Speaker 1: Do you want to build your faith? Do you desire
Speaker 1: to have a true encounter with God through His Word?
Speaker 1: Then listen to Logos Rima R with Rev.
Speaker 2: Dr.
Speaker 1: Joseph Balbin, Head Pastor of Harvest Chapel International Kumasi. He
Speaker 1: is a seasoned man of God, and a teacher of
Speaker 1: the Word in its truth and simplicity. Make time with
Speaker 1: us each and every Monday to Friday at 2 p.m.
Speaker 1: on Spirit 88.3 FM as we encounter the Word of Truth.
Speaker 1: God richly bless you.
Speaker 2: And you say....
Speaker 1: Welcome to Logos Rima R with God's servant, Rev.
Speaker 2: Dr.
Speaker 1: Joseph Baalbein, Head Pastor of Harvest Chapel International Kumasi. And now,
Speaker 1: to today's message.
Speaker 2: Before we take our seats, let's go to Joshua 1
Speaker 2: verse 8. This book of the Lord shall not depart
Speaker 2: out of my mouth. But I shall meditate in it
Speaker 2: day and night, that I may observe to do according
Speaker 2: to all that is written in it. But then I
Speaker 2: will make my way prosperous, and then I will have
Speaker 2: good success. Amen. Why don't you take your seats in
Speaker 2: his presence as we continue our discourses on how best
Speaker 2: we can bring order into our given lives. Hallelujah. Hallelujah.
Speaker 2: And text or anchor scripture for the month of order
Speaker 2: in our giving is taken from Matthew chapter 6, verse 24.
Speaker 2: Matthew 6, 24. It says that no one can save
Speaker 2: two masters, for either he will hate the one and
Speaker 2: love the other, or else he will be loyal to
Speaker 2: the one. and despise the other. You cannot save God
Speaker 2: and mammon. And that's Jesus speaking. The message says that
Speaker 2: you can't worship two gods at once. Loving one god,
Speaker 2: you end up hating the other. Adoration of one feeds
Speaker 2: contempt for the other. You can't worship God and mammon. Amen.
Speaker 2: So if in the chase for my mom, let's say
Speaker 2: you own a very lucrative shop that on Sundays you
Speaker 2: make a good business. And then on Sunday during church
Speaker 2: service time, you say, oh, I'm going to open my
Speaker 2: shop because it's a festive season. So our values, that's
Speaker 2: a typical scenario. Hallelujah. Giving the choice. Should I go
Speaker 2: to church or should I open shop? All my customers
Speaker 2: say they will come on Sunday or Oh, then you
Speaker 2: are dead. Then Satan will come. No, you know something?
Speaker 2: If you go to the workplace, you make a lot
Speaker 2: of money and you pay time. Immediately that comes. Oh,
Speaker 2: God will understand. And then we sacrifice that one and
Speaker 2: decide that we'll go for chasing the spirit of Mammon. Hallelujah.
Speaker 2: So self-denial of the ungodly lifestyle and the comforts of
Speaker 2: this world. Anything that displeases God. Verse 5. He says,
Speaker 2: blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
Speaker 2: And we said meek means they are submissive to the
Speaker 2: authority of God in all their choices in life. Hallelujah.
Speaker 2: They are servant-like hearts and attitudes towards God. The meek,
Speaker 2: strength subdued. Hallelujah. When the Holy Spirit whispers, they yield
Speaker 2: and they give in to the authority of the word
Speaker 2: of God. then you are demonstrating meekness. Hallelujah. Amen. And
Speaker 2: then in verse 6, he's still correcting the attitude. He said,
Speaker 2: blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for
Speaker 2: they shall be satisfied. More or less, he's saying that
Speaker 2: God wants to see zeal and passion and enthusiasm in
Speaker 2: the children of God, in the citizens that belong to
Speaker 2: the kingdom. Amen. God wants to see excitement. I'm sure
Speaker 2: a lot of us here, we will all be watching this.
Speaker 2: Ghana Black Stars and the World Cup. And we'll be
Speaker 2: behind our screens and rooting for our people. And we'll
Speaker 2: show zeal. When there's a player on the field who
Speaker 2: is not placing, we'll say, Sano, change him, change him.
