WILL YOU AGREE STAY IN THE HEAT WITHOUT AC IF THERE IS NO MONEY TO BUY DIESEL TO POWER GENERATOR IN CHURCH?
GIVING TO THE POOR DOES NOT PROSPER THE POOR; THE SOLUTION TO POVERTY IS EMPOWERMENT
EMPOWERMENT IS KNOWLEDGE NOT MONEY
YOU GIVE DOWNWARDS TO SOLIDIFY THE GROUND SO THAT YOU DON’T GO DOWN
YOU GIVE UPWARDS IN ORDER TO GO UP
GIVING TO THE POOR IS A COVENANT OBLIGATION YOU HAVE TO DO IN ORDER NOT TO BECOME POOR BUT IT CAN NEVER SOLVE POVERTY
ANYONE WHO ARGUES WITH GIVING DOES NOT HAVE A PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD
- Pastor Olumide Emmanuel at Kingdom Wealth Conference, Day 2 Evening Session
As a church on the 31st of December, whatever enters is going. Hello, globally all branches worldwide. Church Gist. Pastor Charles is here. One day, he called me he said, “Pastor, I just want to get something this first fruit now on the 31st of December what of people that pledge for our Building fund if they bring it on the 31st” I said, “once they bring it on 31st just believe God that they won’t bring it on that day o, anything they bring on 31st is gone o” He said, “What of if people pay tithe that day?” I said, “it is gone oh. It is all” Hello, so as you are crossing over, anything that enters that Crossover Service, the entire hundred per cent is the first fruit, we are giving it out. So many of you wonder, “How is Cavalry doing it” Many people think we have so much money (laughs), if you know our income, you will wonder and think we are magicians. I’m telling you, it will look like magic. How can they use this money to be achieving this? It is grace. If we have the kind of money that people think we have…ah!
- Tithe Genesis 14:18-20. The very first place we saw the word, “tithe”, Abraham was the one that brought it. So, the blessing came before the tithe. Church Gist. When God blessed him, Abraham now brought the tithe. Listen to me, are you ready for me? Are you ready? Any income that you did not get from God, don’t tithe it. But if God is the One that brought that income, you owe him tithe. Hello so tithe is not a debt you owe; it is a seed you sow, tithe is an act of honor. Tithe is an act of worship. Tithe is the first ten per cent of the income that God brought to you.
So if you acknowledge that God is your source and he is the one that brought it, then you tithe it. If God didn’t bring it, it’s your power, keep your money if you got it by your power. Church Gist. Ehn… forget God, which God? I know how much I labored… it’s your money keep it. But if God is your source and God is the one that brought that money, then you bring 10 per cent as an act of worship. So, it’s not a debt you owe; it is a seed you sow. But let me let me now help you understand where the problem is coming from. Can somebody tell me where Abraham’s Pastor was? Can somebody tell me the church Abraham was attending? Abraham was not having a pastor, he was not attending a church; he was a child of God.
He had a personal covenant walk with God. The problem with us today, we have relationship with pastors, we have relationship with churches but we don’t have relationship with God. There is nobody on earth that has relationship with God and argues with giving. None! Church Gist. Anybody you see arguing with giving doesn’t have relationship with God. They may have relationship with church; they may have relationship relationship with Pastors but not God. When people are angry with pastors or angry with church, they start equating God with pastors, God with church. Pastors can fail you; churches can fail you but God can never fail.
So, Abraham did not hear a message, “Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse and see if I will not rebuke the devourer for your sake” He didn’t hear that message. Hello, so why did he bring 10 per cent? It was not a law. There was no law then. Church Gist. Nobody was forcing him to bring it. He acknowledged that ah! This is the doing of the lord and he brought the tithe as an act of worship to say, “Lord, I acknowledge that you are my source I acknowledge that you are the one that blessed me. It’s neither by my power nor by my might. I went to school but it is you that made me to pass. I had the certificate but it is you that gave me the job. I’m employed because of you. Every day I go to work, I come back, no accident they give me assignment I’m able to make up in time. I find favour with my bosses. My salary is paid on time. It’s not me, it is you Lord. I bring this ten per cent to worship You.
Abraham didn’t have a Pastor. So, because you are waiting for one pastor, waiting for one church it’s an error. So there was no law here. So, Abraham was not responding to any law. Church Gist. Abraham was not obeying any law. Hello, what was he responding to? Another law, kingdom law! Hello, I’ve said it to you in this church there is nobody on earth that can live without laws. The question is which law? Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law but the Bible talks about for the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus (It’s another law) has redeemed us from the law of sin and death.
