By: Gen. Jim
We live in an age when GREED is pre-eminent. Men & women in this age are not content with having their NEEDS met, no sir, they want the BIGGEST, the BEST, & the MOST!!! We see this especially among the Big-Name preachers, televangelists – always pleading, begging for MORE $$… while their eyes are pooched out with fatness, their back accounts filled to the brim – yet, they plead/beg for more!
What Does the Bible Say?
“Get More!” “Gain, gain, gain!” Gain is good if were speaking about the thing of God. Paul writes:
“For to me to live is Christ, & to die is gain.” Paul’s attitude is totally the opposite than today’s ministers: they will die in order to gain the world’s goods! You see them, you hear them pleading, begging for more $$… never having enough. All the while they live like kings & queens.
After Paul’s statement is Phil. 1:21, KJV, he writes: “But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ,” 3:7, KJV
Paul in his epistle to Titus wrote:
“Whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucre’s sake.” Titus 1:1, KJV
Note: Paul didn’t just say “lucre”, it is preceded by aischros (Gk.), “filthy” (Noun: kerdos/κέρδος, gain (kerdainō, to gain, get gain).
Today’s ministers (with exceptions) worry, lose sleep, weight, & hair over $$ offerings. If they were to put half their energy into praying for souls, we would see a revival, yea, a revolution. But no, they must have the Biggest, the Best, & the Most! They have to show that “God’s blessing them!” Yeah, right!
And this greedy spirit trickles down into their viewers/listeners. They want to copy Mr. & Ms. Prosperity. They are not content with their needs being met, oh no!, they MUST have MORE to show just how much God loves them (at your expense!). What happened to the days when ministers went in prayer, prayed in secret, asking God to meet their needs? Not today. Oh no! Got to broadcast LOUD & CLEAR that we, you & I MUST give to them. They tell us, “God loves a cheerful giver.” I have personally challenged some of these religious cons on what they preach & teach: “you give me 10% & God will return to you 100%” If this is true, you ask them to give you 10% of their income (or more) & He will pay them back 100%. Try this. See what happens. Why, if they actually believed this, they would be BROKE in one offering.
I’m not saying we should never give. What I am saying is that we do not need to support Mr., Ms. Prosperity’s lavish lifestyle. I could list names, lots of them, but you know who they are. Top of the list is the Rev. K.C. He brags now that he is nearly a Billionaire. Yes, that’s right. He & his wife lives better than most kings & queens.
The Spirit gave us a prophetic Word on this subject. here is part of that Word: “Reality is, I am not blessing them, they are lying & conniving shysters who have demonic abilities to manipulate people with the same LUST in their hearts to give & give & give. Yet, no matter how much the people accumulate, these ones cannot ever be satisfied. These ones are under the assumption that what they want is what they need. Such is not true, for this day, be glad each day to serve Me in the attitude of gratitude & do not imagine you must be getting more & more. The truth is you will always have enough if you give Me thanks & praise each day. I have promised My people they can look to Me to supply their every need. However, I have never promised them I would supply their greed!”
Why does Paul call “lucre” filthy? (Titus 1:11, KJV) The NASB has, “for the sake of sordid gain”; the W.J. Conybeare has, “for the love of shameful gain”; the Goodspeed has, “for the sake of dishonest gain”; the Knox trans. has, “with an eye to their own base profits”; the Beck trans. Has, “only to make money in such a shameful way”; the NKJV reads, “for the sake of dishonest gain”; the NIV reads, “for the sake of dishonest gain”; the RSV has, “teaching for base gain what they have no right to teach.”
Lucre: Adjs.
Aischrokerdēs (Gk.) denotes greedy of base gains (aischros), 1 Tim. 3:8 = “… not greedy of filthy lucre.” (Latin, lucrum) = gain, riches (to capture), money.
Before Paul penned 1 Tim. 3:8, he used the same words, “filthy lucre” in vs.3, KJV;
AischrokerDōs (Gk.) denotes ‘from eagerness for base gain’, 1 Pet. 5:2, “… not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind.”
Lust & Love of $$
We’ve all heard, “money is the root of all evil” (1 Tim. 6:10: “For the LOVE of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred (seduced) from the faith, & pierced themselves through with many sorrows.” KJV
I have other articles on this text, so I’m going to make this short. the Bible does not teach money is evil, but the love & lust for it is.
Money: Gk. (1) Argurion/ἀργύριον, properly, a piece of silver, denotes 3 things:
1) silver, e.g. Acts 3:6;
2) a silver coin, often in the plural, e.g., Mt. 26:15; 28:12, where the meaning is ‘many (hikanos) pieces of silver’;
3) Money; it has this meaning in Mt. 25:18,27; 28:15; Mk. 14:11; Lk. 9:3; 19:15,23; 22:5; Acts 8:20 (here the R.V. has “silver”).