Speaker 2: As if the coach can hear us in our home.
Speaker 2: Everybody in his home say, they should change, they should change.
Speaker 2: But when it comes to the things of God, Oh,
Speaker 2: then we are flattered. Because that one, when you go
Speaker 2: and show zeal, they will say, no, they will give
Speaker 2: you names. They will give you names. You are too spirituous. No,
Speaker 2: that's not it. You have to take it. So there's
Speaker 2: no zeal. There's no enthusiasm. We can't infect. You know,
Speaker 2: enthusiasm or passion has a way of arousing people and
Speaker 2: challenging people. So if the body language is like a deitical,
Speaker 2: it's shuffling when it comes to the things of God.
Speaker 2: We infect each other. We tell people it doesn't matter.
Speaker 2: It is inconsequential to life. But if you understand where
Speaker 2: we are going, where we are going, if you understand
Speaker 2: where we are going. So if you know where we
Speaker 2: are going, like I said earlier, on church days, you
Speaker 2: will not set the worship of God aside and go
Speaker 2: and chase after the spirit of Mammon. Because you know,
Speaker 2: The first law, the first commandment. Hear, O Israel, the
Speaker 2: Lord thy God is one. Thou shalt love the Lord
Speaker 2: thy God with all thy heart, all thy soul, all
Speaker 2: thy mind, and all thy strength. And then thy neighbor
Speaker 2: as thyself. So you bring order. Sunday, I'm not opening shop.
Speaker 2: It's a day of worship for me and my household. Amen.
Speaker 2: You don't come to church and you tell the others
Speaker 2: to go and open. Hallelujah. We are all going to church.
Speaker 2: Isn't it amazing? That's what God did in the church
Speaker 2: in the wilderness, isn't it? On the Sabbath. And what
Speaker 2: did he do? He compensated them. So on Friday, what happened? Double.
Speaker 2: He said, collect double of the manna. So he compensates.
Speaker 2: It just tells us what God will do if you
Speaker 2: decide that because of my zeal, the zeal of the
Speaker 2: Lord has consumed me. Sunday, church service days, the day
Speaker 2: I have to go for the midweek, I'm closing shop,
Speaker 2: I'm going to worship the King of glory. I'm not
Speaker 2: going to allow anything. Hey, God will compensate you. Tomorrow morning,
Speaker 2: immediately you open the shop. All the people that you
Speaker 2: lost during this Wednesday evening because you went to church,
Speaker 2: God will send them. He can even send just one.
Speaker 2: What amount of sales do you make a day? He
Speaker 2: can double and triple. Just one person will come and
Speaker 2: just empty your shop. And then you'll be there. It's like, hey,
Speaker 2: what is happening? It is God. Hallelujah. It is God.
Speaker 2: He has the testimonies of people who place God first.
Speaker 2: It's such an amazing experience. Amen. He says, those that
Speaker 2: hunger and thirst for righteousness, they have desire and they
Speaker 2: have determination. They show zeal, enthusiasm in the pursuit of God. Self-denial.
Speaker 2: And they persevere. And God always says they shall be satisfied.
Speaker 2: God will satisfy them. The thirst and the quest, the
Speaker 2: hunger for God. He says he will satisfy it. Because
Speaker 2: when you find God, when you find God, look, the
Speaker 2: spirit of Mammon will recede. the spirit of Mammon will cease, recede,
Speaker 2: because you know. After all, like he says, and he
Speaker 2: challenges us through our scripture. He says, the silver and gold,
Speaker 2: they are mine. Bring me the tithes. Try me and
Speaker 2: see if I'm not going to open the windows of
Speaker 2: heaven and pour you out such blessing that you cannot be,
Speaker 2: you not have room enough to receive it. And God
Speaker 2: has all these promises in and say, more or less,
Speaker 2: in an invitation to claim it. Claim it. Let your
Speaker 2: values change. And before then, Malachi was saying it. He says,
Speaker 2: God was saying that you are robbing me. He said,
Speaker 2: what we're enticed. And then so it's more like God
Speaker 2: is challenging us that, look, you are not meditating long
Speaker 2: enough to understand who I am. Who I am. The
Speaker 2: possessor of heaven and earth. The creator of all things.
