The
Economy of the New Kingdom
When the day
of Pentecost was fully come the Spirit of God came like a mighty rushing wind
bring the kingdom of God to the hearts of men. Three thousand were added to the
church that very day. In a real sense a nation was born in a day. This first
century community of believers lived out, by the Spirit of God, the values of
the kingdom and abode in the words of Jesus, "Sell your possessions."
They continued steadfastly in the apostles' teaching
and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and prayer. Fear came on every soul,
and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. All who believed were together, and had all things in common. They sold
their possessions and goods, and distributed them to all, according as anyone
had need. Day by day, continuing steadfastly with one accord in the temple,
and breaking bread at home, they took their food with gladness and singleness of
heart, praising God, and having favor with all the people. The Lord added to the
assembly day by day those who were being saved. (Acts
2:42-47 WEB)
The multitude of those who believed were of one heart and
soul. Not one of them claimed that anything of the things which he possessed was
his own, but they had all things common. (Acts 4:32 WEB)
Those
who believed were of one heart and soul and because of this oneness, none of
them clung to their possessing but instead viewed them as belonging to the
entire body of believers. When a man and a women become one through marriage,
from that time on they have all things in common If the woman has great acquired
great debt, her debt becomes his because they are one. The first century body of
believers were so bound together in Christ's love that they could not imagine
hoarding to themselves or ignoring the plight of those among them in need. They
lived by the economy of the Kingdom. Constant watchfulness was required to
preserve this heavenly economy, protecting it from the greed of Cain.
Paul
wrote of this struggle.
For I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy; for I betrothed you
to one husband, that to Christ I might present you as a pure virgin.
But I am afraid, lest as the serpent deceived Eve by his
craftiness, your minds should be led astray from the simplicity and purity of
devotion to Christ.
For if one comes and preaches another Jesus whom we have not
preached, or you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a
different gospel which you have not accepted, you bear this beautifully. (2 Corinthians 11:2-4, NASB).
What was
that different gospel? Paul is speaking of it when he wrote to Timothy.
If anyone advocates a different doctrine, and does not agree with sound words, those of our Lord Jesus Christ, and with the doctrine conforming to godliness, he is conceited and understands nothing; but he has a morbid interest in controversial questions and disputes about words, out of which arise envy, strife, abusive language, evil suspicions, and constant friction between men of depraved mind and deprived of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain. (1 Timothy 6:3-5, NASB).
It was the gospel of GAIN or CAIN that was of another spirit and portrayed a
different Jesus. Look at the context of the following verses.
But we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you withdraw from every brother who walks disorderly and not according to the tradition which he received from us. For you yourselves know how you ought to follow us, for we were not disorderly among you; nor did we eat anyone's bread free of charge, but worked with labor and toil night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, not because we do not have authority, but to make ourselves an example of how you should follow us. (2 Thessalonians 3:6-9, NKJV).
Paul was drawing the line between his example among them of not lusting after
mammon and the way of the false teachers that had come in among them. It was
this lusting after their bread and their goods that Paul denoted as being
disorderly in these false teachers. His providing for himself by working among
them night and day was the good example. "If a man does not work, he should not
eat."
What is Mammon?
The Lord has been speaking to us about just how deep the western church has
fallen into the love of mammon and away from Christ. The deceitfulness of riches
has undermined our whole view of the gospel of Christ. How far we have fallen
from Jesus' teachings.
In Luke 16:11-13, Jesus further differentiated between the economy of heaven and the world.
Therefore
if you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?
And if you have not been faithful in what is another man's, who will give you
what is your own? 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. (Luke 16:11-13, NKJV).
What
did Jesus mean when He said, "You cannot serve God and mammon"? It is curious that out of all the Greek words for wealth
and money, Jesus chose this one. Mammon is a Babylonian word meaning riches, and is believed to be one of the
gods of Babylon. Jesus is addressing more than money here. He is saying
that you cannot serve the God of Heaven and the Babylonian god of wealth
at the same time. Christ is pointing to the origin of the system of commerce, as
we know it, and addressing it as an idol. The worship of mammon is taking on the
values of worldly Babylon, seeking the golden wedge and fine Babylonian
garments, adapting the weights and measures so men are exacted, oppressed and
brought into bondage. Jesus came declaring a Jubilee, "And this is the manner
of the release: Every creditor that lends anything to his neighbor shall release
it; he shall not exact it of his neighbor, or of his brother; because it is called
the LORD's release" (See Deuteronomy 15:2). The early church lived in a
continuous Jubilee.
In
1 Samuel 22:2 we read of such an oppressed people. "Every one that was in
distress, and every one that was in
debt, and every one that was discontented, gathered themselves unto David;
and he became a captain over them."
God
warned the children of Israel that because they rejected Him as their king and
chose a king after the order of the pagan nations, many woes would follow. God
warned them of the oppression that Saul would put upon the people. It happened
just as God had warned. Before long the inhabitants of the land were feeling the
pinch of their new king's taxation.
Israel
had asked for this. God wanted them to know that the king they requested, like
the kings of the nations round about, would be driven by the same passions that
animate the heathen kings, kings like Cain and Nimrod. The social byproduct of
such ambition is nagas, oppression.
At
God's direction Samuel warned them of the oppressive consequences of their
choice.
