female announcer:
Today with Joseph Prince.

Joseph Prince: God raised
his Son from the dead

because he has done
a perfect work at the cross

in effectively, efficaciously,
removing all our sins,

hallelujah.

And because he bore all our sins
all away, one clean sweep,

we stand in that clearness
from all sin, hallelujah,

before the sight of a holy God.

Thank you, Lord Jesus, you need
to receive this in your spirit,

you need to believe that.

The Bible doesn't deal with
perhaps and maybes, the Bible

says that these things are
written, that you may know you

have eternal life, hallelujah.

These things are written that
you may believe in the name of

the Son of God, and that you may
know that you have eternal life,

hallelujah.

[music]
Joseph:  

Greetings church,

once again it's a privilege for
me to share God's Word with

all of you, and you know what?

Let's dive right
into God's Word,

picking up from where
we left off last week,

Romans chapter 4.

It says, Christ "was delivered
up because of our offenses,

and was raised
because of our justification."

He was delivered up
for our offenses.

Now, if Christ did that work
on the cross and he did it

because of our offenses,
remember this.

When God sent his Son,
God sent his Son

into this world without sin.

He took on what the Bible calls,
"The likeness of sinful flesh,"

not sinful flesh.

He has no sin in his flesh,
he took the likeness,

like our bodies,
the likeness of sinful flesh

so that he has a body
to sacrifice on the cross, and

he came with the sole purpose
to lay down his life.

You know, some people say that
Christ was murdered, I saw

a title of a book one time,
"The Murder of Jesus."

Nothing could be further
from the truth, no one

could take his life from him.

In fact, Jesus says it like
this, "No man taketh my life

from me, I lay down of myself,
and I take it up again."

That's power, amen,
and "This authority

I have from my Father."

And this is the power that Jesus
has, no one can touch him.

In fact, during his ministry
they tried to kill him a number

of times, and he'll walk
right through the midst of them.

People with stones
in their hands,

they are about to throw
the rocks at him, and he walked

right in their midst.

The Bible says they are not able
to do it, amen, time and time

again, until the time came
for him to lay down his life

on the cross, amen.

Don't forget,
in the garden of Gethsemane,

we have one word
when they ask, "We came

to arrest Jesus of Nazareth."

He stood up, he stepped forward,
amen, and he said this, "I am,"

that's the name of God
in the burning bush, amen,

"I am," and they all fell, amen.

The captivators
became the captives,

and he waited for them
to rise up to arrest him.

No one can kill him
without his permission.

He came for the purpose to
lay down his life on that cross

because we have all sinned,
"All we like sheep

have gone astray,"
we've rebelled against

the love of God for us,
we have listened to the voice

of the enemy who hates us
instead of submitting ourself

to the voice of God
who loves us perfectly.

And as a result, the Bible says,
"The wages of sin is death; but

the gift of God is eternal life
through Jesus Christ our Lord."

So, the Bible says
Christ was delivered up

for our offenses on the cross.

Now, think of the glory
of that person who bore our sins

in his own body on the cross.

Can he do anything else
but a perfect work?

If you know who he is,
you cannot question the value

and the efficacy of his work.

You know, when we look at a work
of somebody, and in order for us

to gain satisfaction
or confidence in that work,

we must know who is the--
who did that work, amen.

It's all about the person
who did the work.

If we look at a masterpiece,
a painting, and you know it's

painted by Michelangelo, okay,
it's painted by Rembrandt, amen,

you know the work
is gonna be good.

It's gonna be something that
only a master can produce, so,

likewise, when we know the work
of Jesus, we know who is the one

that did the work.

It cannot be but a perfect work,
so what was the work?

The work was to remove our sins,
amen, in the presence

of a holy God,
so when God looks at us,

he does not see sin on us.

Even though even today
there is sin in us,

but God does not see sin on us.

We can come to God boldly, amen,
praise the Lord, and the sin

in us will be removed when
we receive the glorified body

in Christ, hallelujah.

But until then, God does not see
sin on you, child of God,

and you can come to God boldly,
because Christ did a perfect

work at the cross.

When he laid down his life
on that cross, amen,

he bore all our sins away,
and it's a perfect

and eternal work.

We stand in the value
of that work before God, amen.

We stand righteous
by the blood of Jesus,

which is the very next line.

He "was raised because of our
justification," he was raised,

like, Young's translation brings
out the Greek word here

for justification,
"Declared righteous."

He was raised from the dead
because we have been declared

righteous.

In other words, if we are not
declared righteous,

God would not have raised Christ
from the dead, amen.

