This sermon is from: Experience Victory Over Sexual Immorality (23 Aug 2015)
Find freedom in this one area that has many trapped in a cycle of defeat and addiction. In this illuminating and powerful message by Joseph Prince, understand how sexual immorality begins, takes root, and can tear a person and relationships apart. See how God’s grace is available to you in the midst of your struggles and be anchored in the gospel truths that are key to lasting victory over lust and sexual sins.
Hear this liberating message and receive power to break free from bondage and step into God’s best for your body, mind, marriage, and ministry!
Turn to your neighbour, smile at somebody and say
Something good is going to happen to you in this service
I believe it, it’s not a cliché, I believe it. I really believe it
The gospel is all about God’s goodness
The gospel is all about God’s goodness
When God’s goodness is being preached
it is amazing how man responds
Now we say that we respond to the goodness of God
but actually man in the natural I’m speaking about man in the flesh
they cannot receive the goodness of God
They suspect, they doubt, they do anything
but receive the goodness of God
That’s why when grace is being preached
man is still asking, is it that good?
Can God be that good?
Can anything good come out of Nazareth?
Man in his flesh does not think well of God
Man in his flesh only has hard thoughts about God
And the devil has throughout the years down through history
ever since he tempted the first man
the number one way that he causes man to leave the presence of perfect love
is to put the thought that God is not that good
He’s holding out something He doesn’t want you to have
when God gives you restrictions, it’s because God is not interested in you
God is not that good
and he has succeeded in making people
think that God is not good
So man in the flesh cannot think well of God
So beware of that
It is the manifestation of the flesh
Today I want to share with you the goodness of God
The goodness of God leads us to repentance
Can I have a good amen?
But before I do so, I want to answer some questions that is very prevalent
In fact I’ve answered all these questions time and time again
By the way, I would recommend highly that series that was shown just now
“What About?” series, because it answers
a lot of questions that people are asking about grace
What about Ananias and Sapphira?
what about Hebrews chapter 6?
what about Hebrews chapter 10?
what about working out your salvation?
what about Paul’s sufferings?
what about those who are not healed?
what about, what about, what about, what about, what about?
So I would encourage you, especially if you are a preacher
to get that series and compare Scripture with Scripture
You don’t have to take everything that I say
but compare Scripture with Scripture
Amen?
Can I have a good amen?
And one of the things I want to share
before I start preaching the Word that God has placed in my heart
I want to answer a few questions first
Number one the first question
there is this thing coming back again
and I’ve answered this many years ago, but it’s coming back again
And it is this, that people are saying the Lord Jesus said
“Many will come to Me in that day.”
At first He says, “Not everyone who calls Me
‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven.
But he that doeth the will of My Father who is in heaven.”
Let’s read that okay, so you don’t think I’m just quoting it
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’
shall enter the kingdom of heaven
But he who does the will of My Father in heaven.”
So the idea that these people are trying to portray
is that just because you call Jesus “Lord”
does not mean you’ll make it
does not mean you’ll be saved
Now we’re here standing
at a precipice
because if justification by faith
is not the gospel
if grace is not the gospel
and if Jesus said, “I give My sheep eternal life,”
John 10
“And they shall never perish.”
And here it says that people who call the Lord ‘Lord’ can still lose their salvation
okay, we have to study a little bit closer
So remember that He says, “Not everybody who says to Me
‘Lord, Lord’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven.
But he who does the will of My Father in heaven
Many will say to Me in that day
‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name
cast out demons in Your name
done many wonders in Your name?”
And then I’ll declare to them, ‘I never knew you.’
not I do not know you at the present moment
You have changed so much, I do not know you present tense
No ‘I never’. This is not present tense
‘I never knew you’
Can the Lord say that of us?
Once He knows us, we are born again
He knows us, can He say, ‘I never knew you?’
So first and foremost
you just got the answer, alright
the first part of the answer. “I never knew you
depart from Me, you who practise lawlessness.”
So these are people who are not saved, people who didn’t put their trust in Christ
But in that day
verse 22, “Many will say to me in that day.”
Now that’s the key
that’s the key
When Jesus returns
alright
with one blast of His mouth
the fiery sword of the Lord destroys the anti-Christ
And all the armies that follow him are destroyed
Their spirits cast into the lake of fire
He will set this earth right
Amen
Righteousness will once again reign on this earth
There’ll be no more sex trafficking
there’ll be no more children being abused
there’ll be no more murders
there’ll be no more children dying before their time
there’ll be no more people dying early
there’ll be no more hospitals
when the Lord Jesus comes back
So we all think of the meek and lowly Lamb
the Lord who came in His first coming
He came yes, as the Lamb to die for our sins
But if you read the book of Revelations
He’s not coming back as a Lamb
He’s coming back as the Lion. He’s coming back to destroy
Now some of you who are politically correct
you don’t like that, you say “Well I think that, you know
Jesus should be loving and understanding of people
and the different lifestyles and different kind of opinions and all that.”
Let me tell you this, God never created a democracy
God created a theocracy when God made the earth
The reason why sin is sin because we have someone to answer to
He never made us lone rangers and you know
anyhow you can just function the way you want to
Everything you do has repercussions in the universe
it affects one person, it affects the animals
it affects everything around you
But the world has come to a place
they don’t want to acknowledge God
and yet they need God’s power, God’s love, God’s grace
Are you listening, people?
Okay, anyway when He returns
all dominion
all empires
all kingdoms will fall
before the One who is the centre of the creation of God
The One that God so loved the world God sent Him to die for our sins
He could have let us perish and go to hell
all of us, and create another creation. Amen?
He did not choose to do so
In fact, for Him to create He only had to speak
But for Him to redeem He had to bleed. He chose to bleed
He came to where we were
We saw last week He took on human flesh, the likeness
Not sinful flesh but the likeness of sinful flesh
There was no sinful flesh in our Lord Jesus
And He dwelt where we dwelt, just like God of old
with Israel in the wilderness
Israel would go from place to place
God went in a pillar of cloud, in a pillar of fire from place to place
When they had the tabernacle, when they all lived in a tent
God lived also in a tent called ‘mishkan’, the tabernacle
When finally they crossed the river Jordan and they had to attack Jericho
the stronghold Jericho
the Lord Jesus appeared with a sword in His right hand
Why? He appeared as a warrior because His people are in warrior mode
He always wants to be where you are
Amen, are you listening people?
And finally
by the way when they were suffering
under the furnace of slavery in Egypt
crying out in their fiery trial, being oppressed and bullied by the Egyptians
the Lord appeared in a burning bush as if to say, ‘I’m feeling your heat
I am come down to deliver you.’
I want you to know something. This God is a wonderful God
He is a good God. He is a holy God. He has righteousness
He has standards for the universe
He tells the storm and the waves of the sea
“Hitherto you shall come, up till now you can come here, but no more.”
Even the tsunami finally hears the cry of God from heaven, say ‘Stop! Enough!’
Alright, God ordained it
Everything in the universe obeys God except man
Amen?
So here we have, the world will be set right when He
the One deserving of the throne of David
He will sit on that throne and reign in righteousness
in love
and we’ll have heaven on earth
Amen that’s called the millennial rule of Christ
And that has been on my heart these few weeks as you can tell
So remember this. And those of you who are against
you say, “Whoa I can’t imagine a Jesus who is violent.”
You must understand one thing, if your child is about to be harmed
you see a mother bear or a mother lion fight
even against animals that are bigger
Whether it’s a lion, another lion or an elephant
the mother will fight to her death to defend the child
I call that love
you don’t call that politically correct. I call that love
And yet those of you, some of you who say
“Whoa I can’t worship a God you know, I cannot admire a God who kills people.”
You must understand, He is not out to kill people. He is out to save people
But there are people who refuse to come under His grace, under His love
And then they end up on the other side of anti-Christ
They are hell bent to kill
Well God is gonna kill those people in the book of Revelation. Amen?
And you cannot say that, “Oh I cannot respect a God like that.”
Because deep down inside your heart you watch movies
where you want the hero to fight
You see the hero sees bad things going on
the hero sees a girl is about to be raped
he sees a small child is about to be beaten up
And the hero stands down there
you want him to respond you hypocrite!
