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)

"A false balance is an abomination to the LORD; but a just weight is His delight" (Prv. 11:1)

This is the fourth of a five-part message contrasting what could be called, "The Poverty Gospel," against what some have called, "The Prosperity Gospel." In this part, we look at the "negativer" side of the coin, and focus on the deceitful characteristics of riches.

If you did not read, the previous posts, please do, in order to have the proper backdrop and foundation for the message in this post. Otherwise, you may draw erroneous conclusions from reading this post as a stand-alone article.

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.

The Deceitfulness of Riches

This is the third of a five-part message contrasting what could be called, "The Poverty Gospel," against what some have called, "The Prosperity Gospel." In this part, we look at the "negative" side of the coin, and focus on the deceitful characteristics of riches.

If you did not read, the previous posts, please do, in order to have the proper backdrop and foundation for the message in this post. Otherwise, you may draw erroneous conclusions from reading this post as a stand-alone article.

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)

"A false balance is an abomination to the LORD; but a just weight is His delight" (Prv. 11:1)

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 and extremes can be at either end of the spectrum. Or, if you prefer, the allegory of "the road of Truth" could be used, with the Truth represented by the road, and the ditches along either side of the road representing the excesses and extremes of error.

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).

Truth, in terms of human teaching, (please understand I'm not talking here about Truth itself that emanates from the Spirit of Truth), is virtually always found between opposing extremes, allegorically speaking. It's the extremes that are an abomination to God. From the beginning of time, humans have taken truth and twisted, distorted, and perverted it to make it say whatever they need it to say as support and justification for their evil desires and deeds.

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. We examine here one of those thorns of worldliness -- "the deceitfulness of riches."

Deceitful Characteristic of Riches
Even the small sampling of passages I have mentioned here, well establishes the foundation that God does not require or even desire that believers live in poverty or financial lack, and provides us with more than ample Scriptural evidence to conclude without equivocation that it is not riches or wealth themselves that will prevent the Word of God from bearing fruit in a person’s life. Rather, as Jesus indicated in the Parable of the Sower, it is the deceptive characteristic of riches that can cause tremendous spiritual problems and prevent the bringing forth of Godly fruit in a person’s life, even those who have heard the Word of God. It is trusting in and coveting the riches that will choke the Word of God and prevent it from bearing the fruit it is intended to produce. As God says it,

the LOVE OF MONEY is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. (1 Tim. 6:10, KJV)

Riches can be so deceiving. Many a person has been deceived by riches. One of the worst parts of the deceptive nature of riches is a false sense of superiority. There is an arrogant and haughty spirit that can invade and pervade a person when wealth and the trappings of wealth are his quest and, in effect, his god. That haughty spirit is one of seven things that God absolutely loathes and considers abominations (Pr. 6:16,17); in fact, it is at the top of the list. Yet, sadly, many people are consumed with such a false sense of superiority predicated on their wealth.

Beyond that, many wealthy people are under the delusion they are somehow right with God simply because they are rich. The power, prestige, prominence, preeminence, and preferential treatment afforded the affluent in the world’s system often produces a blind self-righteousness and elitism which leads to the wholly false assumption that they must also be right with God.

However, monetary worth certainly does not impress God in the slightest, nor can it buy rightstanding with Him. Rightstanding with God can be gained by no other means than on the basis of grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ (Rom. 3:21-24). High-standing in the Kingdom of God is not based upon monetary worth, but on servitude to others: "whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant; and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be the slave of all" (Mk. 10:43,44). There is no partiality with God, for He is no respecter of persons. It is for certain that one’s financial status will be of no consequence on the Day of Judgment and one’s wealth will produce no advantage, for: "Riches do not profit in the day of wrath" (Pr. 11:4).

"How hard it will be for those who have riches to enter into the kingdom of God," Jesus said (Mk. 10:23). He did not say it would be impossible, but that it would be hard, or difficult, for the rich to enter into the Kingdom of God. He did not say that it would be hard for true believers who have riches or who are wealthy to enter, because all true believers enter into the Kingdom by grace through faith in Christ, regardless of their wealth or lack thereof. Jesus is not talking here about believers having money, rather He is talking about unbelievers who have not yet entered the Kingdom of God, and how hard it will be for them to do so.

