1st Lesson: Hebrews 11:4
By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh.
2nd Lesson: Hebrews 7:1-2
For this Melchisedec, King of Salem, priest of the most high God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the Kings, and blessed him; To whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all; first being by interpretation King of righteousness, and after that also King of Salem, which is, King of peace.
Golden Text: Romans 13:6-7
For all this cause pay ye tribute also: for they are God's ministers, attending continually upon this very thing. Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour.
Brethren, this is the theme of our revelation. The essence is to reveal to you that God does not wish that we perish at this end of time. If it were His wish that we should perish, He would not have sent to us this good news.
I, therefore, want everybody to pay rapt attention. Let everybody open his ears, hearts and minds. If you had been doing something else, please concentrate on these words because they constitute the glory of God. Faith goes always with work. And faith without work is dead, just as the body without the spirit is completely dead. It does not only end in calling upon God. What then is your faith? Death, sickness, poverty, problems and encumbrances besetting all the inhabitants of the world emanate from this Gospel.
Payment of rent did not start today. Payment of tax equally did not begin today. That is only to indicate to you that a certain place belongs to somebody. Right from the time of Abel, it had been instituted that people should pay tithe unto the Almighty God, for God uses this to help us. Abel paid his tithe unto God and that was why it was counted unto him as righteousness.
What is very pathetic today is that a great many people, even here in Brotherhood, continue to come here everyday, but have never paid tithe to God. "The First Step to God" had explained much on the payment of Tithe. You have always been told that our store-house depends on payment of tithe. Your faith then is based on payment of one-tenth of your income. If you do not pay your tithe, it therefore means that you do not believe in God.
Shouting on the Name of Our Lord Jesus Christ will mean nothing if you do not pay your tithe. Do you think that calling on Jehovah Hah, Jehovah Jire, Jehovah Nissi, Jehovah Shalom, will save you if you do not pay your tithe? Tithe payment is the duty for every person. Whether you attend any church denomination or not, whether you are white or black, whether you are a government worker; whatever institution you may belong to, you have to pay your tithe. If you do not pay your tithe, it means you do not believe in God.
You will therefore realize that the cause of poverty and any problem besetting the world is the failure to pay tithe. Unfortunately, the world has completely neglected this duty to God. This is not the first time the world has despised God.
If it were the first time, the Book of Malachi would not have written about tithe. Right from the beginning, a great many people have always been reluctant to set aside one-tenth of what God has given them as a portion unto Him. Whatever God has, as those things do not belong to you, you have to give a tenth of it God. Payment of tithe shows that it is God, who has everything and not you.
For example, the children given to you belong to God. You have to share them into ten parts, and pay a tenth of it as tithe unto God. The land that is given to you by God, has to be divided into ten parts, and a part given to God. The money that has been given to you has to be divided into ten parts and a part of it given to God. This observance must be kept for eternity.
The coconuts, the sugar-cane, the plantains, the oranges, hens, goats and all other things given to you by God have to be shared into ten parts, and a part in each case given with humility and reverence to God. It is said, "Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing that there shall not be room enough to receive it."
When we pay tithe, we have no problems, and there is no problem whatever. You have no other duty to perform apart from paying tithe to God. The payment of one-tenth of all your earnings is the greatest of all the things you have to do.
Whatever you may do, if you do not pay your tithe, it means that you have nothing because your action signifies that God is not in existence. This Kingdom was given to Abraham because of righteousness by faith. Whoever pays tithe, it will be counted for him as righteousness. You in Brotherhood, have sometimes, claimed to have seen God face to face, but have you been paying your tithes?
If you also claim to have seen Our Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit but cannot pay your tithe, what then will be the state of those who know nothing about Jehovah God and His Christ? If you came in here penniless, but you are made rich by God, and yet you still find it difficult to pay your tithe, why then should you continue to shout on the name of Our Lord Jesus Christ?
You believe that there is only one God in existence. Satan also believes that there is only one God. But Satan does not only believe, he trembles. Can your belief, alone save you? The necromancer believes in God. This is why he always calls on God of heaven and earth. Even the members of secret societies believe that God is in existence and that they have seen God, and conversed with Him during their astral journey to the planes, government also believes that there is God in existence. This is why people often ask that we pray to God to restore peace in government. This shows that even the government believes in the existence of God.
