Religious charlatans make millions of dollars from innocent people who just basically
want to be happy. They’re sick, and they want to be well. They’re poor and they want to be rich, or at least financially comfortable. They have a spiritual need, but can’t seem to find peace. An innumerable list of needs, and wants, come from sincere and even selfish people.
Along comes the televangelist
promising that and more. All you have to do is send money or buy their product.
They will throw out a whole line of Scriptures promising prosperity in whatever
realm your need is. They prove by God’s Word (not really) that you don’t have
your heart’s desire because you either don’t have enough faith or you haven’t
supported the Lord’s work, meaning their “ministry.”
What are the end results?
Those asking for help get fleeced, and those who say they have what you want,
for a price, get richer.
Surely God must have a
special judgment for those who take advantage of others in order to feather
their own nest by misquoting, misapplying, and misrepresenting the Holy Word of
God, the Bible.
It sickens me to see the
elderly especially trustingly send their last dollar to some religious quack
and me knowing they are being robbed of their meager funds they need to live.
Most of the elderly today are people who were raised much differently than the
breed coming up to replace them. They exist on very little and are much too
trusting. They will actually believe you when you speak to them. This is
exactly why the charlatans and scammers go after them.
Let us answer an important
question before we go further. Should we support organizations, religious or
otherwise, since so many cannot be trusted? The answer is a resounding “YES!”
Every situation is different, but I would recommend first of all spending much
time in prayer and investigation before providing any financial support. Ask
God to show you what to do. He will. Then when you do find a legitimate need to
support, do so within the means you can afford.
Yeah, yeah I know. The
televangelists will say you must “step out.” You must “have faith.” You must
“trust God.” You must “plant a seed,” preferably a very big one, in their
garden. Look, God wants you to live within your means, and I’ll leave it at
that. So for legitimate organizations, by all means, support them to the degree
you are able.
Now, allow me to get back to
my main point. Basically, some ministers, evangelists, Bible teachers, etc. are
using sales tactics to induce others to open up the old pocket book. Several
very well-known religious leaders often preach on the prosperity gospel. So
exactly what is the prosperity gospel again?
The prosperity gospel says
that you don’t have because you don’t ask. Jesus wants you to be wealthy. You
aren’t well because you don’t have faith and you don’t give to God. God will
make you healthy and wealthy when you give, to their cause of course.
Some of the verses they use
are:
“And whatsoever ye shall ask
in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye
shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.” John 14:13-14
Of course they don’t read the
next verse (15) which says, “If you love me, keep my commandments.” Jesus’ mind
is on spiritual matters, and that is where ours should be.
They may pull out, “Ye have
not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and
bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall
ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.” John 15:16
That is a great verse, and so
are verses 14, 17 and 18. Read them. Jesus is talking about loving others, not
getting anything we want.
And then there are these two
verses:
“And in that day ye shall ask
me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father
in my name, he will give it you. Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name:
ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.” John 16:23-24
The only words in these two
verses that people usually pay any attention to are the last eleven, “ask, and
ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.” What about the rest of it? What
about the whole chapter for that matter, or even several of the chapters before
and after these two verses? Jesus is instructing His disciples, who will become
apostles, about His death and their ministry afterwards. He isn’t promising a
“pie in the sky.” Think about it. These guys suffered much after Jesus went
back to the Father and then died horrible deaths.
Well, you say, what about
this one?
“Ye lust, and have not: ye
kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not,
because ye ask not.” James 4:2
Again, what sticks out, “ye
have not, because ye ask not?” What is James talking about though? He is
talking about the condition of their hearts. They need to repent and ask for
forgiveness, not for worldly prosperity.
I’ve gone through times
myself many years ago when I used these verses and others to try to get God to
heal my hurt or fill my need. There’s nothing wrong with that, until we
misrepresent the verses and use them to swindle others out of money. Now I
didn’t do that, and I’m sure you aren’t either, but beware of those who do.
What does all this mean
though? Didn’t Jesus say, “If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.?”
I don’t understand you say. Neither did I many moons ago, and I really needed
His help. As a sidebar, I was getting His help all along, I was just too
impatient and “not seeing the forest for the trees.”
Let’s consider another verse
and get to the conclusion.
“Delight thyself also in the
LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.” Psalm 37:4
Wow, the desires of my heart!
No more problems in my neck of the woods! I like this! Prosperity here I come! But
isn’t that what the other verses have been saying? How about this question,
“What is the desire of my heart?” Now think about it. If we delight ourselves
in the Lord, what would be the desire of our heart? Fellowship with the Lord
and pleasing Him would be the desire of our heart, not health, wealth and fame.
Fellowship with Jesus would be our desire. Doing His will would be our desire.
King David said, “But his
delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and
night.” Psalm 1:2
The “law of the Lord” is God’s
Word, in other words, our Bible. This is our delight. Our Bibles should be worn
out from usage. Are they?
The Apostle Paul said, “But
his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and
night. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and
in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound
and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”
Philippians 4:11-13
I see nothing here about
sending in our gifts in order to receive health, wealth and fame. It’s all about,
“What does God have to say?” “Does what I do glorify His name?”
The Apostle Paul had no
material possessions and suffered much, but his prayers were granted by God
because they were in God’s will.
Am I saying that God will not
cure sickness, so there’s no need to ask? Am I saying that He will not help us
in our needs? Absolutely not! What I am saying is that maybe our interests need
to be modified to match His. Let us follow our Lord in His prayer, “Thy will be
done,” and mean it. Let us get our mind on heavenly things and off earthly
things. He’ll take care of our earthly needs.
“Are not two sparrows sold
for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father.
But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.
Fear ye not therefore, ye are
of more value than many sparrows.” Matthew 10:29-31
Luke reiterates the same
words of Christ in chapter twelve, verses six and seven.
Will He help you on that
final exam at school? He probably will, but not if you don’t even study for it.
Will He help you get a job?
He will do that, but not if you just sit at the house waiting for the phone to
ring.
Will He help you find that
right person you can spend the rest of your life with? Absolutely, He will help
you, but it may not be who you have in mind.
Will He help you on your job?
Put Him first, and just watch Him work.
Let me emphasize one more
time that the Lord is definitely aware of our material and physical needs and
is always there for us, but it is our spiritual welfare that is of most
importance.
Here is the bottom line. God
blesses some people with material wealth, and He blesses others with material
poverty. He blesses some people with physical health and others with physical
sickness. Are we getting the point? Our blessings don’t come in selfish material desires. They come in
spiritual longings. So what are we doing wrong? We should be asking for spiritual wealth and spiritual health above all else.
“Ye ask, and receive not,
because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.” James 4:3
Don’t you think this is the
nutshell of our problem? We “ask amiss.” Why? We do so to fulfil our own
desires (lusts), “selfish” material wants, but it is God’s desire that we
should delight in spiritual needs. We should be asking ourselves, “What is my
Lord’s desire?” We will find it in His Word, because that is where He speaks to
us.
The prosperity message that
comes from the false prophets is a lie, because it preys on our material
desires (lust). God’s Word is a message of spiritual desires, desires that prosper
in our delight in Him. That is where we need to be. Are you?
Grant Phillips
Email: grantphillips@windstream.net
Pre-Rapture Commentary: http://grant-phillips.blogspot.com
