New Age Prosperity Gospel
Intro
People
prefer to get God to bless their plans rather than doing what God is blessing. People
still see God as a genie with 3 simple steps to salvation and one easy way to
wealth, fame and power.” --Joshua
Johnson, 2000
The purpose of this document
is offer a biblical view of material prosperity (which I call biblical
stewardship), as it contrasts with the worldly view of prosperity. Lastly, we will look at the lifestyle of the
apostles as a living example of this biblical view.
Background
This document assumes that
the reader is somewhat familiar with the worldly view of prosperity, since it
seems to be prominent in popular Christian teachings that you can find on the
topic. However, I will present an
extreme example of the worldly view here—for the purposes of exposing the New
Age roots that are creeping into today’s popular Christianity. Other examples of this worldly view can be
found even from a presumably secular source:
http://www.rickross.com/. Just do a site search on the word
“prosperity”. Also, Dan Corner
exposes the worldly view of prosperity at http://www.evangelicaloutreach.org/prosper.htm. If you are interested to find out more about
the New Age movement, David Jeremiah’s 10-part audio cassette series on the New
Age provides a comprehensive introduction to the New Age movement in light of
its biblical context. I also wrote a 13 page introduction to the New Age movement from
the biblical perspective. For a more
in-depth look at this movement, I found Walter Martin’s book, “The New Age
Cult” (1989 Bethany House Publishers) to be the definitive Christian resource
on the topic.
The worldly prosperity view:
Our position in Christ-greedy?
If God wanted to be rich, He
would just take money from rich people.
However, he wants your soul, so He can save it from the worldly desires
(1 Peter 2:11), such as greed (Col 3:5), that war against it—which, if
followed, will lead you to hell (Rev 21:8).
Nobody could get away with
saying, “God is greedy, and He wants you to be greedy”. However, with enough of a New-Age twist on
Christianity, greedy Christians could think that they are like God. It’s funny how when New-Agers fashion their
own version of God, their God so often resembles themselves. So, this version of God that “wants to make
you rich” is still gaining popularity.
You may be more likely to hear “God wants you to have a Cadillac” than
“God wants you to turn from your sins and follow Him” from proponents of this
“Cosmic Santa Claus” version of God.
Here are some quotes from
Benny Hinn that exemplify this selfish misuse (and misunderstanding) of the
indwelling Christ. Benny is one of the
most popular Charismatic preachers, I think.
I quote him for this reason. Who
knows, maybe he does not believe this anymore.
15. "Christians are "Little Messiah's
and "little gods" on the earth. Thus [Encouraging the audience]...say
"I am a God-man....This spirit-man within me is a God-man..." say
"I'm born of heaven-a God-man. I'm a God man. I am a sample of Jesus. I'm
a super being. Say it! Say it! Who's a super being? "I walk in the realm
of the supernatural." Say it!...You want to prosper? Money will be
falling on you from left, right and center. God will begin to prosper you,
for money always follows
righteousness....Say after me, "everything I ever want is in me
already." (Benny Hinn, TBN, 1990)
16. "I am a 'little messiah' walking the
earth" (Benny Hinn, Praise-a-Thon" on TBN, November 6, 1990).
17. "Are you ready for some real
revelation knowledge....you are god"
(Benny Hinn, "Our Position In Christ", tape # AO31190-1)
18. "You are a little god on earth running
around". (Benny Hinn, "Praise-a-thon" broadcast on TBN,
November, 1990)
Want to get rich?
Ok, the God people statements are crazy, but, first
of all, let’s correct the part about the falling money:
“You want to prosper?
Money will be falling on you from left, right and center. God will begin to prosper you, for money always follows righteousness”
This view is clearly contradicted by scriptures on money and riches.
New Age Prosperity?
Secondly, let’s handle the part about being God. This New Age idea is not a new idea. The New Age movement is just a blend of
Eastern religious ideas borrowed from Hinduism and Buddhism-- minus the necessity of the moral lifestyle.
It is growing more popular among Westerners because you get to be God (in
control), and make your own rules. This
New-Age idea actually predates Indian religion and human history, however. In fact, Isaiah tells us that the Devil was
the first to have this idea—perhaps even before human history.
Isa 14:12-14
12 How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the
dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations!
13 You said in your heart, "I will ascend to heaven; I
will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount
of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain.
14 I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High." (NIV)
Notice in verse 14 here the idea that you can become
God, or become one with God in such a way that you become equal to Him. The Hindu idea of earning Karma across
multiple reincarnations until you become God is a new age idea that is
increasing gaining acceptance in the west.
According to many commentators, this King of Tyre is
known to represent Satan, and this passage further explains that his desire to
be as God was his doom:
Ezek 28:1-18
1 The word of the LORD came to me:
2 "Son of man, say to the ruler of Tyre, 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: "'In the
pride of your heart you say, "I am
a god; I sit on the throne of a god in the heart of the seas." But you are a man and not a god, though you
think you are as wise as a god.
3 Are you wiser than Daniel? Is no secret hidden from you?
4 By your wisdom and understanding you have gained wealth for yourself and amassed gold and silver in
your treasuries.
5 By your great skill in trading you have increased your wealth, and because of your wealth your heart has
grown proud.
6 "'Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says:
"'Because you think you are wise,
as wise as a god,
7 I am going to bring foreigners against you, the most
ruthless of nations; they will draw their swords against your beauty and wisdom
and pierce your shining splendor.
8 They will bring you down to the pit, and you will die a violent death in
the heart of the seas.
9 Will you then say, "I am a god," in the presence of those who kill you? You will
be but a man, not a god, in the hands of those who slay you.
10 You will die
the death of the uncircumcised at the hands of foreigners. I have spoken,
declares the Sovereign LORD.'"
11 The word of the LORD came to me:
12 "Son of man, take up a lament concerning the king of
Tyre and say to him: 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: "'You were the
model of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.
13 You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone
adorned you: ruby, topaz and emerald, chrysolite, onyx and jasper, sapphire,
turquoise and beryl. Your settings and mountings were made of gold; on the day
you were created they were prepared.
14 You were anointed as a guardian cherub, for so I ordained
you. You were on the holy mount of God; you walked among the fiery stones.
15 You were blameless in your ways from the day you were
created till wickedness was found in you.
