13 April 2008
1st Service
God’s Amazing Generosity For Your Harvest

Pastor Joseph Prince

At USD 23K per capita, average Singapore citizen’s income is 4th highest in the world.

“When she heard of Jesus …” It was a testimony that sparked the series of events in the woman which eventually led to her touching the hem of Jesus’ garment and being healed of the issue of blood.

Amplified Bible translation – Blessed Man is defined to be one to be envied.

If the prophesy is of GOD, although negative at the onset, then the prophesy, will also contain the solution, unlike the so-called prophesies from fortune-tellers or false prophets.

GOD’s word for 2008 is to invest in One North. Pastor sees a volatile market in 2008 and for some, it means, they should get out of the stock market. All should sow into One-North. This is God’s means to prosperity for us this year. This prosperity is for a purpose!

First river out of Eden was Pison [hebrew = increase] which surrounds [cabab, hebrew = surrounds or to cause to turn back] the land of Havilah, where there is gold.

God wants us to have gold (prosperity) but He does not want our hearts to be for the gold BUT for Jesus. The Lord wants us to use the gold for God’s purposes.

Prosperity for a purpose!

In this context, God wants His children to know what’s going on in the world from a spiritual perspective, to know the direction of God’s move, to know where the river of God is flowing, so that we can position and align ourselves and jump into the river and be carried along by the Lord’s river effortlessly.

Money is important to people because it represents their blood, sweat and tears. That is why it is so significant when you sow it into God’s kingdom.

God judges a man as faithful, if that man is faithful in money.

He who sows bountifully, will reap bountifully. But what is bountiful will vary from person to person.

For example, the Widow’s mite DREW the attention of Jesus. GOD looks at percentages not absolutes. David declared, I will not give to the LORD, what costs me nothing.

The World is shaking but we as Believers will not be shaken. Things that cannot be shaken will remain.

Shaking is also a wake-up call, an advance warning.

What is happening in the World presently is not Global-warming but is global-shaking.

Put Jesus in the centre-place of marriage, not each other. Expect more from LORD, not from each other. A man loves a woman until she becomes too dependent on him. Instead both husband and wife should cultivate dependence on the LORD.

A Christian marriage can be illustrated as a triangle with Jesus Christ at the apex, the husband and wife being at the other points. The more the husband and wife each draw neared the apex (Jesus Christ), the nearer, the draw towards each other.

Mt Sinai verses Mt Sion

Heb 12:18-29

18 For ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest, 19 And the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words; which voice they that heard intreated that the word should not be spoken to them any more: 20 (For they could not endure that which was commanded, And if so much as a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned, or thrust through with a dart: 21 And so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake:) 22 But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, 23 To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written ^F46 in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, 24 And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, ^F47 and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel. 25 See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth [NOTE: Pastor says this refers to Moses] , much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven [NOTE: Pastor says this refers to Jesus Christ ministering Grace] : 26 Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. 27 And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, ^F48 as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. 28 Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: 29 For our God is a consuming fire.

Heb 12:20 – Anyone who touches the LAW will be subject to fiery darts. God and his angels are no longer on Mt Sinai, they have moved to Mt Zion.

Heb 12:23 – GOD as judge is more powerful in this capacity that GOD in mercy as He pronounces you righteous as judge.

Heb 12:24 – Jesus’ blood speaks of better things

Heb 12:25 – See that we do no refuse Him who speaks

GOD is shaking the blindspots in our lives.

“For thus saith the LORD of hosts; Yet once, it [is] a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry [land]; And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the LORD of hosts.” Haggai 2:6-7

Haggai 2:6-7 is where Heb 12:26 is taken from.

Heb 12:27 : Things man-made will not remain, only those which are of Jesus remain.

Devil gambles when he attacks you, it is a spiritual law that he must return to you more. A picture of this is David who chased the enemy. He not only recovered the captives and his family members but won spoils. No war, no spoils. Fight the good fight of faith, and you will be restored to a even higher plain.

“He obtained ETERNAL REDEMPTION” – That’s scripture rather than man’s doctrine of OSAS (once saved, always saved).

Ezra 4:24 – 5:2
4:24 Then ceased the work of the house of God which is at Jerusalem. So it ceased unto the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.

5:1 Then the prophets, Haggai the prophet, and Zechariah the son of Iddo, prophesied unto the Jews that were in Judah and Jerusalem in the name of the God of Israel, even unto them. 2 Then rose up Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and began to build the house of God which is at Jerusalem: and with them were the prophets of God helping them.”

Even though Herod’s temple was built with tainted money and by the evil Herod, Jesus called it his “Father’s House” (Matt 21:13, Mark 11:17 and Luke 19:46) and even though the ark of the covenant was not there. This is confirmed when God the Father rent the veil of the Temple of Herod when His Son was crucified.

Peter’s letters said, “Judgement begins at Father’s house”, and refers to AD 70 destruction of Temple. This was written to the Jewish diaspora, not to the Christians.

Ezra 6:14-15

14 And the elders of the Jews builded, and they prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. And they builded, and finished it, according to the commandment of the God of Israel, and according to the commandment ^F46 of Cyrus, and Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia. 15 And this house was finished on the third day of the month Adar, which was in the sixth year of the reign of Darius the king.

Jews prospered through prophesying of the prophets or we could say, the Christians today, prospered through the prophesying of pastors.

The temple was rebuilt in 4 years. Ditto One North will be complete in 4 years.

The second year of King Darius was a milestone.

