SUNDAY GOSPEL: “Paying The Highest Price” — What It Truly Costs To Follow Jesus

Happy Sunday my friends!

We’re back with another Sunday Gospel message from our good friend Pastor Robb Goodman.

This one asks a question every Christian eventually has to face: What does it really cost to follow Jesus?

Salvation is a gift. Jesus paid that price in full.

But following Him will still cost us something—and that is the heart of today’s message.

Before we get to it, I also want to thank Pastor Robb for the incredibly kind words about my new book. That means a lot to me, my friend!

From Pastor Robb:

Today’s message is titled, “Paying The Highest Price.”

In today’s message we will discuss what it truly means to pay the price to follow Jesus. Many people are never properly taught what it means to pay a price.

Following Jesus will cost you something, even though we can’t buy our salvation. Jesus paid the price by laying down His life for all of us.

When we look into the scriptures we can see what the Apostle Paul had to say about this. It’s not a easy life to live, but the eternal rewards are far greater than we can imagine or think.

So let’s jump into our Bible verses and hear what Holy Spirit has to say about this topic. Please feel free to pass on this message to those that you feel will help them.

I’m praying for all of my followers as the Apostle Paul did for his. May the Word of God bring life and healing to you today.

In the Name of Jesus Christ I pray Amen.

I’ve started to read Noah’s book and its really great. Lots of action and different kinds of people.

You will most certainly enjoy reading it. I’m a very slow reader, but it’s a great work of fiction.

Please get a copy and read it for yourself.

Pastor Robb Goodman
Sr. Pastor of Zion Freedom Fellowship USA

Please enjoy, and please share this message with someone who needs to hear it today:

FULL TRANSCRIPT IF YOU PREFER READING INSTEAD:

Pastor Robb Goodman:

Hey, good morning, everybody. Welcome to our live stream teaching today.

I am Pastor Robb Goodman. I’m the senior pastor here at Zion Freedom Fellowship in Maryland.

And it is quite a rainy morning. Of course, we need the rain.

So the rain is a sign of Holy Spirit. And boy, do we love Holy Spirit.

Amen. I know you love Him too, or you wouldn’t be here today.

So praise be to God. I’ve got a wonderful message for you today.

And the title of today’s message is Paying the Highest Price. What does it mean to pay a price?

Well, we’re going to study many scriptures today. So as the Lord leads us and guides us, let’s pray to begin our message today.

Heavenly Father, we thank you and we praise you that you are our God. You are our God and you hold all the victory in your mighty hand.

Lord, you are God in heaven above, God on earth, and God under the earth. You rule over everything.

And there’s no place where your hand cannot reach. So Father, we thank you and praise you for this day, Lord.

Thank you for this opportunity to teach to many, many people across the nations of this world. Lord, we thank you and we give you honor and we give you glory that your name is worthy to be praised.

And so shall we be saved from all our enemies. Blessed be the name of the Lord.

Can you give the Lord a shout? Hallelujah.

Thank you, Lord. You are the mighty one.

There’s no one like you, Lord Jesus. Thank you, Father.

Holy Spirit, speak through me today. Let your word come forth.

You’re the author and the finisher of my faith. And I thank you, Lord, that as I worship you, you are going to speak through me today.

You’re going to speak through me clearly, definitely, and boldly. Let your word go forth.

Let the prophetic words go forth in Jesus Christ’s holy name. Lord, heal those that are suffering in their body.

In Jesus’ name, we rebuke every sickness and every disease in the mighty name of Jesus Christ. Thank you, Lord.

Thank you, Lord. The Lord is touching somebody with a terrible headache right now.

I don’t know if it’s a migraine or not, but the Lord is touching you. Let him heal you right now.

Let him heal any members of your family that you’re at home with right now. We’ve got people listening all across the globe.

So blessed be the name of the Lord. Hallelujah.

He is great and he is worthy to be praised. He’s worthy, worthy.

And we need to learn to praise him in every circumstance that we are in. No matter where we may find ourselves, we need to worship the Lord and give him place and let him move in our circumstances.

Let him arise in his favor towards us. Yes, blessed be his name.

Hallelujah. Oh, that feels good, doesn’t it?

Amen. Thank you, Holy Spirit.

We worship you today, Lord. Thank you, Father.