[Note: In Acts 7:16, for the KJV, “(a sum of) money”, the R.V. has “(a price in) silver.”]
(2) Chrēma/χρῆμα, lit., a thing that one uses (akin to chraomai, to use), (a) wealth, riches, e.g. Mk. 10:23,24; Mk. 18:24; (b) money, e.g. Acts 4:37, singular number/sum of money; Plural in 8:18,20.
(3) Chalkos/χαλκός, copper, is used, by metonymy, of copper coin, trans. “money”, in Mk. 6:8; 12:41.
(4) Kerma/ κέρμα, primarily a slice (akin to keirō, to cut short), hence, a small coin, change, is used in the pl. in Jn. 2:15, “the changers’ money”, small coins.
(5) Nomisma/ νόμισμα, primarily that which is established by custom (nomos, a custom, law), hence, the current coin of a state, currency, is found in Mt. 22:19, “(tribute) money”. In the O.T. Gk., (Neh. 7:21).
[Note: In Mt. 17:27 (KJV), statēr (a coin, estimated at a little over 3 shillings, equiv. to 4 drachmae, the temple-tax for 2 persons), is trans. “piece of money” (R.V. has, “shekel”).
1 Tim. 6:10
Let’s go back to Paul’s statement in 1 Tim. 6:10. He builds up to, “the love of money is the root of all evil” by stating “men of corrupt minds, & destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness…” 6:5, KJV. Another trans. reads: “… imagining that godliness is a means of gain.” Is godliness profitable? Yes, if we’re speaking of spiritual/fruitful godliness, not riches of the world. We might consider 3 things in relation to wealth:
1) “How is it acquired?”
2) “How is it used?”
3) “To whom does the owner consider himself accountable in its use?”
There are so many ways in which ministers con people out of their $$. Material prosperity is the promised reward if we give & give & give to them… so they can live in sheer luxury. Got one jet, needs another! Got one expensive home, needs 2 more. You get it?
Jesus, our prime example of godliness, did not con men. Neither did he live as a wealthy man with a ministry. He did not teach, “seek first all these worldly things & the Kingdom of God will be added unto you.” This is the teaching of certain brands of perverted Christianity today.
Proverbs?
Some believe Paul used a quotation of a current proverb (6:10). The definite article is lacking in Greek before root. That the meaning of the sentence requires it is held by the RSV, Moffatt, Goodspeed et al. The emphasis of the section seems to favor the former interpretation, although the absence of the articles itself stands against it. “Love of money is the root of all evils” in that there is none to which it may not lead. Verse 10 returns to the heretics (6:3-9), whose heresy is attributed in vs.5 to desire (lust) for gain. How many have lost their souls with the love/lust/craving for $$?
Men & women who teach “gain is godliness” masquerades as “special favor” with God. They can’t deliver a sermon without mentioning $$. So possessed! These types of Churchites imagine that their prosperity is evidence of their righteousness. HA! These are duped dupes, deceived deceivers… headed to hell! They are actors on stage, putting on a good show in order to get more MONEY. Their superficial identification of “godliness” is all to obvious, unless you too are deceived like them.
Paul argues for a balanced view of material possessions. Jesus’ plea for freedom from anxiety about possessions can be found in Mt. 6:25-34. Have not the prosperity perverts read Jesus’ Words? Jesus does not condemn riches in their proper use.
Paul warns: “But they that will be rich fall into temptation & a snare, & into many foolish & hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction & predition,” 1 Tim. 6:9 Destruction? Perdition”
Another trans. reads, “But those who desire to be rich…” Which is correct?
1) “But they that WILL BE RICH”
2) “But those who DESIRE TO BE RICH.”
In itself “desire” is morally neutral & becomes good or evil only because of the motive (usually discernible in the object desire). The “desire” to be rich opens the flood gates thru which pour many other sinful/hurtful desires… which RUIN the seekers. Usually sex (in one form or the other) comes into play with the rich; few exceptions. This in not to say that all rich fall into the snare of the devil, but I do say MANY do!
It would do all of us good to reread Luke 12:16-21 & 16:14-31.
Let us seek to be RICH in the things of God rather than the things of the world. Amen!
A final reminder against greed – consider the complaining of God’s people: “… there is nothing at all, besides this manna…” – Num. 11:6. God’s people were not content with this “bread from heaven”, they LUSTED for meat! How many today are discontent with what they have – they want MORE. Be careful what we lust for: God gave His people quail to eat after they complained over the manna from heaven:
“And while the flesh was yet between their teeth, ere it was chewed, the wrath of the LORD was kindled against the people, & the LORD SMOTE the people with a very great plague,” Num. 11:333
The LORD did this! Ps. 7 speaks of this sorrowful event, vss.24-34. Verses 29 & 30 (KJV) we find the words “their own desire” (vs.29); “were not estranged from their lust,” (vs.30). Vs.31 says, “The wrath of God came upon them, & SLEW the FATTEST of them…”
Today’s modern Church is no better than those people whom the LORD delivered from Egypt bondage. Ps. 78:25,26 says they were fed with “angel’s food” or “the bread of the angels”, (manna). Vss.30,31 says “They were not estranged from their lust”; another trans. says, “before they had sated their craving,” literally, “They had not become strangers to their desire.”