16 Through your widespread trade you were filled with violence,
and you sinned. So I drove you in disgrace from the mount of God, and I
expelled you, O guardian cherub, from among the fiery stones.
17 Your heart became proud on account of your beauty, and you
corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor. So I threw you to the earth; I made a spectacle of you before kings.
18 By your many sins and dishonest trade you have desecrated
your sanctuaries. So I made a fire come out from you, and it consumed you, and
I reduced you to ashes on the ground in the sight of all who were
watching. (NIV)
Notice that the theme of excessive wealth is
juxtaposed next to the New Age belief that he is a God. Look for this correlation in the other
similar scriptures and quotes throughout this document. Perhaps there is a
correlation between New Age philosophies and greed? Let me quote Phil Keagy’s lyrics from
“Nothing At All” of his “Blue” Album:
No more morality,
You got your own
philosophy,
But it’s just a GREEDY
invention!
From the Christian worldview, one truth is
exclusively defined for all externally by the Bible. In other words, only God can say what truth
is and is not. From the western New Age
perspective, truth is defined internally by the individual. So people become God in at least the sense
that they define truth.
My personal theory is that the passage of scripture
above occurred before or during the life of Adam and Eve. Verse 17 tells us of Lucifer’s banishment
from Heaven to Earth, and verse 13 tells us that he was in Eden. Satan was a proponent
of sharing his “you are God” idea early in human history, as he introduced the
New Age movement to the first humans right away in the Garden of Eden:
Gen 3:2-5
2 The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat fruit from
the trees in the garden,
3 but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that
is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will
die.'"
4 "You will not
surely die," the serpent said to the woman.
5 "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will
be opened, and you will be like God,
knowing good and evil." (NIV)
You are not God
Satan tries to deceive humans with the following
reasoning: “If you are God, then you
won’t die. Don’t worry about God and His warnings that disobeying Him will kill
you”. Does this sound hard to
believe? Well, the devil wants us to
believe that we are God, to keep us from knowing the one true God. So, he improves the packaging of the idea:
- You will not die
- You will be like God
He can also improve the packaging more than this. He can even use “Christian” packaging. However, since Benny pretty much quoted Satan
(and Shirley McLane) with the “you are God” statement, I’ll address that first.
You are not like
God. Also, God is not a tool to get what
your flesh desires. He is also not the
same as you. You are not God! Your desires and His will often be at
odds. What is your cross to bear? Your cross is when your will crosses God’s.
Matt 16:24-26
24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come
after me, he must deny himself and take
up his cross and follow me.
25 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever
loses his life for me will find it.
You will die.
Either you will die to the
flesh and live through the Spirit, or end up in Hell (Rev. 21:8). Losing your life is dying. If you do not lose
your life, you will not find true life in Christ.
1
Cor
31 I die
every day-- I mean that, brothers-- just as surely as I glory over you in
Christ Jesus our Lord. (NIV)
Col
3:5
5 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual
immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.
(NIV)
1 Pet 2:19-24
19 For it is commendable if a man bears up under the pain of unjust
suffering because he is conscious of God.
20 But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing
wrong and endure it? But if you suffer
for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God.
21 To this you were called,
because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow
in his steps.
22 "He committed no
sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth."
23 When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he
suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges
justly.
24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and
live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. (NIV)
You are not like God
Isa
55:8-9
8 "For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD.
9 "As the heavens are higher than
the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your
thoughts. (NIV)
Have you heard people
say, “He will give you the desires of your heart”? Many quote part of the following passage
without regard to its immediate context.
Ps 37:3-5
3 Trust in the LORD and do
good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.
4 Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the
desires of your heart.
5 Commit your way
to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this:
(NIV)
This promise is for those who trust in the Lord
behaviorally by doing good (v3). Their
desires are different from those of most people, since they are on the narrow
road (Matthew 7:14)—the committed way.
What part of their life is committed?
The whole thing—their way—is committed (v. 5) to God: All their time, money, effort, decisions, is
committed to God. They delight in the
Lord Himself. He is the desire of their
heart. They desire the things that come
from Him, not the things of this world.
He gives their new heart only godly desires.
Ezek 18:30-32
30 "Therefore, O house of Israel, I will judge you, each
one according to his ways, declares the Sovereign LORD. Repent! Turn away from
all your offenses; then sin will not be your downfall.
31 Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit. Why
will you die, O house of Israel?
32 For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the
Sovereign LORD. Repent and live! (NIV)
Ezek 36:26-27
26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I
will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.
27 And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees
and be careful to keep my laws. (NIV)
If that new car or boat is the desire of your heart,
ask God if that desire is from Him, or from your flesh. Let’s not put a God stamp on the Satanist maxim “Do what though wilt”. Some translate “he will give you the desires
of your heart” as “He will give you what you want”. Or, maybe, “He will give you what you
wilt”. So, if you are praying up that
unnecessary yacht, be careful, you may be praying to the god of the
Satanists: The god of the New Age—who tells
you that you and God’s desires are inherently the same, since you are God!
When people tell you that
God “blessed”
them with an opportunity to amass debt by purchasing an unnecessary (or
unnecessarily luxurious) consumer good, don’t assume that it is truly God’s
blessing and covet them (Prov 23:1-5).
They have actually put themselves under a curse, by disobeying God’s
warnings about debt listed here, and His principles of stewardship (which will
be explained later in this document):
Debt
Prov
22:7
7 The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower
is servant to the lender. (NIV)
Prov
22:26-27
26 Do not be a man who strikes hands in
pledge or puts up security for debts;
27 if you lack the means to pay, your very
bed will be snatched from under you.
(NIV)
Rom
13:7-8
7 Give everyone what you owe him: If you
owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if
honor, then honor.
8 Let
no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another,
for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law. (NIV)
Wisdom warns us about the temptation of
riches—keeping up with the Jones.
Prov
23:1-5
1 When you sit to dine with a ruler,
note well what is before you,
2 and
put a knife to your throat if you are given to gluttony.
3 Do
not crave his delicacies, for that food is deceptive.
4 Do
not wear yourself out to get rich; have the wisdom to show restraint.
5 Cast but a glance at riches, and they are
gone, for they will surely sprout wings and fly off to the sky like an
eagle. (NIV)
Fair-weather Christians
Some people
follow God for the “blessing”.