Bless everyone that’s joining us on the live stream today. Thank you, Lord, that you are truly a mighty God.

There is no one like you. No one.

No one. No one.

No one like you. Blessed be your name.

Thank you, Lord. Hallelujah.

Glory be to God. Oh, I feel the holy laughter coming upon me in the mighty name of Jesus Christ.

Oh, give him glory. Hallelujah.

Give him glory. He is worthy to be praised.

He’s worthy, worthy, worthy are you, O Lord. We love you, Lord Jesus.

Thank you, Lord, for healing every sickness and every disease like your word proclaims. You, Jesus, you, Yeshua, Hamashiach, are the Messiah of Israel and you’re our Messiah.

We’ve been grafted into the vine. Blessed be your holy name.

Yes, Jesus. Hallelujah.

Move by your spirit right now. Somebody has a terrible pain in their right foot.

Receive healing right now. Receive it in Jesus Christ’s holy name.

Receive it. Receive it.

Receive it. Just say, I receive, Lord.

I receive my complete healing right now by faith in the mighty name of Jesus. Oh, boy.

Trust me. I didn’t wake up this way, but I feel that anointing.

Just receive it, Lord. Let that anointing fly right now.

Let it flow from heaven right now. Let it flow in Jesus’ name.

Let it flow. Proclaim, Jehovah Rapha, the Lord, your healer.

Yes, I am the Lord, your healer. Jehovah Rapha.

Jehovah Tsidkenu, the Lord, our righteousness. Jehovah Nissi, the Lord, our banner of victory that flies over our head.

Hallelujah. Blessed be your holy name, Jesus.

We love you so much. We’re so grateful for who you are.

Lord, shine forth in our lives. Shine forth in our lives.

There’s this sweet southern lady on YouTube who’s always cooking in the kitchen. In fact, she’s written cookbooks on everything.

And she’s a believer. And when she ends every video, she says, ‘Now, don’t forget: shine for Jesus’.

It’s so cute. I love hearing her say that.

So please let your light shine. Amen.

Let your light shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your father in heaven. Don’t withhold good to those to whom it is due.

Even to the unrighteous, we are to give glad tidings to them because they will come to know Jesus Christ by how you respond to them. Blessed be the holy name of Jesus.

I see some of you are making some comments down there. So thank you so much.

I will read them later after the live stream. I can’t respond to them right now as I always say this, but praise be to God.

Thank you for being here with us in Jesus Christ’s holy name. Well, the title of today’s message is paying the highest price or the highest cost.

You know, there is a price to be paid when we follow Jesus. And often these things are not taught to the church of today.

We hear about the blessings. We hear about the victory.

We hear about the power and the miracles, which I love miracles. You know, I love miracles.

In fact, Pastor David Rahu Kumara from India asked me to share this with you today. So please pray for this little boy.

His name is Asher, A-S-H-E-R. He has a beautiful Christian name and he was recently diagnosed with blood cancer.

He’s only 10 years old. So please pray for little Asher.

I sent a prayer message to David over in India and he shared it with his parents and his parents were very, very grateful. So I’m asking everyone to join together and pray for little Asher.

Lord, we lift him up to you right now. Come on, folks, join me in prayer.

Take authority over this thing. In the mighty name of Jesus, we take authority over every type of cancer.

We command the spirit of death to leave this little boy in the mighty name of Jesus Christ. You must go.

You have no foothold in this situation. You have no place, no entrance.

We allow you no entrance. We put the blood of Jesus on every opening that this cancer may have come through.

And Lord, we rebuke it right now. We proclaim in the mighty name of Jesus that Asher will grow up to be a strong and a mighty man of God.

The devil knows that he’s been called. He’s been called, I believe, to a prophetic move of the Lord.

And Lord, let your will be done in Asher’s life. We proclaim healing over him.

We thank you, Father, that he will be completely and undeniably healed by the power in Jesus Christ’s holy name. Lord, we release your spirit right now.

We release the anointing that breaks every yoke, that breaks every chain in Jesus Christ’s holy name. You have no place in his life.

We resist you steadfast in our faith. You must flee in the mighty name of Jesus Christ.

You have no place in this situation with little Asher. We proclaim that he will live and grow up and be a mighty man of God and fulfill his calling in the Lord Jesus.

