This set of sermon notes covers the main points of the sermon, More Restoration is Coming!, preached by Pastor Prince on Sunday, 19 February 2023. We encourage you to listen to the full sermon to find out more, and receive God’s Word in season for yourself!
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Pastor Prince starts with a reminder that every delay, every seeming setback, or redirection you experience is the Lord keeping you safe, and repositioning you for His purpose and for your good. Romans 8:28 tell us that God makes all things work together for your good, even when things may seem to be going against you (such as delays). He is always keeping you safe, and positioning you to be at the right time and at the right place.
“Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.”
—2 Corinthians 6:2 NKJV
God’s kairos time is only found in the present. He doesn’t want us living in the future, experiencing worry, or caught in the regrets of the past. Whatever answer you need is in the now, in the present, as you seek Him.
“accepted time” — The Greek translation for this phrase is “dektos kairos,” which refers to a favorable time when the free favors of God profusely abound. In this kairos year of right time right place, God’s grace is profusely abounding towards us!
This is what the Lord placed on Pastor Prince’s heart for the church this year:
Whatever that has been stolen, scammed, or cheated from you, God wants to restore them to you this year! Restoration is part of what God wants to do in this Kairos Year of Right Time, Right Place!
This is true, even if it's something you’ve lost because of your own mistakes. The Lord can make all things (even our mistakes) work together for good (Rom. 8:28).
(Pastor Prince refers to this sermon he preached in the past: “Will God Still Help Us In Troubles Of Our Own Making?”)
“Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time. . .”
—1 Peter 5:6 NKJV
It takes humility to admit our own mistakes and weaknesses. Man’s fallen nature causes him to cover up these areas of our lives because it makes us feel less, and we try to make up for them. But God’s way is that when we recognize and accept our mistakes and weaknesses before Him, He is able to release grace into these areas of our lives. Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 12:9, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.”
Paul is referring to the Lord’s grace and strength being magnified not just the weaknesses in our past, but in the weaknesses that we are currently struggling with.
The secular world has a saying that goes “God only helps those who help themselves.” But that is far from the truth! It is precisely when we go before God with our mistakes and weaknesses, rid of our own efforts, that God is able to manifest His grace in our lives. His strength, and the redeeming power of the cross, is magnified in our weaknesses (2 Cor 12:9).
When we depend on God instead of our own self-effort, we do not remain in our weaknesses and mistakes, we will begin to experience breakthroughs and restoration in our lives supernaturally, and restfully.
2 Kings 8:1–6 is a beautiful picture of God who is able to lead us to the right time and right place to bless us with restoration and much more in our lives!
“Then Elisha spoke to the woman whose son he had restored to life, saying, ‘Arise and go, you and your household, and stay wherever you can; for the Lord has called for a famine, and furthermore, it will come upon the land for seven years.’
So the woman arose and did according to the saying of the man of God, and she went with her household and dwelt in the land of the Philistines seven years. It came to pass, at the end of seven years, that the woman returned from the land of the Philistines; and she went to make an appeal to the king for her house and for her land. Then the king talked with Gehazi, the servant of the man of God, saying, ‘Tell me, please, all the great things Elisha has done.’ Now it happened, as he was telling the king how he had restored the dead to life, that there was the woman whose son he had restored to life, appealing to the king for her house and for her land. And Gehazi said, ‘My lord, O king, this is the woman, and this is her son whom Elisha restored to life.’
And when the king asked the woman, she told him. So the king appointed a certain officer for her, saying, ‘Restore all that was hers, and all the proceeds of the field from the day that she left the land until now.’”
— 2 Kings 8:1–6 NKJV
This story takes place during a famine, much like the times we are living in today. So we know that this is a word in season for us. Elisha’s ministry also typifies the dispensation of grace that we are under today.
In 2 Kings 8:1–6, Elisha goes to this Shunammite woman to advise her to move away to another place to stay because the land that she was living in was about to enter a season of famine. When the famine ended, the woman returned to find her land and her house occupied by others. Thus she went to seek the king to make an appeal.
At that time, the king was inquiring about the great works of Elisha. Elisha’s servant, Gehazi, was recounting to the king how Elisha raised a woman’s dead son to life (2 Kings 4:8–37). At that exact moment, that Shunammite woman entered the palace to make her appeal. Gehazi then identified her as the woman whose son Elisha had restored to life.
Because of this kairos moment, the woman had the opportunity to share with the king all that Elisha had done for her and her son. After hearing her story, not only did the king grant her appeal for her land, but he also restored all the profits of her land during the seven years of famine that she was away.
