Counting The Cost

The following is an excerpt of my book, The Mystery of the Kingdom, which is an exposition of what Jesus indicated was "The Paramount Parable"—The Parable of the Sower—meaning it was the most important of all His parables, in that it revealed the keys to the "mystery of the kingdom" of God. The excerpt is taken from a chapter in which I examine the second category of hearers in the parable who Jesus described as being "like rocky ground." He went on to reveal that this category of hearers of the Word are only "temporary believers," who "have no firm root in themselves, but are only temporary" (Mk. 4:17).

Luke’s account of this part of Jesus’ parable aptly describes their walk this way: "they believe for a while, and in time of temptation fall away" (Lk. 8:13). This is an extremely crucial statement in that Jesus Himself explicitly and definitively indicates that these people were indeed bona fide "believers" rather than bogus believers as proponents of "once saved always saved" Eternal Security doctrine allege. Jesus said, "they believe for a while," which inherently means there came a time when they ceased being and living like a true believer, or saint. To argue otherwise is to call Jesus a liar. Likewise, to say these once bona fide believers did not subsequently fall away after having truly believed is to call Jesus a liar as well, for Jesus explicitly stated, "and in time of temptation (they) fall away."

Unfortunately, there are many people today who are of this category of only temporary believers. There was a point at which they truly believed in and accepted the Gospel of Christ, and were thereby Born Again and saved. At first, they are willing to follow Jesus and obey His Word. But, later, when they began to meet with temptation (Lk. 8:13), afflictions, and persecutions (Mk. 4:17), these temporary believers fall away in their relationship with God.

The Mystery of the Kingdom book was first published in 1984, yet its message is perhaps even more applicable now in this hour than ever before. Through the Spirit, the Apostle Paul looked two-thousand years ahead into these end-times and predicted with amazing precision the prevailing spiritual atmosphere and resultant apostasy:

2 Timothy 3:1-5
But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these.

1 Timothy 4:1-2
But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron....

Some theologians postulate this last passage refers to and was fulfilled in the 1,200-year period known as "The Dark Ages" that culminated with the Protestant Reformation. Personally I am among those who believe that period was indeed a corporate apostasy of the Church but that another fulfillment of that prophecy is being fulfilled in these end-times in which we are living now.

Then there are the multitudes of professing Christians, Protestant and non, today who align with myriad others of the previous four centuries and subscribe to the Calvinistic "Eternal Security" doctrine, also known as "once-saved-always-saved," that posits that no matter what one does or how he/she lives after "confessing Christ," it is impossible for them to fall away and "lose" their salvation. The debate juxtaposing Calvinism (Eternal Security) to Arminianism (apostasy is possible), as theologians refer to these disparate doctrines, has existed since the 16th Century and continues to be a point of contention and divisiveness yet today. But, it is far more than just another abstract theological controversy studied by erudite seminarians preparing for assimilation into the ranks of the professional clergy. The matter of whether or not a bona fide believer can become so apostate so as to forfeit his/her spiritual birthright is the core issue of these end-times as well as the entire specter of so-called "revival" that so many profess to believe is coming.

Will real "revival," as the prominent principals of the past, albeit temporary, revivals passionately insisted and with whom many modern prophetic revival prognosticators adamantly agree, be contingent entirely upon the depth of personal repentance—i.e., real mindset and lifestyle changes—of those claiming to belong to Christ? Or, will end-time "revival," as some neo-prophets purport, consist merely of a global upsurge in signs and wonders and displays of supernatural power that God initiates for "evangelism" sake without respect or relation to the personal spiritual condition of those comprising the Church and therefore the Church itself? Will the now popular refrain by neo-prophets concerning the last days that "the glory of the Lord shall cover the earth as the waters cover the seas," have any correlation to the Betrothed of Christ and her reflection of the Glory of the Bridegroom, or just be something God does separately from her?

I don’t know what you believe to be the answer to this crucial question, but as you read this excerpt of The Mystery of the Kingdom, what I believe the answer to be will be abundantly clear. Indeed, if you are interested, this section coupled with the succeeding two chapters of the book make my beliefs on the matter unequivocally clear. Moreover, I believe…no, let me rephrase that…I KNOW—from personal experience—there is a personal COST to serving Christ all the way to the end. Some of that cost I have paid already, but I fully anticipate that there shall yet be more to be paid, which I am determined to pay…no matter what and no matter how dear. "Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him!"

Now, my question to you is: Are YOU willing to pay the price…no matter what and how dear it may be? Or, will you in the end prove to be one of those Jesus called, "temporary believers," whose fate, according to Jesus Himself, will be eternal separation from God rather than eternal salvation for which He paid the full price?

Counting the Cost
Will it cost you something to serve Jesus?