So, Abraham was responding to the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus even in the Old Testament. Let me give you this one, think about it. Joseph refused to sleep with Potiphar’s wife. Was there any law against adultery? Read your bible. The Ten Commandments were not yet enforced. So thou shall not commit adultery did not exist when Joseph refused to sleep with Potiphar’s wife. So if Joseph had slept with Potiphar’s wife, he was not breaking any law. No, read your bible and if you disagree, let’s discuss it tomorrow morning bring your scripture. He was not breaking any law. If he said wow! She wanted it, it’s consensual. Church Gist. It’s not rape now. There is no law. So, the question is, which law was he now obeying? I cannot do this great wickedness and sin against my God. It is a personal conviction. He had a relationship with God that was void of religion. The problem is many of you don’t have relationship with God.
I was preaching for a friend in the U.S. And that’s why if you get to my office, anybody that invites me, I send them a form. Part of the form is, “Pastor Olumide Emmanuel does not raise offering” Because when you’re a teacher and you have the ability to teach and give revelation and get people to understand things, some Pastors will now want to use you to raise offering. Church Gist. So, I don’t do it. I write it out. So when we got there, after preaching, the man said ah! Since you have been coming to this church, he said there’s nobody that preaches that will make this guy, you see that guy that guy? Nobody preaches anything that will make him give apart from his offering and his offering is a twenty dollars. He is a twenty-dollar man.
You are the only one that preaches and this man will give you anything. You see but he does not tithe. He doesn’t believe in tithing. He will just be arguing. Church Gist. Can you please just help me talk to him? I just want you to talk to him because I believe he will hear. I said I don’t do that. He said please so I said okay. So, they invited the guy and he came to my office. We sat down. So, I said your pastor said i should talk to you that you don’t tithe. I said so just to let you know that he said I should talk to you.
I really don’t agree with those kinds of things because even me as a Christian, I don’t believe anybody should force me to do anything. I do what I’m led to do. I do what I understand. I said I just want you to enlighten me, what is your understanding of this concept of tithing? And then he started talking, “I don’t believe in tithe, in the New Testament, there was no tithe. Church Gist. And people said that Jesus Christ mentioned it. He just mentioned it in passing but it’s not something you have to do in the New Testament Church. You do it free will. It’s free will” I said, “I agree with you. Yes, I agree” I said, “Because the New Testament is more terrible than the Old Testament. That’s because the Old Testament is asking for ten per cent It’s a good deal” I said, “But the New Testament it is free will. That means he can ask for the whole hundred per cent” He said, “No, i didn’t say that, I didn’t say that” I said, “No, you know in the early Church, the Bible says everybody gave everything that they had” He said, “No no no no no no no no no no that’s not it. I can’t give everything that I have” I said, “No, we’re still staying with the free will” I said “So, I would like to ask, do you believe in this Church?”
He said, “Oh yeah! My pastor is a great man of God. I love him. He’s blessed my life. I’ve got miracles in this church” I said, “And you believe that a ministry like this needs money to run?” He said, “Yeah, I’ve got my business. I understand running cost, I understand” I said, “Okay, I want you to now go to God because I agree with you” I said, just go to God and say God, by the law of free will, I believe in free will. What do you want me to be doing every month from my income for this church? I said, “Whatever God tells you to do, do it” He said, “It’s okay I can do that. Church Gist. I can work with that. I said, “Well, let me now tell you something, what I’ve told you to go and do now if you truly do it, I can tell you the answer in advance. The answer will never be less than ten per cent. He said no. If He tells me to do it, once he tells me, I’m going to do it.
So, I left it. The Pastor said what did he say? I said don’t worry it’s in the hands of God. Two months later, he called me from America man of God, what exactly did you say to the guy? I don’t understand. How do you do this stuff? Is it that you guys have something in Africa you use to convince these people. What did you do? I said I don’t know what you’re talking about. Church Gist. He said the guy dropped tithe last month. I said are you sure? He said he dropped something that should be tithe because he’s never dropped something like that before. He said, and then this month I just got the second one now exactly the same amount. He said so I now called him to say oh you now believe in tithing?
He said, no I don’t believe in tithing. You say you don’t believe in tithing, but you are paying. He said no, the man of God we had around said i should pray to God whatever God tells me to do, I should do it. It his free will. You see, when I prayed about it, God asked me how much is your mortgage? He said that’s what God asked him how much is your mortgage? His salary was 2500; his mortgage was 385 dollar per month. For the house you are living in, that you are paying for the next twenty five years, you are paying every month nobody forced. You yourself entered the debts and you are paying. And for the earth that I’ve given you that you have lived on that I didn’t charge you rent, you are arguing. So, I want my mortgage.
