Will God Still Help Us With

Troubles Of Our Own

Making?

26 October 2008

1st Service preached by Pastor Joseph Prince

as noted by Yeo Choon Meng Terence

[enhanced with benefit of CD of what I believe to be the 4th service]

Navy analogy

Pastor Prince shared a story from his national service days where he and his fellow navy personnel were on a warship in choppy waters. He and his colleagues were feeling giddy and unstable, some were even throwing up. Fortunately, his commanding officer encouraged him to look far and fix his eyes on the horizon – on the line which is immovable. The moment Pastor did this, he no longer felt giddy. So too with life. In life, you may be confronted with waves of instability from time to time. The key to stability is to fix on your eyes on Jesus and you shall be rooted.

3 Stages of Truth

A Christian philosopher says that every Christian truth will go through 3 stages:

(1)  Opposed.

(2) Violently attacked.

(3)  Accepted as self-evident.

You can see this in several examples: (a) speaking in tongues; (b) teaching that God blesses with financial prosperity as well as spiritual prosperity.

How Jesus Christ takes care of us during these times

Job 22:21     Now acquaint yourself with Him, and be at peace; Thereby good will come to you.

2 Mountains

Before the “voice that shook the earth” in Heb 12:26, the earlier verses in Hebrews 12 tell about 2 mountains – Sinai and Zion. We are no longer on the mountain that demands (Sinai) but on the mountain of praises (Zion – Psalm 9:11).

Mt Zion characteristics:

(1) God dwells in Zion not Sinai;

(2) Zion is the resting place established forever [psalm 132:13-14] ;

(3) God gave righteousness on Zion but demanded righteousness on Sinai;

(4) God baptised disciples with the Holy Spirit and they spoke in tongues which declared the “wonderful works” of God (Acts 2:11). Contrast Mt Sinai where God demanded the works of man.

We see repeatedly Mt Zion in scripture and rarely Mt Sinai.

Examples:

Psalm 132:13  For the LORD hath chosen Zion; he hath desired [it] for his habitation.”

Jer 31:12     Therefore they shall come and sing in the height of Zion, and shall flow together to the goodness of the LORD, for wheat, and for wine, and for oil, and for the young of the flock and of the herd: and their soul shall be as a watered garden; and they shall not sorrow any more at all.

Some key concepts in the verses preceding Heb 12:26

(1)    God, the judge of all, has declared us righteous

(2)    The blood has a voice. First mention in scriptures of “blood” is that of Cain and Abel. Blood of Abel cries vengeance. Blood of Christ cries healing, forgiveness, etc

(3)    The phrase “see that you don’t refuse” (Heb 12:25)  is an exhortation to us to believe the voice of Grace.

The “voice that shook the earth” is to ensure that the Gospel has free course.

Silver-lining in the Financial Crisis

Evil plans are being curtailed by the financial crisis. The price of oil, for example is going downwards. Oil is the major revenue item for many of Israel’s enemies.

The new church building at One-North will now be cheaper in view of the lower construction costs resulting from the general economic downturn. NCC may thus not have to tap its reserve funds for the project.

Don’t take the enemy’s accusation that you deserve your fall in this financial crisis because you were greedy. Every Christian is greedy in some shape or form. Notwithstanding this, God will save and redeem us.

Jacob

If you were in Jacob’s position during the worldwide famine at that time and were told that there would only be wheat supply from Egypt if Benjamin is brought before the viceroy of Egypt, you too might say “all these things are against me”. This feeling was reinforced by the feeling that he was a covenant-man with God, yet it seemed that his crops had failed and only those in the Egypt (a type of the World) flourished.

So let’s not be ignorant like Jacob. God is not against us. In fact, it was Jacob’s son – Joseph, who was viceroy of Egypt, and he would provide food and shelter for his brethren.

Rom 8:28    And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to [his] purpose.

Jesus Christ, Our Advocate

Jesus Christ died so that His Will and Inheritance can come into effect, and He rose from the dead to be our advocate.

Jesus Christ paid the price for the anointing

The devil does not kick a dead horse. So in a sense, we can take comfort, should we face persecution for Christ’s sake.

Jesus Christ paid for the price of the anointing on us and our leaders. The anointing does come with a ‘price’ in another sense e.g. persecution. But the anointing is easily worth many times more than the ‘price’. We see for example, people being saved, etc.