All the church denominations believe that God is in existence. That is why they often pray for help from Jehovah and call on angels Michael and Gabriel to help them. The Moslems also believe that God is in existence. Even those who do not attend any church believe that God is found in the hearts of men, and that God is in existence.
But it is said that faith without work is dead, and this is what has hampered the work of God. This is what has caused the churches to be empty, and equally explains why the government is always found wanting in its duties. Who has ever accepted to pay one-tenth of what he is given to God? Whatever may be your daily or monthly or yearly income, it is required that you divide it into ten parts and pay one part of it to God. If you fail, it means that your contract with God is terminated.
Brethren, failure to pay tithe is the source of your problem. This is why it is said, "Ye are cursed with a curse; for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation."
Do not toy with the word of God. There is no word of God which has ever failed to fulfill. Read the book of Malachi chapter three from verse seven.
"You are cursed with a curse, for you have robbed me, even this whole nation." You would ask, "wherein have we robbed you?" And the answer is in one-tenth of all your earnings and in offering."
For this reason, you have been cursed. It is said "Bring all the tithes into the storehouse and there may be meat in mine house and prove me now herewith, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, there shall not be room enough to receive it."
Consider the orthodox churches, if all the millionaires and wealthy people in the church had paid their tithes, tell me what the church would have done with the amount of money. If all the Spiritual churches, prayer houses, and individuals were to know that it is their bounden duty to pay tithe, then there would have been no problems. This is our duty to this Kingdom.
This should be the source of our joy. Long prayers will not save you. Crying will not save you. Lamenting will not save you. As soon as this Gospel ends, experiment on it. It does not mean until you come to Brotherhood. Pay your tithe and see whether you will not prosper.
Brethren, if all the millionaires in the world were to pay their tithes, if all the Banks in the world were to pay their tithes, if individuals and every institution were to pay their tithes, what do you think would have been done with such money? What would then cause the work of God to dwindle? Who then would not like to serve God?
All of you are anxious to serve God, but the problem is that there is no food. Right now one who may decide to serve God would become a laughing stock, a mockery and would be called a demented fellow. This is so because people have refused to pay their rent. This is the rent we owe to God, and God has started to demand for His rent.
Whatever you are, whether a Bishop, Archbishop or a Pastor, you have to pay your land rent. Have you, therefore, seen the reason why our Lord Jesus Christ pointed out how difficult it would be for a rich man to pay his tithe?
Can you see how difficult it is for you to pay your tithe? The business men can have ten million naira just in one business transaction, and one million is supposed to be their tithe to God. But who is prepared to pay it? Now that you have refused to pay out one million as your tithe out of ten million God has given to you, where do you think you will be?
It means that you are lost. Can you not see how empty the world is? There is neither food, good health, money, peace, life, nor Spirit today.
Take Abel for example. This example has been used from time immemorial. Of all the sheep he reared, he chose the fattest of the rams for a sacrifice to God. That was recorded for him as righteousness. Abel believed that he together with the animals belonged to God. Therefore, he offered the ram for a sacrifice unto God. God counted that as righteousness for him.
Do not forget that Cain committed no murder. His only conflict with God was that he was a farmer, but believed that God only requires the heart. He, therefore used a lean yam, eaten by beetle for a sacrifice unto God. That was what brought conflict between him and God. You always keep all what you have to yourself claiming that God does not need them. You continue to assume that such things only belong to you. Brethren, can you therefore investigate the source of your problem? Can you then realize your nakedness as well as that of the whole world? Whoever does not pay his regular tithe does not believe in God.
It is said, You can only enter the kingdom of God through faith. No one enters the Kingdom of God through wealth, but by faith which goes with work. It is exactly the same words spoken by our Lord Jesus Christ when the people went to tempt him. But the flesh which is Satan, has given it quite a different meaning.
They asked Him whether it was lawful for them to pay tribute. He told them, show me a coin. A coin was brought and he asked, whose image and superscription are these? The replied that they were Caesar's.
And so Our Lord Jesus Christ said, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's and unto God the things that are God's. This means that you should give unto God His due tithe. Since you have paid your tithe unto Caesar. Now that you have paid your tax to the government, you should also pay your tithe unto the Almighty God. You obtain your vehicle licenses, and renew them yearly, you pay rate to the local government; in other words, you are thereby paying tithe to the government.
You pay rent for the land acquired, and it therefore, stands to reason that you should pay tithe unto the Almighty God. This is the fullness of time that you must pay your tithe unto God.
