Transcription
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And now, today's message. I'm doing part five of my message, "In the Corridors of Power," and my subtitle for today is "Wealth and Poverty." Both wealth and poverty are significant in the corridors of power, and we're going to learn how these forces of wealth and poverty play out in the power systems of the world. I believe that God is raising our understanding to a level where we will not be ignorant victims of what happens around us, but we will be controllers of God's purposes for our lives.
I'm going to start my teaching from Proverbs chapter 10 and verse number 15. Proverbs chapter 10 and verse number 15, and it's just a short verse, and it says, "The rich man's wealth is his strong city; the destruction of the poor is their poverty." The rich man's wealth, or the rich woman's wealth, is their strong city. The destruction of the poor is their poverty.
Wealth is defined as an abundance of valuable possessions and resources. An abundance of valuable possessions and resources. Wealth is seen in having marketable assets such as real estate, stocks, bonds, and so on. It's not necessarily in having consumer items like TVs, cars, swimming pools, um, shoes, and clothes, um, because these cannot immediately be converted to cash. But for a person to have wealth, they have to have possessions that can easily be converted to cash. In the largest sense, we can say that wealth includes health, your well-being, uh, having peace of mind, a good marriage, and so on. These are all wealth. But for the purposes of my teaching, I am not focusing on that kind of wealth. I am talking about real assets of wealth.
Now, in the passage, we are told that wealth defends the rich. Wealth defends the rich. "The rich man's wealth is his strong city." As a matter of fact, Ecclesiastes 7:2 says that money is a defense. Those who have money use it to defend what they have. It secures them power and position. And wealth is a very, very powerful factor in the corridors of power. It's almost impossible to find the poor in the corridors of power.
Poverty is defined as a lack of material resources or money. And, uh, poverty can be absolute or can be relative. And when we say absolute poverty, it means that you have nothing. You cannot meet the necessities of life. You cannot pay for your shelter. You cannot clothe yourself. You cannot feed yourself. You are basically at the mercy of somebody else. That's absolute poverty. Uh, in most parts of Africa, we have absolute poverty. Uh, but well, poverty can also be relative. And when we say relative, it means that well, you are able to meet the basic necessities of life, but it could be better. Uh, somebody else may have a little bit better than you, but it doesn't mean that you can't take care of yourself. So sometimes poverty is relative. For example, a person who is below the poverty line in the United States and lives on welfare will be considered rich in Ghana. Um, minimum salary in some parts of the world, which is now, I think about $7 or so dollars per hour, and computed into eight hours, uh, a day, that will be $40. Mr. Blankson, that's what, 8 times 7? $56. You can't trust me with mathematics. I should have calculated that before I came to church. Now, $56 is minimum wage a day in Ghana. It can be the month's salary for a lot of people. So when we say poverty is relative, that's what we mean. An extremely poor person in one country can be middle class in another country.
However, poverty, no matter whether it's absolute or poverty or relative, is not good within the context where it happens. The poor is poor where they are. So the passage says, "Poverty destroys the poor." It exposes people, institutions, and nations to destructive forces. It makes people vulnerable and weak. It weakens their standing in life and it makes them captive to the agenda of the poor. The wealthy are few. The poor are in multitudes. 65 of the richest people in the world, just 65, 65 own half of the wealth of the world. The rest of us, 65 people. If you go to Forbes' list of the richest people in the world, you count number one to number 65, they own half of what the poor own. So it means that in real time, 65 people and more than 7.5 billion people. That's not good. So that means that the wealth is in a few hands, and poverty is in many hands.
Wealth sets the agenda, and poverty fulfills the agenda. There are people whose money determines who should govern a nation, but they need those without money to ensure that their agenda comes to pass. And their principle is very simple: keep the poor from the big money and use, um, little money to buy their commitment. There are people whose money finances research, but they need those without money to believe in the research. Recently, I just read that they said that the skin of chicken is now edible. We can now eat it. When I was growing up as a child, we ate the skin of chicken. It was a delicacy then. The scientists came and said it's not good. It contains all kinds of cholesterol, and when you eat it, you have all these problems. So we stopped eating it. Just two weeks ago, they said it's good now. So when you see these things happen, you ask, who is making the research and what is the agenda? Because it's not just knowledge being passed along. Somebody needs to sell something, and he's going to find a compliant professor to give him the research to support what he has. Coffee is not good. Coffee is good. Egg is not good. Egg is good. So there are those who finance research so that the poor can believe in the research. There are those whose money determines what we should all believe, but they need those without money to fight for those ideas. Wealth declares war. Poverty fights the war.