You better believe it will! You must surrender your entire being—spirit, soul, and body—over to Jesus. You must die to every form of sin and unrighteousness (Rom. 6:1-11). You must put to death the sinful deeds of the fleshly body (Gal. 5:24). And, you must submit your mind, will, and emotions to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

Jesus in no way preached an "easy gospel," as some allege today. He never used euphemistic persuasion to call people to Himself. He never expected people to come to Him unadvisedly. Quite to the contrary, He taught that people should first "count the cost" before they make a decision to follow after Him, because every true disciple, then and now, is required to carry his own personal cross of affliction and persecution:

Now great multitudes were going along with Him; and He turned and said to them, "If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate (margin-note: i.e., by comparison of his love for Me) his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate (count) the cost, to see if he has enough to complete it?" (Lk. 14:28)

Nothing could be more apropos in the case of these hearers of the Word who Jesus said are like "rocky ground." They did not first sit down and calculate the cost of discipleship, and realistically calculate what following Jesus was going to cost them. They did not foresee that there was going to be crosses to bear, that they were going to have to endure against many tribulations, temptations, tests, and trials. So, "in time of temptation (they) fall away," Luke’s synopsis quotes Jesus as saying. Mark’s account says, "when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately they fall away" (Mk. 4:17).

These people indeed are only temporary believers. They are willing to respond affirmatively to the Gospel in order to be saved and to escape Hell. But, they are not willing to effect a complete surrender and repentance. Nor are they willing to die totally to self and sin, and relinquish lordship over their own lives. Some are willing to effect a superficial repentance of surface sins, but not a complete repentance of the evil motivations which pervade the unredeemed soul. Much less are they willing to offensively resist the enemy on the battlefield of temptation, affliction, and persecution, in order to follow after Jesus.

Temporary believers, unfortunately, are only willing to stay married to Jesus and live the Christian life as long as life is easy and convenient and doesn’t cost them anything, as long as life is full of nothing but "showers of blessings." But, when the showers of blessings start to become mixed with intermittent droughts of even only relatively minor affliction and persecution, that is, when the sun arises, as Jesus put it in the parable, and "the heat is on," and their commitment is tested a little, temporary believers immediately want to dissolve the relationship, with a quick and easy, no-muss, no-fuss, no-fault divorce after the manner of the divorces meted out by our courts today.

But, that is not the way it is with true believers. True believers are in this thing forever. When they make their commitment to Jesus, they do it knowing full well it is Eternal Life, an everlasting life of never-ending fellowship with God, they’ve bought into, and they are eternally committed to Him through thick and thin, and no matter what may come, hell or high water. Indeed, if you have the great honor and privilege of living for Jesus in this world before being united with Him in the Spirit, it is guaranteed you will indeed experience both—hell and high water. True believers forsake all else in order to obtain the "costly pearl" (Mat. 13:45,46) of Eternal Life, and Eternal Life is what they will indeed be rewarded with in the end.

Indeed, this commitment to follow after Jesus has been known to cost some people literally everything. The Apostle Peter, after less than three years of following after Jesus, speaking apparently on behalf of the Twelve Apostles of the Lamb, railed at Jesus, "Behold, we have left everything and followed You" (Mk. 10:28). Overlooking Peter’s obvious rancor, Jesus in essence replied that such may indeed be the cost for earnest followers:

And He said to them, "Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who shall not receive many times as much at this time and in the age to come, Eternal Life." (Lk. 18:29,30)

Indeed, there has been more than one resolute believer down through the ages who has had to give up houses, wives, brothers, parents, children, friends, colleagues, business and vocational pursuits, and the like, in order to follow after Jesus and the revealed Will of God. It is terribly unfortunate and painful, but sometimes friends, relatives, and loved ones simply refuse to follow along with you when you make the decision to follow Jesus. Nevertheless, Jesus said anyone who is not willing to bear that cross of persecution and to follow after Him, is not worthy of Him. There is a chorus we sing that talks about all this, which says:

I have decided to follow Jesus.
I have decided to follow Jesus.
I have decided to follow Jesus.
No turning back, no turning back.

Though none go with me, yet I will follow.
Though none go with me, yet I will follow.
Though none go with me, yet I will follow.
No turning back, No turning back.

I have personally known people who have had to quite literally "give up" friends and loved ones, in order to follow Jesus; some for only a while, some forever. It didn’t have to be that way, and the believer certainly did not want it to be that way, but that is the way it happened nonetheless, because those friends and loved ones simply refused to accompany them on the path they had chosen to follow, the path of Eternal Life and fellowship with God.

I have personal knowledge of men called to the ministry who had no choice but to "give up" loved ones, in order to follow and obey Jesus and His revealed Will for their lives, and in order to pursue the call of God upon them. There were certain ministers of the past who were greatly used of God who experienced such heart-rending dilemmas with regard to family members, who, as they went on to be faithful to God, received an eternal, unfathomable reward that made it all worth it. So also are there contemporary ministers with a great call upon their life who shall be likewise rewarded for their undeterred faithfulness.

We must be willing to follow Jesus no matter what the cost. Otherwise, we will not be worthy of Him (Mat. 10:37,38). In fact, Jesus once even went so far as to declare, "No one of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions" (Lk. 14:33). Spiritually speaking, every true saint of God does indeed eventually "give up" everything he is and has; that is to say, he or she surrenders any claim of personal ownership and lordship of everything unto the Lord.

But, praise God, God is not a "taker," despite the wholly erroneous statement of Job: "The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away" (Job 1:21), which misstatement he later retracted in dust and ashes, and utter shame and chagrin (42:1-6). Rather, God is only a Giver. "God so loved the world that He gave..." (Jn. 3:16). God gave even His only begotten Son, because He is a Giver by Nature. He gives because He cannot help Himself. As someone has so aptly said, "You can give without loving, but you cannot love without giving."

