MFM H/Q Sermons

Glorious Sunday Worship Service
August 11th, 2024

Topic: THE FOOLISH TRADERS
Text: Luke 19:12–26
Minister: Dr. Daniel Olukoya (G.O. MFM Worldwide)

This parable in our foregoing scripture is loaded with messages. God has called people and given them talents to use.

So as you are sitting down there, there is something that heaven has deposited in your life that others do not have. It is not supposed to stay there dormant, unutilised, or useless for whatever reason; you are supposed to trade with it. God gave it to you to trade with it and to make profit; for you to occupy till Jesus comes. So that when He comes and says “daughter” or “son, what have you done with the potential I gave to you?” You will be able to say, “Lord, I did this.”

In this passage, we see that when you do not use the talent God has given you, two tragedies will occur:

• That one you have will be taken from you and given to somebody else,
• You will go to hellfire for being a senseless zombie, foolish, useless trader.

There are many messages in our working scripture. This passage tells us that you do not really own anything. Everything belongs to the Lord. It tells us that faith is a risk. The more risks you take, the more opportunities you have. The more opportunities you have, the greater your chances of success.

It also tells us that, for whatever reason, when talents, gifts, and potentials are buried, it is a tragedy. You may give all sorts of excuses, but if you bury your talents, you are a senseless and foolish trader because very soon, the owner will come and require profit. The servant said to his master, “You are a hard man, always trying to take profit where you did not sow.”

The master did not disagree; he said, “Yes, I am a very hard man.” In my former primary school, we had two kinds of headmasters. The first was Mr. Oyekan. He was very kind. He never beat anyone. He would smile at you. He would give you things if you asked. Those of you who went to school in those days know how difficult it was to ask your headmaster for anything. This man was very gentle. We had a well in the centre of the school. So when we were at the end of the term and they were announcing results class by class, they would start from primary 1 from the first position until they got to those who failed. When some people failed, they would want to jump into the well.

Because of such people, the well was always padlocked with two padlocks. But the interesting thing was this: during this kind headmaster’s tenure, we failed the School Certificate Examination like no man’s business.

After some time, he left the school, and they brought another one. This one’s name was Mr. Olowolagba. Looking back now, I think that man was demonic. He never smiled or played with anyone. He went about with a black and white cane. If you committed an offence, he would start from six strokes of cane to flog.

When we closed for the year and he was announcing results, he would say, “I am about to read your results now. If you are not happy and you want to jump into the well, it is open. You can jump in.”

Beloveth, nobody jumped. But during the tenure of this hard man, we scored 99% in the same exams. So, hard men bring results. Jesus said, “Yes, I am a hard man; I want results.” He is so hard that if you do not give him results, you will land in hellfire. What a tragedy it will be if you land in hellfire, and the reason you are there is because your talent remained unused!

When gifts are buried, it is a tragedy. God trusts us with the things that he gives to us. Our gifts are for a purpose. God does not create anybody without having something to do in the world. There is a vacancy for you in His program. He gives us all opportunities.

Your being here today is an opportunity. The fact that you discovered MFM is an opportunity. That is why I keep preaching to us that God’s best gift to us is in opportunity. The principle of gifts is the opportunity to grow. But the life of men is an adventure in responsibility. That is what the passage is teaching us. What we do with what we have reveals our view of God. When He has given you things and you are not using them, it shows that you have no respect for Him; you are disobedient and unruly; you are proud, and God hates proud people. A day of accountability is coming. What we have, we must use. If we do not use it, we will lose it.

We must follow God and His instructions wholeheartedly. Who you follow determines what follows you. You can see the opportunity God is giving to you as a blessing or as a burden.

That gift He has given to you, according to this passage, has the potential to change your life. It was only one pound given to every man; the first man traded and made ten pounds, then became the governor of 10 cities. His life changed. We must invest with what God has given us. We must not be a deficit to heaven. There are people here who can sing, play instruments, speak, interpret, and pray, but they just stay there.

They come and go out of the house of their Father. When you ask them about it, they say, “Leave me alone; I do not want church politics.” That your “leave me alone” will land you in hellfire. God has invested something in you to draw people to Him. This passage tells us that there is no such thing as a risk-free life. Those who are willing to risk nothing actually risk losing everything. Life is a giver of opportunities. This unprofitable servant, this useless trader, lost everything by doing nothing. What is written in the Bible is written for our learning so that we, through the comfort of the scriptures, might have hope.

Anyone who does not learn from history will repeat it. So you will make a difference with your life, beloveth, if you make the most of the opportunities God gives you.