So, in the corridors of power, the rich need the poor because they don't have the numbers. They have the money. They don't have the numbers, and they have to keep the poor in a position where they are usable. Much of Africa exists just to fulfill other people's agenda because we are very poor. The first European explorers came here with an agenda, and we fulfilled that agenda. Then the American came here with an agenda, and we fulfilled the agenda. Then the Russians came here with an agenda, and we fulfilled the agenda. Then the Chinese came here with an agenda, and we fulfilled the agenda. That's why you wonder why in a nation like Ghana, we can allow people to rape our land for gold, pollute all our rivers and our water bodies, destroy it, but government does not speak. There is a correlation between the agenda of the wealthy and the people who fulfill the agenda. And until the poor wake up, they will always be there for the fulfillment of the agenda of the wealthy. Once in a while, the poor realize their agenda of the wealthy and rebel against it, and it happened in world history. But most of the time, the poor, in addition to being poor, also are ignorant.
So when I started this series, I spoke about the pillars that hold our society. I spoke about seven pillars: the family, the culture, education, media, science, business, and government. And those who control the pillars of society also have a lot of money. A lot of money. I am yet, I mean, once in a while, you find somebody who is not wealthy who is also powerful, like Mother Teresa, but you know it's a benign power, uh, or Martin Luther King, and people like that. But usually, those who have power also have money. Those who have no power have no money. So it's in somebody's interest to keep the poor poor. Money is very powerful. It led Delilah to deceive Daniel. Samson, sorry. It led Judas to betray Jesus. The devil couldn't get to Jesus, but money got to him. It led the chief priests to pay a bribe to change the story of the resurrection from what was historically accurate to what the soldiers who saw the historical accuracy came to declare. They said his disciples stole his body, and that is still believed up to today. Money is very powerful. Very powerful.
Ecclesiastes chapter 9, verse 13 to 17. It's a very interesting observation by the preacher in the Book of Ecclesiastes. Very interesting observation. And this is what he says: "This wisdom I have also seen under the sun, and it seemed great to me." That word "great" means it was shocking to me. Verse 14: "There was a little city with few men in it, and a great king came against it, besieged it, and built great snares around it. Now there was found in it a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city, yet no one remembered that same poor man." Then I said, "Wisdom is better than strength." Nevertheless, "the poor man's wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard." "Words of the wise spoken quietly should be heard rather than the shout of a ruler of fools." I like the boldness of the writers of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes. Very, very bold. "The ruler of fools." Interesting.