Right now, the government has claimed ownership of all the land, but all lands belong to the Almighty God. And therefore, you must pay tithe for all the lands unto God. The earth you walk on belongs to God.
The water you drink belongs to God. The air we breathe belongs to God. Since the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit have now come, it is incumbent upon all the inhabitants of the world to pay tithe unto Him.
If you choose, you may go to church or refuse to go. But one thing is certain, and that is, you have to pay your tithe. You may decide to remain in your house, but you have to pay tithe unto the Almighty God. It is compulsory.
This is the only requirement for salvation in this Kingdom of God. Do not wage war with any person, saying he has been the cause of your poverty. You are poor because you have robbed the owner of everything. It means the owner has locked up everything and held the key Himself.
Think of this: Each country of the world mints its own currency. In Nigeria, you have your own currency, Ghana has it own and America, its dollar, but despite these, there is scarcity of money. The reason is that people have refused to pay tithe to God.
This is why this tidings of great joy are released unto you, and indeed, to all the inhabitants of the world. God does not desire that you perish; He does not desire that the whole world should continue to lament. Therefore, let everyone begin to clear debts to God.
Brethren, even if you have only ten eggs, yet unhatched, one of them is the one-tenth which must be given unto God. You must not wait to be told by any person or through a vision.
If you have twenty eggs which have all been hatched. Two of them must be paid immediately as tithe unto God. If you take ten naira to the market and purchase some articles of trade, and sell them at twenty naira, you are required to pay your tithe of the naira which represents one-tenth to pay your tithe of your profit to God. Whatever gains you make, divide them into ten parts and pay one part to God. You have to pay your tithe out of every gain you make. Do not be indebted to God, and He will in turn not be indebted to you. If God brings one thousand naira to you, first of all, pay your tithe of one hundred naira before putting the nine hundred naira into your pocket.
It was once revealed to one brother in the University why money has to be minted in various denominations of ten kobo, fifty kobo, one naira, five naira, ten naira and twenty naira. The reason for this is to facilitate tithe payments. If you pick up ten kobo on the ground, you have to pay a tithe of one kobo, while remaining nine kobo belong to you. If it is one naira, ten kobo is the tithe, while ninety kobo belong to you.
The people of old wanted to pay tithe but had no opportunity. If you remember what happened during the colonial rule, if one was indebted to you, such debt would be written off after seven years, as bad debt.
Tithe is not a matter to be read in literature. It is not a matter for one to be advised on. I am only reminding you what has brought about the downfall of the world. I am standing on the highest heaven to deliver this Gospel to all the inhabitants of the world, both human beings, angels, and spirits. Brethren, I do not wish to overload you, let the first lesson be read.
1st Lesson: Hebrews 11:4
By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh.
Make no mistakes, whatever you have, divide it into ten equal parts and pay one part to God. If you are working and earning a salary of one hundred naira a month, know that ten naira is your tithe unto the Almighty God. You have to count your salary as ninety naira, even when it has not yet been paid to you.
From today, if your monthly salary is one thousand naira, you have to estimate your salary as nine hundred naira, so that you may not have problems. If you pay your tithe regularly, you will definitely see the glory of God in you. If you have a landed property, which accrues to you some rent, you have to pay one-tenth of the rent as your tithe. If you have a acre of palm trees which yields you some money, you have to divide the money into ten parts, and pay one-tenth as your tithe. You have to pay your tithe out of every commission you receive, on any deal. If you pick anything on the road, you have to pay tithe out of it to God.
Remember Hannah, you have heard of how she was barren. She requested God for a child. When she was praying silently unto God, Prophet Eli saw her soliloquizing and so asked her, "are you drunk?" I am conversing with my God". When God heard her prayers, He gave to her Samuel. She had never got a child from her birth. Her first child was paid as tithe unto God. In your own case, you would ask, "Where am I going to pay the tithe?"
If you do not know the place, go and throw the child into water. Every time you would argue that you do not need to honour any man. Did Hannah throw Samuel into the bush? She handed him over to a Priest of God who was attending to the work of God. She did not instruct that Samuel should stay with Eli for sometimes. She handed over Samuel completely unto God. Do not forget that she had no other child. She did not hand over Samuel to Eli as a servant.
The prophet did not ask her to send the child to him so that he may teach him. The fact, though is that it is only a person who believes in God that can pay tithe. Do you know what the Father did unto Hannah? God gave her five more children.