Unfortunately, the definition of the word “blessing” that they are
pursuing is a worldly and materialistic one—associated with wealth and
influence, or power. I will not present
the New Testament definition of the word “blessing”, since Dan Corner correctly
defines it at http://www.evangelicaloutreach.org/blessed.htm. I will say that it has more to do with the
spiritual and non-material blessings associated with loving and following
Jesus, than with a greedy pursuit of worldly gain.
John
6:24-27
24 Once the crowd realized that neither Jesus
nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats and went to Capernaum in
search of Jesus.
25 When they found him on the other side
of the lake, they asked him, "Rabbi, when did you get here?"
26 Jesus answered, "I tell you the
truth, you are looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your
fill.
27 Do
not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life,
which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal
of approval." (NIV)
If you are looking for the
“blessing” of physical bread, look somewhere else. He offers “food that endures to eternal
life”--Himself. Are you following Jesus
or “the blessing”?
Blessed with
Worldly Power
Following God for the “blessing”
of power is not a new idea either.
Peter, like other disciples (Mark 9:30-35, and Matt 20-28), was
expecting that Jesus would advance Himself and his followers politically—in
terms of political power. Notice below (Mark 8:31-38)Christ’s harsh rebuke for
Peter’s “political prosperity gospel” --his denying the need for Christian
suffering: Especially suffering at the
hands of political leaders—the powerful.
He thought that Jesus should take the political Kingdom of Israel by
force. However, Christ was not
interested in gaining worldly things such as money and political power.
After I got saved
when I was 20, and I read the Bible for the first time, I was surprised to find
that Christ was not involved with political action. It seemed like all the Christians were. Mohammed, the founder of Islam, was into
politics---he liked power, and became a powerful political leader.
Mark
8:31-38
31 He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things
and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that
he must be killed and after three days rise again.
32 He spoke plainly about this, and Peter
took him aside and began to rebuke him.
33 But when Jesus turned and looked at his
disciples, he rebuked Peter. "Get behind me, Satan!" he said. "You do not have in mind the things of God,
but the things of men."
34 Then he called the crowd to him along
with his disciples and said: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny
himself and take up his cross and follow me.
35 For whoever wants to save his life will
lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it.
36 What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his
soul?
37 Or what can a man give in exchange for
his soul?
38 If anyone is ashamed of me and my words
in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him
when he comes in his Father's glory with the holy angels." (NIV)
Satanists believe that
Calvary showed us how Satan had more money and power than God did. They believe that the Devil beat Him up and
killed him, through the agency of the world system. It follows that if you want money and power
in this world, you should follow Satan, since he has it. Satanists feel like Calvary was the devil’s
victory over God—and so did Peter above.
That is why Jesus called him Satan.
Peter did “..not have in mind the
things of God, but the things of men."
As Christians, we do not see
through the worldly lens of money and power, but with regenerated eyes (Luke
11:34-36). According to Christ’s
principle above in Mark 8:33, we do not have in mind the things of men, but of
God. We see that Christ won a spiritual
victory at Calvary, whereby we can be saved from this corrupt generation (Acts
2:38-40).
“New Age, born-again Christian groups”
Cross-less Christianity is
the devil’s victory. Christianity
without sacrifice and suffering is another gospel. Do you see in this passage above how it runs
directly opposed to Christ’s death on Calvary?
Peter, as a New Age spokesman for political prosperity, even tried to
talk Him out of it. Not only that, but
he had the audacity to rebuke Him! Can
you imagine what exactly Peter said?
Maybe it went like this:
“Hey,
look Jesus, it is God’s will for you and I to prosper—in terms of the things of
this world. We are the head not the
tail. We are going to take this City for
God!”
Sound familiar? This New Age lie was in the church before it
even began. Peter had been with Jesus
for years—preaching and healing. In the
same way, today some with the gift of preaching and healing promote this same
ideology. I call it the “Prosperity Gospel”.
Here is how a secular source (http://www.rickross.com
) describes it:
THERE
IS A TENDENCY among New Age, born-again Christian groups to promise people that
if they dedicate themselves to Jesus, their lives will suddenly be
better," comments therapist Francis Dreher. The director of the Institute for
Educational Therapy in El Cerrito, Dreher is an experienced marriage, family,
and children counselor, with a distinguished track record working with former
fundamentalists.
I thought it was interesting
how this (presumably) secular writer correctly categorizes this belief of
certain born-again Christians as “New Age”.
I did not even realize it was New Age until recently. Did you know that the prosperity gospel is
New Age?
Remember the two New Age lies that Satan told in the
Garden in Gen 3:2-5?
- you will not surely die.
- you will be like God.
Peter basically told Jesus,
“you will not die—if I have anything to say about it!: You do not
need to suffer and die!” That is why
Jesus called him Satan. Such prosperity
gospel preachers, who replace Christ’s warnings of the suffering, persecution,
and sacrifice that comes to His followers with the promise that their “lives
will suddenly be better” are presenting a different gospel. It is a cost-less gospel--a “do what thou
wilt” gospel. Jesus warned prospective
proselytes to “count the cost”, because He
is honest. He knew it would cost them
their lives, so he told them. Today,
many preachers seem to be willing to say anything that will result in another
“conversion”—a public profession of
mental consent to the preacher’s message.
Jesus, Santa.. or Satan?
Who then is this cosmic
Santa Claus--that wants to make you rich and make your life easy? Who is this god who promises the opportunity
to hoard material wealth if you serve him?
Matt
4:8-11
8 Again, the devil took him to a very
high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms
of the world and their splendor.
9 "All this I will give you,"
he said, "if you will bow down
and worship me."
10 Jesus said to him, "Away from me,
Satan! For it is written: 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve him
only.'"
11 Then the devil left him, and angels
came and attended him. (NIV)
Notice that Jesus did not dispute
the devil’s ownership of the kingdoms of the world, or his ability to give it
to him. The devil owns their
splendor. Does his ownership not include
their riches? Keep in mind the verses
above regarding the King of Tyre’s hoarding of wealth.
Ezek
28
4 By your wisdom and understanding you have gained wealth for yourself and amassed gold and silver in
your treasuries.
5 By your great skill in trading you have increased your wealth, and because of your wealth your heart has
grown proud.
6 "'Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says:
"'Because you think you are wise,
as wise as a god,
7 I am going to bring foreigners against you, the most
ruthless of nations; they will draw their swords against your beauty and wisdom
and pierce your shining splendor.
