In this sermon, the preacher begins by reading a verse from Jeremiah and emphasizes the importance of returning to God. He expresses concern for Christians who are imprisoned by suffering and discouragement, but assures them that Jesus, the good shepherd, wants to set them free and bring them back to the truth of the gospel. The preacher shares a personal example of his son-in-law who has only been exposed to one gospel message and highlights the need for Christians to be aware of what is happening outside the church. He concludes by reminding the audience that God is not done with them and that their ultimate goal should be to become perfect in Christ.

This message is brought to you by CTMI. Good evening to you all. The Lord softens our hearts, opens our hearts and prepares our hearts. It's wonderful. As we just sang, it's only Jesus who can touch our hearts. And too often we want to put our hand in the work of God, in the lives of people, as much as we can encourage them. But only the Lord, by His Spirit, can touch our hearts, put His hand in our lives, change our lives. How many of us tonight we know that God is not done with us? He's not done with us. He's got so much more to do in our hearts and lives, so we can reach the image of His Son. Let me remind you that this is the very reason why the apostles and the first disciples preached the Gospel. It's to bring every man perfect in Christ. Never forget that. We can do many things. We can preach the Gospel. We can give ourselves to many kinds of activities. But if we're not aware that the Lord needs to bring us to perfection, we would have missed it all. This is our race. Paul says, I've ended the race. I've kept the faith. And the crown of glory has been laid aside for me. It's wonderful that God is not done with us. I'm glad. Fortunately, it's the case that allows us to humble ourselves a bit before the Lord and to acknowledge that He's God and that we are only His servants and His collaborators that need to keep growing at the school of perfection. That is the Church of Jesus Christ. With everything we can see and all the miracles God wants to do. Amen. Do you agree? Are you sure you agree? So tonight, before sharing the Gospel, I'd like to say something to you. You will do that. We'll get there. We'd like to greet brother Jacques, please stand. We welcome you tonight, my brother. Thank you for being with us. Tonight, you are a pure and a living testimony of the grace of God or the power of the grace of God. He just lost his father and five members of his family the day before yesterday in Burundi with the war that was in Burundi. In fact, they blew his house. This is a manifestation of the grace of God on your life, my brother. We really welcome you tonight, brother Jacques. We love you. Father, we thank you tonight for our brother. You have shown your grace in those times. Your grace has been abundant. We thank you that you have kept his heart during these times. You have been with him. You have been with him, Lord. And you are the only one who can comfort him, Lord. Your grace overabunds tonight. May he feel not only your heart but our heart for him. We thank you, Lord. Touch his life, Lord. Give him in abundance back the treasure of the Gospel. We thank you, Lord, tonight for all our brothers and sisters in Burundi for Brother Renova and his wife, Brother Anicet and his wife, all the brothers and sisters in Burundi. We pray that you would protect them and keep them, Lord, in the midst of that war. May we ask you to preserve them, Lord, with all their families. We thank you, Lord. Reach out on this nation, Lord. Do a miracle, Lord, so peace would come back and that the Gospel would carry on to be spread and souls would be saved. We pray, Lord, in the name of Jesus Christ. Thank you, Lord. Amen. The first time I went to Burundi, I met Brother Jacques. We preached the Gospel. We preached the message of the cross of Jesus Christ. And he's been marked by the Gospel. He never forgot. Sometime ago, he was telling me that by preaching the message of the cross of Jesus, many Christians left his church. But he persevered. He's seeking for help, for support, so that together, we can build the kingdom of God. Today he's in Norway. It's not a coincidence that he was not in Burundi. God has a plan. On your life, for the Gospel, wherever you will be. May the Lord bless you, my brother. May he strengthen you. We love you. We'd like to welcome all the pastors who are visiting us tonight. And all those who are listening to us online and who can't be with us here tonight. We greet you in the wonderful name of Jesus. And we pray that the Lord will touch your lives during this time with us. Do you want them to stand? We'd like to honor your presence if you're a pastor visiting us tonight from another church. Please stand. Please stay standing. We'd like to give you something tonight. Please stay standing. Thank you for being with us all the way from Australia. And Mauritius. I'd like to welcome all the pastors from the network of CTMI who are online tonight. If you're online, you've not been able to be here with us. We greet you and we welcome you as well. And also all the spectators of LMTV. We are live on LMTV right now. LMTV reaches about 25 countries in Africa. So here we are. We greet you all. Now we're