Dear friends, be blessed by this special sermon I preached when I was in the beautiful land of Israel. It is called “Jesus Draws Near When You Are Discouraged.” I always love visiting Israel—the land that is so dear to God’s heart and where so many significant biblical events took place. 3 years ago, I had the amazing privilege and opportunity to preach at Caesarea Maritima. It was here that the apostle Peter first preached to the Gentiles, and the Holy Spirit fell on them. It was here that the apostle Paul gave his defence of the gospel before King Agrippa. And it was from here that the gospel of grace first went forth into the world. Caesarea Maritima is such a special place because it was here that the Lord made it known that the good news is for everyone! And that includes you. So please enjoy this special message I preached at Caesarea Maritima. If life has left you feeling discouraged and disappointed, I believe you’ll be uplifted and strengthened by this word. In this sermon, I share how you can receive restoration for your broken heart and dreams and how your discouragement doesn’t have to derail you from your God-given destiny. Take heart, my friend, for our Lord Jesus has come to lift you out of your discouragement and lead you on a renewed path of hope and purpose!
YOU ARE WATCHING: JESUS DRAWS
NEAR WHEN YOU ARE DISCOURAGED
The promised land. The land of
the Bible. The very land through
which our Lord Himself walked.
Hi, I’m Joseph Prince, and I’ll
be your personal guide, helping
you discover the land of Israel.
My brand-new book, Expedition
Promised Land: Walk Where Jesus Walked.
Through this book, I
take you on a 10-day visual
journey to discover Israel as if
I were your personal guide.
There’s just something about
being in Israel. The Bible comes
alive in a special and intimate
way. Everything about it— its
rich history and culture, its
topography and its landscape.
Everywhere you turn and in
everything you look at— the
rocks, the trees, the ancient
practices, are pictures of our
Lord Jesus and what He has done
for us at the cross. As we
explore Israel together through
this book, my prayer is that you
will see a living Savior in this
ancient land. We will explore
the region of Galilee, where our
Lord Jesus calmed the storms,
multiplied the loaves and
fishes. We will also be visiting
the Old City of Jerusalem, where
His passion took place and where
the early church was born.
Filled with stunning
photographs, page after page and
breath-taking video footage,
this book will help you
visualize what it would be like
to be at many different
locations around Israel. My team
and I have also included helpful
maps, diagrams, illustrations,
and Bible timelines. These
visual aids will give you a
better understanding of the
historical and spiritual
significance of the sites. This
is indeed my most ambitious
publishing project to date! I
pray that you’ll walk away
encountering our living Savior
afresh as we journey to this
beautiful land that He Himself
walked upon, Friend, join me to
encounter Jesus in a deep and
personal way through the pages
of this book, and your life
will never be the same!
Joseph Prince’s latest book—
Expedition Promised Land:
Walked Where Jesus Walked,
is now available!
Get your copy today!
Give a shout to the name that
is above every name. Come on!
We’ve been shouting for everyone else,
let’s shout for Jesus!
Please be seated.
Wow, praise the Lord. Just want
to say again that you are in a
very special place tonight. You
are right where the gospel of
grace went forth. 2,000 years
ago, Paul left this port and he
never returned. He appealed to
Caesar and to Caesar he went and
you know the gospel of grace
went forth from this place here
in different journeys of Paul,
missionary journeys of Paul. And
Paul preached the gospel— God
told him to go west. Now imagine
the earth as a globe. Israel
being in the centre, and it is
the centre of the world. And
Paul took the gospel westward,
all the way, and that’s where
his final journey was in Rome
and then from Rome, it went
westward. So imagine the globe,
it went west. God will forbid at
that time, the gospel is for the
world but there is a timing in
everything that God does. And
the gospel, for this 2,000
years, has gone west all the way
around the globe to America in
recent times. And then from
America, thank God for America
because America has been the
number one nation sponsoring the
gospel of Jesus Christ for these
past 100 years. And God raised
America for this purpose. Let’s
not forget “in God we trust”.
God raised America for the
purpose of the gospel of grace
and then the gospel went
westward— look at this, westward
all the way. These 2,000 years,
and finally in our day and age
it has hit China, Korea,
Singapore—where all these
countries in these days have
some of the largest
congregations in the world. In
Korea alone, we have mega mega
churches, and that is what God
is doing. But you know what, it
has come one full circle— God is
not finished with America, God
never decreases in His work, He
increases. The path of the
righteous increases, increases
more and more; shines brighter
and brighter until the perfect
day when Jesus returns. It’s
come one full circle and finally
it’s going to end up all the way
back to Jerusalem. And Jesus
will return. We are, I believe
we are the end time generation.
Amen. What is the gospel? We
talk about the gospel— what is
the gospel? Will the real gospel
please stand up? Today we hear
people saying: “This is the
gospel truth…” “That is the
gospel truth…” But what is the
gospel? The gospel is good news.
Amen. Today when you hear the
news, it’s almost like saying
like: “I’m going to give you my
car, brand new, it is a Ferrari,
okay?” “I have not driven in it,
it is yours, just pay me $100
every month.” It is a gift but
it has conditions to it. The
gospel is not do good get good;
do bad get bad. What is the
gospel? Well, Paul himself, who
left these regions to preach the
gospel, Paul says: “I testify to
the gospel of the grace of God.”
It’s called the gospel of the
Grace of God. By the way, if you
are feeling colder, just snuggle
up— this is the body ministry.
Come on, get close to each
other, this is the body
ministry. Say hi to the person
next to you and get close to one
another, okay. The only way that
Paul describes the gospel in the
New Testament— he calls it the
gospel of grace and the gospel
of Peace. Today we have
different kinds of gospel and
we— the devil has switched the
roles of the gospel that we
think— prepare Galatians 1 for
them— we think that hearing
grace is another gospel. If you
look at the Scriptures in
Galatians 1, Paul says: “I am
shocked, I am surprised y’all!”
