All These Things

And saith unto Him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. (Matthew 4: 9)

But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. (Matthew 6:33)

It is interesting that this statement applies to two opposing kingdoms, equally. This of course means that the purpose of that statement in one kingdom is directly opposite to that of the other kingdom.

We know that the kingdoms exist each to undo the works of the other.

The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. (John 10:10)

That summarizes the conflict of the kingdoms. Remember what was said of Christ?

For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. (1 John 3: 8b)

What are you aiming at? I am sure some are already asking.

There are two clear sources of wealth, and they are diametrically opposed.

Treating wealth as if it comes from one source is not just ignorance; it is folly at the highest order as it automatically leads us to an eternally damning response.

Psalm 73 describes the dilemma of one seeking to make sense of wealth without considering two sources. He gets thoroughly confused until he finally decides to seek God’s take on the same. Then he is able to make sense of it all.

Until I went into the sanctuary of God; then understood I their end. (Psalm 73:17)

Incidentally that is the same reasoning we see with Job’s miserable comforters. They seem to advocate the doctrine that there is only one source of wealth, meaning that Job had lost his wealth because he had fallen foul of that source and that explained why he was going through the ‘chastisement’ the source was releasing.

The point I am making is that the devil has the capacity to and does enrich. It is therefore wrong to treat all the rich as though they have been treated bountifully by the God we serve. Otherwise Christ could not have issued this statement

It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. (Mark 10:25)

Surely God can’t be so ill disposed to people He has blessed, or wealth should be treated as the greatest curse. Why give something that disqualifies the recipient from heaven?

Or could we be arguing for wealth coming from one source to keep people from investigating the source of our wealth since we know that it is not from God? Then we can continue living in deceptive comfort even as we fleece and impoverish God’s people.

Let me give a few distinctions between the sources to help us ascertain where ours may be coming from.

The first thing can be seen in the verses.

The devil gives to the one yearning for the wealth. He entices to craving by showing the world and all it contains in a snapshot (today he uses the media to do it in bucketfuls). Then he gives the requirement to give that wealth. Any time the pursuit of wealth becomes a goal it is certain that it is wealth from the other source that one is searching. Look at this verse

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

And this because the pursuit of wealth is many times contrary to the worship of God. Or using other words, the pursuit of wealth is worship of the source that is the devil.

God given wealth on the other hand is not sought for. It pursues those who are pursuing God and have no interest whether they get any of it or not because God alone is enough. It is therefore for His glory that He gives wealth because He is sure it will be used to lead others to know and connect with Him.

Another thing to notice with wealth from the devil is that it leads to selfish interest which is the way the source intends. It therefore will be used to promote personal agenda and will rarely, if ever, be used for something the owner has no interest in. Even generosity or benevolence is self centered as opposed to a real concern for the recipients. His giving is comparable to a bribe even when offered in church.

He coveteth greedily all the day long: but the righteous giveth and spareth not. The sacrifice of the wicked is abomination: how much more, when he bringeth it with a wicked mind? (Proverbs 21: 26, 27)

Wealth from God, due to the fact that it was not gotten by its pursuit does not stick to the righteous.

There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth; and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty. (Proverbs 11:24)

And that is not new. Remember James saying this?

Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him? But ye have despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats? Do not they blaspheme that worthy name by the which ye are called? (James 2: 5 – 7)

Another thing wealth from the other side does is it never satisfies. Having more and more is its motto, like leech’s two daughters. But it may also be an attitude influenced by the other side. You see it is impossible to access the ALL that was promised and so there is always room for some more stuff. That is why generosity that will not bring in more is shunned by those rich.

You will see someone with clothes they will never wear in this life, yet unable to give any of them away. Even small items like ties can become a nuisance in someone’s wardrobe yet it becomes difficult to give any away. The only things that are given away are those worn out. I heard a girl on the media saying that she lives in a 4 bed roomed house and apart from her room all the other rooms are filled with clothes.

A person can have two cars, three cars, five cars yet never give any away until they completely get out of fashion. And even then they will be sold. The same goes with properties and business stock that is given away days before its expiry date though others would rather sell even that for a pittance. Yet money is the greatest culprit and is the greatest success the devil can boast of because it has ensnared hordes. And this because it is easy to convince them that money can never be enough because it can fit in a card however much it is, or on the forehead or hand as we are about to see soon.

