These are notes on the sermon, Supernatural Supply in Difficult Times, preached by Pastor Joseph Prince on Sunday, 10 July 2022, at The Star Performing Arts Centre, Singapore. We hope these sermon notes will be an encouragement to you!
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The Lord’s heart is always to give and bless. The law is all about demanding from you, but grace is all about giving to you. We are no longer under the law, but we are under grace. Grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. Each time we go back to Jesus, He blesses us—that is grace.
All over the world, God is moving and people are getting saved. If we solely focus on mainstream media, we may not know what God is doing because it’s not reported. When we watch the news, it is good to remember that the secular media does not accurately represent what is happening in the world. Most news outlets prioritize the bad news and rarely report the good news. It is needful for us to discern the news we read with the Spirit that is within us.
“But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him.”
—1 John 2:27 NKJV
“anointing” — This is a present continuous noun, which indicates the continuous flow and movement of God’s Spirit in you.
“you do not need that anyone teach you” — This means to not let anyone deceive you. Discern between good and bad by listening to the Spirit.
God’s Spirit abides in you, it does not come and go. Regardless of what you do, God’s Spirit is always in you as long as you believe in Jesus’ finished work. It teaches you everything you need to know, and it does not lie. When you live life following the Spirit, you will abide in Him, and you will bring forth much fruit.
Pastor Prince shares a personal experience in his teen years when he was involved in teachings that were not of God. Although they sounded positive and good in his mind, they were not from God, and he realized this thanks to the Holy Spirit’s promptings on the inside. We are not made to be ruled by our minds or natural reasoning, but we are made to live by God’s Spirit.
The soul consists of the mind, will, and emotions. You have a soul but you are not your soul. Likewise, you live in a body but you are not the body. The body is how we identify each other.
This doesn’t mean that we can forsake our bodies. We should take care of our bodies because we only have one. Take care of your body and trust the Lord for health.
The real you is the spirit, the part of you that is engaged with God and is eternal. Sometimes we may experience the feeling of deja vu, like we have already experienced a present situation. Some attribute this feeling to being psychic or other evil practices that are not of God. But as believers, we must know that this feeling comes from the Holy Spirit who is able to teach us and show us the things to come. However, the Spirit’s purpose is not to satisfy your desire for knowledge and reason. This is what the devil will try to satisfy you with.
Pastor Prince warns us to not dabble in things that are not of God, such as ouija boards. What appears is not the person who died but an evil spirit impersonating a dead person. Pastor Prince shares that these spirits can have a hold on you once you involve yourself with them, so be careful of what you let into your life.
Sometimes, we are confronted by non-believers about what we believe, and we end up trying to use logic to prove that Jesus is real. But it is actually God’s job to prove that. When we engage in conversations with non-believers, there are many ways to debate about the truth, but these debates will never end because our mortal minds cannot fully comprehend the things of God.
However, for us believers, we can say, “Even if Jesus is not real, I have lived a good life filled with peace, joy, and courage to face the future. Believing in Him has caused all my bondages to lose their hold on me. I am free and I have lived a life full of purpose and meaning. But if He is real, those who don’t believe in Him will have lost everything.”
If you are a parent, your child in their teens may start to ask difficult questions. It is important for them to learn that they will never be able to satisfy their desire for knowledge and reason, and that it is more crucial to be able to discern when the flesh is placing priority on reason over the Spirit.
This is how it should be: the Spirit leads and reason follows.
We will never be able to fully explain the things of God using human reasoning, but that does not mean we should stop following Him.
Very often, we find it easy to put our faith in the things of the world but find it difficult to believe in the things of God. For example, it is easier for us to put our trust in a pilot we’ve never seen before to get us safely to our destination than to believe that God is the one keeping us safe. We do not know what is going on in the pilot’s life but we trust his word that he will get us safely to our destination. On the other hand, we keep asking God to show us tangible things—signs and wonders—before we are able to put our trust in Him.
Friend, you must know that even the best of man can fail. In everything, we must put our trust in God. Even when you go for a surgery, you can ask God to bless your doctor with His wisdom, to show your doctor insights about your body, and to guide him in the surgery.
James 1:17 tells us that “every good and perfect gift comes from above.” God gives good gifts to everyone and perfect gifts to His children. Everyone can receive God’s wisdom because His rain of blessing falls on the just and unjust.