28 denominations at Hillsongs London

There were 28 denominations at the recent Hillsongs London conference in which Pastor Prince preached at. Pastor mentioned that a certain Juventus player of Italian nationality specially flew in to attend the conference. This player when interviewed said that the bible was his favorite book. Pastor did not name the Juventus player but said that he played in the first XI for the recent champions league clash against Real Madrid which Juve won. He also mentioned that the player was ‘dark’ and ‘handsome’ and wanted to fly to Singapore to attend NCC’s One-North opening in the future. Pastor said that he is now a Juve fan because of this player and that Deacon Jack was so happy in obtaining the player’s autograph.

How is Jesus Christ revealed and how does He care for us physically

The events of John 21:1-6 took place 1 week after the Resurrection.

John 21:1    AFTER these things Jesus showed Himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias, and in this way He showed [Himself:]

John 21:2    Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the [sons] of Zebedee, and two others of His disciples were together.

John 21:3    Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We are going with you also.” They went out and immediately got into the boat, and that night they caught nothing..

John 21:4    But when the morning had now come, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus.

John 21:5    Then Jesus said to them, “Children, have you any food?” They answered Him, “No.”

John 21:6     And He said to them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find [some.]” So they cast, and now they were not able to draw it in because of the multitude of fish.

Note the expression “showed himself” which is mentioned twice in John 21:1. This shows us that God wants us to pay attention to this passage.

John 21:3 illustrates the story of these times of financial crisis — “they caught nothing”.

Peter had already seen Jesus resurrected, yet Peter in John 21:3 said that he was going back to his old profession (“I am going fishing”).

Jesus ”stood on the shore ” (John 21:4). Jesus did not set any pre-conditions to show Himself to his people. He did not say that you have to give to the Church, do your quiet-time, etc.

Jesus is very caring for even your bodily needs

Jesus asked in John 21:5 whether the “Children” had “any food”. IN other words, Jesus asks us – do we have any results. To the home-maker, he asks, have you impacted your kids? To the business man, he asks, have you any profits. However Jesus does not stop there. He goes on to bless you with “food” i.e. results, in all areas of our lives.

The catch of fish was so plenteous (John 21:8) that the disciples had to drag the net of fish to the shore. The boat could not contain them. The fish were drawn to Jesus Christ. The disciples were in between Jesus Christ and the fish. It is thus a picture of the blessings of God coming upon us and overtaking us (Deu 28:2). Formerly, the disciples faced their problems and got no results. Now they faced Jesus and blessings overtoo them!

Jesus is very personable

Jesus showed himself by making breakfast for his disciples (John 21:9). This shows that Jesus cares for us! If Jesus cares about breakfast, He cares for everything, all our needs!

Not only did Jesus bless the disciples with fish but he cooked breakfast.

From this incident, we see that Jesus “showed” himself by making breakfast for his disciples. This shows that He is very personable, very intimate, very sociable. Jesus is right up to ‘our faces’ in loving us.

God is not a God who says, I will do my part only if you do your part. GOD does EVERYTHING because HE loves us!

Love Children

We ought to place more emphasis on loving our children rather than place above all, the goal of having them excel academically.

We ought to teach our children where or in whom they should place their esteem in (Jesus Christ!) especially when they are teased.

Come rest for a while

Mark 6:30    Then the apostles gathered to Jesus and told Him all things, both what they had done and what they had taught.

Mark 6:31    And He said to them, “Come aside by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.” For there were many coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat.

In these times when we may be so busy that we may not even have time for meals, we ought to heed Jesus advice to his disciples, that after a hard day’s work, they should to retreat to a deserted place to rest. The KJV says “come ye yourselves apart into a desert place”. Thus, we learn that if we don’t “come apart” to relax, we will eventually ”come apart” in stress.

Jesus Christ is not a tyrant. He cares for us.

If a server is tired, come aside and rest.

However, sometimes, it is our service that saves us. Sometimes a server may not want to serve for that particular Sunday, but that server is rostered to serve. The server ‘drags’ himself to serve and he finds that he prospers in some shape or form during that service.

Examples:

(1)    The servants in Jesus’ first recorded miracle saw the water transform into wine.

(2)    The disciples witnessed the multiplication of the loaves and fishes during the feeding of the multitude.

Servants get to see the inner workings and miracles of God first hand.

Does God only help the un-Greedy?

All of us have been greedy at various times. But God is good, His help is not reserved only for those who have been un-greedy.

Don’t subscribe to or practise the world’s philosophy, which is if you don’t practise due diligence, you deserve to fail and you therefore don’t deserve pity.

Many in the multitude which Jesus fed, did not come to see Jesus as Lord, some came to see Jesus for the festive occasion, to gawk at him. But Jesus did not discriminate, He blessed them ALL.