But I’m not here, we’re not there yet
where the Lord returns
taking vengeance on the anti-Christ
And years and years of the cry of all the martyrs
and children
going to heaven before their time
but He will come back,
and He will…
He’s the kinsman-redeemer
He will redeem them, and He will avenge them
That is the Hero of heroes
I know some of you
you cannot imagine the Jesus of the Gospels and the Jesus of Revelation
I can, in fact that makes me worship Him
Amen because I like watching shows where
the bad guy gets a good hero whacking him up
I love shows like that
I love shows where a guy is abusing a girl
slapping her around then the hero comes, amen close the door
whack all the guys and free the girl. I like shows like that
And you don’t pretend, you like shows like that also
But you come to church, “Oh I just want God, Jesus to be holding a lamb all the time.”
Not this church okay, and I’m a preacher of grace
I said I’m a preacher of grace. Are you listening, people?
So how do you explain this? “Many will come,”
the key: “In that day.”
In that day when they see Jesus return, everybody panic!
When they see Jesus is the One, nobody will profane His name anymore
So when they come to Him they say, “Lord, Lord.”
You think they will call Him ‘Lord, Lord,’? In that day, yeah of course, of course!
Every ruler on earth, everyone who has blasphemed Him
whatever they believe it is, those who don’t believe in the Bible
those who don’t believe in God, they will all when they see Him
they will say, “Lord, Lord.”
“Hey Lord, we did a lot of good things in Your name.”
In your name? That is what they said
Jesus didn’t say, “You did this in My name.”
They said they did things in His name
If Jesus said they did things in His name, it’ll be the name of the Lord Jesus
But if they said they did things in His name,
they did things they thought in the name of God, “I did things in Your name.”
No way, it is not in Jesus’ name
Jesus says, “I’m sorry,” no Jesus don’t apologise
The days of apology are over
Are you listening, people?
These people are not saved
Another thing you need to know is this
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven
but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.”
So I have seen people stand behind the pulpit and say things like
“Not everyone who says to Him, ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the kingdom of heaven!
But he who does the will of the Father.”
And then he never tells you what is the will of the Father
because that is control
If you want to know the will of the Father alright you keep on coming
Because now you might be on a shaky foundation, you might
lose your salvation, “Not everybody who calls Me, ‘Lord, Lord’.”
See people love to use this verse to control
But if the gospel of grace is true
“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved, and your house.”
Then how do you reconcile this?
That means he who does the will of the Father
and what is the will of the Father? Believe on Jesus!
Not everyone who calls him Lord, Lord is saved in that day
but he who does the will
those who have proclaimed Jesus Christ as their personal Saviour and Lord
Not in that day when they realise He is God saying to Him in that day ‘Lord, Lord’
But today, if you call him Lord, you believe in Him in your heart
you are doing the will of the Father!
Okay proof
Proof
John 6:40, the words of Jesus
“And this is the will of Him who sent Me
that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him
may have everlasting life and I will raise him up at the last day.”
Can you see that? Amen? What is the will of Him?
The will of Him is that everyone who sees the Son
and many a times when you’re preaching Jesus
and people see Him in the sermon and they believe in Him, guess what?
They are saved. That is the will of the Father, that everyone believes in the Son
What is the will of the Father? Everyone believes in the Son
And be careful of people who try to say that the will of the Father
there is your works again, your behaviour
If they do that, they are negating the gospel of Jesus Christ
it’s the spirit of anti-Christ in the pulpit
There is no compromise when it comes to preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ
It’s the gospel of grace and peace
Amen people, are you with me so far?
Next question I want to handle is this
“Pastor Prince, if I have a Christian company, not just a church okay
a Christian organisation. And everyone are Christians.
I’m a Christian boss
and my people are all you know, have been influenced
impacted by the gospel of grace. And they all know that, and, you know, Pastor
people who believe in grace they are very humble people
When you talk to them they say, ‘You know boss
it’s really God’s grace on my life.’ They are very humble people
It’s easy to work with humble people. But my question is this:
It’s year end and I need to reward them
I need to give them their assessment for their remuneration.”
How many understand what I’m talking about so far, alright?
I’m using a Christian organisation because
a worldly organisation don’t think about grace
You understand there’s no grace in their decision-making
But for a Christian boss, grace is there
“Now Pastor Prince, if I give everybody by grace
whoa, everybody get five months bonus
Because five is the number of grace what
And then next year, they’ll get five hundred dollar increment
Again five what, Pastor. You know, is that what I must do
Pastor Prince, is that what I must do?”
You know, friend, and these are the questions we get when we travel overseas
people ask that question
Pastor Mark travelled to Taiwan last week, they asked him the same question
I want to tell you this because I’ve given the answer here before
and I want to say it again so that those who were not here
you are able to take this home and keep it somewhere
Okay? The answer is here, in 1 Corinthians 15
How do we assess our employees? How do we assess people that are under us?
“But by the grace,” Paul is talking, “But by the grace of God, I am what I am
And His grace towards me was not in vain.” Now listen, “His grace towards me was not in vain.”
That means it is possible for the grace of God in your life to be in vain
That means God gives you the grace, you have the love…
okay for example grace to work among children
Number one, you must have a love for children
God gives you the grace, then you have the love for children
When you look at children
there is a slight smile on your face and you have ideas going in your head
as to how to make Jesus more real in their lives
You have creative, innovative ideas to make the Sunday school more exciting
You have that grace every time you think about it
But then you think about your responsibility at work
you think about the amount of time you have
but the grace is there
And then finally there came a time where you decide
you know what, then you feel the passion
You think about God’s work you feel the passion alright
but God will never force you
So God never force even though He’s King
He will not knock your knees together and make you fall and say, ‘Obey’
He’ll never do that
Amen
Even right now you are free to get up and walk away
He will never force you and freeze your butt on the seat
amen?
So the thing is this, He will give you the desire for children ministry
If someone don’t have the desire for children ministry
sometimes Christians have this idea that God will ask you to do things
in the ministry you have no desire for, and you have to take up your cross
I don’t believe that for one moment. That cannot be applied for that
When it comes to ministry, there must be a gift
A gift will give you a desire to flow in that direction. Amen?
So if someone doesn’t have love for kids, we don’t want them among our kids
And the kids also don’t want them among them. Okay?
So what do we do then? You have this grace, it’s coming on you
you feel it every time you think about children, you feel like
“Yeah one of these days I must sign up.
Yeah one of these days I must sign up
One of these days I must sign up.” But you didn’t
You prioritise your work. You prioritise something else
And you do overtime, you’re tired on Sunday
And then you want to work but then you cherish your partying on Saturday night
and you’re not willing to lay down anything
Then the grace that God gives you, just for you, you know
He didn’t give this grace to anybody else
He gave it to you, what an honour, was in vain
Then guess what, it dissipates
It dissipates
Then he goes on to say, after he says
“His grace towards me was not in vain.”
That means God can give you grace, but it was in vain
“But I laboured,” Paul says, “I laboured more abundantly than they all.”
Now I assume from the context here they all refers to
Peter, James, John, Bartholomew, Thomas and all the rest
I laboured more abundantly than they all
“Yet not I,” you see how quick he is to give honour where honour belongs?
“Yet not I, but the grace of God who is with me.” Are you listening, people?
In other words, if the grace is there and you step in it
First of all, you see the grace, the calling
the wooing of grace to get involved in this ministry
to go with Pastor Prince to Israel. You feel the grace to do it
You feel the grace to want to participate in this ministry
You find out, “Oh man, I can sing a better song
Hey hallelujah. You know, the guy up there, oh how terrible
man, the way he sings. I can sing better.”
Okay you have the grace but don’t have the humility alright
Takes some time, let the grace work
So the thing is that the grace will start working
Will you say yes to the grace? Will you flow with the grace?
Now Paul flowed with the grace
And ended up doing much more than all the rest ever did
Yet it was not him, but the grace of God that was with him
So for a boss, for the employer
you cannot decide based on looking at people’s grace
You decide based on, “I know your works. I know your works. I know your works
I know your works. I assess you based on what you produce
I assess you based on what you have brought forth
I assess you based on results.”
But you say, “But Pastor Prince, that is not grace!” No it is grace, listen carefully
if you use the grace there’ll be the fruits
In fact it shows, my assessing your works
tells me you have been using the grace, that the grace has not been in vain!
