Transcription
You are welcome in Jesus' name. Uh, we please opened our Bibles to the book of Daniel, chapter 11, verse 32, and we'll be looking specifically at the second part of that scripture, Daniel chapter 11, 32b.
[Music]
And today, we are speaking on the prize you must pay to achieve great things. The prize you must pay to achieve great things. Daniel chapter 11, verse 32b. I'll read first from the Living Bible. He says, "But the people who know their God shall be strong and do great things." And God's Word's translation, God's Word's demonstration, it says, "But the people who know their God will be strong and take action." Will be strong and take action.
So, we see from the New King James Version, he says, "The people who know their God shall be strong and carry out great exploits." Now, great exploits is referring to great things, great achievements, uncommon results, uncommon success, uncommon victories. Now, in the last message, it was shared on this series, on the roadmap to great achievement, it became obvious that there are a lot of correlations and identical insights that will be very, very necessary for us to be aware of. From the study on the book, The Bible Code, there is a prize you must pay for great things to happen. There's a prize.
So, let's quickly look at an incident here in Mark chapter 10. You'll see something is a big blessing to us, a big lesson to us. Mark chapter 10. There is a prize you must pay to get the best in life, from common results for the greatest rewards that you could ever receive. There's a prize. Mark 10. And we're looking specifically at 17-31. This man was already in the crowd that was going out to listen to Jesus from time to time. So, when Jesus is saying, then when you have, if you can pass this test, if you can do this thing I'm asking you to do, this is what will happen. This is a guaranteed reward. Then, haven't even beyond it, you from the moment you have obeyed me, come and follow me. Now, certain things will begin to happen from the moment he would have come and followed Jesus. But Jesus wasn't going to tell him those things. He wasn't going to tell him those things.
Unfortunately, unfortunately, even when this man that was seen to be so [Music] eager over what he wanted, now that he found just one key, one step to take to receive it, the Bible tells us in verse 22 that a man was upset when Jesus told him to give away his money. He was upset when Jesus told him to give away his money. Give away that boyfriend, give away that man friend, give away that ungodly business of yours, give away your pride, give away that negative character attitude that has been repeatedly identified with you, give away that which amounts so, so much to you. The man was upset when Jesus, not just a man of God, but Jesus himself, the Son of God, speaking, told him what to do. One last step, and it was going to be a one-off, one-off action, one act of obedience. Said, but the man was upset when Jesus told him to give away his money. He didn't want to do this.
And sometimes, take note of this, what you need to do to achieve that great thing, to get that outstanding result that you desire, will be something you don't want to do. Sometimes it could be a new dimension of diet that you, you don't want to, you don't want to get yourself involved with, certainly not on a consistent basis, even for six months. So, the reason why many people have not succeeded today, the reason why many people have not gone higher, is because what they are supposed to do, they are unwilling to do it. What they must do to be promoted, they are unwilling to do it. He didn't want to do this because he was very rich, so he went away sad.
Now, you know the interesting thing today? Today is here. Is there any information now showing a particular family on the surface of this earth that is wealthy, and whose wealth can be traced, can be traced to a succession of family heritage that originally started from this man? Whatever wealth this man had, that wealth, if even if he handed it over to his children, that wealth eventually fizzled out. The wealth fizzled out at a point in time. You know, this man had so much, this man had so much. Even if it was in raw cash, at a point in time, that raw cash was no longer available. If this man's wealth was in real estate, at a point in time, if it was land ownership, that land ownership changed hands because land will always be there. Ownership of the land eventually changed hands. And the man who had so much land today, when we look at the same territory that constituted his, you know, his world in real estate in the form of land, that land obviously does not belong to a family that is traceable to him. That land has gone into the hands of other people. And, you know, the moment he did this, his wealth no longer enjoyed, no longer they enjoyed the cover, the cover of the Most High God, the special blessing and grace of God that evidently comes with a man operating in obedience. That was no longer there upon whatever constituted his wealth. The Bible says he didn't want to do this, so because he was so rich, so he went away sad. And he never returned. He went away sad.