To all the Texans here: “I’m
stunned y’all that you” “are
turning away so soon from Him
who called you” “in the grace of
Christ to a different gospel.”
So whatever the grace of Christ
is, it is the gospel that Paul
preached. And Paul is saying:
“Guys I am stunned that you are
turning away” “from the grace of
Christ to a different gospel.”
So what is a different gospel?
Anything that is not the grace
of Christ. But today it is the
other way around. If you preach
the grace of Christ, it sounds
like, and some of them are
saying – this is a different
gospel. But actually we are
rediscovering the gospel that
Paul preached. Can I have a good
amen? The Law was given by Moses
but grace and truth came by
Jesus Christ. Under the Law,
when God first gave the Law on
Mount Sinai, it was the first
Pentecost of Israel. When God
gave the Law on Mount Sinai,
3,000 people died at the foot of
the mount. When God gave what?
The Spirit, not the Law, on the
day of Pentecost in the New
Testament, 3,000 were saved.
That shows the Law kills but the
Spirit gives life. Now the Bible
says: “Sin,” which in the Greek,
is a noun in Romans 6:14. “Sin
shall not have dominion,
control/ power over you”
“because you are not under Law
but under Grace.” But today we
say like: “You know, if you are”
“not under Law, you become
lawless.” “If you preach grace,
then you are giving people
license to sin.” But number one,
people are sinning without
license! Have you noticed that?
Actually when you preach the
Law, you are strengthening the
flesh. The Law wasn’t
given—listen, I am for the Law
for the reason God gave the Law,
and God never gave the Law to
justify men by. God gave the Law
to show up man’s sin. The Bible
says by the Law is the knowledge
of sin, not righteousness. The
Law is like a mirror, when you
look at the mirror, it reflects
accurately. So if you see ugly—
which Joel and I never; if you
see ugly, don’t blame the
mirror! The mirror is accurate.
It is true, the Law is holy,
righteous and true, but it
cannot make you holy; it cannot
make you righteous. And
definitely it cannot make you
holy. And yet the devil seems to
have hoodwinked the church into
thinking that if you hear grace,
it is dangerous. When you hear
the Law, no one puts their
guards up. The devil has built
fences around grace and we need
to rediscover the gospel that
Paul preached—the gospel that
left these shores 2,000 years
ago, amen. Paul says, you know,
I am surprised guys— you left
the grace of Christ to a
different gospel, and then Paul
pronounces a double curse on
anyone that is mixing Law and
grace in the Book of Galatians.
Now I decided a long time ago
that I will not come under the
double curse. If anyone preaches
a mixture like they did in
Galatians and Paul pronounced a
double curse. Paul say though we
or an angel from heaven—he
didn’t say an angel from hell
y’all— an angel from heaven.
Though we or an angel from
heaven preach any other gospel
unto you than that which we
preached, let him be anathema –
accursed. And he repeated
himself. So when I saw that, I
decided to myself a long time
ago I don’t care what people
say, and be doubly blessed. And
I think that has happened some.
I’d rather have the double
blessing than people’s
approbation and praise, amen.
The Law says “take shoes off
your feet;” “The place you are
standing is holy ground.” Under
grace, God says: “Put shoes on
my son’s feet he has returned,”
“he has the right to stand in my
presence.” There has been a
change. Amen. The law is about
do do do, grace is about done
done done. Your only
response—rest. The better you
rest, the more God can work. God
said to me a long time ago:
“Son, when you rest, I work.”
“But when you work, I rest.” And
that’s why the priests in the
Old Testament, they have to clad
themselves, even the turbans
they wear, their turban is made
of linen. They must not gird
themselves with anything that
causes sweat. Smile at your
neighbour and say: “Thou shall
not sweat.” This is talking
about self-effort. God does not
want self- effort or human sweat
in His ministry. Can I have a
good amen? Like what Matt said
just now, we don’t fight for
victory, we fight from victory.
We don’t pray for victory, we
pray FROM victory. Amen. I’m
just saying find out the reason
why you are doing what you are
doing. I am not saying you
cannot pray. I’m not saying stop
praying. You know some people
say: “You know well Pastor
Prince is saying stop working,
stop praying” – I never said
that. “Stop giving” – in fact,
when you are under grace, no one
can stop you from giving
everything you’ve got you know,
you feel like giving everything
you got. I got to watch my wife
because when she is under grace
she wants to give me away.
Talking about my wife, I miss my
wife. I miss my woman. I want to
give you a prophecy of the
Messiah from Prophet Isaiah— of
all the things that Isaiah could
have prophesied about the
Messiah – how He is a victorious
conquering Messiah, Isaiah said
this of Him in Matthew 12, the
Gospel of Matthew quotes the
prophecy of Isaiah: “A bruised
reed He will not break, a
smoking flax He will not
quench,” “till He sends forth
justice to victory”. A bruised
reed, a crushed reed— He will
not break. You know when you
feel like you have lost your
song because in those days… let
me show you a picture of a reed
up here. You see a reed? This is
a picture taken in Israel on one
of my tours, and that’s a reed.
And what the children would do
during Jesus’ time – they would
make a flute out of the reed,
alright – there is a flute
coming up, yup. That’s a young
boy there, that’s one of my
pastors, and he is playing a
flute. We found this reed by the
Lake of Galilee and he picked it
up, of course he can’t make a
tune, of course, it’s bruised.
So what do you do? Reeds are
dime and dozen so what do you
do? You throw it away. When it
gets bruised you know you don’t
keep on using that reed, you
throw it away because reeds are
dime a dozen you find along the
river Jordan you find a lot of
reeds. What happens when you
lose your song, you lose your
praise? You are no more a
singing joyful Christian? He
doesn’t put you aside. A bruised
reed He will not break, and a
smoking flax He will not quench.