Speaker 2: But we hear it and we allow it that no, no, no.
Speaker 2: God first. He says, seek ye first the kingdom of
Speaker 2: God and his righteousness. And all these other things will
Speaker 2: be added. Amen. Let's look at 7. Let's go on.
Speaker 2: It says, blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
Speaker 2: And we talked about the attitude. We should have the
Speaker 2: attitude of kindness. Amen. Or kind-heartedness. Amen. And remember, we
Speaker 2: said it's a process. So now that we have the
Speaker 2: DNA of God, God is going to help us. It
Speaker 2: should never be. If you have heard it, you see,
Speaker 2: the irony about some of these things is that God
Speaker 2: is so kind. When we are going through the process
Speaker 2: and we are not doing very well, God will give
Speaker 2: us the feedback. So one day you will hear it.
Speaker 2: They will mention your name. They will come and pass,
Speaker 2: you know, in your in your room, in front of
Speaker 2: your room, and they'll be gossiping so loud that you'll
Speaker 2: hear it. And then they'll mention your name, Beauty. And
Speaker 2: then it's like, oh, is that me that they are
Speaker 2: gossiping about? Where's your best friend? No, God wants us
Speaker 2: to be merciful. And he says they shall receive mercy.
Speaker 2: And then I start from that. The other shade of
Speaker 2: meaning about merciful is being forgiven. Forgiving is a place
Speaker 2: where a lot of us stumble. A lot of us stumble.
Speaker 2: It's part of the old Adamic nature that we need
Speaker 2: a lot of effort to crucify and to live. Like
Speaker 2: we always say, you can't love God and love man
Speaker 2: without the heart of forgiveness. So let me say it's
Speaker 2: an urgent need. It's an urgent attitude that has to
Speaker 2: be cultivated and then demonstrated in our lives, in the
Speaker 2: construction of the new man. Because as we know, love
Speaker 2: is the overarching virtue of all the others. But love
Speaker 2: and forgiveness, they go together. God could love us because
Speaker 2: he forgave us. Without him forgiving us, and then the
Speaker 2: wrath and anger of God still hanging over our heads.
Speaker 2: No way. So God had to forgive us to love
Speaker 2: the world again. So they work. So that forgiveness thing. Look,
Speaker 2: let them say, you don't want anybody to say anything
Speaker 2: negative about you. We know sometimes the comments, it can
Speaker 2: be scoffing and cutting and piercing and disabling, but... God,
Speaker 2: that's why the Holy Spirit is in place. You talk
Speaker 2: to him about it, he will heal you. Amen. Don't
Speaker 2: allow that anger, that bitterness to fester. You won't be
Speaker 2: able to grow. Like we always say, it will clog
Speaker 2: your prayer channels. Because all that God will be saying, forgive.
Speaker 2: Just as God forgave you, forgive one another. Hallelujah. So
Speaker 2: he said, blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
Speaker 2: You remember what Jesus said? He said, if you don't
Speaker 2: forgive me, there are trespasses in one other rendition of
Speaker 2: the Lord's Prayer. He said, then God will not forgive you.
Speaker 2: And we say, oh no, it can't be true. God,
Speaker 2: you didn't forgive me. Me, I don't forgive. You are
Speaker 2: a forgiving God. Me, I can't forgive because I can't forget.
Speaker 2: You forgive first and you forget later. And when we
Speaker 2: say forget it, it's only dead people who do it. No, no.
Speaker 2: Forget that. It means it will come, but it won't
Speaker 2: disarm you. It won't pierce you. It won't bring all
Speaker 2: the pain and all the ugly spectacle when you recall
Speaker 2: or recollect what that person did to you. That's what
Speaker 2: we mean by forget. It doesn't mean that it won't
Speaker 2: come into your head. Sometimes we say, oh, no, I
Speaker 2: can't forget. You can't forget. It can recede to the
Speaker 2: recesses of your heart or mind such that when you
Speaker 2: recollect it, you can smile over it and laugh over it. Yeah,
Speaker 2: that's what it means. And until you can smile and
Speaker 2: laugh over it, it means you have not forgiven. Hallelujah.