Oh, Father, we are so grateful to you. We’re so grateful.

We’re so very grateful to you, Lord, for what you are doing in Asher’s life. Have your way with him in the mighty name of Jesus Christ.

Amen and amen. Please let me know that you’re praying for Asher.

Pastor David in India would really appreciate this. So thank you so very much in Jesus Christ’s holy name.

All right. The very first scripture that we’re going to turn to today in our message is 1 Corinthians chapter 6 and we’re going to start with verse 18.

Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body.

Or do you not know that your body is the temple of Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own. For you were bought with a price.

Therefore, glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s. So the Apostle Paul is telling the church at Corinth what they must do.

He tells them to flee. Run away.

Literally, that’s what flee means. Run away from.

Flee all sexual immorality. Don’t allow it into your life.

You know, I’ve made mistakes in the past where I got involved with stuff like that, and it never yields any good fruit. It yields unrighteousness, and really, it can kill you.

So please, everybody, flee sexual immorality. And remember that you have Holy Spirit, the great Ruach HaKadosh, the Holy Spirit of the living God, the breath of God, the rain of God, the wind of God, the fire of God.

Holy Spirit is in you. You have been bought with the price, and that price was the life and the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.

So please, everybody, make sure that you shout and speak out of your mouth the word of God. You declare to the enemy where he stands.

Don’t allow the enemy to have any place in your life. Make him go.

You have authority over the devil. He has no authority over you whatsoever.

So you tell him to go. I know we get down in the dumps sometimes, you know, dealing with my medical issues.

I have often gotten down and even allowed the enemy to beat up on me. But I’ve learned also that I need to stand up and fight against this.

It’s a bunch of bull crap. That’s all it is.

It is coming from the enemy and it has no good in it. The devil wants to condemn.

He wants to curse you. He wants to bruise you, beat up on you, whatever.

But he will not have his way because you are going to resist him in the mighty name of Jesus Christ. And he will flee from you.

Amen. Amen.

Amen. Blessed be the name of Jesus.

God is so, so very good. He’s so very good.

Blessed be the name of Jesus. All right.

Let me go to my next scripture. For you were bought with a price, so glorify God in your body.

This emphasizes that because Christ paid for our redemption, our bodies are now God’s and we should honor him with our bodies. So we become the temple of God everywhere we go.

Everything we do, we need to honor the Lord. And we walk out our faith.

We walk out our faith by giving to the poor, helping others who are struggling, helping other believers who are having a difficult time, and struggling with their faith. You step in and help them.

And help guide them. And bring them scriptures that will help enlighten them.

Amen. All right, let’s go to Colossians chapter 1.

Colossians chapter 1. And we are going to look…

I’m going to start, I believe, at verse 14. Actually, hang on one second.

Go back a little bit here. Let’s go back to verse 9.

For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will. Wow.

The knowledge of God’s will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work. and increasing in the knowledge of God.

You know, that’s the progressive type of walk where as you walk with the Lord, you begin to grow, you begin to flourish and get nourished in the Word of God. And you begin to step out and minister to others.

You are a representative of the Lord Jesus Christ. You are an ambassador for Him.

Amen. Strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and long-suffering with joy.

You know, think about that. How many of us really suffer with joy?

We don’t, do we? We get down in the mollygrubs and we’re like, oh my God, here we go again.

Lord, I don’t like this. Why am I going through this?

Come on, Jesus. Would you please tell me why?

And you hear nothing, right? You hear nothing.

Well, we need to look at the Word of God and do what He’s saying here. Strengthen with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and long-suffering with joy, with happiness, with a grateful heart, we give honor and glory to God.

Amen. In giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us, wow, I love this scripture, He has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light.

You’ve already been qualified and oftentimes the enemy will beat up on you and he’ll tell you, you’re not qualified. Look at what you did last night.

Look at what you said to that person. Look at this thought that you’re harboring against another one.

No. The scripture says that you are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus.

Don’t listen to what the enemy is saying to you because he’s trying to rob you. He’s trying to steal you and take away your goods from you.

To be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light, not in the darkness, in the light. Right?

He has delivered us from the power of darkness and translated us or conveyed us into the kingdom of the son of his love. Hallelujah.

In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.

Wow. He’s the firstborn over all creation.