done with welcoming people. It was better tonight. May the Lord help us. Let's read again verse 15, verse 19 from Jeremiah. If therefore, thus says the Lord, if you return, then I will bring you back. You shall stand before me. If you take out the precious from the vial, you shall be as my mouth. Let me say it again. Please understand that I've got no criticism or judgment in my heart as I'm sharing that message with you. But I really believe that God wants to set his people free. Many Christians are in prison. They suffer. They discourage. But Jesus is the good shepherd. He wants to bring his people back towards the truth of the gospel. He wants his people to be able to feel his heart, his love. This is why the aim and my motivation is not with a heart that's bitter or angry, but I desire to see God's people well. The word of God teaches us that in the last days there shall be more and more false teachings and false ministries. So what we are living today in the church of Jesus Christ must happen. That has been prophesied much before that in the last days there shall be a multiplication of false teachings, of false doctrines, of false servants of God. Unfortunately, it seems that the church of Jesus Christ is fast asleep. There's no reaction towards all that's happening in the church, all the mistakes that are happening, all that is taught that is not of the Lord. This is why I want to encourage you to see the plan of God for the church, for his people, for whom he shed his blood and for whom he died, for a people that belongs to him, that he cherishes, that he loves. With that motivation that I'm sharing with you tonight, let us first start by asking ourselves some questions. The first question is, how did all these false doctrines and these perverse teachings enter the church? I believe, personally, that the church drifted in carnal desires, allowed itself to drift in carnal desires, and somewhere it has to do with the influence of the world. You know, there's much influence, there's much of a system of the world in the church. The world lives in a certain way, and the devil is the prince of this world, and his aim is to bring in the church his ways and his systems. That's what he wants to do, and if he can do that, he would have succeeded, but he will never get to the end of it, because the one who has the last word is the Lord. The Lord says, I'm building my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. This is why I've got faith in my heart that the Lord is going to restore his church, that many Christians will find life again, the life of the Spirit, a real and true and deep Christianity, a true relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, and not just live the superficial way, and just accept some good things from Christianity. It's sad that the whole church has followed suit, has got into that flow, and today what is surprising is how come Christians, they accept everything, they swallow everything without even checking that it's from the Lord. That is another question that we could ask ourselves. I believe that the Christians have got a blind confidence in their leaders, blind trust. They've got so much trust that even though they could feel in their hearts that some things are not clear, they still accept it. There is a kind of link that's not really pure and proper. And Christians have come to a place where they feel things in their hearts, but they don't get to be able to be detached from these thoughts. They accept things. To me, it's a complete mystery. I came to the conclusion that somehow they are controlled. Or they are emotionally linked with the servants of God. They see a few things. There are things that they hear that they don't agree with, but there's no reaction. To me, it's a mystery. But that's the way it is. The third question that I'm asking myself is why do Christians run to churches in great numbers? They go to hear and listen things that are not from the Spirit. They run to those churches. They like their ears to be tickled. Today in churches, it happens often that what is being preached is in fact what Christians want to hear. They preach what the Christians want to hear so as to keep them and not to lose them. It becomes like a club. And the minute they want to share something, which is a bit out of line, and that's shaking a bit, they go backwards. They withdraw. How long will the church carry on in that type of game? Where is the fear of God in the lives of the servants of God as they feel totally free to preach anything? To rob people? Where is the fear of God? How can we manipulate God's people? I think, I give the benefit of the doubt that some firmly believe in what they preach. But I believe that others seek their interest. They persevere in what they preach, but they seek their interest. You know, today in the Church of Jesus Christ there are various interpretations of God's Word. You know, the Word of God, the Scriptures, only says what God intended to say and nothing more. Only what God intended to say and nothing more. And yet, so many go as far as interpreting the Word of God and get the Bible to say what it doesn't say to suit them. Only what they want to hear, the way they want to understand these things, to support what they are saying. That is a dangerous thing. The Word of