His Lavish Love Exceeds Your Expectations
Sunday, 20 January 2019
These are notes on the sermon, His Lavish Love Exceeds Your Expectations, preached by Pastor Joseph Prince on Sunday, 20 January 2019, at The Star Performing Arts Centre, Singapore. We hope these sermon notes will be an encouragement to you!
Be sure to sign up to get updates on the latest sermon notes by Team JP.
Just when you think you understand God’s love and forgiveness, He surprises you.
Find yourself in awe of God’s kindness toward you all over again as Pastor Prince reveals God’s lavish ways of forgiving and restoring you in the 3 famous parables of the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son.
We hope these notes will help you understand:
Beloved, know that you are loved beyond measure and begin to experience the fullness of God’s blessings in your life!
Pastor opens the service with the video of the Theme of the Year: The Year of the Latter Rain.
The latter rain is the spring rain (falling in March and April). The early rain is the winter rain (falling in November and December).
In line with our theme of the year, Israel’s 5-year drought just broke. The rains are here!
Recap of the first 2 sermons of the year:
God’s wisdom is concentrated but comes down to us like rain.
“For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven …
So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth;
It shall not return to Me void,
But it shall accomplish what I please,
And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.”
— Isaiah 55:10–11 NKJV
God’s word is heavily concentrated like water in the clouds—potentially damaging if all of it came down at once. So He sends His word like rain, which falls in gentle droplets without damaging even the tiniest flower.
Isaiah 55 tells us that God’s word comes down not only like rain, but also like snow.
Now, Israel is also anticipating snow, which is rare in Jerusalem (see slide 13)!
Another time the Bible talks about snow:
“... Though your sins are like scarlet,
They shall be as white as snow…”
— Isaiah 1:18 NKJV
As white and blinding as snow is (to the point that skiers must wear snow goggles to protect their eyes) is as white and clean as Jesus has washed you of your sins.
You are brilliant white, washed from all your sins.
“For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways,
And My thoughts than your thoughts."
— Isaiah 55:9 NKJV
Today, we are talking about man’s ways vs. God’s ways. Man’s thoughts vs. God’s thoughts.
“Be glad then, you children of Zion,
And rejoice in the LORD your God;
For He has given you the former rain faithfully,
And He will cause the rain to come down for you—
The former rain,
And the latter rain in the first month.”
— Joel 2:23 NKJV
There is another meaning to the Hebrew phrase, “He has given you the former rain faithfully.”
The “former rain” in Hebrew is “yoreh” or “moreh” (a derivative of “yoreh”). The time of the former rain is the time of sowing. It’s the time for the seeds to germinate.
The “latter rain” in Hebrew is “malqosh.” The root word of “malqosh” is “laqash,” meaning “to gather everything.” In this year of the latter rain, we will gather EVERYTHING, our full harvest!
The early rain represents the time of the early church when they received an outpouring of the Holy Spirit. The latter rain refers to our time. Now, we can expect an even greater outpouring of the Spirit.
The former rain — “Yoreh” or “Moreh”
Good teaching is like a good word being shot into your heart like an arrow.
Our hearts receive God’s word faster than our heads.
Faith can work in your heart even when you have doubts in your head.
Your head can try to reason you out of faith, reason you out of being in a position to receive God’s blessings. So listen to your heart instead, because it is in your heart that God gives you the willingness and ability to do what pleases Him.
“for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.”
— Philippians 2:13 NKJV
In Joel 2:23, “the former rain” is the word “moreh,” which can mean “former rain” or “teacher.” So the phrase “He has given you the former rain faithfully” can also mean “He has given you the Teacher of righteousness.” The YLT brings this out:
“And ye sons of Zion, joy and rejoice,
In Jehovah your God,
For He hath given to you the Teacher for righteousness,
And causeth to come down to you a shower,
Sprinkling and gathered — in the beginning.”
— Joel 2:23 YLT1898
“the Teacher for righteousness” — This Teacher is Jesus.
“Shower” — The Hebrew word for “shower” is “geshem,” which means “heavy downpour.” The root word of “geshem” means “manifestation.”
When God traveled in the wilderness with the children of Israel, He traveled with them as a pillar of cloud. But the cloud never rained. There was no “geshem,” no manifestation of His presence in a tangible, palpable way.
The time of the “geshem,” the manifestation, only happened when Jesus came down to earth.