Glory be to God. Lord, we give you praise and glory, Lord, for who you are.

You are the mighty one of Israel, and we praise you for it, Lord. We’re not afraid to worship you and to be glad and to have our hearts filled with joy because of what you have done.

Because of what you have done. I like where he says, in whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins.

This verse highlights the price was Christ’s blood, which bought redemption and forgiveness for all of us. Praise be to God.

Let’s go to Galatians chapter 3. Galatians chapter 3.

We’re going to start at verse 10. For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse, for it is written, cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do that.

But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God. Wow.

That is such a powerful verse right there. You will not get justified before God by keeping the law.

It will never happen. It’s impossible for that to happen.

That no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for the just shall live by faith. Yet the law is not of faith, but the man who does them shall live by them.

Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us, for it is written, cursed is everyone who hangs on the tree, on the cross. That the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

Hallelujah. Praise be to God.

I’m telling you, God is so awesome, folks. He cared about us.

Now, you go back and read Deuteronomy 28, and you will find out what the Scripture says about the works of the law, and those that are blessed, and those that are cursed. But Christ has redeemed us from every curse of the law.

You go back and look at them, and I would prefer that you look at them in a new, like the ESV version or something like that, where you understand what those words are, and you will be amazed at what you read. Please do that for me.

Look it up in a different translation, and you will be blown away by the simple, easy language that all the things that Jesus paid for that might be wrong in my body. It’s amazing.

It truly is absolutely astonishing and amazing. Praise be to God.

This is interesting. I’ll continue reading.

Verse 15. Brethren, I speak in the manner of men, though it is only a man’s covenant.

Yet, if it is confirmed, no one annuls or is able to add to it. Now, to Abraham and to his seed where the promise is made, he does not say, and to seeds as of many, but as of one, and to your seed who is Christ.

And this I say, that the law, in which was 430 years later, cannot annul the covenant that was confirmed before by God in Christ, that it should make the promise of no effect. For if the inheritance is of the law, it is no longer a promise, but God gave it to Abraham by promise.

Hallelujah. Woo!

Hallelujah. What a blessing.

What a blessing. What a blessing.

What a blessing. Thank you, Lord.

Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. That’s what the ESV version says.

This explains that Jesus paid the price to free us from the law’s penalty. All right, let’s go to 1 Peter chapter 1.

We’ll start at verse 18. 1 Peter chapter 1.

And verse 18. Knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things like silver or gold from your sinless conduct.

I’m sorry, from your sinless conduct received by tradition from your fathers. But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a land without blemish and without spot, he indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, who through him believe in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart. Having been born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible through the word of God, which lives and abides forever, because all flesh is like grass and all the and all flesh and all the glory of man as the flower of the grass.

The grass withers and its flower will fall away, but the word of the Lord endures forever. Now, this is the word which by the gospel was preached to you.

Wow, that’s amazing, isn’t it? That just blows me away.

Thank you, Jesus. Lord, you’re so good.

You are so good. Knowing this, that you were deemed from your aimless conduct, received by tradition from your fathers, not with corruptible things like silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.

This emphasized that the price was Christ’s precious blood, not earthly valuables, even animals or, you know, the lambs or the, you know, the bullocks or the oxen that they, that they slayed before God. Remember when the veil, remember guys, when the veil and the temple was torn, that was a huge curtain inside Solomon’s temple.

It was very, very thick. It was impossible for that thing to be torn by human hands.

In an instant, it was torn from top to bottom. And what that signified, that the holiest of all, the holy of holies, was now free for anyone to enter in.

And even we can come boldly now before the throne of grace. We can come boldly, open-faced, unashamed, before the throne of grace, having received mercy and help in our time of need.

We can come to Him, and nothing is impossible to Him that believes. So you and I, we follow God.

We follow the Spirit. We follow the Word of God.

And we are not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation, unto everyone who believes. To everyone.

It doesn’t matter Jew or Gentile, bond or free, the Greeks, it doesn’t matter who you are. Your background no longer matters.

You can’t stand before God. And I don’t mean to be rude by saying this, but you can’t stand before God and say, oh, I’m a Jewish person.

I have right and inheritance. No, you don’t.

You don’t have any right or inheritance in the kingdom of God. Jesus told them.