Haggai 1:1-10

1 In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, in the first day of the month, came the word of the LORD by ^F1 Haggai the prophet unto Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, saying, 2 Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, This people say, The time is not come, the time that the LORD’S house should be built. 3 Then came the word of the LORD by Haggai the prophet, saying, 4 Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your cieled houses, and this house lie waste? 5 Now therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider ^F2 your ways. 6 Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes. ^F3 7 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider ^F4 your ways. 8 Go up to the mountain, and bring wood, and build the house; and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, saith the LORD. 9 Ye looked for much, and, lo, it came to little; and when ye brought it home, I did blow ^F5 upon it. Why? saith the LORD of hosts. Because of mine house that is waste, and ye run every man unto his own house. 10 Therefore the heaven over you is stayed from dew, and the earth is stayed from her fruit. 11 And I called for a drought upon the land, and upon the mountains, and upon the corn, and upon the new wine, and upon the oil, and upon that which the ground bringeth forth, and upon men, and upon cattle, and upon all the labour of the hands.

GOD takes care of your house when you take care of HIS.

New Creation Church enjoyed 35% financial growth and 17% growth in congregation over the same period last year.

Haggai 2:6-9

6 For thus saith the LORD of hosts; Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land; 7 And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the LORD of hosts. 8 The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the LORD of hosts. 9 The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the LORD of hosts: and in this place will I give peace, saith the LORD of hosts.

Haggai 2:7: Desire of all nations is Jesus.

In these end days, there will be a transfer of silver and gold into God’s Kingdom and His people.

Transfer to His people, not to build our own houses but to build the Lord’s House first.

Exodus 3:5-5

4 And Moses spake unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying, This is the thing which the LORD commanded, saying, 5 Take ye from among you an offering unto the LORD: whosoever is of a willing heart, let him bring it, an offering of the LORD; gold, and silver, and brass,

Those who have a willing heart give.

How did the Israelites get the financing?

Exodus 12:35-36

35 And the children of Israel did according to the word of Moses; and they borrowed of the Egyptians jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment: 36 And the LORD gave the people favour in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they lent unto them such things as they required. And they spoiled the Egyptians.

GOD had got the Egyptians (a type of the World) to transfer their riches to the Jews (a picture of Christians). Prosperity For A Purpose. God gave them/us favour from Egyptians/World.

Read 2 Cor 8 and 2 Cor 9. Sow bountifully and you reap bountifully.

AHAV is Hebrew for LOVE.

A – Ayin – is short form of “I”.

HAV means give.

Therefore, AHAVA means I give.

Love actually connotes sacrifice. Love is not love until you give it away.

Song is not a song until you sing it. Bell is not a bell until you ring it.

Exodus 35:21-22

21 And they came, every one whose heart stirred him up, and every one whom his spirit made willing, and they brought the LORD’S offering to the work of the tabernacle of the congregation, and for all his service, and for the holy garments. 22 And they came, both men and women, as many as were willing hearted, and brought bracelets, and earrings, and rings, and tablets, all jewels of gold: and every man that offered offered an offering of gold unto the LORD.

GOD wants the people to give. HE did not want to rain the financing directly into the Tabernacle building project.

Exodus 36:5-7

5 And they spake unto Moses, saying, The people bring much more than enough for the service of the work, which the LORD commanded to make. 6 And Moses gave commandment, and they caused it to be proclaimed throughout the camp, saying, Let neither man nor woman make any more work for the offering of the sanctuary. So the people were restrained from bringing. 7 For the stuff they had was sufficient for all the work to make it, and too much.

If Exo 36:7 is true under OT, what more under the NT, when we build One-North. Material was sufficient for all the work to be done – indeed too much.

Cost of Temple of Solomon was estimated to be USD 56 billion (in pre-inflation days as set out in a book published a few decades ago) and they successfully built it!

Whatever they brought to GOD for the building of the tabernacle was a picture of Jesus.

Minchah #4503 or gift offering is first detailed in Leviticus. It consists of oil and frankincense – a picture of Jesus.

NKJV Lev 2:1 “‘WHEN anyone offers a grain [MINCHAH] offering to the LORD, his offering shall be of fine flour. And he shall pour oil on it, and put frankincense on it.

Hebrew for seed is transliterated as ZARA and the hebrew word for sowing is transliterated as ZARAH. The (H) being the result of the extra hebrew letter transliterated as, HEY, signifying grace.

Therefore, when we sow, we are indeed, sowing in grace. GOD ’sowed’ Jesus into the earth and now has many sons.

You can give yourself out of debt. You can never save yourself out of debt.

Before Moses asked them for the gold to finance the building of the tabernacle, the Devil, had in the prior chapters of Exodus, stirred the Israelites to build golden calf of materialism. Lesson: if you don’t give to GOD, you may just well end up ‘giving’ to the devil or world, and in the case of non-believers, they were judged for this act, and died.

Don’t give-in, be giving!

“For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.”   2 Cor 8:9

“But this [I say], He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.”   2 Cor 9:6
” Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, [so let him give]; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.” 2 Cor 9:7
“And God [is] able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all [things], may abound to every good work:” 2 Cor 9:8

“Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again. ” Luke 6:38

When farmer puts seed into ground, he expects a harvest. God also wants us expect a harvest, and be rich.  If  He does not want us to be rich, why give us so many verses like the above, where we are encouraged to be expectant in giving.

GOD knows where all the gold and riches are in this earth. So why does He not simply rain the gold directly into the project or raise a few individuals for One North, He wants all to contribute so ALL can be blessed and expect a harvest!

© 22 April 2008 Yeo Choon Meng Terence