In this sermon, the preacher emphasizes the importance of dying to the desire for wealth. He warns that those who desire to be rich often fall into temptation and harmful desires that lead to ruin and destruction. The love of money is described as the root of all kinds of evils, causing some to wander away from their faith. The preacher also shares a story of a man who had a near-death experience and was saved by God, highlighting the need for spiritual awakening and attentiveness to God's message. The sermon concludes with a reminder of God's promise of welfare and a future filled with hope.

I'd like to read our text out of Jeremiah 29, verse 11. As he was sharing about money or wealth, I remember a certain person from Kingscliff who went to a witch doctor. I was still young. He had a certain box. He had a very powerful muthi. His reputation was, you just put your money in that box and after some days you can open it and it would have turned into gold. Now, the witch doctor said that he should open it the next day. He had waited a long time and then the stipulated date came, but the day before he was impatient, let me just peep at what it might be. He said, it's just rocks. Now, when he opened it the day before, it was just stones. He was furious. He went straight back to the witch doctor and said, you had said if I pay a certain amount of money and you would put your stones into that box, that on a certain day it would become gold. But I looked and it was just still stones. The witch doctor said, well what did I tell you? What was the date? If you had just waited at night, tomorrow would have been the date and you would have found it changed into gold. Well, the man had nothing to shake. He had lost all his money and all he had was rocks. Now, it's not the rocks that we need to care about. But it is the Lord Jesus. As we have heard in the story, he is the key. You might sweat and labor all your life, but if you don't have the key, the Lord Jesus himself, it's all in vain. A certain man of God who was executed by Hitler, was Dietrich Bonhoeffer. And he said, we Christians need to die five times. The first one you need to die regarding your family. For Jesus said, if you love father, mother, brother, sister, children, self more than me, you are not worthy of me. That is the first death he said. The second one, die regarding reputation, fame. Thirdly, the third death, he said you need to die regarding your own body, that you think you are so pretty or so handsome, more pretty than others. He said, that is your body, die regarding your body. Fourthly, die regarding money. And that word, really touched me overseas. To die regarding money. 1 Timothy 6 verses 9 and 10 For those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs. Never forget these verses, 1 Timothy 6 verses 9 and 10 It does not say that money is the root of all evil, but rather the love of money is the root of evil. Of all manner of evil, and through that you hurt yourself with many pangs. And then finally he said, the death of your own body and that you are willing to be a martyr for Jesus Christ. He said, you need to die regarding the fear of death. Because if you follow Jesus anyway, you are following him to die. There is a certain man, George Muller, who was born in Germany, but lived in England. He was arrested for theft before he met the Lord Jesus. He was a man who propagated the gospel in a wonderful way after conversion. Then somebody once asked him, what is your secret of victory? Because he was a man who was victorious, lived right to the age of 91. He answered, My secret is this, that there was a day that I died. I died to money, I died to self, it was a death to the things of the world. That is my secret of victory. He said, it was not a half death, but a complete death. I died regarding my own desires. I died regarding the things that would have just helped me. I died regarding the things that I loved. I died regarding the things that brought me pleasure, the things that I loved. I died regarding everything else, and all I had was the Lord Jesus, and so I put it for him. May God help us. May we be awake and alive to that. On the day of my death, I was in Switzerland, and after that I was in Romania. Now, we returned on Tuesday, we had been in Switzerland, and then after that Romania. In Switzerland, I spoke about being asleep, not physical sleep, but spiritual sleep. I spoke about the sleep that comes because of sin. Even if that person is in church, he might look awake, but he is asleep regarding spiritual things. If you are asleep spiritually, the lusts of the flesh will come to the fore, and the lusts of the eyes, they awake. If you are asleep spiritually, the Greek word used there is hypnos, sleep. Hypnos, induced sleep, coming from the Greek word of hypnos. You see, if you are asleep spiritually, even if you come into a service like this, you don't hear anything. You go out and you have gained nothing, like that young man testified that he would come here just to visit. You might listen to a powerful sermon which does not touch you, for you are asleep. The Bible says that the doer of sin is a slave of sin. The servant of sin is asleep. May God wake us up spiritually, all of us, so that it won't be the case of the message coming in one ear and going out the other. For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord. The Lord plans for welfare, not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. May we hear this word properly, for it is a great promise in the Bible. One who is asleep is asleep towards the word of God and the things of heaven. Many years ago, before the age of vehicles, and they were still using horses, a certain