God has only one interpretation, not two. Tonight, I do not pretend knowing it all, not at all. But there are still some obvious things in the Church that we cannot miss, that cannot not have a reaction in our hearts. This is why I want to speak to you tonight of a message, a deceitful message, the deceit of the doctrine of prosperity. In details. What happened when that message started to enter the Church? Did anyone oppose himself to that? Very few. We heard the voice of very few people and very few Christians. Everybody else only followed. And no one discerned the trap of the enemy. Pastors welcomed that message with their arms wide open without discerning the trap of the enemy. It was the system of the world that entered the Church. I just said earlier on, the world runs a race that is completely different to the race we are running. But the influence of the world causes us, the Church, to run a race parallel to them. It's very sad to see that the Church has lost so much ground. Today that is the message that is the most spread, that is the most destroying the Church of Jesus Christ and the most dangerous message that is in the Church today. It is anchored and grounded in the Church. It has destroyed millions of Christians. It has deceived millions of Christians. And yet it's the message that is the most spread and has caused much damage without 95% or more than the Church has even been aware of that. It's been a ruse. The enemy has been very cunning. It was subtle. It's a message that I never appreciated and I never believed in it. I was very much challenged in my life concerning that message. It's true that somehow I preached it a bit but in my heart there was like a break. I remember about 25 years ago when I preached that message in the Church and after the Church I was with my wife and she told me, but what did you talk about today? What is this message that you are sharing? And I said it's my heart and I believe it. It's my conviction. That message was a bit against the flow of everything that is being preached in the Church about faith and prosperity. And we had a big, I wouldn't say fight but something like that and from the Church to the beach. I never thought that the first person to oppose me would be my wife. But that was the case. But I stood firm. Well done. Amen. What is this message of prosperity? What does it mean? What is this doctrine of prosperity? I call it what I've heard, what I've seen what I understand. It's the will of God for every single Christian to become rich. In some words this is about the definition of that message of prosperity. That's a very attractive message, you agree with me. And what an opportunity for pastors to get richer too. Because you don't preach the message of prosperity unless you ask for money. That is a condition. It's very attractive for the Christians I'm going to the Church and I'm going to show you all the methods and all the principles to make my money multiply. And the pastors are happy because the more Christians have money the more they will be able to ask for money. Isn't that how it is? Isn't that the aim behind it all? Very attractive. I'm going to say two things tonight. The first one. Which has happened for the first time in the history of the Church of Jesus Christ. In the years 80. It's then that the first message of prosperity touched the Church. In the whole history of the Church that message has never ever been there. And the second thing I'd like you to note At no time did any revival in the history of the Church accompanied with something to do with money. Linked with money. And let me tell you tonight there will never come any revival in the Church as long as the Church is linked to money. Go read the story of the Church and you'll see. Revival comes through repentance. The revival comes through breaking of hearts. With humility of heart. Nothing to do with dollars, euros, rupees or whatever currency. You're thinking revival? Remove that message from your Church. You want revival? Remove that message of prosperity from your Church. It's destroying you. It's destroying you. Busy destroying God's people. It's a message that exploits poor Christians. And they become, instead they're becoming more and poorer and poorer by the day. I often testify of the same thing. The first years I was in Africa and that I met African pastors they were about, most of them or 90% were poor. Africans, do you agree with what I'm saying? Most of them were poor. They were not preaching all kinds of false doctrines. Yet there were quite a few things that needed to be straightened. But they were ready to serve the Lord the way they were in their state. Poor. Half poor. They were eating maize every day. That didn't remove their joy. They were happy to serve the Lord in their state. Nothing would stop them. Today the message of prosperity has pulped the church in Africa. It's no longer the same spirit that we can feel from the pastors in Africa. They are engaged in a race to get richer. And the worst case is that they stay still poor. I remember that day when I was in the church of Stephen. There was a pastor that had stopped A pastor visited the church and kindly Brother Stephen told him, go and say hello to the church. And the brother came and he started preaching how God wants us to prosper, to be