So there is an observation, and it talks about a poor wise man. This is one instance where a poor man is not ignorant, but is wise. A poor wise man. A poor wise man in a city. That word "wise" means skillful, clever, and experienced. So a man who is skillful, clever, and experienced, but poor. A nation comes against his village or his city. The Bible says a great king, or the passage that the great king comes against his city, and he by his wisdom delivers the city. So this poor wise man is a deliverer. He used his skill, experience, and cleverness to deliver his city. Now, we're not told how he delivered them. Probably he delivered the city through negotiation, used wisdom to go and negotiate for a truce, or probably he gave them a strategy to counteract the strength of the opponent. Whichever method he used, he had the skill, the cleverness, and the experience to deliver a city. Now, normally, if somebody is able to do that, he's skillful, he is clever, he's experienced, there is a crisis, there is trouble, there is danger, and this person goes out and solves the problem, he should be a hero. He should be a hero. I mean, he should be on the front pages of the newspaper. He should be in the news. Mothers should be naming their children after him. People should be paying him. They should be rewarding him because he's a deliverer. He has the answers. But there is a little problem with this particular deliverer. He's poor. So he has the answers, he delivers, but the Bible says he is not remembered. That means that he is ignored and abandoned. He's used and dumped. He's invited to the corridors of power to solve a problem or offer help based on his skill and experience, then afterwards, he's dumped. There are many people in this category. Those who live in corridors of power know how to tap into people's skill but make sure that those people never come to that corridor. So this is what has happened to this man. When they needed him, they used his skill, his influence, his ability, and then they dumped him. They didn't remember him. Forgotten. One day, everybody's listening to his wisdom. The next day, who knows about him? Not only is he not remembered, the Bible says he is despised. He's taken for granted. He's giving no value. People listen to his wisdom, but they do not place value on it. They will not add money to the value. They will not empower him to also become powerful. They keep him at a level where he always responds to the calls of the powerful. He's despised, although he's a deliverer. And then the third thing the passage says about him is that his words are not heard. His words are not heard. He's not treated fairly. Now, you may ask, but his words were heard. Now, his wisdom was heard, but his words were not heard. Now, how could your wisdom be heard and your words not be heard? So this is how I think it happened. After he had given the wisdom, and the powerful people have implemented his idea, and it has succeeded, he now starts pleading for recognition. He's asking for acceptance. He's now saying, you know, pay me something, give me some money, you know, share some of the wealth you have with me, let me also come to the corridors of power. And they don't hear those words. They want his wisdom, but they ignore his words. It is a tragedy to be poor in this world, and more so when you are wise and poor, when you are skillful and poor, creative and poor, knowledgeable and poor, educated and poor, because you will be used, and your voice will not be heard. So he makes an appeal for better treatment, but he is not listened to.
The question is, how could such a man who is so skillful to solve national problems be poor? Now, if he could solve that problem, why can't he solve his problem? I'm not that man, and I don't know him directly, but the only way I can conjecture that a person who is smart enough to solve a national problem cannot solve his personal problem is somebody has told him that he must be poor. Somebody has convinced him that poverty is his proper place, that he shouldn't seek for material wealth. It is not good. Somebody has convinced him that although he's smart, poverty gives him prestige. That's one possibility. The other possibility is that the people who have power and wealth make sure that although he has all the answers, they would never give him access to where the money is. So they have oppressed him in his wisdom. A poor wise man. The world is full of poor wise men.
The verse 17 says, "The words of the wise spoken quietly should be heard rather than the shout of a ruler of fools." The words of the wise must be heard. If you believe that God has given you wisdom, you must create the opportunity for your voice to be heard. If you believe that God has given you ideas, you must create the opportunity for the voice you have to be heard. Because if you want somebody else to give you a voice, they would not give you the voice. You must create the opportunity to give your ideas a voice.
Now, Jesus told us in Matthew chapter 10:27, "Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light, and what you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops." Jesus is saying the words of the wise must be heard. Or the words of the righteous must be heard. There are many today who want to silence the voice of righteousness in the corridors of power. They want to make sure that the deliverers don't speak. If you go to the Western world, Europe and America, you find historically the knowledge of the West was built on the church. The church is the foundation of knowledge of Western society. The teachings of Christ lay the foundations of their society. Yet in those same countries today, Jesus Christ has been reduced to a cursed word. All the major universities in those countries were set up either by churches or by clergymen. But yet today, in those same universities, the church has no voice. Christianity is persecuted, and the voice of righteousness is relegated. Because somewhere along the line, they convinced the church to be poor. The voice of the wise must be heard. Jesus says, "Whatever I tell you in secret, shout it on the housetop." Jesus is saying his disciples must not speak in quiet places, in secret. They must speak at the highest points of the world. But there are people who are pushing the voice of the church to the back.
