Money-Making Bible Hucksters And Mammon

MONEY-MAKING BIBLE HUCKSTERS AND MAMMON : PT 3

Copyright 1994 - 2009 Endtime Prophecy Net

Published On : December 3, 1997

Last Updated : May 22, 2009

Mark Of The Beast, What Will You Do?, A Sad Conversation In
Heaven, Using Modern Technology To Reach The Lost, Motivated
By Love, Money - The Root Of All Evil, Erring From The Faith,
Good Samaritan And Spiritual Doctors, A Free Gospel For All,
Follow The Example Of The First Century Church, Conclusion

As we have seen, some Christians today have replaced their
faith in the true God of Heaven, with faith in the false god
of this current world -- Satan -- and his devilish system of
money, profit and materialism. They have been enticed by his
deceitful offerings, and they have lost their way. They may
still proclaim "In God We Trust", but the god in whom they
are trusting seems to be the one which is printed or molded
on worldly money. However, as I point out in other articles,
eventually, even that will be replaced by a more diabolical
system. When the time comes, not even credit cards and Smart
Cards will suffice then. The god of this world won't be happy
until he has everyone worshipping him directly. Ultimately,
he will force his loyal followers to receive a unique mark;
possibly a biochip implant, similar to the VeriChip, to
demonstrate their sole allegiance to him. As we also read in
the Book of Revelation:

"And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor,
free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in
their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he
that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number
of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding
count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a
man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six."
Revelation 13:16-18, KJV

So we must ask ourselves: What is going to happen to all of
these money-making Bible hucksters and wheeler-dealers who
currently depend upon filthy lucre -- the unrighteous mammon
-- to sustain their "abundant lifestyle"? What are they going
to do when there isn't any money left for anyone to buy their
books, magazines, tapes, videos, DVD's, CD's, etc.? Will they
simply stop preaching the Gospel? Are they simply going to go
along with the crowd and accept the Mark of the Beast so they
can continue to survive in a Satan-dominated world, and sell
their commercialized brand of Christianity? More importantly,
if you are such a money-making Bible huckster, what are you
going to do when some day you have to face the Lord? I can
just imagine a conversation similar to the following:

"Well Lord, I bet you are really proud of me. After all, I
sold one million copies of my book on how to be a successful
Christian in the modern world, and three million copies of my
Endtime video presentation with special emphasis on the Book
of Daniel, and five million copies of my tapes on the Book of
Revelation with special sound effects. I was a well-respected
member of my church, and a pillar of my community. I was an
acclaimed Christian writer, I helped to fund our mega-church,
and . . ."

And then, after you've explained to the Lord in great detail
why you merit your Crown of Life, and entrance into Heaven,
maybe the Lord will look at you sadly for a moment, and then
say something similar to the following:

"Well son, you know, I really wanted to use you to reach some
of those poor folks down there in that poor neighborhood, but
you informed them that they couldn't have a copy of your book
unless they gave you a "donation" first. You just teased them
by telling them about the wonderful things they could learn
from reading your book. I had to go and send someone else who
had a real love for the lost, and who wasn't just interested
in making money or upholding his public image. I am certainly
glad to see those folks made it into the Kingdom despite your
dismal failure. Depart from me ye worker of iniquity! I never
knew you!"

Now, let me clarify here that I am not saying that it's wrong
to use all of these different methods -- printing magazines,
books and newsletters, producing music and lesson tapes and
CD's, making videos, recording MP3's -- in order to preach the
Gospel. We live in the modern world, so naturally, we should
take advantage of modern technology and use modern methods in
order to reach people with the Gospel and to feed God's sheep.
Furthermore, we should each do whatever the Lord shows us to
do, use whatever method works for us, and do whatever we can
afford to do. As we read earlier in the Book of Acts, "every
man according to his ability". As Paul explains in his first
Epistle to the Corinthians, we each have our chosen ministry,
and we each have our particular gifts and talents from the
Lord.