Therefore we should guard against the teaching in some churches which suggests “Don’t expect God to make up for your lack of foresight and planning in bringing bread” as such teaching borders on self-righteousness!

Miracles are for undeserving people – ALL of us!

The poor in any society are for us to help. It is not for us to question why they are poor. Although the caveat is that there are also some con-artists amongst the so-called poor. However, we should not let this caveat shrink our hearts to the poor in general.

John 6:11    And Jesus took the loaves; and when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were set down; and likewise of the fishes as much as they would.

The people ate as much as they wanted.

Don’t be too greedy, no matter how bread you store up, ultimately, if the bread is not consumed, it turns mouldy. Therefore, just take enough.

There is no scarcity with God

God can bless both ‘Tom’ and ‘Jerry’. Don’t need to be jealous when one brother or sister is blessed. God is inexhaustable. HE has enough for everbody. You are next in line for God’s blessing!

Errors in some pulpits

There are some errors emanating from pulpits in other churches: (1) Tithe / offer first before you can approach God for financial restoration. (2) Have faith first before you approach God for healing

Such preachers don’t realise that people need their debts cancelled first before they can tithe/offer.

Similarly if the people had faith, they would not need the preacher to pray for them for healing..

Preachers should tell the people to come to God for all their needs and without pre-condition.

Grace through Faith

Eph 2:8    For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: [it is] the gift of God

Even the faith by which we receive the grace to be saved, is a gift from God.

Therefore, ask God for grace to love our family, pastors, etc.

Why did God give the 10 Commandments?

Rom 5:20    Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:

Rom 5:21    That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.

Analogy: Sometimes when a vaccination is done, we can observe the results of the vaccination and do something about it. [Editor: I could not edit this paragraph as the CD did not use this analogy.]

Where we are weak, God is strong for us.

Later we find in Paul’s epistles that the Lord’s grace is sufficient when there is weakness (2 Cr 12:9).

Rom 6:1    What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?

Rom 6:2    God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?

Take note that as true Believers, we have died to sin, therefore it is an impossibility for us to continue in sin.

Once in a while, you may have acts of sin, but you remain saved. You continue to be a butterfly, you don’t regress to become a caterpillar.

If you are in trouble, will God help you?

The short answer is YES! Praise Jesus. The case in point is Abraham.

Gen 12:10    And there was a famine in the land: and Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there; for the famine [was] grievous in the land.

Gen 12:11    And it came to pass, when he was come near to enter into Egypt, that he said unto Sarai his wife, Behold now, I know that thou [art] a fair woman to look upon:

Gen 12:12    Therefore it shall come to pass, when the Egyptians shall see thee, that they shall say, This [is] his wife: and they will kill me, but they will save thee alive.

Gen 12:13    Say, I pray thee, thou [art] my sister: that it may be well with me for thy sake; and my soul shall live because of thee.

Gen 12:14    And it came to pass, that, when Abram was come into Egypt, the Egyptians beheld the woman that she [was] very fair.

Gen 12:15    The princes also of Pharaoh saw her, and commended her before Pharaoh: and the woman was taken into Pharaoh’s house.

Gen 12:16    And he entreated Abram well for her sake: and he had sheep, and oxen, and he asses, and menservants, and maidservants, and she asses, and camels.

Gen 12:17    And the LORD plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai Abram’s wife..

Gen 12:18    And Pharaoh called Abram, and said, What [is] this [that] thou hast done unto me? why didst thou not tell me that she [was] thy wife?

Gen 12:19    Why saidst thou, She [is] my sister? so I might have taken her to me to wife: now therefore behold thy wife, take [her], and go thy way.

Gen 12:20    And Pharaoh commanded [his] men concerning him: and they sent him away, and his wife, and all that he had.

Gen 13:1    And Abram went up out of Egypt, he, and his wife, and all that he had, and Lot with him, into the south.

Gen 13:2    And Abram [was] very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold.

If ever there was a man who did not deserve the blessings (i.e. Gen 13:2, Gen 12:16), it was Abram! Abram even pocketed the gifts of Pharaoh (Gen 12:16). To us, we would think terribly of a man who had lied about his wife! Yet, God plagued Pharaoh instead! Abram went out of Egypt very rich (Gen 13:2).

Based on the world’s thinking, it should have been Abraham who should have been punished.

Clearly, there IS superabounding Grace on Abraham and on our lives.

Rom 4:1    What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found?

Rom 4:2    For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath [whereof] to glory; but not before God.

Rom 4:3    For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.

Rom 4:4     Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt.

Rom 4:5 But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.

