Gaining The World

What if the biggest risk this year isn’t failure, but forgetting your soul while chasing everything else? We open the year by wrestling with Jesus’ timeless question: what do we really gain if we secure the world’s prizes and forfeit what’s eternal. From the eyewitness force of the Gospels to the blessing of those who believe without seeing, we trace how proof, trust, and obedience fit together—and why many still resist what’s right in front of them.

Chapters

• 0:00 New Year, Central Question
• 2:40 Jesus, Proof, And Unbelief
• 6:20 Blessed Without Seeing
• 9:50 Gospels Ask The Same Question
• 12:10 Spiritual Warfare Named Plainly
• 15:20 Sifted Like Wheat
• 19:20 Flesh, Desire, And Distraction
• 22:40 Awake: Romans 13 Call
• 26:10 Unfruitful Works Exposed

Transcript

Speaker: 0:00

Grace and peace. Grace and peace. Welcome to another rendition of the Moral Compass Chronicles. I'm your boy. I'm your host. I'm your brother, Eyon J. You know you can find me everywhere. And right about now, I want to wish everybody a happy new year. Alright, this is the first episode, first chronicle for the new year, and I have a question to ask you. I have a question that I want to ask. What does it profit you and I for us to gain the whole world, but to lose our soul? Yes, yes. That's where we're going. What does it profit a man or a woman if we should gain the whole world and lose our soul? So you've got Jesus here asking this question. And he asked this question to the world while he was here on earth. The Bible says the world was made by him, but the world knew him not. Alright? Just think about that for a second. The world was made by him, and that's that's that's I believe the book of John, chapter one. Uh the world was made by him. Yet the world knew him not. This is Jesus asking this question while he was here. And let's let's um let's talk about it for real, real quick. And yes, we're diving straight into it. Glad to have you. Thanks for joining me yet again. We're starting his new year off right. When Jesus was on earth, there was very little that anybody could do. There was nothing that somebody could do to disprove who he said he was and the things that he was doing. It was literally not possible to prove him wrong. Excuse me. And that's why there was a plot to kill him. He was too powerful, he was turning the people of the world away from what they thought was the faith. Truth is, it was Jesus who was. Okay? And when he was here preaching and teaching the kingdom of heaven, while he was here working miracles, the book of Acts says, with infallible proof, there was no denying who he said he was, because he proved to be who he said he was. Okay, and all anybody could do at that time was hate on him. Like, let's talk about it. The Pharisees, the Romans who were in power at the time, anybody who disbelieved him. All you could do was hate on him. All you could do was try to turn people's mind away from him. And for the most part, it didn't work. Because when people are able to see something for themselves, now it's like, yo, I'm no longer relying on hearsay, I'm no longer relying on what people say the truth is. If I can see something for myself, now I know that it is true. Now I know, okay, yo, there's no denying what this is, and that's why Jesus had to tell the disciples, and I forgot exactly who he was speaking to, but he said, uh uh, blessed are they, and I believe it might have been um uh oh man, um Thomas, maybe. I think it was Thomas. Blessed are they that believe even though they have not seen. You believe right now because you've seen now. You you you told them that you wouldn't believe that Jesus was raised from the dead unless you would see the nail prints in his hand, and unless you were able to feel and put your hand into the wound that was in his side, you wouldn't believe. And Jesus came and said, Yo, well, here I am. Here's my hands, and here's my side, pierced. But blessed are they that believe who have not yet seen. And so, brothers and sisters, we're starting off this year, and I'm telling you that you're blessed. You are blessed because you who have not seen Jesus in the flesh, you have believed. And through many infallible proofs, we have, even to this day and age, I am a witness of the infallible proof of who Jesus said he was and who I know him to be. I've seen it for myself. Jesus told us greater works than these will you do. And I have seen that for myself. But this is not about me, this is about us. Back in the day, all they could do was hate on him. Because you can't deny what's in the flesh. And see, now we we and not not even just now, but all throughout history, it was it's been difficult for people to believe in what they cannot see. But uh when you give them proof, when you give somebody proof of something, now it's a different conversation, right? And so that's that's that is the dilemma of mankind. That's where we are in human history. When Jesus was here, he proved himself. Many believed, many did not. The ones that did not, even when they were given proof, all they did was hate on him and plotted to kill him.