He said God told him the same 385 as you are paying your mortgage, another 385 be paying my mortgage. So he said the guy told him no, I don’t do tithe, it’s my mortgage. So he said he was wondering, he now called me, what did you tell him? Church Gist. I said I don’t know what you’re talking about. His salary is two thousand five hundred dollars how much is the tithe of 2500? 250. How much did God ask him to bring? 385. So, please I beg you don’t believe in tithing. Believe in free will and let God free willingly tell you what to do. It can never be less than 10 per cent.
- Offering: In Deuteronomy 16:16-17 “Thou shall not appear before the Lord empty-handed” Look at the last part, and they shall not appear before the Lord empty. I don’t understand how you come to church and you’re dropping empty envelope, i don’t understand. Church Gist. And then you even waste the envelope, empty envelope. Who are you deceiving? And then when it’s time to count money, they keep opening envelope, nothing…open…nothing. And you wonder why you open and nothing. Offering is what you offer to God based on your ability in God. So tithe is ten per cent. Offering is free will.
Hello, so you cannot give offering like other people. You can’t be a five thousand naira offering person and be giving 500. Stop disgracing yourself. Hello chickens defecate, dogs defecate cows defecate, elephants defecate but it’s not the same size. Hello so, like the Apostle of Light will say “Defecate your size” You can’t be an elephant and you defecate like a chicken. Church Gist. They will ask whether you have constipation. Go and take medication to purge. Hello, okay how do I know how much to give. How much do you spend on recharge card every week? How much do you spend on food every week? Just one meal a day is okay. Hello so if you do one meal a day times seven days, it shows you your offering. It gives you a guide. You said you need the guide those are the guides.
If you eat three times a day and your food is average one thousand, three thousand per day or you are five hundred person, one thousand five hundred or you are two hundred percent six hundred. Church Gist. So, that’s two hundred, one meal, just eat twice so that you can give one to God. Hello so 200 into seven places 1400 so if you do 400 on Wednesday, 1000 on Sunday. So nobody should give less than 1400 if you are doing 200. then some of you already are 500.
Some of you when you sit down like this, it is 5k you’re eating. Hello didn’t you hear on Sunday that there is a platter of 15k. Hello every week, recharge card 1500. You are buying the airtime 1500. Time is free, air is free. When you’re buying, you are paying for airtime because somebody has used technology to collect money from you from what God gave you for free and when it’s time to now do offerings, you are now looking for the smallest money that is so bad that even the police will refuse to collect. Dead offering, you now bring it to church.
Uncompromising commitments to covenant obligations: so, first fruit, tithe and offering. Now let me give you an analogy. In farming you till the ground to build a ridge, right? Now, when you till the ground to build a ridge what have you done? You have prepared the ground for seed. Church Gist. If you do that and you don’t plant a seed, will you get any harvest? If you plant a seed and you did not prepare the ground, will you get any harvest? No! You know what you do? You see that digging and putting ridges together that’s your tithes. Your offering is the seed. It is when you bring an offering that harvests come, 30 folds, 60 folds, 100 folds. 30 folds 60 folds 100 folds do not work for tithing.
Hello, that is why many of you tithe and you are still poor. Read your Bible very well there is nowhere inside Bible where God says if you pay tithe, you will prosper. Show me, because you don’t understand this thing that’s your problem. Show me where in the Bible that says if you pay tithe, you will prosper. Church Gist. So many of you have paid tithe yet you are poor because you don’t give any offering. You prepare the ground and nothing is planted. It’s like stimulation without deposits. There’ll be no pregnancy there will be no conception.
You see when you bring your tithe into the storehouse, what did he say? He said I will pour out a blessing (singular) that word blessing is the same word “I’m the God that gives you power to get wealth” It’s the same word, the blessing of the lord maketh rich… So when you bring in your tithe, God blesses you with things that money cannot buy.
Hello and that’s why many of you are powerful poor men because the power to get wealth has been released but you are still poor because you are not using the power. So stop all this poverty-minded Christianity. How can you come to church without offering? Drop your offering and trek home. Church Gist. They say the Pastor is after our money. Lie! I can pray; I can’t answer prayer so if you like don’t obey. I will continue to pray, “This is your week this is your year. I prophesy you will not see shame” God will say “My son, are you through? This one, he will see shame. I’m taking him through the school until he does what needs to do” These are just simple things to do.