So how do we make our voice heard? We must announce the message that we have been given. We must never stop to make Christ known to the world. We must never yield to the threats and sanctions of those who want to stop the preaching of the gospel. We must be like Peter and John, who answered the chief priests of their day. We must obey God rather than men. The gospel is the power of God unto salvation, and it must be announced in the corridors of power. Not only must we announce it, we must finance it. We must never stop spending money on the preaching of the gospel. We must finance the translation of the Bible into all languages. We must finance the printing of Bibles. We must finance missionary activities. We must finance church planting. We must finance training of pastors. We must finance the gospel in the media. We must finance the church outreaches. We must finance the building of church buildings. We must let the words of the wise be heard, because if we don't, we will be like the poor wise man who is called for a time of deliverance, but afterwards, nobody will listen to them.
In the United States, after 9/11, everybody went to church. They were all going to church. Churches were full. Because when people are in trouble, they go to church. When the trouble passes, they want the church to shut up. They want us to pray for those in power, but never to speak to those in power. So when governments need you, you come to do the opening prayer or pray for a president. When he goes wrong, you're supposed to keep quiet. When it's election time, they'll come to our church and speak. And after they are in power, we're not supposed to speak back. Because the poor wise man is only needed for emergencies, but his voice must not be heard afterwards. He must pray for government, pray for those in power, but never, never criticize them. If you want my prayer, you get my criticism. We must announce it. We must finance it. And we must reinforce our message. We must reinforce our message. We must never stop pushing for the good news of Christ to be entrenched. We must seek a society that encourages righteousness and justice. We must make sure that the people of our churches live in a world that allows them to practice their faith.
I believe that God has called us not to be poor wise men, but to be rich wise men whose voices must be heard. Whose voices must be heard. Why is it so? I believe it's so because there is a satanic agenda in this world. I believe that there is a satanic agenda to make sure that the righteous and the biblically wise do not get into the corridors of power. We see that agenda set out in the temptation of Jesus in Luke chapter 4, verse 5 and 7. 5 to 7. The devil, taking him up on a high mountain, showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. The devil said to him, "All this authority I will give you, and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. Therefore, if you worship before me, all will be yours." So there is a satanic agenda to control the power systems of this world. And since there are more unbelievers than believers, that agenda has entrenched feet. It's a three-fold agenda.
The first part of the agenda is to get the righteous to believe that wealth is wrong for them. Wealth is wrong. The church spends a lot of time debating this one. Should a Christian be rich? Should he not be rich? Should a church be rich? Should we talk about money? Should we not talk about money? We sabotage ourselves when we make money. The world fights us and makes us feel guilty. Everybody or institution makes money and celebrates it, but when the church makes money, it gets criticized. We ourselves are not confident. How are you going to get something you are not sure you should get? How are you going to get something you don't believe you should have? A double-minded person, the Bible says, cannot receive anything from God. But you go to listen to most churches, there's a big debate: Should we have money? Should we not have money? Will we backlash when we make money? It's been a long debate. So the righteous is not sure about wealth.
The second agenda is to keep the righteous out of the money circles. Money flows in circles, my friends, and the people in those circles like to play the game among themselves. And if you try to enter that circle, you're going to face battles. If you're a small business, you start on your front porch, your business. You have no enemies. With very little money or no money, you can start a business and grow. But when your business grows and gains attention, you would understand that there are people who have a problem with you making money. The battles you fight are not at the beginning. They are the battles you fight when you are starting, emerging, and especially when you start going very high. And all those battles are based on the fact that you are entering a corridor that is not designed for you, and people are going to criticize you and fight you. When a footballer signs a $100 million contract, the world hails it. When a boxer makes over $1 million in one bout, we say he's smart. When a young man makes billions with an app, the world hails it. When a church invests money into its work, the world criticizes it. The only institution that is criticized on this planet for making money is the church. Oh yeah. People are going to ask, "What, what we have poor people in the church? Why are you spending the money for that? Why are you spending for to build a building? Would the building save souls?" That's it. They're going to ask all those questions. "Well, will the footballer's money also solve poverty? And there are poor people in his country, and there are poor people in his city, and there are poor people where they live too." And by the way, the money the poor, the footballer gets, where does he get it from? Those who go to watch. They pay the boxer's fees. It comes from those who watch. The rich man's money, the app, from those who download the app. Do they have poor people? I bet you do. But nobody's going to say anything about that. But let the church build a massive building. Where did they get the money from? Let them hear that a church has a television station. Where did they get the money from? Why don't you? They're not using the money for the poor, the widows. They always assume widows are poor. The widows, I think, widows have to fight against that labor. Where are they? The widows. Jesus was asked the same question when wealth was poured on him at his feet. Same question. "This money could have been given to the poor." Jesus says, "I know the poor are always around." Jesus was an economist. He knew that. Say, they will be here after I'm gone. They are here. They were here before I came. They are here while I'm here. I've gone. I'm gone. They are still here. The church must be sensitive to the needs of society, but it must not allow its message to be hindered by people who have determined to deny it power.
