To find out more about a Gospel Partner subscription, visit www.GospelPartner.com
Official Joseph Prince Sermon Notes

The Third Day

Sunday, 12 January 2025
 
View Slides Buy Sermon
Or get access to this sermon and over a thousand more more when you subscribe
Subscribe Now

These are notes on the sermon, The Third Day, preached by Pastor Joseph Prince on Sunday, January 12, 2025, 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 January 30, 2025. 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 sleep, Gospel Partner updates, and pastoral insights from Joseph Prince and his team.

Overview

  1. God always begins with a vision
  2. Ask of God—He desires to bless you greatly
  3. 2025: We have now stepped fully into the third day!
  4. Get ready to experience all of God’s third-day blessings and promises

God always begins with a vision

Before God does anything significant in our lives, He always starts by giving us a vision.

This is beautifully demonstrated in the way God spoke to Moses about the tabernacle. God didn’t simply command Moses to build it; instead, He took Moses up to Mount Sinai and showed him the exact blueprint and pattern that he was to follow (Exod. 25:40).

This is why the theme of the year is so important. As we step into a new year, it’s essential for us as a church to align our hearts with God’s vision and recognize what He is doing in our midst.

Although our Abba has a new theme in store for us this year, that doesn’t mean the promises and blessings associated with previous years have come to an end. God is a master builder; He always adds to what He has already established. Each theme is not meant to replace what came before but to build upon it.

Ask of God—He desires to bless you greatly

Every part of the Bible is divinely inspired, even the numbers mentioned in Scripture. Now, numbers carry profound spiritual significance and can provide deeper insights into biblical truths. For instance, the number one symbolizes unity, two represents agreement, three signifies resurrection, four points to the earth, five represents grace, and six is the number of man.

So, what does this have to do with the year 2025?

Interestingly, the number twenty-five can be derived when we multiply five by five. Since five represents grace, this serves as a powerful reminder that our heavenly Father desires to pour out an intensified measure of grace—grace upon grace—into our lives this year. We can look forward to experiencing His unmerited favor and blessings like never before!

And He wants us to boldly ask Him to bless us abundantly. This truth is powerfully illustrated in the prayer of Jabez recorded in 1 Chronicles 4:9–10 (NASB):

“Jabez was more honorable than his brothers, and his mother named him Jabez, saying, ‘Because I gave birth to him in pain.’ Now Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, ‘Oh that You would greatly bless me and extend my border, and that Your hand might be with me, and that You would keep me from harm so that it would not hurt me!’ And God brought about what he requested.”

The verses before and after this passage simply list the names of the descendants of Judah. The placement of Jabez’s prayer in the midst of this genealogy is significant. It is as if the Holy Spirit intentionally paused to focus on Jabez, a man whose name means “pain” or “sorrow.” Why? Because his prayer reveals a key to experiencing God’s blessings, even in the midst of difficulties.

In his prayer, Jabez boldly asked God for four things:

  1. “Oh that You would greatly bless me”—God’s abundant blessings
  2. “Extend my border”—Success and increase
  3. “That Your hand might be with me”—God’s favor, presence, and guidance
  4. “Keep me from harm so that it would not hurt me”—Divine protection

The phrase “greatly bless” here is translated from the Hebrew barak barak, meaning that Jabez asked God to bless him and then to bless him some more! At first glance, Jabez’s prayer might seem self-focused, but Scripture makes it clear that his prayer pleased God, who granted Jabez what he requested.

In fact, Jabez was considered “more honorable than his brothers” precisely because he turned to God and trusted Him as the source of all blessings, rather than turning to his own strength or to others for help. This shows us that our Daddy God loves it when we boldly ask of Him—it is an expression of faith that acknowledges Him as the ultimate source of every good thing in our lives.

Moreover, God’s blessings—whether provision, favor, or influence—are never meant for personal gain alone. They are always entrusted to us with a greater purpose in mind. For instance, financial blessings equip us to give generously, support outreach efforts, and meet the needs of others. When God blesses us, He is more than delighted for His blessings to overflow into the lives of those around us so that they, too, are blessed.

Far from being selfish and self-centered, praying and boldly asking God to bless us aligns with His heart of love and generosity. It also positions us to become conduits of His goodness and channels of His grace to others. So, beloved, will you pray and boldly ask of your Abba this year? Expect Him to bless you greatly, not just for your own needs, but also so that you can be a blessing to those around you!

2025: We have now stepped fully into the third day!

In this new year, I pray that you will hold on to the truth that your Father wants to greatly bless you in every aspect of your life. This will put you in good stead to fully receive and embrace the theme of 2025—The Third Day!

“For I handed down to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.”
—1 Corinthians 15:3–4 NASB

With the Lord, one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day (2 Pet. 3:8). This means that from God’s perspective, since our Lord Jesus died approximately 2,000 years ago, only two days have passed.

Now, our Lord’s resurrection is more than just a historical event; it is also a prophetic marker for our time. We are told that He rose from the dead very early in the morning on the third day (Luke 24:1–2). So spiritually speaking, we are just stepping into the beginning of the third day—a time filled with profound significance and hope, a time of revival, restoration, and resurrection life.

The prophet Hosea spoke of this in Hosea 6:2–3 (NKJV):

“After two days He will revive us; on the third day He will raise us up, that we may live in His sight. Let us know, let us pursue the knowledge of the LORD. His going forth is established as the morning; He will come to us like the rain, like the latter and former rain to the earth.”

Today, we are witnessing testimonies of spiritual revival—people turning back to God and being born again. These are signs of the promise that “after two days He will revive us.” But what about the promise that God will “raise us up”? This points to our hope in the coming rapture, when we will receive brand-new, incorruptible bodies that will never grow old, feel pain, or die.