man in Scotland, an infamous thief, a horse thief, today you find hijacking of cars, but in those days, horses. That was his disease, he couldn't leave something alone, he had to steal it, even going into a shop. He had to pinch something, even at home, when he was still a small child, if it was his mother's sugar, he had to take a bit, stealing it. He started with small things, and as he grew older, so too his stealing grew bigger. As an adult, he began stealing vehicles, well the vehicles of those days, which were horses, not cars. The thing that he was crazy for, were horses. Now people have different desires, some like this, and some like that. King Solomon loved women, bunches of them, and girls. At seven hundred wives, and three hundred concubines, altogether a thousand women. Finally God was angry with him, for these women took him away from God. Though he had been a man of God, he started off well, and ended badly. We don't know though exactly what it was at the end, for he did write finally, all is vanity, everything is vanity, maybe he was probably thinking about his women. One woman, is it? One woman can... One wife can be a problem enough, two is just multiplying your problems, that's why I tell people who are polygamous, and don't come to me and moan. If you have gone and taken another wife, that's your problem. You'll find a man who works in Joburg, coming home, and all day long, all he's doing is trying to solve the problem of his many wives fighting. A certain white... A certain white woman once told me, you know I'm not troubled by men at all, my problem is cars, I love nice cars. I thought well, that is astonishing that there is such a thing. She was from Joburg. If a nice big car would drive by, there was something pulling her, enticing her. They had a particular group, and they would make instant contact with each other about certain cars. Now one day, a certain car went by, and they followed it. And they killed the driver. They shot him in his car. So now this woman, had this car, this woman, a car thief, and she explained to me how they did it. Then they would drop the body outside the city, and off she was towards Zimbabwe. And then after crossing the bridge, she would then park the car on the other side, the car was full of blood. She said in that case it was very hot, the blood stank in the car. She said in that case it was very hot, the blood stank in the car. Then she said in that case it was very hot, the blood stank in the car. She told me how then in the morning, the car was full of blood, and in the evening it was full of blood. in that car with that terrible smell of blood the thought came to her go to Kwasi Zobanti, she didn't know this place but so she left the car and she arrived and so she arrived here and she said I want to speak to you personally, I need to confess my sins and then she related about her life she said but now I suffer then afterwards she said I want you to please arrange for me to get to the Johannesburg police, can you arrange it, I need to confess to them what I've done it was an amazing experience God helped her in an amazing way He helped her in an exceptional way not just through killing people and hijacking cars and then she told me afterwards what a relief I have been carrying such a burden one who is living with sin in their lives is carrying a terrible burden when we first came here to Kwasi Zobanti in 1970 a certain preacher came here from Halfway House which is between Joburg and Pretoria an Englishman he said you know there is a person that I dislike in the Bible I don't even see him I asked who it was he said John the Baptist I asked him why, I said well, I said to him why because isn't he the one of whom it was said the greatest born among women he said because he stressed repentance, confession of sin and people would in their repentance come confessing their sins and should it be a hypocritical confession, John the Baptist would say you brood of vipers I haven't forgotten that man to this very day he said I can't stand John the Baptist because he preached confession of sin we can't be wise in being like him because he is the greatest born of women except for our Lord only he who has confessed his sin knows what it means it's a wonderful thing you'll be free and your life will be changed you'll be free and your life will be changed that man from Scotland, he was asleep spiritually for the Lord says do not steal, but he stole horses he was a regular in prison, in and out because of his horse thieving one day he saw a particular horse where he said I have to get this one, I must get it he couldn't resist this stealing and this power of stealing that was in him one day in jail where he was doing hard labor in a coal mine there was an earthquake and it fell they dug out the corpses, him too, and they thought he was dead now you know prisoners of that day, they were not given a dignified funeral but instead just thrown into a hole and buried and so the day came for him to be buried put into a box, coffin and two prisoners had to carry the coffin, one in the front and one at the back and as they carried him towards the graveyard the prisoners graveyard that is and as they were walking, the prisoner in front, he lost his grip on the coffin and then it slipped out of the hands of the one at the back as well and the box fell and then they noticed the box was moving and they fled like rabbits others asked what is it that frightened you and that you run away they said there must be a ghost inside, there was movement they opened it and they saw him with his eyes open for when the box had fallen, his eyes had opened so when they opened the lid, all he could say was