Jesus Was Rich?

I spoke to a lady from a very well publicized "ministry" in the US and Canada, today on the phone and had to listen to her tell me that Jesus was rich, that it's His will for us to be rich (financially). I asked her wasn't it Jesus who said "you can't serve God and mammon"?, and lay not up treasures on earth but in heaven? I then said were Peter, Paul, and the first century Christians rich? Or were they being fed live to lions in Roman Coliseums, and being stoned to death (Stephen), crucified upside down, etc for their faith in Jesus.

I almost couldn't believe to hear the words out of her mouth defending this generic letter I got in the mail, begging for me to send them money and having the audacity to tell me "YOU BECOME RICH - LINKED WITH JESUS FOR RICHES". I wanted to vomit.

I have heard, albeit very minimally that there are alot of preachers who say that Jesus was filthy rich, one of the richest men ever. And this is in quote, unquote "evangelical Bible believing churches". Have you heard this?

This has grieved my heart tremendously. It is almost to the point where I enjoy conversations with those in the world, who are completely lost much more than so many "professing" Christians because they are just so far off.

David Wilkerson's "Another Gospel" paints this picture clear as day, and I saw it first hand today. God help us.

Yes,this is very sad.

And a certain scribe came, and said unto him, Master, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest.
And Jesus saith unto him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.
-John 8:19-20

its sad... i cant find any words to describe this. People twist the gospel to fit their own need. In my church they have to make another jesus to fit the world... i was talking to one of my friends about my church and this friend is not saved...and he said to my but i understand them(my church)
they just want to go whit the flow(the world)
and it hit me, if a man,a person who is of the world....a lost sinner.... can understand the church ....then something is completly wrong.
my pastor is trying his best to make jesus more "attractive" its not enough just whit jesus...they are doing big musicals and theaters and making it a big comedy...thousand people sitting and laughing...they had this remember day talking about that my church have direct connection to azusa street...and i almost cried when they was so proud...from azusa to this??
but the worst thing is everybody seems ok whit this. I stoped going there, becase it makes my so sad and angry everytime i go to church.
but i found a small group of praying men and womans.... we read the word of god and pray... and go witnessing.
we all have a personal responsebility to god.
you cant stand before god and say well my pastor said so and so. What do the bible say!!!!

ohh god my lord, help me.
Use me for your glory , use me to show truth to the ones that are decived, help me show the lost who you are , give me the strenght and the curage to go where you send me, speak what you will have me speak. For your names sake.
We all have a responsibility to tell them the TRUTH...

so many are decived...so many

gods peace to you
christian

Thank you for posting this. This grieves my heart. We treat Jesus as if he's a genie. He is not my servant, he's the Lord God of heaven, the creator of heaven and earth, the Master of the Universe.

It also reminds me of a sermon on SI that I haven't listened to in some time entitled "Run for your Life" by Carter Conlon.

May this deception drives us to our knees for those who are deceived by the enemy.

brethren
this indeed is a terrible thing as are many other things out there which pass for Christianity which are abominations before God. to be grieved by all these things is good, the truth of the matter is we are sharing in our Lord's grief over all this. our Lord is ultimately the one who suffers the most, more so than we can perceive.

our Lord will surely bring a curse on those who preach any false gospel and expose the lies so His name may be glorified.

May this deception drives us to our knees

Oh..yes :-(

This week I read in newspaper about a public healing meeting in my country. I think this is the first public meeting in such meazurements here. Pastor from Australia came as a miracle maker.
Quote from the newspaper:
"There were people who came for the show and in joke they telling us 'we had privilige to be in something as in american movies'"
This disturbed my soul..because this is happening in the name of Jesus.

Maybe this in America is daily grind, but here is coming right now...also the prosperity gospel.

saints we must pray for God to convict strongly false preachers and teachers

Hi brother,

Indeed it is grevious indeed. This sort of thing has been going on here in America for a very long time now, many who participate here in this forum have come out of these types of constructs, I was one of them.

Reading through Acts last week, this really stood out:

[i] And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye?

16 And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, and overcame them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.

17 And this was known to all the Jews and Greeks also dwelling at Ephesus; and fear fell on them all, [u]and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified.[/u][/i]

Believe my NKJV has it "was held in high esteem among the people" something to that effect. It just brought to mind how low and opposite His Name is often used by many in this day. It is easier to bear hearing the taking of his Name in vain from those who do not know Him then it is to hear these things from those who profess they do.

It's true!

Jesus was the richest of all, but

[b]Phi 2:6-8[/b] [color=990000]Although from the beginning He had the nature of God He did not reckon His equality with God a treasure to be tightly grasped.
:7 Nay, He stripped Himself of His glory, and took on Him the nature of a bondservant by becoming a man like other men.
:8 And being recognized as truly human, He humbled Himself and even stooped to die; yes, to die on a cross.[/color]

Let this mind be in you which was in Christ Jesus.

Hi ! this just brings me to remember again, when the tax collection came up, Jesus instructed that a coin be collected from the fishes mouth! Jesus relied entirely on God The Father for provision, i cant believe He did this whilst having a lot of money for Himself and not paying tax!

i cant understand if a man or woman belive jesus to be god.... how can they belive that god would need money?

christian

Christian asked,

how can they belive that god would need money

I really appreciate the relative freshness of this question. It makes me wonder if this teaching is primarily an American idea, or if it is being taught across the globe...at least in wealthier societies. I understand there are some mega-money-ministries down in South America that would surprise us Americans.

Christian, these prosperity "teachers" would agree with you in a way. They would say that God doesn't need money because He already owns everything. According to them, if God doesn't pour money on you, it's because your "faith" isn't super-charged enough. (You see, they teach that your faith is an energy transmission that gives power to God, like he is a divine appliance in stand-by mode waiting to be activated. This is the harmful spin of this teachng...that God can not be God without your faith.)

The sad result is that poor and sick people are dejected and rich and healthy people are unduly honored. When I was 19, for a semester, I attended a Freddy Price sattelite ministry that taught this silliness. As a young baptist college student I was attracted to their "excitement" for God.

I discovered that the worst part about their doctrine is not their shameless love for money. A more hurtful aspect of this teachng is the wrong idea that YOU can avoid financial and physical suffering in your life by being "spiritual" enough. In their thinking, God is not honored as God...he is limited or unlimited according to the measure of your "faith". Once A Christian believes that suffering can be avoided, that godliness can lead to financial gain, and that God will "release" material blessings in this life according to the merit of your spiritual maturity, there is no end to the confusion and stumbling in the faith that can be experienced. Worse yet, healthy and wealthy people in these churches can be sorely tempted to think they are more pleasing to God then the poor man.

"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?"

MC