In your own case, even if your children are hundred in number, and if any should decide to serve God, you will frown and rather tell him to go to school. You will also ask, whether he has not seen his brothers; telling him to work and get them an education. You can serve God from any place. It is one and the same thing.
Except when you discover that your child is a thief, or is sickly, or disobedient then will you pay him as tithe unto God. This is exactly likened to the offering of Cain.
If it is not clear to you, God always wants what is good, because He Himself is good. Many people here pay their tithe with counterfeit money.
Some people who desire to pay tithe with clothes, do so with torn dresses and would claim to have paid tithe. Brethren, you have been taught to the final stage, because it was written in the prophets that God will teach them everything. And all those who hear and learn of the Father will follow me. There are certain people in this Kingdom who do not joke with the payment of tithe. There are also others who will pull a long face the moment you remind them about tithe.
They will want you to understand that they don't earn much. They may even agree to pay, but would argue that they are only indebted to the Father. If the debt continues to accumulate, when do you think it can be defrayed? This is not a matter of indebtedness. It is just like gum and paper. If you fail to pay your tithe you will score zero because it will mean that you do not believe in God.
This Kingdom belongs to those who believe fervently in God. What do you have to give to God after all? Anything you claim to be yours, belongs to God. This is the little thing He requires you to do, so that He can prove His love to you. Even the nine-tenth you reserve for yourself belongs to God; the one-tenth also belongs to Him. He is the only One to dictate what you should do for Him and if you do it He will continue to pour on you, knowledge, wisdom, wealth and many other virtues. Why are your eyes not opened?
This world was given to Abraham to rule over with his children. I ask, who are the children of Abraham? If you do not pay your tithe it means you have no share in this Kingdom of God. You can remember that Abraham had no child for a long time; but the moment God gave Isaac to him, the same child was demanded of Abraham for a sacrifice unto Him.
What do you think is the meaning of this development? Do you think, faith is that simple? It was only one thing which God gave to Abraham. This is mainly to show to you that Abraham believed fervently in God and that this was why he became a friend of God.
He did not hesitate to accept sacrificing his only begotten son. Who in the whole wide world would have done what Abraham did? Having only one child and determining to sacrifice that only child to God? Even if you were told in a vision, you would curse such a visioner and his household.
Can you sacrifice the only child you have unto God? And so brethren, Abraham was not reluctant to go and sacrifice Isaac, because he knew that the child belonged to God.
Should God decide to take his own life and that of Isaac, Abraham would have done nothing. There was, therefore, no alternative. When Abraham had kindled the fire, Isaac had ignorantly asked the father where the lamb for the sacrifice was. Abraham answered and said unto his son that God would provide for Himself the sacrificial lamb.
The moment Abraham held Isaac and raised up his knife, ready to cut off his head for the sacrifice, he heard a voice telling him to do nothing to the child, rather that he should turn to his right and would find a ram, caught in a thicket by its horns with which he would sacrifice. Who brought this ram? Abraham did as told, and found the ram, he sacrificed it and went home with his son and for this obedience, he became a friend of God. Can you see what faith can do?
You have heard about others and the marks they left in the world. In the case of Abraham, he is the father of all nations. And this became possible because Abraham had the faith and belief in God. His faith was his readiness to sacrifice Isaac unto God and to give one-tenth of what he had to the Almighty God. Show me any person in this world who had communion with God but had no faith.
It is asked in the scriptures, "Whose work are you doing?" And the reply given is, "I am doing the work of God." The warning is that whatever you do, if you do not have faith and belief in God, your efforts are wasted because you will not see that holy city. You spend all that you have serving Satan and the flesh; but when it comes to serving God, you will complain that you have no kobo.
Even in this God's Kingdom which you profess to see God face-to-face myself, (I have not seen Him face-to-face myself, I only hear His voice), you have refused to do something to prove that you have seen Him face-to-face. And so brethren, that is why these glad tidings of great joy are brought to you today. Fasting cannot take away your poverty; neither can prayer, even if you pray till you are choked up. People have cheated the Almighty God.
And so the world is under this curse. Now brethren, you have to go back and implement this principle given to you. The moment you begin to pay your tithe regularly your ways will be opened, you will be blessed with wealth, wisdom and everything.
Why people steal money, smuggle, defraud or do one thing or the other is because of hunger. "The government is in charge of the carnal functions of God, while the church performs the spiritual functions. If you take care of the flesh, what about the spirit? People of the world have ignored the spiritual side and that is why you find the whole world in a state of collapse; everything turns topsy-turvy." Therefore, let us retire to our houses and do exactly what Abraham our first father did.