What is a smoking flax? You know
back in those days they would
use a lamp, an earthen lamp- we
have a picture of the lamp, this
is a lamp from Israel. And what
they do is that they have a wick
at the end made of cloth,
usually it is a linen cloth. And
when it is charred it’s burnt
out. Are you burnt out? When you
are burnt out there will be a
smoke. And there will be a
stench. And people don’t want to
be around you. But the Bible
says a smoking flax Jesus will
not quench. He will be right
there with you. In our minds we
have – we need to repent. You
know repent means to change your
mind. We think that you know,
yes – without faith it is
impossible to please God, but
God does not put you aside when
you are weak in your faith.
Those seasons when you are
feeling down and you are you
know you are anxious and you are
depressed and you know you
should not be; you know
something? God does not put you
aside. A bruised reed He will
not break, a smoking flax He
will not quench. When you are
disappointed when you are
dejected, what does God do? Well
in the day of Elijah, in the day
of his faith – remember Elijah
called fire down, he challenged
the prophets of Baal, remember
that? God sent him to this Brook
Cherith, I believe many of you
passed the brook area, going
down to the Dead Sea, the Brook
Cherith is not too far away. And
the Brook Cherith, there the
ravens fed him in the day of his
faith, ravens would feed him.
But there came a time when he
was discouraged, in fact he was
discouraged because a woman
threatened him. The woman said
“I’m going to kill you –“and
that was Jezebel right, amen and
he fled! He fled! The man who
called fire down from heaven,
fled – from a woman, a
threatening woman. What gives?
Amen? And then he threw himself
under a juniper tree and says
“God let me die, Lord, let me
die!” How many of you are glad
that God doesn’t answer all your
prayers? By the way, not only
God did not answer his prayer,
he never died and he never died!
He’s still alive in heaven. Do
you know he was whisked off into
heaven and today he is in heaven
alive? I believe he will come
back with Moses as one of the
two witnesses. And God never
answered his prayer – he said
“let me die”; and he never died.
And he never did die, he is
still alive. And in the day of
his discouragement when he was
discouraged under the tree, you
know what God did, the angel of
the Lord – which is the
pre-incarnate appearance of
Christ – in the Hebrew, the
person of the Lord Jesus, the
messenger of the Lord, He came.
Who is that? Jesus. Jesus came
and He fed him, made a cake for
him and then put him back to
sleep. Listen in the day of his
faith, ravens fed him. In the
day of his depression, the Lord
Himself fed him. God doesn’t put
you aside just because you
missed it. He doesn’t put you
aside just because you know –
yesterday I was just reading the
story of Emmaus. The two
disciples that left Jerusalem
after Jesus died, you know, on
the day of His resurrection.
They didn’t know about it, they
thought it was just some rumours
from some women and they left
the place of the gathering of
God’s people in Jerusalem. They
left the flock in Jerusalem,
they left Peter, James, John and
all the disciples and they went
home to Emmaus. Now it is a
picture of Christians or saints
that are disappointed,
disillusioned and backslidden.
They left the place of
fellowship. They left the church
and they were disappointed. And
they were reasoning along the
way. My Bible says Jesus Himself
drew near. As they were
reasoning with one another,
Cleopas and probably his wife,
amen, what makes you think it is
not a woman, right, Cleopas and
his wife, they were reasoning
among themselves and the Bible
says here in Luke 24, while they
conversed and reasoned, Jesus
Himself drew near. When they
left the place of fellowship,
they left the church then, Jesus
Himself drew near. When they
draw away, Jesus drew near. Now,
for us, when someone leaves
Church, our attitude is – we
withdraw from them. But the Lord
is not like that. Listen, in the
day of our faith and all that He
might send messengers,
preachers, apostles, but when
there is one discouraged saint,
when there is one wayward sheep
of His own, He does not send
apostles or messengers. He
Himself – Jesus Himself, drew
near to restore them. We need to
change our minds people, what a
saviour! What a saviour, do you
love Him? My Bible says in
Psalms – God counts the number
of stars, He counts the number
of the stars and He calls them
by name; and immediately the
Psalmist says – before that, He
heals the broken hearted, He
binds up their wounds. Look at
the contrast. Right after that,
He counts the number of the
stars; He calls them all by
name. And yet, it comes right
after it says He heals the
broken heart and binds up their
wounds. The God … who amongst us
can count the number of the
stars? Who among us can fathom
the sorrow of a broken heart?
The same God who can count the
number of the stars and call
them by name is the God who
binds up the broken hearted on
earth. What a saviour! In the
greatness of His love, He gave
us His only begotten Son, He
sent Him to this earth to heal
broken hearts. One of the
primary things that Jesus said
He came to do – the Spirit of
the Lord is upon Me because He
has anointed Me to preach the
good news to the poor and to
heal the broken hearted. You
know the world is full of broken
hearts. There might be outward
gaiety and laughter but like
Solomon says in the Book of
Proverbs, even in laughter the
heart is sorrowful. So they try
to cover up with laughter, you
know, you switch on the TV you
hear them laughing all the time
but no one knows the secret
sorrows and broken hearts are
there in the world. But Jesus
does. And He binds up the broken
hearts. Do you know how He binds
up our broken hearts? Remember
that weeping sinner woman came
in Luke 7 and wept at His feet
and Jesus was at the house of a
Pharisee? And He looked at the
Pharisee and the Pharisee was
thinking in his mind – well, if
Jesus knew, if He is a prophet,
He would know what kind of woman
this is. Obviously she was a
woman of ill repute in that
town. How she found his house, I
do not know. She probably knew
his address before this. Anyway,
she heard that Jesus was in his
house, in the Pharisee’s house
and she made her way there and
the Bible says she wept over his
feet – because in those days
they would recline, their feet
would be behind; and she would
come behind, and Jesus is
looking at the Pharisee, and the
Pharisee is looking at her. And
she would weep at His feet and
wipe His feet with her hair. And
Jesus looked at the Pharisee and
Jesus knew what he was thinking.
