These are notes on the sermon, Find Power In His Presence, preached by Pastor Joseph Prince on Sunday, 24 May 2020, at The Star Performing Arts Centre, Singapore. We hope these sermon notes will be an encouragement to you!
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The Word of God has power to transform and change any situation in our lives.
When you are listening to a sermon and feel the Lord speaking to you personally about what you are going through, this word in season you are receiving is called the “rhema” or “now” word. It only takes one word from the Lord to change your life.
Listen to God’s Word in the same manner Mary did. We thank God we have the opportunity to sit at His feet and listen to His rhema word for us every Sunday.
Pastor Prince encourages people who are going through challenges to read testimonies from people who saw their breakthroughs. Revelation 12:11 tells us that we overcome Satan “by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of [our] testimony.”
When you hear other people testify of the Lord’s goodness and what He has done for them, it builds faith in you to believe that the same God who did this for them can and will do the same for you.
In times of crisis, like what we are experiencing right now, many people feel a sense of loneliness and are battling depression. Depression is a spirit of heaviness that causes people to get into a cycle of negative and pessimistic thoughts. They find it hard to look forward to a good future.
The Bible defines hope as “elpis” which means “a positive expectation of good.”
Pastor Prince shares a testimony about a lady who was delivered from deep depression from his new daily devotional, The Healing Power of the Holy Communion. This lady received her breakthrough after she received a revelation about the holy Communion and partook of it daily.
It's good for you to partake of the holy Communion daily, especially if you have been given a bad prognosis. You can even take the holy Communion three times a day, like how you would take your medication.
But don’t treat the holy Communion as a magical formula. The holy Communion is a relationship with the Lord and we should always partake of the holy Communion with fresh revelation.
Pastor Prince ministers to people who are going through depression. Depression is not a permanent thing, it is not your future and it will not dictate your life. Your future is as bright as God’s favor and grace. His mercies are new every morning, so you can look forward to the morning. God wants you to have a positive expectation of good because Jesus will set you free.
Pastor Prince prays for people who are suffering from depression.
Sometimes, after you have been set free from the spirit of depression, you might experience a counter-attack, telling you that you are still trapped in it. Do not listen to that, but instead choose to fill your thoughts and mind with the Word of God and meditate on it day and night.
There will come a time where your friends will see the change in you—your face will be glowing, there will be a spark in your eyes, and it will be a joy to be around you. And when they ask you what happened, you can testify to what Jesus has done for you.
Pastor Prince shares a “now” word that God has for us:
On the next day all the congregation of the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron, saying, “You have killed the people of the LORD.”
— Numbers 16:41 NKJV
“Next day” — This is referring prophetically to the age of grace (which we are in today).
What is the age of grace?
When Jesus died on the cross for our sins and rose from the dead, He brought in a new era called the dispensation of grace. In this new dispensation, God is no longer dealing with man based on our sins but dealing with man based on His grace. “God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them” (see 2 Cor. 5:19).
In the gospels, Jesus went about healing all, even the overt sinners. As many as reached out to Jesus were healed by Him. There was never a time that Jesus did not heal someone because they had sin in their lives. His grace was greater than their sins.
This is not belittling sin in people’s lives. His grace is greater than sin, so sin cannot stop His grace but His grace can stop sin.
When people experience the grace of God, they are transformed because it is His goodness that leads them to repentance. It is the goodness of God that leads them to desire to live a life of holiness.
Nonetheless, we don’t live a holy life in order to get healing from God or qualify for any blessing.
Only grace can give you true holiness. You must experience God’s grace and the fruit of that is “love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness” (see Gal. 5:22). All these are the fruit of living under grace.
On the next day all the congregation of the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron, saying, “You have killed the people of the LORD.”
— Numbers 16:41 NKJV
To understand why the “next day” is speaking prophetically of the age of grace, we need to look at what happened the day before (Numbers 16:1–35):
So the “next day” (the age of grace) took place after the destruction of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.
Yet the people did not learn, because the next day, they still complained against Moses and Aaron:
“On the next day all the congregation of the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron, saying, “You have killed the people of the LORD.” Now it happened, when the congregation had gathered against Moses and Aaron, that they turned toward the tabernacle of meeting; and suddenly the cloud covered it, and the glory of the LORD appeared. Then Moses and Aaron came before the tabernacle of meeting. And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Get away from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment.” And they fell on their faces.”