Are you listening?
Maybe you start off as a receptionist, but you love to answer calls
in such a way that you have a ear to the Spirit when someone is in trouble
you don’t just say, “Yes, oh yeah he’ll be back, Pastor Lian is not around. Yes…”
hang up
You have you know, “Well sister is there anything?
We can always… I can try to contact someone, this pastor is available alright.”
And people hear that, And bosses see that
and they see the flow of grace is on this person
That person will not remain as a receptionist
nothing wrong with starting as a receptionist
So bosses cannot judge based on, oh based on grace, everybody get
five percent
No, it’s based on works
Like Jesus looked at the churches in Revelation
“I know your works. I know your works.”
Works reflect whether the grace has been used in your life
God gives you the grace to do something
When you use and flow with the grace God gives you
God rewards you for using the grace He first gave you
Amen?
So are you clear on that?
Bosses are you clear on that?
Yeah, some people think that Pastor Prince allow everyone to stand
in the pulpit or dancing or singing
“You raise me up…”
You know they think as long you got a voice like that you can all be
no, no they have all been assessed
I don’t care how young they are. They have all been assessed
And that’s why people in the platform ministry
once a while we give them a test
We purposely correct them and we see how they respond
whether they allow correction or not. If they have a bad attitude
they cannot go further
I shouldn’t be revealing my…
You see the response people have
It always tells you whether they can go to the next level.
Can I have a good amen?
“But Pastor Prince you must understand
I have the flow to do this but I don’t have the time.”
Isn’t that interesting? Everybody has the same time
twenty-four hours
This child was born yesterday in Kandang Kerbau hospital with extra fifteen hours
Nobody else gets it
There’s no such thing right?
In fact my Bible says that there are things that you do that God can add time
Jacob loved Rachel, served seven years for her
but they were like few days because of the love he had for her
Time passes fast sometimes, but it’s still time
And the Bible says when you spend time in the Word
He will add length of days and then days of life in the same verse
So obviously both cannot be referring to longevity
Length of days my friend, it’s not always long life. It means length of days
You have all the time to do whatever you want to do
It’s a blessing. I said it’s a blessing
Start your day wrong, and you see how short the day is, how frustrated you feel
How when you close your eyes you don’t feel good
Start the day right, and you start the day right with God
Andrew Murray says, he calls it the ‘inner chamber’
the place where you spend time with God
You and God alone is amazing. Whatever fears you have, you are in the presence
Hey, if I got the chance to be in the presence of the Queen of England
I’ll be making sure that I dress my best
I’ll be making sure that everything is fine and I’ll treasure every moment
and I’ll try to memorise every word she says
How about you got a chance to be in the presence of the King of kings?
With all due respect to all the monarchs on earth
the King of kings that you spend time with can do something about your situation
And even talking to Him about all the problems in your life
knowing you are talking to the person who has all the power
who has all the love for you y’all, does something to your heart
And when you step out of the inner chamber
you find that there is a fragrance that is being diffused
And you find the whole day you carry the anointing of His presence
Start the day wrong, and you know that you’re on your own
even though God loves you
okay?
Amen. “Amen Pastor Prince.”
Alright, third question, does it help the bosses here alright?
So if you get one month, one and a half months
you get three months, that is how bosses assess based on your performance
based on… and performance is brought about by how you flow with the grace
You flow with the grace, it will be great performance
it’ll be fruit of the Spirit, right attitude even. Amen?
The third thing I wanna handle is this
Holiness
“Pastor Prince, what is holiness?” And number one
do not confound holiness with righteousness
I had a lady who is very famous in America
she’s quite advanced in her years, an amazing Bible teacher
She texted me the other day and she said this
“I watched your programme
and I’m beginning to realise the difference
between holiness and righteousness.”
People are..
People confound the two you know
Even many people who have gone through Bible school
they confound the two. You ask them what is holiness?
They say, “You know don’t do this, don’t do that, don’t do this.”
Yes, I mean it can involve certain lifestyle behaviour
But holiness is actually being set apart.
The opposite of holiness is not sin
The opposite of holiness is commonness
You are like anyone in the world
The people of the world sleep around with no compunction of sin
they indulge and eat and eat
Let me give a word of advice to the believers here, okay
Something is wrong if you have a passion for eating, eating
eating alright, it’s nothing new you know
It was the downfall of Rome, the downfall of the Greece empire
All the downfalls in history, you’ll find they love eating before it happened
Another thing they love is fornication, sexual immorality
Let me tell you this, God gave food, say amen. God gave sex, say amen
But sex is something that God wants us to have within the confines
sometimes when you confine something it explodes
When you don’t confine something it dissipates
One more time, sometimes you confine something it explodes
If you give it a lot of room like the Padang, the field, it dissipates
Use it all the time, it dissipates, have self-control, self-control
and then when you use it, explosive
He that have ears to hear, in the first floor, in second floor
in the third floor, all over the place
all over Singapore that’s watching this right now
and also those that will be watching by way of television amen
God’s ways are best
God had a smile on His face I believe when God created sex
God made sex. In fact technically speaking God’s first commandment He said, “Go have sex.”
God told man Adam, his first commandment to Adam
“Be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth.”
What? Just stand down there and throw up, and then Seth comes
and then Cain comes, Abel comes?
I’m so glad God could have made it that way you know
I said God could have made it that way you know
And ladies, He could have made you sort of like go one corner and lay the eggs
Or God can actually give the act, God can give the act without any pleasure
It is amazing that at the point of greatest pleasure is the greatest creation
that Man can ever produce this side of heaven
It’s not done with pain, it’s done with pleasure
And God created it. I tell you what God does
God is a good God. Ok, the devil comes along.
He wants to bring marriage… Marriage is God’s idea
and God means man, woman, husband, wife
within the confines where it becomes explosive. Alright, real, fulfilling sex
the devil comes and brings sex out of the marriage confinement
and the devil wants it to be something that will cause man not only to
affect his body but affects his mind, and he sleeps around, and then
they think that there’s nothing to it, but let me tell you this
If I put a piece of paper and I glue it to another piece of paper
I leave it for one hour and I pass the paper to you and tell you to try to
separate them as accurately as possible, you cannot do it
Some things in this paper will get stuck to this paper
and some things in this paper will be on the other side of the paper
because they have become one. God ordained for Man to be one
You can argue your case until you say “I don’t believe in God and all that”
but you are still going away the same way, in a box or in a fire
the way God ordained it, amen, for believers, the rapture
Because there are three time zones of the grace of God in Titus chapter 2
“The grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men.”
That’s the past, Jesus came. Notice he’s called the grace of God
I always say grace is a person, the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation
That’s past. So three time zones of grace
That’s the past time zone, Jesus came. Grace appeared, bringing salvation
Great news?
Then the present time zone. “Teaching us” what is teaching us?
Who is teaching us? The grace of God. Context. The grace of God teaches us
I teach you grace, grace teaches you from within
Pastors and leaders who don’t preach grace because they are afraid of it
they cannot think well of God, God’s goodness, do not allow grace to teach
Ended up, they teach. And when they teach
they don’t teach as good as God’s grace teaching
When Man teaches it’s behaviour modification
when grace teaches, it is heart transformation
So, the present zone, the present time zone of grace is grace teaches us
to deny ungodliness and worldly lust, and to live soberly, righteously
presently, in this present time
Then we come to the future of the time zone, future time zone of grace
“Looking for the blessed hope of the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
The three time zones
See, a believer, I told you last week, a believer does not look forward to death
That’s not a scriptural position
The scriptural position is the believer looks forward for the rapture
In every letter of Paul, the rapture is either described, elucidated, or inferred
We have forgotten that. Ok, that’s another message altogether. Are you all learning?
Now you sit down there and say, “Well, Pastor Prince
I’m living together with my girlfriend and what’s the big deal?
We are both happy. Happy? What’s wrong with that?