Speaker 2: That's tough, eh? Amen. So let's be quick to forgive
Speaker 2: so that we can be able to reach out to
Speaker 2: hurting people. Let's do eight. It's a blessing that they're
Speaker 2: pure in heart for they shall see God. Pure in
Speaker 2: heart means pure thoughts. And purity has to do with
Speaker 2: our motives and intentions. Don't be a schemer. Every time
Speaker 2: you are scheming, how best you can hurt people or
Speaker 2: hit back. Pure in heart. Childlike faith and trust in God.
Speaker 2: And the whole thing about the purity is that holiness
Speaker 2: is the goal. Be holy for I am holy. And
Speaker 2: pure in heart also means abhorrence of sin. However, we
Speaker 2: know that we may trip and fall. The apostle John
Speaker 2: puts it nicely in John, he said, there is no
Speaker 2: man that sinneth not. But the distinction between the believer
Speaker 2: and the unbeliever is that, he says that what? When
Speaker 2: we sin, we do what? We repent. We don't continue
Speaker 2: on living in sin. Because the power of God, of
Speaker 2: the Holy Spirit in our life, acts as a restraint.
Speaker 2: In sin life. Because you will know within your spirit.
Speaker 2: You will never be happy. You will never be joyful.
Speaker 2: Sin will clog your prayer channel. So it more or
Speaker 2: less sin in our lives as believers. Paralyzes us. And
Speaker 2: brings a hole to our functioning. Amen. And so when
Speaker 2: you have felt it before. You don't want to go
Speaker 2: there again. That's why the antidote is the confession. And
Speaker 2: then boom. The Holy Spirit. comes back alive, and then
Speaker 2: he begins to give us his energy, then we are joyful.
Speaker 2: We can pray. We can sing. And we can be
Speaker 2: in good mood. Hallelujah. Amen. If we trip and fall,
Speaker 2: be quick in repentance. Take advantage of the grace to
Speaker 2: repent and do it. Hallelujah. Let's go on. Blessed are
Speaker 2: the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
Speaker 2: They shall become sons of God, peacemakers. They are proactive
Speaker 2: and quick to settle quarrels and disagreements. Proactive. Amen. Proactive.
Speaker 2: They take the lead. No, she's the one who hurt me.
Speaker 2: I'm waiting for her to come and apologize. If she
Speaker 2: doesn't come, okay. No. He won't say, stay in your corner.
Speaker 2: Me too, I'll be in my corner. We used to
Speaker 2: be very, very good friends, but now it's over. No. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Amen.
Speaker 2: So be proactive and quick to settle quarrels and disagreements.
Speaker 2: Love peace. Settle for peace whenever the opportunity presents itself.
Speaker 2: So sometimes you can just, I mean practically, start praying
Speaker 2: over it. Lo and behold, this person that you didn't,
Speaker 2: as you start praying over it, God will just orchestrate,
Speaker 2: you know, a taxi back to school and then lo
Speaker 2: and behold, when you open the taxi, here she is.
Speaker 2: And just the two of you are there. No interference.
Speaker 2: You say, yay. It's a setup by God. Start the conversation.
Speaker 2: How are you? How was your day? These days, we
Speaker 2: don't mean chatting crowd. Maybe in one of these days,
Speaker 2: I'll come. We can just go for a meal. God
Speaker 2: will give you something too. Amen. Hallelujah. Or if you come,
Speaker 2: the two of you come to Harvest Chapel. He says, please,
Speaker 2: when you are going for church, come and call me.
Speaker 2: You have extended that. You've not said so much in
Speaker 2: words unless settle our differences. But telling the person that
Speaker 2: come and then call me, it's like, amen. That's peacemakers.
Speaker 2: Love peace. Settle for peace. And then the last point
Speaker 2: I have here, don't prolong unduly quarrels and disagreements. There's
Speaker 2: a time for everything, isn't it, Ecclesiastes? A time for
Speaker 2: war and a time for peace. So the opportunity will come.
