WEALTH WITHOUT COVETOUSNESS

Memorise: And when Jesus saw that he was very sorrowful, he said, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God! Luke 18:24

Read: Luke 18:18-25,

18 And a certain ruler asked him, saying, Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?

19 And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? none is good, save one, that is, God.

20 Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother.

21 And he said, All these have I kept from my youth up.

22 Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him, 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.

23 And when he heard this, he was very sorrowful: for he was very rich.

24 And when Jesus saw that he was very sorrowful, he said, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God!

25 For it is easier for a camel to go through a needle’s eye, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.

 Bible in one year: Job 4-7, 1st Thessalonians 4

MESSAGE

The truth of God’s word that you are exposed to will determine the degree of freedom you experience. In the past, many of us were held under one type of bondage or the other by the devil through our wrong beliefs; but thank God for the truth we later received. Can you imagine we once believed we needed to be poor in order to get to Heaven, because we had heard that the love of money is the root of all evil? The devil knows and quotes the scriptures, but he usually manipulates or misquotes it to confuse, deceive or get you to offend God. God did not say that money is evil, but that the love of money is the root of evil (1st Timothy 6:10). If we had no money, how would we have built some of the great kingdom projects we have undertaken at the Redemption Camp? For example, we had to use several tons of steel spanning several kilometres and several tons of cement to build the auditorium where people come to receive salvation from God. The truth is, neither wealth nor poverty can take you to Heaven; your saving faith in Jesus Christ is what will take you there. The poorest man who does not know the Lord will end up in Hell, just as the richest man who is born-again will continue his life in Heaven.

God wants you to prosper in three main dimensions: spiritually, in health, and in all that you lay your hands upon, including your business and finance (3rd John 2). However, when you love and crave money to the extent that you are ready to sacrifice your salvation for it, you are in a precarious situation when the rich young ruler came to ask Jesus how he could make it to Heaven, the Lord put him to test, saying “Since you have kept all of the Law, do one more thing: sell all you have, and give the proceeds to the poor, then come and follow me.” The man failed the test because he loved money more then the salvation of his soul. It seems he said in his heart, “Sir, you can keep your salvation while I keep my money.” Some people who profess to know the Lord still cannot place money where it belongs. They will do just about anything to get money: steal, defraud, inflate cost of materials and so on. Such people are in serious trouble, because no covetous, greedy or lying fellow will enter Heaven. Nonetheless, God does not want you to die poor. The wealth He has for you shall locate you this season in Jesus’ Name.

Key Point

Wealth gotten through honest means is a blessing, but fraudulent wealth is a curse.