He told the scribes and the Pharisees when He shouted, woe unto you. You’re like a white-washed sepulcher, all painted pretty with white paint, but inwardly you’re full of dead men’s bones.

Man, I’ll tell you, I remember the first time I read that. I was just a young, born-again Christian, and I could not stop reading the words of Jesus.

And when I saw what Jesus said, I just wept. I wept.

I was just taken back by his words. And I remember saying, Jesus, take me and make me what you want me to be, because nothing else matters.

Nothing else matters at all. The only thing that matters is that I live my life for you.

God is faithful, folks. He’s faithful, and he’s good, because he loves you.

He loves you beyond your sin, beyond your frailty, beyond your mistakes, beyond your addictions, beyond your problems. He loves you so greatly.

He loves you so much. His name is worthy, and his name is Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God.

Praise be to God. Holy is his name.

He is worthy, worthy, worthy, worthy to be praised. And we will be saved from all of our enemies, every one of them.

Every one of them, we will be saved. Praise be to God.

Hallelujah. Folks, I’m truly amazed.

I’m truly, truly amazed at the presence of the living God. All right, let’s go to 2 Samuel, 2 Samuel chapter 24.

2 Samuel chapter 24. All right, this is an old covenant scripture.

Where David is getting ready to buy and pay for the price of Jerusalem. And let me go back just a wee bit here so you get the true feeling of the whole story.

Let’s go back to verse 18. And God came that day to David and said to him, Go up, erect an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunah, the Jebusite.

So David, according to the word of God, went up as the Lord commanded. Now notice this, David went up according to what?

The word of God. We must listen to the voice of the Lord Jesus.

Jesus said, my sheep hear my voice and the voice of a stranger you will never follow. You will not follow.

Once you know the voice of the Lord, you will discern between the voice of the enemy and the voice of the Lord. The Spirit of God speaks completely differently.

And once you get to know his voice, you will hear him speaking to you and answering your questions when you dialogue with him. He will answer you.

If he doesn’t answer you, there’s a reason for that. But that doesn’t mean that the Lord is not there and that he does not hear you.

Because David prayed and he obeyed according to what God spoke to him. And that doesn’t just mean that David was something special.

David was not any more special than you and I are to the Lord. You might say, how can you say that?

Well, you know what? David made so many mistakes, it wasn’t funny.

He did so many things that were not good. But yet God loved him because he, David himself, had a heart after the Lord.

And he wanted to obey God. So David, according to the word of God, went up as the Lord commanded.

Now, Araunah looked and saw the king and his servants coming toward him. So Araunah went out and bowed before the king with his face to the ground.

So he was showing him respect as a king. Then Araunah said, why has my Lord, the king, come to his servant?

And David said to buy the threshing floor from you to build an altar to the Lord. Then Araunah said to David, let my Lord, the king, take and offer up whatever seems good to him.

Look, here are oxen for sacrifice and threshing implements and the yoke of the oxen for wood. All these, O king, Araunah has given to the king.

And Araunah said to the king, may the Lord your God accept you. Then King David said to Araunah, no, but I will surely buy it from you for a price.

For a price. Now listen to what David said, nor will I offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God with which, which, that, that which cost me nothing.

Think about that. That which cost me nothing.

There is a price to be paid to follow Jesus, folks. There is a price to be paid.

Praise be to God. So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for 50 shekels of silver.

And David built there an altar to the Lord and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings to the Lord. So the Lord heeded the prayers of the land and the plague was withdrawn from Israel.

The plague comes before the disobedience. The plague came because of disobedience.

But David righted that. He made it right.

And he said, I will not offer anything to the Lord that costs me nothing. Folks, we must understand that serving God is going to cost you something.

It might be family members that turn against you. It might be people not accepting your ministry or looking at you and saying, well, who are you?

You know, what degree do you have and what this and what that? I’ve had people say that to me, too.

But there was something inside of me that knew I was called by God. I remember years ago, you know, this one guy I was hanging around with who was a good teacher of the word and another friend of his.

And they said they wanted to talk to me. I’m like, OK, sure.

Well, they started coming against me. Well, who gave you authority to do this?

I was like, man, I feel like Jesus sitting here when they said, when the scribes and the Pharisees said, who gave you this authority? And, you know, I was just thinking inside my heart, Lord, you know me.