8 They will bring you down to the pit, and you will die a violent death in
the heart of the seas.
9 Will you then say, "I am a god," in the presence of those who kill you? You will
be but a man, not a god, in the hands of those who slay you.
10 You will die
the death of the uncircumcised at the hands of foreigners. I have spoken,
declares the Sovereign LORD.'"
The god of Babylon—the God of the
New Age
The King of Tyre (satan) is
also the god of Babylon.
Rev
18:2-3
2 With a mighty voice he shouted: "Fallen!
Fallen is Babylon the Great! She has become a home for demons and a haunt for
every evil spirit, a haunt for every unclean and detestable bird.
3 For all the nations have drunk the
maddening wine of her adulteries. The kings of the earth committed adultery
with her, and the merchants of the earth
grew rich from her excessive luxuries." (NIV)
Rev
18:18-19
18 When they see the smoke of her burning,
they will exclaim, 'Was there ever a city like this great city?'
19 They will throw dust on their heads,
and with weeping and mourning cry out: "'Woe! Woe, O great city, where all
who had ships on the sea became rich
through her wealth! In one hour she has been brought to ruin! (NIV)
It is interesting to note
the close association between New Age thought and worldly wealth--especially
the hoarding of that wealth. Most
Western New-Agers happen also to be wealth-hoarders. I did not pull Benny Hinn’s “falling money”
quote from it’s new age “you are God” context for this reason. As shown above in Mark 8:31-38, the God of
the New Age owns the world’s wealth. The
“world system” is often referred to as “Babylon”. Why?
John’s writings immediately above in Revelation chapter 18 are a
continuation of the story of God’s struggle with Babylon’s belief in Satan’s
New Age philosophies.
- you will not surely die.
- you will be like God.
In Gen 11:1-9 God scattered
them that built the tower of Babel, but Babylon reappears numerous times in the
scriptures. In Isa 47:5-15, the
daughters of Babylon claim 'I am, and
there is none besides me.' This “You
will be like God” theology is often masked in such an “all is one” New-Age
statement. In other words, they are
saying “God is not separate from me”—which is essentially saying that they are
God.
Isa
47:5-15
5 "Sit in silence, go into
darkness, Daughter of the Babylonians;
no more will you be called queen of
kingdoms.
6 I was angry with my people and
desecrated my inheritance; I gave them into your hand, and you showed them no
mercy. Even on the aged you laid a very heavy yoke.
7 You said, 'I will continue forever-- the eternal queen!' But you did not
consider these things or reflect on what might happen.
8 "Now then, listen, you wanton
creature, lounging in your security and saying to yourself, 'I am, and there is none besides me. I
will never be a widow or suffer the loss of children.'
9 Both of these will overtake you in a
moment, on a single day: loss of children and widowhood. They will come upon
you in full measure, in spite of your many sorceries and all your potent
spells.
10 You have trusted in your wickedness and
have said, 'No one sees me.' Your wisdom and knowledge mislead you when you say
to yourself, 'I am, and there is none
besides me.'
11 Disaster will come upon you, and you
will not know how to conjure it away. A calamity will fall upon you that you
cannot ward off with a ransom; a catastrophe you cannot foresee will suddenly
come upon you.
12 "Keep on, then, with your magic
spells and with your many sorceries, which you have labored at since childhood.
Perhaps you will succeed, perhaps you will cause terror.
13 All the counsel you have received has
only worn you out! Let your astrologers come forward, those stargazers who make
predictions month by month, let them save you from what is coming upon you.
14 Surely they are like stubble; the fire
will burn them up. They cannot even save themselves from the power of the
flame. Here are no coals to warm anyone; here is no fire to sit by.
15 That is all they can do for you-- these
you have labored with and trafficked with since childhood. Each of them goes on
in his error; there is not one that can save you. (NIV)
Did you notice New Age theme
#1 in verse 7? It is that the
Babylonians will not surely die. In
fact, they are confident that they will have a lack of hardship—a type of
prosperity. God tells them of how they WILL DIE due to their belief that they
are like God.
Not of the world
Christ preaches His Kingdom
as separate from the Kingdoms of this world.
That should be a relief after reading the following Bible passages about
the Kingdoms of this world and their owner.
However, not only Peter, but most Jews in Jerusalem held a political or
worldly conception of the Messiah – that he would be a powerful political leader. Hanging on to this misconception, even after
hearing Christ’s clarifying teachings, is what damned them.
John
8:23-24
23 But he continued, "You are from
below; I am from above. You are of this
world; I am not of this world.
24 I told you that you would die in your
sins; if you do not believe that I am, you will indeed die in your
sins." (NIV)
John
18:33-37
33 Pilate then went back inside the
palace, summoned Jesus and asked him, "Are you the king of the Jews?"
34 "Is that your own idea,"
Jesus asked, "or did others talk to you about me?"
35 "Am I a Jew?" Pilate replied.
"It was your people and your chief priests who handed you over to me. What
is it you have done?"
36 Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews.
But now my kingdom is from another place."
37 "You are a king, then!" said
Pilate. Jesus answered, "You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for
this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the
truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me." 38 "What
is truth?" Pilate asked. With this he went out again to the Jews and said,
"I find no basis for a charge against him.
(NIV)
What is Truth?
Pilate’s question reveals
another important corollary of the New Age:
What is truth when everyone is equally God? Who decides what truth is? Naturally, it is all truth! Who’s to say?
The drama of Christ’s judgment shows us much about God’s purpose in
allowing the Devil to deceive people and test their worthiness (Luke
20:35-36). Pilate wanted to release
Christ according to Luke 23:20, and tried to according to John 19:12. He had nothing against Christ, but he was not
willing to stand up for a man that he knew was innocent (Matt 27:19). Pilate was not worthy of taking part in the
resurrection to life in Heaven. He did
“not take his cross and follow” Jesus.
Matt
10:38-39
38 and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not
worthy of me.
39 Whoever finds his life will lose it,
and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. (NIV)
Like most New Agers, he was
not “against Jesus”. He believed his
wife’s dream recorded in Matt 27:19, and tried to release Him. He even symbolically washed his hands of His
blood before the Jewish leaders.
However, as Jesus says in Matt 12:30, "He who is not with me is
against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters. (NIV)
Matt
10:32-33
32 "Whoever acknowledges me before
men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven.