water, water, water they brought him water he drank and drank and nothing could quake his thirst for three months, he did not tell a soul about his experience but after three months, he began to tell people about his experience he said it was awful I was on a road to hell I could feel the very heat of the flames of hell then I heard God speaking to me saying lift up your eyes to heaven, look up and as he looked up, he saw heaven, the glory of heaven and the people there, how wonderful it was God said to him, he related, I created you for that place, for heaven, not for hell, but because of your stealing of horses, you're headed for hell he could not he said he could not ever forget the glories of heaven seeing the people up there with their crowns indescribable he said it was, but he was told because of your stealing he said but in that state he cried out to God for forgiveness, there was a deep remorse, a godly remorse in him he said for all his sins stood before him now the word I have read you the word I have read you speaks about God's plans for us, plans not for evil but for good, a good future God never created hell for you, he created it for Lucifer and his angels but he intended heaven for you, however should you stick to satan and hold on to him, well then you'll go with satan to where he goes let me return to Solomon remember David after he had sinned and how finally David confessed his sins to the prophet Nathan, go and look at the agonies that David suffered, the consequences of his sin his regret, his remorse and how he confessed his sins to Nathan saying I have sinned Nathan said God has forgiven you Jesus Jesus Jesus gave authority to his disciples, go and read it for yourself in the Bible, regarding forgiveness of sins because he said those who you forgive will I forgive, are forgiven, those you do not forgive are not forgiven there are those who say I will never confess my sins to a person while they are asleep spiritually there are many many other Bible verses which I could tell you but they are asleep the prophet said to David as you now have a child he will be called Jedidiah which means loved of the Lord that was Solomon, God loved Solomon so much time has gone, I can't speak for too much longer but if you read the story of Solomon, how he would pray and how fire fell from heaven when Solomon prayed the spirit of God came down 2 Chronicles 7 verse 1 is where you will find that the glory of God filled the temple he was wiser than any other person he wrote 3000 proverbs and 100 and 1005 songs too no one could match Solomon's wisdom heart breaking though that he had sin in his life which he did not want to confess he loved many women so much so that he aroused the wrath of God because these women who were princesses of foreign kings they caused his heart to backslide from the living God almighty God the Bible says let him who stands be careful lest he fall you see friends you who confess your sins and you've turned away from them, woe to you if you go back to them again Peter says the one who confesses his sins and returns to them again is like a dog returning to its own vomit again forget a certain woman who came here to the mission she was demon possessed when the Lord delivered her she vomited and vomited like a dog after which she was licking it again while she was being delivered I'm not telling you a fairy tale, this is something I personally witnessed God says on the day of judgment outside of heaven, outside the kingdom will be the sorcerers, the murderers and the dogs and I was asked what preacher are you saying that dogs will also be judged on judgment day I said no no the Lord was speaking about those not four footed creatures but human beings who confess their sins and they go back like a dog the one who confesses his anger and then goes back to it that is a dog like nature going to lick it up again read in Peter, he also referred to pigs you might take a pig, wash it, scrub it, scrub it till it is totally clean you might use the best of soaps, scrub it clean and even bring it right into your lounge in your home just release it outside though and the first thing is it will head for a pool of mud and it will wallow therein exactly like the Christian who has confessed his sin but then he goes back to it again are there dogs in our midst or pigs? you once confessed your sin, went back to the same thing you confessed your grudges next week you back to it again God forbids it he says outside are the dogs and the pigs some are very superstitious about pork they say I don't eat pork because the demons entered them well look all those pigs drowned anyway but you might be the pig because you are confessing sin and you go and wallow in it again friends, are you asleep regarding what has been spoken? God says he has good plans, a good future that is planned out for you but woe to you if you are the type of person where the Lord referred to the man where the demon left him but in that clean house, soon seven demons came back to dwell if you have surrendered to the Lord you have been washed by his precious blood but you have gone back to your sin this is the time when you need to come back to the Lord let us stand on our feet thank you Lord for bearing our sins for carrying our sins in your body on the cross as the sin bearer giving us the opportunity to come to your cross and confess our sins Lord grant that we would truly come back to you not being like the dog or the pig or that horse thief or the one who loses out on the promise of heaven Lord bring about the plans that you have for us that you have had even before the foundation of the world may we not be those bound for hell but rather bound for heaven Amen