tomorrow, hmm?

Jesus said this in Sermon on the Mount, “Don’t
worry about tomorrow.

Tomorrow will have its own worry.

Live one day at a time.

Sufficient is the day,” okay?

Number two, it’s midnight all around.

Have you realized that?

It’s midnight.

It’s one of the darkest times.

You can’t afford to be sitting on the fence.

I come to church once in awhile, you know?

I still love the world.

I still love this.

Because death will come into your life, and
I don’t mean physical death.

I’m talking about death.

In some cases, there are physical deaths.

I know about cases like that as well.

People lose their life because they left church,
and then no more in the teaching, got into

all kinds of bad habits or whatever,
and then they died,

because of drugs or whatever, died.

I can trace it back all the time to where
the parents might just say,

“You don’t have to go to church.

Okay, never mind, lah.

It’s okay, lah.

Oh, you are too tired today, never mind.”

Every Sunday is important.

Thomas became an unbelieving believer.

Jesus appeared from Sunday to Sunday in His
resurrected form, amen?

Have you lost your good fortune?

Have you stopped listening to Pauline revelation,
New Testament preaching?

Have you stopped listening to the things that–
now, in this church, we endeavor to preach

a lot on the Pauline revelation.

Have you?

Let’s make a roundabout face right now.

That’s called repentance.

Let’s change our mind and say we gotta prioritize
the Lord’s Day.

Prioritize the Lord’s Supper.

Now, I just gave some mention about the Lord’s
Supper, but it’s there.

Crucial, crucial, I believe, for our health
and longevity.

And then also the younger generation, amen?

Praise the Lord.

So, before we pray for the three requests,
if you have never received Jesus as your personal

Lord and Savior, the Bible says,
“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.

You shall be saved and your house.”

Pray this prayer with me right now.

Say, “Heavenly Father, I thank You for Your
great love for me,

and I confess Jesus Christ is my Lord and
my Savior.”

Father, thank You that Christ died for my
sins and You raised Him from the dead

when all my sins were cleared at that cross.

Thank You, Father, I’m seated with Christ
in heavenly places.

In Jesus’s name, amen.”

Congratulations, you are now a child of God,
amen, your sins forgiven.

Welcome to the family of God.

Stand to your feet, church.

You got your three prayer requests ready?

All right, it’s just like Zechariah, you know?

The people are waiting for him, right, outside,
you know, for the hour of prayer.

So there’s a special anointing right, though
you can pray at all times,

but these three requests, I’ve seen so many
amazing answers to it.

Now, do you have it in one form or another?

Okay, your phone or whatever it is, just lift
it up before the Lord.

It was so sad that Zechariah came up and he
was dumb.

We cannot have a dumb priest, amen?

And it’s because he didn’t believe the word
of the angel.

But we who believe in Jesus Christ, we preach.

We open our mouth and preach grace and the
revelation of Paul that God gave him,

the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.

And it’s by His grace we receive these three
requests.

Now, God says–it’s kinda funny.

I just heard this.

Some of you, you have, “Number one: A, B,
C, D.

Number two: A, B, C, D.”
And it’s like the Lord just showed me, you

know, just God showed me,
and in case you are wondering whether God

will answer,
He just showed me He will answer, okay?

Yeah.

One of your requests, wisdom, has been given
you already.

Lift up your hands.

Father, we thank You, Lord, for Your Word
today.

We thank You, Father God, that You have hidden
secrets in Your Word, Lord,

to be revealed to Your people.

And these truths that we have seen, these
are truths, Lord,

that will chart our course, make straight
our pathway for this year, 2024.

And Father in heaven, we thank You, and we
ask in Jesus’s name

that as all these requests are lifted before
You, Father,

You told me, Lord, a number of years ago that–to
do this every year,

so I know, Father, that You are ready to answer
all these requests,

far exceeding and abundantly more than they
can ever even ask or think.

And in the name of Jesus, Father, answer these
requests as we bring before You, Lord.

As an act of faith right now, we lift up before
You, Father,

and all my three requests as well, Father.

We lift up before You.

Father, hear and send your answers.

Send your healings.

Send your deliverances.

Send your breakthroughs.

And let them all manifest this year, this
year, Lord.

In the name of the Lord Jesus, we ask.

And all the people said amen.

God bless you.

I’ve kept you long enough.

Be blessed and have Eutychus back in your
life, amen.

You are dismissed.

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Let’s pray this short prayer together.

Heavenly Father, thank you
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I’m grateful that you
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In Jesus’ name, amen.

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