— Numbers 16:41–45 NKJV
“And they fell on their faces” — this is an example of good leadership. Good leaders will fall on their faces and pray for the people, even those that speak against them.
“So Moses said to Aaron, “Take a censer and put fire in it from the altar, put incense on it, and take it quickly to the congregation and make atonement for them; for wrath has gone out from the LORD. The plague has begun.”
— Numbers 16:46 NKJV
“The plague has begun” — This speaks of the times we are in. Today, we are in the “next day” (the age of grace) and there is a plague (COVID-19) in the world. And God has a “now” word for you and I.
What about Job? Should we liken our situation to Job's sufferings?
We have to understand that our situation and Job's situation are not the same because Job did not have a mediator or advocate (see Job. 9:33). Job did not have someone to represent him before God; he did not have a high priest. Today, Jesus is our High Priest after the order of Melchizedek (see Heb. 7:21). Melchizedek’s priesthood only had blessings to give, no curses (see Gen. 14:18–20).
Expect only good because Jesus our High Priest is seated at the Father’s right hand and He only blesses!
The secret to standing against this plague and what it takes to stop the plague can be found in this story.
“Get away from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment.” And they fell on their faces. So Moses said to Aaron, “Take a censer and put fire in it from the altar, put incense on it, and take it quickly to the congregation and make atonement for them; for wrath has gone out from the LORD. The plague has begun.”
— Numbers 16:45–46 NKJV
There is no indication that God gave Moses instructions on what to do but Moses knew what God wanted.
“put incense on it” — when this incense touches the coals of fire, there was a sweet-smelling fragrance that was produced.
When we study the ingredients that make up the incense, we understand why the incense speaks of the perfection of our Lord Jesus Christ.
“The LORD said to Moses, “Take sweet spices, stacte, and onycha, and galbanum, sweet spices with pure frankincense (of each shall there be an equal part) and make an incense blended as by the perfumer, seasoned with salt, pure and holy.”
— Exodus 30:34–35 (ESV)
The different spices in the incense and their meanings:
Stacte
The Hebrew word is “nataph” and it means “drop.”
It is used in the context of preaching and prophecy.
Jesus is the prophet whose words “drop as the honeycomb” (see Song of Solomon 4:11 KJV).
Onycha
The Hebrew word is “shecheleth.” The root word is “shachal” which means “lion.”
Lion in the Bible represents our Lord Jesus, the Lion of Judah.
Galbanum
The Hebrew word is “chelbenah.” The root word is “cheleb” which means fat, i.e. the best and the finest.
This same word “cheleb” is used to describe how the “best” of our tithe will be given to the Lord.
“‘Thus you shall also offer a heave offering to the LORD from all your tithes which you receive from the children of Israel, and you shall give the LORD’s heave offering from it to Aaron the priest. ‘Of all your gifts you shall offer up every heave offering due to the LORD, from all the best of them, the consecrated part of them.”
— Numbers 18:28–29 NKJV
In the Old Testament, there are two different ways you can offer your sacrifice to the Lord:
The Wave Offering
In the wave offering, the roasted breast of the lamb (a picture of Jesus' love for us) is waved before the Lord. The wave offering reminds God of Jesus’ love for the Father and Jesus' love for you and I.
The Heave Offering
In the heave offering, the sacrifice is lifted up and down. The tithe is a heave offering. Another type of heave offering is the peace offering where the right thigh of the lamb (the strongest part of the lamb) is waved.
When you put the wave offering and heave offering together, they make up an image of the cross.
We need to have both the love of Jesus and the power of Jesus in our lives. Power without love can be abusive and love without power is helpless.
Take time to talk to God and say, “Father, I thank You for the Lord Jesus’ power, His power to keep me and my family from the COVID-19 virus, to keep me and my family strong and healthy, to keep me and my family from the power of the evil one. Amen.”
“Of all your gifts you shall offer up every heave offering due to the LORD, from all the best of them, the consecrated part of them.”