Praise God! God did not give us what we deserve but He gave us what Jesus deserved! Jesus took what we deserved. Where we have ’sowed’ sin, Jesus has taken it on the Cross. In the NT, the doctrine of “sowing and reaping” is only confined to finances.

Even after God changed Abram’s name to Abraham, same behaviour

In between the first incident where Abraham lied about his wife and the second, Jesus appeared to Abraham in person and gave to him all the secrets and promises of his future seed – Israel, and changed his name from Abram to Abraham.

Gen 20:1    And Abraham journeyed from thence toward the south country, and dwelled between Kadesh and Shur, and sojourned in Gerar.

Gen 20:2    And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, She [is] my sister: and Abimelech king of Gerar sent, and took Sarah.

Gen 20:3    But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and said to him, Behold, thou [art but] a dead man, for the woman which thou hast taken; for she [is] a man’s wife.

Gen 20:4    But Abimelech had not come near her: and he said, Lord, wilt thou slay also a righteous nation?

Gen 20:5    Said he not unto me, She [is] my sister? and she, even she herself said, He [is] my brother: in the integrity of my heart and innocency of my hands have I done this.

Gen 20:6    And God said unto him in a dream, Yea, I know that thou didst this in the integrity of thy heart; for I also withheld thee from sinning against me: therefore suffered I thee not to touch her.

Gen 20:7    Now therefore restore the man [his] wife; for he [is] a prophet, and he shall pray for thee, and thou shalt live: and if thou restore [her] not, know thou that thou shalt surely die, thou, and all that [are] thine

Gen 20:8    Therefore Abimelech rose early in the morning, and called all his servants, and told all these things in their ears: and the men were sore afraid.

Gen 20:9    Then Abimelech called Abraham, and said unto him, What hast thou done unto us? and what have I offended thee, that thou hast brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin? thou hast done deeds unto me that ought not to be done.

Second Chance!

So Abraham repeated the same behaviour and lied about his wife. Yet, God came to Abimelech instead of Abraham and warned him of judgement.

God is the God of 2nd, 3rd chances etc for the Believer, notwithstanding that Believer’s sinning. Why? Because of the Cross, the Believer gets what Jesus deserves as Jesus gets what the Believer deserves.

Gen 20:17    So Abraham prayed unto God: and God healed Abimelech, and his wife, and his maidservants; and they bare [children].

First mention of the concepts of prayer and healing are in Genesis 20:17.

From this, we notice that prayer has got to do with an unworthy person.  The prayer was prayed by someone righteous by faith.

The first mention of prayer was in conjunction with praying for healing. Folks, praying for healing is legitimate!

Note also that the first mention of prayer was for the barren to be fruitful. Praying for fruitfulnes is also very legitimate!

All these are important when understanding the concepts of praying and healing as they appear in the bible.

Prayer, as first mentioned in bible, was prayed by a man, who is unworthy, and who is righteous by faith.  That means ALL of us qualify!

God’s gifts are without change of heart

Rom 11:29    For the gifts and calling of God [are] without repentance

God in Gen 20:7 called Abraham a “prophet” even though Abraham had failed and could not even prophesy the events in Gerar and the mis-steps he had put Sarah and himself through.

Why did God call Abraham a prophet? That is because God’s gifts and calling are without change of heart (Rom 11:29) and are permanent. Sometimes, the individual may refuse the call repeatedely through his life. But God still calls the person as such e.g. evangelist, teacher, etc Then when the individual finally goes to heaven, God still calls the person by his calling. That person will initially shed tears in heaven because e.g. he will then realise how many more souls would have gone to heaven if he had answered the call, or he would have been blessed in some many more areas, or been more fulfilling. But God will wipe away all these initial tears and comfort us.

Abraham fell in love with God

The goodness of God leads man to repentance. God kept blessing and blessing Abraham notwithstanding his faults with the result that Abraham fell so deeply in love with God that he was able to eventually put Isaac on the altar on Moriah without hesitation in full confidence that God will come through for Isaac and him.

Answering Prayers

Pastor says that sometimes when he fails, and when he prays, the prayer is answered straightaway.

Why? Grace superabounds sins. Please understand this in context. Prayers are answered immediately because when we fail and when we realise that are most unworthy and undeserving, God can then manifest his grace.

Often in other times, we ask God with a sense of entitlement in our hearts. This can frustrate grace manifesting.

Jacob

Jacob was blessed by God until the blessings were too much for his hands to carry.