This will be the manner (Way) of the king who shall
reign over you: he will take your
sons, and appoint them to him, for his chariots, and to be his horsemen; and
they shall run before his chariots; and he will appoint them to him for captains
of thousands, and captains of fifties; and he will set some to plow his
ground, and to reap his harvest, and to make his instruments of war, and the
instruments of his chariots. He will take
your daughters to be perfumers, and to be cooks, and to be bakers. He
will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your olive groves, even the
best of them, and give them to his servants. He
will take the tenth of your seed, and of your vineyards, and give to his
officers, and to his servants. He will
take your men-servants, and your maid-servants, and your best young men, and
your donkeys, and put them to his work. He
will take the tenth of your flocks: and you shall be his servants. You shall
cry out in that day because of your king whom you shall have chosen you; and
Yahweh will not answer you in that day. (1 Samuel 8:11-19 WEB)
Six
times in the above passage God warned, "he [Saul] will TAKE." In spite of
this warning the people refused to listen to the voice of Samuel and insisted,
"No: but we will have a king over us."
So
they came by the droves, weary and oppressed, to the cave Adullam to David, a
shepherd like Abel, the true anointed of God. David was hiding from Saul, who,
like Cain, was enraged that God had favored another more than he. God had
favored and anointed David and Saul was threatened by that anointing and rose up
to kill.
Isaiah prophesied how thoroughly this way of Cain or
worship of mammon would divide, corrupt and oppress the people of God.
The people will be oppressed (nagas),
Everyone by another, And everyone by his neighbor. The child will behave himself
proudly against the old man, And the base against the honorable. (Isaiah 3:5
WEB)
This worship of mammon is also seen in the church at Laodicea which said, "I am rich and have need of nothing." They were so deceived that they could not see that their true need, Jesus, was left standing outside the door, asking to be let in. They had gone the way of Balaam. Those who serve mammon are like Saul, they take and take and take, store and store, build and build, lay up treasures unto themselves and trust in their storehouses against the day of disaster. They say, "I am rich and have need of nothing." They say to their soul, "Soul, you have much goods laid up for many years; take your ease, eat, drink, and be merry." But what frightening words are these? "You fool, this night your soul shall be required of you: then whose shall those things be, which you have provided? So is he that lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God."
It is
interesting to note that the Laodicean church saw itself as rich, increased with
goods and in need of nothing. Now look at the description of Babylon the Great
and what is behind her closed door:
. . .merchandise of gold, silver, precious stones, pearls, fine linen,
purple, silk, scarlet, all expensive wood, every vessel of ivory, every vessel
made of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble. . . .and cinnamon,
incense, perfume, frankincense, wine, olive oil, fine flour, wheat, sheep,
horses, chariots, bodies, and people's souls.
(Revelation 18:12 -13 WEB)
In the western church we see an ever increasing
accumulation of wealth. In western eyes, bigger is always better. Just as
America has continued to gather wealth, so has the church. Today, America has
about five percent of the world's population, but also has about eight-five
percent of the world's wealth. As the wealth has increased in her, her
benevolence and her outreach to the poor nations has become less and less. The
same is true of the American church. Anyone who has served on a deacon board
knows what a tiny percentage of the church income is given to the poor and needy
in the community and to missions abroad.
I,
Michael, spent some time in Guatemala working in a Christian orphanage. These
precious children really touched my heart, though the poverty of these dear
little saints of God was not nearly as great as those still living on the
streets of Guatemala City. Later, on the way back from another trip to Central
America, the brother who was driving me through Los Anglos wanted to take me on
a short jaunt to see the famous Christian Crystal City, built around the
ministry of a famous TV preacher. The contrast between that poor third world
nation and what was built in the name of Jesus made me sick to my stomach.
The
door of this Laodicean church system is not only closed against Jesus, keeping
its wealth inside, but against "the least of these." We heap blessing after
blessing upon ourselves and ignore the plight of our brothers and sisters in the
third world. This is an affront to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Jesus told many a
parable about His Father having problems with stewards and their control of
money. Tight fisted and stingy control of that wealth seems to be a common
malady among them. The same is true in this last days church.
We give a token offering to the poor so that we won't look bad, but who are
the ones living in the fine houses and driving the fancy cars, the widows and
orphans or the so-called benefactors who would be kings? If you have never gone
on a short-term mission among the poor of the third world, you should. If you
have the heart of Christ, it will change your life forever.
Jesus
said,
"I was a stranger, and you didn't take me in; naked, and you didn't clothe
me; sick, and in prison, and you didn't visit me."
Then they will also answer, saying, "Lord, when did we see you hungry, or
thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and didn't help you?" Then he will answer them,
saying, "Most assuredly I tell you, inasmuch as you didn't do it to one of the
least of these, you didn't do it to me."
(Matthew 25:43-45 WEB)
Notice
the surprise of the goats as they answer the Lord. "When did we see you
hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and didn’t
help you?" They tithed and even put a couple bucks in the annual special
missions offering, but they were NOT good stewards of what was given to them.
They thought the money they blindly gave to the church coffers was all going to
a good cause. This is not good stewardship. We are also responsible for how the
money we give is spent. It is plain from the New Testament that God's heart is
not in providing big salaries to church rulers or providing castles for these
kings to rule from. God's heart
is on taking care of the widows and the orphans, the least of these, not the
greatest (James 1:27).
We believe that the deceitful work of this false god called Mammon is undermining the gospel of Christ in the west and has made way for all the other perversions that are sweeping through the church and its leaders at this time. The reason for this is quite simple. "For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also" (Luke 12:34 RSV).