33 But whoever disowns me before men, I
will disown him before my Father in heaven.
(NIV)
This passage above (John
18:33-37) shows how “good people” do a terrible thing by refusing to gather
with Christ. New Ager’s unwillingness to
accept the Bible as THE truth for ALL seems like a “harmless sin”: It does not seem to be hurting anybody—in
fact, it seems more polite and tolerant towards different perceptions of
truth. However, it is the very sin that
made Christ’s crucifixion possible at the last hour. In that same way, New Agers unbelief in
Christ’s one truth is a sin that separates them eternally from God. Even though Christ paid for that very sin on
the cross, they just keep hammering those nails in His hands through their
unbelief. Unbelief is denial of Christ. If you really believe on Christ, you will
follow Him.
John
3:36
36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son
will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him." (NIV)
John
3:16-18
16 "For God so loved the world that he
gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but
have eternal life.
17 For God did not send his Son into the
world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
18 Whoever believes in him is not
condemned, but whoever does not believe
stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one
and only Son. (NIV)
Matthew 27:18 tells us that
Pilate knew that it was out of envy that the Jewish Rulers had handed Him over
to him. Two main reasons that Christ was
killed were the Ruler’s greed for money and power, and Pilate’s New Age
relativistic indifference which prevented him from standing up for THE
truth. So here we find greed and New Age
relativism working together again—unified in their attempt to kill God. Boy, did that plan backfire.
The meek will inherit the earth
Notice below that the
sincere Judas even asks Christ to explain why He is not promoting Himself as
God and as a politician.
John
14:22-31
22 Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said,
"But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the
world?"
23 Jesus replied, "If anyone loves
me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him
and make our home with him.
24 He who does not love me will not obey
my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who
sent me.
25 "All this I have spoken while
still with you.
26 But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit,
whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind
you of everything I have said to you.
27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give
you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be
troubled and do not be afraid.
28 "You heard me say, 'I am going
away and I am coming back to you.' If
you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the Father
is greater than I.
29 I have told you now before it happens,
so that when it does happen you will believe.
30 I will not speak with you much longer, for
the prince of this world is coming.
He has no hold on me,
31 but the world must learn that I love the Father and that I do exactly what
my Father has commanded me. "Come now; let us leave. (NIV)
John
7:2-10
2 But when the Jewish Feast of
Tabernacles was near,
3 Jesus' brothers said to him, "You
ought to leave here and go to Judea, so that your disciples may see the
miracles you do.
4 No one who wants to become a public
figure acts in secret. Since you are doing these things, show yourself to the world."
5 For even his own brothers did not believe in him.
6 Therefore Jesus told them, "The
right time for me has not yet come; for you any time is right.
7 The world cannot hate you, but it
hates me because I testify that what it does is evil.
8 You go to the Feast. I am not yet
going up to this Feast, because for me the right time has not yet come."
9 Having said this, he stayed in
Galilee.
10 However, after his brothers had left
for the Feast, he went also, not publicly, but in secret.
(NIV)
Jesus is not interested in
showing himself to the world—it will not understand Him in its terms. It respects wealth, influence, and
power. He is the opposite of the money
and power hungry world, and they cannot understand Him. He reveals Himself in a personal way to those
who are willing to admit that they are hopelessly lost in sin and it’s penalty
without Him, and are willing to follow Him by the help of His Spirit.
I
Jn 3:24
24 Those who obey his commands live in
him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by
the Spirit he gave us. (NIV)
I
Jn 2:3-4
3 We know that we have come to know him
if we obey his commands.
4 The man who says, "I know
him," but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in
him. (NIV)
The god of the New Age--the god of
this world
The world cannot understand
Christ in its own terms. However, God can touch people’s hearts (John 6:65) and
cut through the confusion and lies of a worldly, untransformed (Romans 12:2)
mind.
Matt
27:19
19 While Pilate was sitting on the judge's
seat, his wife sent him this message: "Don't have anything to do with that
innocent man, for I have suffered a great deal today in a dream because of
him." (NIV)
Pilate may not have known
that he was anti-Christ. He had nothing
against Christ, he was simply unwilling to sacrifice everything for His
sake. This is anti-Christ though. Furthermore, by default, he was against
Christ—because he was of the world.
Notice what these passages say about the world:
I
Jn 5:19
19 We know that we are children of God,
and that the whole world is under the
control of the evil one. (NIV)
Rev
12:9
9 The great dragon was hurled down--
that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan,
who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his
angels with him. (NIV)
I
Jn 4:2-6
2 This is how you can recognize the
Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the
flesh is from God,
3 but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is
the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even
now is already in the world.
4 You, dear children, are from God and
have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.
5 They are from the world and therefore
speak from the viewpoint of the world,
and the world listens to them.
6 We are from God, and whoever knows God
listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how
we recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit
of falsehood. (NIV)
I
Jn 3:1
1 How great is the love the Father has
lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we
are! The reason the world does not know
us is that it did not know him.
(NIV)
I
Jn 3:13
13 Do not be surprised, my brothers, if the world hates you. (NIV)
I
Jn 2:15-18
15 Do
not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the
world, the love of the Father is not in him.
16 For everything in the world-- the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and
the boasting of what he has and does-- comes not from the Father but from the
world.
17 The world and its desires pass away,
but the man who does the will of God lives forever.
18 Dear children, this is the last hour;
and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how
we know it is the last hour. (NIV)
2
Pet 2:18-20
18 For they mouth empty, boastful words
and, by appealing to the lustful desires
of sinful human nature, they entice people who are just escaping from those
who live in error.
19 They promise them freedom, while they
themselves are slaves of depravity-- for a man is a slave to whatever has
mastered him.
20 If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior
Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and overcome, they are worse off
at the end than they were at the beginning.
(NIV)
I
Jn 5:3-4
3 This is love for God: to obey his
commands. And his commands are not burdensome,
4 for everyone born of God
overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even
our faith. (NIV)
The god of the New Age--the spirit
of antichrist
Again, we see the
correlation between loving “anything in the world”, or materialism with a
“spirit of the antichrist” in I Jn 2:15-18.
People usually think of THE
Antichrist as the one guy who will unite and lead the world system of Babylon
to its end as cited in Revelation 18 above.