[Editor: I was unable to edit the nuances of this point on listening to the CD when it is released because Pastor did not elaborate on this for the CD unlike in the first service of 26 Oct 2008. However, I believe it has something to do with Jacob being blessed with everything i.e. Hebrew -- kol (Strong's 3605) in Gen 33:11 in contrast with Esau being blessed with only with enough i.e. Hebrew --- rab (Strong's 7227) i.e Gen 33:9 ]

God wrestled with Jacob so that Jacob would be rendered powerless (God touched the right thigh of Jacob) and thereby acknowledge his weakness before God and receive Grace for a spiritual ‘knighthood’. God did not want it to be said that Jacob achieved or earned his blessing by remaining standing and winning the wrestling with God. Therefore it was only when Jacob was down on his knees and humbled before God, that God could give Jacob his ‘knighthood’ of grace.

Jacob had throughout his life been conniving and grabbing his way in order to secure his blessing. He did not need to do this. All the while, God wanted Jacob to bow before Him and acknowledge Him as God and to receive God’s blessing.

Finally, when Jacob was down on his knees, God could heap blessing upon blessing upon Jacob. Indeed sometimes when God ‘breaks’ our hard hearts, it is with and through His goodness and kindness. In this case, Jacob was given freely by grace what he had through his whole life wanted to attain by grabbing and struggling. God changed Jacob’s name and even said he had prevailed!

In Gen 32:28, God renamed Jacob, Israel.

Gen 32:28    And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.

Jacob, which means, supplanter, was renamed by God, to be “A prince with God”

[Editors's Note: The first mention of "Israel" is in Gen 32:28. The Hebrew word transliterated as Israel consists of 2 Hebrew roots which are:

(1)     שרה

sa.ra   = to prevail or have power

(2) אל

el  = God

Therefore, Israel ישראל means: God prevails / He will rule as God / the Power of God.]

God of Jacob

Why is one of God’s titles — the God of Jacob?

This is because it gives hope to all of us. This is because if ever there was a man who was most undeserving of blessing, it was Jacob because of his conniving and grabbing ways. Yet God blessed Jacob into repentance.

Again, Jacob’s story did not end the way Hollywood would have portrayed it. Hollywood would have told a story in which Esau, the hunter would be the hero. Instead, God blessed Jacob in spite of his grabbing ways because Jacob had a covenant with Him. God also changed Esau’s disposition toward Jacob and Esau favoured Jacob.

Look at the birds

Matt 6:25    Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?

Matt 6:26     Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?

Matt 6:27    Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?

Matt 6:28    And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:

Matt 6:29    And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

Matt 6:30    Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, [shall he] not much more [clothe] you, O ye of little faith?

Matt 6:31    Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?

Matt 6:32    (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.

Matt 6:33    But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

Matt 6:34    Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day [is] the evil thereof.

In the Greek, the word translated into English as “behold” the fowls of the air (Matt 6:26) is: LOOK ATTENTIVELY.

In Matt 6:26, it can be understood as God addressing the men first, as men are more concerned about food and gathering “into barns”. God assures us that right now in this present time (financial crisis notwithstanding), He is providing for the birds, what more the crown of His creation – us. Hallelujah!

Matt 6:26, can be understood to teach us that Grace is for TODAY. Don’t live in tomorrow. Even psychologists tell us that to stay grounded and stress free, think and live today. Don’t look to future incessantly because fear may take hold. God gives us our daily bread, not weekly bread!

In Matt 6:27, it can be understood as God next addressing women  as they are more concerned about what to wear (Matt 6:28 : “neither do they spin”). He assures us that in the same way, flowers are clothed (financial crisis notwithstanding), what more, us!

Obey this (the principles in Matt 6:31-34) and Jesus is obliged to keep the promises from Matt 6:25 onwards.

In Matt 6:26, we note that our Heavenly Father is intimately involved in even the small (to our eyes) things such as feeding the birds. The Father is intimately involved in everything. This world is thus not run in a clock-work fashion whereby God stands aloof and let’s things operate on their own.

It is humanistic thinking to assume that that God was only involved in creation and since then things operate on their own by clockwork.

God feeds even the birds TODAY. Are we not better than birds?

Jesus never died for birds, yet He feeds them!

GOD is  not affected by the markets!

God also clothes the lilies of the valley TODAY. The flowers only have temporal beauty and they eventually fade away. Yet the LORD clothes them! Are we not better than flowers?

Closing thoughts: We can TRUST GOD. ALL our sins are put away. The is no barrier and separation of any kind between us and the Father!

Don’t dismiss USA and the humanity and say that God is judging them through the Financial Crisis, etc. We are still in the era of God’s Grace.

Copyright © 15 November 2008  Yeo Choon Meng Terence. All Rights Reserved.