Speaker 2: Don't let it pass you by. Settle it. Amen. You
Speaker 2: found yourself in that place and then, I mean, maybe
Speaker 2: you went for dinner or something. And then, lo and behold,
Speaker 2: you found yourself in the same seat. It's an opportunity.
Speaker 2: Don't prolong it. Where are you going to sit? Can
Speaker 2: I sit by you? Instead of looking for another place
Speaker 2: when there's no place. And then you say, can you
Speaker 2: push that? Let me sit here. I don't want to
Speaker 2: go near the, no, look for it. God will orchestrate
Speaker 2: it all. We have seen all these things in our life.
Speaker 2: When we say you like me, it doesn't mean nobody
Speaker 2: will hurt you, but you seize the opportunity. Don't prolong
Speaker 2: unduly quarrels and disagreements. Hallelujah. Even your wife, your husband,
Speaker 2: say something. Amen. And then just diffuse the tension. Your roommates,
Speaker 2: I've told you my ordeal with my roommate that sucks.
Speaker 2: One day I'll tell you. Amen. Hallelujah. So don't prolong
Speaker 2: or deal with quarrels. Now let's look at verse 10.
Speaker 2: And he said, blessed are those persecuted for righteousness' sake.
Speaker 2: For this is the kingdom of God. Hallelujah. Amen. More
Speaker 2: or less, it's calling you. I think we'll tie it
Speaker 2: to 11 and 12. So let's read this. Blessed are
Speaker 2: you when others revile you and persecute you and alter
Speaker 2: all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.
Speaker 2: Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven.
Speaker 2: For so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. Hallelujah. Amen.
Speaker 2: And so more or less, these three verses, you know,
Speaker 2: I'm lumping them, trying to tell us that we don't
Speaker 2: have to be surprised To see people disliking, disagreeing, and
Speaker 2: insulting us on account of the values and attitudes we
Speaker 2: have embraced in this life. When you make a choice,
Speaker 2: or you make choices that bring glory and honor to God,
Speaker 2: you will attract people. persecution. That's the paradox of the gospel.
Speaker 2: Jesus said about end persecution. The Christian suffering is something
Speaker 2: that God has woven into the Christian life. You want
Speaker 2: to walk with God, you will attract persecution so long
Speaker 2: as this earth remains. There's no way everybody will like
Speaker 2: you in the workplace, in home. Remember what Jesus said?
Speaker 2: He said, I'm bringing not peace, but war. He said
Speaker 2: in the home fight, three will be against two and
Speaker 2: two against three. It's all talking about the values that
Speaker 2: the kingdom citizens want. Embrace the attitudes that they will demonstrate,
Speaker 2: the behaviors and the choices that they will make. It
Speaker 2: will attract anger and dislike. Hallelujah. Amen. But you need
Speaker 2: to be brave and courageous to endure it. Don't quit
Speaker 2: or deny God in the face of adversity. Don't, don't.
Speaker 2: And he gives us the reason why. Hallelujah. Amen. Continue,
Speaker 2: he said that Jesus says here that your reward, my
Speaker 2: reward is great. More like Jesus is incentivizing us. I
Speaker 2: know it's going to be tough. And remember he said
Speaker 2: the life that he came to live and to demonstrate.
Speaker 2: I like saying, I mean, look at Jesus Christ for
Speaker 2: you and I crowd here. You and I there, already
Speaker 2: we are guilty, you know. But Jesus Christ, he stood
Speaker 2: there and said, which of you here accuses me of wrongdoing.
Speaker 2: There's nobody. The only charge that finally stuck was that
Speaker 2: he was blaspheming God by saying that he's the son
Speaker 2: of God. That's why they crucified him. But even if
Speaker 2: they said they weren't going to crucify us, we have
Speaker 2: a lot of things that they will use to crucify us. Amen. Hallelujah. Amen.
Speaker 2: But not him. So when they are insulting us, they
Speaker 2: are justified. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. And Jesus is saying that your
Speaker 2: best behaviors rather ironically is what is going to elicit
Speaker 2: the persecution. Why? Because of the ruler of this world.
