The Kairos Year of Right Time, Right Place—Part 2
Sunday, 15 January 2023
These are notes on the sermon, The Kairos Year of Right Time, Right Place—Part 2, preached by Pastor Joseph Prince on Sunday, 15 January 2023, 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.
It is a privilege to share the gospel with the people around us such as our friends, family, and colleagues. The best way to love the people we care about is to give them Jesus. God made us such that every part of man—spirit, soul, and body—needs Jesus and this is something that the world cannot give us.
This year, the Lord is going to place us at the right moments to share the gift of salvation with the people around us and we are going to see many salvations!
The theme of the year, the Kairos Year of Right Time, Right Place, is aligned with God’s plans and purpose for your 2023. Even your plans are within His plans for you. Follow and flow with Him! When you follow God, it will be a restful and peaceful journey. Like a boat floating along a river, His Word will carry you to experience many kairos moments. All you have to do is rest and follow the Holy Spirit’s promptings as He leads and guides you.
Pastor Prince shares a testimony about how a woman turned on the television during the lowest point of her life and encountered the gospel of grace which saved her. The Lord can place desires and promptings, like turning on the TV when you’re at your lowest, to direct you to kairos moments, favorable opportunities. Similarly, the Lord can also prompt you to reach out to someone, who might be at their lowest, to be a vessel of His love for them. When you follow these promptings, you are flowing with God!
“I returned and saw under the sun that—
The race is not to the swift,
Nor the battle to the strong,
Nor bread to the wise,
Nor riches to men of understanding,
Nor favor to men of skill;
But time (‘eth’ – ‘kairos’) and chance
happen (‘qarah’) to them all.”
—Ecclesiastes 9:11 NKJV
“But time (‘eth’ – ‘kairos’) and chance happen (‘qarah’) to them all.” — “Time” in Hebrew is “eth” and “kairos” in Greek, which means “favorable opportunity.” On the other hand, the Hebrew word for “happen” is “qarah”. Altogether, this phrase refers to right happenings orchestrated by the Lord.
Even though the world is getting darker, God has set apart a “kairos” season, a favorable season, for His people to experience His love and goodness. We can see God’s heart for His people in the story of the ten plagues in Exodus 8. In this story, God sent ten plagues as a punishment to Pharaoh for not setting the children of Israel free from slavery. Even though the plagues affected the whole of Egypt, the children of Israel were protected from every single one of them. God will do the same for us today.
“And in that day I will set apart the land of Goshen, in which My people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there, in order that you may know that I am the LORD in the midst of the land.’”
—Exodus 8:22 NKJV
“I will set apart the land of Goshen, in which My people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there” — One of the plagues was the flies that came to ruin the land of Egypt. These flies are a picture of evil spirits and the powers of darkness. For us, this means that as the world gets darker, God has set apart a place for us where no evil can touch us.
“And the LORD will make a difference between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt. So nothing shall die of all that belongs to the children of Israel.”’”
—Exodus 9:4 NKJV
“Only in the land of Goshen, where the children of Israel were, there was no hail.”
—Exodus 9:26 NKJV
Once again, we see that there is a separation between the children of God and the people of the world in the verses above. Throughout the 10 plagues, we see that God provided for the children of Israel and protected them from it as well. As we approach darker times in the world, it is important for us to take hold of our identity as God’s beloved and trust in His heart to take care of us.
“So Moses stretched out his hand toward heaven, and there was thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days. They did not see one another; nor did anyone rise from his place for three days. But all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings.”
—Exodus 10:22–23 NKJV
“But all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings” — The plague of darkness was so overwhelming that even natural light could not overcome it. So we see that the light that the children of God had was supernatural. Likewise, we need not fear when we see the things that are happening in the world today—the darkness around us will not overwhelm us because we have the light of Christ with us! Supernatural light is also a picture of having a revelation from God and He wants to fill your homes and your hearts with His light.
““I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,” says the Lord, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.””
—Revelation 1:8 NKJV
The New Testament is written in Greek, and “Alpha” and “Omega” are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. When we look at the context of this verse, we understand that Jesus was speaking to John who is Jewish. Hence, this conversation would have originally taken place in the Hebrew language.
The Hebrew words for “Alpha” and “Omega” are “Aleph (אֵ֥)” and “Tav (ת).” This would mean that Jesus would have referred to Himself in Hebrew as the “Aleph Tav (אֵ֥ת)”. We can also find this signature hidden in other parts of Scripture, where many times there is a deeper revelation or truth there.
The first mention of “Aleph Tav (אֵ֥ת),” Jesus’ signature, is in the first verse of the Bible.