The reason it will be difficult for them to enter the Kingdom of God is this arrogance and pride to which I have already alluded. There is only one way for anyone, whether rich or poor, to enter the Kingdom of God—by recognizing your utter spiritual poverty, that you are a totally lost and condemned sinner, and that you desperately need the saving of the Savior. Coming to that realization is often the stumbling block for the rich of the world, however. Pride prevents them from ever admitting the fact that, though they may have financial wealth and prestige in this world, when it comes to their spiritual condition, they are bankrupt and destitute. That is the essence of "the deceitfulness of riches," and many of the rich, unfortunately, have been deceived by it.

Jesus went on to say, "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God" (Mk. 10:25). Now Jesus’ allegory here really was not of a camel passing through the eye of a literal needle, for that in reality would not be merely difficult, as Jesus said it would be for the rich to enter the Kingdom of God, but rather that would be altogether impossible.

Very familiar to His listeners, was something known as "the eye of the needle," which was a very short and narrow passageway in the wall surrounding Jerusalem. It was the only way into the city at night when the main gates were closed as a deterrent against enemy attack. Merchants returning home at night from their business forays usually did not arrive back at Jerusalem until long after the main gates had been closed. When they did finally return, the only entrance into the city was through "the eye of the needle," through which both the merchant and his camels had to pass.

Now the passageway by design was only large enough to allow a man to barely make it through down on his hand and knees, which design precluded en masse attacks by marauders. It was difficult enough for a man to negotiate the entryway, but the merchant’s camels also had to pass through the same portal. In order for the camels to be able to pass through "the eye of the needle," they would first have to be stripped bare of their cargo of wares which they had been carrying. Then, one at a time, with some firm prodding the merchant would coax the unwilling camels to bend down on their knees and to slowly crawl through the ever so short and narrow entrance.

Jesus said it was easier for those camels to pass through that tiny passageway, aptly dubbed "the eye of the needle," than for a rich person to enter into the Kingdom of God. For, you see, everyone must enter the Kingdom of God, the Heavenly Jerusalem, in the same manner the camel entered the Earthly Jerusalem, allegorically speaking, that is, stripped totally bare of all worldly possessions and merit, down on your knees in true humility, realizing you possess nothing with which to commend yourself to God and that you are entering only through the wholly unmerited acceptance afforded you only through faith in Jesus Christ, and with profuse, heartfelt, and eternal gratitude and thanksgiving.

Everyone must repent of their pride and false sense of superiority in order to enter the Kingdom of God, no longer glorifying and exalting their self, but glorifying and exalting the King of kings and Lord of lords, Jesus Christ. As James said, "Let the rich man glory in his humiliation" (Jas. 1:10). How fitting also is the admonition in this passage directed to those who have attained unto wealth in this life:

Beware lest you forget the Lord your God by not keeping His commandments and is ordinances and His statutes which I am commanding you today; lest when you have eaten and are satisfied, and have built good houses and lived in them...then your heart becomes PROUD, and you forget the Lord your God....Otherwise, you may say in your heart, "My power and the strength of my hand made me this wealth." But you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who is giving you power to make wealth, that He may confirm His covenant which He swore to your fathers as it is this day. (Deut. 8:11-18)

Do not love the world, nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away, and also its lust; but the one who does the will of God abides forever. (1 Jn. 2:15-17)

The church needs an en masse deliverance from the spirit of the world that has marched in through the open door of the love of the world. The number one leaven that is defiling the church today is not Islam, Hinduism, counterfeit sects and cults claiming to be a form of Christianity, New Age, or any of the many false religions we identify as such, but rather the false religion of materialism. And the number one idol to whom the church pays homage is the god of mammon. Both John in the above cited passage and Jesus in the below cited passage made it clear that double-mindedness or spiritual schizophrenia, wherein one is deceived by the belief that they have both the love of the world in them and the love of God at the same time, cannot be reconciled and will result in damnation of one's soul:

No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one, and love the other, or else he will hold to one, and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. (Lk. 16:13)

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.