What did he do? The second lesson will now be read and you have to listen attentively because there are so many highly educated people in the world who would like to question to whom you pay tithe. Listen to what is going to be read to you and you will know to whom Abraham paid his tithe.
2nd Lesson: Hebrews 7:1-2
For this Melchisedec, King of Salem, priest of the most high God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the Kings, and blessed him; To whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all; first being by interpretation King of righteousness, and after that also King of Salem, which is, King of peace.
Brethren, have you heard that? This glory refers to that same Abraham: Is it an easy thing for a human being to divide all that he has; his money, land, and other property, and give the tenth part of them to a human being like you?
Abraham did not regard Melchisedec as a human being; he believed him to be God. When you shout at the top of your voice to Jehovah God that you want this or that, except you pay your tithe, you are wasting your time.
If you claim to see God face-to-face why then do you refuse to pay your tithe? Melchisedec was a priest of God; the King of peace and righteousness; from time immemorial it was the responsibility of his priesthood to collect tribute, tithe from people.
So when Abraham returned from the slaughter of the Kings, he did not wait to be given a vision or to be advised by anybody to go and pay tithe to Melchisedec. He recognized Melchisedec as God and so gathered all that he had from the war and gave the tenth part to him.
"If you fail to pay tithe to God, you will definitely pay it to Satan. If you fail to pay tithe from your salary or wages to God, you will do so to necromancers, soothsayers, secret societies, prostitutes, to court cases and other carnal things."
You may sometimes argue that you have been paying your tithes, when you give money or build a bethel or help poor people, or do other things. All these are not tithe. You have to pay your direct tithe, which is one-tenth of what you have, like Abraham did to Melchisedec.
He had neither beginning of days nor the end of life. All tithes had to be paid to him because He was a Priest forever as the Son of God.
If you pay your tithes to the government, you have not done the right thing. Similarly, if your child attends a secondary school, and instead of going to pay his fees at the school compound or the Ministry of Education, you rather pay it to Minister of Works, such is wrong.
Therefore, everything has its own appropriate-quarters, and it is only at such a particular place you can do any appropriate thing that relates to it. Take our father Abraham for example, and look at Melchisedec, a priest forever without any genealogy, he had neither the beginning of days nor the end of life; without father or mother, and looking after the affairs of man of God. Abraham did not need any person to tell him to pay tithe to Melchisedec. Every person in those days paid his tithe to Melchisedec.
Have you not heard that among all those who believe and have one heart, they did not regard what they had as theirs, but pulled their resources together for a common goal.
I am now telling you what was promised Abraham and his children. It was that all the descendants of Abraham must definitely pay tithe. There are certain people here who have attained that level of understanding this programme and they do it properly. If you come across those who pay regular tithes to the Father, they have no problem whatsoever; no poverty, no sickness and no complaints at all.
Two persons would come to Brotherhood, but things are alright with one, while the other complains about hardship. But the trick is that the other person will not advise his friend, because all these things are written in the "First Step to God," they have been preached and even sung to you.
If you then refuse to do any of the things, you have yourself to blame. This sermon is preached to you, the children of Brotherhood and through the TV to the entire world which has not yet understood these things.
All those who are the children of God know for certain that it is their duty to pay tithe, contribute to freewill offerings and charity, celebrate love feast and do all other things. It is said, look at the Leader, and emulate His examples.
Take Abel for example, the author of our faith, and Abraham our father. That is why we have been told to pay tithe to God. Whatever you are doing at the end of the month, make sure that you pay your barber, your washerman, your house rent, your electric bill, your tenement rate, and all that you have to pay, because you have many irons on the fire.
But do not forget to always give to the Father His share- the tithe. The number one thing you have to do at the end of the month is the payment of tithe.
If you have been joking with the payment of tithe, from now henceforth, do not toy with it because the problem of the whole world stems from the fact that people have refused to pay tithes to God.
If you want to go into a strong man's house you must first of all tie his hands and legs so as to be able to plunder his house. If people were not beset with difficulties and problems, nobody would be willing to listen to anything.
Nobody is exempted from this assignment; whether you are white or black, man or woman, old or young, those yet unborn, and till eternity, everybody must continue to pay tithe. Do not wait to be reminded by visions because this is no vision affair.
