Lovers of Money Part 2

245 - Today's Prime Time Devo comes from 2Ti 3:1,2 “ But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: 2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, Let's look more closely at these strength sapping influences and behaviors that will plague the church until our Lord returns. I want to spend one more day on this matter of men becoming lovers of money. When money wags the tail of a church the message will at some point become compromised....soft. In the Old Testament, there is an account of Balaam, who was a prophet of God, but saw an opportunity for financial gain from Balak. Balak was looking for a way to be victorious over Israel (the Old Testament church) Balaam, looking for financial reward, suggested that Balak lure the Israelites into sexual sin and it worked! This sin of Balaam got special mention in the Book of Jude, Jude 1:11 Woe to them! For they have gone in the way of Cain, have run greedily in the error of Balaam for profit, and perished in the rebellion of Korah. And in the Book of Revelation as this sin of Balaam was listed as one of the sins of the church at Pergamos: Re 2:14 "But I have a few things against you, because you have there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality. Balaam did this for the sake of money. The message and the church was compromised. Sometimes churches today fall into the same trap, looking the other way as sexual sin is never brought up, lest it offend someone and hurt attendance and consequently the offering. James also addressed the matter of problems arising from the love of money. When a rich man comes into the assembly and you fawn all over him, it is called partiality. It creates disunity and a system of judging by the outward appearance of wealth as opposed to inward condition of the heart! When the rich are catered to over the poor, when church discipline is tied into the amount of money in the offering plate, we have a grievous problem. Again, this problem has been with the church from the beginning and will crop up until the Lord returns. Be prepared for it, resist it, never forgetting that you cannot serve God and mammon! There are so many more examples given in Scripture! Read about Simon the Sorcerer and Ananias and Sapphira in the Book of Acts! Read about the rich farmer and the rich young ruler in the gospels. Learn from all of them and keep your priorities straight!