And so, God, who IS Love and from whom Agape-Love emanates (1 Jn. 4:7,8), is absolutely compelled by His overwhelming Love-Nature to give. He has absolutely no desire or interest in taking things away from people He has bestowed to them, especially not because of any need of His own. How ludicrous and even blasphemous the notion! That would make Him a selfish thief, which He is not. Satan is the thief, who steals, kills, and destroys (Jn. 10:10). Besides, God doesn’t need anything we have:

The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands; neither is He served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since He Himself gives... (Acts 17:24,25)

No, God is not a taker, but a Giver. It’s just that He insists on being Lord over everything, as He indeed is. He requires that we abdicate lordship and rights of ownership of everything we have and are, and give it to Him, in order that Jesus may indeed be Lord of All that pertains to us. And, praise God when we do relinquish the "things" pertaining to this world in order to seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness, He actually returns all those "things" we need for life, because He well knows that we need all these "things" (Mat. 6:32,33).

Moreover, He even returns them to us in multiplied measure, "a hundred times as much," and not "when we all get to Heaven," or "in the sweet by and by," but in the sweet here and "now in the present age" (Mk. 10:30). For you see, we won’t need those things in Heaven; we only need them now in this life here on planet Earth.

Indeed, there is a cost for discipleship, but true believers are willing to pay the price, whatever it may be. Temporary believers, however, are not. When things begin to get difficult, and they meet with a little trouble, tribulation, and hardship, temporary believers start to wither.[end excerpt]

To read more about The Mystery of the Kingdom, go to: http://www.slm.org/pubs/mkbook.html.

Polemic Prophetic Preaching

In an earlier post in which I was commenting on matters inherent in the Grassley Investigation, I wrote: "A 'Day of Reckoning' is surely coming to many irresponsible and unscrupulous ministries." I prophesied that we are about see a fulfillment of the Prophet Malachi's prophecy (Mal. 3) in the Church that will begin with the leaders." I also wrote:

"...it is a shameful indictment on the modern church, as well as on purporting neo-prophets that a Senator's spokesman has to be the spokesman God uses to issue the prophetic rebuke concerning the excesses found in some portions of the Neo-Pentecostal Church, 'The Christian public should have demanded a higher level of accountability a long time ago.'"

I further prophesied a release and sending forth of true prophets God would be initiating this year of 2008, who will come "proclaiming piercing prophetic messages that will penetrate the lukewarmness and complacency, and in some cases the apostasy, presently pervading the Church at-large, and whose central theme will be the first word of the Gospel — 'Repent! For the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!'"

I then proffered a spirit-inspired prayer on behalf of the corporate Body of Christ:

Send us, O God, those true prophets Leonard Ravenhill envisioned who know no compromise, have no price tag, cannot be bought out or bought off; who daily breathe the rarified air of divine inspiration; who march to a different drumbeat; seers sent to lead the blind; Noah-like "preachers of righteousness" who are unabashedly forthright, unashamedly outright, having lives that are upright, but who claim no birthright; dwellers in splendid isolation in the natural realm, yet in the heights of God in the spirit realm; firebrands possessed with passion, purpose, and pugnacity of the Spirit; sent-ones sent into the valleys of spiritual malaise and waywardness with a heart-piercing, conscience-pricking, "Thus saith the Lord!" God, send us, true prophets!

[If you did not receive or read that post, click here.]

That prayer, which has been prayed in essence by many other agonizing intercessors over the years, and more and more as we've seen the day drawing nearer, doubtless has been heard in Heaven and is being answered as I write. But, Friends, I come to tell you that the prophets God sends as His Spirit-Spokesmen assuredly will be nothing like the limp-wristed, mamby-pamby, compromised, Casper-Milquetoast, worldly-minded, smooth-talking orators spewing out a perfectly scripted and memorized easy-listening, all-positive, "it's-all-good," no-pain, self-improvement, 3-step message, who the churches welcome today with open arms, as they make their showy appearance dressed down or blinged up in the latest worldly fashion vogue, sporting the latest hip, weirdo, hair-do and facial-hair-do, along with the obligatory outrageous and mutilating body-tatoos and piercings, emulating the latest rising Hollywood or entertainment star. NO WAY!

You can know with certainty that these fearless prophets God sends will come preaching a polemic message that will sear your ear-hairs, make the hair stand up on the back of your neck, and cause a full-body outbreak of goose-bumps on top of your goose-bumps! More importantly, their polemic prophetic preaching will penetrate the most apathetic soul and pierce the most resistent conscience! It can scarely be said any better than what John Eckhardt wrote in his masterful treatise on the apostolic office, Moving In The Apostolic, which I highly recommend you read to gain an understanding of the apostolic office. The following is an excerpt from that book.

Polemic Preaching
During the reformation of the sixteenth century, Martin Luther and other reformers were known for their polemic preaching and writing. Polemic means an aggressive attack on, or refutation of the opinions or principles of another. It is the art or practice of disputation or controversy.

