These are notes on the sermon, Live With A Heavenly Perspective, preached by Pastor Joseph Prince on Sunday, January 21, 2024, at The Star Performing Arts Centre, Singapore. We hope these sermon notes will be an encouragement to you!
This sermon will be available for free as a Gospel Partner episode on February 8, 2024. You can get access to this sermon now through a Gospel Partner subscription or simply purchase the sermon.
Sign up here to receive exclusive access to a masterclass on healing, Gospel Partner updates, and pastoral insights from Joseph Prince and his team.
This sermon is a continuation of last week’s sermon about the theme of the year, The Year Of Living In The Upper Room.
This year, God has revealed that He wants us to be more conscious of what it means to live in the upper room, which is a picture of us living under His grace. In Mark 14:15, the upper room is described as a large place that is fully furnished and prepared. This year, we can expect to enjoy more of the blessings that are ours as a result of our Lord Jesus’ finished work, blessings that He has already prepared for us!
As believers, the upper room is not a place we need to get to. It’s where we are already at. But we need to be grounded in this and the other truths about the upper room so that we can be blessed, strengthened, and protected, especially in these last days. It’s not just about us knowing that we are already in the upper room, but about establishing these truths in our hearts, minds, and consciousness, and living in our true identity as sons and daughters of the Most High God!
So, how are we to live in the upper room?
It begins with owning our position in Christ.
For new covenant believers, the idea of being in the upper room is a picture of us seated with our Lord Jesus in the “heavenly places.”
“But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places (“upper heavenlies” in Greek) in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.”
—Ephesians 2:4–7 NKJV
We were all dead in sin but our Lord Jesus saved us by His grace when He went to the cross and took our sins upon Himself. When He died, our old man died with Him. And when He rose again on the third day, we were resurrected with Him!
“God . . . has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.”
—Hebrews 1:2–3 NKJV
Our Lord Jesus was not raised because He’s the beloved Son of God. That, He always is. He was raised because of our being declared righteous as a result of His perfect, finished work (Rom. 4:25). Today, He’s seated at the right hand of the Father after having purged our sins once for all! Today, God sees us as righteous as His Son. Today, He sees us in Christ, and as Christ is, so are we. This is why we can boldly come to His throne of grace!
Now, what does it mean to be in Christ?
In the spirit, we were crucified with Christ, died with Christ, was buried, and resurrected with Christ. Our spirits have been renewed. Today, we look forward to the rapture (a truth that was revealed personally by the Lord in the upper room), where we will receive our bodily redemption!
Pastor Prince shares an analogy of a pen tucked inside a Bible to illustrate what it means to be “in Christ Jesus.” If the Bible is brought to a high mountain, the pen will be found in that Bible on the mountain. Wherever that Bible is, the pen will also be there. Likewise, God put us in Christ when our Lord Jesus was crucified at the cross. And where He is, so are we! Since Christ is seated at the right hand of the Father, in the upper heavenlies, then that is also where we are!
Beloved, even when you fall short today, it does not change your righteous identity in our Lord Jesus. You are still seated with Christ. At the cross, He paid the price for all our sins—past, present, and future. This does not mean that we can or should live steep in sin.
Instead, we overcome every failure and every destructive habit in our lives when we hold fast to who we truly are in Christ and remain seated with Him in the heavenly places. The more we see ourselves in Him and walk in the fullness of this identity, the more we can overcome the challenges and weaknesses we face!
God’s desire is for us to live a victorious life here on earth as we await the rapture. To live this victorious life, we need to have a heavenly perspective. Living heavenly minded is knowing that because of Christ’s finished work at the cross, you are already in the upper room. And that today, you are in Christ and seated with Christ at the heavenly places!
When we live with such a mentality, it affects a) how we see our problems, b) what we say, c) and even how we pray!
How so?
We are citizens of heaven living on this earth (Phil. 3:20). This means that even though we live on this earth and face earthly troubles, we do not need to conform to the patterns of this earth.
As a result of our daily grind, many of us have forgotten our true identities in Christ and where we are seated. And we try to solve our problems with our own efforts and methods (e.g. trying to suppress our anger or a bad habit with our own strength and willpower), only to find that it yields little results.
But the Christian life is not about us trying to be and do the good we desire. We cannot depend on our flesh to bring about the outcomes we want. In fact, our flesh has wildly extreme tendencies! Just take a look at Peter’s story in John 13.
When the Lord wanted to wash Peter’s feet, Peter was reticent and coy, refusing to allow the Lord to do it and denying the Lord His service of love. Yet, after the Lord said, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me” (John 13:8), Peter’s response to the Lord swung to the other extreme, asking the Lord to wash not just his feet but his hands and head as well (verse 9). This example demonstrates the weakness that is in our flesh, that in and of ourselves, we are never in sync with God.
Instead of dealing with our problems by relying on our flesh and might, God’s heart is for us to attend to our problems by first being conscious of who we are in Christ, and that we are seated with Christ in the heavenly places. We do not need to respond to our problems the way the world does.