We don’t know who he is yet, but we know that the “spirit of the
antichrist’ (I Jn 4:2-6) is at work in the world-through many different worldly
people. 1 John 2:18 tells us “..as you
have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come.”
I
Jn 4:2-6
2 This is how you can recognize the
Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the
flesh is from God,
3 but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is
the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even
now is already in the world.
Did Pilate acknowledge
Jesus? Well, he did not want to crucify
Him. He respected and feared him to an
extent. The world, who’s God is the
spirit of antichrist, denies the identity that He claims. They do not believe that Jesus is God
incarnate. In fact, I asked a Buddhist
friend of mine if he believed that “Jesus Christ has come in the flesh”. He said no.
I was surprised that he correctly discerned the meaning of my
question: Did the Spirit of the one true
God come in the flesh as the man Jesus Christ?
Why does the spirit of
antichrist deny that Jesus came in the flesh?
The New Age idea that Jesus was a mere man originated during the writing
of the Gospels. According to Joe Schimmel, Serenthis taught that Jesus was not
born in the flesh-that instead his Christ-hood came from His self-realization
of his own God-hood. Much in the same
way, many New-Agers believe that Christ was not born fully God and fully man
but that Christ consciousness came upon a mere man named Jesus. This could
possibly occur to any other mere man.
After all, we are all like God--the reasoning goes.
In fact, in keeping with the
Babylonian pantheistic idea (Isa 47:5-15) that "I am and there is none
beside me", you are God! All is one--there is no personal God separate
from His creation. God is not Holy and
separate, instead, He is in everything, and everyone. That means that He is in
Hitler, Manson, and every other unregenerate Christ-rejecting God-hater. While
this pantheism seems like silly piece of ancient religious history to most of
us, it is gaining popularity in the West—through the New Age movement. Check out this survey research presented at http://www.barna.org/cgi-bin/PageCategory.asp?CategoryID=2
You have opened the research archive on general religious beliefs.
The statistics and analysis in this archive come from national surveys
conducted by Barna Research. Click the subcategories on the side menu to
automatically scroll to specific sections in this archive.
For more information about general beliefs on religion, be sure to
check out the related resources and news releases featured on this page. Also,
watch for new information to be added to this archive in the months to come.
·
95%
believe in God (1997)
·
72%
believe in God when described as the all-powerful, all-knowing, perfect creator
of the universe who rules the world today. (2001)
·
10% believe that that God represents a
state of higher consciousness. (2001)
·
7% believe that God is the total
realization of personal human potential. (2001)
·
15%
say God is no longer involved in their life. (1997)
·
Almost
nine out of ten people (87%) say the universe was originally created by God.
(2000)
·
By a 3-to-1 margin (64% vs. 22%) adults
said truth is always relative to the person and their situation. (2001) (For more information, click on
the Press Release titled "Americans Are Most Likely to Base Truth on
Feelings" on the right-hand side of this page.)
·
Three-quarters
of born again adults (73%) say that abortion should be illegal in all
circumstances or under all but a few special circumstances. Only four out of
ten non-Christians (42%) hold the same view. (2001)
·
Born
agains are twice as likely as are non born agains to chose to describe
themselves as “pro-life” (65% to 32%, respectively). (2001)
·
When
asked if homosexual relations between consenting adults should be legal or not
legal, 48% of all adults said such relationships should be legal, while 42%
said they should not be legal. One out of every ten adults did not have an
opinion on the matter. (2001)
·
Among
all adults, 45% said homosexuality should be considered an acceptable lifestyle
alternative while 46% said it should not (9% were not sure). (2001)
·
About
half of all adults (49%) contend that homosexuality is due to non-genetic
factors such as upbringing and environment, one-third say people are born gay
(34%), and the remaining 17% are not sure. (2001)
·
By a
2-to-1 margin (62% - 30%) adults disapprove of clergy marrying gay couples or
blessing their marriage unions. (2001)
Horoscopes / Astrology / Tarot Cards 
·
4%
of Christians and 3% of non-Christians said they had consulted a medium or
spiritual advisor, other than a minister, within the past month. (1997)
·
Relatively
few people put much stock in astrology. Just 8% believe astrology can
accurately predict the future. (1994)
·
While
"new age" adherents contend that crystals are a source of
supernatural power, only 7% of the adult public supports that view. (1994)
·
Tarot
cards are deemed to be a reliable source of guidance for life decisions by 9%
of the public. (1994)
According to David Jeremiah,
roughly 20% of Americans and Europeans describe their religious beliefs as “New
Age”. Not included in that statistic are
people who think they are born-again Christians, but actually believe bits and
pieces of New Age philosophy. The new
age is eclectic, so you can mix it with the Bible and still be New Age. This statistic really gets me:
- 4% of Christians and 3% of non-Christians said
they had consulted a medium or spiritual advisor, other than a minister,
within the past month. (1997)
Seems like “Christians” are
into the New Age more than anyone! This
should be no surprise since antichrists are “among you”. Look at the context of some of the scriptures
dealing with antichrists in the church, and notice again the correlation of
greed.
The New Age Spirit of the antichrist in the Church
2
Pet 2:1-3:18
1 But there were also false prophets
among the people, just as there will be false
teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even
denying the sovereign Lord who bought
them-- bringing swift destruction on themselves.
2 Many
will follow their shameful ways and will bring the way of truth into disrepute.
3 In
their greed these teachers will exploit you with stories they have made up.
Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has
not been sleeping.
4 For if God did not spare angels when
they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them into gloomy dungeons to be
held for judgment;
5 if he did not spare the ancient world
when he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher
of righteousness, and seven others;
6 if he condemned the cities of Sodom
and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is
going to happen to the ungodly;
7 and if he rescued Lot, a righteous
man, who was distressed by the filthy lives of lawless men
8 (for that righteous man, living among
them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he
saw and heard)--
9 if this is so, then the Lord knows how
to rescue godly men from trials and to hold the unrighteous for the day of
judgment, while continuing their punishment.
10 This is especially true of those who follow the corrupt desire of the sinful
nature and despise authority. Bold and arrogant, these men are not afraid
to slander celestial beings;
11 yet even angels, although they are
stronger and more powerful, do not bring slanderous accusations against such
beings in the presence of the Lord.
12 But these men blaspheme in matters they
do not understand. They are like brute beasts, creatures of instinct, born only
to be caught and destroyed, and like beasts they too will perish.