The word is derived from the Greek word "polemikos," meaning warlike or hostile. The reformers aggressively attacked the error and hypocrisy of the established Church, and defended the truth of the gospel against those who attacked their teachings. Their major concern was that the truth be preached and taught at any cost. They would die for the truth; truth was the only thing that mattered.

Today’s Church knows little about polemic preaching and writing. If one stands up for the truth of what he or she believes, that person is labeled dogmatic and non-ecumenical. The spirit of compromise has entered many churches, and they are not as concerned about the truth. But the Lord has always raised up defenders of the faith, people who are not afraid to preach and defend the truth. They recognize that the truth must not only be preached, but defended. If men do not defend the truth, lies will prevail. If lies prevail, people walk in bondage and deception. This is another reason why the church needs the ministry of the apostle.

Apostles have an anointing to defend and confirm the truth. They walk in boldness and proclaim the truth in spite of persecution and opposition. The Lord puts a word in their mouths to confound adversaries or opponents, or as the King James Version calls them, the "gainsayers." To gainsay means to deny, dispute, contradict and oppose.

For I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay nor resist (Luke 21:15, KJV).

The Williams translation says, "All your opponents combined will not be able to resist and refute."

According to Titus 1:9, a bishop—overseer, pastor—should "by sound doctrine" both "exhort" and "convince" the gainsayers (KJV). This Scripture goes on to say:

For there are many insubordinate, both the idle talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision, whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole households, teaching things which they ought not, for the sake of dishonest gain (Titus 1:10,11, NKJV, italics added).

The Word of God says that there are mouths that must be stopped. The only way to stop some mouths is through polemic preaching, "sound speech that cannot be condemned, that one who is an opponent may be ashamed, having nothing evil to say of you" (Titus 2:8).

The Beck translation says, "so that anyone who opposes us will feel foolish." The Norlie translation says, "Your message should be true, your language correct and not open to criticism. In that way, your opponent may be put to shame."

The art of the polemic is speaking the right words with apostolic wisdom to put to shame those that oppose the truth. "How forceful are right words" (Job 6:25). The correct argument, using the right words, carries tremendous force. This is not the wishy-washy Christianity that we see so much of today. This is a return to apostolic Christianity.

And this is what the Lord is restoring to the Church. Don’t let it surprise or confuse you. It is necessary for the Church to continue to walk in the truth. The Lord is raising up apostles whose words will shake the Church. Their words will be as a bulldozer in the spirit plowing through the lies the enemy has sown in the church. As a result, the truth will prevail, and multitudes will be set free. [end]

[Quote from: MOVING IN THE APOSTOLIC – God’s Plan To Lead His Church to the Final Victory, By John Eckhardt]

A Desperate Cry For Revival In Charismatic Camelot

Publishers Note: Charisma Magazine, founded by Stephen Strang, was originally an organ of my home church, Calvary Assembly of Winter Park, Florida. Roy Harthern, Benny Hinn's father-in-law, was the influential senior leader of the church at the time. Harthern convinced the church financial board that Calvary should commit quite a large sum of money to the upstart of this new magazine which would essentially be the church's PR organ. The year it was launched Calvary also helped to underwrite the launching of another upstart ministry I had a part in founding and developing, Festival of Praise, under the leadership of music extraordinaire, Thurlow Spurr. Because of my involvement in FOP and other areas of ministry, I had firsthand personal knowledge of Charisma's birthing.

What began as a small non-commercial magazine intended to be the in-house print organ of one of the fastest growing churches in America, soon grew into a relatively expansive and profitable publishing corporation with multiple divisions, Strang Communications. From its genesis, Charisma has been a primary source of print public relations and marketing exposure to the Charismatic/Neo-Pentecostal ministerial universe. To say it was a primary source, is putting it politely. The fact is, for more than a decade, it was just about the only game in town for reaching the Charismatic realm. That the publishing house realized their dominance of this niche market early-on was reflected in the exorbitant advertising rates, which were comparable to premier secular magazines, it soon commanded. The perhaps unintended result was that the mega-ministries who had the resources to purchase the broad exposure Charisma proferred became the hand that fed the multi-million dollar enterprise Strang Communications became.

In addition to that, over the years, personal relationships were forged between the publisher and the prominent ministers whose ministries were a source of hundreds of millions in advertising revenue. Add to all that personality traits and personal proclivities along with impure ambitions and the result is a rue rendering objectivity regarding these ministers and their mega-ministries a virtual impossibility.

Over its history Charisma as well as the other divisions and mediums of Strang Communications have reflected that reticence or resistance to be critical of the mega-ministries with whom it has been so cozy for so long. Historically, Charisma seemed to be locked into a look-the-other-way philosophy when it came to integrity issues regarding prominent ministers ministries. Only when scandal in Charismatic-dom broke in the secular media and therefore could not be ignored did Charisma cover the story. Intermittently, some breakaways from the organization's fundamental ostrich philosophy have occurred through the op-eds of Charisma editor, J. Lee Grady. The above article by Grady totally surprised me with its frankness and forthrightness, and, in my view, is a testament to just how bad things have become in our beloved Charismatic Camelot.

A DESPERATE CRY for REVIVAL in 2008
By J. Lee Grady

...Never in my 15 years at Charisma have I known a time of such intense spiritual turbulence. God is shaking everything that can be shaken, including our Christian colleges, our megachurches and our most prominent ministries.