Just like clouds release rain and rain can be felt, Jesus as a man could be felt. “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14).
People could see Him and touch Him. Jesus said, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father.” (John 14:9).
Pastor Prince shares how he enjoys studying the etymology of words in the Hebrew Scriptures. The root words are full of treasures for us to find.
For example, the root word for “rapha” (which means “healing”) means “let go” or “relax.” So from this, we can learn that healing comes when you relax. People who are tense, stressed, or worried are more prone to falling sick.
God wants you to live a life of letting go of your worries.
When you let go of your stress and worry, when you choose to stop driving yourself, God can give you the willingness and the ability to perform what needs to be done. And you will get the best results—with no toll on your health.
—
Pastor Prince pauses here to pray for our government. He prays for favor and success. He prays for Solomonic wisdom. He prays for our country to be open to the gospel.
It’s important that we honor our leaders.
Paul, the apostle of grace, said:
“Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers…”
— Romans 13:1 KJV
“Be glad then, you children of Zion,
And rejoice in the LORD your God;
For He has given you the former rain faithfully [YLT: the Teacher of righteousness],
And He will cause the rain to come down for you—
The former rain,
And the latter rain in the first month.
The threshing floors shall be full of wheat,
And the vats shall overflow with new wine and oil.”
— Joel 2:23–24 NKJV
Today, the former rain still falls on us as the teaching of righteousness.
God will cause the teaching of righteousness to come down first, then He will cause the rain (“geshem” — the manifestation of your breakthrough) to come down on you.
The teaching of righteousness is not about being righteous by your good performance. It’s about being righteous by receiving Jesus’ righteousness as a gift.
Righteousness is a gift because the Son of God became sin at the cross so that you and I might become the righteousness of God in Him (see 2 Cor 5:21).
Then the rain will cause you to prosper: “The threshing floors shall be full of wheat, and the vats shall overflow with new wine and oil.”
Wheat (bread) is a symbol of the body of Jesus and wine is a symbol of the blood of Jesus. The wheat and wine represent the Holy Communion.
Oil is a symbol of the power of the Holy Spirit.
Pastor Prince shares a testimony of a Taiwanese couple who tried for a baby when they were more advanced in years. They got pregnant but their baby had no heartbeat, which would have been their 3rd time having a miscarriage. They took the Holy Communion, and discovered at the 3rd checkup that their baby had a heartbeat! Their baby boy was recently born healthy and happy (see pictures of the family on slides 14–16).
Pastor Prince encourages us not to give up when situations seem bleak. Continue taking the Holy Communion.
He shares his own story about going through a miscarriage, and says, “We have had losses, but our losses should not cause us to stop believing the best that God has for us.”
This year, there will be an abundance of:
Pastor Prince addresses people who say, “You need to preach more on repentance.”
What is repentance?
Repentance:
In Hebrew — “teshuvah”
In Greek — “metanoia,” which means “change your mind.”
“Let the wicked forsake his way,
And the unrighteous man his thoughts…”
— Isaiah 55:7 NKJV
How do we forsake our ways and thoughts?
What if you don’t know what ways or thoughts you should turn from?
Look at the context:
“Let the wicked forsake his way,
And the unrighteous man his thoughts;
Let him return to the LORD,
And He will have mercy on him;
And to our God,
For He will abundantly pardon.
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,” says the LORD.”
— Isaiah 55:7–8 NKJV
In these verses, God is comparing our ways and His ways, our thoughts and His thoughts.
These verses are talking about forsaking our hard thoughts toward God—thoughts that He is not merciful, He is not kind, He is not forgiving, He is not generous. Because the truth is that He is all those things! For His thoughts are not our thoughts, and His ways are not our ways.
“abundantly pardon” — God freely and abundantly forgives! He wants you to know that He forgives FREELY AND WILLINGLY. Not grudgingly. Not after you do many spiritual exercises. Not after you feel bad enough.
He forgives freely.
How can God forgive freely and abundantly? Because God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, who took all our judgment and punishment. Now, through His blood, God has a righteous foundation to forgive us.
You’ll never know how much God loves you until you know how much He loves Jesus.
When Jesus was baptized in the Jordan river, God opened up the heavens and said, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” (Matt. 3:17).
His beloved Son, He sent to die for us. He gave Jesus up for us because He loves us deeply.
