Watch out for the ministers of greed

"And he took up his parable, and said, Balak the king of Moab hath brought me from Aram, out of the mountains of the east, saying, Come, curse me Jacob, and come, defy Israel. 8How shall I curse, whom God hath not cursed? or how shall I defy, whom the LORD hath not defied?" (Num. 23:7-8).

Watch out for the ministers of greed. When Israel journeyed in the wilderness Balak, King of the Moabites, tried to hire one of those ministers of greed named Balaam to curse Israel. But God spoke to Balaam and revealed to Him that the blessed of the Lord can't be cursed. Balaam would have taken the money and cursed Israel if God hadn’t intervened. Jude gives us insight into the heart of Balaam when he wrote, “Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core” (Jude 11).

These ministers of greed are still around today. They will tell you want you want to hear for money and the people love them for it. These ministers of greed that preach the prosperity gospel today are like you're average con man. The average greedy con man is successful at getting over on people because he knows about the greed that lurks in the heart of his so called victims. Most of the people that fall prey to the con man have a little larceny in their own hearts. The people that fall prey to the message that Jesus is there to make you rich are full of the same greed that their preachers are filled with. But the only ones getting rich is the money grubbing preacher in the pulpit not the money loving dummy in the pew.

The Apostle Paul also wrote about ministers of greed when he said, “If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, 4he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, 5and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain. 6Now there is great gain in godliness with contentment, 7for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. 8But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. 9But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs” (1 Tim. 6:3-10).

Do you want to be blessed? Watch out for those that will tell you that godliness is a means of gain. In other words watch out for those who say, “Become a Christian and God will make you wealthy and healthy. Get away from that heresy. Paul said, “Godliness plus contentment equals gain. When godliness is not a means to an end but the end itself the result will be contentment, the result will be righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost (Romans 14:16).

Can a Christian be cursed? God told the greedy prophet that the king wanted to hire to curse Israel, “...Thou shalt not go with them; thou shalt not curse the people: for they are blessed” (Numbers 22:12). The blessed of the Lord can't be cursed. Christian today are also the blessed of the Lord in their position in Christ. The Apostle Paul wrote, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ” (Eph. 1:3). What a blessed inheritance we have in Christ.

Now, your position in Christ is one thing, but what about your walk as a Christian? The Psalmist wrote, "Blessed is the man the walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord..." (Psalm 1:1-6). The blessed of the Lord (as far as their walk is concern) are those that love His word and are walking in obedience to it. The blessed of the Lord are those that know God and are seeking to live a godly life not as a means to end but to the glory to God. The Apostle Peter wrote, "For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil" (1 Pet. 3:12). “Trust and obey for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey.”