Who is the man that fears the LORD? Him shall He teach in the way He chooses. He himself shall dwell in prosperity, And his descendants shall inherit the earth. The secret of the LORD is with those who fear Him, And He will show them His covenant. Psalm 25:12-14
Over the course of my life, I have had the unfortunate occasion to be involved with quite a few pastors and evangelist who felt that they were “My Lord” and wanted me to be followers of them rather than a follower of Christ. Some had tried to tell me who I was to marry, others how I was to spend my hard earned money, and others just wanted to steal my hard earned money. But the word of God tells us quite clearly “Who is the man that fears the LORD? Him shall He teach in the way He chooses.” It also tells us “The secret of the LORD is with those who fear Him, And He will show them His covenant.” It’s foolish to heed and follow men when you can heed and follow the Lord who will take you places you only dreamed to go! The Lord is the only One who can save, heal, deliver and work miracles while men can only talk words that are dead the moment they are spoken. Nevertheless God’s word is unchanging:
"No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon." Now the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, also heard all these things, and they derided Him. And He said to them, "You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God. Luke 16:13-15
And He looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury, and He saw also a certain poor widow putting in two mites. So He said, "Truly I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all; "for all these out of their abundance have put in offerings for God, but she out of her poverty put in all the livelihood that she had." Mark 21:1-4
A pastoral acquaintance, who was a millionaire, once preached, before he collected money for his new building program, that the success of a Christian was evident by the amount of money he had, for had not God blessed Abraham with much silver and gold? And he suggested that his sheep sell their jewelry or whatever they had that they had too much off including their registered retirement savings plan and give the money to the church building fund. He had also preached previously that the poor widow who out of her poverty put in all the livelihood that she had became a millionaire here on earth for God rewards a cheerful giver! Unlike Mel Gibson who totally funded his move and ministry, the Passion, this Pastor felt it was wise to take the sheep's money rather than spend his own! But to touch their savings plan is the work of a real wolf who will not support them when they lose it?
But “preachers do have a license in their preaching to a make heavenly exaggeration which is not to be considered as a lie,” said another preacher who felt that it was not a sin to rob and rape the sheep as it’s their God given obligation to support “the church,” failing to understand that the church was not a building but a collection of people who had faith in God and were not only poor in spirit but sometimes poor in money and wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented. God’s word is unchanging:
Still others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented- of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth. And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise, God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us. Hebrews 11:36-40
This pastoral acquaintance who was in reality a wolf in sheep’s clothing appointed a four man board who rubber stamped all this deeds and expenditures. He issued no budgets to the sheep nor disclosed his total compensation or that of his wife. And he immediately removed the membership of those who asked for financial accountability by telling his board lies about those who threatened his dictatorial rule and empire. But true prosperity is more than money, even though money solves a lot of problems. True prosperity is having faith in God who can do anything but fail His trusting ones. True prosperity is to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world. God’s word is unchanging:
Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures. So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.
Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does. If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one's religion is useless. Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world. James 1:17-27
Helping and ministering: to the strangers, the hungry, thirsty, naked, or sick, who are our neighbors, is what Jesus would want us to do? But many preachers, even prominent ones, don’t help and minister to their real neighbors, members of their own congregation. The indifference and callousness and hypocrisy of some preachers are things that we have personally experienced in different places of worship where we had come as strangers. Many people did not treat us nicely there, except when it came time to ask for the offering. They forgot that the Lord loves strangers but He didn’t! Strangers in Egypt gave shelter to the Lord’s people, the nation of Israel, in a time of great famine; and, to His Son Jesus, who had to flee to Egypt for shelter when Herod wanted to kill Him.
A real Man of God, one after God’s own heart and not a false prophet, will love and spend time with strangers. As heathens, we were once strangers, and have since become part of the family of God, and want to show the love and Kingdom of God to others, not just in words but in actions. The Bible tells us what happens to those who treat strangers badly:
“You shall neither mistreat a stranger nor oppress him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. You shall not afflict any widow or fatherless child. If you afflict them in any way, and they cry at all to Me, I will surely hear their cry; and My wrath will become hot, and I will kill you with the sword; your wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless. “ (Exodus 22:21-24)
Jesus Himself told us to:
“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. “You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? “Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. “A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. “Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. “Therefore by their fruits you will know them. (Matthew 7:15-20)
Jesus told us about false prophets to look at their fruits and deeds, their cars, homes, wealth and words and see how they helped the poor and needy whom we were to love for the characteristics of God in them: love, justice, righteousness and truth. We were not to be impressed with the false prophets by the size of their churches, the friends with whom they associated their credentials, or their long prayers and eloquent words. We were to be fruit inspectors, to see how they treated their family, their friends, their neighbors and even strangers. Jesus told about false prophets, who come in sheep’s clothing but were inwardly ravenous wolves. Jesus gave His life for the sheep but wolves take the life of the sheep! God’s word is unchanging:
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ (Matthew 7:21-23)
For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works. 2 Corinthians 11:13-15
Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. And He found in the temple those who sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the moneychangers doing business. When He had made a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers' money and overturned the tables. And He said to those who sold doves, "Take these things away! Do not make My Father's house a house of merchandise!" Then His disciples remembered that it was written, "Zeal for Your house has eaten Me up." John 2:13-17
WALTER KAMBULOW
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