The third agenda is that the money gained is played with rules that do not favor the righteous. One of the challenges of every Christian as you grow higher is that you deal with conflict at the higher levels. The believer has to play the money game with rules that were designed to favor the unrighteous. And we need a lot of wisdom like Daniel to navigate that path. We have to know how to play the game without compromising our faith. And sometimes it's a very, very thin line, as we saw in Daniel. But the believer must always keep his covenant with God. It's a hazardous world out there in the corridors of power. It's very hazardous because it is not designed for righteousness. So one of the challenges for every believer is, how do I penetrate this world without undermining my faith? We need extreme wisdom in doing that. But that does not mean you keep away and say, "Well, you know, when you get there, it's a dirty world." Well, the dirty people are dirty in all of us.
Now, when you read through the Bible, you realize throughout the Bible, God had no problem giving wealth to his people. Abraham acquired great wealth in Genesis chapter 13, verse 1 to 2. Isaac was prosperous in a foreign land, Genesis 26:12 to 14. Jacob prospered under a very wicked and stingy boss, Genesis 30:41-43. Israel, as a nation, at the time of its deliverance from Egypt, received wealth transfer, Exodus 12:35-36. David, the man after God's own heart, gained enormous wealth through conquest, 1st Chronicles 29:1-5. Solomon managed enormous wealth, 2 Chronicles 1:14-17. But the picture takes a dramatic change when you come to Jesus. Jesus was poor, without worldly goods. Matthew 8:20. Jesus said, "Foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head." It seems a change in the narrative. Everyone of those heroes, wealth: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Israel, David, Solomon, then Jesus. Paul. Now, there are those who have argued that Jesus was rich. I don't think there is biblical proof for that. Jesus was not a wealthy man. Jesus was a poor man. Just lived among the poor, served among the poor. When he had problems with paying his taxes, he didn't have money in his pocket. He had to go and get a fish to produce the money. When he had people to feed, he didn't have money to feed them. Had to create a miracle. So he wasn't financially a wealthy person. The people of Jesus' time didn't see him as a wealthy person. So Jesus bucks the trend from Abraham down. Jesus bucks it because he's poor. The question is, why? Why was Jesus not rich? Why was Jesus not wealthy? Why did Jesus not come with silver and gold? Why did he live a poor life? Well, the Bible explains why he lived a poor life in 2 Corinthians chapter 8:8-9. In 2 Corinthians chapter 8, Paul is debating, talking about money and giving and receiving and wealth, and then he gets to verse 9. And he says, "For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for our sakes he became poor, that we through his poverty might become rich." Jesus did not become poor for the church to imitate or emulate his poverty. He became poor so that we through his poverty might become rich. Jesus and his followers, his church, as a rich church. And the price he paid for that was personal poverty. So you cannot tell me, "Well, Jesus was poor, so live a poor life." It's almost like saying, "Jesus died on the cross, so go and die on the cross." He died on the cross so I might live. He took my sickness so I might be healed. He took my poverty so I might be rich.
