PREACHING THE GOSPEL FOR MONEY

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2 Corinthians 2:14-17

“I am grateful that God always makes it possible for Christ to lead us to victory. God also helps us spread the knowledge about Christ everywhere and this knowledge is like the smell of perfume.

In fact, God thinks of us as a perfume that brings Christ to everyone. For people who are being saved, this perfume has a sweet smell and leads them to a better life. But for people who are lost, it has a bad smell and leads them to a horrible death.

No one really has what it takes to do this work.

A lot of people try to get rich from preaching God's message. But we are God's sincere messengers, and by the power of Christ we speak our message with God as our witness.”

Dear people of God, my spouse told me recently of a lady she saw in a market preaching the Gospel and when she was done, she asked her audience, the traders, to contribute whatever they had to her ministry.

Traders then gave her money, pepper, tomatoes, crayfish, and other food items. My spouse also gave money and went her way.

One needs to ponder over this incident because the question is, why did this preacher ask for contribution after preaching the gospel? Is it that God cannot provide her needs?

Well, today’s lead Bible text talks about a lot of people trying to get rich from preaching the Gospel.

Let us note that there is a clear difference between an open air preacher soliciting for offering and one who without solicitation is freely given offering after preaching the gospel.

The truth is, not everyone is qualified for the work of preaching the Gospel News of Repentance and Salvation.

A lot of ignorant people begin a Church ministry not with the intention of introducing our Lord Christ Jesus to lost souls in dire need of salvation but purely for what they can get out of it.

For them it is a business. These same folks forget that God sees every single thing we do, including our motives deep inside our hearts and that is what God will judge against the standards of His Word in the Holy Bible.

For most people who don’t know, I am not an ordained pastor and I know I am not qualified. But I made a promise to God very few years ago that I would share the gospel and I always pray for His Holy Spirit to guide me as I share the Gospel with others so that I don’t say things that offend God.

Jesus said we should share the Gospel with all creatures – Mark 16:15. He never told us to preach for money because He is able, willing and capable of providing the needs of every preacher.

However, money given in organized settings for the work of Gospel is to help spread the Gospel, build churches, help the less privileged (widows, orphans, homeless, poor, etc) and any other tasks God commands to be done.

However, the mistake even some of the less privileged usually make is that rather than focus on God who can help them and will send help if they believe and obey Him, they rather focus on human beings who can disappoint and exploit them.

The only way for a genuine but poor and less privileged believer in Jesus Christ to get out of poverty is by contributing sincerely to the work of the Gospel.

It is not the amount of money you earn that will determine what you give no matter how poor you are.

It is the simple faith you have in believing what God has said about giving tithes and offerings (Malachi 3:8-12), giving first fruits (Proverbs 3:9), telling others about the love and saving Grace of Christ (Mark 16:15) and living in strict obedience to His commands in the Holy Bible (John 14:15) that will change your life around for good financially and you will enter heaven when you exit this world at death.

How do I know this? Jesus Christ our Lord Himself tells us in Matthew 6:33, “But seek (aim at and strive after) first of all God’s kingdom and His righteousness (His way of doing and being right), and then all these things taken together will be given you besides.”

Are you a preacher of the Gospel for money and not for Christ’s sake? Today you know that you are living dangerously and you will CERTAINLY end up in HELL forever with satan unless you repent.
Do not say nobody told you.

May the good Lord bless and prosper you as you heed His Word today, act on it and share with others in Jesus’ Most Powerful Name, Amen.

Gabriel Ama.

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