The price, the price, the price you need to pay is something you continue to argue about. The price is something you continue to justify yourself. You continue to give reasons why you shouldn't, you ought not to pay that price to achieve or receive that same thing. There's always a feeling that you can, you know, you ought to still be able to get this thing without paying the price. And this is where it is tricky. This is where we need to be careful because when we are dealing with things that come from God, the price that God will demand from, from me, may be different. Not maybe, would be different from the price He would demand from another [Music] disciple of Christ. And sometimes you will wish that the price God asked me to pay, it will also be the price He will ask you to pay. But for you, your instruction may be different. Your instruction may be different.
In Genesis chapter 22, when God was going to test Abraham, Genesis chapter 22, verse 1, the Lord came to him and told him, he said, "Go, take your beloved son, Isaac, and go and sacrifice him on the mountain." And I will show you. God didn't tell Abraham to sell everything he had, give to the poor, and then come back. God gave Abraham a different test. He gave Abraham a different instruction. When Job was going to be subjected to a test, he was subjected to a test of affliction. His own was going to be in the area of affliction. Satan was now giving an open door to afflict him materially, afflict him financially, and then begin to afflict the people that were around him, and ultimately afflict even his own health. That was his own test. But in all of that affliction, Job never raised his voice against God, unlike his wife, who actually told him to curse God and die. And in the height of the affliction and the trials, the man went away sad. Why are you going away sad? You have long had a dream. You have long had a strong burning desire. And now you are fortunate. You remember what I told you that when we did a study on the power of desperation, it was then we discovered the most difficult step to success. Finding out that effective thing that if only you can do it, once you do it, the result will happen because a desperate man is already on a level to do anything to get that goal achieved. This man was not desperate. This man was not desperate. And that was why he lost out. One of the reasons, you know, we, we may not get certain things that we could have, is because, you know, we are not desperate to pay the exact price. We are not desperate to pay the exact price. We are not desperate to pay Jesus Christ to get that thing achieved. He went away, even though he had discovered what he needed to do, and he had all the power to do what Jesus told him to do. He had all the power. You know, one thing this man also did not realize, you know, God is, is, He is an awesome God. You know, I can tell you this from my knowledge of the workings of God. For a hundred people, for a hundred people that God will ever give this kind of instruction in this same kind of context, now I can tell you that for a hundred that will obey, I can tell you that in the process of time, after giving out all that they had, I would, I'm telling you this, that some of them, and I think this should be nothing less than, you know, 20 percent of them, would surprisingly, unto their surprise, receive back and something even more than what they had given out sacrificially. But God will not tell you that what He's asking you to do, give out now, He's going to give it back to you. Because if He says that, then everybody will obey. Everybody will obey. But I know from all instances of God's workings that there will always be some people that God, even though He didn't tell them He was going to restore all, He told them to give out. Now, let me, let me give you an example. God told Abraham, "Go and sacrifice Isaac." I, God, Abraham ended up not even sacrificing Isaac, but he didn't know that something was going to happen in that light. He ended up not, but he fulfilled the act of obedience. The moment he tied up Isaac, the moment he took Isaac to the mountain to be sacrificed, then the final moment where he raised his hand with a knife in his hand, that was, that was the final proof, the final proof of his obedience. He did not need to drop that knife because if not for the voice of God that said, "Abraham, don't slay your son," that knife would have gone down on Isaac. But he ended up, Isaac did not eventually die. May God give you the grace to obey in the name of Jesus. In the name of Jesus.
The followers we are even more amazed and said to each other, "Then who can be saved?" Jesus looked at them and said, "That is something people cannot do." Hello? Yes, some of these things ordinarily, we may not be able to do them, but with the grace of God, we can do all things. He said, "But God can. He can do anything." So, if God gives us the grace, then we can do it. You are in an environment where, you know, character is a major factor as to who goes higher. When you begin to pray, "Lord, give me the grace to conduct myself well in agreement with their, with their code and conduct. Give me the grace to submit to my husband. Give me the grace to love and care at all times for my spouse. Give me the grace, O God, to be honest as a staff." That's a prayer that must be answered. So, when God hears that kind of prayer from you, He will answer the prayer. Can somebody say amen?