You know me. You know everything about me.

You know everything about me. So, Lord, I give myself to you right now.

Lord, I’m being persecuted as you were. So, praise be to God.

You know. And I’m telling you, when Pam and I were going to get married, my brother-in-law, Pam’s brother, they took me for a ride down all through Baltimore City.

And they were threatening me that if I would hurt this beautiful girl, they would have my life. I mean, it was just, it was crazy.

I’ve been through many situations like that. But you know what this did, guys?

It made my faith stronger in the Lord. The enemy tried to bring me down.

These guys didn’t know what they were doing. You know?

And Pam and I got married. Some liked it.

Some didn’t. So, you do what the Lord tells you to do.

And you will pay a price. There is a price to be paid, folks.

Serving the Lord is not all easy. It’s not everything you want it to be.

No. It will never be that way, folks.

It just will never, ever be that way. God loves you so much.

There’s a call upon your life. Every believer.

There’s a call upon your life. There’s a call upon your life.

To serve the Lord. And it’s between you and the Lord.

Whether you obey that calling or not. I have nothing to do with it.

But. You must stand before the Lord one day and give account of your life.

Praise be to God. Thank you, Jesus.

Thank you, Lord. Hallelujah.

Ah, Lord. Blessed be your name, Jesus.

Blessed be your name. Thank you, Lord.

Thank you, Lord. And again, 2 Samuel 24:24.

But the king said to Araunah. I guess that’s how you say the name, Araunah.

But I will buy it from you for a price. I will not offer burnt offerings to the Lord, my God that cost me nothing.

David’s heart was right before the Lord. This shows a willing sacrifice and a refusal to give something without personal cost.

And we know what Romans chapter 6, verse 23 says. For the wages of sin is death.

The wages of sin is death. The wages of sin is death.

But the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus, our Lord. Praise be to God for that, amen, or none of us would be saved.

We must recognize the grace of the Lord. And we must give everything to him that is due him.

We are called to serve the Lord. Once we get born again and we come into the family of God, we must obey him.

Thank you, Jesus. And Isaiah 53, 5 says.

But he was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities.

And upon him, the chastisement that brought us peace. And with his wounds, we are healed.

Hallelujah. Jesus’ blood saved us from eternal death and torment in hell.

He paid the full price for us. Let’s look at Philippians chapter 3, verse 8.

Philippians chapter 3, verse 8. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord.

For his sake, I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish in order that I may gain Christ. Man, Paul had a right heart with God.

He had met the Lord on the road to Damascus that day. And it changed his life forever.

Paul had the same mindset as Jesus. Are you and I to do anything less?

John the Baptist was the same way. Mark chapter 1 says.

The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. As it is written in Isaiah the prophet.

Behold, I send my messenger before your face who will prepare your way. The voice of one crying in the wilderness.

John the Baptist paid a price. He paid his life.

He gave up his life to serve the Lord. It’s amazing.

Prepare the way of the Lord. Make his path straight.

John appeared baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And all the country of Judea and all of Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the River Jordan, confessing their sins.

John also paid a high price to prepare the way of Jesus. We are preparing the way for Jesus Christ’s second coming.

Let’s go to 1 John, chapter 5, verses 7 through 12. 1 John, chapter 5, verses 7 through 12.

For there are three that testify, the Spirit, the water, and the blood. And these three agree.

If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater. For this is the testimony of God that he has borne concerning his Son.

Whoever believes in the Son of God has this testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe, God has made him a liar because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning His Son.

And this is the testimony that God gave us eternal life. And this life is in his Son.

Praise be to God. Thank you, Lord.

All right. Let’s go to Exodus.

Exodus. Chapter 20.

I’m going to start at verse 1. Let me get a sip of my wonderful Costa Rican coffee.

Yeah, for Costa Rica. Boy, they make some good coffee, folks.

That is some good stuff. Yum, yum, yum.

Here’s kudos to Rita and Patrice and also Kathy and Curtis Sharp that are down in Costa Rica. Beautiful country.

It really is. Now, the traffic can be insane.

But it’s like that way a lot in our cities as well. Amen.

All right. All right.

Exodus chapters. Chapter 20.

Verse 1 through 21. And I’m reading out of the ESV.