Well, the thing is this
I’ll be happy if you’re happy and it just ends with us, you know
But there is a God, a God who is perfect goodness, who knows that in the heart
in the heart of the woman, maybe not the guy
she cannot feel the security until she knows that you love her
within the confines of marriage
Even though right now she’s speaking out of her head
she is not speaking out of her heart
People change, and God knows that people
need to be in an environment where they are secure
God’s way ends up spirit, soul and body
And I’m telling you church, if you wanna live to 120
you wanna live a long good life
this is one area you will have to watch out for, ok, sexual purity
God gave Joseph dreams when he was 17 years old
Even though he had the dreams, he was going around saying
“uh, you know, I saw you all bowing down before me, you know, you also, and, uh…”
He had no wisdom
he was not able to interpret the dream. But he had the dream
You know when he started interpreting the dream?
When he was cast in the dungeon, alright, because
Potiphar’s wife lied about him, and in the dungeon
there were two men who gave him their dreams that have been haunting them
and he was able to interpret the dream accurately
and the events unfold just as he interpreted
So, between the gift and the interpretation, which is wisdom
there’s one test. Your family is not around
Between the gift and the wisdom to use the gift
to interpret the dream that God gives you, there’s a test
You are far away from your family
Your boss’s wife likes you. Nobody is in the big mansion, just you and her
She’s young, she’s dynamic, she’s beautiful
because bosses like Potiphar would choose a beautiful one
you are young, you are virile. Just say yes, and you’ll get special favours
Come on, yeah I mean, your father is not around, just say yes
For all you know, God may be far away doing something else
taking care of all the giraffes and elephants in Africa
Alright, come on, this lady is coming on strong, just say yes
Joseph said, “How can I do this great wickedness?”
Before the ten commandments was given
Joseph lived before the ten commandments were given
and he calls adultery “great wickedness”
This is before the ten commandments was given
How can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?
He was practising God’s presence, God was there with him
Then she grabbed his jacket
He ran because the only way to respond to lust is run
Run, Forrest, run!
In everything else, the Bible seems to say that
you know, you can apply this, apply that
When it comes to temptation, run
Sexual temptation, run.
Amen
I say Amen
Don’t ever say “I can handle it.”
In every temptation, it’s always this cycle
First of all, alright, you are tempted
You’re watching something, you’re tempted
You didn’t mean to be tempted
you woke up that morning, you didn’t plan to be tempted
you planned to walk with God
you planned to read your Bible by the end of the day or whatever
you had good intentions but you were tempted
Alright, we’re talking about sexual here
And then the biggest blunder comes along
You are tempted, you are watching a movie that has a lot of scenes that
you know, it’s not Christ-exalting for you to be sitting in that cinema
Especially when you’re a pastor
And you still sit through
Why? Because you paid for it
Now, then comes the next problem – “I can handle this.”
The Bible calls that confidence in the flesh
The next one is “I can handle it”
Ok?
So.. Temptation and then comes
I can handle it. I can handle this movie
I can handle this, I know there are some parts
I can handle this. I can handle her, she just asked for a lift
You know, she’s beautiful, I know that, but I can handle it
it will stop there, it will stop there
It will stop there… wow short skirt… stop there
I’ll just send her back. No problem, no problem
Ya, I know she’s another man’s wife
but she wanna talk to me this long, so I talked
She asked for my number also, so I give it to her
I can handle this, man. Everyone who says that, they mean well
Many of them, they mean well
They never plan to fall into adultery
After you handle it, you say, “I can handle it”
Bible calls it confidence in the flesh, it leads to a breakout of sin
Ok, breakout of sin, you fall into sin
And when you fall into sin, guess what? You feel guilty
You feel guilty
99.999% of people feel guilty except for one – that 000.1 heedless
Because you have a conscience
you can never escape your conscience, you will feel guilty
So now you feel guilty, and psychiatry, psychology
they say that if you are guilty, you are feeling perpetual guilt
whether it’s actual guilt or pseudo-guilt, you are feeling guilty
you are doomed to repeat the behaviour
But they have no answer, with all due respect
Only Jesus has the answer
There is therefore now no condemnation, and by doing that
he destroys the connection. Are you listening?
Because the more guilty you are, you will say “Might as well I go all the way.”
That’s the vicious cycle, alright?
Now, look up here. Some of you… “Pastor Prince, I think all sin is sin
I don’t think there’s this sin is greater, that sin is greater.”
No, no. Sexual sin is greater
“Ah, Pastor Prince, you are putting degrees on sin.”
Ya, I am. Make no mistake about it
There are some sins that are smaller, there are some sins that are greater
Do you remember what Jesus told Pontius Pilate?
When he said, “Your people delivered You to me,” Jesus says
“He who delivered Me to you has the greater sin.”
Did he say that? Yes. “He who delivered”
He was referring to Caiaphas the High Priest
“He who delivered Me to you has the greater sin.”
Pontius Pilate has sinned, for the comparison
greater sin, that means the sin of Pilate is still sin
“But he who delivered Me to you”… the leader of the Jews
Caiaphas has the greater sin. Are you listening, people?
There are some things you’ll… one sin
let me say this, one sin will send anyone to hell
Thank God for Jesus. And God has no time for your emails
You can write to Him and tell Him, “hey, God”… it’s like this
God cannot impugn on His own righteousness and holiness
Ok, keep that in mind
Now comes to sexual purity, people
I want to tell you this. When you sin against your body, it’s different from sinning other sins
I’m gonna prove that from Scripture
Look at 1 Corinthians 6
“Do you not know that he who was joined to a harlot”… a prostitute
is one body with her for the two, He said, shall become one flesh
But He who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with him… next
flee, flee sexual immorality
Like Joseph. Why did he run? I submit to you
I believe he ran because he was afraid he might change his mind
He didn’t hang around and say, “I can handle this beautiful woman.”
I can handle this beautiful woman. Wow, she smells good, she smells nice
I can handle this beautiful woman. Wow, she is beautiful
Hmm, I can handle this beautiful woman. Her eyelash are beautiful
I can handle this beautiful…
You see, he didn’t hang around there, he ran
But she grabbed his jacket you see
Joseph is always losing his jacket, you notice that?
His brothers threw him into the pit, they took his jacket
and put it with blood and tell the father he is dead
And now he lose this jacket
But finally, he has a jacket that was put by the monarch of the land
and became the most powerful man
Always remember this, if you lose your jacket for testimony’s sake
for glorifying the One who redeemed you, there will be a new jacket for reigning
Before that, he cannot interpret the dream
But after he says no, and he was actually punished for it
he was actually… I don’t believe that Potiphar believed the story of his wife
If Potiphar believed the story of his wife, he won’t be thrown into the dungeon
His head will roll. I think the guy suspect his wife
but he’s not strong enough like most men today to stand up to his wife
So you must throw him somewhere
Alright, so there he was, everything in Joseph’s life works out for good
He was there, and for the first time, for the first time we see him being able to interpret
When he received dreams earlier in his father’s house, he was not able to interpret
Ability to interpret what God tells you is wisdom
There are people who have messages from God until the angels say
“Wah, give up… from January onward I’ve been telling him the same thing, he still…“
God even sent, you know
on Nat Geo God sent a buffalo with a name, alright, National University of Singapore
And the guy still, “which, which university should I go, Lord?”
I’m just saying there are people like that
And what makes a person “duh”, “blur”, “ooh”, “duh”, “hmm”?
Have you seen guys… and I’ve seen teenagers
and I shared this with our teenagers. I tell them, if you are a teenager
you look at other teenagers, if they’re always indulging themselves physically
if they are watching pornography, if they are always masturbating
and they’re always thinking of all that, they have no self-control
what happened is that when you look at them, they look like zombie
Long before the movie Zombie became famous
Pastor Prince used the word “zombie”, many years ago
They look like now don’t look around ok, please
give people…these people a chance
Revival is about to… they cannot think straight, and they are very slow
they become sluggish, they become slow. Amen.
But people who say no – “but, but if the passion comes, I have to let it go, or I’ll explode!”
Friend, you will not implode, you will not explode. Trust me, ok?
Many successful people will tell you, your sexual energies is not released
it is transmuted into creativity, into areas of innovation
and people who are creative are highly sexed people
but they are not people who will give in to their passions all the time
And then, when they step into a room, people just feel this guy is in control
They don’t know why. God wants to bring you to that place
It’s called the glory of God. You understand?