rich, to have lots of money. At the end of the meeting he entered the office of Stephen and just before leaving he said, Brother Stephen can you give me 200 shillings so that I can catch the bus and get back home? The preacher of prosperity that's a heresy. It's a testimony of heresy. The message of prosperity turns away the hearts of Christians from spiritual things. Triggers in them the desires of the flesh. What God wants to kill what God wants to put to death is caused to come to live again by the message of prosperity. What God wants to destroy Paul says those who are in Christ crucify their flesh with his desires and his passion. God wants to kill we want to bring a message to cause the flesh to live and to be strengthened. And then we ask ourselves why is the church backsliding and there's no love for the spirit? This message produces Christians that are arrogant proud. This is the fruit of that message. It's a profane fire. This message has killed the life of the church. Christians who used to turn their hearts to seek help from the Lord for spiritual things now their hearts is turned towards material things. The emphasis is put on material things. It has removed from Christians the desire to grow to maturity. It has removed the desire for God to do a deep work in their hearts. It has smothered all the spiritual aspects in their hearts. And all the emphasis is to possess to claim to have to own for oneself. That doctrine has diluted the offense that brings the cross of Jesus Christ. Let me say that again. That message has diluted the offense that brings the cross of Jesus Christ. That the cross of Jesus Christ brings. That message has diluted the very nature of the gospel that brings a conviction in the heart of man. What conviction is there in the church today? I'm asking myself, is there even the conviction to straighten our lives? A conviction in one's heart to forgive? To love those who don't love us? That message is getting rid of all the life of the spirit. It's removing. It kills. And the church is fast asleep. Paul, in the book of Galatians, in chapter 4, chapter 5, And I, brethren, if I still preach circumcision, verse 11, why do I still suffer persecution? Then the offense of the cross has ceased. Paul was not persecuted because of circumcision. He was persecuted because he preached the cross of Jesus Christ. This is why the message of prosperity has killed the message of the cross of Jesus. It's from the devil to smother the power of the cross of Jesus not only for us to be saved, but to bring us to maturity. There's no more desire in the body of Christ today to grow spiritually. There's no message that shows that anyway. There's no message in the church today that shows that the pastors and the leaders are seeking for God's people to come to maturity. And yet Paul says, I'm working. I preach so as to bring every man perfect in Christ. We only have messages of great promises. So many things happening in the church. Today the sale of oil in the church is a very prosperous market. We sell handkerchiefs in the church. Pastors pray on the handkerchief. He has anointed the handkerchief. He has anointed the oil. And then he sells it. He sells it. And he says to the Christian, if you've got problems in your house, if your husband has a problem, just put that handkerchief under his pillow. To me it looks a lot like witchcraft. It looks like witchcraft to me. When you go to the witch doctor, he gives you things to do in your house. If you've got a problem with your kids, don't tell them anything. Just put a drop of oil on their clothes. Or a drop on them while they're sleeping and they'll be anointed. We don't know what to invent anymore to get money. We don't know what they are going to do to get money. Responsible and pastors, they are cheating on God's people. Because they are selling that oil. It costs them two rupees to put it in a little flask, but they sell it 50 or 100 rupees. Huh? 2500% of profit on the head of the poor brother. And ask him to go and do witchcraft on his family. I don't see anything like this in my book. All that I can see is that when somebody is sick, he calls for the elders and the elders will pray for him and the fervent prayer of the righteous will heal him. That's what I see in the Word. But I don't see that other practice in the Bible. What are we going to invent next? I don't know. I just cannot understand those things. These are dishonest means to gain money. Some do telethon. Straight on the phone they are told. In the next 30 seconds if you give $1,000 you'll get $5,000. You robber. Thief. You are a thief. You are a harling. You don't have the people of God at heart. You are ready to take blood out of him to get money for his own gain. And the phone goes. And in the 30 seconds there's 25 phones. The 25 of them are just busy. They're just busy. Why? Why? $1,000. Put my name, Mickey Hardy, $1,000. You forget about me. You all get me on that one. And fortunately for the last past 10 years and more it's been the method that many servants of God are using. And churches are opening their doors to that same system. We can invent anything today. And we get there and say the Lord told me I must do this. The Lord. Rather the voice of the flesh. This is why here. Each give according to their own hearts. There's no