Does this mean the rapture will happen this year? Jesus reminds us in Matthew 24:36 that no one knows the day or the hour of His return for us. However, we are called to live as though He is coming today, with the imminence of His return always paramount in our hearts and minds.

More than that, God invites us to live in His sight—to enjoy an intimate face-to-face relationship with Him, knowing that He delights in us. Religion often teaches that we must be blameless before we can walk with God. But Scripture tells us the opposite: as we walk with God, He transforms and perfects us (Gen. 17:1).

As we step fully into the third day, let us rest in the truth that God smiles upon and delights in us. This is a time to live in His presence, to walk in intimacy with Him, and to experience the revival, restoration, and resurrection life that He has promised!

Get ready to experience all of God’s third-day blessings and promises

The theme of The Third Day is also a powerful declaration of the blessings and promises God has in store for us this year. Throughout Scripture, the third day was often marked by significant moments of God moving mightily. Let’s unpack these blessings and promises, and get ready to experience them in our lives!

1. Spiritual revival and evangelism

The prophet Hosea speaks of the third day as a time of spiritual revival (Hosea 6:2). This year, God is releasing a fresh anointing for evangelism!

As you step out in faith, the Holy Spirit will empower you to draw others to Him. There will be a supernatural ease and flow when you share about Jesus, even in one-on-one conversations. Many will be saved and countless lives will be awakened to their identity in Christ. Let’s get ready for a great harvest as we walk in the power and anointing of this third-day promise!

2. Revival of marriages

In John 2, we are told there was a wedding in Cana that happened on the third day, and it was here that Jesus performed His first miracle of turning water into wine (John 2:1–11). This year, God is bringing a revival to marriages in our church!

If the passion and joy in your marriage have faded, or if married life feels like a struggle, God is inviting you to stop striving to keep your vows in your own strength. Instead, rely on His grace to empower you to love your spouse anew.

God’s heart is that we would be “intoxicated always” in our spouse’s love and the love we have for our spouse (Prov. 5:19 ESV). When you invite the Lord into your marriage, He will surely transform it and turn the water of your marriage into sweet, intoxicating wine.

3. Healing and the reversal of time’s effects

The story of Hezekiah in 2 Kings 20:4–6 demonstrates God’s heart for healing and restoration. When King Hezekiah prayed and wept before the Lord, God not only healed him so that he could go up to the house of the Lord on the third day, but God also added 15 years to Hezekiah’s life. This was accompanied by an extraordinary sign: time was reversed as the shadow on the sundial moved backward (2 Kings 20:8–11).

This year, if you are believing God for healing, know that this is your time! God is not just restoring health but also reversing the effects of time. He will renew your strength and allow you to live life as though you are many years younger so that, like Hezekiah,  you can go up to and be part of the house of the Lord today. Your Abba wants you to have both life and quality of life, and He will restore vitality to your days.

Let’s not live confined by our age or natural limitations—God is able to both accelerate time (like turning water into wine) and slow it down for our benefit. As He promises in Joel 2:25, He will restore the years that have been lost. Trust in His Word, for our God is the miracle worker, and He will do what He has spoken!

4. Provision for every need

Our Abba Father wants to be the One who provides for all our needs this year, and we see this illustrated for us in the story of Abraham and Isaac in Genesis 22.

After hearing from God, Abraham set out with a heavy heart for the land of Moriah with Issac. On the third day of their journey, Abraham lifted his eyes and saw the place where God had told him to go to offer up his son (Gen. 22:4). Yet, when they arrived, Abraham found that God had already provided a ram to take Isaac’s place. What a powerful picture of God’s provision and grace!

This year, trust your heavenly Father to meet your every need. Whether it’s financial provision, wisdom for decisions, or open doors of opportunity, He is more than able to supply “exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think” (Eph. 3:20).

5. A greater measure of favor

The third day was also when Esther experienced extraordinary favor. In Esther 5:1–3, we see Esther standing before the king, clothed in her royal robes, and finding favor in his sight. The king then extended his golden scepter to her and asked what she wished for, offering to fulfill her request even up to half the kingdom—a remarkable demonstration of the king’s favor.

This year, God is releasing a greater measure of favor in your life. Favor is not just about securing good deals or opportunities; it can also be a matter of life and death, just as it was for Esther and her people. Expect God to grant you favor with the people who matter most. Depend also on His favor to share the gospel effectively and to reach those whose hearts are far from Him.

Remember, true favor begins with keeping your eyes on the Lord. In the story of Esther above, before she entered into the king’s presence, she first put on her royal robes—a picture of our robes of righteousness in Christ. This is a reminder to us to stay righteousness-conscious, rather than sin-conscious, trusting that our Lord’s favor will go before us and open doors we could never open on our own.

Friends, let’s boldly ask our heavenly Father to greatly bless us this year. Then, get ready for Him to move mightily in every area of our lives, for He is faithful to fulfill all that He has promised. And as we step into the fullness of the third-day blessings, may God’s goodness and faithfulness shine through our lives, drawing many others to Him!

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 2025
These sermon notes were taken by volunteers during the service. They are not a verbatim representation of the sermon.


Buy Sermon

 
Get access to this sermon and over thousands
more when you subscribe
Subscribe Now

Sign Up for Latest Sermon Notes Updates

Buy Sermon
Or unlock access to this sermon and hundreds
more when you subscribe
Subscribe Now

Sign Up for Latest Sermon Notes Updates

Subscribe

Sign Up for Latest Sermon Notes Updates

No, thank you

Thank you for signing up!

Just One More Step.

To complete the subscription process, please click on the confirmation link in the email we just sent you.

You're already subscribed!

You're already in our mailing list. Thank You!

×