God cannot raise Christ from the
dead even though he is the Son

of God, and that he always is.

God raised his Son from the dead
because he has done

a perfect work at the cross
in effectively, efficaciously,

removing all our sins,
hallelujah.

And because he bore all our sins
all away, one clean sweep,

we stand in that clearness
from all sin, hallelujah,

before the sight of a holy God.

Thank you, Lord Jesus, you need
to receive this in your spirit,

you need to believe that, amen.

You know, people have problems
sometimes believing the work of

Jesus, whether he bore away
our sins or he bore away

our diseases,
he bore away our oppression,

depression, and they have
a belief problem, they believe.

They will say things like,
"You know,

I have a problem believing God.

I don't have enough faith,
when I look into myself,

I don't have enough faith."

Well, since when do you decide
that you have enough faith

by looking at yourself?

The question is not
whether--it's not the amount

of your faith, it is the
trustworthiness of the person

you have faith in.

Who is it that you have faith
in?

As someone says,
"You know, I can't believe,

I just can't believe."

Well, who is it exactly
that you can't believe?

Amen, it's not about the amount
of your faith,

it's about the trustworthiness
of the person you have faith in.

If God said it, the Bible says,
"These things are written that

you may know you have eternal
life," amen.

The Bible deals with veracities,
it deals with absolute truths,

amen, it deals with trueness.

There is no maybes,
perhaps, buts.

You know, if you are lost,
alright, if you are driving

around and you are lost
in the countryside somewhere,

and you see a man
by the side of the path,

and you roll down the window
and you ask him, you know,

"Can you please tell me
where is this location?

I'm lost," and the person says,
"You know, perhaps you might

take this path,
and maybe at the end

you can turn right instead
of left, and maybe after that

you can--"
would you trust his word?

Do you have confidence
in his Word?

No, why?

Because he's using perhaps,
maybe.

So, the Bible doesn't deal with
perhaps and maybes,

the Bible says that these things
are written,

that you may know you
have eternal life, hallelujah.

These things are written that
you may believe in the name

of the Son of God,
and that you may know

that you have eternal life,
hallelujah.

The eternal life, my friend,
is your portion and mine today.

Having put our trust in Christ,
we have eternal life.

Now, eternal life is not living
eternally, amen.

All those who are in hell
are also living eternally

because they are spirit beings.

When God made us,
remember, our bodies come from

the dust of the ground,
but God breathed into man,

and man became a living soul,
and he's now tripartite,

which means he's--there's three
parts to him, just like God.

God is triune God,
man has a spirit, amen.

In fact, who he is, is a spirit,
he has a soul, which is his mind

and his emotions,
and he lives in a body, amen.

Now, when he dies,
he leaves his body behind,

but he's alive, and he needs
to be housed somewhere

where there's heaven or hell.

He needs to be housed somewhere,
he lives forever, so eternal

life cannot be living forever,
because those in hell

also live forever.

Eternal life is the quality of
life, it is the very life, zóé

life, zóé aionios, eternal life,
zóé is the life that comes

from God.

God himself,
his life is that zóé life,

so when we are born again,
God imparts that zóé life

to us, hallelujah.

"The wages of sin is death;
but the gift of God is eternal

life," and the word eternal life
is zóé life, zóé life, amen,

the life of God himself
in all of us, praise the Lord.

You know, the life--you know,
plants also have life, right,

but it's the lowest form
of life.

Then we have insect life,
insects are alive,

they have a form of life.

Then we have animal life,
and all the way to human life,

but human life is still not the
life of God, it's human life.

And then the highest form is the
life that God himself lives by,

amen, and that's the life
that you and I have,

it's called eternal life.

So, whenever we see eternal life
from now on, think of the life

of God himself, hallelujah,
and that's what you and I have,

praise God.

Eternal life through Jesus
Christ, our Lord, amen.

Jesus says, "I come that you
might have zóé life,"

"you might have life, and have"
that life "more abundantly,"

amen, more abundantly,
praise the name of Jesus.

You know, the things
about our Christian life

is that we are learning
to allow that life to dictate

to us in everything that we do.

It is walking in the spirit, we
live by the Tree of Life today.

We don't live by the Tree
of Knowledge of Good and Evil,

that's where all the problems
started, right?

Man sinned, because man partook
from the Tree of Knowledge

of Good and Evil.

You know, contrary to, you know,
common opinion, people say that,

you know, God made man perfect.

God made man perfect,
yes, God made man perfect,

but not complete.