“If He was a prophet, He would
know what kind of woman this
is”. And Jesus says “Simon,” –
that was the name of the
Pharisee, “I have something to
tell you. There were two
debtors, one owed a hundred
thousand dollars, and the other
owed a hundred dollars. When
they both could not pay the
creditor, he forgave them both.
Which of the two debtors do you
think would love him more?” He’s
speaking the Pharisee’s
language, because he had dollar
signs in his eyes. And then he
said “Well I suppose the one he
forgave the most”. “I came to
your house, you gave Me no
customary greeting, you did not
give Me the water to wash My
feet, but since she came in, she
has not ceased to weep on My
feet and to wipe My feet with
her hair”. “You know why she
does that Simon? Because whoever
is forgiven much will love
much”. And that’s why our
message is to tell the world
“you are forgiven”. It needs to
be received, yes but you need to
tell them they are forgiven.
Amen. We are all forgiven of our
sins it is because we think we
are forgiven as we go, we are
forgiven as we repent. Now
today, in the Old Testament – if
I live in the Old Testament, you
have to repent first before God
can bless you, before God can
forgive you. But under grace,
God forgives you already. And if
you receive that forgiveness,
that forgiveness will lead you
to change your mind about
whatever areas there are in your
life. This is the Gospel! And
why are we so afraid to tell
people that their sins are
forgiven past present and
future? They are! Because we
think that we preach a message
that tells people their sins are
forgiven – by the way the bad
thought you had of me just now
is forgiven; that worse thought
that you had just now of Matt,
is forgiven. What a relief when
you live your life no longer
introspective and self-occupied,
but Christ occupied. What a
life! You will fail in your
thought word and deed, I am not
prophesying, and some people
don’t like to hear that. But
listen this is not sinless
perfection, you are righteous in
God’s eyes but you are not your
own righteousness, righteousness
is a gift. God sees you
righteous but in and of yourself
you will still fail, and you
need to know you are forgiven.
When a bad thought comes, you
say, “thank you Lord I am
forgiven”. When you worship and
a bad thought comes you don’t
have to put your heads down, to
sit down, and start confessing
confessing confessing. You just
say thank you Lord I am forgiven
and go on worshipping the Lord.
So Jesus said you know why she
loves much? She is forgiven
much. Do you know why you love
me little? – in essence He was
telling Simon the Pharisee, “you
know why you love me little?
Because you don’t think you are
forgiven much.” I love it; I
love the Lord, don’t you?
Hi, I’m Joseph Prince, and I’ll be
your personal guide, helping you
discover the land of Israel.
There’s just something about
being in Israel. The promised
land. The land of the Bible. The
very land our Lord Himself
walked. With my new book—
Expedition Promised Land: Walk
Where Jesus Walked. I want to
bring you on an adventure with
me to discover the beautiful
land of Israel and unpack the
Scriptures for you as if I was
your personal guide. Filled with
stunning photographs, page after
page and breath-taking video
footage, this book will help you
visualize what it would be like
to be at many different
locations around Israel. My team
and I have also included helpful
maps, diagrams, illustrations,
and Bible timelines. These
visual aids will give you a
better understanding of the
historical and spiritual
significance of the sites. You
will also find additional
teaching content, where I preach
live at iconic locations in
Israel, that you can access for
free via the QR codes throughout
this book. This is indeed my
most ambitious publishing
project to date! Whether you are
planning a trip to Israel or
just want to take this journey
from the comfort of your couch,
I wrote this book with you in mind.
I really believe your life
will be changed as you encounter
your Savior afresh in the
promised land and as you catch a
greater revelation of all He
accomplished for you at the cross.
Joseph Prince’s latest book—
Expedition Promised Land:
Walk Where Jesus Walked,
is now available!
Get your copy today!
I love it; I love the Lord, don’t you?
Tonight, I just want to talk about
our Lord Jesus.
You know that day in Zemach,
before I went up,
I began to see Jesus again
by the shores of Galilee.
The Bible calls Him the
King. Both his parents Joseph
and Mary – Joseph of course is
not his real father, but even
then Joseph’s lineage goes all
the way to David, alright,
Solomon and David. Mary’s
lineage goes all the way to
Nathan the son, all the way to
David as well. He has a double
claim on the throne of David. He
is the King, but how does He use
His power? To cleanse the leper,
to cast out demons, set people
free. And He loves children.
When I come to Israel I love to
see Jesus. And every time I am
here I get fresh revelations.
The revelation is not like
drinking from a water tap, it’s
like you know, like a hydrant –
you are drinking from a hydrant…
a fire hydrant. Everywhere I
turn I see Jesus. It wasn’t long
that when I was at the Mount of
Beatitudes, I was reading the
Scriptures about Jesus preaching
at the Sermon on the Mount and
the Bible says at the end of the
sermon He went down the mountain
– and I always thought, how many
of you have been there? The
Mount of Beatitudes at the
banana plantation and the hill?