Speaker 2: And because of the values that he inculcated in us.
Speaker 2: I'm talking about the old man and his author, Satan.
Speaker 2: And what he has done to us. That's why we
Speaker 2: keep on saying the damage is substantial. There's a lot
Speaker 2: of work to be done. To deconstruct the old man.
Speaker 2: Don't underplay. That's why Jesus starts, kick starts, you know,
Speaker 2: and Matthew documents it quite early in his gospel narratives
Speaker 2: about the way that Jesus started attacking values. And encouraging
Speaker 2: God-honoring values and choices. Because He's going to change our
Speaker 2: attitudes about so many things in this life. And He
Speaker 2: keeps on bringing in where we are going. Heaven, heaven, righteousness, heaven, God, meekness,
Speaker 2: and the fruit of the Holy Spirit. Just emphasizing them. Hallelujah.
Speaker 2: And then warning us that we will be attacked. We
Speaker 2: will be persecuted. We will be pushed out. Of the
Speaker 2: conversations of men. But then be encouraged. That is by design.
Speaker 2: That is by design. Until Satan is completely dealt with.
Speaker 2: Every believer. Will suffer persecution. If you are running your
Speaker 2: Christian life. In such a way that everybody. Likes your
Speaker 2: brand of Christianity. The master's own. He wasn't like. But
Speaker 2: you your own. And then you are priding yourself. I'm
Speaker 2: better than Jesus Christ. They applaud me better. No. No.
Speaker 2: He said, if they insulted me, they will insult you.
Speaker 2: You have never received an insult as a believer. Then
Speaker 2: you have forged out your own brand. And that's what
Speaker 2: he's saying. He said, rejoice and be exceedingly glad for
Speaker 2: great is your reward in heaven. Once again, reminding us
Speaker 2: where we are going and why we have to go
Speaker 2: through what we are going. We are going to heaven.
Speaker 2: As for the heaven thing, believers, we don't like here.
Speaker 2: We want to be here on earth. And then display
Speaker 2: opulence and the spirit of mamon. Go chasing him and
Speaker 2: then when we have it all, then we'll just display
Speaker 2: it and say, oh, see what the Lord has done. Hallelujah. No.
Speaker 2: What he's saying is that don't be surprised to see
Speaker 2: people disliking, disagreeing and insulting you on account of the
Speaker 2: values and attitudes you embrace in life. The choices that
Speaker 2: you and I must make should bring glory and honor
Speaker 2: to God. Hallelujah. And when they look at that, now
Speaker 2: let me put, I put this here because it's important.
Speaker 2: The godly choices that we are talking about, the principles
Speaker 2: and the values that you are losing to run your life,
Speaker 2: they should be taken directly from the Bible and from
Speaker 2: the mouth of God. Amen. Not the philosophies of men.
Speaker 2: The values we are talking about, it's not some philosopher somewhere, social, no.
Speaker 2: When they look at the values that you have embraced
Speaker 2: and you are running your life and living amongst men,
Speaker 2: we should be able to draw a line to one
Speaker 2: of the sayings of God or Jesus or the principles
Speaker 2: in the Bible. Hallelujah. Amen. So someday you have a
Speaker 2: lot of some of these things, wise sayings, they are around.
Speaker 2: Be yourself. Like I was saying, have you seen any
Speaker 2: be yourself in the Bible before? Be like Jesus. We
Speaker 2: are destroying and discontrasting the old man's name. Be yourself.
Speaker 2: Be yourself. Don't let anybody trample on your self-esteem. Did
Speaker 2: the boss say that? Go and confront him. I'm here.
Speaker 2: I'm backing you. Hey, you don't want to know. That's
Speaker 2: not it. Hallelujah. So let's continue making those God-honoring choices
Speaker 2: and decisions. Jesus says here that your reward and my
Speaker 2: reward is great. Great in heaven. It means in the
Speaker 2: life hereafter. Great in heaven. Jesus made sure, he made
Speaker 2: sure that he tells us where that great reward will
Speaker 2: be dispensed into our lives. Great in heaven. Your rewards
Speaker 2: is great in heaven. So that, you see, Jesus is
Speaker 2: preparing us. Let's look at him. He didn't go chasing
Speaker 2: after the spirit of Mammonu, but he had a fulfilling life.