Look at all these prosperity preachers lives today. Their lives are not examples of godliness, but of wickedness. These Prosperity Preachers gorge themselves on the world’s goods, despising God’s miraculous food, His sound doctrines, His moral laws etc. Ps. 78 gives us a poetic recapitulation of Num. 11:31-33/Ex. 16:13 = manna = quails.
Even after God slew the fattest, Ps. 78:32 says “… they sinned still…” with all the exposure by the world/Church, these Prosperity Perverts continue to BEG for more$$!!!
WOS – Better to be Poor and Needy of Me!
I speak unto you this day and I say that it is better to be poor and needy of Me than to be Rich, increased with Goods, and Needy of Nothing. However the ones who are in such a condition are fools before Me because they have put their values on earthly riches and not on the True Riches found in Me. Does not My Word declare that the poor are rich in Faith? This is because they are meant to be dependent and reliant upon Me as their Provider and Protector.
Those who have sown to the flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption because they want only to make gain by deceitful means and in such they are not considering where they will spend Eternity. It is foolish to strive, to cheat, to steal in order to accumulate the riches which make themselves wings and fly away. How quickly all of the investments, monies, stocks, bonds and jewels can be swept away. Likewise mansions can be flooded, burn up, or fall down into the earth in earthquakes.
Wars and rumors of wars can rob even the ones who considered themselves to be rich as the opposition forces can come in and take everything they have and either take the rich captive or kill them. There are so many ways that the riches of this world can be stolen, destroyed, devastated and are no more.
The only way that anyone can accumulate True and Lasting Riches is to yield themselves to Me and operate according to My intentions then their riches are stored in Heaven and will not be devoured by workers of evil. Do not enter into covenants with unbelievers and then have them to defraud you in the end. I do not intend you to be defrauded therefore if you will pay heed to the instructions of My Holy Spirit you will find that you are being guided in the Way of My Righteousness Revealed. It is better to have little in this life and to gain the True Treasures when you stand before Me and I say to you “well done, good and faithful, enter in to Heaven.”
The more that your desire is for My Kingdom and My purpose the more you will see how much of what is here on earth is vanity and chasing the wind. No one can catch the wind even when they try and then all they can do is break down and cry because they have gained empty destitution, destruction, and damnation.
Consider godly Wisdom is far more precious than silver or gold. For when a man or a woman will seek My Wisdom they are seeking for the True Treasure and will be guided by My Spirit through the ups and downs of Life. The more you choose to operate according to what I want you to have, the more you will be established in the Way which is Glorious, Wonderful, and Beautiful because it is the Way of Jesus. The Way of Jesus is indeed holy, clean and pure because He is the Way I have ordained. JESUS IS THE WAY OF LOVE. Inasmuch as you have come to Him, be thankful for the same. It is My intention for you to be strengthened each day and shown the Wondrous Way as you follow the Holy Spirit.
Have you learned to be contented and thankful for what you have and not vexed by coveting what you don’t have. My people are meant to be walking each day in gratitude and obedience because their real life is found in Me and not in the vanities which pass away.
Some people are so vainly proud of what they can do, they never consider what I can do. Therefore they miss out on fellowship and communion with Me which I wanted them to have. The more you keep steadily focused on Me, the more you see how good life can be.
When people are focused on themselves as the central purpose for living, they may gain great riches so they think but those things will be their condemnation in the day they stand before Me. I do not want you to end as a heap of self-pity or an angry ghoul full of rage. Therefore make certain that you are constantly aware of what you are doing and what you are choosing each day. There are many ways in the hearts of men which they think to be right, however those ways are not My Way.
I want my people to incline their hearts for the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and the purposes I have in store for them which are good. Do not be as the foolish who follow after blind guides then end in a deep ditch because they did not want to seek their counsel of My Spirit and be guided in the Way of Life. There is no reason to be a fool when I will give those who ask of Me Divine Wisdom, Knowledge, and understanding. Therefore even this day be glad and not sad because you will find I delight to see you coming forth as those who are willing to be made wise.
This world is full of liars proclaiming superior wisdom however even the wisest of their wise ones are fools before Me. When people are rejecting Jesus Christ, they prove how dumb they are and in the demonic stubborn, and rebellious attitudes towards Me they show themselves to be stupid. None of the “great masters” or ascended ones can be such as they claim because they are built on sand and are full of idolatry. Be thankful you are not led about by liars rather you are led by My Spirit and guided in the Way of Eternal Life, able to give Me thanks and praise. Be knowing Me as the One who Remains Forever because I am the I AM GOD.