One of those rocks is probably
the rock that Jesus sat on. I
love to sit on one of those
rocks, and I try to imagine all
the banana plantation as your
heads you know? The Bible says
He went down the mountain, and I
always thought He went towards
the multitudes but no, because
the Bible says – read your
Bible, it says, He went down the
mountain, the multitudes
followed Him; which means He
didn’t go down this way, He went
the other way for them to follow
Him, follow Him on the
outskirts. Now there must be a
reason why He went that way
because the next part of the
story tells us, then a leper
came to Him. Now the leper will
not be found among the
multitudes, he will be stoned to
death. So the leper must be
hiding – so I was going this
way, away from the banana
plantation, and then I saw a lot
of fallen slabs of stone and I
began to imagine – God began to
show me, there on one of the
slab of stones, the leper was
hiding behind the stone, and he
was listening – “look at the
birds of the air, they neither
sow nor reap nor gather into
barns and yet your heavenly
Father feeds them. Are you not
of more value than they?” And I
could see him trembling. So I
decided to do a video of this.
Would you like to watch it
again? By the way, the music
came to me one day – just
supernaturally, this music. And
I sang it in church and they
decided to put it in this video.
Sit back and feed on Jesus.
Blessed are the poor in spirit;
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven;
Blessed are those who mourn,
for they shall be comforted;
Blessed are the meek for
they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for
righteousness for they shall be filled;
Blessed are the merciful
for they shall obtain mercy;
Blessed are the pure in heart
for they shall see God;
Blessed are the peace makers for they
shall be called sons of God.
No one can serve 2 masters. For
either he will hate the one and
love the other, or else he will
be loyal to one and despise the other.
You cannot serve God and
mammon. Therefore I say to you,
do not worry about your life,
what you will eat or what you
will drink. Nor about your body
– what you will put on. Is not
life more than food? And the
body more than clothing? Look at
the birds of the air, for they
neither sow nor reap, nor gather
into barns. Yet your Heavenly
Father feeds them. Are you not
of more value than they? Which
of you by worrying can add one
cubic to his stature. So why do
you worry about clothing.
Consider the lilies of the field
how they grow, they neither toil
nor spin, and yet I say to you
that even Solomon in all his
glory was not arrayed like one
of these.
Abba!
And the rain descended
and the floods came
and the winds blew and beat
on that house and it did not fall
for it was founded on the rock.
Lord, if You are willing, You
can make me clean.
I am willing,
be cleansed.
This is your Jesus, come on!
He is altogether lovely.
You know when He’s strong,
He’s not hurtful.
When we are strong we
are aggressive, we break hearts.
When He is tender, He’s not
soft. He’s altogether lovely.
And to be like Him, is our
desire and our goal amen? He
heals the broken hearts, you
know that woman that came
crying, she was a weeping
sinner, and then we see Jesus
weeping at the tomb of Lazarus.
You know the people, the Jews
around Him, the Bible says, they
said behold how He loved
Lazarus, how He loved him.
Actually he wasn’t weeping for
Lazarus. I mean why weep for a
man who You know You are going
to raise him in a whilst time.
But why did He weep? The
shortest verse in the Bible –
Jesus wept. He wept for Martha
and Mary, He came to enter into
our sorrows. Amen? It’s a
wonderful thing to see a weeping
sinner, shedding tears in the
presence of His love. But I tell
you, it’s a more wonderful thing
to see the Saviour weeping in
our sorrows. Came a long way,
you know I love that portion
where the Bible says in John 3,
do we have that verse show them
John 4. He must needs to go
through Samaria. He needed to go
to Samaria. He must needs to go
that area. If you study the
topography, the Jews of His day
would skirt around the River
Jordan, go northward towards
Galilee, you were there at
Zinmark, Galilee. From Jerusalem
you would go northward, most of
them would bypass Samaria. But
Jesus, because the Jews have no
dealings with the Samaritans in
those days. But the Bible says
Jesus needed to go through
Samaria. Was it a topographical
need? Was it a convenient way,
no. It was a need of grace.
There was a sinner waiting for
Him. So He needed to go through
Samaria for that one woman. Now
this is John chapter four, this
is John chapter 4, notice the
Bible says He came to a city of
Samaria named Sychar near the
plot of ground which Jacob gave
to his son Joseph. This is the
only time Joseph of the Old
Testament appears in the Bible,
and Jacob gave this plot of land
to Joseph. You know why this is
significant? Because there is a
prophecy in the book of Genesis
where Jacob blessed his sons,
and this was the prophecy that
Joseph will be a fruitful vine,
a fruitful bow and his branches
will go over the wall of the
Gentiles and he will, listen –
he will be by the well. That was
the prophecy. He is a fruitful
vine by the well. It was a
prophecy of the greatest Son.
Would come as our heavenly
Joseph and sit down there, and
His grace and love will reach
over the wall of perdition. So
there He was, seated down there
and I love. You see John 4 comes
after John 3. I needed to say
that for the benefit of Matt.
What happened in John 3, we all
know John 3:16 right – for God
so loved the world. How many
know that this verse is the most
memorised verse in the body of
Christ right? For God so loved
the world, and yet those who
fight for the law, you ask them
what is the fourth commandment.
Hmph.. Well.. Hmph.. What is the
seven commandment? Hmph.. Mmm.
Mmm. So much for fighting for
the commandments. They don’t
even memorise the commandments.
You know what? The Holy Spirit
don’t help you to memorise the
law. The Holy Spirit helps even
little children to memorise “for
God so loved the world that He
gave His only begotten Son that
whoever believes”.. Because this
is the gospel. Nothing wrong
with the law people, the law is
accurate, that’s the problem. If
it begs to help you, it’s no
longer the law. You see I am for
the purity of the law and
because I am for the
completeness of the law, I am
for the law for the reason God
gave the law. And God never gave
the law to justify men by. So we
go back to John 3, you know the
story of John 3, the first verse
says there was a man of the
Pharisee called Nicodemus who
came to Jesus by night. In John
4, Jesus came to the woman. John
3 this Pharisee, this theologian
came seeking out Jesus by night.
John 4, Jesus sought out that
woman in broad daylight. In John
3, Jesus calls this man – aren’t
you a master of Israel and you
know not these things? He was a
master teacher, not just a
teacher but a master teacher, a
rabbi of rabbis. But for that
woman, her only achievement is
that she had had five husbands.