— Numbers 18:29 NKJV
“best” — This is the Hebrew word “cheleb.” So the best of your income, the best of your strength, the best of your day go to the Lord Jesus. This is how we worship and honor the Lord in our lives.
That’s why we give our Sundays, the best of our week, to the Lord. The Lord ordained Sunday as the Lord’s Day. This means that when we listen to the Word, we are not distracted, we are giving Him our best.
Back to the teaching on the significance of the last two ingredients:
“The LORD said to Moses, “Take sweet spices, stacte, and onycha, and galbanum, sweet spices with pure frankincense (of each shall there be an equal part) and make an incense blended as by the perfumer, seasoned with salt, pure and holy.”
— Exodus 30:34-35 (ESV)
Frankincense — This gives the incense the fragrance. When Jesus was born, the wise men brought gold, myrrh, and frankincense. Frankincense speaks of His fragrant life. Every thought and deed of Jesus exuded a fragrance to the Father. Every word that Jesus spoke brought a fragrance of rest to the Father. Man may not appreciate it, but God does.
Seasoned with salt — Salt was used in the sacrifices in the Old Testament.
“And every offering of your grain offering you shall season with salt; you shall not allow the salt of the covenant of your God to be lacking from your grain offering. With all your offerings you shall offer salt.”
— Leviticus 2:13 NKJV
“salt of the covenant” — salt is typically used as a preservative. So a “salt covenant” means a perpetual covenant that endures.
We see another instance of “salt” in the Bible:
Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.
— Colossians 4:6 NKJV
What does it mean to season your speech with grace? Grace is undeserved favor, so it means you speak blessings and good words over people even and especially when they don't deserve it. Never accord people what you feel they deserve, give them what they don’t deserve. This is to season your speech with grace. Just like how the Lord gave us what we did not deserve.
When you put Leviticus 2:13 and Colossians 4:6 together, “seasoned with salt” (Ex. 30:35 ESV) means to continually speak words of grace. Let people remember your words of grace.
“You shall beat some of it very small, and put part of it before the testimony in the tent of meeting where I shall meet with you. It shall be most holy for you.”
— Exodus 30:36 ESV
“You shall beat some of it very small” — This refers to all the small acts, gestures, and expressions that Jesus did for the people to comfort them. All these “small” actions by Jesus emitted a fragrance that went to the Father.
All these ingredients of the incense—the stacte, onycha, galbanum, pure frankincense, and salt—remind us of the person of Jesus.
And as we see Jesus, may we also become like Him. May our words drop like prophecy, to edify, to comfort, to exalt, and to lift people up.
When we pray, may we also have a lion spirit (of boldness) to declare things into manifestation, command the spirit of depression to leave, command healing to be effected in our bodies and the bodies of others.
Right now, if your situation is not good, know that God is working all things for your good.
“And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.”
— Romans 8:28–29 NKJV
Don’t allow anyone to tell you that this only applies to you if you love God enough. This verse is for everyone who is born again. We are children of God. All true children of God love the Father.
The moment you are born again, you are called according to His purpose. So everything in your life is working together for good.
“All things” — refer to both the good and bad in your life that will work together for good.
So even in this season of being in lockdown, all things will work together for good. God did not say the negative circumstances and the evil we are experiencing is good, but He promises that He will work these things out for good.
We see an example of how God works things (the good and the bad) for good in Jacob’s life. Jacob lamented, “You have bereaved me: Joseph is no more, Simeon is no more, and you want to take Benjamin. All these things are against me” (Gen. 42:36). But he did not realize that Joseph was alive and would rescue him and his family. He did not realize that things were working out for good.
Don’t limit God. When He says “all things” will work for good, He means it. Everything in your life will work together for good.
This does not mean when we encounter a bad situation, we accept it. We believe God for a breakthrough, knowing that all things (even sickness) will work for your good.
What is this “good” God wants us to have?
“And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.”
— Romans 8:28–29 NKJV
God foreknew that you would accept Jesus Christ and you would not be numbered among the unbelievers who consistently rejected Him. God did not manipulate your free will, God gave you the free will and He knew you would accept Christ. So for those He foreknew, He predestined them to be conformed to the image of Jesus.
So the “good” that God wants us to have is to be more like Jesus.