At a time when a U.S. senator is investigating the financial practices of six well-known preachers, I sense that God has taken out His holy plumb line to conduct His own detailed inspection of every church and ministry in this country. He wants to unleash a nationwide revival, but He must bring His correction first.

These are desperate times that require desperate measures. That is why I have joined with the Awakening America Alliance to call for a solemn 21-day fast that runs from January 1-21. Here’s a list of the things I’m praying for during the next three weeks:

1. The fear of God. Holiness was so tangible among early Christians that false prophets were blinded and greedy liars fell over dead. As a result of God’s judgment on Ananias and Sapphira, “great fear came over the whole church” (Acts 5:11, NASB).

Where is this sense of “shock and awe” today? How can Christians be so cavalier about divorce or so flippant about adultery? How can television preachers sleep at night after robbing God’s people with manipulative fundraising appeals?

We celebrate His mercy but ignore His severity. We need a thunderclap from heaven and a display of Elijah’s fire to remind a wayward church that God will not be mocked.

2. Integrity and purity in the church. Our movement hit rock-bottom in October when charismatic pastor Donnie Earl Paulk of Atlanta announced to his stunned congregation that a DNA test had proved he is not the nephew of Bishop Earl Paulk but is in fact his son.That such unspeakable depravity was permitted to thrive for decades at the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit is an indictment against the elder Paulk and all leaders who refused to challenge his behavior when they first learned about it years ago.

This and other recent religious scandals have so tarnished our credibility that we have become a curious freak show. Many unbelievers now associate ministers with wife-swapping, wife-beating, no-fault divorce, gay affairs and $10,000-a-night hotel rooms. We need a Holy Ghost housecleaning.

3. A return to evangelism. In the 1970s we were less sophisticated but so much more zealous for Jesus. We handed out tracts and witnessed to everyone. Sharing our faith was the priority. Yet most people in churches today have never led anyone to Christ.

We are no longer contagious. Spirit-filled believers spend more time chasing “financial breakthroughs” than lost souls. We have rejected sacrifice and compassion and embraced a counterfeit gospel that produces bored, selfish spectators.

4. Godly leadership. As we head into an election season it’s obvious that our nation is facing a leadership crisis. But this leadership vacuum is not just in the political arena. Many of our spiritual fathers have disappointed us, either by their own moral failures or by their refusal to confront sin.

I pray that God does not give us the president we deserve in 2008. If we cry out for mercy, perhaps He will upset the current slate of candidates and put someone in the White House who can model Christian integrity. May He also give us spiritual shepherds who care more for the flock than for the crowd’s applause.

5. A national spiritual awakening. There were seasons in America’s past when sinners became so convicted of their sins that they collapsed under the weight of their guilt. During the days of revivalists George Whitefield and Charles Finney, huge waves of conversions led to a widespread transformation of society. Drunks became sober, prison inmates sang hymns, stingy business owners stopped oppressing their workers, atheists surrendered their unbelief, and rebellious children returned to faith.

Can such a movement happen again? It must or our country will descend into its darkest hour. I urge you to join me in this solemn fast. Pray with desperation for the five topics outlined here. We can’t settle for anything less than a heavenly visitation.

J. Lee Grady is editor of Charisma
SOURCE: http://www.charismanews.com/

The Consequences of Covetousness

As I stated on the previous post, I am convinced this whole matter I am discussing in these previous several posts is far from being a mere side-bar, but rather is a prophetic warning from God. I believe it is a critical Kingdom Matter that the Church must turn its attention to in order to be delivered from the dastardly and destructive spirit of mammon that now pervades the Church. Many individuals in the Church are obsessed with the spirit of materialism, and if they continue in their ways and in giving place to the devil, what is an obsession now, will continue to escalate and take more and more ground in their heart until materialism, the love of money, will totally possess them. Some who were once bona fide believers and members of the Body of Christ, have become apostate in their heart having yielded to the allure of purely material "wealth," and as a result are already possessed by the spirit of mammon.

I believe the judgment that MUST begin with the household of God has begun, and will continue in the form of the economic collapse America and the nations of the world are facing. But, as I have written in so many words in so many of my writings, this judgment that God is bringing upon the Church precedent to the judgment He shall bring upon the world is a judgment of purification and refinement. It is a corrective and reproving judgment to purify the Lamb's Wife for the imminent return of Christ to claim His Betrothed as His Eternal Bride and Helpmate suitable to partner with Him in the judgment of the nations in the Day of His Fierce Wrath.

The love of money, or covetousness, certainly is the root of all evil, and it causes a complete breach in one’s fellow­ship with God. Jesus said, “Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions” (Lk. 12:15). As we have already seen, Paul said those who have coveted riches, often “have wandered away from the faith, and pierced themselves with many a pang” (1 Tim. 6:10). Hence, we can see that covetousness and greed can most certainly cause a believer to “wander away from the faith,” that is, become apostate subsequent to salvation.

The Consequences of Covetousness
As Jesus said, no one can successfully serve two masters, God and money. He said that if you “love,” that is, attribute your affections to and expend the vast majority of your energies pursuing, money, you in effect “hate” God. As the Apostle John put it, “If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him” (1 Jn. 2:15).