And God spoke all these words, saying, I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me.

You shall not make for yourselves a carved image or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above or that is in the earth beneath or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them.

For I, the Lord, your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me. But showing steadfast love to the thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain. For the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.

Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work.

But the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work for your son or your daughter or your male servant or your female servant or your livestock or the sojourner who is within your gates.

For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth and the sea and all that is in them and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

Honor your father and your mother that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. Wow, what a powerful word that is.

You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

You shall not covet your neighbor’s house, nor shall you covet your neighbor’s wife or his male servant or his female servant or his ox or his donkey or anything that is your neighbor’s.

Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled and they stood afar off and said to Moses, You speak to us and we will listen, but do not let God speak to us lest we die. They were not comfortable coming before the Lord.

Moses was because he had a relationship with God. He was not afraid to come before the Lord.

And neither should we be. If we have a true relationship, we’re washed in the blood of Jesus.

We have no fear of coming before the Lord. We come open-faced and boldly before his throne of grace.

Amen. Moses said to the people, Do not fear.

For God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin. The people stood afar off when Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was.

Let’s go to Revelation chapter 20. We’ll be done soon, guys.

Almost going on an hour here. So, but I want to get these scriptures in because they’re so important.

Revelation chapter 20. We’re going to start with verse 4.

And those who had not worshipped the beast or its image and had not received his mark on their foreheads or in their hands, they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. Woo!

Hallelujah. Thanks be to God.

All right. Let’s go to Revelation 19.

We’re going to read verses 11 through 21. Revelation 19, verses 11 through 21.

Then I saw heaven open and behold a white horse. Then one sitting on, it is called Faithful and True.

And in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire.

And on his head are many diadems. And he has a name written that no one knows but himself.

He is clothed in a robe dipped within blood. And the name which he has called the word of God.

Woo! Hallelujah.

And the armies of heaven. Jehovah Shavuot.

Hallelujah. The God of angel armies.

Amen. Jehovah Shavuot.

Praise be to God. And the armies in heaven arrayed in fine linen, white and pure were following him on white horses.

From his mouth came a sharp sword, which is to strike down the nations. And he will rule them with a rod of iron.

Jesus ain’t going to be no pussyfooting around, folks. He means business.

And when he comes to the earth for the millennial kingdom, he ain’t going to mess around with anybody that wants to play any games. Trust me.

He ain’t going to be pussyfooting around. Jesus means serious business.

Serious business. So we must be accountable and take knowledge of the price that we must pay to serve him.

You can even ask the Lord, Lord, what price do you want me to pay? Wait on him.

He may not answer you right away, but he wants to be able to trust you with that answer. And even if he doesn’t answer you right away, doesn’t mean that he doesn’t trust you.

But ask him, Lord, what do you want me to do to serve you? Praise be to God.

And he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God, the Almighty.

All right, let’s go to 1 Corinthians 9, verse 24 through 27. 1 Corinthians 9.

I love this verse right here. Do you not know that those who run in a race, they all run, but one, just one will receive the prize.

Run in such a way that you may obtain that prize. Amen.

Everyone who competes for the prize is temperate or disciplined in all things. Now, they do it to, the worldly people, when they’re running the Olympics and all this kind of stuff, they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown.

Oh, praise be to God. Man, I’m telling you, there’s five different crowns that the Lord will give you.

You can look them up. There’s five of them that you’re able to receive.

Therefore, I run like this, not with uncertainty. And so I fight, not as one who beats the air, but I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, that lest when I have preached to others, I myself might become disqualified.

Think about it, folks. Think about it.

We don’t want to become disqualified, do we? Let’s go to Luke chapter 14.

I got two more scriptures, this one and another one, and we will be done. Luke 14.

Verse 25, Luke 14. Now, great multitudes went with him, and he turned and said to them, if anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother.

Now, I want to share something with you. Yes, the Bible tells us not to hate, but to love, right?

But this word hate in the Greek means to say adieu to, like to say goodbye to them. And that’s what we do when we come to Jesus.

We don’t care what our family thinks. We don’t care what, you know, the government thinks.

We don’t care. We just want to serve God.

He impresses and changes our life to such a degree that all we want to do is to please him. Amen.

Say goodbye to his father and mother, his wife and children, brothers and sisters. Yes, and his own life also.