“I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and that no lie is of the truth.”
— 1 John 2:21 NKJV
We read God’s Word and listen to sermons not because we do not know the truth, but to confirm what we have known from listening to the Spirit within us.
In last week’s sermon, we ended with the story of Jesus multiplying the loaves and fishes.
Before the miracle, Jesus asked His disciples, “What do you have?”
We can learn many things from this story. What happens in the beginning of the Bible is a parallel of what will happen in the end (Ecc. 3:15). The events recorded in the Bible are not merely history, but they are types (‘tupos’) or patterns that we can learn from and apply today (1 Cor. 10:11).
“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? . . . But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”
—Matthew 6:24–33 NKJV
This verse shows us the things in our lives that God prioritizes.
“Is not life more than food” — Quality of life is more important than what you have. Food here represents our material possessions.
“and the body more than clothing” — Health is more important than what you put on.
God’s heart for us is to live like the birds of the air, carefree. The birds know that food will always be supplied and they continue feeding on God’s supply regardless of what is happening around them.
Friend, you are much more important to God than the birds (Matt 6:26). If God takes care of the birds, how much more will He take care of you?
When the birds sing, they are worshiping the Lord. We are all created to worship (Ps. 150:6), to keep our eyes on the Lord. When we return to what we were made for, to worship, we receive a sense of perfect fulfillment.
“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”
—Matthew 6:24 NKJV
God does not want us to prioritize mammon, which represents money and material wealth. We cannot serve both mammon and God. We have to choose one. Money makes a poor master. Some of us give up our quality of life for money. We give up time with our family for our jobs. God does not want us to live that way.
“Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?”
—Matthew 6:25 NKJV
“Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life” — The very next verse (v 25) starts with “Therefore,” which tells us that the reason some of us are full of worry and care is that we are pursuing material wealth in our hearts. We knowingly or unknowingly do not believe that God can and will provide for us.
Friend, when you live under God’s supply, all your needs are met. In fact, there will be plenty leftover for you to bless the people around you. In the miracle of the five loaves and two fishes, it is written that “He gave as much as they wanted” (John 6:11). The same Jesus that performed this miracle is the One who supplies according to your every need and want. Even when there is severe lack or famine all around you, you can trust that the Lord will not withhold His supply from you. Jesus kept on giving and giving until the people were all filled.
This is the Word of God concerning His generous supply. This is not a “prosperity” message as some may call it. God's supply is also not based on how much you can give to God. When you trust God, He will supply.
The world getting darker is a sign of the end times. Pandemics, diseases, health conditions, wars and rumors of wars are the signs of the end times. But beloved, you must know that these things are not God’s will. Just because God knows about them and is warning us about them does not mean they are His will. He is telling us of these things so that we know they do not take Him by surprise, and we can trust Him to care for us in the midst of them.
In the last few years, some churches have dissipated and some have thrived.
When one chooses to serve in the church full-time, it is not for the sake of money. In fact these people choose to trust in the Lord and take that step of faith into the ministry, and the Lord blesses them. However, nobody sees what happens before their harvest. When you look at someone’s harvest, you should ask, “What has this person sown?”
Some of us are so comfortable with the harvests from the past that we no longer prioritize God’s house. We still believe in Him and we still tune in to the preaching of His Word, but our hearts are no longer for the house of God.
Jesus is the closest to the Father’s heart. You will never know how much God loves you until you know how much He loves Jesus. If God spared not the Son that He loves so deeply, how can He not freely give you all things (Rom. 8:32)?
The world is always focused on scarcity and lack. Here’s how it operates: the more you give, the less you have. But God’s economy is like this: the more you give, the more you get.
In the story of Jesus feeding the 5,000 (John 6), the boy gave his five loaves and two small fishes in simple faith and received 12 baskets full of leftovers in return. This is something the world cannot understand. Just like Andrew’s initial response, “. . . but how far will they go among so many?”, the world cannot see what God can do with the little we have. Friend, we do not have to live like the world because we have God in our lives!
Even when we receive a bad report or find ourselves in a difficult situation, we can rely on God’s goodness in our lives. If your teenager at home is being difficult, it could be because the devil is trying to prevent them from living out their God-given calling. But do not worry, God’s hand of love and protection is still on your child’s life!
There was a time when the Israelites were held in captivity in Babylon for 70 years. This can be seen as a type of “pandemic.”