So for anyone who says, "Well, you know, be careful about money." Jesus says, "I paid the price." As a matter of fact, if you don't become wealthy, you are disgracing me. For my sake, he became poor, that I through his poverty, the church through his poverty, my be made rich. The church is not supposed to be a gathering of poor wise men and women, but a gathering of rich wise men and women. The church is not there to fulfill the agenda of the wealthy. The church is there to set the agenda. We are the light of the world. We are the city set on the hill. We are the salt of the earth. None of it talks about following. Each one talks about setting the agenda. Are the power systems in this world using the media, using all kinds of forces, would put all their light on the church and leave everybody else? Why do they do that? Why don't they put their light on other people? I mean, why don't they do that? Because they know the deliverer is the church. The deliverer is the church. And yes, let them provide deliverance. Let them pray for the well. Let them pray for world peace. Let them intercede. They would wish we were living in a cave and wearing loincloth and praying and interceding for the world and never coming out. They want us to be monks and nuns in monasteries, living in silent meditation, but never speaking. The day you start speaking, they will attack you. Because they want your wisdom, but they don't want to hear your voice. They want your deliverance, but they don't want to hear your voice. But thank God, we are not ignorant poor people. Thank God.
Well, let me close with a proverb Jesus gave. It's a very, very unusual proverb, very unusual, and it's difficult to preach from it because of the nature of the proverb. You'll find out, uh, when I read it. Luke chapter 16, verse 1-13. And I'll read it, and I'll talk about three important lessons to learn from that proverb. "He also said to his disciples, 'There was a certain rich man who had a steward, and an accusation was brought to him that this man was wasting his goods. So he called him and said to him, "What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your stewardship, for you can no longer be steward."'" So the man is about to be fired. Verse three: "Then the steward said within himself, 'What shall I do, for my master is taking the stewardship away from me? I cannot dig; I am ashamed to beg. I have resolved what to do, that when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses.' So he called every one of his master's debtors to him and said to the first, 'How much do you owe my master?' He said, 'A hundred measures of oil.' He said to him, 'Take your bill, sit down, write quickly, 50.' Then he said to another, 'How much do you owe?' He said, 'A hundred measures of wheat.' He said to him, 'Take your bill, write 80.' So the master commended the unjust steward because he had dealt shrewdly. The master commended him, for the sons of this world are more shrewd in their generation than the sons of light. And I say to you, make friends for yourselves by unrighteous M that when you fail, they may receive you into an everlasting home. He who is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much. He who is unjust in what is least is unjust in much. Therefore, if you have not been faithful in the unrighteous M, who will commit to your trust the true riches? If you have not been faithful, what is another man's, who will give you your own? No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and M." M being God.
So, I mean, the guy did a terrible thing. If your worker does that to you, you don't go and say, "Hey, well done. You've cheated me. Well done." This servant is told you've been fixing the books, you've been messing the accounts, so you're going to be sacked. That's one lesson you must learn. Don't tell people you are going to be sacked. Sack them. Because if you tell him you're going to be sacked, he has a time frame. That's not part of the parable, but just simple advice: Don't say you are going to be sacked. You. I will sack you. Don't want one people. Let them go. So, so the guy says, "You, I'm going to sack you." But he didn't sack him. Gave him some time. So this guy goes, tells somebody, "How much do you owe the master?" You say, "100, uh, measures of oil." He says, "No, write 80. Write 50." "How much do you owe?" "50." "Uh, 100 bags of wheat." "Write 80." And the master comes and says, "You are smart."
Now, what is Jesus teaching here? For you to get what he's teaching, he's not recommending crooked and dishonest behavior, because the key phrase is in verse 8: "For the sons of this world are more shrewd in their generation than the sons of light." So Jesus is saying, "Look at what a bad person would do. Look at how he thinks. Look, look at how crooked his thinking is." But the people who are righteous, they don't think. Basically, that's what he's saying. They don't think.
So there are three lessons we want to learn from a bad example. I call it learning a good example, a good lesson from a bad example. What are the lessons we get from this passage?
The first lesson: Use every opportunity to advance God's kingdom. Use every opportunity to advance God's kingdom. Because you see, the man was told, "You're not going to be here forever. You're going to be fired." And he says, "If I'm going to be fired, then I must prepare for where I'm going to." Jesus is saying, in the same way, the children of light, you know that you don't live here forever. Use every opportunity wisely. Use every opportunity to advance God's kingdom. That's the first lesson.