Do not even bring about the idea of church denominations here, because the matter here does not consider them. Whether you are a church member or not, pay your tithe that things may be well with you.
It is the failure to pay tithe that causes the world to be beset with poverty and problems, and this shows that the world does not believe in God.
The payment of tithe is more significant than any other thing; more significant than raising the dead, healing the sick, building a house or doing anything whatsoever. You cannot compare it to any other thing you do to God.
Brethren, I do not intend to take you further than this. Our golden text will now be read.
Golden Text: Romans 13:6-7
For all this cause pay ye tribute also: for they are God's ministers, attending continually upon this very thing. Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour.
I know that many churches will be happy today because of this sermon. Pastors, Bishops, Reverend gentlemen and others, will direct same to their members, the Father's sermon of today; they will ask their members to pay their tithes to them. If all the church denominations pay their tithes, they will achieve prosperity, honour, plenty, well-being and all the good things.
It is wrong to ask people to pay a certain sum of money, or to arbitrarily decide on a certain amount of money to be paid by a certain Rev. gentleman. Do you not know that the one who is serving God, and is administering unto the necessities of the saints and God's representative is worthy to receive tithe and offering?
They should not depend upon salary or wages. It is better to give tithe to them than other things. Render to the government what belongs to it, and to God what belongs to Him.
What is happening today is that everything is deemed to belong to the village chiefs, secret societies and government. But that which belongs to God, they would say, "may God be with you." No one has anything to give to God.
As there is one government, so also is one God. Therefore, all those who serve in the temple of God should eat from the temple. If people were to believe in God and pay their tithes, churches would be much richer than the industries, firms and even the government.
Can you now see why the people of old were able to perform the work of God undisturbed? They were dutiful because they paid their tithes, regularly. There was food and everything was in abundance. Without the priest, nobody had anything to eat. And so there was no poverty in priesthood.
The man we are talking about was only a priest in the flesh, not in the spirit. We are not arguing the fact that it is the elder who should bless the junior.
Tell me the truth, if Abraham did not pay tithe to Melchisedec, do you think He would have blessed him. If he were not blessed by Melchisedec, do you think Abraham would have been as great as he was? The payment of tithe portrayed Abraham as a believer in God.
Now that some people are arguing that they cannot worship any person, I ask, who is the worker of God? Was Our Lord Jesus Christ an animal? Tell me whether He was an animal or a spirit or a tree? You who claim that you cannot respect, honour or worship any man, was our Lord Jesus Christ not a human being, was Melchisedec a stone or an animal or a spirit?
Was Melchisedec not a priest of God who was making intercession for every person in the world throughout his time? Our Lord Jesus Christ too is a Priest of God who looks after the affairs of God.
This was why those who believed at the time of Our Lord Jesus Christ, had to abandon all that they had. Matthew was a millionaire, Luke was a Doctor, so were Levi and others: people of great substance. They all brought together their wealth and established a common purse.
Think also of the four wisemen. The moment they heard that Our Lord Jesus Christ was born each of them went to see and worship Him with gifts. The first person went with gold. The second went with frankincense, the third with myrrh, and the fourth went with his gift too.
You know what this meant? Each of these four wisemen sold all he had and spent all the proceeds in buying the most precious gift to bestow on Our Lord Jesus Christ and honour Him. At that time, the Lord was only two years old, so when they arrived, Our Lord Jesus Christ did not offer them any prayers, or did anything to them.
When you ask somebody to pay tithe so that he may have a child or that his sickness may be cured, the question is, does it mean that it is through the payment of tithe that one can have a child or one's infirmities healed? Is this not the height of insult?
What was the main reason that prompted Abraham to pay his tithe to Melchisedec? Tell me? Listen, it was not for any other thing, than that of fulfilling the obligation. He took cognisance of fact that Melchisedec was God.
If you were Abraham, would you have gone to Melchisedec to give your money? You would have gone to complain to him that for some days running, you have not eaten, that your family has driven you out and that you have nothing to wear. That is the way your faith takes you to.
God has given you everything, but you would continue to tempt Him by asking for more. The only thing we have to do so that it will be written for us as a sign of righteousness is for us to pay one-tenth of all what we earn.
To a great many of you in Brotherhood, this is the cause of your problems and difficulties. The reason is that most of you have never paid even one kobo tithe. You are so much indebted to God by tithe payment that you feel you will not be able to defray, and so you resort to the slogan, "as the Father likes it."