In the story of the sinner woman who wept at Jesus’ feet in Simon the Pharisee’s house, Jesus asked Simon this question:
“There was a certain creditor who had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. And when they had nothing with which to repay, he freely forgave them both. Tell Me, therefore, which of them will love him more? … Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little.”
— Luke 7:41–47 NKJV
Jesus wanted Simon to see that he didn’t love Him much because he didn’t think he was forgiven much.
The sinner woman loved Jesus much because she knew she was forgiven much.
“when they had nothing with which to repay, he freely forgave them both” — In this story we can see God’s style of forgiveness: “he freely forgave them both.”
Our forgiveness is free but it cost God His Son.
Jesus, God in the flesh, counted it so important that both sinners and Pharisees saw how much God loved them through His style of forgiveness. Through the way He forgives.
In Luke 15, when the sinners and the Pharisees both gathered to Jesus, He told them the 3 famous parables:
Each parable reveals a different aspect of God:
The Lost Sheep
“What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing.”
— Luke 15:4–5 NKJV
It does not make sense for any shepherd to leave 99 sheep to find 1 that got lost.Jesus is the only shepherd who would do that.
“go after the one which is lost until he finds it” — Jesus doesn’t just look for you, He looks for you UNTIL He finds you. He won’t stop until He finds you.
When you got saved, God was the One who found you. You didn’t find Him.
The shepherd could have scolded the sheep. He could have beat the sheep. He could have punished the sheep. But he didn’t.
The shepherd could have put the sheep on his shoulders grudgingly or angrily, but he did it “rejoicing.”
That’s Jesus’ style. That’s the style of our Good Shepherd.
—
The Lost Coin
“Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it?”
— Luke 15:8 NKJV
“search carefully until she finds it” — The woman searched carefully. She searched diligently. She put her heart and soul into it. She didn’t search carelessly.
—
The Lost Son
After the son left home with his inheritance and wasted it all:
“... he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him.”
— Luke 15:20 NKJV
For the father to have seen his son from a great way off, he must have been looking out for him. God is always looking for you. He is always scanning the horizon for you.
The father was likely an elderly man. To run, he would have had to lift up his robe. He laid aside his parental dignity for the sake of his parental love.
The father could have waited for his son to come crawling back to him. He could have waited for him to apologize and beg for forgiveness before even looking at him. He could have forgiven him in a cold way. He could have accepted him home coldly and grudgingly.
But that kind of forgiveness does not satisfy God’s heart. He’s not like that.
He RAN to his son, not even waiting for him to reach the gate.
The way we think of forgiveness is not the way God thinks of it. Our thinking is too small!
The father fell on his son’s neck, embracing him. The word “embraced” in Greek is “epipiptō,” and it’s the same word used in Acts 10:44 when “the Holy Spirit fell upon [epipiptō] all those who heard the word” of forgiveness of sins that Peter was preaching.
When we hear preaching on forgiveness of sins, when we hear grace, the Holy Spirit loves it. He comes and embraces us into wholeness.
The father didn’t just kiss him once. The AMPC version says, “he ran and embraced him and kissed him [fervently].”
The father kissed his son again and again and again and again!
Do you see the heart of God? Do you see the heart of your Father?
Even though the son demanded for his inheritance, essentially saying, “Drop dead, father,” the father still took him back. And he didn’t just take him back, he lavished his love on him.
Can we understand such love? Our thoughts cannot reach God’s thoughts. They’re too high for us.
“And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet.’”
— Luke 15:21–22 NKJV
The father ignored his son’s words, “I am no longer worthy to be called your son.” He just commanded that his son be dressed like a son should—with the best robe, with a ring on his finger, and sandals on his feet.
He didn’t say, “You’ll get to be my son again if you redeem yourself. You’re on probation for 3 months.” That would still be giving his son forgiveness. But those thoughts are not the father’s thoughts.
The heart of God flows like a torrential flood.
When Jesus died for the forgiveness of our sins, God tore the temple veil into 2 from top to bottom.
“And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit. Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom…”
— Matthew 27:50–51 NKJV
God didn’t tear the veil so that we could step into His presence. He tore the veil so that He could step out of the Holy of Holies and step into our lives!
Before Jesus died, God could never step out of the Holy of Holies because His holiness would have killed mankind.
Jesus’ blood has removed our sins totally and washed us whiter than snow.
—
Pastor Prince addresses people who say, “If you keep on preaching like this, people will say, ‘Well, God freely forgives so I can do whatever I want.’”
