A Sermon
Delivered on Wednesday Evening, July 9th 2025, by
Evangelist PAUL ACQUAH,
Live on MZ Radio London, London UK.
In a world where ambition is celebrated and self-promotion is the norm, we often find ourselves striving, pushing, and reaching for the next level – believing that our talents, connections, or hard work alone can take us to the top. The truth, however, is that while effort and excellence are important, they are not the ultimate deciding factors. Scripture makes it clear: true promotion comes from God alone. God is the one who opens doors, sets the stage, and lifts individuals according to His purpose and timing. Recognising Him as the ultimate promoter brings both humility and assurance, inviting us to trust in His wisdom rather than our own striving. True greatness is found not in self-promotion but in surrendering our ambitions to the One who lifts us up according to His purpose and glory. Join us in today’s message by Evangelist Paul Acquah titled, “The Ultimate Promoter” as we look to Scripture, reflect on our own journeys, and learn to trust the ultimate Promoter – God.
Be blessed as you listen!
Let me start by saying that most of the people that are listening would love to be promoted, Whether you are just working for somebody else, I’m sure you would like a promotion to a better position with better pay. Whether you have your own business you would like to see it expand and reach more people. If you’re in ministry, you would like to reach more people. Whatever it is, I think that there’s something inside of every single person that realises that we just need to be stretching and reaching for something. Everybody wants promotion, doing nothing is just not something that is bred into us. Everybody desires for something more and I think it’s a God-given desire. I’m sure God just built something into all of us that we want to excel, and to see promotion. The good news is God created you for greatness. No matter where in life you stand, God wants you to succeed. God wants you to be promoted in your finances, he wants you to prosper and be in health. However, many people see prosperity as an elusive thing. Many people point to education, talent, relationships, or privilege as the secret to their success. Though these can play a role, they are not what produce promotion. Some people think only those with the education and charisma get promoted, while others feel that employers promote people based on friendships or special connections. But the Bible says something completely different:
“For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south.[7] But God is the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another” (Psalms 75:6-7). This is saying that God is the one who promotes people. Promotion comes from God! One thing that hinders us receiving God’s blessing is the fact that many of us think that it’s our effort, or our talent, or our ability that promotes us. Yes, God can use talents and abilities, he’s the one that gives us the ability. If you can sing, if you can work with your hands, if you can draw, if you’ve got certain talents, God is the one who gave those things to us. God will use those things, but you’ve got to get beyond thinking that it’s your talent, or your ability that’s the source of your promotion. That’s a radical statement and I know that there’re many people that would disagree with that but there’s an abundance of scriptures that support this statement.
For example, in 1 Corinthians chapter 1 it says “Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28 God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, 29 so that no one may boast before him. 30 It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. 31 Therefore, as it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.”[d]
God chooses people who are not mainly those considered wise, powerful, or of high social standing in the world’s view. It highlights that God often chooses those whom the world might overlook or underestimate. God’s choices are not based on worldly criteria. Instead, He often chooses those who are considered weak, foolish, or insignificant by the world’s standards to confound the wise and demonstrate His power through them. The reason he did it that way is so that no flesh should glory in his presence. Those who are well-educated and successful by the world’s standards might feel that these passages mean they could never be used by God. That’s not the case. The Bible didn’t say that no wise people were called; he said that not many were called. You may have talents and ability but if you are trusting in them and trying to gain promotion just through your own effort then it’s not going to work. In Isaiah chapter 42:8, God was talking about his son Jesus, it was a prophecy about Jesus coming and he said that he would not give his glory to another. He would never share his glory with anybody but Jesus. So, if you are taking credit, if you are the one thinking that it’s because of your great ability, it’s your great talent that God is using you, and if that’s what you’re looking for a promotion to come from then I can guarantee you God is not going to promote that.
Another scripture is First Peter chapter 5 where it says God resists the proud. Pride is not only arrogance. You find pride in a lot of different ways, but pride is self-sufficiency, self- dependence to where you think God, I don’t need you, I’m awesome, and I tell you there’re people that just think that you are God’s gift to mankind. You will wind up having God fight against you and hinder you from promotion if you have that kind of an attitude. Again, pride isn’t only arrogance, pride is just self-sufficiency, self- dependence, if you think that you can do it all on your own, you actually are hindering your own promotion. Promotion doesn’t come from your own ability; it comes from God. It’s God that puts up one and sets down another. Yes, there are ways to be promoted outside of God, but I can assure you they all produce death. There are ways for you to prosper financially, you can go and rob a bank, you can lie, cheat and steal and do things and you might prosper to some degree through that but I guarantee you, it’s going to bring death with it in this life, depression, shame, condemnation all of those kind of things, and in the next life, there’s judgment.
So, yes. you could prosper maybe through some of your own talents, but you’ll never reach the same potential. You’ll never reach the degree of promotion that God has planned for you.
If you do it his way, if you’re looking for God’s promotion, you are going to have to learn how to humble yourself and become God dependent and take all your talents and abilities and everything that you have and surrender them to God. If you are a person who’s talented that you can just do anything, everything you touch turns out good and you think it’s your natural abilities that you just have these things, then in a sense I feel sorry for you because it’s hard for you to recognise God as your Source. Why? Because you think that it’s your ability.
For example, if you’re good with finances and you’ve always prospered, it’s hard for you to trust God. You will be thinking about what can I do to produce all of these things. But a person that hasn’t been good in that area will just have to trust the Lord and this is the reason that God chose weak things of the world to confound the mighty. He wanted us to trust in him and to give the glory to him. But you need to understand that the Lord has not put a premium on ignorance. It’s just that most of those who are wise and respected in the eyes of the world are swelled up with pride and depend on their own abilities. Those who have plenty of talents and abilities have plenty to give up. Those who are nothing and know it, find it easier to transfer all their dependency to the Lord.
For example, the apostle Paul was probably one of the smartest people of his day. He was educated by one of the greatest leaders of the Jews, he spoke Greek and Hebrew fluently, which was exceptional for his time; and others quickly recognised his training (Acts 26:24).
It took Paul at least fourteen years of intensively seeking the Lord to make the transition of transferring all his dependency to the Lord (Galatians 2:1). If those considered wise by human standards will humble themselves and depend on God’s wisdom, then God will use them the same as He did with Paul.