Second lesson: Use your position to win people to Christ. Use your position to win people to Christ. What did the guy do? He says, "I cannot dig, I cannot beg. I have to make contacts. I have to make friends so that when I leave this job, they will receive me." That's what the world does. Jesus is saying, "This is what the righteous should do." Use your position to win people for Christ. Why are you in that position? Why are you in that powerful position? Why are you the MD? Why are you the head of finance? Why do you have these opportunities? Why has God given you all these resources? It is for the advancement of His kingdom. If we have that understanding, we see every promotion as a divine assignment. Every open door is a divine assignment. Every asset we own is for divine purposes. The world thinks this way. He says the children of light should think like that when it comes to the things of the kingdom.
Third lesson: Use earthly treasure to gain heavenly treasure. Use earthly treasure to gain heavenly treasure. He used the treasure of his master to gain for himself treasure outside when he leaves the master's kingdom. Use earthly treasure to gain heavenly treasure. When God brings you to the corridors of power, when God gives you money and you become a power player, you have to follow what Jesus recommends. Use every opportunity to advance God's kingdom. Use your position to win people to Christ. Use your earthly treasure to gain heavenly treasure.
The righteous must not become victims in the power play of the world. The righteous must not be ignorant, following the wrong agendas of the world. When you hear the media pushing something very strongly, pause because they are leading you somewhere. When you watch the media, Western media pushing an agenda, they are leading you somewhere. Don't sit passively and think, "Oh, all these things they are doing for my good." They're not doing it for your good. When you hear people talking about something, researchers are talking about it, media is talking about it, big people are talking about it, politicians are financing it, find out where is it going. They are setting an agenda for you. And if you are not careful, you will be the poor who go to fight when the war is declared. You'll be the poor who follow after the agenda has been set. But we, as children of God, as children of light, must not be poor wise men. We are going to be rich, wise, and powerful. Somebody say, "I'll be rich." "I'll be rich." "Wise." "Wise." "And powerful." "And powerful." Say one more time, "I'll be rich." "I'll be rich." "Wise." "Wise." "And powerful." "And powerful."
For some of you, God is going to bring you into the corridors of power in wealth management. And I just want to spend the next two minutes coming into agreement with you. And if you believe that God is sending you into that place, maybe you're a business owner, or you are yet to start a business. Maybe you have a small business, but you believe that you're not just supposed to just make money enough to buy a car and just to change your shoes and just to get a three-bedroom house, but you want to have money to use the church, or to allow the church to set the agenda for the world. If that is your desire, your desire will meet God's approval. If you just want to prosper for yourself, go and try to manage it for yourself. But if you want to set an agenda for God, this morning I want to come into agreement with you that you will be a kingdom financer. You will be a kingdom financer. And I'm not talking about giving a thousand or a million. I'm talking about giving a hundred million. Well, I'm talking about giving 10 million. I'm talking about giving a billion. When you hear about people like Bill Gates giving all their money, they are not just doing good, they are setting an agenda. They're setting an agenda. It's an agenda, my friends. The world is not as innocent as it is. But the righteous must also have an agenda. And that agenda comes when the righteous decide, "I'm going to use every opportunity to raise the Church of Jesus Christ higher, and I will support the mission of the church." If that's your desire, lift up your hand and let's come into agreement. And just let's pray. Let's just pray and just ask God to make you a major, major pillar of business, a major pillar in the financial world, a wealth controller, an agenda setter, a wealth controller, an agenda setter.
So, Father, we come into agreement this morning for everyone who desires to be used to be a wealth controller and an agenda setter. We pray, Lord, that you let the heavens be open over them. Let favor be their portion. Be with them through the fire. Be with them through the lions. Then be with them through conflicts. Be with them through conspiracies. Fight their enemies for them. Deliver them from the destruction of their enemies. Raise them up, Lord. Raise them up, Lord. Order their steps, Lord. Order their steps, Lord. Grant them wisdom. Grant them wisdom. Grant them wisdom to navigate the corridors of power. And let the righteous be established as pillars in the corridors of power. In Jesus name, amen and amen. Say, "I receive it." "I receive." Say, "I'm wise." "I am wise." "I'm rich." "I am rich." "I'm powerful." "Powerful." God bless you.
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