There's a part of man that God
allowed him to have a choice,

to choose whether he wants
to open his spiritual eyes

and live by the Tree of Life,
which is the life

of Christ himself, or to eat
from the Tree of Knowledge

of Good and Evil, thereby
living independently of God,

knowing good and evil,
knowing good and evil,

that's like a life of ethics.

You know, situational ethics,
or living in the morality

of the moment,
knowledge of good and evil,

which is dangerous.

Because the Tree of Life,
don't think for one moment

the Tree of Life,
when you live by it,

your morals are lower
than the Tree of Knowledge.

No, nothing could be further
from the truth,

the Tree of Knowledge of Good
and Evil may tell you,

alright, it's good for you
not to go beyond in

your kindness and all that, but
the Tree of Life would tell you,

pour out, amen,
and give to others.

You will not be impoverished,
God will supply you with more.

And it's contrary to natural
thoughts, it's contrary

to your natural thinking.

I remember years ago,
I heard a story about in China,

in ancient China,
a believer, a believer

who was a farmer, he was tending
to his farm, and they lived,

like, on a slight hilly side of
the country, and what happened

is that there are two paddy
fields in that hill, and

one belonged to his neighbor,
who is not a believer.

But he is a believer,
and he lives higher up.

So, what the unbeliever,
the other neighbor of his did,

was that every time, you know,
he would water his paddy fields,

and it takes a lot of work,
because he has to channel

the waters from the river
and then bring to his--channel

it to his farm, amen,
to his paddy fields.

But what the other guy did,
the neighbor did was to break

a hole, or a hedge, to break
the hedge where it separates

the--his paddy field from
the neighbor's, and he broke

a little hole so that the water
would come into his field

as well.

Now, that is kind of, you know,
something that he should not be

doing, of course, but the thing
is that he did it time and time

again, and the Christian
neighbor was feeling, telling

the Lord, "Lord, I, every time
I water my field, you know,

the water gets less and less,
because all the water--and

because it's on a slope,
the water goes to the neighbor's

patty field, and I'm getting
tired, Lord, of enduring this,

you know, I'm doing my best
that I can."

And the Lord says, "Since when
I told you just to endure it?

Since when I told you to just
be doing the bare minimum?

What is that life on the inside
telling you to do?"

And he says, "Well, the life
is telling me," and he prayed,

he said, "Lord, what are you
telling me to do?"

And the life came up
and told him, from now on,

water your neighbor's plants
first, water his field first,

deliberately water his field,
then water your field.

So, he started doing that, and
after some time, the neighbor

noticed what's been happening,
and the neighbor approached him

and asked him, "Why are--
why are you doing this?

You know, after all that I did
to you?"

And he says, "Well, guess what
the Lord told me to do?"

And the neighbor got saved
because of that,

praise the Lord, hallelujah.

That's living
by the Tree of Life, amen.

So, Christ was delivered
at the cross for our sins,

for our offenses,
and he was raised when you and I

were declared righteous.

Now, look up here.

After we are declared righteous,
in Romans 5, verse 1, it says,

"Therefore, having been
justified" or declared righteous

"by faith, we have peace
with God through

our Lord Jesus Christ."

Now, we have peace with God
through our Lord Jesus Christ

so that the next verse tells us,
"We have access,"

"Through whom we--also
we have access by faith

into this," favor, "into this
grace in which we stand,

and rejoice in hope of the glory
of God."

In other words, our future
is the glory of God, hallelujah.

Do you know the Bible says in
Romans 8 that this is the plan

of God for you and I,
God doesn't just want

to save us,
amen, some people just preach

like, you know,
we are saved and that's it,

we are sinners saved by grace.

Listen, my friend, we were
sinners, we are saved by grace,

we are now sons and daughters
of God, hallelujah.

We are not perfect in and
of our, you know, in the flesh,

we are not perfect,
but we are not in the flesh,

we are in the spirit, amen.

And God's plan and purpose in
Romans 8 is that it's not just

sinners saved by grace,
once you're saved,

God wants to justify you.

Those he saved, right, it says,
"Moreover, those he saved,"

what?

It says, "those he justified,"
and those he justified,

"He also glorified."

Notice that glory
is in your future.

The first glorified man who rose
from the dead is our Lord Jesus,

he's our pattern man,
the man that God planned

for all other men to follow,
that's the pattern man, amen,

and that's our Lord Jesus.

So, as we follow the Lord Jesus,
hallelujah, he's our pattern

man, and we will enter into
the glory of God, we will

be glorified, hallelujah.