However, as I have made abundantly clear, where the problem
lies is when these money-making Bible hucksters turn God's
business of winning souls to the Kingdom of Heaven into just
another worldly commercial enterprise, and they refuse to let
people hear the Gospel -- assuming that they're preaching the
real Gospel -- simply because people can't afford to pay for
it. When they do this, when they put money before the Most
High, as many of them now do, it is wrong, wrong, wrong, and
it is really time for them to check their hearts, and to see
what their real motives are for being in the Gospel business.

After listing all of the different gifts and ministries of
the Spirit in chapter twelve, the Apostle Paul concludes by
saying the following:

"But covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet shew I unto you
a more excellent way."
1 Corinthians 12:31, KJV

It is right after this, that Paul expounds on the importance
of the gift of charity; that is to say, love. Now, if you are
saying, "Pay me first, and then I will send you what the Lord
has shown me", then I will tell you here and now that you've
got your priorities all wrong! You are not being motivated by
God's love! You are not lovingly sharing the Gospel with the
Lord's sheep; you are raping them! You are not really serving
the Lord, you are serving filthy lucre! Whether or not you
have realized it, you have erred from the faith! If you doubt
that this is so, then please remember the warning that Paul
issued in his Epistle to Timothy:

"For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while
some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and
pierced themselves through with many sorrows."
1 Timothy 6:10, KJV

So as you can plainly see, when you covet money and profit,
and place profit above preaching the Gospel and reaching
the lost, you have in fact erred from the faith, plain and
simple. It's right there in black and white. Furthermore,
unless you straighten out, one of these days you are going
to face a sorrow which you will wish you hadn't -- shame
and everlasting contempt!

I don't know how hospitals operate in your area, but where I
live, the hospital is not permitted to turn away anybody if
they do not have any money. Of course, I will admit that the
local hospital experiences certain financial problems as a
result of its adherence to this policy; but quite frankly, I
think that they are doing the right thing, and that it is a
real sign of compassion. It reminds me of the Parable of the
Good Samaritan. As you will recall, the Samaritan also spent
money out of his own pocket in order to help a stranger;
that is to say, the injured man whom he found lying on the
roadside. Along the same vein, aren't we Christians supposed
to be spiritual doctors as well? Aren't we suppose to help
heal people in a spiritual sense by bringing them to Jesus
and sharing the Good News of Salvation with them, whether
they can pay us for it or not? That's what my Bible teaches
me.

In conclusion, it is my firm belief that no one should ever
have to pay a single penny, pound pence or peso in order to
hear or read information regarding Biblical truth. All of it
should be freely available to all people everywhere, because
we have freely received the precious Gift of Eternal Life by
Christ's Sacrifice on the Cross, and He has never charged us
anything for it, other than our love and devotion to Him.

If you are a preacher of the Gospel, I sincerely hope that
this series will cause you to stop and really check your own
heart. I hope that you are freely sharing God's truth out of
genuine love for the lost, and not for any other reason. I
also pray that you will find a way to freely distribute your
books, magazines, newsletters, CD's, DVD's, MP3's, etc., to
the people of the world, and thus follow the example of the
First Century Church leaders and disciples, who were willing
to suffer personal discomfort and inconvenience, rather than
make a worldly business out of preaching the Gospel. I also
hope that you are building upon the right foundation, so
that your works will last, and will follow you into Heaven.
As it is written:

"If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he
shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned,
he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so
as by fire."
1 Corinthians 3:14-15, KJV

"And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write,
Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth:
Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their
labours; and their works do follow them."
Revelation 14:13, KJV

May the Lord richly bless you as you freely share the Gospel
of Salvation with others out of a pure, unselfish heart. If
you know of anyone who is not following the Biblical counsel
contained in this series, then I encourage you to share this
series with them, so that they may know the truth. Please
also feel free to share the URL of this series with all of
your online friends far and wide. Thanks so much!