Writing on the Wall
Let us meditate Daniel 5:1-31. Belshazzar the king made a great feast for a thousand of his lords, and drank wine in the presence of the thousand. As commanded by him, the gold and silver vessels, which had been taken from the temple of the house of God in Jerusalem by his father Nebuchaddnezzar had been brought, and the king and his lords, his wives and his concubines drank from them. They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold and silver, bronze and iron, wood and stone. In the same hour, the fingers of a man’s hand appeared and wrote opposite the lamp stand on the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace, and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote. Then the king became sad and lost his strength, and Daniel was brought in to interpret the writing on the wall.
This is the inscription that was written: MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN. Daniel interpreted as follows: MENE: God has numbered your kingdom, and finished it; TEKEL: You have been weighed in the balances, and found waiting; PERES: Your kingdom has been divided, and given to the Medes and Persians. The interpretation of the coded words on the wall is very much relevant to the present day ministries. Like Belshazzar, the servants of God are nowadays making a great show of the spiritual gifts given to them by the Holy Spirit and drinking the wine of the Holy Spirit for themselves alone. The wine is symbolic of the blessings that emanate from the vineyard of Christ. We, the Christians, want to drink the wine ourselves without sharing it with those who have not yet tasted this precious wine. We enjoy peace of mind and covet divine healing, material prosperity, and miracles in Jesus’ Name for meeting our own needs. We build a wall around our churches or ministries without bothering about the lost souls just outside our churches or in those places not reached by the glorious gospel. We covet the offerings of the people of God and pray God to bless those who help us financially. Our vision is confined to our own lords, our own wives and our own concubines. The lords are those who labor with us in our ministries. The wives are those who are married or devoted to our ministries by their sacrificial prayers and offerings. The concubines are those who are partially devoted to our ministries but are also attached to the world. The vessels of the House of God are required for public service in the Temple and are not meant for self-gratification of a group of people. These should be used for revival in the body of Christ and for world evangelism. The gold and silver vessels of the house of God are symbolical of the spiritual gifts meant for evangelization of the world and for edification of the body of Christ. These are not exclusively meant for the lords, the wives and the concubines. Daniel said to the king, “O Belshazzar, hast not humbled thine heart, though thou knewest all this; But hast lifted up thyself against the Lord of heaven; and they have brought the vessels of His house before thee, and thou, and thy lords, thy wives, and thy concubines, have drunk wine in them; and thou hast praised the gods of silver, and gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone, which see not, nor hear, nor know; and the God in whose hand thy breath is, and whose are all thy ways, hast thou not glorified” (Dan.5:22-23). If a servant of God makes use of the God given gifts and talents only for a group of his own people, then he is not making the right use of these gifts and talents. The spiritual gifts adorn the Body of Christ. No doubt, the Body of Christ needs such spiritual gifts to gravitate the lost souls to the Kingdom of Christ. But, if the minister concerned glorifies these gifts, the same will become the gods of gold. Similarly, on attaining new birth through the Blood of Christ, the natural talents inherent in the newly born children of God get sharpened by the power of the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit makes use of these talents for building the Kingdom of Christ. But, if the minister concerned glorifies these talents, the same will become the gods of silver. In some churches, the pastors give superfluous messages to their sheep, and use the gifts of the Spirit exclusively for them. They do not bother about the lost souls in the streets who have not heard the glorious gospel. Nor do they bother about the people suffering from many diseases and afflictions who are not of their churches. They condemn other denominational churches that do not believe in such spiritual gifts. They glorify the spiritual gifts operating in their ministries and have thus lifted up themselves against the Lord of heaven. They thus praise the gods of gold. They glorify their talents of preaching, singing and writing. They are proud of their talent of preaching. They are too proud of writing many books for the Lord that they claim copyrights for the messages, which were freely given to them by the Holy Spirit. They thus glorify the gods of silver. The servants of God also praise the gods of bronze and iron. They also glorify their spiritual experiences like salvation, water baptism, Holy Spirit Baptism, etc. They are also proud of their church doctrines so that they condemn the other denominational churches that do not believe in their doctrines; they also do not allow the other servants of God to preach in their churches. If God has given them some visions and revelations, they do glorify such visions and revelations. Paul said that he would not glory in the visions and revelations given to him by the Lord “but in mine infirmities” (II Cor.12:1-5). They thus praise the gods of bronze. They too glorify their iron-like faith in God that they condemn the weak in the faith. They thus praise the gods of iron. They glorify the gods of wood and stone. They trust in and are proud of their assets of land and buildings but have no vision about those poor saints who worship God in thatched huts or about those who serve God without any roof over their heads. By glorying in these gods, the servants of God concerned do lift up themselves against the Lord of heaven. The spiritual gifts and the talents that are used in our ministries are not an end in them but are only a means to the ultimate goal of revival and world evangelism. Paul said, “God forbid that I should glory, save in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom they world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world” (Gal.6:14). The writing on the wall is interpreted as follows: MENE: God has numbered your ministry, and finished it. TEKEL: You have been weighed in the balances and found wanting. You have been found wanting in intercessory prayers (prayers for other ministers of God, etc.), love for all the saints in the universal body of Christ, burden for the lost souls, holiness, righteousness that exceeds that of Pharisees. PERES: Your ministry has been divided and given to those who would bear fruits for the Lord. God would divide your ministry and give it to the one who shares your vision but is willing to do the perfect will of God and who has “a contrite and humble spirit”. God revives the spirit of the humble and the heart of the contrite ones (Is.57: 15). He does not revive the spirit of the proud. The ensuing revival is meant for the humble ones. Modern day Money Changers David Ravenhill
I'm convinced that the carnal, cunning, conniving, crooked crooks that Jesus drove out of the Temple are still among us today. These modern day moneychangers are forever devising new and deceptive doctrines to defraud God's people out of His/their money. These masters of deceit have now set up their changing tables throughout the Christian television industry.