Speaker 1: 6:28

He rose from the dead, more proof.

Speaker: 6:33

And blessed were the ones that believed, even though they didn't see. But even some of the ones who didn't believe saw for themselves and were forced to believe. And some hated and some believed. Jesus ascends back up into heaven. Now we are left with the Holy Ghost, the Holy Spirit, and some are witnesses in Judea and Samaria and New York and Jamaica, United States and Europe, and Asia and South America, and the Caribbean. Some are witnesses to more infallible proofs, and some have not been. And the ones who are, in 2026, witnesses to the infallible proofs of the Holy Spirit. Some believe and some choose to hate, and condemn those of us who know the truth and who believe the truth, and that is where we are in society today. This just got deep. But this is where we are in society today. So I ask again, what does it profit any one of us to gain the world and focus on the world, but then to lose our souls because we choose not to believe, and even if we do believe, we choose not to act. What does it gain us? Jesus, I can go back now to the word, got my Bible here. In the book of Matthew, he asked that question. Why? Because this is a real conversation from the perspective of four different people. You've got Matthew writing about this question that Jesus asked. And Matthew says, For what is it, or excuse me, for what is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? Mark asks, or Mark records it and says, For what shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul? Luke records it and says, For what is a man advantaged if he gain the whole world and lose himself or be cast away? That is the question I believe we in 2026 need to be asking ourselves. We're living in this world where we're not wrestling against flesh and blood, we're wrestling against principalities and powers and spiritual wickedness in high places, and the rulers of the darkness of this world. You've got witches and warlocks, you've got demons, you've got uh necromancers, you've got uh uh uh soothsayers, you have mediums. All of these being gifts, or not all of those, but some of which being gifts of the spirit being misused. Can we talk about it? And I know some of us don't like this conversation. Even some of us who believe the truth don't like the conversation because it's too much, it's too deep. And some of us who don't believe don't like this conversation. Because there's something working in you that is causing you to reject the truth. It's the truth that even the the devil himself believes and knows to be true, and that's why he's on a mission. I had the privilege of preaching uh at my church this past Sunday. Um I used two scriptures, one being our focus scripture, Romans 13, verses 11 through 14. I'll get to that in a second, but I the Lord gave me another scripture. Luke chapter 22, verse 31, where Jesus asked the question. Simon Simon, behold, or better yet, Jesus says, Simon Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you. Satan does so now, even Satan himself, who knows the truth more than any one of us, by the way. So you got Satan who knows the truth more than any one of us, yet he has desired to have you and I. Have us why? Jesus says, so that he may sift us as wheat. That is the goal of the enemy. To sift us as wheat. What is sifting? Sifting is a separation. Sifting, there's a separation happening when you sift something. Whether it's something that is clotted together like flour, and you sift the flour, or wheat and chaff, as Jesus used the example, where you separate the wheat from the chaff, the wheat being the usable portion, the chaff being the garbage and the unusable. So he tells us that he says Simon, and yes, he's talking to Simon, but he's talking to Eon. And yes, he's talking to Eon, but he's talking to you. And I know I got some people who are listening. I know my brother's listening. I know my aunt, my auntie Mars, I know my auntie Mars is listening. My brother Ambrose has proven to me that he's listening. I know my wife is listening. So many others. God bless you, and I love you. But you Satan desires to have you and me so that he may sift us as we. Separate us from God. He wants to separate us from the love of God. He's seeking to kill. He's seeking to devour us. He's seeking to confuse us. He's a liar, he's a cheater, he's a killer. And Jesus goes on and says, But I have prayed for thee. I've prayed for you. This is Jesus on earth. Jesus the man. The man Christ Jesus has prayed for you. I'm not gonna get too far into no theology, but y'all know where I stand. The man Christ Jesus prayed in an attempt to teach us how to pray when it's time for us to pray now. And if we've come to understand that it's Jesus, who is God, who we are praying to when we pray. But I've prayed for thee that thy faith fail not. And when thou art converted, strengthen thy brother. My focus and my point here is that Satan has desire to have us, bro. He's trying to confuse us. He's trying to get us to focus on gaining this world, everything in this world. We want houses, we want cars, we want money, we want successful business. We men, we want women. And I'm I'm talking to the men who want women here. I ain't talking to nobody else, respectfully. Women, we want men. You want the man of your dreams, you want the wedding of your dreams.