When you were jobless, if somebody gave you N10.00 you would quickly pay your tithe from it. If somebody was so kind to give you N1.00, you would quickly pay your tithe out of it. But the moment you are employed, and money begins to come, you start arguing that your salary is insufficient for your expenditures, because of other more important expenses (capital projects).
You will then resolve to owe God and to pay back whenever money was sufficient. A miser does not realize that to give is to lend. If you fail to pay your electricity bill the light will be disconnected from your house. You are true witness to this fact that if we fail to pay our electricity bill for one or two months, the light will be disconnected, without any prior notice.
The one I am telling you now is a physical contract. At home, you know full well that you have not paid your electricity bill for sometime and the people in charge also keep their own records, and have observed that you have defaulted in payment for a particular period.
The people will then quietly come to your house and remove the use and disconnect the light. It is only when you come home and find no light that you will reorder your priorities and then go to pay your bill. Equally, if you fail to pay your rent, the landlord will serve you a quit notice, or would carefully pack your things outside.
The same applies to annual land rent. If you are treated this way for the vain things of this world, how much more with the One who created the world and the Owner of all the things on earth?
The payment of one-tenth of what you have to God is just the beginning of your journey; the primary stage of a thing. If you give God one-tenth whom do they belong to? All belong to God.
This will then bring prosperity, long life and every good thing would be bestowed on the sons of men. Since God is one, all the inhabitants of the world must pay their tithes to him.
Do not make the mistake that since you pay your house rent, electric bill, taxes and other things, that to pay tithe should wait. Do not be indebted to God. Does it mean, therefore, that God's worker must starve? He who looks after your souls, who ministers unto every person and who gives the report to the Almighty God, should go empty handed?
When you complain that a Pastor has stolen money, a Minister has misappropriated some funds, from where do you expect them to feed? Do you not see how some of them look pale and sickly. When you drive your luxurious cars, the Reverend and all his family will be trekking, or will as you pass by, "Pastor how do you do," do you think he will be pleased with you?
You will erect a storey building for yourself and build a thatched roof and mud-walled room for the Pastor, after which you will ironically call him master. And of course, this is why, if any of your relations wants to go into the ministry, you will ban him and threaten with a curse if he dares. You will instead advise him to take up a lucrative profession so that he can cater for the family.
If you examine the government, you will see how money is wasted. They waste millions of naira for things of no importance; things pertaining to the flesh. But for those who serve in the temple of God, must they go with empty hand? Why must they not give something. Samuel was the head of all the prophets and was greater than every government official.
When the Israelites wanted a King, they went to Samuel and asked him to give them a King. He was the one who selected Saul as the King and crowned him. It is a priest of God who has to select the president, the governor, village heads, traditional ruler, and other rulers and anointed and blessed them.
Right now, the government; individuals, firms and associations have ignored God, they have refused to pay their tithes, and have no respect for Him.
For this reason, do you not see the state of the government and the society? Everything is grinding to a halt and the spirit of God is completely out of them. It is the church that should be richer and wealthier than the government. If every person pays his tithe, the church will be buoyant; it will have enough for itself and even to spare unto the government. That way there will be plenty of food for everybody to eat and the entire world will be living in plenty.
If people were to pay their regular tithes, the church will be very wealthy, and when the church is wealthy, the government and the individuals will be wealthy as well, for by such payment, the one common purse will be established and everything will be controlled centrally for every person.
Whosoever does not pay tithes, it is better he was not born into the world. If had resolved not to pay tithe, do not come to this plane of manifest again.
However, wherever you may go to, whether you are in this plane of manifest or in any other plane, it is your duty to pay tithe. Tithe serves as a sign of your recognition that there is something more important than what you see.
Any person who does not pay tithe has not yet started his journey on his way to salvation. He should know for certain that he has no salvation for he is walking naked, and has no share in this Kingdom of god, neither has he any life at all.
Give tribute to whom tribute is due, because they are the ministers of God, attending continually unto every man. Can you then understand the meaning of this statement of Our Lord Jesus Christ? Render to Caesar the things which are Caesar's and render to God the things which are God's.
This statement is misinterpreted by the people of the world to mean that, we should give to diabolical things what belongs to them and give to mermaid what belongs to mermaid, which invariably connotes that after paying tithe, they should as well pay same to mermaid, apparition and other vain things.
This not what He said.