13 They will be paid back with harm for
the harm they have done. Their idea of pleasure is to carouse in broad
daylight. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their pleasures while they
feast with you.
14 With eyes full of adultery, they never
stop sinning; they seduce the unstable; they are experts in greed-- an accursed brood!
15 They have left the straight way and
wandered off to follow the way of Balaam son of Beor, who loved the wages of
wickedness.
16 But he was rebuked for his wrongdoing
by a donkey-- a beast without speech-- who spoke with a man's voice and
restrained the prophet's madness.
17 These men are springs without water and
mists driven by a storm. Blackest darkness is reserved for them.
18 For they mouth empty, boastful words
and, by appealing to the lustful desires of sinful human nature, they entice
people who are just escaping from those who live in error.
19 They
promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity-- for a man
is a slave to whatever has mastered him.
20 If they have escaped the corruption of
the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled
in it and overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the
beginning.
21 It would have been better for them not
to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn
their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them.
22 Of them the proverbs are true: "A
dog returns to its vomit," and, "A sow that is washed goes back to
her wallowing in the mud."
CHAPTER
3
17 Therefore, dear friends, since you
already know this, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of lawless men and fall from your secure
position.
II
Jn 1:7-11
7 Many deceivers, who do not acknowledge
Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such
person is the deceiver and the antichrist.
8 Watch out that you do not lose what
you have worked for, but that you may be rewarded fully.
9 Anyone
who runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have
God; whoever continues in the teaching has both the Father and the Son.
10 If anyone comes to you and does not bring
this teaching, do not take him into your house or welcome him.
11 Anyone who welcomes him shares in his
wicked work. (NIV)
Verse 11 warns us not to
share in this false teacher’s wicked work by supporting their ministries in any
way. Many (especially TV) preachers
encourage their viewers to give more than they can responsibly afford. They promise them that God will give them
even more money in return, like an investment.
Many claim that the interest rate on this type of investment is
100-fold. Some hearers then give, with
greedy intentions of cashing in on the 100-fold blessing. God is not really a banker though.
Rom
35 "Who has ever given to God, that
God should repay him?" (NIV)
New Agers, “Christian” or
otherwise, typically do not come out and say, “Jesus is not God”. They believe that however—since they believe
that they too, can become God (by realizing that they are God), like Jesus
did. They deny Christ’s exclusive claim
to deity. So did Benny Hinn above. That was more than 10 years ago. Does that mean that Benny always speaks the
mind of the spirit of antichrist?
No. Maybe he just dropped the
ball that day, or year. I don’t know,
and it does not matter to me.
1Thes
5:19-22
19 Do not put out the Spirit's fire;
20 do not treat prophecies with contempt.
21 Test everything. Hold on to the good.
22 Avoid every kind of evil. (NIV)
What matters is that we
“Avoid every kind of evil”, since the antichrist is attempting to take over the
church, and he has many pulpits already.
I
Jn 2:22-26
22 Who is the liar? It is the man who
denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a man is the antichrist-- he denies the
Father and the Son.
23 No one who denies the Son has the
Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also.
24 See that what you have heard from the
beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in
the Father.
25 And this is what he promised us-- even
eternal life.
26 I am writing these things to you about those who are trying to lead you astray. (NIV)
I
Jn 4:1-6
1 Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they
are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
2 This is how you can recognize the
Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the
flesh is from God,
3 but every spirit that does not
acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which
you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.
4 You, dear children, are from God and
have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who
is in the world.
5 They
are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the
world listens to them.
6 We are from God, and whoever knows God
listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how
we recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood.
(NIV)
You don’t have to try to be
New Age. It is the way of the
world. Here is an example:
Worldly?
Some people have the idea
that goes like this: “I can spend my
money however I want because I am under grace”.
Is this saving grace?
Titus
2:11-14
11 For
the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men.
12 It teaches
us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live
self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age,
13 while we wait for the blessed hope--
the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ,
14 who gave himself for us to redeem us
from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own,
eager to do what is good. (NIV)
The grace of God is the
opposite of the false-grace of the spirit of the antichrist.
“It
teaches us to say "No" to
ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and
godly lives in this present age..”
The false grace of the
antichrist promotes greed—disobedience to God’s stewardship commands. He rationalizes this with the 2 big New Age
lies:
- You are like God- Hey
c’mon, God knows what’s up. That
unnecessary consumer item is HOT!
Hey, God is like you, He probably wants it too! Take it for the Kingdom! He is not stingy. You would be foolish to pass up such a
“great deal”. God is your little
buddy--He wants you to have it. He
wants what is best for you! God
wants you to be happy right? He has
given you the freedom to do what you want! “it was for freedom He set us
free!” Do what thou wilt!
- You will not die-
“disobedience to God’s stewardship commands” C’mon… Who’s keeping score? God’s not going to send you to Hell for
just being a normal worldly person.
I mean, you’re not as greedy as the next guy. Everyone is a little greedy right? Lets face it, we’re all in it for
ourselves ultimately right? Don’t
get left behind. Do what thou wilt!
God is not your little buddy
Heb
7:26
26 Such a high priest meets our need-- one
who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart
from sinners, exalted above the heavens. (NIV)
I
Jn 2:1-6
1 My dear children, I write this to you
so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to
the Father in our defense-- Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.
2 He is the atoning sacrifice for our
sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.
3 We know that we have come to know him
if we obey his commands.
4 The man who says, "I know
him," but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in
him.
5 But if anyone obeys his word, God's
love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him:
6 Whoever
claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did. (NIV)
Are you holy, blameless, pure, and set
apart from sinners? Or are you just
a normal worldly person who happens also to go to church and do some Christian
things too?
Political Prosperity
To be of the World is to be anti-Christ
Luke
16:9-14
9 I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain
friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into
eternal dwellings.
10 "Whoever can be trusted with very
little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little
will also be dishonest with much.
11 So
if you have not been trustworthy in
handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches?
12 And if you have not been trustworthy
with someone else's property, who will give you property of your own?
13 "No servant can serve two masters.
Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the
one and despise the other. You cannot
serve both God and Money."
14 The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at
Jesus. (NIV)
This passage sheds light on
part of the reason why the Jewish rulers would not accept Jesus’ Messianic
claims. They did not want to lose their
political power—and the money associated with it. Seeking money and power more than Christ is
still the main reason why men reject Christ today.