Speaker 1: 14:18

These are the things that we're focused on. We want to start families.

Speaker: 14:27

Nothing wrong with some of these things. But the enemy wants us to focus on them more. We want to have fun. Some of us desire to have fun more than we desire to make it into the kingdom of heaven. We we desire to fulfill the lusts of the flesh. We want to be comforted. We want to be we want to feel good, we want to be made to feel good.

Speaker 1: 15:02

And so our Romans 13.

Speaker: 15:06

Romans 13, verse 11 through 14. That's that's the that's the theme scripture and the word, the theme, excuse me, the theme for our year is awake at my church.

Speaker 1: 15:18

Awake. Refuge temple?

Speaker: 15:23

The refuge temple uh of uh church of of Jesus Christ Apostolic. I don't even know the full name. I call it Refuge Temple, Brooklyn, New York, 679 Remsen Avenue, Apostolic, and that knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep. So Jesus is telling us through the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, where all scripture is given. Oh Lord help me, that it is high time to awake out of sleep. Now think about this. In the first century, this was written. This is written in the first century after the death of Jesus. And it was written that it is high time to awake out of sleep, for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. 60, 70, 80 AD, whenever the apostle Paul wrote this. Don't quote me on that. Around that time. We are centuries removed from that. How much closer, how much nearer is the time now? How much nearer is the time than when we first believe? The night is far spent, the day is at hand, so let us therefore cast off the works of darkness and let us put on the armor of light. I referenced the Apostle Paul, the same writer in the book of Ephesians, referring to these works of darkness as unfruitful. And I know that point stuck because my brother and I even made a joke about it yesterday. Unfruitful. There are things that we are doing that are unfruitful to us. They do not serve us any good.

Speaker 1: 17:15

There's places we're going that's unfruitful. It profits us nothing in the long run.

Speaker: 17:26

And some of these unfruitful things, they they appear, they are they appear to be fruitful in this season while we're here on earth. It appears as though some of these things matter. And the truth is they don't. And I can't I can't possibly re-preach this message from Sunday, and I won't even try to. God spoke to who he wanted to speak to. And here we're having a little bit of a different conversation. What does it profit us? I mean, man, I wish I thought of that scripture when I was preaching. What does it profit us as mankind to gain the whole world and seek to gain the whole world, but to ultimately lose our souls? Bible says, let us walk honestly in the day, not in rioting and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and deviance, not in strife and in envy. But we need to put on the Lord Jesus Christ, the word tells us, and make not provision for the flesh. Provision, what is provision? Sustenance. Provision brings life.

Speaker 1: 18:45

Provision in this context is attention. Fulfilling the lusts of the flesh.

Speaker: 18:58

We gotta come out of that. 2026, new year, new us, all that. It's gotta be true this time around. It's gotta be true this time around, beloved ones. My brothers and my sisters. This is the message. I was talking to um one of my one of my uh one of the pastors, the like assistant pastors at my church, um, Pastor Kalnik, and he was telling me, he's like, the message doesn't change, does it? Has the message ever changed? It's Jesus.