You should explain this to the people in the world when you go back home, that what Our Lord Jesus Christ meant in His statement is that when a man pays his taxes and rate to the government, house rent, water rate, electric bill, tenement rate, he should also pay direct tithe, free will offering, charity and other spiritual dues to God.
If you profess to be a necromancer and you pay tax and rate to the government, license for your necromancing activities and other dues, but you fail to pay tithe to God, you are in trouble with God.
So brethren, let us accept to be ministers of God in the real sense of the word. Stop shouting that you have seen God, because you are deceiving yourself, where did you see God?
It is an irony that you profess to see God but you fail to pay your tithe. You profess to see God, yet you have not refrained from falsehood. You profess to see God, yet you are still fornicating, what type of God have you seen, where do you see him?
If we were to have the fear of God, we would have known ourselves, but the Scriptures attest to the fact that the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. If we believe in God, we would pay our tithe and would realize that He will pour down to us manifold blessings and would take away from us, the tendency to commit any act of sin.
It is very easy for the Father to reform the whole world. A great many people complain that churches are not good because they serve no useful purpose.
What do you think will be used to make the churches serve useful purpose, when people have not paid tithes, when people do not want to minister unto those who serve God in His temple?
It should be the function of the churches to establish schools, colleges, universities, hospitals, maternity homes, big cities and large urban centres.
They should also cater for the welfare of the citizens; send citizens to schools, award them scholarship; but where is the money with which they can establish these institutions? The functions of the church cannot be performed by the government because the church dignitaries minister unto the things of God.
It is the church which looks after the government, the firms and companies, the communities, the hospitals and other social institutions. The church should also look after the trees, fishes, animals, birds and even the angels.
Do you know of any occasion in which the government stepped into church even when something happens? What business has the government in the church?
Have you even seen members of secret societies and necromancers go to the Church when something happens? Conversely, when something happens in the government, the church would step in to correct what was wrong. In the company, the necromancer, the towns and cities, the church would step in immediately to correct the error.
You cannot find any bird on top of an unripe palm fruits. A great many people are reluctant, and even refuse to serve God, because the church has no money. Thieves, murders, necromancers dress gorgeously, but it is the man of God who dresses in tattered and torn dresses.
If a minister of God drives in a small old volkswagen beetle, people will curse him and accuse him of misappropriating the church funds, especially if he has started developing protruding belly.
The world has missed the spiritual side of the things of God, thus making the physical side of things to overwhelm everything; and this explains why the whole world suffers.
Whatever we may do, if we do not pay tithe, we have not done anything, and we will continue to dwindle and retrogress, "but those who pay tithe are always progressing, are prosperous, and healthy, if they farm, they reap good harvest, if they engage in commercial activities, they have profits, their domestic animals continue to multiply.
Let all the inhabitants of the world who had robbed God, go back to their homes and begin to pay tithe to God. All should take up the issue of payment of tithe as a serious matter, to give each person his due and should not cheat any more, but give every person his due benevolence.
Do not think that when you take out one-tenth of your earnings, you share it out and give to orphans, widows and other less privileged ones. That is no tithe. Do not conceive in your mind that when you open a bethel and hand over the key, you have paid tithe; it is not tithe, but charity.
What is most precious in the sight of God is the payment of one-tenth of your earnings or profits or income. If you fail to do it, it means we are not the children of Abraham. Since we are Abraham's children, the children of promise, we must pay tithe to God.
Forget about your poverty, and sickness, your enemies, problems and your childlessness when you begin to pay your tithe and other dues, the Glory of God will be manifested in you. And God says, "Do it to me and prove me, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing that there should not be room enough to receive it. I will rebuke the devourer and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground, neither shall your vine cast out her fruits before the time."
Do you think that when thieves plan to break into your house that God does not know? Do you think that God does not know when anybody plans to get money from you under false pretenses?
Since you do not want Him to take care of you, He abandons you to your own way. There are angels who are set to watch over and protect all that you have, but when your record is examined, and it is found that you are indebted to God by not paying your tithes then you lose your guards.
If you pay your tithe, angels are set to guard your farm, your office, your house, your children, and your business and you will have things moving smoothly with you. You will even ask why you did not pay tithe in the past. Those who pay regular tithes would understand its essence, and if you ask them not to pay, they may quarrel with you.
Brethren, it is said, one stroke of the cane is sufficient for the wise. I do not wish to be tedious unto you. Those who have ears let them hear. May God bless His holy words. Amen.
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