demand. There's no obligation. There's no law. Each of them come. They give what they want to give. You want to give one rupee? According to your heart? May the Lord bless you. That is a Christian walk. I don't want anybody to put their hand in my pocket. I want to take out of my pocket what my heart wants and desires. That's what I want. And when I come I do it with all my heart. And God will honor that offering that I've brought. I'd rather do this rather come and give so much percent but I really don't want to give but I have to because if I don't give the pastor will be at my door tomorrow morning. He's not interested in my life. He's interested in my envelope. He never visits me. He doesn't know how I'm doing. He doesn't even know what's happening between me and my wife. Where were you yesterday? You were there but I didn't see your name and your envelope. What is this? That is just robbing people. I can't do what I want. The Lord has set me free. I'm a free Christian. Let nobody manipulate me. I do what my heart desires. And as I want to serve him he will speak to me. I want to serve him. If he says to me to do this I hope that I will still obey all the time. But he doesn't force me, the Lord. He says, hey, hey, hey, hey. Are you okay for 1,000 rupees? Of course, Lord. With all my heart this is Christian life. Do we agree? Do we agree? Oh, Lord. 2 Peter 2.18 We'll get there. We're going to destroy, kill, bury the deceitfulness of the message of prosperity. We're going to have a funeral. And bury it. Do you agree with me? Are you agreeing to attend the funeral? Come on. Come on, guys. It's good, it's good, it's good. 2 Peter chapter 2. Verse 18. When they speak with great swelling words swelling words of emptiness. Note that one. They allure through the lust of the flesh. They allure through the lust of the flesh through lewdness the ones who actually are escaped from those who live in error. The pastors. Sorry. Forgive me. Pastors play with the carnal nature of the Christian. I will explain to you. When I tell you if I give 50 rupees and I will get 5,000 Oh, life is so beautiful. I give 50 I will get 5,000. You are playing with my carnal nature. Because my carnal nature loves that. Will not say no to that offer. And therefore here are my 50 rupees. Next week if you give 100 you will get 10,000. I don't have another handkerchief. Here you are. I like this. I see a plan. I see a vision. I see something coming in front of me. Mom, dad we will get a car soon. Brand new car. We need to give five more times like this. But our account savings account we keep everything. We keep everything. We want that car. We want that car. Finished. I was like a chicken with feathers. Feathers have been removed. I've been plucked. And I'm still on my bicycle. You see how false that is? But this guy he's put everything in his pocket. He's plucked me. He's plucked me. Oh lord. They cause us to sell our jewels. Everything we have. Land. Sew. Sew. Sew. Sew. Sew. Sew. Keep sewing. Sewing. Sewing. Up to where are we going like this? What has it got to do with the gospel of Jesus Christ? Week after week. After week. After week. I'm sick and tired of that. To hear that. You even get promises to get jobs. You don't have a job. You go into this church. Go. There's a door there. They have made a door. The door of faith. The door of faith. They have manufactured a door. And if you go through that door of faith it's a real door. You've got to go through it. It's not digital. It's real. There's a real door. The door of faith. And you've got to go through. But before you go through you must give some money. And then you can go through the door. You can't go through that door without giving. You've got no faith. But when you go through that door there's power of faith. You don't have a job. You're going to get your job. You want to be promoted? Go through the door. You've got a problem in your home? Go through the door. Go through the door. You've got a problem of relationship between you and your kids? Go through the door. Just put your money there and go through. That is pure robbery. That is true. We must not go in those churches. Stop being fooled. It's false. It's a lie. Now, if he gives the pastor and the prophet, that's the deal. Now then, everything's going to be well. Everything goes well. You honor the prophet. You honor the prophet. I want to show you what kind of spirit this is being done. It's not the spirit of Christ. It's not the spirit of the gospel that we read. That is another spirit. It's another spirit. It can go very far. You bring something to the prophet and you say everything will be fine. I don't know. Everything will go well. No more thing to worry about. What do you want? Come, come, come. You guys are too gullible and too innocent. Innocent. Naive. Innocent. In the sense that you don't know what's happening outside these doors. This is in that sense that I'm saying why I'm saying you are innocent. I'm going to give you an example. My son-in-law has never heard any other gospel than the one he heard in that church. And at home, I live in my house. My son-in-law and my daughter live in a house 50 meters from my house. We are connected to look at sports. And we have to look at the same channel at the same time. Therefore, if I'm looking at the TV, Christian