Genesis 1:1 is about God creating heaven and earth. In this same verse, we see Jesus' signature "אֵ֥ת" in the center of the verse, sandwiched by three words on both sides. This is a picture of a menorah and also of how Jesus is in the center of everything—in Christ all things were created (Col. 1:16) and in Him all things are held together (Col. 1:17)!
We can also see Jesus’ signature in Ecclesiastes 9:11!
Notice how Jesus’ signature is found after the words “time and chance happened?” We see here that He("אֵ֥ת") is the One who makes time and chance happen to us!
In the Hebrew calendar, 2023 is the year 5783. Jewish rabbis teach their students to focus on the last two digits of the year—83. Hebrew numerals are expressed using Hebrew letters. Each letter also carries its own significance and meaning. For example, the number ‘5’ in Hebrew is ‘hei (ה)’, which means “grace.” The numbers ‘8’ and ‘3’ are “pe (פַ)” and “gimel (ג).” Together, they spell “pag (פַג)” which means “green fig.” The green fig is significant because our Lord Jesus used the fig tree to teach an important lesson on faith.
“Now the next day, when they had come out from Bethany, He was hungry. And seeing from afar a fig tree having leaves, He went to see if perhaps He would find something on it. When He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season (‘kairos’) for figs. In response Jesus said to it, “Let no one eat fruit from you ever again.” And His disciples heard it.”
—Mark 11:12–14
Why did Jesus curse the fig tree?
The tree in Mark 11:12–14 had “nothing but leaves.” These fig leaves are a picture of man’s self-effort and self-righteousness. Fig leaves were first mentioned in the Bible when Adam and Eve covered themselves with them after they had disobeyed God and sinned. Therefore, when Jesus cursed the fig tree, He was in typology cursing man’s self-effort and self-righteousness!
This year, do not rely on your own self-effort or self-righteousness to lead you to the right happenings or opportunities! When you focus on Jesus and dwell in His presence, you will experience “kairos” moments effortlessly.
What does “pag (פַג)” mean for us this year?
The word “pag (פַג)” only appears in the Bible once.
“My beloved spoke, and said to me:
“Rise up, my love, my fair one,
And come away.
For lo, the winter is past,
The rain is over and gone.
The flowers appear on the earth;
The time of singing has come,
And the voice of the turtledove
Is heard in our land.
The fig tree puts forth her green figs (פַג – ‘pag’),
And the vines with the tender grapes
Give a good smell.
Rise up, my love, my fair one,
And come away!”
—Song of Songs 2:10–13 NKJV
Song of Songs is a book about a bridegroom’s love for His bride. This is a picture of our Lord Jesus’ love for us, the Church.
“Rise up, my love, my fair one, And come away.” — This year, the Lord is calling you to a higher place!
“For lo, the winter is past, The rain is over and gone.” — Winter and rain are a picture of dark, bleak, and bad seasons. If the past seasons have been tough for you, this is the Lord’s encouragement to you—those seasons are over and He is leading you to a place of rejoicing this year!
“The fig tree puts forth her green figs (פַג – ‘pag’)” — When a fig tree bears green figs, “pag (פַג)”, it means that the tree will be fruitful during the harvest season that year. What this means for us in the year of “pag (פַג)” is that our harvest season is drawing near!
“Then the servant took ten of his master’s camels and departed, for all his master’s goods were in his hand. And he arose and went to Mesopotamia, to the city of Nahor. And he made his camels kneel down outside the city by a well of water at evening time, the time when women go out to draw water. Then he said, “O LORD God of my master Abraham, please give me success (‘qarah’) this day, and show kindness (‘hesed’) to my master Abraham.”
—Genesis 24:10–12 NKJV
In Genesis 24, the unnamed servant is a picture of the Holy Spirit looking for a bride for our heavenly Isaac, Jesus.
“Then Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent; and he took Rebekah and she became his wife, and he loved her. So Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.”
—Genesis 24:67 NKJV
“he loved her” — This is the second mention of love in the Bible and it speaks of Isaac’s love for Rebekah which represents Jesus’ love for the church. Isaac is a picture of Jesus while Rebekah is a picture of us as the church, the bride of Christ.
Back to verses 10–12, we see “qarah” (a favorable happening) in action when Rebekah met Abraham’s servant. Firstly, she appeared before the servant finished praying. This meant that she had already been on her journey to the well before the servant started praying. Secondly, the servant happened to be at the well during “the time when women go out to draw water.” There should have been more women around the well, and hence more potential candidates for Isaac, but only Rebekah was around that evening. These happenings could not have been planned by man, they could only be divinely orchestrated by our heavenly Abba!
“Then he said, “O LORD God of my master Abraham, please give me success (‘qarah’) this day, and show kindness (‘hesed’) to my master Abraham” — This is the first time ‘qarah’ and ‘hesed’ (grace) appear together in the Bible. This tells us that to be at the right place at the right time, we need God’s grace!