That’s lowly thinking. Your thoughts are not like His thoughts.
God’s thoughts are like this: Preach the truth and people will live the truth. When people believe right, they will live right.
It’s when people don’t understand the forgiveness of God that they keep on sinning.
Jesus Himself said that those who know they are forgiven much will love Him much (see Luke 7:47). And loving God is the greatest commandment fulfilled (see Matt. 22:37).
Pastor Prince shares how a few days ago, he bumped into one of our church members who sincerely asked him why he doesn’t preach more “lifestyle” sermons or sermons on “practical” Christian living. She asked him why he doesn’t preach on things like “the taming of the tongue” (see James 3:1–12) or “putting to death the deeds of the body” (see Rom. 8:13).
Pastor Prince explained that:
Regarding the taming of the tongue
The passage in Scripture that talks about the tongue tells us that “no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.” (James 3:8). And experience has shown us that the more we try, the more we fail.
But that doesn’t mean we give up and say whatever we want.
When we understand the new covenant of grace, when we understand that God is the One who gives us the willingness and the ability to do what is right when we rest in Him, then we will go to Him for help where we fail.
We will say, “Lord, I have a problem with controlling my words. I have a problem with my tongue. But I'm not going to focus on it. I'm going to trust You to tame it. I’m going to trust You to put the right words in my mouth.”
If you have a colleague whom you don’t like and you lash out at that person, tell the Lord, “Lord, You be the One to love this colleague through me. I rest in you.”
When you rest, He works. When you work, He rests.
Regarding putting to death the deeds of the body:
We don’t put to death the deeds of the body by willpower. We do it “by the Spirit.”
“For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.”
— Romans 8:13 NKJV
This verse begins with “for” or “therefore,” which means that we need to read the chapters that come first. The earlier chapters of the book of Romans talk about who we are in Christ, how forgiven we are in Christ, our place of rest in Christ.
We must first know our place in Christ before we can live it out.
That’s why on this pulpit, we focus a lot on our position in Christ.
Only when we know who we are in Christ can we, by the Spirit, “put to death the deeds of the body.”
How do we do that? What does that mean?
It means that we follow the promptings of the Spirit on the inside.
This year, our harvest includes the oil (see Joel 2:24)—which represents the anointing of the Holy Spirit. This year, we will be led on the inside by the Spirit.
Pastor Prince says that he will preach more about following the Spirit in the Sundays to come.
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,” says the LORD.
“For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways,
And My thoughts than your thoughts.”
— Isaiah 55:8–9 NKJV
Pastor Prince shares how he tells his young son Justin, “Remember Daddy loves you. Even when you do wrong, Daddy still loves you. I don’t want you to do wrong because I love you. But even when you do wrong, I still love you.”
This kind of love inspires love in return.
We love because He first loved us (see 1 John 4:19).
God’s thoughts are all about forgiveness.
Our thoughts are about justice and fairness. We find it so hard to believe that God will forgive freely.
“... So are My ways higher than your ways,
And My thoughts than your thoughts.
For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven,
And do not return there,
But water the earth,
And make it bring forth and bud,
That it may give seed to the sower
And bread to the eater,
So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth;
It shall not return to Me void,
But it shall accomplish what I please,
And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.”
— Isaiah 55:9–11 NKJV
“make it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower” — Make your life a life of sowing. And you will always be harvesting.
“And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it” — If you receive God’s word, you will prosper in your life. Have you received God’s word?
Position yourself to receive God’s word by coming to church. If you want to prosper, plant yourself in church. If you want to get the latter rain this year, position yourself where God is pouring out His showers of blessings.
“My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distil as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass.”
— Deuteronomy 32:2 KJV
What happens after you receive God’s word?
“For you shall go out with joy,
And be led out with peace;
The mountains and the hills
Shall break forth into singing before you,
And all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.”
— Isaiah 55:12 NKJV
“Go out with joy” — You will experience amazing joy.
“Led out with peace” — You will be led with peace on the inside, not signs on the outside. You can trust that the Lord who lives in you will lead you.
Sometimes, He might lead you to downsize your house or sell your car. Giving something up for the sake of peace is better than keeping it for the sake of appearance.
It’s not worth it to struggle to make ends meet just to impress people who don’t really care about you, people who have never spoken into your life.
God leads us by the absence or presence of peace.
