FOOLS, RICHES AND DEVILS Deuteronomy 8:2-3 And thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no. And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live. Matthew 4:8-9 Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. Luke 12:20 But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? /The scriptures above would be our ground for the following points of discussion: *Riches and Saints *Riches and Fools We are about to do a great study. It is interesting to note that the word rich or riches appeared 235 times in KJV Bible. Let us read the first and the last of those appearances. The first: Genesis 13:2 And Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold. The last: Revelation 18:19 And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate. Very interesting; the first is about a saint in his estate and the last is about worldly men weeping over their lost estates. We can deduce from this two verses that both the saint and the gentile may posses riches. It is also evident from the last verse that the riches would eventually be destroyed regardless of who owns it, whether saint or gentile. In knowing or not knowing that riches would eventually be destroyed lies the basic difference (with regard to material things) between the saint and the fool! In view of this, I suppose, the apostle gave the following warning in 1 Timothy 6:17-18 Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy; That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate; So he says that the riches are uncertain, can cause pride and can divert trust from God but given to us (not the owners) to enjoy. So he charged them to distribute it! Supposing they disobey? I think God would have to call them fools! So lets look at our first point. What is Gods expressed position about riches? I find that God is more abundantly willing, than we think, to give his children riches. God has pleasure in the prosperity of His servants (psalm35.27). However God would not entrust riches to His children until they have learned two basic lessons! He does this in love to keep them from becoming fools. The first lesson we must learn as children of God is this: Man shall not live by bread alone but by Every Word that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord! The Lord did many things to teach the Israelites this lesson. They included, from our text in Deut.8.2-3: * the way He led them - the wilderness was a difficult route fraught with deprivations and dangers! * to humble them - they knew lordship as the only way of life in Egypt instead of servant hood. * to prove them to know what was in their heart - whether they will disobey due to lack * suffered them to hunger - manna was regarded as a light food compared to the fleshpots of Egypt. * finally to make them to know by all these that man should not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God! Jesus Christ expressed this same basic condition in Matt.6.33. The Lord will not spare anything to teach us this basic lesson if we are His! We abide by His Word even when it is clear we are going to loose much money or position by so doing! Until we learn this lesson God will not trust us with riches. The second basic condition is the lesson of Stewardship! Using the language of the apostle: a Distributor of His goods. I have often seen emphasis placed on the wrong side - on receiving. The emphasis should be on distribution regardless of whether we receive again or not. We are stewards. How does your steward function? It would be strange for your steward to wait for a promise before he takes your orders. God is not a casino or jackpot you play with coins! He is the Lord and we are His stewards. This is where the early church differs from these present denominations! Hear what the Jesus said in Luke 12:42 And the Lord said, Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his lord shall make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of meat in due season? This is our basic responsibility. First the meat is not our own but the Lords and secondly a portion belongs to members of the household. We are rulers or stewards. So the reason we give is not primarily to receive but to discharge our duty less we Offend The Master! The fear of offending the Master should be greater than the prospect of receiving again! On the judgement day Jesus said, Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. (Matt.25.41-43). So we give less we offend Him! Receiving or not receiving is a small matter. Can we say that false preachers appeal to the selfishness in man on this matter of sowing and reaping to exploit them! Anything built on selfishness is irreligion or rather religion of hell! When Solomon gave, the prospect of receiving was not his motive! Check it out! Brothers and sisters when we learn these two basic lessons God will make us not Millionaires But rulers of His goods, Distributors or Stewards. And when the trumpet sounds little or nothing would be left behind! Joseph was a faithful steward as a Prime Minister in Egypt! On the day of departure they took only his bones as he instructed. We now look at the other side! What is the devils position with regard to riches. Let us affirm from the onset that the devil cannot stop your supply if you meet Gods conditions. Job met those conditions and the devil couldnt stop his supply. He contested those conditions and was permitted to test them. He found them solid. Job had learnt the lessons well. He said to the devil through the wife, ...Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?.... (Job 2.10). The meaning is that we abide by the Word regardless of loss or gain! No wonder God is proud of him! We should not think that Satan does not want us to have money! Dont be deceived, he wants us to be rich but on his on conditions! He was bold enough to approach Jesus Christ and offered him the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them but on his conditions! Matt.4. Adam sold the world to Satan, so he is the god of this present world. 2Cor.4.4. Satan gives to those that cooperate with him! The devils give riches on two conditions. The first is Fall down and worship me. (Matt.4.9). Just a bit of compromise! You make some concessions and I make some, say 50- 50 Come down from the holy mountain lets talk at the valley, I know what you want. That is the language of the devil. You fall from grace first! One night out and the job / contract is yours! The only fitting answer to him is to reply and say man shall not live by bread alone! Jesus answered him thus, Get thee hence, Satan... It means, get away from here Satan! He left immediately! (Matt.4.10,11). How dare Satan! Be sure to add a little hardness in your voice! The second condition for devils riches is to Break down your barn and build a bigger one.(Lk.12.18). He wants to make you a fool! God calls the man in our text in Luke a Fool. If God calls anyone a fool he must be a proper fool! His foolishness consists in being a Billionaire instead of a Distributor. How many warnings we find in the Bible against piling up riches? At one point Jesus said it was easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than those who pile up riches to enter the kingdom of God! At another point He told a God fearing man, ...Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me. (Lk.18.22) Brothers and sisters, we are no fools but saints and stewards of the manifold blessings of God! While we do not advocate poverty may we be permitted to say that pilling up riches is extremely dangerous! More dangerous than poverty! We like the way James summarized these truths, Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world. (Jam.1.27). Amen to that Brother James we stand with you! Again I will leave you here! Let us know what you think on these matters. The Word says in1 Corinthians 14:29 Let the prophets speak two or three, and let the other judge. Again in 1 Corinthians 10:15 the Word says, I speak as to wise men; judge ye what I say. So let me know what you think! And if the Lord wills that we meet again we shall be discussing, Our Inheritance; our greatest possession. Until then take these scriptures and let them be with you! Colossians 1:12 Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: *wearefaithfulstewards* *untothelord*
Posted on: Wed, 17 Sep 2014 15:31:54 +0000
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