During their captivity, the prophet Daniel found a prophecy in the book of Jeremiah that Israel would only be in bondage for 70 years (Dan 9:2). We have to rely on both the Word and Spirit. The Spirit contains God’s power and the Word guides us to use His power according to His will. Record down everything that the Spirit shows you, whether it is when you’re listening to a sermon or reading the Bible. Write it down (Rev. 1:19).
When the Israelites were released after 70 years, some of them were already comfortable in Babylon and forgot God’s vision for them to be in Zion. These people represent those of us today who no longer have a heart for the church. In the end, only 42,000 Israelites returned to Jerusalem under the governor Zerubbabel.
Zerubbabel was governor but not king over Israel in order to fulfill the prophecy that there would be no more kings over Israel until Jesus. At Zerubbabel’s right hand was the high priest, Joshua. Together, they form a picture of royal priesthood.
Jesus is the King Priest and we are His royal priesthood.
What does it mean to be a king?
Ecclesiastes 8:4 tells us that “where the word of the king is, there is power.” Let us use our words wisely as the power of life and death is in the tongue (Prov. 18:21). We pray because our words have power. Sometimes our situation may seem to remain unchanged after we declare over it, but continue declaring over it. Things are happening behind the scenes.
When the Israelites returned to Jerusalem, the first thing they did was restore the Temple of Solomon. The Bible records that the young people rejoiced because they had never seen the original temple, but the older generation wept because they had seen the original temple in all its glory. Meanwhile, the Jews who remained in Babylon had lost sight of God in their lives.
When the Jews who had returned to Jerusalem began to restore the temple, they started with the altar of burnt offering, a picture of Jesus on the cross. This represents how every revival must start with returning to the cross. The preaching of the cross, in which we receive righteousness in Christ, must be central in the church.
When the Israelites were trying to rebuild the foundations of the temple (a picture of the church), the Babylonians prevented their progress by sending letters of complaint and dissent to the king. In the end, the rebuilding of the temple stopped.
This is akin to what we see on social media today—many are sharing their own opinions, whether accurate or not. We have to discern truth from lies and rely on God’s Word as the only truth.
In fact, the real reason the king decreed that the Israelites stop rebuilding the temple was because he was afraid that they would stop paying taxes to him. That was the last thing on their minds! A true Christian, who knows that his supply comes from God, will gladly pay taxes (Mark 12:17).
As a result of this interruption, the house of God was neglected for 12 years. After this time, God raised and sent to the Israelites the prophet Haggai, whose name means “my feast” in Hebrew—a picture of celebration and festivals.
“Thus speaks the Lord of hosts, saying: ‘This people says, “The time has not come, the time that the Lord’s house should be built.”’ Then the word of the Lord came by Haggai the prophet, saying, “Is it time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, and this temple to lie in ruins?” Now therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts: “Consider your ways!
You have sown much, and bring in little;
You eat, but do not have enough;
You drink, but you are not filled with drink;
You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm;
And he who earns wages,
Earns wages to put into a bag with holes.””
—Haggai 1:2–6 NKJV
Haggai never mentioned the king’s decree because that is not why the Israelites neglected God’s house. Instead, the Israelites were too busy focusing on themselves and they used the king’s decree as an excuse to neglect God’s house. They forgot to prioritize the church.
When you prioritize the church, God will back you up. He will use everything He has to watch over you and make sure you are able to carry out His plans because you are aligned with His heart. Today, God is putting all of us back in alignment with Him so that we can shine for Him.
“You have sown much, and bring in little; You eat, but do not have enough; You drink, but you are not filled with drink; You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm; And he who earns wages, Earns wages to put into a bag with holes.” — This speaks of the lack of fulfillment from the things of the world. We can have everything we want but still remain unsatisfied.
“Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Consider your ways! Go up to the mountains and bring wood and build the temple, that I may take pleasure in it and be glorified,” says the Lord. “You looked for much, but indeed it came to little; and when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why?” says the Lord of hosts. “Because of My house that is in ruins, while every one of you runs to his own house. Therefore the heavens above you withhold the dew, and the earth withholds its fruit. For I called for a drought on the land and the mountains, on the grain and the new wine and the oil, on whatever the ground brings forth, on men and livestock, and on all the labor of your hands.””