God is… God loves you. Hey, God loves you
Ok, back to the proof that sexual immorality
is the sin that has a class of its own
Every sin that a man does – by the way, the word sexual immorality is porneia
Porneia. Sounds familiar? Porno, porneia
This sexual immorality includes anything outside marriage
that is not a husband and a wife. Full stop
Flee
Run
“Every sin that a man does is outside the body”
so that includes fear, concern, worry, complaining, murmuring
every sin that a man does is outside his body, but
he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body
Friend, do you know something?
God is showing some sins have certain like effects
some sins have other effects
You know what affects your body
and gives you chronic sickness and problems?
Now, I want to say, first and foremost
Pastor Prince is not saying.. and thousands of you are witnessing
I did not say if someone is sick, alright, there’s sexual immorality
I did not say that
But when you read this Scripture, the Bible is saying that
if you commit sexual immorality, you are sinning against your own body
Not your mind, not your spirit, your body
Body to me means where the sickness manifests – body
You want divine health? “Pastor Prince, I take communion everyday.”
Yeah, but you are sleeping with that man
I do not know, you know
I’m just saying only, alright. I’m just speaking by the Spirit
“And Pastor Prince you know
we do your devotional, and then we sleep.”
Are you married?
“No. but we do your devotional!” You are sinning against your own body
And next time you go to the doctor or you come to a pastor and you say
“Why did God let this happen?”
God didn’t let it happen
God didn’t want it to happen
You sin against your own body. You didn’t sin against anybody
Your own body, maybe the person you sinned with, but it’s your own body
Can you see that or not?
Every sin that a man does is outside the body
but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body
Now here is where – where some pastors and I differ
They will say that “this person needs deliverance
This person needs to confess his sin.”
Now, I’m not against confessing your sins, I told you before
I’m against confessing in order to be forgiven
I believe in confessing because you have been forgiven. It’s a claiming
So watch this. When it comes to sin
Paul’s response is always, “or do you not know that your body is”
people, “is” is present tense or past tense?
The way some people teach is like… by the way
the Corinthian Christians were going into the temple harlots, prostitutes ok?
That’s the scenario here
Now, Paul is saying we should
we should be saying based on
contemporary charismatic deliverance teaching
that once you sleep with a harlot
you are now filled with evil spirits. But Paul didn’t do that
Paul said to them, “your body still is the temple of the Holy Spirit.”
Hope is not lost. If you are saved, you are saved
And notice the Holy Spirit did not leave you when you were sleeping around?
That’s why He can be grieved
Because He has visions of grandeur for your body
He has visions of radiance for your body
He has visions of the outshining for your face
He has visions of sparkling eyes for you
He has a vision of you being at the age of 70, 80 years old
people say, “my goodness, you still look like 50, you still look like 40.”
He has visions of grandeur for you
Anything less is sin
because it comes short of the glory that God has for you
Do you understand that, people?
And the more you… listen, guys… you think that if I give in
I’ll be satisfied this time
No, the more you give in, the more you give in, it’s a bondage.
Start saying no. When it comes to sexual sin, you must say no somewhere
I will not watch this TV series
I will not do, I will not, because for me
other people can, they’ve no problem with that, you know
But for me, I don’t know why I keep on stumbling, because I like this girl
whatever, then I won’t
Praise God
Ok?
Isn’t it wonderful that you still have the Holy Spirit in you?
“Is” is present tense
Do you not know that your body is the temple
is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God
and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price. What a price
“You see, Pastor Prince, I can do whatever I want with my body.”
Now, if you’re… not if you’re a Christian, you were bought
You were bought
A lot of people, they go to the market, a lot of unbought goods
Unbought. Nobody wants to buy them. But you were bought
You are bought. And you are not bought with a million dollars
A million dollars pales in comparison with the price that was paid for you
with the vision of glory that God has for you
You were bought with something the whole world cannot equate
the precious blood of Jesus Christ
Therefore, because you were bought at a price
therefore glorify God – where?
In your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s
How do I glorify God in my body?
God says, keep yourself sexually pure
and I’ll see to it that people will look at your body and see My glory
Amen?
Wow
And pastors and leaders
you know, instead of jumping up and down
“Yeah, it’s time to whack the people!”
Paul didn’t whack. Paul didn’t even say “confess.”
Paul says, “Don’t you know?”
Paul’s response to people who are living in sin is always
“don’t you know, your body is”, still is
Brother suing brother in court
“don’t you know, we shall judge angels?”
There’s party spirit, there’s pride, there is divisions
I’m of Apollo, I’m of Paul
I’m of Pastor Prince, and I’m of this speaker, I’m of that
and Paul says, “hey, hey, hey, hey, hey! Don’t you know they are all yours?”
It’s always “don’t you know”
Brother suing brother in court, don’t you know?
We all shall judge angels!
Not heavenly ones fallen ones
We shall judge… what a calling that we have in our future
So the world out there.. the Bible says
don’t be involved in the lust of the Gentiles
They can afford to be lustful, but not us
We are called to glory y’all… we are called to virtue
And if there is anyone watching me, and you are in fact
right now, I don’t care if you’re Christian or not a Christian
But you are actively trying to seduce another man’s wife
God has a special word for you.
I’m serious
And by the way, in case you’re wondering
all these writings are the writings of the apostle of grace
preached by a pastor of grace
The Apostle Paul wrote this. The warning I must… come on
Aren’t you glad it says “you are bought at a price
therefore glorify God in your body”? Not just spiritually, in your spirit, but in your body
there must be something there, people
I salivate when I look at that kind of thing, spiritually
you know what I’m saying? You understand or not?
I look at some verses and I salivate
Like Jabez Prayer, I salivate. I wanna be like that
Ok, if you are actively trying to seduce another man’s wife
or you have done it, I got a word from the Lord for you
This is by the apostle of grace also. 1 Thessalonians 4
“For this is the will of God… your sanctification,” – your holiness
there’s one thing that God – “the will” of God
One thing that you can be practically holy, God says
watch out for your sexual area
In fact, this sin is a sin that really affects every area of your life
A guy can be angry and still be reinstated in the ministry
A guy can be untidy and callous and still be reinstated
A guy can be a lot of problems and still be reinstated
But if a guy commits adultery, even the world will not allow it
Back to the one… to the one
to the one that’s trying to seduce another man’s wife, special word
1 Thessalonians 4, “This is the will of God… your sanctification
that you should abstain from sexual immorality.”
You see, the holy.. the apostle of grace emphasised it so strong
that “each of you should know how to possess his own vessel”
– your body – “in sanctification and honour.”
Have respect for your body. Amen. Ladies, don’t dress to lure
Dress to be pure
That doesn’t mean you look like an old goat, but it means you shine
You look good, you look wholesome, you look healthy, Amen
“Not in passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God.”
We are not like the Gentiles who do not know God
You know what I’m saying?
If there is someone down here and if you wanna write something about me
and all that, and they do not know God
I don’t give two hoots about it
I cannot be bothered, they don’t see what I see
You see, the people outside the tabernacle don’t see
the beauty of the supernatural light of the menorah in the tent
they don’t see the four face of Jesus in the tent, it’s all covered from them
Blessed are your eyes for you see
So don’t be like them, don’t be like the people of the world
they don’t believe in marriage anymore
The thing is this, people. Don’t be like the people of the world
We are born again, we are redeemed
And the Bible says, not in passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God
Now watch this, watch this
Next verse, “that no one should take advantage of
and defraud his brother in this matter.”
The context talk about sexual immorality
If you deceive or you take advantage of his wife, alright
“because the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also forewarned you and testified.”
I tell you what, I don’t know what… I don’t claim to understand everything in this verse
but I tell you one thing, God will always take sides
If Ananias and Saphira come to cheat His people, even they drop dead
God will let them drop dead because He is protecting His people
You can say that His mercy endures forever
Who sings that? Israel, not Egypt
Egypt, their people died, their Pharaoh died
they have no song
Who are the ones singing, “Praise the Lord for He is good”?
Who is God good to? His people
And you can be His people before the day is over
by putting your trust in Jesus Christ
But God will protect His people
What if there are two brothers, both are saved
and this guy is seducing this guy’s wife?
It says, “no one should take advantage and defraud his brother
Even then the Lord is their avenger of all such” apostle of grace huh?
“As we also forewarn you and testify.”
You say, “Pastor Prince, I don’t think this is grace.”
This is apostle of grace, friend
God did not call us to uncleanness
but in holiness, and all the people say… (Amen)
“Well Pastor Prince, I reject all this
I don’t believe that you are preaching based on revelation.”