“The mountains and hills” — Mountains always represent kingdoms or high places. Mountains and hills here speak of the people in your life who really matter to you. People who are important.
“The trees of the field” — People everywhere will celebrate you.
God made trees to signify man. That’s why their branches, their “arms,” are always raised in worship—a picture of the posture we should have.
The woman who was bowed down and bent over, her eyes unable to look up, was in bondage for 18 years (see Luke 13:11–13). And Jesus healed her, and the first thing she saw after all that time was His glorious face.
It’s time to look up this year. Look up and ask God for rain, and expect it’s going to be a good year.
“... Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah—not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they did not continue in My covenant, and I disregarded them, says the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. None of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.”
— Hebrews 8:8–12 NKJV
“I will make a new covenant… ” — This new covenant of grace is unlike the old covenant that required the people to keep the Ten Commandments.
“I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts” — God will put His laws in our hearts. This refers to internal guidance. When a law is written on your heart, you don’t have to force yourself to do good. It’s in your nature.
The law says, “Don’t commit adultery.” But it does not say, “Love your wife.”
There are those who don't commit adultery but they don't love their wife. There are those who don't commit adultery because they don’t have the money or the opportunity to.
Real holiness is not about the outward action, but the inward conviction.
When God’s law is written on your heart, you don’t commit adultery because the very thought of it is horrible to you.
“I will be their God” — When God says to you, “I AM YOUR GOD,” it means that when you are sick, He is your healer. When you are struggling to make ends meet, He is your Shepherd and you will not lack. When you are confused, troubled, and stressed, He is your shalom-peace. When God says, “I will be your God,” it means that all His resources are at your disposal.
“None of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for all shall know Me’” — There are 2 times the word “know” appears in this verse. In the first instance, “Know the Lord,” the word “know” in Greek is “ginōskō,” which means “know by trial and effort.” But the second instance of “know” (in the phrase “all shall know Me”) is the Greek word “eidō,” which means “know intuitively.”
How will we know God intuitively?
Because:
“For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more” — God is no more dealing with us based on sin. Sin has been taken care of at the cross.
Knowing this truth is what activates:
Everything hangs on this: “I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”
If this is not true, we have no claim to anything in this scripture.
Some people are afraid to preach this because their thoughts are lowly. They don’t dare to preach God’s high thoughts of forgiveness.
Let’s be courageous with the gospel.
We need to tell the world they are forgiven. Because of Jesus’ finished work at the cross, they are forgiven of their sins. But they must accept the Lord into their hearts. Their part is to choose to receive their salvation and come home.
Lastly, when we receive God’s love and forgiveness, Isaiah 55 tells us:
“Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress tree,
And instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree;
And it shall be to the LORD for a name,
For an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.”
— Isaiah 55:13 NKJV
“Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress tree” — Compare a thorn bush (slide 18) with a cypress tree (slide 19). The thorn bush speaks of the curse and the cypress tree speaks of blessing. Instead of curses, God’s blessing will be all around you.
“And instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree” — Compare a brier, also known as a nettle tree (slide 20), with a myrtle tree (slide 21). It is said the myrtle tree emits a fragrance sweeter than a rose. You will be a blessing and a joy to be around.
In closing, Pastor Prince shows a video of Jesus on the cross and encourages us not to only see His sufferings, but to think about His love behind it all.
“All we like sheep have gone astray;
We have turned, every one, to his own way;
And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.”
— Isaiah 53:6 NKJV
“the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” — the NET version gives us a powerful visual of this line: “the Lord caused the sin of all of us to attack him.” This is what really happened at the cross.
At the very thought of becoming sin for us, Jesus sweat blood. That’s how traumatizing it was for Him. How much more terrible it must have been for Him at the cross when He really became sin.
God knew there was no other way.
The Holy Spirit brought us back to the Father knowing that we would never be happy except in His arms of love.
“This coming week, the Lord bless you and the Lord keep you. The Lord make His face to shine on you and be favorable to you. The Lord lift up His countenance on you and grant to you and your families shalom-health, peace, and well-being. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and all the people say? 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 2019
These sermon notes were taken by volunteers during the service. They are not a verbatim representation of the sermon.
Sign Up for Latest Sermon Notes Updates
SubscribeTo complete the subscription process, please click on the confirmation link in the email we just sent you.
You're already in our mailing list. Thank You!