For this religious man this
theologian, Jesus used the
language of the Bible. He used
metaphors, He used types in the
Old Testament. Like Moses raised
the serpent in the wilderness so
must the Son of man. He talked
to Nicodemus in terms of the
Bible language, but for this
woman He never quoted any
Scripture verse from the Old
Testament. He used natural
illustrations, He used water
that she was drinking from. Lady
if you knew who it was, that is
talking with you right now, you
would ask Him and He would give
you living water. By the way a
few, a few years ago, one of my
trips, I went to Samaria, you
know the Samaritans are still
there? It’s a smaller number
now, but they did even have a
high priest. So I met the
brother of the high priest, so
he brought me and my pastors
into his special chamber, and
they have this list of all the
high priests, from all the way
to the time of Jesus even before
Jesus in the Old Testament days.
They keep it faithfully, the
list. So I asked him, can you
tell me? Which high priest it
was, when Jesus was here? Oh he
says, let me check, he looked it
up. Oh yes it was the 49th high
priest. Jesus is number 50,
number of jubilee. Not only
that, I asked him what is the
name of the High Priest? He says
his name is Yonathan, Jonathan,
beautiful, which means the gift
of God. And Jesus told the woman
whose high priest then was
Jonathan which means the gift of
God. Jesus looked at her and
said, if you really knew who the
high priest was, if you really
knew the gift of God, If you
really knew the Yonathan. You
would ask Him and He would give
you living water. To the
theologian, isn’t this familiar?
Today I know of people who are
being criticised because they
don’t use Bible jargon all the
time, or use metaphors. The
Bible says common people heard
Jesus gladly. You know who is
not too happy with Jesus? The
theologians. Do you have this
kind of ministry? If you don’t,
something’s wrong. Your ministry
is not like Jesus. For this
theologian, Jesus said to him,
this is what Jesus said to him.
With all your erudite learning
you must be born again. But
Jesus never said to the
Samaritan woman, that sinner
woman, “You must be born again.”
He just loved on her. For this
theologian, He almost insulted
him. He says are you a Master in
Israel, and you do not know
these things? But for that
woman. But Pastor Prince, He did
reveal her sin. Now let me
explain this. You know
something? You will never know
how much you are loved, you
never feel loved, if you think
that the one talking with you
does not know everything about
you, when he loves you. But when
you know, when you know that He
knows everything about you, and
He still takes time to talk to
you and love you, you are loved.
And that’s why the very sin that
brings out Jesus’ anger, is the
sin of hypocrisy. What is
hypocrisy? Pretending to be what
you are not. Now when the Bible
says you are righteous, and you
say “no, I am not righteous, I’m
you know, I’m just a sinner, you
do not know how bad I am.” Now
you are a hypocrite! You are
pretending to be what you are
not. God says you are righteous,
God made you righteous! What God
has cleansed, don’t you dare
call unclean, not even yourself!
Give honour to the blood of
Jesus by standing tall in the
mirror and say “I am the
righteousness of God in Christ”.
That Pharisee, Nicodemus, he
became a disciple of Jesus,
finally when Jesus died on the
cross, it was him and Joseph of
Arimathea that came and buried
Jesus. Remember that? But his
progress was slow wasn’t it? He
was still ashamed of Jesus,
reticent, hiding behind the
Pharisees and all that, finally
when Jesus died, he came up
front. But that woman, one hour
with Jesus. At first look at the
progress, what a fast progress!
First she called Him aren’t you
a Jew? Why do you speak with me,
a Samaritan, she calls him a
Jew. Then she says sir, you have
no bucket to draw the water
with. She calls Him a sir.
Right? Then she calls him, I
perceive you are a prophet
because he says “Go call your
husband here.” I have no
husband. Jesus says you are
right. You had five husbands and
the one you are living with is
not your husband. You know how
Jesus said it? With such tact
when Jesus revealed her her sin,
like I told you just now, so
that she will feel loved,
knowing that He knows all about
her? He did with such a divine
skillfulness. First of all he
praised her, you have said well.
In the Greek, carlos. Beautiful,
you have said it beautifully,
you have no husband. You have
had five husbands and the one
that you are living with is not
your husband. In that He
sandwiched it like this: He
praised her, and He revealed it
to her sin, and then he
sandwiched it with – in that you
say truly. You’ve spoken the
truth. And she says, I perceive
you are a prophet. Now from Jew
to sir, prophet. Finally she
said, I know when the Messiah
comes He will reveal to us all
things. Jesus looked at her and
said, I who speak unto you, I am
He. To the theologian, Jesus
never said, I am the Messiah,
but to the woman Jesus says I am
He. Now look at her progress –
one hour with Jesus and she ran
into the city. You know why she
came there at noon time? The
Bible says a six hour at noon
time when it’s really hot. Most
women would draw water when it’s
cold in the morning, when it is
cool in the morning or in the
evening but she went there in
the afternoon. Why? Because of
her reputation, she was ashamed
and she wanted to avoid all the
gossipers. And there she went
that day, and Jesus was waiting
at the well. The prophecy. He’ll
be a fruitful bow sitting by the
well. Whose branches that will
go over the wall. But look at
her now! One hour with Jesus and
she ran into the city and says
come, come! See a man who told
me everything about me, about
myself! Isn’t this the Messiah?
She became an instant
evangelist. You know, what is
the message that we are
preaching? We are preaching
mixture. Jesus said you cannot
put new wine, say new wine, into
old bottles. Say old bottles.
Now one of the things you learn
in Israel, is that the bottles
are made of goatskin. So after
some time, it gets brittle, when
it’s brittle it’s hard. Ok? It
becomes brittle. And Jesus said
You cannot put new wine new wine
into all wine’s skin. Amen. Why?