“Then the man bowed down his head and worshiped the LORD. And he said, “Blessed be the LORD God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken His mercy and His truth (‘hesed ve emet’) toward my master. As for me, being on the way, the LORD led me to the house of my master’s brethren.””
—Genesis 24:26–27 NKJV
“His mercy and His truth (‘hesed ve emet’)” — This is the first mention of the Hebrew phrase “hesed ve emet”, which also means “grace and truth” (John 1:17). This Hebrew phrase is frequently found in the Old Testament. The first mention of ‘hesed ve emet’ in this story shows us that Grace is found in the love of Jesus for His church. Be planted in the church to receive His grace. And when there is grace (‘hesed’), you will find success (‘qarah’).
The success that God gives you is so that you can be blessed, but also, so that you can build the church and support the gospel. This happens so that many will come to know Jesus as their Savior.
“And the man, wondering at her, remained silent so as to know whether the LORD had made his journey prosperous (‘tsalach’ – ‘euodoó’) or not.”
—Genesis 24:21
The first mention of prosperity in the Bible is also in this chapter about Jesus and His church, and the Greek word for prosperity is ‘euodoó,’ which means:
True success is about the journey that we take, not just the destination. The Lord wants to prosper you during your journey—learn to enjoy where you are, not just when you’ve reached your goal! In this “kairos” year, you will experience the right happenings not merely as events that will happen, but it will be a favorable journey, filled with many quality “kairos” moments.
“So it was, when the camels had finished drinking, that the man took a golden nose ring weighing half a shekel, and two bracelets for her wrists weighing ten shekels of gold”
—Genesis 24:22 NKJV
The gifts that the unnamed servant gave to Rebekah are a picture of the gifts of the Holy Spirit that God will give to us, the Church.
“golden nose ring” — The golden nose ring represents the gift of discernment. We know this from Isaiah 11:3 (KJV) where it says: “And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the LORD . . .” The Hebrew word for “quick understanding” is “rîaḥ”, which also means smell.
With this gift, you will be able to discern between what is evil and good, but you will also be able to discern people’s spirits—their intentions and what’s in their hearts. This is not something for you to deserve, but a grace gift from God!
“Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word. But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.” And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.””
—Luke 10:38–42 NKJV
“you are worried and troubled about many things” — Many of us are like Martha, we are troubled about many things such as our families, career, and the demands of everyday life.
“But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part,” — The Greek translation for the word “chosen” is “eklegomai” which means ‘to choose/take out of many’. This means that even in the midst of all that is happening around us, whether it’s our responsibilities, cares, or concerns, the Lord wants us to choose the one thing needful, which is to remain seated at His feet and to spend time in His Word.
“which will not be taken away from her” — When you choose to remain at Jesus’ feet and listen to His Word, nothing can take away that portion from you!
Choose to sit at Jesus’ feet every day and let your soul delight itself in His Word (Isa. 55:2–3 KJV). The Bible often describes the sense of fulfillment that comes from spending time in the Word as ‘fatness,’ ‘butter,’ and ‘oil’ (Isa. 55:2–3, Job 29:6). This is a picture of Jesus’ anointing flowing into every area of your life as you receive from His Word.
More than anointing, when you remain seated at Jesus’ feet as Mary did, you will be at the right place at the right time. Because Mary had spent that time in the Lord’s presence, she was the only person who was led to anoint the Lord Jesus for His burial (John 12:1–8).
Going back to Luke 10, even though Martha was distracted with much serving and even complaining to the Lord, the Bible records that when she approached Jesus, she went to a higher place!
" . . . And she went up to him. . . "
—Luke 10:40 ESV
“. . . and coming up she said. . . ”
—Luke 10:40 DARBY
“. . . and she came up to Him. . . ”
—Luke 10:40 NASB
Referring to Song of Songs 2:10–13, “Rise up, my fair one . . .”, this is how you rise up from your troubles—by rising up to where the Lord is. Just like Martha, when you approach Jesus, when you choose to spend time in His presence, you are rising above your worries and distractions.
"Heavenly Father, I confess, Jesus Christ is now my Lord and my Savior. He died on the cross for all my sins and You raised Him from the dead. I am righteous, not guilty, by the blood of Jesus on the cross. Thank you, Father. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”
“This coming week, Lord, grant Your people all the blessings that have been shared in this sermon. I pray that before they call, You'll answer, in many areas this week. Place them at the right time and place to meet an old friend, colleague, relative, or even someone new. Lord, open doors of opportunity for them this week. Grant them and their families kairos, and place them at the right place and time throughout this week. In Jesus’ name, 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 2023
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!