One grandma in this church took her little grandson to America on vacation. But that small boy was a member of the guitar choir at the headquarters. The boy had learnt to play the guitar at a young age. So, the grandmother did not know where MFM was in America, but she was used to going to church on Sundays. So she went to a white church.

But she noticed that when service was to start at 9 a.m., it was delayed because the pastor was arguing with somebody. The person with whom the pastor was arguing was the person to play the guitar to start the worship. He was paid 150 dollars per church service. Now, he wanted it to be increased to 250 dollars. The pastor was explaining that the amount was ridiculous, but the man refused to budge. The pastor then asked him to play, but he refused.

The little boy heard them arguing and turned to the grandma and said, “Grandma, I can play the guitar.”

The grandmother asked, “Really?” He said, “Yes, I learnt it in church.” The woman asked him, “Can I take you to the pastor?” He replied, “Yes.” She took him to the pastor and said, “We are visiting from Nigeria, and he can play the guitar. Let him play it.” Pastor asked, “Really? A small boy?”

They made a holy mistake and gave him the guitar to play. The whole place turned upside down because he played so excellently well that it forced the congregation to start dancing. After the service, the pastor asked Grandma, “Are you planning to take him back? She replied, “Yes, we just came on holiday.”

The pastor said, “No, no, no, we will keep him here.” That is how this little boy is studying in America now. He took the opportunity that he had here and used it. You will make a difference to your life, beloveth, if you make the most of the opportunity God has given you. This passage is telling us that every man is a trader, one way or the other. You should use the opportunity well. We must use our opportunity to make the best of our situation. We do not determine what we receive in life. You do not control who your parents are. You do not control your place of birth. You do not control your day of birth or the family you are born into.

You do not control the city you are born into. You do not control the experiences you have as you grow as a young person. You have no control over all that. Somebody may be born into a rich or poor family.

In life, some start very well, and some start very badly. The issue, then, is not what you have but whether you will change the value of what you have. The one who was born poor can catch up with the one who was born rich. God can give you divine acceleration. This is a very serious matter. I always share this testimony of when we were little boys and we used to visit a compound at the railway to pluck fruits.

We did not know that the owner had a bulldog. So as we were plucking the fruits, we saw this large bulldog come out and start galloping towards us.

Before that day, I had never climbed a tree before. All I could remember was that I was on top of the tree. How I climbed it, I do not know. So in life, you run as fast as what is running after you. The man born in the city may take time and be sluggish. He may go around lazily since he has come from a rich family. He can be running after girlfriends instead of reading. The man from the village, however, will run faster because his condition gives him acceleration.

A man pursued by a lion is different from a man pursued by a lion or rabbit. When you look around, no helper; you look at your family, no house, no graduate or rich man; you do not stand still. In life, you do not control where you start, but you can control where you end up. You do not control the number of talents you receive, but you can control the value you give them.

So those of you who are here and are already in the school of Jonah (running away from ministry), I feel sorry for you. The man with one talent traded and got ten. Another one traded and got five. Trade with your talents.

When you are trading, you do two things:

• Give up what you have.
• Take up what you do not have.

When you go to school, you give up ignorance and take up knowledge. That is trading. When you want to make heaven, you trade your sin and get the righteousness of God.

There are many examples of people in Scripture who traded what they had for what they did not have. Joseph traded prison for rulership. Esau traded his birthright for a plate of food. Jacob traded his food and got birthright. Esther traded ordinance, and she got royalty. Samson traded the anointing and got disgrace. Some trade and sell useful things to acquire useless things. Some others trade useless things to acquire useful things.

This morning, I encourage you to trade what you have and make profit. As a matter of fact, if you are sick, you can trade your sickness for healing. You can trade your paralysis for strength. If you are a sinner, you can change your sin for righteousness. If you are down, you can change that position to be lifted up. Any place in your life can be a beginning.

I was impressed when I saw a 26-year-old man in Primary 1. At the time, he was older than the teacher. He did not think it was too late to start. The question is this: What do you want to do at your old age? Do you want to be a 50 or 60 years old illiterate? Or a 50/60 year old with knowledge?

Do not waste the opportunity that God has given to you. Decide that you must trade with what God has given you. Jesus started ministering at 30. Samuel began at 9. But Moses started at 80. You cannot control what you have, but you can give new value to what is in your hands. You may not like what you have; then trade it for what you like. Do not say, “It is too late!” It is never too late to do anything. Like the four lepers at the gate of Samaria, you must decide that you must move from that place.