When God looks at you, your position is: You are the righteousness of God in Christ. You are a new creation created in righteousness and true holiness. God sees you holy and blameless in His sight.
Never judge your position by your behavior. E.g. If you have a problem with your anger, judge your anger by the fact that you are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. Declare that this anger is not who you really are, you are the righteousness of God in Christ. Declare that you are holy and blameless in God’s eyes.
Never judge your position by your behavior, judge your behavior by your position.
God is causing everything in your life to work together for your good so that you would be conformed to the image of His Son, Jesus, and have all His wonderful characteristics.
When Jesus is authoritative, He is not abrasive.
When Jesus is humble, He is not servile.
When Jesus loves, He is not a pushover.
When Jesus is in your life, He will bring out His characteristics in you.
And God wants us to be like Jesus.
How do we put an end to this plague?
“Get away from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment.” And they fell on their faces. So Moses said to Aaron, “Take a censer and put fire in it from the altar, put incense on it, and take it quickly to the congregation and make atonement for them; for wrath has gone out from the LORD. The plague has begun.”
— Numbers 16:45–46 NKJV
When the incense is put on the hot coals, smoke comes out. This smoke carries the smell of frankincense (Jesus).
On the day of atonement, the high priest had to bring in the censer (full of smoke) if not he would die. The censer needed to be full of smoke from the burning incense because the incense spoke of Jesus. Even when the incense was beaten into its minute form, it still spoke of the beauty of Jesus and His perfection. The incense reminded God of Jesus.
In Jesus' redemptive and atoning work, He did not just remove our sins, but after He removed our sins He also added all His fragrance (the incense) to us. Because we are in Christ, like Jesus, we are a sweet fragrance to God (see 2 Cor. 2:15).
Bear this in mind every time you pray. Imagine a sweet fragrance going to God. God delights in you coming to Him. This is the new (fresh) and living way (see Heb. 10:20). Every time you come to God, it is as if Jesus’ sacrifice is fresh.
In this new and living way, the more you come to God and pray, the more you are enlivened, reinvigorated, restored in your health. The blood of Jesus has brought in the perfection of Jesus in place of all our shortcomings.
“Then Aaron took it as Moses commanded, and ran into the midst of the assembly; and already the plague had begun among the people. So he put in the incense and made atonement for the people. And he stood between the dead and the living; so the plague was stopped.”
— Numbers 16:47–48 NKJV
The very high priest whom the people came against was the one who saved them. He “stood between the dead and the living” and stopped the plague.
When you bring something that reminds the Father of Jesus, everything evil in your life stops.
In the midst of the lockdown, glorify Jesus through praise and worship, talk about how wonderful Jesus is, and come to the Father and tell Him how beautiful Jesus is.
The people survived the plague, not because they were extra holy, but because of the incense that the high priest brought.
Today we have a High Priest that blesses and never curses. Jesus makes our praises and prayers acceptable to the Father. Even right now Jesus is interceding for you at the Father’s right hand.
Even though your prayers are not perfect, when your prayers go to Jesus, He takes out everything that is unnecessary and adds His fragrance, then He brings your prayers to the Father. When we pray “in Jesus’ name,” this is what happens.
“Now when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.”
— Revelation 5:8 NKJV
Our prayers reach God like incense today. They are sweet and perfect to Him. We do not pray based on our merits, but based on Jesus’ perfection.
Let my prayer be set before You as incense,
The lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.
— Psalm 141:2 NKJV
Even in the New Testament, God wills that we pray lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting.
You can pray for anything you want to pray for and transcend time and space. Don't be concerned that your prayers are not reaching heaven and you do not know how to pray. Through Jesus, your prayers are more eloquent than you realize. So keep praying in His name.
Father, I thank You for Your rhema word to me. Teach me, Lord, how to meditate on Your word throughout this week. Let me chew on it, mull over it, ponder it, and let me become like the tree planted by the rivers of water. My leaf is always green, evergreen. My health never fails and whatever I do prospers in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
We hope these sermon notes blessed you! If they did, we encourage you to get the sermon and allow the Lord to speak to you personally as you watch or listen to it.
© Copyright JosephPrince.com 2020
These sermon notes were taken by volunteers during the service. They are not a verbatim representation of the sermon.
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