Pastor Prince underscores this point by sharing a testimony about a young man who was trying to overcome his problem with lust. The man tried his best not to give in to temptation yet found himself failing time and time again. Helpless, he approached a pastor for help. And this was what the pastor said:
“You’re approaching the whole thing wrong. You do not know who you are in Christ. You’re approaching your struggle like a mere mortal being, trying to suppress his sinful tendencies, trying to overcome his bad habits . . . Therefore, you’re doomed to repeat it. Because there is no hope in the flesh! You have been crucified with Christ. The part of you that’s causing you to sin is your flesh. But you are no longer in the flesh. You are now in the spirit! “
The pastor then encouraged the man to see himself dead to his sins and seated with Christ, far above his sins and addiction. Because of this change in perspective, the man experienced victory!
The lesson for us here is that real and lasting fruit comes when the Lord provides an inside-out transformation. The way to battle our challenges or even addictions is not by trying with our self-efforts or trying to stick to strict rules we’ve set for ourselves, but by allowing the Lord to work in and through us, and by being led by the Holy Spirit to see, do, and say the right things at the right time. That’s how we can live the abundant life that our Lord Jesus has called us to.
So, start seeing yourself the way God sees you! Come back to the word of God and renew your mind to who you really are! You are already complete in Christ. Because of our Lord Jesus’ finished work at the cross, you are no longer in the flesh but in the Spirit (Rom. 8:9)!
Whenever you are faced with an issue, be conscious of who you are in Christ and see your problems beneath you. Dissociate yourself from your situation or your weakness so that you can have the right perspective of that situation and yourself, and receive God’s wisdom to handle the situation. As citizens of heaven, we also have all the resources we need from God to deal with the troubles we face here on earth!
“Which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.”
—Ephesians 1:20–21 NKJV
Just as God raised Christ far above all principality, power, might, dominion, and every name that is named, so are we far above every sickness, every disease, every lack, every kind of fear, depression, addiction, and every negative situation. What is it that’s troubling you today? Stay seated in your position in Christ and begin to rise above your troubles!
Because you have all this authority vested in you by the Lord, your words carry power.
Remember that you are a joint heir with Christ (Rom. 8:17), and through our Lord Jesus, God has given you authority as a king and a priest (Rev. 1:5–6). The Bible tells us that where the word of a king is, there is power (Eccl. 8:4)!
So beloved, be careful of what you’re saying about your troubles today.
God gave us this power to edify and build up, not to abuse or tear down. This applies to how we treat others and ourselves. Many of us are quick to speak negative things or even death over our situations . . . Proverbs 18:21 tells us that death and life are in the power of the tongue. What you say will come to pass (Mark 11:23). Use your God-given authority to speak life and what you desire to see over yourself, your situations, and the people around you!
We can see how conscious we are of our position in Christ by how we pray. How do you pray? Where do you see God when you pray? Is He a distant Father to you, or are you conscious of your nearness to Him?
When we pray from a distance (e.g. “Oh Father in heaven!”), or when we pray pleading prayers (e.g. "Oh God, please heal my child!"), we are negating the truth of Christ’s finished work at the cross and denying that we’re actually seated with God in His throne room. This is why we won’t see results when we pray such prayers, because the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth (John 16:13), and He can only bear witness to truth.
How, then, should we pray? Our Lord Jesus best modeled it for us in John 11. Before Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, He prayed this prayer to His Father:
“Then Jesus looked up and said, ‘Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. And I know that You always hear me.’”
—John 11:41–42 NKJV
This is how we should be praying, from a place of closeness and consciousness that God always hears us!
Besides knowing, receiving, and internalizing the truths about the upper room, we are to:
1. Be expectant
“But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places (“upper heavenlies” in Greek) in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.”
—Ephesians 2:4–7 NKJV
This year, as we remain seated with Christ, He is going to show us the exceeding riches of His grace! The Lord does not want us to be troubled or bogged down by the things happening around us. Instead, He wants us to have an expectant attitude as we wait to see Him pour forth His unearned and undeserved favor in our lives!
2. Be at rest
Being seated with Christ also speaks of a posture of rest. God wants us to be positioned and established where He has placed us, in Christ Jesus.
Some of us might find it hard to remain seated or rest in the midst of our challenges . . . But here’s the Lord’s assurance to us:
“Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool.”
—Hebrews 1:13 NKJV
“Then she said, ‘Sit still, my daughter, until you know how the matter will turn out; for the man will not rest until he has concluded the matter this day.’”
—Ruth 3:18 NKJV
God loves us, and He wants us to remain seated in His love while He fights our battles for us. When we rest, God works!
Now, please understand that resting in the Lord is not being lazy or irresponsible. Resting in the Lord is acknowledging His sovereignty and power to bring about successful outcomes in whatever we are facing. And as we rest and get in sync with the Lord, we will be guided and led to do the right thing at the right time.
So my friend, rest because He is bigger than any trouble you might be facing. Whether it’s strife in your marriage, a health condition, or a challenge at your workplace, He has promised that He will not rest until He has made your enemies your footstool. So beloved, sit still and see the Lord fight for 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 2024
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!