The worst trader of all in the Bible was Judas Isacriot. He traded ministry and destiny for 30 shekels of silver. What a bad trader! He loses the presence of Jesus Christ, the privilege of apostolic ministry, his participation in Pentecost, his habitation, and finally his place in heaven. How can you trade 10 minutes of sexual enjoyment for divine destiny? The trouble is this: before things get lost, they usually first become loose. If you stay in a boat and start tossing your golden coin around, you are being careless with it. But the last verse is troubling:

Luke 19:26 (KJV) says: “For I say unto you, That unto every one which hath shall be given; and from him that hath not, even that he hath shall be taken away from him.”

So if you are not careful and do not trade with what you have, it makes you poorer. This scripture sounds very unfair, but that is the truth. Why should someone with plenty of money get even more, and then someone who has little lose even the little he has? But that is the reality of life. Jesus has already said so. Somebody who has built a house will probably build more. Someone who has not built a house stands a chance of losing his present accommodation and being ejected by the landlord unless he trades with what he has. You have to trade with what God has given you to get to where God wants you to be.

A family of lawyers or doctors is more likely to produce more lawyers or doctors than a family of illiterates. So the scripture is fulfilled again. Even it is happening here among us, which is very bad, those selling phones and iPads are rising up to dominate those selling oranges, groundnuts, and tomatoes because they will sell the groundnuts and buy iPhones.

Money keeps going to the person who already has money, thus verifying what Jesus is saying in that passage. You sweat and struggle, then carry the money to the rich ones. This is why the Bible is telling us that there is something in us we need to trade with to get to where God wants us to get to. If not, it will be taken away and given to somebody who already has it.

Use your one talent well so that it does not go to those who are already using theirs and are already blessed.

DO YOU WANT TO BECOME A PROFITABLE TRADER?

1. A total surrender to Jesus. No compromise.
2. Decide to be close to God. You are as close to God as you personally wish to be. If you wish to be close to God, multiply your prayer time, your Bible reading, your witnessing, talk less, listen more, and control your flesh, and you will get close to God.
3. You must know your identity. You must know why you are here and what your duty is on earth.
4. You must evaluate your current position. “Am I in the right place? Is this the level that God wants me to be at?”

Let me tell you the truth: for most people here, where you are now is not your final bus stop. It is just a comma, a pause. There is still a better YOU that you have not accessed.

I will pray this prayer for those who are ready to move to their next level; they should shout a 21-fold amen.

● I decree upon the life of everyone here: Any power saying “this is how far you can go, you must not go further”; with a 21-fold amen, I command the power to die now, in the name of Jesus.

If there are 10 levels of fire and God expects you to be at level 10, but you are still struggling at level 2, it is you who decided to be struggling at level 2. The enemies assigned against you are fighting you, and the only way you can fight them is when you are on level 10. So they are able to overpower you easily because you remain on level 2. Therefore, evaluate your current position.

5. Hate that position with perfect hatred. You must be divinely dissatisfied.
6. Develop a rugged determination to reposition your life. Stop blaming people. Whatever has happened, has happened. Reposition yourself. You say, “But I am a pastor.” What kind of pastor are you? You should evaluate yourself on the scale of pastors too.
7. Practice aggressive and unashamed holiness.
8. Pray yourself into your divine position.
9. Work hard. Believers are not lazy people. When you work hard and prayer supports you, you get to the top fast.
10. Complete your deliverance. Many people who come to church do not complete their spiritual medication. They are like patients who refuse to complete their malaria drugs from the hospital, which is why they have a relapse.

Malaria has no respect for your age. Malaria can grab a fully-bodied man and knock him down because of incomplete medication.

The malaria parasites are in the blood, so you may take drugs to remove the ones in the blood, but the witchcraft of malaria is so high that it stays in the blood and in the liver. So whatever drugs you take, if it does not clear them from the drug and liver, the parasites keep working. When the parasites enter the liver, they begin to multiply, and when they enter the blood, the fever starts again. It is the same with incomplete deliverance. When your deliverance is not complete, the enemy goes to the incomplete areas to begin to attack you.

PRAYER POINTS

1. (Pray this 3 hot times) Powers assigned to return me to square one, die, in the name of Jesus.
2. Where is the Lord God of Elijah? Arise, show the world that you are my God, in the name of Jesus.
3. Powers offering sacrifices against me, your time is up: die, in the name of Jesus.
4. Wicked altars attacking my sweat, die in the name of Jesus.
5. Yoke of slow motion, yoke of standstill, assigned against me; die, in the name of Jesus.
6. Every power working hard to keep me small, expire in the name of Jesus.
7. By the power in the blood of Jesus, I walk out of sickness. You sickness, walk out of me now, in the name of Jesus.

MFM H/Q Sermons
LIKE our Page on FACEBOOK
http://www.facebook.com/mfmsermons
http://www.mfmsermons.com
Share the Word of God to all!!!