Because the new wine will
ferment, and because of the
brittleness of the goatskin, it
will break! Now you lose both!
Now we use that for church
structure, we need a new wine
skin, we need a new wine skin,
now it is OK to use that,
perhaps there’s a you know,
secondary appreciation. But in
the context, Jesus was saying
you cannot put grace into the
context of law, you cannot mix
law and Grace. You will lose
both – you will lose the
severity of the law and you will
lose the freeness of grace.
Amen. What a wonderful Saviour
we serve. Do you love Him? You
know He said to the church of
Ephesus, you have left your
first love. First love – protost
agape. Protost, prototype first
love. What is first love? We say
first love is my love for God.
Uh uh. He first loved you. And
He’s telling the church you have
left your first love and then He
says, I know your works, your
labour, your patience. Right?
But what was missing in that
church was this. Faith, labour
of love, patience of hope.
Labour of love and patience of
hope. And hope, faith and love
was missing. So any ministry
that just focus on labour and
performance, but not produce
faith, hope and love – like the
ministries of Joel here and
Christine and many others that I
know. God is raising a whole new
generation. The end result of
New Testament preaching, is that
it leaves faith, hope and love
in your heart. Amen? Anything
else is not, you know you talk
about sin – what is sin? How
does God define sin? Amen? How
does God define sin? Whatever is
not of faith, is sin. Right?
Amen? But we look at the overt
sin, we look at that outward
sin, and we label that a sin.
But you know what people? If we
are sin conscious, you know what
– we will never never, ever come
to the place we have boldness
towards God. Love is not us
loving God, it is God loving us.
Look at this verse in 1 John 4.
In this is love, not that we
love God, stop. Not that we love
God, not that we love God. Wait
a minute, isn’t this the sum
total of the commandments and
the law? Isn’t this the greatest
commandment of all- thou shall
love the Lord thy God with all
thy heart, all thy soul, all thy
might, all thy strength? Isn’t
this the greatest of all
commandments, and yet John by
the Spirit wrote this. This is
love, not that we love God. But
that He loved us. So why did God
give the greatest commandment?
Why did God give us that
commandment? You shall love God.
Because He wanted to show us up
– by law is the knowledge of
sin. He wants to show you and I,
we cannot, for fifteen hundred
years he put men under the law.
Now love Me with all your heart,
and man could not. Even the best
of them – David failed. After
fifteen hundred years of being
under law, did God say enough?
For some of us it’s not enough
yet. He says enough after
fifteen hundred years? Then He
says, I will love you with all
My heart, all My soul and all My
strength, and He gave His life.
So now we love not because,
listen not because we love, and
this is not love – that we love
God, but we love because He
first loved us. So the pulpit is
a place not for saying – you got
to love God more! You got to
love God more – I tried that
when I was a youth pastor I
remember years ago in my youth
ministry. I would tell them –
you got to love God people. You
don’t love God enough. The
reason you are doing what you’re
doing, is because you don’t love
God! You gotta love God! And all
the while I was saying this in
my heart how do I do that? I
wasn’t really in love with God
but I’m telling you right now,
I’m in love with Jesus. God told
Abraham. Many of you saw the
Temple Mount where the dome of
the rock is now. Well, God
talked to Abraham about the
mountain, God says – Abraham
take your son, your only son,
the son that you love. Wow God
was really pushing it. Take your
son, your only son, the son that
you love. But wait a minute.
Abraham had two sons. The other
was Ishmael, why did God say
take your son, your only son?
What was God thinking of? God
was thinking of His Son. His
only Son, the Son that He loved,
who would be sacrificed on that
mountain, because the higher,
highest range of Mount Moriah is
Mount Calvary. Many of you have
been to the garden tomb. Did you
know that the garden tomb is the
highest elevation of Mount
Moriah? So I believe, like Isaac
took the wood on his back and he
went up the mountain, like Jesus
took the cross on His back, and
He went up Golgotha. But before
he could plunge the knife into
his son, God stopped him and God
says – now I know. Abraham
withhold your hand. Now I know
you love Me. Because you have
not withhold your son, your only
Son, the son that You love. So
that you and I can tell God
today – I know now that You love
me. Because You have not
withheld Your Son, Your only
Son, the Son that you love. It’s
not about us people, all the
stories in the Bible is about
Jesus. There’s gospel in the Old
Testament and Abraham. The Bible
says Abraham looked behind him,
and Abraham saw a ram caught in
the thicket. But I tell you, he
saw more than that. He saw the
cross because Mount Moriah like
I said, the highest elevation is
Mount Calvary and he looked
behind him and he saw Jesus on
the cross. How do I know that?
Because Jesus one time, he was,
the Pharisees were arguing with
him, and the Pharisees says, you
know – How dare you do all these
things? And Jesus says listen –
Abraham rejoiced to see My day.
And they said, you saw Abraham?
Now they missed it. Did He say
He saw Abraham? He didn’t say He
saw Abraham, He said Abraham saw
Him. He is the greater one. And
they said to Him, you are not
yet fifty years old, you saw
Abraham? He says, listen –
before Abraham was, I am. So
when did Abraham see Jesus? On
that mountain, he looked behind
him and saw the cross, that God
would not withold His Son, His
only Son, the Son that He loved.
Who are you? That God would give
up His Son for? Ladies you know
this right, when you go into a
boutique you know. You look at a
dress or whatever it is, do you
value the money you have or do
you value that dress? If you’re
willing to give up your money
for that dress, you value that
dress more right? God gave up
His Son for you. You see you’ll
never know how much God loves
you, until you know how much God
loves His Son, because He gave
up His Son for you. And God
loves his Son. Jesus said even
my Father loves me, my Father
never left me. And you know
something? There are two times
that the Father split the
heavens, split the clouds and
said, this is My beloved Son.
