The way the world works

Outtake from this past Wednesday's study in Ezekiel 28:

I Timothy 6: [10] 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.

"It's not money that's the root of all evil; it's the covetousness. It's the love of money. The love of money becomes evil when it causes you to err from the truth. When it carries you away from what's right. When gain becomes more important than anything. That's when it becomes filthy lucre. They love money because they err from the truth.

Colossians 3:5: [5] Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:

" 'Covetousness, which is idolatry' is the opposite of what Jesus Christ taught Israel. Matthew 16:

[24] Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
[25] For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.
[26] For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

"The issue isn't satisfying yourself; the issue is satisfying the Lord. The offer that God makes is, 'This isn't about you getting rich, getting what you want. This is about obeying me.' That's why Christ says, 'This is truth,' and they'll take the truth and turn it into a lie.

"It's this way with everything in the world; Satan's system. Look, it's this way in politics, anything in the social world, not just religion. Everything out there is designed to follow that pattern: 'I can get privilege, I can get position, I can get wealth, I can get fame.'

"You either stand for the truth, folks, wherever it is with whatever it is, or you sell out for gain. That's the way the world works because that's the way Satan designed the world to work. Money, influence, power, position.

Ezekiel 28: [5] By thy great wisdom and by thy traffick hast thou increased thy riches, and thine heart is lifted up because of thy riches:

"He takes those things and a third of the upper echelon of the angelic host followed him as he trafficked. He sold his goods to them, trained them to be salesmen and sent them out to traffick it to the other angelic host, then developed a fulfilment system to traffick it out with them and it went all the way through . . . 

"You need to understand the motivation. The merchandising and the trafficking; the scheme that he developed had to do with, 'I'll make you rich; I'll make YOU the center of attention.' What's the middle letter of the word 'sin'? Middle of the word 'pride'? I Timothy 3:6 says, [6] Not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil.

"Paul said don't be lifted up by pride because you'll fall into the condemnation of the devil. When Satan developed the lie program, the satanic policy of evil (Isaiah 14), everywhere it's 'I will, I will, I will, I will.'

"He said, 'I'll change the truth of God into a lie and worship the creature more than the Creator.'

The deification of the creature is the lie program because he said, 'I will be like; I'll take the position of the Most High.'

"Then he'll tell you, 'You can come up on the throne with me.' That's the lie of the Adversary but that's the attractiveness. Every time sin enters your life it's because you take that approach; you say, 'I'll do it my way.'

"The religious system is operating by that and that's why Paul, when he talks in Philippians 3, he says, [7] But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. about what things were gain to me

"In Galatians 1 he says, [14] And profited in the Jews' religion above many my equals in mine own nation, being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my fathers.

"He's saying, 'I was making a fortune. Not just financially, but in position, in popularity, fame, reputation. I was going places.'

"In fact, when you look at Paul's life in Acts 9, he was leading his nation in rebellion against the Lord Jesus Christ. He was the guy in which the leaders of his nation had entrusted to take the leaders of the 'little flock' captive and force them to recant.

"Paul's literally leading the charge. They had that kind of confidence in him and he had that kind of position. Going for it; that's the lie program and the Adversary. That's the hook that he uses. That's the hook he uses for everything, not just religion. That's how the whole system works.

"You watch out in the world; you watch yourself out in the world and you see that if there's money in it . . .  Old Bob Jones used to say, 'If it doesn't make sense there's a buck in it somewhere,' and that's a dying truth.

"The reason for that is Ezekiel 28: [15] Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.' Till this plan to say, 'Gain is godliness.' Paul says, 'From such turn away.'

(new article tomorrow)