Speaker 2: He had a life where there was no lack. On
Speaker 2: the occasion when he had to pay his tithe and
Speaker 2: the Pharisees or the people confronted him that you are here,
Speaker 2: you don't pay tithe, you don't pay your tax, full tax.
Speaker 2: And then he called Peter. They asked Peter. And then
Speaker 2: when he got him, Peter said, then he asked him
Speaker 2: that question. The people of this, to whom do they contribute?
Speaker 2: Is it the citizens or the children? And he says, okay,
Speaker 2: so that they don't take offense, go into the sea,
Speaker 2: catch the first fish, open his mouth, let go, pay
Speaker 2: your tax and my tax. Amen. The needs were met
Speaker 2: just when he needed them. He was almost always more
Speaker 2: like relaxed in the arms of God. The right attitude.
Speaker 2: Else you will go chasing after the spirit of Mammon. Hallelujah. Amen.
Speaker 2: Great is your reward for so they persecuted the prophets
Speaker 2: who were before you. Hallelujah. Amen. And more or less
Speaker 2: it's trying to say we should remain faithful no matter what.
Speaker 2: Let me say this and then go. Let's get this.
Speaker 2: The Christian life is a highly sacrificial life, but joyous, peaceful,
Speaker 2: and a rewarding lifestyle. Let me make it again. The
Speaker 2: Christian life is a highly sacrificial life, which is joyous, peaceful,
Speaker 2: and a rewarding lifestyle. We are called to serve God. Amen. Very, very,
Speaker 2: very important. Call to serve. Call for sacrifice. Call for persecution.
Speaker 2: Call for great rewards. Hallelujah. Amen. And we need endurance
Speaker 2: to be able to go through all these service, sacrifice,
Speaker 2: persecution in our walk with God. You will face them.
Speaker 2: You have to serve. You have to sacrifice. We haven't
Speaker 2: been called to live a life of comfort. Hallelujah. God
Speaker 2: will provide for every legitimate need. So if for whatever
Speaker 2: reason he calls upon us to deny us a certain comfort,
Speaker 2: it is for a reason. But then because of the
Speaker 2: spirit of self-sacrifice, we say, no, I'm not going to push.
Speaker 2: I'm not going to drive myself and ask the spirit
Speaker 2: of Mammon to do that. If God says, no, no,
Speaker 2: You see why sometimes we drift away? I must go
Speaker 2: chasing after the Spirit of God. Because the Spirit of
Speaker 2: my mom will be able to help me, be able
Speaker 2: to do what we call the necessary sacrifices. No. So
Speaker 2: sometimes we hear, oh, poverty is a curse. Yeah, poverty
Speaker 2: is a curse. It came as a result of the sin,
Speaker 2: isn't it? So automatically, no. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Amen. The Bible,
Speaker 2: the New Testament believer is not applauded for poverty's sake.
Speaker 2: They are applauded for dependence on God and reliance on
Speaker 2: God to supply all our needs according to His riches
Speaker 2: in glory by Christ Jesus. Apostle Paul died with nothing,
Speaker 2: just a parchment and a cloak. But what was he?
Speaker 2: He was in exuberance. He said, I have finished my course.
Speaker 2: I have won the faith. And on occasion he says,
Speaker 2: my God shall supply all my needs according to his
Speaker 2: riches in glory by Christ. He was so assured that
Speaker 2: at any point in time, if there is a need,
Speaker 2: because he's a man on a mission for God, God
Speaker 2: will supply. Rise up on your feet.
Speaker 1: This broadcast was proudly sponsored by the Friends and Partners
Speaker 1: of Harvest Japan International Komatsu. Thank you for listening to
Speaker 1: Logoshrima Hour with Rev.
Speaker 2: Dr.
Speaker 1: Joseph Baobi. We believe that as we act on these words,
Speaker 1: God's power will transform your life.