In the same way, through appointed kairos moments this year, the Lord will bring about restoration in the areas of your life where you have experienced loss in. More than finances and provision, whether you’ve lost a loved one, a relationship, or even your sense of closeness with God, this year, the Lord wants to situate you for restoration and much more in every area of your life!
If there are some of you reading this or watching this sermon who feel like there has been loss in your life, especially that sense of closeness with the presence of God—He will restore to you that sense of intimacy with Him that you feel like you’ve missed for so long.
As we look forward to receiving His restoration, God wants us to look forward to what He will do, rather than to dwell on “the good old days,” things of the past that seem to be better (Ecc. 7:10). God’s promise is that He has better things in store for us (Isa. 43:18–21).
In the Bible, there are 5 levitical offerings. Pastor Prince has shared how these offerings typify the work of Jesus at the cross. One of these is the guilt offering, which is offered when the person offering the sacrifice has sinned by trespassing against the Lord and others. The sinner who brought the guilt offering not only has to restore what was stolen, but in addition to that, he has to pay back one-fifth on top of what he has stolen in order to be rid of the guilt that comes with sinning (Lev. 6:4–6).
Here, we see the law of restoration/restitution where the victim comes away with more than he lost. How does this apply to us today?
Through the divine exchange that took place at the cross, the Lord Jesus became our substitute and was judged in our place for every trespass we committed so that we can freely receive every blessing of God, including the blessing of restoration. He took the place of the one who trespassed or did wrong, and we the ones who actually did the wrong took the place of the innocent and the one being restored to!
We see this in the messianic psalm. . .
“They that hate me without a cause . . .
then I restored that which I took not away.”
—Psalm 69:4 KJV
Jesus also quoted this verse in the upper room, referring to Himself (John 15:25).
Naturally, when man tries to restore or repair something, it’s not as good as the original. But when God restores and repairs, it is always better in quality or quantity!
For example, the woman in 2 Kings 8, did not just get back what she lost, she got much more which she did not deserve! Separately, when David lost his first son with Bathsheba (as a result of God’s judgment), God restored to him another son (Solomon) who was the appointed king after David and the wisest man who lived apart from our Lord.
“But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.”
—Romans 5:8–10 NKJV
In Romans 5, the phrase “much more” is mentioned 5 times, telling us that the work of Jesus in redemption is “much more” than the sin of Adam/mankind, in every way. Even though Adam fell, God was able to restore to him/mankind an unshakable foundation of redemption and God’s righteousness. This much-more restoration gives us such a confident assurance of faith in His ability to redeem us, rather than if it were contingent on Adam and man’s ability to keep God’s commandment.
More than just being justified and saved from wrath, Jesus’ finished work on the cross restores our relationship with God and gives us access to His abundant life. We can receive His life in our bodies, our minds, and in every area of our lives. Whatever situation you are in now, you can look beyond what you see in the natural by taking hold of this truth that God is able to provide and bless you abundantly with much more!
We see this “much more” characteristic of the Lord in these stories. He uses the little in our hands to accomplish much more!
Beyond what you see in the natural, start depending on God to provide for you when you come to Him and offer Him with what little strength or abilities you may have. As you do so, you’ll begin to see Him do a “much-more” restoration/takeover in your life.
Jesus never confesses the situation based on what He saw naturally. He only confesses the truth! In your situation, start seeing the “much more” just like how Jesus did in these stories.
Beloved, what is it that you need more in your situation? Is it more favor with the people around you, more courage to step into what God has called you to, financial provision for you and your family, or restoration for things that you have lost? Beloved, these are things that God wants to bless you with. When you come before God with what you have, no matter how small or little, He is able to use it to bless you abundantly!
If you’ve ever found yourself in a discouraging situation because of a mistake or something that was your fault, God wants you to know this: Your failure isn’t final. When you recognize and accept your mistakes and weaknesses before God, He is able to release grace into these areas of your lives. He can restore much more to you, even if it’s a mistake of your own doing.
Really?
“He makes all things (including your mistakes) work together for good to those who love God . . . ”
—Romans 8:28 NKJV
That means that if you’re suffering from a health challenge because of a bad habit, a career setback because of a decision you’ve made, or even strife in your relationships because of something hurtful you’ve said . . . He is able to turn things around and restore you in those areas. Friend, I want you to know something about God’s kind of restoration: Whatever He restores is always better in quality or quantity.
As you listen to this timely message, we hope that you will catch a glimpse of the Lord’s deep desire to restore so much more to you!
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 2023
These sermon notes were taken by volunteers during the service. They are not a verbatim representation of the sermon.
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