John
11:47-53
47 Then the chief priests and the
Pharisees called a meeting of the Sanhedrin. "What are we accomplishing?"
they asked. "Here is this man performing many miraculous signs.
48 If we let him go on like this, everyone
will believe in him, and then the Romans
will come and take away both our place and
our nation."
49 Then one of them, named Caiaphas, who
was high priest that year, spoke up, "You know nothing at all!
50 You do not realize that it is better
for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation
perish."
51 He did not say this on his own, but as
high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation,
52 and not only for that nation but also
for the scattered children of God, to bring them together and make them one.
53 So from that day on they plotted to
take his life. (NIV)
Well, the Romans soon did come
and take away their place and their nation.
God no longer saw fit to protect them as a nation. God’s new covenant had transcended his chosen
nationality, since they rejected His written and incarnate Word. Now transcending politics, position, money,
and worldly methods, Christ calls all men to serve Him only.
2
Tim 2:3-4
3 Endure hardship with us like a good
soldier of Christ Jesus.
4 No
one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs-- he wants to
please his commanding officer. (NIV)
Let us examine the Jewish
leaders’ mistake more carefully. They
associated their country with God so much that their country was their
“god”. This is idolatry. God’s first
command through Moses was that His people should have “no gods before me”. Obviously, they placed the “god of politics”
before Him when they sought to kill Him--for threatening their political
power.
It is easy to look down on
the Jewish rulers with 20/20 hind-sight.
Do you not do the same thing? How
much do you associate God with your country?
Do you preach politics or Christ?
Do you alienate unbelievers who don’t associate God with your country as
much as you do? Do you alienate
unbelievers who associate you, God, and your country so closely that they
refuse God because of the problems they see in you and your country? Let’s not muddy the waters.
1
Cor 2:1-6
1 When I came to you, brothers, I did
not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony
about God.
2 For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except
Jesus Christ and him crucified.
3 I came to you in weakness and fear,
and with much trembling.
4 My message and my preaching were not
with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power,
5 so that your faith might not rest on
men's wisdom, but on God's power.
6 We do, however, speak a message of
wisdom among the mature, but not the
wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to
nothing. (NIV)
Greed for money and power
was the Pharisees mistake. Do not let it
be your mistake as well. Obey God’s stewardship commands and avoid all kinds
of greed.
Suffering for Christ
Suffering Persecution for
Christ: Optional?
You might have to re-think the
idea that if you follow Jesus, your life will “suddenly be better” (Dreher)—at
least, in the worldly sense of improvement.
From that normal or worldly perspective, your life may “suddenly be
worse”. However, the apostles don’t see
it that way:
Acts
41 The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted
worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name. (NIV)
Rom
5:3-4
3 Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we
know that suffering produces perseverance;
4 perseverance, character; and
character, hope. (NIV)
Rom
8:17-18
17 Now if we are children, then we are
heirs-- heirs of God and co-heirs with
Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in
his glory.
18 I consider that our present sufferings
are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. (NIV)
Phil
3:10-11
10 I want to know Christ and the power of
his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,
11 and
so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. (NIV)
2
Tim 3:10-12
10 You, however, know all about my
teaching, my way of life, my purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance,
11 persecutions, sufferings-- what kinds
of things happened to me in Antioch, Iconium and Lystra, the persecutions I
endured. Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them.
12 In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be
persecuted, (NIV)
Suffering can draw us
nearer to God
1 Pet 1:5-9
5 who through faith are shielded by
God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in
the last time.
6 In this you greatly rejoice, though
now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.
7 These have come so that your faith--
of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire-- may be
proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is
revealed.
8 Though you have not seen him, you love
him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled
with an inexpressible and glorious joy,
9 for you are receiving the goal of your
faith, the salvation of your souls.
(NIV)
Psalm
(119:67)
Before I was afflicted I went astray,
but now I obey your word.
(119:68) You
are good, and what you do is good;
teach me your decrees.
(119:69)
Though the arrogant have smeared me with lies,
I keep your precepts with all my heart.
(119:70) Their
hearts are callous and unfeeling,
but
I delight in your law.
(119:71) It
was good for me to be afflicted
so that I might learn your decrees.
(119:72) The law from your mouth is more precious to
me
than thousands of pieces of silver and gold.
IKing 20:28
28 The man of God came up and told the
king of Israel, "This is what the LORD says: 'Because the Arameans think
the LORD is a god of the hills and not a
god of the valleys, I will deliver this vast army into your hands, and you
will know that I am the LORD.'"
(NIV)
2
Cor 12:7-10
7 To keep me from becoming conceited
because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in
my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.
8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to
take it away from me.
9 But he said to me, "My grace is
sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I
will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may
rest on me.
10 That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in
hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am
strong. (NIV)
“rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering”
Acts
41 The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted
worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name. (NIV)
Well,
if you are still reading this, either you are offended, disturbed, or rejoicing
that you have been counted worthy to suffer, and are now looking for
opportunities to do so. Just look back
to Stewardship section—selling everything—that will bring the blessing of
sacrificial suffering into your life.
John
13:15-17
15 I have set you an example that you
should do as I have done for you.
16 I tell you the truth, no servant is
greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.
17 Now
that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them. (NIV)
I hope that the word
“blessed” in verse 17 now carries a more Godly meaning for you. How do you see this sacrifice of your
obedience to the scriptures? Do you view
it with disdain as something you must do in order get what you want—like
heaven? Or, are you rejoicing because
you have been counted worthy of suffering Christ?
Jesus deals with how you see
or perceive things here:
Luke
11:34-36
34 Your eye is the lamp of your body. When
your eyes are good, your whole body also is full of light. But when they are
bad, your body also is full of darkness.
35 See
to it, then, that the light within you is not darkness.
36 Therefore, if your whole body is full
of light, and no part of it dark, it will be completely lighted, as when the
light of a lamp shines on you."
(NIV)
Is your idea of blessing, or
prosperity based on worldliness, or darkness?
Does obeying these scriptures seem odious? Does light seem dark to you? The apostles see prosperity issues opposite
from the world. Do you?
35 See
to it, then, that the light within you is not darkness.
God is not selfish. Neither does he want you to be. Obey God’s
stewardship commands and avoid all kinds of greed.