He cannot be my disciple. And whoever does not bear his cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.

For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost. Count the cost, people.

Count the cost of this Christian life. It’s not easy.

It’s not easy, but you will be so well rewarded. Praise be to God.

You will be infinitely rewarded. Praise be to God.

30, 60, or 100 fold. Amen.

Jesus said, given it shall be given unto you. Good measure pressed down and shaken together and running over shall men press into your bosom.

For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it, lest, after he has laid the foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, This man began to build and was not able to finish it.

Or what king, going to make war against another king, does not sit down first and consider whether he is able, with 10,000, to meet him who comes against him with 20,000. Or else, while the other is still a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks conditions of peace.

So, likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be my disciple. Boy, that gets me right in the gut.

It just gets me right in the gut. Amen?

Praise be to God. Thank you, Lord.

The Lord is so faithful. All right, let’s go to Matthew chapter 10.

I’m going to start at verse 34. Matthew chapter 10.

Matthew chapter 10, verse 34. This is Jesus speaking again.

Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.

For I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a man’s enemies will be those of his own household.

He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me. And he who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.

And he who does not take his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me. He who finds his life will lose it.

And he who loses his life for my sake will find it. Wow, guys, just think about that.

Just think about it. Just let those words, go over those words this week.

Study them. Let this message sink deep into your heart.

Where are you right now? I’m talking to believers, those that already know Jesus.

Where are you right now? Where are you?

Are you a true follower of Jesus? Are you doing everything in your power that you can to serve the living God?

Trust me, folks. It is worth it.

The reward that we will receive goes beyond anything possible to even think about. Jesus loves you so very much.

He loves you so, so very much. Let his name be praised.

Hallelujah. Thank you, Lord.

Let your name be praised. Let him have his way in your life.

Lay down everything for the gospel of Jesus. And serve him.

He loves you so much. And he wants to do great things in your life.

Well, guys, I’ve run over my time limit, I believe. So, I hope that you’ve been able to hang in there with me today.

But I want everyone who’s listening to pray this prayer with me. Say, Father, I yield my entire life unto you.

I give you everything. My spirit, my soul, and my body.

Let your name be glorified in my life. Jesus, have your way with me.

He loves you so much, folks. Father, take me and use me in the way that you desire to use me.

I’m your servant, Lord. Take me.

Take me, Jesus. Have your way.

In Jesus’ name, have your way. In Jesus’ name, amen.

For those of you that may not be believers as of yet, and you want to know the Lord Jesus in a personal way, say, Jesus, I trust you as my Lord and Savior. I ask you right now to come into my heart and forgive me for every sin that I’ve ever committed.

Wash me clean with your precious blood, Jesus. I want to be clean and beautiful in your eyes.

Holy Spirit, bring Jesus into my heart. I want to be born again.

I want to live a new life for you. Come, Lord Jesus, have your way in me.

In Jesus’ name, amen. If you prayed that prayer with me, please let me know and send me an email.

You can send me an email at zionfreedomfellowship@gmail.com. Again, that’s zionfreedomfellowship@gmail.com.

And those emails will come directly to me, and then I will correspond once I receive them. I might not get to it right away, but give me some time, okay?

God bless you all for joining our live stream. Please like and subscribe to our channel.

I want to give Noah Christopher a shout-out for allowing my messages to be broadcast each and every week on his We Love Trump channel. Thanks be to God.

Noah puts out a wonderful newsletter every night that really gets into the real news. He doesn’t share anything fake or phony.

He’s completely against that. So I’m very grateful for him.

And praise be to God, our viewership has increased over the years that he’s been allowing me when I send him my messages. I’m very grateful for that.

Well, guys, I love you all very much. It’s been a joy being here with you.

I’m not sure what we’re going to do next week because we’ve got people that are away in our church, but I will surely let you know. Thanks for being with us today.

I love you all so very much. Amen.

God bless you. Keep you.

God make his face shine upon you. God be gracious unto you.

Cause his spirit to reign in your life by the mighty and powerful name of Jesus Christ to the glory of God, the father in Jesus name. Amen.

Love to all. Love you guys.

Have a good and a wonderful rest of your day. Amen.

Thanks.

This is a Guest Post from our friends over at WLTReport. View the original article here.

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