—Haggai 1:7–11 NKJV
“Lord of hosts” — The first time this name is mentioned in the Bible is when Hannah called “Messiah.” Hannah means “grace” in Hebrew. “Lord of hosts” means God of all angels who can move people, change circumstances, and protect.
Friend, when the “Lord of hosts” of all angels is for you, how can you lack? Does God worry about food or drink? He is calling you to rise above your worldly concerns and live in the heavenly realm where you can rely on Him in every situation.
“But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”
—Matthew 6:33 NKJV
Friend, the Lord of hosts will take care of what you need. He wants you to prioritize your spirit. In everything you do, know that you are the righteousness of God in Jesus Christ and seek the principles of God’s kingdom first.
God’s principles go against the logic of the world, but they always achieve the outcome the world desires. For example, when you humble yourself before the Lord, He will exalt you. When God’s hands exalt you, no one can put you down.
Back to Matthew 6:33: Our heavenly Father’s heart is to provide for us. Similar to how we want our children to be well and healthy, God wants us, His children, to live a life of abundance. This is not a bad thing! Materialism in the church is wrong, and there are churches who twist the Word of God for their own benefit. But in this church, we are talking about following Jesus’ way.
Perhaps you have encountered churches who have abused their power, but do not forsake God’s real love for you. These people do not represent God’s heart for you.
“Go up to the mountains and bring wood and build the temple, that I may take pleasure in it and be glorified” — You may feel like you do not have much to offer God, but as long as your heart is toward God’s house, He will take pleasure in it.
Many times, you will find the answers for your life in God’s house. If the Word preached in a church raised by God speaks to you and you feel at home there, support it by staying there. There are many ways to support God’s house. You can support it financially, by praying for the church, and even by simply being present!
“For I called for a drought on the land and the mountains, on the grain and the new wine and the oil, on whatever the ground brings forth, on men and livestock, and on all the labor of your hands” — In this verse, we see nine things that God brought drought on. In the Bible, the number nine is a sign of chastisement. As children of God, we are still under discipline. God is not judging you or punishing you for sin, but He is correcting you with love.
Parents should always discipline their children by reinforcing their identity in Christ. For example, instead of calling your child a liar, you can say to him or her, “You lied today, but you are a child of God. A Jesus kid tells the truth.” Children feel loved and cared for when their parents correct them.
We must understand that the universe is in God’s hands. Hence, it is important for us to align ourselves with God and everything that He has will work for us. This does not mean that Christians will never suffer, but that even in our suffering, the Lord is with us and working for us (Rom. 8:28).
““Thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘Now, ask the priests concerning the law, saying, “If one carries holy meat in the fold of his garment, and with the edge he touches bread or stew, wine or oil, or any food, will it become holy?” ’ ”
Then the priests answered and said, “No.”
And Haggai said, “If one who is unclean because of a dead body touches any of these, will it be unclean?” So the priests answered and said, “It shall be unclean.””
—Haggai 2:11–13 NKJV
According to ancient Jewish customs, the burnt offering consists of the meat and is all for God, the meal offering consists of flour and the people can partake of it, and the sin offering consists of the breast meat and it goes to those who offer it. The sin offering (where the breast meat is eaten by the offerer) is a picture of God’s love for you.
Have you been feeding on the love of Christ for you? Are you conscious that the Lord loves you? Whenever we gather in church, we can sense the tangible presence of the Lord correcting and readjusting our beliefs lovingly.
““If one carries holy meat in the fold of his garment, and with the edge he touches bread or stew, wine or oil, or any food, will it become holy?” ’ ” Then the priests answered and said, “No.”” — The edge of the garment refers to the tassel or wing of the garment, and it is a picture of healing (Mal. 4:2). This verse shows us that holiness, health, cleanness, and wholeness are not transferable under the law.
“And Haggai said, “If one who is unclean because of a dead body touches any of these, will it be unclean?” So the priests answered and said, “It shall be unclean.”” — This shows that while cleanness is not transferable under the law, uncleanness is.
Does this sound familiar to you?
“Now a certain woman had a flow of blood for twelve years, and had suffered many things from many physicians. She had spent all that she had and was no better, but rather grew worse. When she heard about Jesus, she came behind Him in the crowd and touched His garment. For she said, “If only I may touch His clothes, I shall be made well.” Immediately the fountain of her blood was dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of the affliction. And Jesus, immediately knowing in Himself that power had gone out of Him, turned around in the crowd and said, “Who touched My clothes?””