- Sacrifice many people understand giving but only few people understand what it means to sacrifice. Anytime you want to do anything, start with a seed. I shared it this morning. Church Gist. When you have prayed and it is not producing, add fasting to your prayer. When you have fasted and prayed and it’s not working, it’s time to sow a seed. When you have fasted, prayed and sowed, it’s time to go into praise and just praise him and worship him for who he is.
So you need to understand the place of sacrifice. Some people also sacrifice but they don’t do it consistently for it to become a culture for it to become a habit, for it to become a lifestyle. We’ve heard pastor K.K. share his testimony. Today we heard the wife sharing from her own dimension. Church Gist. She was telling us that any time my husband brings a car home or even buys her a car, she does not sit fully because she knows the car can go anytime. She said the last one, the care did not last maybe two-three months. Hello somebody say sacrifice. So listen and listen well, there are some things that when you sow a seed of sacrifice, God must but move.
- Welfare Let’s look at Proverbs 28:27 “He that giveth unto the poor shall not lack but he that hideth his eyes shall have many a curse” He that gives to the poor shall not lack, so choose your position are you the giver or you are the poor? Hello The Bible says anyone that gives to the poor will not lack but he didn’t say the poor will be free from poverty. I hope you saw that. Church Gist. It’s you that are giving that will not lack, the poor will remain poor so giving to the poor does not prosper the poor, giving to the poor does not solve the problem of the poor but it’s a covenant obligation that helps you never to be poor. Church Gist.
He that gives to the poor shall not lack doesn’t mean that the poor will not remain poor. Hello but it is your responsibility to ensure that for every money that comes into your hand, a portion belongs to the poor. A portion is a seed of welfare. But to think that your welfare will prosper people, you lie! Church Gist. The solution to poverty is not welfare but welfare; you must do so that you won’t be poor. You give downwards so that you solidify the ground, so that you will not go under. You give up so that you can go up. So if you give to the poor, it’s only to guarantee that you will not be poor but it doesn’t also guarantee that the poor will never be poor again.
That’s why it says the poor you have with you always. So when I hear people that are so passionate about this poverty thing. We should give to the poor. They are poor. Hello and what they are actually saying is give to me. So choose, do you want to be the one giving or the one collecting? Church Gist. As Christians, every time you read the Bible, choose where you belong. “Seeth thou a man diligent in his business he will stand before kings and not before ordinary men” You know every time we are seeing the diligent man, but there is a king sitting down so are you diligent or are you the king? Hello I’ve changed position on many levels.
We have left the realm of diligence, we have become addicted. So there is no diligence to an addicted man. Church Gist. He has no choice we are born servants. We are already tied to the altar so we are now kings let the diligent be coming. Anybody that is not diligent has no access to our life anymore. No I’m telling you. Church Gist. Somebody told me Pastor you have changed. I said you just didn’t know I have changed like 11 years ago. When I was at the age of 39, I told all of you that as I’m clocking 40, I’m changing. I said I’ve changed.
He said because somebody showed me the reply you gave him on an email. He said Ah! Pastor has changed. I said somebody showed you my email, what happened? He said the man came to him that he would like to be mentored by Pastor and he sent me a mail for his request for mentorship and I told him I don’t do free mentorship again, The vacancy has been exhausted. Church Gist. So i will let you know when there is free space for you to come into the free one. However, there is the billionaires’ conclave, there is still vacancy there. Seeth thou a man diligent… he will stand before kings” So, I am the king now. So for you to have access, are you diligent? I don’t even have time for time wasters.
Hello, if I mentor you for two years and your life does not change, I will excommunicate you by myself because you are a disgrace to the grace. Church Gist. You will spoil the brand. Hello, the solution to poverty is empowerment. Empowerment is knowledge not palliative. So all the time, “what is the church doing for the poor?” What you are doing for the poor? What’s the church doing for the poor? The poor that cannot buy diesel, hello, so we will give the money to the poor and all of us will come here now and stay in darkness.
If you came to church now, there’s no AC there’s nothing, sorry no we gave the money to the poor, so just manage, manage candle, won’t you complain? The solution to poverty is empowerment; preach the gospel to the poor. Church Gist. So giving to the poor is your covenant obligation but that does not prosper the poor welfare is a temporary relief measure so that things will not get worse. So for you to now sit down and you are a welfare candidate every month, welfare and you are not even ashamed to say don’t give me if I perish I perish, that’s why you are still begging after 11 years.
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