And then, of course,
we are waiting for the rapture

where the Lord comes for us,
and death will be put under

our--his feet,
which is our feet also in him,

and death will be no more.

And, you know, there's no more
physical death, praise the Lord,

and not only that, the Bible
tells us we'll forevermore

be glorified, hallelujah.

You cannot sin in that body, you
cannot feel bored in that body,

you cannot feel tired,
feel sick in that body, you'll

never have disease in that body,
and you'll never, ever die,

hallelujah.

What a future there is
for you and I, child of God.

Those he justified, he also
glorified, that's our future.

So, rejoice in hope,
in anticipation, in expectation

of that glory when Jesus
comes again, praise the Lord.

But right now we enter into the
glory already, praise the Lord.

The only thing, the glorified
aspect that we're waiting for

is our bodies,
our glorified bodies,

like Jesus's body
when he rose from the dead.

You know, the resurrection is
not like--the resurrection life

is not like the life that Jesus,
when he raised Lazarus

from the dead, in a sense
Lazarus was resurrected.

Actually, the correct term
is resuscitated.

Now, Lazarus was dead, okay,
dead, he was dead for four days

when Jesus raised him from the
dead, but that life that Jesus

exerted into Lazarus,
when he says, "Lazarus,

come forth," that power
is not the resurrection life

by which he was raised
from the dead.

Because when he resuscitated
that dead man, Lazarus,

from the dead after he was dead
for four days,

Lazarus would die again.

Okay, so the resurrection life
is not like the life of Lazarus

when he was raised from the--
it is the life of Jesus.

When he was raised
from the dead, he dies no more.

And this resurrection life
is something

that Lazarus did not possess
when he rose from the dead.

When Jesus rose from the dead,
he has a body.

He told his disciples, feel me,
touch me.

A ghost, a spirit, they were
afraid that he was a ghost,

he says, a spirit does not have
a body, amen.

"A spirit does not have flesh
and bones as you see me have."

Now, obviously there's no blood.

All the blood,
his blood was shed at the cross,

and is all taken up to heaven,
sprinkled on the mercy seat,

and he says, "Touch me,"
amen, he's still flesh

and bones.

But it's glorified body,
and the Bible says,

he shall change our bodies,
when he comes again,

he will change our bodies,
our vile bodies,

"Like unto his body,"
by his power, hallelujah.

And right now, we don't wait for
that to happen, right now we

already have resurrection life
in us, praise the Lord.

The life of God himself,
we have the resurrection life

that transcended death.

Now, that's the difference
between Jesus, when he rose

from the dead, unlike Lazarus,
he was able to transcend

geography and time,
transcend time and space.

He appeared and he disappeared.

There, you know,
in the resurrection

there's no coming
and there's no going.

You will see him appearing
and then disappearing.

I don't even want to say he's
at the realm where it's faster

than the speed of light.

You know, it is beyond the speed
of light, amen,

he--in the resurrection form,
yet his body is matter.

Yet it is a body you can touch
and feel, and that's the kind of

body you and I will have, amen.

We will transcend all the matter
and even space,

even the geographical space
in the universe.

The whole universe
is our playground,

praise the Lord,
that's the plan that God has

for man from the very beginning.

God never meant for man to have
sin in his body, weakness,

sickness, growing old,
and then dying,

all this God counts
as an enemy, and the last enemy

that'll be put under
Jesus's feet is death,

and we are looking forward
for that.

That's what the rapture
is all about, hallelujah.

You know, Pastor Prince,
you talk about rapture, the word

rapture is not in the Bible.

Neither is the word Trinity,
but Trinity,

the triune God is a reality.

Amen, we use it to describe--in
fact, the Greek word there is

harpazo, the catching away,
the seizing away of his church.

He'll come in the twinkling
of an eye, he's gonna transform

our bodies like his body,
and so we shall forever

be with the Lord.

It's gonna happen so fast, the
world will not see us transform.

It will happen "in the twinkling
of an eye," in the Greek,

in an atomic second,
atomos, in an atomic second

it's gonna happen,
we'll be transformed,

we'll be out of here,
they'll just see us disappear,

hallelujah, and that's what
we are looking forward to.

And we will forever be
with the Lord,

and that's the greatest joy.

I love it, the Bible says,
"He Himself took

our infirmities,"
it's himself, it's not an angel.

He does not entrust that work
to any other, amen.

"He Himself took our infirmities
And bore our sicknesses,"

and he did it--if such a person
has done such a work,

it cannot be but perfect
and eternal work.