—Mark 5:25–30 NKJV
“If only I may touch His clothes, I shall be made well.” — This time, when the unholy touched the holy (Jesus), the unholy became holy.
“Jesus, immediately knowing in Himself that power had gone out of Him, turned around in the crowd and said, “Who touched My clothes?”” — Jesus turning around to look for the woman is a picture of Him welcoming us into a one-to-one, face-to-face relationship. Even Moses never saw God’s face. This woman got to look directly into Jesus’ face, and she was also the first woman Jesus called daughter (v34).
When Jesus met the woman with the issue of blood, He was on His way to heal Jairus’ daughter who died while He was on His way to her.
“Then He took the child by the hand, and said to her, “Talitha, cumi,” which is translated, “Little girl, I say to you, arise.” Immediately the girl arose and walked, for she was twelve years of age. And they were overcome with great amazement. But He commanded them strictly that no one should know it, and said that something should be given her to eat.”
—Mark 5:41–43 NKJV
This is in contrast to Haggai 2:13. Under the law, uncleanness and death could be passed on and defile a person. But death did not make Jesus unclean. Jesus came to defeat sin and death for us, once and for all. Under grace, sin and death cannot defile you.
In the world, where sin increases, judgment increases. But by God’s principle, the opposite is true—where sin increases, grace superabounds.
“Since those days, when one came to a heap of twenty ephahs, there were but ten; when one came to the wine vat to draw out fifty baths from the press, there were but twenty.”
—Haggai 2:16 NKJV
This is a picture of supernatural lack under the law.
Meanwhile, the story of the five loaves and two fishes (Mark 6:41–44) is a picture of supernatural abundance under grace. The people ate until they were satisfied.
It is so important for us to see that the food multiplied in Jesus’ hands. This means that as the disciples were giving out the food, they had to continuously return to Jesus to get more supply.
The answer is always Jesus.
We are entering a time when evil will continue to increase in the world and the news will always report more bad news. It is our choice where we put our focus on. We can choose to look to Jesus. We are entering the days when we will see supernatural supply and protection. We will see angels moving for us.
“Heavenly Father, I thank You that You love me and You sent Your son Jesus Christ to die for my sins on that cross. You raised Jesus from the dead and You justified me. Jesus Christ is my Lord and my Savior. Thank You, Father. I'm Yours forever. In Jesus name, Amen.”
“The Lord bless every one of you and every family with the blessings of father Abraham in Deuteronomy 28. When the enemy comes against you, may they flee before you seven ways. All the powers of darkness flee not because of you, but because of Jesus in you. Whatever you touch prospers and your wages will not be put into a bag full of holes.The Lord keep you and your loved ones from the COVID-19 virus and all its variants, from dengue, and from all the powers of darkness in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord smiles on you, favors you, and grants you supernatural favor in the eyes of everyone that looks on you throughout this week. And the Lord lifts up His countenance on you and grants you His shalom wellbeing and peace. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.”
During these dark and difficult times, it’s easy to feel pressured to build, secure, and preserve your livelihood, wealth, and wellbeing. Friend, God knows and understands your needs. He cares about you and your family, and He wants you to be able to live life worry-free, trusting Him to provide for you. This frees you to live a life where you are not only concerned with serving yourself, but able to serve Him and His church, which is very dear to His heart.
After hearing this sermon, if you feel the Holy Spirit prompting you to start prioritizing God’s house and assuring you that as you do so, the Lord will take care of your needs, then take that step of faith.
There are many ways you can support God’s house. If you have not been planted in a local church, perhaps you can take some time to seek a church. Listen to their teaching to see if it resonates with your spirit. Trust the Lord to lead you to a suitable church and community that edifies you in His Word and truth. If you are outside of Singapore and cannot find a local church in your area, you can consider Grace Revolution Church Online (https://gracerevonline.com/).
If you are already planted in a local church, ask the Lord to show you areas in your church that you can support. It could be helping out in the kids’ ministry, ushering people as they stream into service, welcoming newcomers and new believers, or supporting the church with finances or prayer!
As you take that step of faith to sow into God’s house, know that He takes great pleasure in it. When you give to God, you get more in return! Beloved, you can expect His supply and abundance to rain over your life when you choose to prioritize His house.
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 2022
These sermon notes were taken by volunteers during the service. They are not a verbatim representation of the sermon.
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