Speaker 1: 19:30

That's the focus, that's the topic.

Speaker: 19:35

I'll be seeing y'all Instagram captions talk about the topic and the topic. Oh, it's Jesus, not you, not me. And it's when we focus on ourselves. I I I hear that that that phrase, that term. Oh, I'm finding myself. Are you? Yeah, you are. And and my brother is so funny. We were talking about this years ago. What happens when somebody is is trying to find themselves? You know what you're gonna find? You're gonna find self. You're gonna find flesh. I'm finding myself. Yeah, the more you do that, the more you will find self. The more your flesh will tell you what it wants, the more your flesh will tell you who who it thinks it is. And who is the flesh? What is the flesh? Sinful. What is the heart? Deceptive. The heart is deceitful, the Bible says. And if you follow your flesh and follow, oh, follow your heart. Yeah, you follow your heart, you will be deceived. You follow your heart, you're gonna be deceived. It's time that we start to walk in the spirit, not in the flesh. Walking in the spirit, what does that even mean? How do I do that? Start with Jesus. It starts and ends with him. Yeah, man. I I I this is a very quick message to the point. You know, I'm glad we could skip the pleasantries and the you know, all the fluff, you know. But God is calling us to salvation. The time is nearer than when we first believed. And it's time for us to walk as children of the day. And to run away from the things of the night. Nothing good happens at night. I I you hear that often. Why do you think us Oh Lord? I feel like I was talking to my sister, talking about how I just I feel like the old man on the porch now. That old elder on the porch. But you know what? We need more of that. This world has gotten so far out of line. You know what stopped us going outside and seeing those old people on the porch. Call to us from down the street. Hey, y'all better stop that.

Speaker 1: 21:57

We don't got that no more. All this all this virtual church and stuff.

Speaker: 22:09

And we go to virtual church, and it's all about, and while we're in virtual church, we're planning brunch, physical brunch. Bottomless mimosas. I don't get it twisted. I love me a bottomless mimosa. Like, come on now. But we're I'm we're focused on that when we should be focused on the things of God. Listen, guys, God is calling us. He's calling us. Again, this message may not, it's for everyone, but you know what? Not everybody's gonna like it. There's a lot of people who want me to talk about other things. There's a lot of people who want me to focus on certain things. Like, yo, when I said impact over income, I meant it. I know a lot of y'all didn't mean it. A lot of people didn't mean that. But I did, and I've proven that, and I will continue to. There's so many things that the enemy wants me to do to make this whole thing more successful, because he wants to take the focus off where it should be, which is the moral compass. The moral compass being Jesus Himself. I'm trying to help the world with the principles of the church. So the gates of hell can't prevail, and they won't. The question is, will you allow the gates of hell to prevail over you? I won't. And I will not look to gain this world and lose my soul. I don't care how much money has to get left on the table, I will not do it. My old companions, I fare you well. Farewell, because I ain't going with you to hell. Respectfully. I love y'all. Grace and peace be unto you for this new year. I pray that everybody be safe and in good health. I pray that we can accomplish that which we have set out to do as long as it's aligning with the will of God. I pray that the things that we are doing that does not align, we will begin to step away from. My topic on Sunday was I'm waking up. The word for our year is awake. My topic was I'm waking up because I have been converted. And when thou art converted, Luke 22 says, When thou art converted, go and strengthen your brethren. And the Moral Compass Chronicles, the Moral Compass group, we are aiming to strengthen our brothers. So be strengthened, be encouraged. I pray you receive my love, the love that is exuding from my very core. It is real, it is for you, and the truth is it's from God. It's the love of God. So rich and pure, it's measureless and it's strong. And so I love you. I want you to know I love you with everything that I am, everything that I have, and I will continue to do what I believe God wants me to do, which is continue to help chart this moral path for this world with the principles that He has given us. I love y'all men. Until next time, this is the Moral Compass Chronicles.