I'm absolutely certain that if Jesus returned today He would walk into the vast majority of these television studios and overthrow the cameras, lights, monitors, and soundboards. He would unplug the microphones and scatter the makeup colors around as He went about destroying the stages and backdrops.
Several years ago now, a nationally known prophetic voice was told by the Lord, "I'm sick and tired of the prosperity message". If that was true then, how much more today. As far back as 1986, the top seven media evangelists took in over 750 million dollars. Now with the increased manipulation of 'seed faith teaching' that amount has no doubt been dwarfed by comparison.
Only a few days ago I was appalled as I watched and listened as Pastor "So & So" zealously twisted and distorted the Scriptures to his own advantage. This 'brother' dared to distort the most sacred truth of all Scripture. He used The Day Of Atonement, that day when Jesus Christ the Lamb of God shed His blood for the sins of the world, to teach that how we give financially determines how God will respond to us throughout the coming year. My blood boiled as I listened. This 'brother' had finally crossed the line and was now on the verge of blaspheming the atoning work of our blessed Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, not to mention lining his own pockets with the proceeds. He might as well have been selling indulgences by inferring that God's favor toward us was based on our giving rather than God's unmerited grace and forgiveness through the gift of His Son. What made matters worse was that this same 'charlatan' was the guest of one of the nation's best known charismatic personalities. Within a day or so he was teaching the same message on a local Christian telethon. Neither the evangelist nor the network sought to correct his aberrant teaching – after all, the show must go on and that takes money, so how you raise it doesn't seem to matter anymore.
Why does almost every single Christian program have to end with some type of 'seed faith teaching'? If these men and women of faith really believed what they taught, they would practice what they preach and teach; after all what's good for the goose is good for the gander. Imagine how shocked you would be if your favorite televangelist and covenant partner were to send you a check in their next mailing for the amount of $1,000.00 with a personal note telling you he/she just wanted to sow into your life. Perhaps then I could believe that these men/women really believe and practice what they teach. Not only that, but they would never have to appeal for money again as God's return to them would result in a hundredfold increase. At least that's what they would have us to believe.
On a recent ministry trip to the Northwest, I was told by a pastor friend that his church had received a call from a well known and anointed teacher in the Body of Christ. The caller was asking them for a contribution towards the purchase of a jet for their ministry. What a far cry from what the Apostle Paul taught when he prefaced his teaching on 'sowing and reaping' with these words; " For this is not for the ease of others and for your affliction, but by way of equality." (II Cor. 8:13-14)
Many pastors measure their success in terms of numbers –the larger the church the more successful their ministry. Itinerant ministries, not being able to brag about size, seem to fall for the notion that having one's own jet is how success is determined. (Once it was the Rolex watch). By the way, if you love and appreciate this fine teacher, pray that he won't get the desires of his heart - it will only lead to the leanness of his soul.
This is one man's attempt to appeal to the Body of Christ. Stop pandering to these moneychangers. These men and women live like kings while spending your money to buy mansions and jets for themselves. They dine in the finest restaurants, wear the latest designer fashions and then have the audacity to tell you that you can live the same way as long as you give to their ministry.
I opened my Bible the other day to Zechariah's wonderful prophecy concerning the first coming of Jesus, our great and glorious King. Listen to his words; 'Behold your King is coming to you; He is just and endowed with salvation, humble, and mounted on a donkey, even on a colt the foal of a donkey.'( Zechariah 9:9 ) What a far cry from the televangelist who comes high and mighty and traveling on his own jet!
If you are as sick and tired as I am about this waste of God's money, then for heaven's sake STOP SUPPORTING THESE PEOPLE. Give your money to your local church or other servant ministries. There are tens of thousands of needy missionaries who barely have enough support to keep themselves alive. They are laboring long and hard under some of the most difficult and trying conditions. They would rejoice at the thought of an extra $10-30 dollars a month support. These are the real heroes of whom the world is not worthy. Help put these MONEY LOVING TELEVANGELISTS OUT OF BUSINESS and save another MISSIONARY FROM EXTINCTION. Together we can make it happen. Please forward this to as many people as you know.
An open letter to my preacher friends about money/Which Church?/The gospel cannot be hindered/The Church in the City/Going through the Cross - the Crucified Ones |
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