Beloved, this is His work, not ours. Only the indwelling life of Christ is the PEARL of GREAT PRICE (Matt. 13:46) for which a man sells all he has and follows after. Jesus had a lot to say about money. “No man can serve two masters, he will either love the one, and hate the other…” (Mat. 6:24). But pay careful attention. Jesus did not identify the two masters as God and the devil, sin or godliness, Republican or Democrat. NO! He said they were God or MAMMON. Mammon is the riches of this “present world.” It could be money or all the things money can buy. Obviously this tide of seeking riches has crept into the church and is masquerading as a “great move of God.” Our Savior has become to many an advertising gimmick or a formula for financial success.
Jesus was so incensed by this marketing and racketeering in the house of God that we read in John 2:15: “And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers’ money, and overthrew the tables;” In Luke 12:20-34 we see what Jesus said about the one who rests in his riches: “Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? …But rather seek ye the kingdom of God; and all these things shall be added unto you… For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” Jesus even said that at the end of the age there would come those saying “Lord, did not we prophesy in your name, do miracles, etc” (Matt. 7:22-23). But the Lord will say “I never knew you.”
The gospel of Jesus Christ is not about how we can use God to live a problem free, financially solvent, and lucrative life. Instead it is how we can be set free from sin, sickness, despair, death, and a sentence of hell. The gospel is not about how we can produce gain for God but how He can produce godliness in us!
