The Real Pulpit Is the Marketplace, Not the Platform (Alternate Recording)

Sermon outline

The decision for Jesus is made here on earth, and it is a seed: sow your life, your kindness and your tithe before you need the harvest, and let the marketplace, not the platform, be where people see Christ in you.

1. The choice between heaven and hell is made on earth

   Reading from the Passion Translation, she tells of the rich man and Lazarus: the angels carried Lazarus to paradise while the rich man went from opulence to torment, with a chasm no one can cross. Jesus is the only bridge from earth to heaven. Abraham's answer was that those who will not hear Moses and the prophets will not believe even if someone rises from the dead, and Jesus did rise. She did not choose Him out of fear; it was a choice, and that seed now shows in her children and grandchildren.

   “It's not a matter of being afraid. Did I accept Jesus because I was afraid? No. It was a choice I made.”

   • Luke 16:19-31

2. Your life is a seed, and the enemy fights the seed

   A seed that falls into the ground and dies brings forth fruit. Your life, your finances, your tithe and your kindness are all seed, and the enemy fights each because he does not want you to inherit prosperity. Withholding your seed shows where your heart is, and what is kept on earth is eaten by moth, rust, inflation and collapsing markets. Be nasty and you reap nastiness; be kind and kindness comes back.

   Illustration: She once complained that people did not like her, until she asked herself what kind of person she had been.

   “Your seed with God is a trust issue.”

   • John 12:24
   • Matthew 6:19-21
   • Matthew 6:33
   • Galatians 6:7

3. Religion is an outward form; Christ in you is a lifestyle

   Religion, any religion, is a form of pursuing God with garb and a pious walk, and some Christians carry their Bibles piously on Sunday and gossip on Monday. Knowing Jesus means the same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead lives in you and changes you. Without that change God can still use you, but your impact will be negative. Love forgives, overlooks offence and keeps no record of wrong; love claimed but not shown is a sounding gong.

   “Knowing Jesus is not a form of pursuing God. It's a lifestyle, Christ in you.”

   • Romans 8:11
   • Romans 5:5
   • 1 Corinthians 13:1-7

4. God entrusts the riches of the kingdom to a tither

   The riches of the kingdom are becoming fruit and a fountain of life that others draw from. In over twenty-eight years of work she was never once retrenched, because she worked as unto God, treated each company as her own and never asked to be paid for her ideas. Seed is not only money: it is love, actions and gifts, given when God prompts you.

   Illustration: A pastor's wife, long overlooked by people who only wanted access to her famous husband, later told Dr RJ Sing that Pastor Zubeda had once taken off her own ring and given it to her, and that it made her feel valued. Pastor Zubeda has no memory of doing it, which tells her it was God giving through her hand.

   “You become his extended hand to somebody.”

5. Sow for the season you do not yet see

   Seed is sown for every season of life, summer, winter, autumn and spring. If you never sowed, the hard season is not the time to wonder why no one is helping you; learn to sow even in famine. She raised her children with a bag in the cupboard for anything unworn in three to five months, because hoarded things lose their value, and there is a right time to plant apples if you want to harvest apples.

   Illustration: Jewellery hoarded for children is often unwanted when it is finally handed over, because it no longer fits the season.

   “You need to learn to sow even in your famine.”

   • Ecclesiastes 11:1
   • 2 Corinthians 9:10
   • Psalm 37:25

6. Sowing into your priest

   She wondered why her husband was always ahead of her financially, until the Lord asked whether she had ever sown into his life. Wives are told to respect and honour their husbands, which means looking past faults. She put conditions on God's instruction, then laid a thousand rand at his feet, the anointing hit her, and that was the day her life began to change. Pastor Wesley adds his own story of sowing a seed he could not afford when deep in debt after losing a business, and of God paying every bill. It is hard when the preacher is your own father; familiarity makes people see faults instead of the anointing, so stay teachable and let the refining happen.

   Illustration: She opens her handbag on camera to show a purse for everyday, a purse for riding, cards and cash, so viewers can see the fruit of what she is saying. Pastor Wesley adds that an apple tree bears fruit, but you never see it eating its own.

   “Your tears do not move God. Your prayers can move God, but your seed accelerates the answer.”

   • Ephesians 5:33
   • Matthew 10:41

7. The real pulpit is the marketplace

   In church people are on their best behaviour, and preaching from a pulpit with notes and a timeframe is easy. The real pulpit is wherever you deal with people as a manager, worker or businessman: deliver what you promised at the price and time you promised, and you have preached integrity. Jesus took the three most reliable disciples into Gethsemane. A tither receives the creativity of God, your gift makes room for you, sales run after you, and you become the tree that bears fruit for others in their dry season.

   Illustration: Peter cut off the servant's ear and Jesus put it back, telling him this was the purpose for which He came.

   “Preaching from a pulpit's so easy. You got notes, you have structure, you have a certain timeframe. The real pulpit is in the marketplace.”

   • Matthew 26:37
   • Luke 22:50-51
   • Proverbs 18:16
   • Proverbs 28:20
   • Deuteronomy 8:18
   • Psalm 1:3

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