Next verse, “therefore he who rejects this”
does not reject Pastor Prince
who is a man, but God, who has also given us His Holy Spirit
Are you listening, people?
Now let me close by bringing this… friend, there are levels of sin
One sin is enough to send a sinner to hell, no matter how small, how big
But there are degrees of sin
It’s like some sin cause bigger ripples
and sexual immorality is one such sin that has big, big, big ripples
But friend, sexual immorality. Once you learn to say no, it gets easier and easier
Then all of a sudden you find that you are entering into a new world
where your mind is clear, where, you know and
when you see a beautiful girl, alright, you learn to thank God for her
you see her no longer as an object, you see her as a person
You thank God, alright, for her, and you focus – what a beautiful wife I have
Amen
And you know something? Your wife will get more and more and more beautiful
But if you are indulging in pornography, I’m telling you
your wife will get uglier and uglier, but no – she’s not. She’s not. In your mind she is
Now for some reason, my ministry has brought – I should – now you know
you know, when I say my ministry, you know what I mean
It’s the ministry of the Lord, through what He has given me
has brought deliverance to people who are in drug addictions
and especially pornography. I was stunned
because I didn’t see carefully my testimonials, and I didn’t have time
I just came back from London, and last week
last Sunday when they showed the highlights
many a times I only watched the highlights the day before
so I don’t even know. And I was stunned to hear that one gentleman over there
a Hillsong delegate, was sharing openly his deliverance from pornography
Now, friend, pastors and leaders, what would you want?
People that are rejoicing over their victory over pornography, or people who are
who are hiding, and then they’re still sinning, and then they sit under your
ministry, and you – you don’t preach grace, you preach balanced grace
which is a misnomer, like half Moses, half Jesus, half law, half grace
There’s no such thing
But look at the testimonies of these precious people
One person in the Philippines wrote this to me, and his name is Ariel
“I was raised in a Christian family in the Philippines
My twin brother is a minister in our church
where I am also serving as a worship leader and musician
After serving for many years we were both burnt out
We did not know why and we certainly were not aware that
something was lacking in our lives
Thank God my brother chanced upon a YouTube video of Pastor Joseph Prince
The video excited him so much he shared it with me
When I heard Pastor Prince preach that I am the righteousness of God in Christ
my tears immediately started to fall. I finally realised that this was exactly what I needed
to know that God is not angry with me. This really is good news
This amazing gospel of grace changed me
I had an addiction to pornography that started in my high school
in my high school days
I tried to stop the addiction but without success
I thought Christian music would help my behaviour but it did not
and I felt so condemned
Whenever Sunday came, I tried to lead worship with a happy and anointed face
but in my heart I was crying and asking God to help me
Thanks to our Lord Jesus
after believing and confessing that He is my righteousness.”
You see, friend, confessing sin all the time make you sin conscious
and sometime, people, when they are confessing
many a times, they are tempted again
I am not against confessing, I am just telling you the Bible
confession of sin was under law, if I live under the law
like Daniel, like Isaiah, like Nehemiah
I will confess my sins because I am under that order
but to honour Jesus, I confess I am the righteousness of God in Christ
And at times, you are, you are frank with God
as a sin is a sin, but you thank God He has forgiven
you thank God, you are the righteousness
that is the New Testament
And that’s what changed his life you see?
“I confess that He is my righteousness
When I confess that, after believing and confessing that He is my righteousness
my desire to watch pornography has been replaced with a new desire to watch
Pastor Prince program Destined to Reign on Trinity Broadcasting Network
I have also begun to read Christ-centred books including those by Pastor Prince
and listen to all his MP3 sermons
At last I am free
Now I can lead worship without condemnation
with all confidence in Jesus finished work
and most of all, with full knowledge of God’s love for me
It has been two years now in case you are wondering
and I know it has not been because of my self-control efforts
It is all because of God’s love for me.”
The testimonies that we have received, is always the same,
“It is not me. It is not me.” They always say it is not me.
“In addition I was asked to preach for six months in my church.
Everybody knows I am not an experienced preacher
but using one of Pastor Prince’s books as my guide on what to preach
I was able to finish the task
The result was that our pastor rediscovered the gospel
and he is now preaching pure grace messages
instead of a mixture of law and grace.”
Hallelujah
Now sit back and watch this most recent testimony that I only got to see yesterday
because I, we showed a small part of it
Praise God
Like I said, I saw an excerpt last week when the team prepared
you know, the testimony
And I said, my goodness you know, people are willing to stand up and say
they had a problem last time with pornography
Most people will look down, you know
For me it’s like that woman who went to the city of Samaria and said
“Come see a man, you know, who told me all that I did
about my five husbands and me committing adultery at this time.”
And Jesus did not let that woman remain in sin
You say, “Pastor Prince, don’t you love me the way I am?”
Because I love you, and I know God has great things in store for you
not at this level
You know, the worst thing that can happen to my son Justin
is to be two years old all the time. It is very cute, but not all the time
Something is wrong, God wants you to grow. Amen?
Let me close with this. let me close with this
You know, when the Pharisees brought that woman caught in adultery
some people think she is a prostitute. No, she was caught in adultery
Say adultery. When the Pharisees brought her to Jesus
it was because the Pharisees…
Now here is where all the pastors and leaders, when they listen to this
“Ya it is about time Pastor Prince, you know, you got to tell them like it is.”
No it is not that! Many a times their approach, if their confidence is in the law
my confidence is in the grace of God
You see the Pharisees, you know why they brought
that woman caught in adultery?
They caught here in adultery, think about it
the terrible thing that they would have done in that
they waited until the act was done, they step in, they brought the woman without the man
because maybe it is one of them
The whole idea is that they brought the woman to contend about grace and law
This is about grace and law
Answer me this question, do you think for one moment
if they think Jesus’ ministry is balanced, some grace, some law
they would have brought that woman to Him?
No. It must have been they knew all His ways talk about grace
It must have been, they see the way His grace is towards sinners
that they would have brought that adulteress
It is because they knew Him!
That if there is a sinner who comes to Him
the sinner will never be condemned
They knew it, or else they would never have brought that woman to Jesus
They brought that woman because they knew His ways of grace
Their confidence was in the law, they boasted in the law
but did they know the law?
People who preach the law, the Ten Commandments
do they really know the law?
I tell you this, God has brought a revelation to me
when I was eighteen years old that made me tremble
and I confessed every hour that any sin that almost remotely sounds like sin
I will confess it. I cannot understand Christians around me not doing it
You are looking at a man that has a revelation of the law being unbending
and those who say we can keep the law don’t even understand alright
and they have no respect for the law
If you read… So these are the Pharisees, they they take the law
as something they are proud of, gives them identity
grace they despise grace that came through the Son of God
whereas the sinners’ confidence is in God’s grace
So they brought that woman to Jesus
and you know, threw her in the midst and say, “Master, Moses in the law.”
So they would have the Lord become Moses’ enemy
That’s what’s happening to preachers of grace today
They want to portray us, people like Pastor Prince here
as an enemy of Moses, as an enemy of the law
Friend, listen, just because we are not under law
doesn’t mean the law is my enemy
Thank God for the law, without the law I won’t see my need for the Saviour
They try to bring the law in
“Moses said that such should be stoned, what do you say?”
They are trying to present, show Jesus up as Moses’ enemy
but Jesus displayed Himself as Moses’ Lord. You are about to see that
Now, they brought that woman to the Lord and their boast is in the law
Watch what the Lord does
Since you boast in the law, the Lord Jesus let out the heat of Mount Sinai
ok, in that entire place, since their boast is in the law, the Lord of the hill
the Lord of Mount Sinai, let out the genuine heat of that place
and they all felt it when He…
First of all He wrote on the ground as though He didn’t hear their accusations
of that woman, and I pray that you will always have this picture
whoever accuses you, your wife may be concerned
your best friend might be concerned
Jesus does not hear it. He refuses to hear it
The Bible says He wrote on the ground as though He heard them not
He is deaf, and Isaiah, I used to be puzzled with one thing
Isaiah says about His servant
Who is like My servant? God says. He is deaf. There is a verse there
I used to wonder, how can, how can Jesus be deaf?
