Destined to Reign (11 page)

This is consistent with what Jesus Himself experienced. When He walked on this earth, the only people who could not receive from Him were the Pharisees, the experts on the law. They knew the law inside out, but not the author of the law who was standing right before them. Isn’t that amazing? It shows us that legalism blinds people — legalistic people have eyes that do not see and ears that do not hear! In contrast, those who acknowledged that they were helpless sinners (the prostitutes, corrupt tax collectors, uncouth fishermen and social outcasts) did not know the law as the Pharisees did, but they received and welcomed Jesus with joy!

“But Pastor Prince, if what you are preaching is really from the Lord, then it will not cause division.”

Let’s look at what happened in Acts 13. After Paul had finished preaching, the Gentiles begged that the same sermon be preached to them the next Sabbath. On the next Sabbath, the Bible records that “almost the whole city”
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of Antioch gathered to hear Paul preach on the forgiveness of sins, justification by faith through the cross of Jesus and the grace of God. For the whole city to show up to listen to Paul, the good news that he was preaching must have spread like wildfire across the city!

However, notice that there was one group of people that was very unhappy with what Paul was preaching — the Pharisees or what I call the “religious mafia”. The Bible says that when they saw the multitudes, “they were
filled with envy
; and
contradicting
and
blaspheming
, they
opposed the things
spoken by Paul”
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. These legalistic keepers of the law are still around today. The law blinds them. There is a veil over their eyes and they cannot see that the old covenant of the law is no longer valid. When they see believers impacted by grace, they become “filled with envy” because they have worked so hard and depended on their own efforts to achieve their own sense of self-righteousness.

Jesus did not come to bring us laws and more laws. He came to bring us abundant life through His grace!

So when the Pharisees saw believers under grace receiving miracles, blessings and breakthroughs by the power of Jesus Christ, and being clothed with His perfect righteousness without works and without any self-effort, they were filled with envy. In their envy, they contradicted, blasphemed and opposed Paul. Division was caused not because Paul was not preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ, but precisely because he was preaching the gospel of grace which was from the Lord.

Grace contravenes the traditions of man. It makes nothing of man’s own efforts and makes everything of Jesus Christ. This angered the religious mob of His day.

Paul’s sermon ended with a firm warning for those who refused to believe in God’s grace and forgiveness in the new covenant:

Acts 13:41

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‘Behold, you despisers, marvel and perish! For I work a work in your days, a work which you will by no means believe, though one were to declare it to you.’

This warning given by Paul was not for the whole congregation. It was only for those who rejected the gospel of grace. You see, those who blindly insist on holding on to justification by the law of Moses will “by no means believe” when they hear about justification by faith, and will say in their hearts that it is too good to be true. The law is a veil over their eyes and they cannot see God’s grace. But praise God that when Jesus died on the cross, the veil that had separated unrighteous man from a righteous God was forever removed. The Bible says that when Jesus yielded up His spirit, the veil of the temple was “torn in two from top to bottom”
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. The veil is a picture of the law of Moses. Once the law was removed, man was made righteous by faith in Jesus’ blood and the way into the Holy of Holies was opened! Too good to be true? It
is
true, my friend, and that’s why the gospel of Jesus Christ is good news for us today. Jesus did not come to bring us laws and more laws. He came to bring us abundant life through His grace
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!

Let’s come back to the question of the gospel of grace causing division.

Is it possible to preach the gospel of grace and cause division to the extent that people would even want to kick you out of their cities? Yes! This happened in the early church. Paul was “speaking boldly in the Lord” and preaching “the word of His grace” when in the very next verse, you find that “
the multitude of the city was divided
: part sided with the Jews, and part with the apostles”
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. There was even a “violent attempt… made by both the Gentiles and Jews, with their rulers, to abuse and stone them”
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.

Thus, it is clear that when you preach the same good news that Paul preached, it doesn’t mean that everybody will be united and say, “Hallelujah!” There will be those who would want to kick you out of their cities and say all kinds of things about you to assassinate your character. But just because there was division, it certainly did not mean that what Paul preached was not true. That is precisely why Paul warned that even when God declares something so good, there are those who will refuse to believe — “you will by no means believe, though one were to declare it to you”.

If you are believing the Lord for a miraculous breakthrough, then be sure that you are hearing “the word of His grace” and not the word of His law.

That is why the gospel that Paul preached is not a man-pleasing gospel. Paul did not preach to be welcomed everywhere he went. He preached the truth of the gospel even if it meant being stoned by his opponents and being expelled from cities. He did it because the gospel is THE POWER OF GOD to salvation!

Make sure that you are hearing the gospel that Paul preached. The Bible declares that the Lord bore witness to “
the word of His grace
, granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands”
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. You see, the Lord bears witness only to “the word of His grace”. If you are believing the Lord for a miraculous breakthrough or want to see more power in your life, body, finances, career and ministry, then be sure that you are hearing “the word of His grace” and not the word of His law.

By the way, look at how Paul had to preach first before the Lord could bear witness to the word of His grace with signs and wonders. Preaching the good news first is also consistent with Jesus’ style. Everywhere He went, He went teaching and preaching to the multitudes
before
healing them. There are some people who come to me for prayer for their conditions before the service, and it is clear that they are not interested in hearing the gospel, or any teaching or preaching. They just want prayer. But God’s way is always teaching and preaching first, followed by healing. He confirms the word of His grace with signs and wonders.

