The Bible gives us definitions of what it means to be rich and what it means to be poor.  The Bible doesn’t recognize a person as poor until they are in a position of destitution, that they don’t know where their next meal is coming from.  That is the poverty line, scripturally.  The character traits that follow most rich men.  They are oppressors of the poor.  People get rich off the poor people that are around them.  Just look at India, and look at many of the other nations that have caste systems, the elite, monarchies, whatever different governments happen to be in place.  So, with that spirit being prominent in the elite, the wealthy of the world.  We’re the elite; we’re the elite.  What is the problem that the Scripture speaks of?  The problem is that we compare ourselves by ourselves.  “I’m not rich!”  Yes, you are.  You may not be rich compared to the person sitting next to you, but you’re rich according to the rest of the other eight billion people on the planet.

As the rich of the world, we need to see that we’ve got to guard our hearts and keep ourselves in a spiritual condition of thanksgiving and contentment for where God has placed us; amen?  That’s what we’re striving for.  It’s not what the amount is; it’s not how many zeroes we have in our checkbook that we have to worry about; it’s the attitude of our hearts.  The money itself won’t harm you.  It’s the spirit that works behind the scenes to cause individuals to begin to trust in that money instead of in God.  There has been, in the history of man this particular mindset, this particular doctrine, if you please, that somehow those that have abundance are blessed of God.  That’s in the minds of most of humanity today.  If you go out into the world and draw on all of the pagan religions, they believe that if something bad happens in your life, you’ve done something evil, you’re cursed, God’s not happy with you.  But if somehow you get blessed and favored, then God is on your side.  “That’s from the Lord.”

The fastest growing doctrine in the world today is this doctrine that we’re familiar with here.  It’s the doctrine that’s been promoted by men like Kenneth Copeland and today, T.D. Jakes.  Charlatans, false prophets, liars, con men; not the anointed of God.  They’re spreading this doctrine around the world.  This prosperity doctrine is being embraced, tragically, because of the wicked hearts of men.  Let’s remember what the Scripture says.  “The people love to have it so” (Jeremiah 5:31).  Amen?  “Oh, these poor people.”  That’s where their hearts are!  People that are wanting and thinking they can have gain and it not really cost them anything.  Somebody was just saying the other day, I can’t remember what it was, one of the new con-type jobs that are not jobs; doctrines that are out there, where you can get all of this stuff and it won’t cost you anything.  There are no free lunches.  (Unless you’re a Democrat.)  “What do you mean?  We got this free!”  No, you did not.  I paid for that.  It didn’t cost you, but it wasn’t free; it cost me.  Amen?

So, here we are, living in this last day as Christians.  We have to come back to understanding finance.  The return of the Lord is the most referenced topic in the Bible, but finances, money, has, I think, the third or fourth most verses about it in the Bible as a topic.  It’s amazing.  The wise man spoke and said, “Money answereth all things” (Ecclesiastes 10:19).  It’s a powerful force.  It’s very interesting, the warnings that are given to us about how money can destroy us, and then it seems almost paradoxical that there’s so much Scripture that says that God wants to bless you; amen?  That’s part of what we want to try and do here in the next couple of sessions: realize that God does want to bless His people; amen?  But then He warns us and says, “The love of money is the root of all of these evils” (1 Timothy 6:10).  He said, “I want to bless you and give you abundance, but it won’t help you in the day of adversity, and don’t trust in it.”  Amen?