Amassing is the hidden motive (not so hidden nowadays) of gifts from the other side.

Wealth from God flows freely and does not need the protection of the holder. It is easily released because the source is dependable. Remember Isaac leaving his wells to someone instead of protecting his hard labor? Remember his father refusing to take his due from the kings he rescued as he rescued Lot?

The study of Abraham, Isaac, David and Nehemiah can give us indicators of God gotten wealth.

Nothing has changed whichever generation we are talking about. Money sourced from the evil one will manifest the same way because he pursues the same agenda since he was thrown down from heaven.

I will not seek to dwell on the distinguishing of the two sources, not because I can’t do so but because the Bible has very clear guidelines on the same. It is the reading and study of the Bible that will be able to give us the clear guidelines for the same. Reading the Bible consistently is the one thing that will bring out the issue with the greatest clarity.

One thing I will add though is that wealth from God will draw the recipient to God, bringing out greater devotion and worship. Another thing it will do is draw others to God. It is the clearest witness in the muck of self interest demonstrated by those who have received from the other source.

The greatest tragedy is that the church is on the whole so uninterested in knowing God’s word, at least individually. They are content to have others reading and interpreting for them, many times people who are severely compromised by the other side.

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children. (Hosea 4:6)

It goes without say that such interpretation will be heavily weighted in favor of the source they are feeding from, which sadly is the devil.

Before you start shouting against me for attacking your favorite imposter and spiritual broker let me explain a little more.

Like it happened to Solomon, many ministers started with receiving their wealth from God. But with time they started mixing that with human ingenuity and spiritual compromise to enjoy more dependable wealth returns. Their search for security therefore compromises and pollutes their initial receipt.

Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Ask now the priests concerning the law, saying, If one bear holy flesh in the skirt of his garment, and with his skirt do touch bread, or pottage, or wine, or oil, or any meat, shall it be holy? And the priests answered and said, No. Then said Haggai, If one that is unclean by a dead body touch any of these, shall it be unclean? And the priests answered and said, It shall be unclean. Then answered Haggai, and said, So is this people, and so is this nation before me, saith the LORD; and so is every work of their hands; and that which they offer there is unclean. (Haggai 2: 11 – 14)

Wealth from God, however legitimate it is, will automatically be corrupted when it gets mixed with humanly sourced wealth. Then it all becomes corrupted.

And I have enough examples. I know ministers whose call to ministry was nothing short of phenomenal have their cutting edge of preaching dulled by a gift from the ‘right’ source. He receives a suit, a car, a house in a spiritually compromised manner. They then stop preaching against particular sins because they are part of them.

The easiest any sensible person can see without looking is a dangerous preacher to the other kingdom receiving a sizeable gift from a woman who dresses flimsily. They automatically stop seeing the evil prevalent in those exposed thighs and breasts even though she will sit at the front pews. They later become blinded to the sexual sin being promoted by this ‘supporter’.

The reason very few preachers today are against sin is because they are feeding off sinful supporters. It of course becomes technically impossible to preach against their sins. That is what we call compromise.

Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they shewed difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them. (Ezekiel 22:26)

And that happens because they are receiving their support from two spiritual sources. And receiving from the devil automatically means that whatever you may have received from God is already corrupted. God then releases it to His enemy so that His judgment will be just.

What is the secret? Read the Bible for yourself. Do not allow yourself to be led by anyone just because his ministry seems to enjoy an abundance of favor in terms of wealth. That wealth could be as a result of them submitting their wills to the enticement of wealth. The wealth you think of as Gods favor might actually be a reward from hell.

As I close let me ask this question concerning these ‘blessed’ people. How much of the fruit of the Holy Spirit can be seen in these characters as they enjoy their wealth. This is because God not only releases wealth, He will always release an abundance of His fruit as the evidence that He is the one that has given that wealth.

The blessing of the LORD, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it. (Proverbs 10:22)

By the blessing of the upright the city is exalted: but it is overthrown by the mouth of the wicked. (Proverbs 11:11)

And I will end with that evidence to gauge between the two sources.

Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. (Galatians 5: 19 – 23)

Which side speaks of your blessed characters?

But it is imperative that the Bible in its entirety forms the standard by which you judge those and any other blessings.