The prize talks about sacrifice. The sacrifice you need to make in order to get something you desire. And I quickly break it down on the prize. So, this, this issue of the prize will be clear. One, the prize is what it will cost you to realize your desire. What it will cost you. The amount of time you must give to it. What it will cost you. The amount of time you must give to it. The energy. When you, you know, some people have energy, but there is no ambition. There is no, there's no great goal or target ahead of them. So, the energy is wasting. And some have ambition, but there's no energy. They have a great goal ahead of them, but there is no drive. There is no serious effort. There is no determination to get to achieve, to get to that, to do what is necessary to achieve that great goal. You know, focus generates momentum. Focus generates momentum. And when momentum is extremely high, you become unstoppable. Nothing becomes unstoppable. What it will cost you involves the money you would have to spend in the process of obtaining that thing. The money you will have to. This is sometimes it's not the money you have to spend to obtain it, but the money you have to spend to maintain it.
Number two, talking about the price. The price talks about certain things you must do in order to attain the goal. Certain things you must do. There is no, it's not optional. It's an indispensable key, an indispensable step. You must. And if you are not going to do it, you are out of the race. You are out of the race. Certain things you must keep on doing in order to maintain that particular thing.
Number three, the price has to do with certain things that you must avoid doing. Certain things you must avoid doing in order to attain the goal. You get involved, it's over. You get involved, it's over. Certain things you must avoid doing in order to maintain or preserve that particular thing you have. That's the price.
Number four, the price talks about the things you have to give up. Things you have to give up.
Number five, the price talks about setting terms and conditions. Terms and conditions that must be fulfilled in order to receive or maintain a particular thing that you desire. Yes, the requirements. The requirements. The code and conduct. So, certain terms and conditions that must be fulfilled. Certain terms and conditions that you must continue to abide with in order to keep that thing going. In First Timothy chapter 3, verses 1-13, you see the conditions, you know, being set out for people that are going to be chosen and ordained as ministers of God, as deacons, as deaconesses, as pastors in the church of God.
Number six, what you, the price is talking about what you may suffer or lose as a result of your choice. What you may suffer or lose as a result of your choice or your decision.
Number seven, the price talks about the discomfort you must go through in the process. The discomfort, the disadvantages of your choice and decision.
And number eight, the price talks about the persecution, the shame, and the ridicule. The persecution, the shame, and the ridicule.
Number nine, the prize is a longer period of waiting. The longer period of waiting. Hey, you know, this generation, in fact, is part of human tendency. They want it now. They want, everybody wants results now.
And then number 10, the duration of the prize. Now, the duration of the prize of paying the price, sometimes [Music] could be temporary. It could be occasional, or in some cases, permanent. Like the story we read in Mark chapter 10, that man was just going to pay that price once and for all. Once and for all. The Lord was not even saying that everything you will ever make in life in terms of wealth and money, you will keep on giving it to the poor. He was just talking about what he had already, what he already had. So, that means after paying that price, if this man was to use his wisdom, you know, to begin to start something again, and you know, if you have really been a kind person, you know, you've used your wealth well, there's a, some measure of goodwill that will also come, you know, from diverse quarters. So, even if you suffer and may just sit back and everything you had before is gone, some money will still come, will come from people you touched their lives, people who are ahead of the way you were kind and generous. That is how it works. So, sometimes it could be just a one-off thing. Sometimes it's for, it's occasional that you have to do it. And about some is permanent. It's permanent. So, you need to be aware of these. So, this man obviously failed to fulfill this, this condition.
So, the closing word is that we should pray for the grace to pay the price. Pray for the grace to pay the price. Pray for the grace to pay the price. Ask God for the grace to do whatever it is that you must do in order to achieve that goal. And in some other instances, we need to pray for the grace to keep on paying the price because there are some things we need to keep on doing. It's not a one-off assignment. You need to keep on doing that thing. So, we need to ask God to give us the grace to keep on doing those things. And God will, in His faithfulness, always give you the grace. You are destined for great things. Your destiny already reveals that there are some major headlines in your story, in your life, of life, in your lifetime. And those headlines are indicating some uncommon results, uncommon victories, great achievements that are supposed to happen. And your name is the one, is the name attached to that great achievement. It shall come to pass. It shall come to pass. We are praying therefore that whatever step you must take, even God is the one saying you have to, you must take this step for that potential great achievement to manifest. We are praying that God will give you the grace, the grace to pay that price. Can somebody lift up his voice and say after me? "I can do all things through Christ that strengthens me."