Many years ago when I studied
in the United States I went to a church
where they had a guest preacher
and after a great message about
the miracle of the seed of faith,
the preacher invited us to give
a seed of faith, an offering.
But he said this time
that offering will not be
to the church but to him.
"With his left hand you are going
to give your offering and with
the right hand I'm going to bless you."
All of us where so much blessed
with his message that
we went to the front for giving
the offering and I only had
twenty dollars in my pocket,
that was everything I had for
surviving that month,
but I was willing to give
everything. But while I was
waiting in the line the Holy Spirit
told me not to do it.
And i still remember today
the right moment when God
talked to me. He was warning me
about those preachers who
take advantage of the principles
of the Word of the Lord
in order to get rich.
Many years after when we
were already running this church,
other pastors of the city
invited us to hold an event
with them, where they invited
some special preachers but
I didn't feel peace,
so I didn't invite the church,
but just a few leaders and
one of the preachers gave
a similar message about
the miracle of the seed of faith
and then he exactly the same:
"I'm going to gather an offering
and this one will be
your seed of faith,
but this offering won't be
to the church but to me,
my ministry". Can you imagine?
He was going to steal us
in the house of the Father!
So, preachers like that have gotten rich by using
the miracle of the seed of faith
for their own benefit.
That's why many people
don't want to hear anything about it,
but that's a biblical principle.
That's why I have split this message
in two. I'm going to talk about
this spiritual law but first,
I'm going to warn you about
those who get rich by using the gospel.
Paul says on 1 Timothy 6: 5-10:
"It's true some people preach
about Christ with envy and strife".
Whatsoever shows us that we can
preach the message from God
but with an evil intention.
And it continues with:
"Those preach about Christ
with personal ambition and
not with pure intentions".
Serving God is not a business.
Paul also writes to Timothy
on 1 Timothy 6: 5:
"Individuals like these always
cause trouble. For them,
submitting to God is only a means
to get rich. Well now, the real
submission to God is a great
richness itself when we are glad
with what we got. After all,
for we brought nothing into the world,
and we can take nothing out of it."
So, if we have food and clothing,
we will be content with that.
Those who want to get rich
fall into temptation and a trap
and into many foolish and
harmful desires that plunge people
into ruin and destruction."
The three sins that disqualify anybody
to serve God are, in first place:
the desire for power.
In second place: the sexual immorality.
And in third place: the love of money.
Jesus said on Matthew 12:33:
"A tree is identified by its fruit.
If a tree is good, its fruit will be good.
If a tree is bad, its fruit will be bad."
So, a preacher, a pastor or a leader
will be known by his fruit.
And the fruit of a person who loves
the wealth are, in first place,
believing a church is a business, but
that's not like that. A church
or serving God is a calling,
never can be a means for
getting rich. BUt another fruit
of someone who loves money is
that he is never content with
what he has. Always wants more,
the ultimate car, changing his house
all the time. The more expensive
clothes, the ultimate cell phone.
When I met my wife she belonged
to a well-off family, they were wealthy.
Instead, I wasn't.
Besides, I was called to serve God.
It means, living by faith.
I didn't guarantee her anything.
Then Jesus said on Matthew 16:24:
"If any of you wants to be my follower,
you must give up your own way,
take up your cross, and follow me."
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