Everything that Jesus touches
becomes eternal, amen.

He touches the priesthood
of Levi, amen, and he becomes

the high priesthood of
Melchizedek forever, hallelujah.

He touches the offerings of the
lambs that never could take away

sins, only covered it.

He touches it with the one
perfect offering of his body

on the cross, and it becomes
an eternal offering,

one sin for all, hallelujah,
with the efficacy that lasts

for all eternity, hallelujah.

Everything that Jesus does
has an eternal effect,

praise the name of Jesus.

Only he can do a perfect work,
amen.

But many-a-times, you know,
when we--God says, now we are

declared righteous, we are--
"We have access into this favor

in which we stand,"
we have the favor of God,

and every time the Jewish people
in times past, when they read

about the Old Testament,
how David had favor,

how Esther had favor before
the king, how Noah found grace

in the eyes of the Lord,
how Ruth found grace,

favor in the eyes
of the near kinsmen, the one

who could redeem her poverty,
could redeem her situation.

All this, they would be--even
Joseph as a slave with nothing

to his name stood
before Pharaoh,

in an hour he had favor
with Pharaoh, and Pharaoh made

him the most powerful man
next to him over all Egypt.

So, favor is something that God
gives, and for all the saints

of the old times
under the Old Testament,

they'll be longing
for that favor, but alas,

they are all still aware
of their weakness

and their shortcomings
and their sins, and then

they forfeit themselves
of that favor.

They know that, you know,
it's only for the Josephs

and the Davids and the Ruths,
but, my friend, you and I today,

we have access into this favor
in which we stand.

We should be confessing it
every day.

Before we leave our house,
"I have the favor of God on me.

I have favor with God,
and I have favor with man."

Now, not with every man,
of course,

because of man's weakness
and fallen state, not every man,

you know,
will find you favorable,

hallelujah.

But the same people
that did not favor Jesus,

the Bible says Jesus
had favor with a lot of people,

multitudes followed him,
he had favor

with Pontius Pilate.

In fact, Pilate tried his best
to release Jesus,

until the crowd shouted out
for Caesar's name,

and he was afraid of Caesar,
and he delivered Jesus.

Alright, so he was a coward, but
nonetheless, Jesus had so much

favor, the only ones
he didn't have favor with

are the self-righteous,
religious people of his day,

those who felt like,
by their own works,

they can become righteous.

And here Jesus is making God
so accessible to all the common

folk, he make God so real
and so near to all the people

who are sinners,
and he ate with sinners.

They saw Jesus forgiving
sinners, forgiving sins while

they themself were complaining
about the sinners.

They will say, "He eats with,
he's a friend of sinners,"

whereas they themself have
a holier than thou attitude.

They saw Jesus receiving
sinners, and then they themself

would reject the sinners and
would go for the pile of stones

as soon as they can to stone
these people for their sins.

And they saw grace,
and they didn't understand

grace, so only those
who are against grace

will not favor you,
because like Jesus, so are you.

Right, the disciple
is not above his master.

Now, back to this,
we are under the favor of God,

under his unclouded favor,
and we enjoy this favor

every single day.

Doesn't mean
there's no suffering.

In fact, the very next verse
says, we don't just rejoice

or boast in the glory of God,
the word

there is boast actually,
but we also boast in troubles,

tribulation, why?

"Now tribulation worketh for
us," troubles work for us, amen,

troubles should not have
troubled you.

Because trouble troubles you,
now you have, it's like throwing

you a lot of stones,
and the stones never reach you,

but falls at our feet,
and now makes a foundation

for you to step on higher
and higher

to where God wants you to be.

[music]

announcer: Next on
"Joseph Prince."

Joseph: It is so true
that you are created

for greater things.

Your heart is too big
to be satisfied by wealth, fame,

by pleasures of sin, right.

Your heart is too big,
it can only be filled

with divine things.

Your real person, the spirit,
was breathed in into your body

by God himself, amen.

You are a spirit being, amen,
things that are of the flesh,

material things can never truly
satisfy you the way

the Lord Jesus can, that's why
he's called the bread of life.

[music]

Joseph Prince: Dear friends, thank
you for watching.

Be sure to hit subscribe if
you have been blessed.

For a wider selection of
recent episodes and programs

Head over to JosephPrince.TV,
you can sign up for an account

It is completely free.

And if it is your first time

We also want to send you a teaching resource
as a gift from me to you

Thanks again for watching

I look forward to staying connected
with you at JosephPrince.TV

God bless.