“Out of touch,” irrational, and unduly harsh, these undeniably Biblical Truths are considered in this day when the pursuit of riches has come to be regarded as a wholly noble and honorable pursuit, and when Christians have become indoctrinated with the concept that materialistic obsession is even godly. Moreover, anyone who dares to preach such concepts is subjected to scorn, ridicule, and contempt. Christendom today, for the most part, has lost sight of or does not want to recognize the Truth that covet­ousness is still sin for which there is a penalty if it is not repented from. The unadulterated Truth is this: anyone who fails to repent of covetousness will ultimately end up out of fellowship with God, will be disqualified from Eternal Life, precluded from inheriting the Kingdom of God, and ban­ished from Heaven unto eternal judgment. The following scriptures trumpet forth warnings to that effect:

Or do you not know that the unrighteous SHALL NOT INHERIT THE KINGDOM OF GOD? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor IDOLATORS, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor THE COVETOUS, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor SWIN­DLERS, SHALL INHERIT THE KINGDOM OF GOD. (1 Cor. 6:9,10)

For this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or COVETOUS MAN, WHO IS AN IDOLATER, HAS AN INHERITANCE IN THE KING­DOM OF CHRIST AND GOD. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things THE WRATH OF GOD COMES UPON THE SONS OF DIS­OBEDIENCE. (Eph. 5:5, 6)

Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are:...IDOLATRY...of which I forewarn you just as I have forewarned you that THOSE WHO PRACTICE SUCH THINGS SHALL NOT INHERIT THE KINGDOM OF GOD. (Gal. 5:19‑21)

But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murders and immoral persons and sorcerers and IDOLA­TERS and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. (Rev. 21:8)

Everyone should heed God’s warnings concerning the deceitfulness of riches and covetousness, including and especially believers, since it will most definitely choke the Word and prevent it from bringing forth fruit. Probably no warning in this regard is more poignant than the one Jesus issued through the medium of the parable of the rich fool:

And He said to them, “Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions.” And He told them a parable, saying, “The land of a certain rich man was very productive. And he began reasoning to himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no place to store my crops?’ And he said, ‘This is what I will do; I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, ‘Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years to come; take your ease, eat, drink and be merry.’ But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared?’ So is the man who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.” (Lk. 12:15‑21)

God called this man “a FOOL.” In his covetousness and greed he just stored up his goods, and as they increased, he merely built more barns to store up more goods. But, on the night his soul was required of him, he was spiritually bankrupt. He had stored up all his riches for himself, instead of being generous with it unto others in obedience to God. He was rich toward himself, but “not rich toward God.” God said to him, “You fool!”

The Word of God tells us to “give” (Lk. 6:38), not to “store up.” We are to be generous, giving to others who are in need and for the preaching of the Gospel. God Himself is generous, and is always giving. He gave the supreme gift of His only begotten Son, the best He had, to us for our salva­tion. A godly person, i.e., one who is like God, will also be a giving person. As a bonus, God says that whatever we give on behalf of Jesus unto the needy and for the sake of the preaching of the Gospel, will be returned to us in up to one‑hundredfold measure, NOW in this life and age, and in the age to come we will have the reward of Eternal Life (Mk. 10:29,30).

Jesus taught that the way to keep from being covetous and deluded by the deceitfulness of riches is to lay up our treasures in Heaven by giving on His behalf here on Earth. If we are covetous and greedily store up here on Earth instead, it will be constantly subjected to depletion by various forms of “thieves break(ing) in to steal” and eco­nomic modulation. If we are generous givers here on Earth, however, we will be storing up treasures in Heaven. But even greater than that, we will be demonstrating where our heart and what our “treasure” really is—things in Heaven, or things on the Earth:

Do not lay up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. (Mat. 6:19‑21)

Covetousness Not Exclusive to Rich
Having said all this concerning covetousness, it needs to be pointed out that there is a common misconception in this regard that covetousness is found exclusively among those who would be considered financially rich. But, that is a fallacy. You do not have to be rich to be covetous and caught up in the love of money. There are myriads with financial resources below the wealthy level who are covetous and deceived by the deceitfulness of riches. The fact is: there are many times more non‑wealthy people who harbor covetousness in their hearts than there are those who are rich and covetous.

The harsh truth is that their covetousness is often the very thing that keeps the poor reeling under the cruel curse of never‑ending poverty and financial lack. Sadly, the poor often stay poor because in their covetousness, or in some cases fear of lack, they never sow any financial seed, thereby precluding them from ever reaping a harvest. Those, on the other hand, who are generous givers, find the Law of Sowing and Reaping continually producing for them an abundant harvest that supplies their every need.

Summary
In bringing this series to a close, let me offer this summary concerning the second “thorn of worldliness.” Do not be deceived by the deceitfulness of riches. Place all your trust in God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. Riches will fail you; God will never fail you. Riches are temporal, and only indigenous to this life; Jesus Christ is the True Riches of Eternity. Do not seek riches, “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness; and all these THINGS shall be added to you” (Mat. 6:33).