TV, he has to look the same. And one day I'm home and he phones me. He says, have you seen? As it was. He says, you are on the Christian channel. I said, but I was not looking. He says, is that Christian? He says, you are looking at the Christian channel and not the film you are watching. He says, look, look, look. He says, it's not possible. I can see robbers and thieves. I knew already this guy. But he didn't know. First time he sees that. He says, it's not Christian, that thing. He is completely stupid. He says, they are my brothers. I said, yes. But the brothers a little. Do you agree with me when you watch, when you listen a little bit in the world, you go visit a little bit the Christians or the churches, etc. Money is the most spoken subject in the church. I forgot, there are pastors who make 2, 3, 4 offerings per session. They make 2, 3, 4 offerings per session. A normal offering. A second abnormal. A third one extra abnormal. But there is always a good reason to take up an offering. Let me tell you, believe me, you are really blessed. 2, 3, 4 offerings in one meeting. It's to rob and to strip God's people. On the account of prosperity. Hallelujah. Glory to the Lord. It's false. It's false. 2, 3, 4 offerings per day. I mean, have you agreed that the spirit of the world is what has come into the church? That is what has come into the church. The spirit of the world. Paisa. What reassures me is that the first apostles in the early church they ran another race. They ran another race. They were not in the spirit that the church finds itself today. There is another spirit that animates the church today which is not the spirit of the gospel. All kinds of false promises. They even give prophecies to tell you how much you must give. And they say, you know, they go as far as saying that the Lord is telling me that you must give so much. And the guy comes. He comes. He says, you, the Lord says 2,500. And the guy comes. Why go to work? Let's open a church and let's just make money. It's so much simpler. You can do nothing in life. A trade, a career. Open a church. According to the rules of the old covenant you will get 10% of everybody who comes to your church. If you've got 10 people in your church you've got one salary. Got a vision? Let's open churches, guys. It's simple. Vision. You know, some play with dates and figures. 1st January 2011. 11 January 2011. 11 November. It's even better. He comes on a Sunday. Everybody is there. How are we going to use those figures? Let's see. Finally finally to come and say that the Lord showed me that on the 11th of November 2011 there's a promise of God. We are not going to spend all time on these stupid things. Listen to what I'm saying. Tell Christians to leave the churches where that kind of manipulation exists. You are harassed by preachers asking money from you. Take the door. Some Christians come to us and when we hear what they went through you want to vomit. It's so terrible to hear what we hear. They've been really robbed. The latest move is to go in Israel to go take water in the Jordan River. Christians today we are following the same road. We're going to Jordan River. We take a little flask of water and we bring back home. Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River. It must be blessed water, holy water. And we bring it home. Up to where are we going to go? I say we must say no, no, and no. No. There's nothing in that. It's false. We want to get rid of that doctrine once and for all. Deceit and the trap of the enemy. We'll carry on tomorrow. But tomorrow we'll start when Christians must start to see. And we're going to use the word of God to bring him to see. The veil must be removed. The veil must be removed. And we are going to use the word of God to destroy that whole theory of the doctrine of prosperity. And bring back the hearts of the Christians to Jesus. Towards the Lord. Not to the material things. But towards Jesus. The Christian must have a new desire to grow. A new hope. A new faith in Jesus. He doesn't need all these gimmicks, all these manipulations to serve Jesus. In fact, it's not for his good. We must come back tomorrow. I can't keep going on. But if you come back tomorrow, I promise you, you'll live here free. The last time you preach prosperity, that you submit yourself to that kind of manipulation. And that you stop believing in that doctrine. I give you the assurance through the word of God. So be connected tomorrow as well. We are going to kill. Bury. The doctrine of prosperity. I will show to Christians what it is to love Jesus with all your heart. And that money has nothing to do when it comes to our relationship with Jesus. The poor. The rich. Must have the same relationship with Jesus. Be it white, black, rich, fat, whatever it is. Our relationship with Jesus. Are you going to come back and be connected again tomorrow? Maybe some will not come back at all. Let's stand. Do you love the church? I love the church. I love God's people. What I want for you is to be well. Well. That you love Jesus. That is what we want. We must uproot. Remove. Pluck. With some shakings. And then plant. The last session we will plant. Amen. Amen. Do you love the gospel? Do you love the gospel? I love the gospel. Let's hold hands tonight. Let's thank the Lord. Find us on ctmi.org.