And after I read this kind of stories and all that, I realised
He is purposely deaf to some things. Amen
He is deaf to the accusations, and He wrote as though He heard them not
And the Bible says He put up and He let out the full heat of Mount Sinai
Yes, throw the first stone, but only the one without sin throw the first sin
Did Jesus impugn the law?
No, He cannot. He cannot impugn the law, neither can I
Jesus didn’t come to destroy the law, He came to fulfill!
The reason we are not under law is because He fulfilled it
If you fulfil your contractual obligations, whether it is payment to the bank
stop paying! If you have fulfilled it!
Jesus did not come to, to destroy. He came to fulfill!
We are not, we are no longer under law not because the law has been destroyed
We are not under law because it has been fulfilled!
When the Lord Jesus was a baby
they brought Him to the temple to be circumcised
The Bible tells us that Mary and Joseph brought baby Jesus
and they brought a pair of doves
Now if you study the book of Leviticus
you will find that the very poor will bring doves
How the throne of David has so fallen to the point that the…
Both of them are from the line of David, they become poor
That they brought a poor man’s offering
Actually they had a lamb, the richest lamb there is
But they brought the baby and the poor man’s offering
and when they came and offered
the Bible tells us that there was a old man in the temple
at that time, the temple of Herod, He was always there, his name was Shi-mon
Simon, Shi-mon. You need to hear this
Today when you go to Israel, they summarise the law
all the rabbis, you know you ask them, give me one word
as the summary of the law, you know what they will say? Shema shema
Shema means the law, speaking the law
Shema Israel, Adonai eloheinu. Hear O Israel, our God is one God
Right?
The Shema. The Shema is a picture of the law. So Shema was there
The law was an old man by the time Jesus came
Why did God bring the law first and not Jesus first?
Because God is a good advertiser
Let people be under law for 1500 years and then when they realise they can’t
they will see their need for the Saviour
Bring Jesus too soon and they won’t see their need for Him
So the law is now old, Shema, and he saw the baby, and he took the baby
the Bible says he came by the Spirit to the temple
and he took the baby the Bible says, he said to the Lord
“Lord, my eyes have seen your salvation.”
Don’t forget they are speaking in Aramaic, alright, he probably said
“My eyes have seen your Yeshua.”
Call Him by name. “And now let your servant depart in peace.”
Even the law was happy to see Jesus and the law said to God
let me now depart in peace
The Bible says that he blessed Joseph and Mary
Noticed he never bless the baby. Why? The baby is greater than him
The baby is greater than Mary. The baby is greater than Joseph
He never bless the baby, he blessed the parents. And then, he departed
The Lord is just speaking to me
The Bible says in Psalms 91, “With long life…” How many want to live long?
God promise you, “With long life will I satisfy him and show him my…”
Salvation is? Yeshua
So this man lived a long good life, Shema was very old when he saw baby Jesus
then he says what? “Let me now depart, my eyes have seen Yeshua.”
God gives you a long good life so that you can see more and more of Jesus
Amen?
So after the old man departed, they were carrying the baby, someone came in
it was a woman from the tribe of Asher, that is reputed to have
the most beautiful women of all the twelve tribes of Israel
alright, the most beautiful… It was a tradition
they said that it came from the tribe of Asher, and her name was Hannah
and Hannah, Han means grace
Like if your name is John, in Hebrew it is Yo, Yahweh, Yo, Hannan, grace
God is grace
So Hannah came in, and Hannah said to everyone
Shema didn’t talk to everybody because the law is not missionary
The law does not evangelise. Grace evangelise
Hannah said to everyone that is looking for redemption
“Look at this baby! This baby is our redemption.”
So law went, grace came in. Are you listening?
Back to this again, ok, Jesus let out the fullness of the heat of Mount Sinai
because He is the Lord of the hill, He is not Moses’ enemy, He is Moses’ Lord
He was the one that gave the Ten Commandments
When He stooped down and wrote on the ground
don’t forget the place that He was writing was the place that inside the temple
the precinct of the temple, and it is not earthy ground, it is not muddy ground
it is actually stony ground
Look up here, stony ground. Jesus, finger, writing, stone, what does that tell you?
The Ten Commandments
He is saying, you presume to talk to me about the Ten Commandments
I am the one who gave Moses the Ten Commandments
Are you listening people?
You see at the end of this chapter, this is chapter eight, John 8
they never understand Jesus
People don’t understand grace, it is bigger than their mind
You know what Jesus told them? Abraham rejoiced
Right after this, at the end of the chapter, Jesus says
“Abraham rejoiced to see My day”.
Very plain words
You know what they heard?
“You are not yet fifty years old, you have seen Abraham?!”
He didn’t say I saw Abraham. He said Abraham saw me
Look at this, drop down the verse
“Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day, and he saw it and was glad.”
The Jews said to Him, “You are not yet fifty years old, have you seen Abraham?”
Did He say that? Did He say that He saw Abraham?
No, Abraham saw Him, He is the greater one
Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.”
they can’t take that, they can’t take that
next verse tells us they took up stones to throw at Him
but Jesus hid Himself and went out the temple going through
the midst of them and so passed by. But something about grace
even if one person rejects grace, grace cannot stop being grace
grace cannot stop giving, because that is the nature of grace
If you reject grace, you don’t get from grace
because grace will understand, alright, your rejection, but you lose out
and grace will just pass by, and when it pass by, the next chapter, chapter 9 says
“Now as Jesus passed by, He saw a man blind.”
And that blind man was healed and all of them could have been healed
but you reject grace, grace will still go somewhere to give
Ok?
Grace doesn’t say
“Oh don’t reject me la please, I am trying my best to help you know?”
Grace just goes around, have you notice?
He walk in the midst of them and they can’t see Him. Now He is walking as God
They were all blinded, He blinded them
He didn’t walk at the side you know like a pole
that is what Pastor Lawrence does, He doesn’t do that!
He walk right in the midst of them, and they can’t see Him
why? Because they reject the pillar of cloud, pillar of fire
And that’s what happen when Egypt attacked Israel and Israel was stuck
at the Red Sea, talk about between a rock and a hard place
Behind, where the enemies alright, coming, charging on their chariots
and you can see all the smoke, many of them have come to destroy!
In front is the deep deep Red Sea
Moses cried!
The first thing God did was not open the Red Sea
the pillar of fire was leading them all the while at night in front
the pillar of fire went backward
the Bible tells us the pillar of fire was light to the people of God
but darkness to Egypt
They were stuck in darkness
When Jesus let fly, “He that is without sin throw the first stone.”
You know something? Straight away they were all blinded. It was too bright
Only two persons can see. Jesus, and the condemned woman
He that is without sin…
Yes the law can condemn!
The devil can accuse!
But who can execute?
Tell me. There is only one person there who can execute, our Lord Jesus
and He didn’t say anything to her to condemn her
In fact He became a pillar of fire for her, put them all in darkness
and then made that very place that was for her when she first arrived
the darkness, the gate of darkness, the darkness of death
the valley of death became the gate of heaven!
Because Jesus was there defending her
The Bible says one by one… You see they
people who talk about keeping the law, they do not know the purity of the law
oh oh, they don’t know, they don’t know
And then now, they didn’t expect, in their heart they say
“Wait wait wait a minute, we actually want to use the law on Jesus and the
woman what, but we didn’t expect Him to put the law on us.”
It is very painful you know? For us, our conscience to feel it
Ya you know right? And one by one the Bible says
convicted by their own conscience, one by one they left
leaving only Jesus and the woman
The only one that can stone her would not, they would if they could
He could but He would not. And He looked at the woman, they all left
Has it ever occurred to you, let me ask you, those in the middle floor
because you all look intelligent from afar. When I can’t see your face
you all look intelligent. They all have God you know, glorified bodies right up there
Let me ask you this question. They all left, all her accusers all left already, left!
Left the place
Did Jesus ask her to stay?
No
She could have left
She could have left with her sin
She could have left with her shame
But something happened, and, pastors and leaders, listen
when we preach grace, this is the result, people are so afraid of grace
but they have confidence in the la
They exalt Moses at the expense of the Son of God
Friend, she could have left and join the rest outside
or go home and continue her life, Jesus never tell her, “You stay here.” Never
But now she didn’t want to leave Him
That place of shame, that darkness of death has become
the doorway of heaven, the gate of heaven, the light of life
No more darkness, but light of life. No more darkness of death, light of life!