It seems to me that the best attitude concerning riches one can adopt is found in the Proverbs of Solomon: “Do not worry yourself to gain wealth, cease from your consideration of it”; and, “Give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the good that is my portion” (Pr. 23:4; 30:8).

If we will seek the Kingdom and righteousness of God rather than riches, the Word of God will not be choked by the worldly “thorn” of “the deceitfulness of riches,” allowing it to produce the fruit of the Kingdom of God in our lives, that is, if we also remove from our lives the three thorns of worldliness Jesus warned about in the "Parable of the Sower. -- “the desires for other things.” We examine that deadly thorn in the next chapter.[end]

The above is taken from a book I published in 1984 entitled, "The Mystery of the Kingdom." Its message has turned out to be a timely prophetic message for every believer and the Church today. I urge you to read it. Click here for more information.

Idolatry of Trusting in Riches

Keep deception and lies far from me,
Give me neither poverty nor riches;
Feed me with the food that is my portion. (Prv. 30:8)

As I have been indicating in some previous posts, in many Kingdom-related matters, the difference between truth and error is excesses and extremes. Those excesses extremes can be at either end of the spectrum.

Such is the case with the real truth regarding the matter of prosperity and success versus whatever is the diametric opposite of that, which I suppose is poverty and failure. The real truth, that is, the Truth of the mind of God that is both concealed and revealed in Christ through the Spirit of Truth, lies somewhere between these opposing messages. The extremes on both sides are error and deception. We must be careful not to swerve too far to either side so as to fall into a spiritual ditch of error. There are a great number of passages of Scripture telling us how much God indeed does want us to "prosper and be in (good) health even as our soul prospers" (3 Jn. 2). But, the last part of that Scripture is the weightier and balancing part. From God's perspective, true prosperity is commensurate with soul-prosperity, and not defined by the amount of mammon, or material things, we possess. Prosperity and success, and divine healing and health, taken to extremes and taken out of context of the rest of Scripture that speaks of counterbalancing matters can become an abomination to God: "A false balance is an abomination to the LORD; but a just weight is His delight" (Prv. 11:1).

(Please read the preface on the previous post for more on this aspect.)

Before I get to the topic of this post, I feel compelled to say I truly believe that this whole matter I am discussing in these posts are far from being a mere side-bar. I feel what I am about to say is of a prophetic nature. I believe it is a critical Kingdom Matter that the Church must turn its attention to in order to be delivered from the dastardly and destructive spirit of mammon that now pervades the Church. Many individuals in the Church are obsessed with the spirit of materialism, and if they continue in their ways and in giving place to the devil, what is an obsession now, will continue to escalate and take more and more ground in their heart until materialism, the love of money, will totally possess them. Some who were once bona fide believers and members of the Body of Christ, have become apostate in their heart having yielded to the allure of purely material "wealth," and as a result are already possessed by the spirit of mammon. I believe the judgment that MUST begin with the household of God has begun, and will continue in the form of the economic collapse America and the nations of the world are facing. But, as I have written in so many words in so many of my writings, this judgment that God is bringing upon the Church precedent to the judgment He shall bring upon the world is a judgment of purification and refinement. It is a corrective and reproving judgment to purify the Lamb's Wife for the imminent return of Christ to claim His Betrothed as His Eternal Bride and Helpmate suitable to partner with Him in the judgment of the nations in the Day of His Fierce Wrath.

What I see is that there is two sides of this coin regarding this matter of God's provision for us. The focus of the previous post was what the Word of God tells us about God's desire to prosper and abundantly bless His people. Like Abraham, he has promised to not only bless us, but also make us a blessing. In this and the next post, my focus will be the abundance of Scripture that counterbalance the "prosperity" side of the same coin.

The Parable of the Sower (see, Mark 4:1-20), according to what Jesus Himself said about it, could be aptly called "The Paramount Parable." When His disciples asked Him to explain it to them, He responded, as He did on several other occasions, with seeming frustration at their spiritual dullness, saying, "Do you not understand this parable? And how will you understand all the parables?" Jesus also indicated that this parable contained the key to understanding the "Mystery of the Kingdom." That is the title of a book I wrote and published in 1984 in which I explained what the Lord showed me concerning the meaning of this Paramount Parable and the "secrets" it unveils of how to bear Kingdom Fruit as well as "hidden" principles of how the Kingdom of God operates here on Earth. The rest of this post is taken from that book. Click here to read more about the book, which is available in both e-book and print versions.

Mark 4:7,18,19
7 And other seed fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it, and it yielded no crop.
18 And others are the ones on whom seed was sown among the thorns; these are the ones who have heard the word,
19 and the worries of the word, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.

Jesus identified in the Parable of the Sower four different categories of hearers, all of whom heard the Word, though only one responded properly and became doers of the Word, thereby producing Kingdom Fruit in their lives. As Jesus said, the Seed of the Word of God was sown on this category of hearers, which means they heard the Word, but there were also thorns growing in their lives along with the Word that eventually choked out the Seed, and thus it "yielded no crop" -- that is, it produced no Kingdom Fruit in the lives of these hearers. In His explanation to the disciples, Jesus indicated these thorns were "thorns of worldliness," and identified them as being, 1) the worries of the world, 2) the deceitfulness of riches, and 3) the desires for other things. He said these thorns of worldliness entered into these believers' lives, and choked out the Seed which was sown into their lives by the Sower (Fivefold Ministers) as the two grew together in the soil of their hearts, and prevented the Word from becoming fruitful. In the previous post we began examining one of those thorns of worldliness -- "the deceitfulness of riches." I continue that discussion by addressing the Idolatry of Trusting in Riches, taken from the book, The Mystery of the Kingdom.

