1 John 2:15-16 “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. (16) For all that is in the world--the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life--is not of the Father but is of the world.”
It is not only the desire for riches that can drown believers however, for in the above quoted passage of scripture the Holy Spirit through the apostle John teaches us that the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, all fall into the same category. So what does that mean? It means that some believers look at what others have but they don’t, and so they begin to covet those things. It also means that some believers look for status in life, rather than serving the Lord and allowing Him to promote them as and when He sees fit. For example God promoted both Daniel and Joseph overnight to substantial positions in the world, but neither of them sought those positions. All they did was serve the Lord, and so God chose to bless them because He knew that He could trust them with authority and wealth. And so believers, who learn to love the world and the things in the world, are drawn down the path that will eventually lead them to committing the sin to death, for we see that being rich is not the issue, but rather being covetous is.
James 4:1-4 “Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members? (2) You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask. (3) You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures. (4) Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.”
In the above quoted passage of scripture the Holy Spirit through the apostle James has a harsh word for believers who love the things of this world, for He says that believers who do that place themselves in a position where they actually become enemies of God. So why do believers that desire pleasures in this life eventually become enemies of God? The reason is because as they go down the path of desiring more of the things of the world, eventually becoming hardened to the things of God, and it is in that place that they become prone to committing the sin to death. It is for this reason that Jesus describes riches as being deceitful, because although riches are pleasurable to the flesh, they lead the believer down a path that eventually ends up in death for their spirit. The flesh is never satisfied and always wants more, and so those who are deceived into feeding their fleshly desires become ensnared in a downward spiral that leads away from eternal life.
Revelation 3:14-19 “And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write, 'These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God: (15) "I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. (16) So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth. (17) Because you say, 'I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing'--and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked-- (18) I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see. (19) As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore, be zealous and repent.”
In the above quoted passage of scripture we can see that the church in Laodicea were far advanced along the path of loving the things of the world, for our Lord described them as boasting that they had become rich and had need of nothing. But I want you to notice that our Lord painted a very different picture of their spiritual state, for He told them that they were actually wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked. And so we see that in their pursuit of worldly wealth and status, the church in Laodicea had become completely blinded to their spiritual condition. In other words their wealth had become more important to them than the things of God. And so our Lord warned them that unless they repented He would spew them out of His mouth. In other words they would no longer be part of the body of Christ, for Jesus would allow them to continue down the path they were on until they finally reached the point of turning their backs on Him and committing the sin to death. The saints today are no different to the saints in Laodicea, and so the Lord’s warning to them is just as applicable to us today. And so we have clearly seen in this section that believers that choose to follow the pathway of the deceitfulness of riches will eventually reach the point of committing the sin to death. In this section we have highlighted the four main paths that believers can take, which all converge at the same end point i.e. the believer will ultimately commit the sin to death.
Michael E.B. Maher
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