How To Shine In Hard Times (Full Sermon)

The sources emphasize that while the world is projected to grow “darker and darker and worse and worse,” God’s people are destined to shine with His glory. This period, referred to as the “third day” (following the 2,000 years since Christ), signifies a time of great revival, divine protection, and manifestation of God’s power. Believers are called to “Arise, shine, for your light has come”.

This divine mandate encompasses comprehensive well-being, surpassing limited worldly views of spirituality and success.

Redefining Salvation: Wholeness, Peace, and Prosperity

The traditional understanding of salvation as merely an escape from hell is incomplete. The biblical Greek word for salvation, soozo, is an all-inclusive word that involves not only deliverance from eternal death but also preservation, wholeness, peace, and prosperity.

The Hebrew concept of peace, Shalom (translated Irene in Greek), is the root of biblical prosperity. This prosperity is multifaceted:

1. Prosperous Relationship with God.
2. Prosperous relationships within families, between spouses, and with others.
3. Material prosperity.

God’s will is for global peace and global prosperity, a reality that will be fully established during the Millennium, but which believers can experience now. When praying, “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven,” believers are praying for perfect duplication of heaven’s reality, which includes streets of gold (unlimited prosperity) and no sickness or hospitals.

The Power of Being a Witness: Radiant Health and Agelessness

The shining light promised in Isaiah 60 will be visible and tangible to the nations of the world. This glory manifests physically as radiant health.

• Radiant Health: This health comes with splendor and glory, causing people to look at believers as ageless. It is internal health, like the lily of the field that grows without toil or spinning, deriving its radiance from within.
• The Best Evangelism: One of the best ways to evangelize is to be a witness, rather than just doing witnessing. Being (radiating God’s glory) is what truly impacts people, drawing them under conviction in a positive way.
• Witnessing through Health: When Jesus is glorified, symptoms leave, pain disappears, and oppression lifts.
• Loved Ones Restored: God specifically addresses the prayers of those concerned for their unsaved loved ones (children, spouses). He promises that in the end times, sons will return from afar (denoting distance from God), and daughters will come, having been turned around and becoming part of the shining glory.

Divine Delivery Systems and Spiritual Nourishment

God chooses the “foolishness of the message preached” to deliver His power and save those who believe. This reflects God’s pattern of choosing the weak, small, and base things of the world to confound the mighty and the wise.

• Bread as the Sword: Victory over spiritual enemies (like Goliath or the Medianites, which means strife) comes through unconventional means. The story of Gideon shows victory coming through a loaf of bread smashing the enemy tents. In Hebrew, the word for bread (lhem) is almost the same as the word for fight (lhem). This implies: “The more you eat, the more you defeat the enemy”.
• Inner Satisfaction: The Bible says God satisfies our mouth with good things so that our youth is renewed like the eagle’s. When people experience spiritual hunger, they often seek fulfillment in worldly things (like constantly checking the fridge or playing games). Renewal of youth requires being nourished and satisfied with the Word of God, the Bread of Life.

The Secret Key to Divine Provision: Praise as Your Open Gate

In the last days, the nations’ wealth will come to God’s people. The instruction given for this transfer is found in Isaiah 60: “Your gates shall be opened continually; they shall not be shut day or night, that men may bring to you the wealth of the Gentiles”.

• Praise is the Gate: God explains that praise is the gate. The walls are called salvation, and the gates are called praise. To keep the flow of wealth and blessing coming in, believers must keep their mouths open with the praises of God.
• Overtaking Through Praise: God promises that believers do not have to “run the rat race” or strive with worldly technologies like AI to succeed; instead, “just praise me and you will overtake every one of them”. The Lord causes triumph, making believers the head and not the tail.
• Praise Ploughs the Way: The tribe of Judah means praise. Praise plows the way, preparing the ground for victory, as seen in the story of Jehoshaphat, who won the war by praising the Lord.
• Praise for Grace: The song that defeated the enemies was, “Praise the Lord, for His mercy endures forever,” where mercy is literally grace. When believers are absorbed in and conscious of God’s grace, things come to them that they do not deserve.
• Wealth for Glory: The wealth transfer is not for selfish purposes. Israel received silver and gold when leaving Egypt (back pay for slavery) to build the Tabernacle; similarly, wealth today is given to bless multitudes and glorify the Lord.