Idolatry of Trusting in Riches
God says He is a "jealous God," and that we are to have no other gods before Him, and that we are not to make or serve any idols (Ex. 20:1-5). An idol, or false god, is something you attribute undue homage and affection to, or something you trust in and place your faith in and look to, to deliver you, and to help you overcome the adversities of life, and to attain unto personal desires, ambitions, and aspirations.

By that definition, money is the false god of multitudes of people in this world. This has always been true, but never more so than it is in this last day in which we live, something which was explicitly prophesied by the Spirit, "But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, LOVERS OF MONEY..." (2 Tim. 3:1,2). Money, however, is such a vain thing in which to trust. God says, "He who trusts in riches will fall" (Pr. 11:28). Riches are only temporal, they do not last forever. They can be here one day and gone the next, as the following scriptures indicate:

For riches are not forever. (Pr. 27:24);

Do not worry yourself to gain wealth, cease from your consideration of it. When you set your eyes on it, it is gone. For wealth surely makes itself wings, like an eagle that flies toward the heavens. (Pr. 23:4,5);

Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to...fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches but on God. (1 Tim. 6:17);

Let the rich man glory in his humiliation, because like flowering grass he will pass away. For the sun rises with a scorching wind, and withers the grass, and its flower falls off, and the beauty of its appearance is destroyed; so too the rich man in the midst of his pursuits will fade away. (Jas. 1:10,11);

Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries which are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted and your garments have become moth-eaten. Your gold and your silver have rusted; and their rust will be a witness against you and will consume your flesh like fire. (Jas. 5:1-3);

But godliness actually is a means of great gain, when accompanied by contentment. For we have brought nothing into this world, so we cannot take anything out of it either. (1 Tim. 6:6,7);

Do not lay up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. (Mat. 6:19)

Without realizing it, multitudes in the world today have made money their god. They trust in it to deliver them from every adversity of life, for personal validation and to give them a sense of dignity and rightness, to afford them prestige and preeminence, to garner for themselves the favor and deference society bestows upon the wealthy, and to provide them with a sense of security, satisfaction, and fulfillment. In a nutshell, people look to money and riches to give them the peace, happiness, contentment, and sense of general well-being to which people commonly aspire. It is in looking to money to supply all this, that people unconsciously make money their god, notwithstanding the adamant denials of most that they have done so in their own case.

But, it is Jehovah God who is the true Supplier of all these things, and He desires that people recognize Him as such. In fact, all these things can only be realized in their truest form through fellowship with God. To seek any other object or entity as a source of these things is idolatry, and is making a false god of that object or entity.

The love of money, or covetousness, which is idolatry, is a natural motivation of the carnal nature which is inherent within us all, however (Eph. 5:5; Gal. 5:19,20). In varying degrees, before we were saved and began renewing our minds according to the Word of God, we all trusted in money for all the things we are supposed to trust God to accomplish in our lives. Thus, most people commit their entire lives and energies in the quest to acquire more and more money, the more the better. They seem to think that the more diligent they are in the pursuit of it, the more favorable the false god of money will be to them. The more they have of it, the more it will deliver them from the adversities and tribulations of life, and fulfill the various yearnings of their heart. So they think.

How often have we all thought at one time or another in our lives, "If I can just get this one bill paid off, then I just know everything will be alright." Or, "If I can just get that new car," or "that new house," or whatever, "I just know everything will be fine, then." Or, "If I can just save up $10,000 in my savings account," or "make this one great stock purchase," or "buy this new business," or "get that new job," or "that promotion," or "that raise," -- "well, everything will be great then!"

That, my friend, like it or not, is IDOLATRY. It is placing a false trust in money. It is making money your god. It is trusting in riches, and in your own power to make wealth. But, even more than all that, such reasoning indicates you have been deceived by "the deceitfulness of riches!" The truth of the matter is that once you do get that one bill paid off, you only get more and even larger bills to contend with, and everything is still not "alright." Or, have you ever noticed, after you buy that new house or car, everything is still not "fine?" Or you save up that $10,000, or purchase those stocks, or buy that new business, or you land that new job, or get that promotion or raise in pay, and then everything is still far from being "great?" Instead you have even more problems. That’s the deceitfulness of riches; he who trusts in them is heading for a fall (Pr. 11:28).

You see, God does not want everything to be "alright" merely through the means of monetary gain and because of financial wealth. He does not want you to be trusting in money as your savior and deliverer. If you do, money is your master and god, not Him. God delights in the prosperity of His servants, but therein is the key: He wants our lives to be prosperous in every way, not through the self-glorifying means of self-achievement, but through serving Him, whereby all the glory for our prosperity is attributable to Him alone. He wants to be our total Source, our only Savior and Deliverer, our Master, and our very present Help in the time of trouble. He wants to be the object of our affection and trust.