Are you faced with an impossible situation today? Are you trusting the Lord for a breakthrough? If so, I encourage you to get hold of good teachings that are full of the good news of Jesus. Faith will be imparted to you as you hear more and more of Jesus. You will stop being preoccupied with yourself, your lack and your weaknesses, and you will become fully occupied with Jesus, His beauty, His perfection and His grace!

The Gospel That Paul Preached

My only endeavor is to preach the same gospel that Paul preached, and no other gospel. Preaching any other gospel was a serious matter to Paul. In fact, he pronounced a double curse on those who preached a different gospel. Paul said, “Even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed.”
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And as if that first curse was not sufficient, he reiterated, “As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed.”
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Now, my mama didn’t raise no fool. I decided years ago that people can say what they want about me, but I’m not coming under any curse for preaching any other gospel!

Is the gospel of Jesus Christ the power of God to salvation

(a) for everyone who keeps the law of Moses?

(b) for everyone who confesses all his sins?

(c) for everyone who fasts and prays long prayers? It is none of the above. It is (d) for everyone who believes! This is the “justification by faith” that Paul preached and this is what I will preach! Under the new covenant of grace, we are justified not by our right behavior, but by our right believing in Jesus Christ. Through this Man is preached to you the forgiveness of all your sins. Do you believe in Jesus? If your answer is “yes”, then don’t let anyone add more conditions to your forgiveness — you are already forgiven of all your sins simply because you believe in Jesus! Nothing more, nothing less. This is the gospel that Paul preached. And when you get a hold of this truth and simply believe it, you’ll see the power of God come into your situation to turn it around for good!

Chapter 8: The Main Clause Of The New Covenant

When I was a teenager, I got hold of a teaching from a book which said that a Christian can commit the “unpardonable sin”. Have you heard this “unpardonable sin” teaching before? This erroneous teaching says that all sins can be forgiven, but if you commit the sin of blaspheming the Holy Spirit
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, there is no forgiveness. That’s how this sin came to be known as the “unpardonable sin”.

As a young Christian, I did not understand why other believers didn’t seem to be affected by the thought that they could actually commit the unpardonable sin. For me, I was really frightened. My conscience was very sensitive and the more I thought about the possibility of committing the unpardonable sin, the more I was convinced that I had committed that sin! My thoughts became increasingly negative and I even started to doubt God. This gave me even more reason to believe that I had indeed blasphemed the Holy Spirit.

I went to my church leaders at that time to seek counsel, but instead of leading me to the new covenant of grace, they told me that it was indeed possible for a Christian to commit the unpardonable sin. By then, I was getting more and more depressed. The devil was oppressing me with thoughts of guilt and condemnation. Plagued by such thoughts, I would go to Orchard Road, Singapore’s main shopping belt, and I would witness to the people on the streets about Jesus, all the time believing that I had committed the unpardonable sin. I thought that if I got these people saved, God would see them when they made it to heaven and perhaps remember Joseph Prince who would be in hell. I honestly believed that! The amazing thing was that the evangelistic anointing was already flowing in me then and many did actually receive Jesus, even though I thought that I was not going to make it to heaven.

Discovering The Gospel Of Grace

The more I believed that I still had unforgiven sins, the more I believed that I had used up all of God’s grace in my life. No one taught me about the blood of Jesus, or showed me that my behavior was actually dishonoring the blood of Christ and negating Jesus’ work on the cross for me. No one preached the good news to me, so at that time, I really thought that my sins were greater than God’s grace. I felt like I was losing my mind and on the verge of a nervous breakdown. My mind literally felt like it was about to snap and I became so afraid that I would be committed to a mental institution.

It was through this tumultuous journey that I began to understand the grace of our Lord Jesus. I now know beyond a shadow of a doubt that a Christian
cannot
commit the unpardonable sin. Be careful when you hear any teaching that gives you the impression that believers can commit the unpardonable sin of blaspheming the Holy Spirit. There are times when the devil puts negative thoughts about the Holy Spirit in your mind, or when you yourself say something negative about the Holy Spirit. This may lead you to wonder and worry if you have committed the unpardonable sin. Well, let me declare once and for all that
there is no sin that a Christian is not forgiven of
. When you understand why God sent the Holy Spirit, you will realize that the unpardonable sin is simply to consistently reject Jesus!

The Bible tells us that the Holy Spirit came to testify of and witness about Jesus Christ. Jesus said, “The Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me.”
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To blaspheme the Holy Spirit is therefore to
continually reject the person of Christ
whom the Holy Spirit testifies of. Study the Word of God carefully. Who was Jesus speaking to when He spoke of the unpardonable sin? He was speaking to the Pharisees, who continually rejected Him as their Savior and plotted to kill Him on several occasions. They even accused Him of having an unclean spirit, saying, “He has Beelzebub. By the ruler of the demons He casts out demons.”
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Jesus’ response was, “Assuredly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven… but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is subject to eternal condemnation.”
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Why did He say that? The next verse tells us that it is “
because they said, ‘He has an unclean spirit.
’”