ON THE MATTER OF BRIBES & CORRUPTIONS IT IS THE BIG STATUE THAT SO MANY WORSHIP. The big statue? Yes the big statue. Daniel 3:1-6 “King Nebuchadnezzar made a GOLD statue NINETY FEET HIGH AND NINE FEET WIDE and set it up on the Plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon; 2. then he sent messages to all the princes, governors, captains, judges, treasurers, counselors, sheriffs, and rulers of all the provinces of his empire, to come to the dedication of his statue. 3. When they had all arrived and were standing before the monument, 4. a herald shouted out, O people of all nations and languages, this is the kings command: 5. When the band strikes up, you are to fall flat on the ground to worship King Nebuchadnezzars gold statue; 6. anyone who refuses to obey will immediately be thrown into a flaming furnace. A statue 90 feet high is the height of a building of about 10 floors. In those times when almost every other house was a small house or hut, that statue was an imposing high rise building standing out for all to see. If you didn’t bow to it, you were thrown into the fiery furnace. There is a statue today that is as big as Nebuchadnezzar’s gold statue. Wherever you turn, it confronts you. Corruption and the giving and payment of bribes is the present day statue in Nigeria. The demand to pay bribes confronts you when you are looking for a job, when you are stopped by a policeman, when you are bidding for a contract, when you are part of a group assessing who will win a contract and other members of the panel not only insist on taking bribes, they want every panel member to share. Filthy lucre shows up at several points. People pilfer corporate stationery, corporate time, so many campus students maintain immoral relationships – some to finance an indulgent lifestyle, others just to survive. In Nigeria, if you don’t bow to this big statue, you are thrown into a fiery furnace, the furnace of financial hardships and difficulty. Life can get very difficult. You lose several contracts. Business may go through a very difficult time. The path becomes very narrow for businessmen, as you are unable to meet most of the demands placed on you. Getting your cheque out of the Government Ministry or Corporate Procurement Department will take much longer. We may not agree on the matter of tithes, and we need not agree. We do not think payment or non-payment of tithes will prevent anyone from making heaven. But we fear that many Nigerian Christians could miss the rapture because of this plague of bribery and corruption, from which several probably pay tithes, firstfruits and offerings. The church has become so compromised that in spite of the pervasiveness of bribery and corruption, it is hardly ever rebuked from most pulpits. The President of Nigeria continuously makes the false statement that corruption is not Nigeria’s major headache. Sadly it takes Professor Itse Sagay (SAN), not the CAN or PFN President or any visible Christian leader, to counter. Professor Sagay rebutted President Jonathan stating that “For Mr. President to have said that corruption is not our number one problem that must be the misstatement of the century”. Our Pastors, Bishops and GOs maintain a deafening silence, a silence so loud hell is rejoicing and the heavens are in agony. When we see photographs of CAN and PFN President with President Jonathan, we wonder whether they reecho Professor Sagay and indeed the Word of God, because we fear that all they tell him is that “it is well, we are praying for you”. Stop paying or receiving bribes, regardless of what it will cost you. There should be no argument about the fact that God does not accept blemished tithes and offerings. Shunning bribes will lead many of us into the fiery furnace where we are denied money, contracts and benefits. It is not a comfortable place to be, but the God of Meshack, Shadrack and Abednego will enter the furnace with you. He does not promise that you won’t suffer such losses; He doesn’t promise that your obedience will guarantee you the contract. But He will be with you in the furnace. When your faith has passed through that fire, you will come forth as gold. He does not promise you prosperity based on filthy lucre and bribes, but we can assure you based on the experiences of David and ours that: Ps 37:25 I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread. KJV; and Ps 34:10 The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the LORD shall not want any good thing. KJV IF HABITUAL GIVING AND TAKING OF BRIBES WILL DISQUALIFY FROM MAKING HEAVEN, WILL YOU MAKE IT? Isn’t it tragic that we may spend years hopping from one church program to another only to end up in hell because we are unwilling to pay the price, make the commitment and shun evil, including paying and taking bribes. Considering how much Mal 3:8-10 has been used to demand tithes, you owe God and yourself the duty of reading the entire four short chapters of Malachi. You will discover that God requires holiness and integrity as a condition for accepting your tithes and offerings. AND YOU WILL BECOME VERY CIRCUMSPECT ABOUT MINISTERS WHO DON’T CARE WHETHER YOU ROB MEN BY TAKING BRIBES AS LONG AS YOU “DO NOT ROB GOD”. How Pastors can read Malachi and ignore almost the entire book which rebukes Pastors for collecting lame and unworthy offerings, and focus almost exclusively on Mal 3:8-10 on tithes is tragic. Don’t be deceived, God is not pleased with testimonies of breakthroughs laden with hidden compromises, and facilitated by bribes and unrighteous designs. Your Pastor, Bishop or G.O. may receive the tithe and turn a blind eye, God does not. Unrighteous tithes, firstfruits and offerings have no record in heaven’s reward records; you may find them on the list for sanctioning and punishment. Are you on the Lord’s side? Are you prepared to take a bold stand for the Lord? Are you willing to go all the way to say NO to bribery and corruption? As a pastor, are you willing to reject TITHES AND OFFERING BROUGHT FROM BRIBES? God bless you.
Posted on: Sat, 01 Feb 2014 10:11:36 +0000
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