No wonder right after this Jesus says I am the light of the world
he who follows me shall not walk in darkness but shall have the light of life
She could go
She did not go
She could go, she did not go
she would not go
she could not go
because of His love, His grace
She is willing to stand in front of Him, knowing He knows everything about her
and knowing best of all, He loves her just the way she is
So to those of you, you are living in sin let’s say, and you say
“Pastor Prince don’t you love me the way I am?”
I love you, Jesus loves you the way you are
And this woman, the Lord loves her the way she is,
He never ask her to change before He protected her,
He never ask her to change… Hey He never even ask her to confess her sins
The only confession He wanted from her is this
“Woman where are those that accuse you?”
He wanted her to say: there is no more condemnation
He made her said it. She looked around and said, “No man, Lord.”
He says, “Neither do I condemn you.”
I am telling you this is the secret
Look at the cycle again of sin. You see guilt? Between sins and temptation?
Before you go into another cycle, another binge
remember it is guilt that is the biggest problem in the body of Christ
that causes people to repeat the sin
And this is what Jesus did, Jesus look at the woman and says
“Neither do I condemn you.”
He asked her, is anyone accusing you, condemning you?
She said, “No one, Lord!” That was a confession –
I have no more condemnation
Mind you, she was just caught a few hours ago in the act of adultery
but she confessed, “No one accuses me Lord.”
There is no more condemnation, in the presence and
only in the presence of Jesus and please, the Lord cannot impugn the law, alright
someone need to pay for her sin
But Jesus will go to the cross and pay for her sin
Meanwhile, she is paid like… base on Visa card, Mastercard
the Master says, “Father, charge her sin to My account.”
And finally it was all paid at the cross. Do you understand people
He didn’t forgive her presumptuously, He forgave her righteously
He has to pay for it. Amen?
And what did He say to her? He made her confess
That’s why I want people to confess, “I am the righteousness of God
There is no condemnation for me in Christ.” Especially after you sin
And she says, “No man Lord.”
And the Lord says to her, “Neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more.”
Look at this cycle, neither do I condemn you, there is no more guilt
there is no more condemnation, so no need for new resolutions
No need to say, “Er er er er, God, er I promise you from now on
I will attend all the four services on Sunday. From now on
Pastor Prince will have someone cleaning the floor in every toilet
from now on, instead of giving ten dollars, I give twenty dollars.”
God doesn’t want all that, doesn’t want your resolution
because those are sin offerings
There is only one final sin offering
If you give you give out of love for the One who redeemed you
If you serve, you serve out of love for the one who redeemed you. Amen?
But where it was broken was here, guilt, when guilt is broken
Guys, you see a picture… Nowadays pictures are everywhere
You see a picture, and you know you are tempted, alright, straight away
“I am the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus.”
This problem of, “Oh man I sin already. I am out of fellowship.”
Depend on what you believe, “I am out of fellowship. Now I need…
I know I am judicially forgiven, but I am not Fatherly forgiven
Father does not deem me as a son anymore
I must confess then I become a son
Aiya, I have been doing this so many times already
Never mind la go all the way first la, watch la.”
That’s the psyche of a lot of people who are in addictions
They think that it takes a long time for them to confess their sins
or whatever because of the mentality we have taught them
We don’t confess our sins to be forgiven
We confess because we are forgiven
And even if we forget to confess, we have a Saviour who died for our forgetfulness
This message will make you Jesus conscious. Amen people? Amen?
And right after that, look at this, we will finish with this, John 8
“No man Lord.”
“Neither do I condemn you, go and sin no more.”
You see, go and sin no more, a lot of people want to jump on that
“You see Pastor Prince, Jesus says go and sin no more…”
Oh by the way, by the way, can I ask you a question?
Do you think after all the love that she has experienced, the grace and all that
if she saw more than all the Pharisees
I said in one stroke she saw more of the ways of God than all the Pharisees
You think for one moment after she leaves Jesus’ presence she will say
“Now where was the man just now. Where is my boy-boy?
Where is my honeycomb? Where is my darling?” Do you think she goes…
You can’t imagine that right? Neither can I! No way no way
But we cannot preach: Go and sin no more!
Without saying: Neither do I condemn you
Because the gift of no condemnation is
what causes people to go and sin no more!
Probably the next day? Next two days?
She met the same guy.
“How? Baby?
Should we go somewhere?”
“Sorry man, I found the Man who really loves me.”
You see, at the end of the day friend, the guy wants to use you
but don’t want to get married, tell him, “Hasta la vista baby.”
Maybe maybe not in that kind of tone but, you are a girl so, “Hasta la vista baby.”
Ok whatever it is. If the guy respect you…
Don’t allow a guy to respect only your body
“Oh baby you got, you are the most magnificent body.”
Ok, you know, he doesn’t
don’t allow guys who are shallow to deal with you girls
you are worth gold. You are precious. Amen
And our virginity? The world is making fun of people who are virgins?
because the world has lost it
and you haven’t, so they can’t take it. Alright? Amen
You know why we put some things in a treasure box
in a safe box at home? Because they are precious
You know some things we put outside you know why?
They are not so precious. Nobody have a lock on their toilet bowl
You really got to go man, “Darling which key! Darling which key!”
No, you know you can’t do that, right?
Nobody cares for those things that you use for other things
but you see the thing is this, if you allow people to…
Like kids even will teach us a parable
Open your Christmas presents before Christmas and all of a sudden
on the same day, the joy is no longer there
Having said that, for those of you who have failed, who have sinned
there is no condemnation for you but go and sin no more
Amen. Start living a life of the purity, the spirit of a virgin, Amen
So when the time comes, you can still feel the glory of being a virgin. Amen
It is still God’s way. Don’t forget, God is for glory, glory on your body
God is for glory on your face. God is for glory on your marriage
God is for glory. And those of you who are trying to seduce another man’s wife
get ready, the Lord is the avenger. Come on give Him praise, Hallelujah
Alright, every head bowed, every eye closed all across this place
praise the name of Jesus, don’t you love Him people?
Don’t you just love Him?
Just like that woman who also was committing adultery in Samaria
but she had had five husbands
and currently she was living in adultery when Jesus met her
One moment with Jesus, one moment with grace
made her an instant evangelist
Friend, the world needs the grace of God
Yes, sin is sin, but sin will not be held by preaching the law
because the law is the strength of sin
The law is the strength of sin and not holiness
Grace is the strength of holiness
Perhaps you are not saved
perhaps you have no assurance if your heart stops beating
heaven is your home, God is your Father
your sins are forgiven, my friend believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
Christ died for your sins and rose again without them
and the Father has glorified Him and sat Him at His own right hand
If you believe on Him, you will have everlasting life, and in the last days
Jesus, our Lord Jesus will raise you up
If that is you, wherever you are watching this right now pray this prayer with me
say this from your heart: Heavenly Father, I believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God
That He died on the cross for all my sins
and you raised Him from the dead for my justification
Jesus Christ is my Lord, my Saviour
I have everlasting life, all my sins, past, present and future are forgiven
You have filled me with your Holy Spirit
the spirit of power, love, and a sound mind
Thank You Lord Jesus, that from now on I will live a life where my spirit
and my body will glorify you. Keep my body strong, keep my body healthy
I want to serve you with my body. Keep me young for your glory
in Jesus name, and all the people say Amen Amen Amen Amen
Come on, give Him praise! Hallelujah Hallelujah Amen
Remember this: Sin is stronger than your flesh and self-effort
only Christ can overcome it. Look to Him Amen, look to grace. Praise the Lord
Lift your hands all across this place. Jabez said to God
“Oh that You will bless me indeed.” Oh that You will bless me indeed
it is a bless me prayer, and God calls that prayer an honourable prayer
That Jabez was more honourable
So say this: Father God, bless me indeed! Bless my family, bless my walk with You
bless my revelation, bless my body, make it strong and healthy
keep it young for me to serve You with
Bless my children, bless my spouse, bless this church, and bless this nation
And Father God, protect us from evil in the name of Jesus
throughout this week, I cover myself and all my families
with the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ
In Jesus name, Amen, Amen, Amen,
God bless you, we will see you again, Amen