One at the river Jordan when He
was baptized, and the other at
Mount Hermon. Let me just tell
you this, one day I was studying
this and then it hit me and
these are the benefits that
happen to you, and you get when
you come to Israel. At the river
Jordan where the Dead Sea is,
it’s the lowest place on planet
earth. About 14 hundred over
feet below sea level. Mount
Hermon where the Father said,
this is My beloved Son as well,
is the highest place in all
Israel. Nearly ten thousand
feet. So in the lowest places,
and the highest place, amen? In
the lowest places of your life,
hear the Father say – you are my
beloved son. In your
achievements and victories, hear
Him say, you are my beloved son.
He’s proud of you but even your
lowest places, He will say this
is my beloved Son, this is my
beloved daughter, in whom I am
well pleased. When Jesus went to
the wilderness, the devil said,
if you are a son of God do this.
The common threat is, if you are
the Son of God. I was reading
that one day, and realised the
devil left out the word beloved.
If you are the son of God. But
the Father says, you are my
beloved son. So the devil left
out the word beloved. You know
why? Because no temptation, no
attack of the enemy can be
successful against you, when you
know you are God’s beloved.
Hallelujah. Come on church! Come
on! So we need pulpit
ministries, and worship teams
that unveil the love of God, to
unveil the love of God. That
takes divine skill, that takes
the Holy Spirit to teach do
good, get good. Do bad get bad.
You don’t need a Holy Spirit for
that. But you need the Holy
Spirit. Is it ok to pray in
tongues? You need the Holy
Spirit to teach. You can receive
good you don’t deserve, because
another received all the bad
that He didn’t deserve. Now it’s
yours, take it. Amen? So at the
cross, at the cross. Jesus
looked up and for the first time
in His life He cried – My God,
My God why have You forsaken me?
Search the Gospels, He never
addressed His Father as My God.
This was the first time, it’s
always My father, My Father.
Abba Father. This is the first
time He looked up and said, “My
God, my God – why have You
forsaken Me?” So that you and I
can say – my Father, my Father
why have You so blessed me. Come
on! Come on! Let me close with
this. Listen. When Elijah called
fire down from heaven remember?
He made an altar of twelve
stones representing the twelve
tribes of Israel. At that time,
they were divided, yet God saw
them as one. Make an altar of
twelve stones then put the
sacrifice on it. Then pour water
again and again, as if to make
it hard for God, and finally the
fire came. But notice this – the
Bible says the fire not just
consumed the sacrifice but the
wood and all the twelve stones
were completely gone. You know
why? Under the law, the
judgement is greater than the
sacrifice. When Jesus hung on
the cross, and He took your sins
and my sins upon Himself. And
the fire of God came on Him,
because of our sins. The Bible
says, He absorbed it all and
said, it is finished! This time,
the sacrifice is greater than
the judgment. Come on, this is
the gospel people, this is what
the world needs to hear. Come
on! Stand to your feet, come on,
praise the Lord. Love on your
Jesus, hallelujah! Friend
perhaps you’re watching this at
home and you’re thinking, I’ve
never heard this before. I
didn’t know God loved me like
this. Friend, you are the object
of his love. God gave up His Son
for you, because He loved you
friend. You have tried
everything, you have tried
pleasure, hedonistic pursuits,
you’ve tried this, you’ve tried
materialism and it’s not
satisfied you. You know why?
Because there’s a God vacuumed
shape in your heart that only
Jesus can fill. You were created
for better. Jesus said, I am
come. Why did you come Lord
Jesus? I am come, that you might
have life and have it more
abundantly. Life is empty
without His love. So if that is
you, just pray this prayer with
me right now. Say heavenly
Father. Thank you for loving me,
thank you for sending Your Son
Jesus Christ to die on that
cross for all sin. Thank you
Father. He’s raised from the
dead without my sins. All my
sins have all been put away.
Never to be remembered again, I
am forgiven forever. Greatly
blessed, highly favoured, deeply
loved. In Jesus name, and all
the people said – amen. Come on!
Praise Him!
The promised land.
The land of the Bible. The very
land through which our Lord
Himself walked.
Hi, I’m Joseph Prince, and I’ll be your
personal guide, helping you
discover the land of Israel. My
brand-new book, Expedition
Promised Land: Walk Where Jesus
Walked. Through this book, I
take you on a 10-day visual
journey to discover Israel as if
I were your personal guide.
There’s just something about
being in Israel. The Bible comes
alive in a special and intimate
way. Everything about it— its
rich history and culture, its
topography and its landscape.
Everywhere you turn and in
everything you look at— the
rocks, the trees, the ancient
practices, are pictures of our
Lord Jesus and what He has done
for us at the cross. As we
explore Israel together through
this book, my prayer is that you
will see a living Savior in this
ancient land. We will explore
the region of Galilee, where our
Lord Jesus calmed the storms,
multiplied the loaves and
fishes. We will also be visiting
the Old City of Jerusalem, where
His passion took place and where
the early church was born.
Filled with stunning
photographs, page after page and
breath-taking video footage,
this book will help you
visualize what it would be like
to be at many different
locations around Israel. My team
and I have also included helpful
maps, diagrams, illustrations,
and Bible timelines. These
visual aids will give you a
better understanding of the
historical and spiritual
significance of the sites. This
is indeed my most ambitious
publishing project to date! I
pray that you’ll walk away
encountering our living Savior
afresh as we journey to this
beautiful land that He Himself
walked upon, Friend, join me to
encounter Jesus in a deep and
personal way through the pages
of this book and your life will
never be the same.
Joseph Prince’s latest book—
Expedition Promised Land:
Walk Where Jesus Walked,
is now available!
Get you copy today!