Christianity and Wealth: Does Richness Lead to Heaven or Hell?

Understanding the misconception that being born rich or becoming rich is an offense against God.

Exploring the parable of the rich young ruler and its implications.

Clarifying the importance of not worshiping material wealth but rather God.

Discussing the biblical perspective on wealth and its relationship with heaven and hell.

Hello my dear brothers and sisters, a warm welcome to one and all of you and I greet you in the name of our loving Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. As always I am feeling very privileged and happy to be part of these sessions and I want to thank God that He is enabling such wonderful moments where we are meeting together and discussing through the various doctrines in the Bible. all right this is a short session and we will be covering multiple topics in a short span of time and that that's why we picked up this short but interesting series you know in the playlist you can see that in our channel all right today's topic is at another interesting topic only many people have lot of misconceptions on this topic many people are misled many people get into self condemnation many people punish themselves many people get into the guilt conscience and so many things yes beloved I'm talking about the category of people who are marked or earmarked as rich people in the society so rich people are all amazed or really brother I am NOT going to and gone through any guilt or self-condemnation what is this you are talking about I'm talking about the true believers in Christ they somehow get this feeling the richness might or you being born as born in the rich family you are a true believer in Christ I'm not talking about unbelievers so unbelievers who earn on money looting people cheating people stealing from people sorry I'm not talking about them why because their judgment is reserved and God will definitely enquire an account and they will be the one who will face God face to face in the during the white throne judgment and it's between them and God we are not going to condemn them we are not going to judge them that's between God and then I'm talking from the believers perspective the believers in Jesus Christ especially what happens is in the Christendom especially we have many many congregations across the ends of the earth if you want to go and see you will see so many congregations, isn't it? You will have Pentecost, you have Spiritful, you have Seventh Adventist, Baptist and Martha and Orthodox and CSIs and Catholics and all that. So emphasis varies. Now, I don't want to name which category of church really get into this condemnation on the people who are rich. Okay, now let me ask you a basic question. Is it really, really a crime to be born in a rich family? Or is it a criminal offense that you are born as an ordinary person, but God blessed you? I'm talking about the righteous people of God. I'm talking from the believers perspective who have not, you know, taken other people's positions and were not envied on their neighbor's property, have not cheated people and all that they earned out of God's blessing and God's anointing gift of wisdom and knowledge, right? God blesses your business. God bless you at workplace. He gives you promotion and the little that you do, he multiplies it. And you are not born rich, but you became rich. Why? Because your business flourished and God blessed you. And not only that, I'm getting into various concepts now. I'm going to read from 1 Timothy 6 verses 17 to 19 will be my meditation verse, but then I'm not getting in there immediately. We will set the context. We will clarify many things that are running in the minds of believers. What happens? Certain groups of churches or categories of churches have stamped this rich people, quoting always that parable which Jesus told. The rich Engrolder comes to Jesus and he asks him about which we know, that story we know, therefore I am not getting in there. The rich Engrolder asks and he was a very righteous person, right? And Jesus also loved him, Bible says. And this person asks Jesus, Jesus, what should I do to possess this eternal life? Could you please give me some tips? Jesus now asks what all about the commandments of Moses and he gives him the hint and all that. Now, this fellow, the rich young ruler tells that this is all I've been following from the, you know, from my young days and teen days and I've honored my father and mother, I've been giving to the poor, I've been blessing people, this and that. Then Jesus said and whatever, right? And Jesus said, still there is one thing you are lacking. What? He had a tremendous lust for his riches, his properties, right? All the kind of properties he had, all the riches he had. Jesus said, hey, if you are able to honor this one commandment, then there is nothing that's going to stop you stepping into paradise and the kingdom of heaven. What's that? What's that? The rich Englurler is showing that enthusiasm to ask the, you know, Lord Jesus. And Lord Jesus says, sell everything that you have and give it to the poor and then come and follow me. The rich young ruler went with a very very sad heart back home is what Bible says. Jesus turns around and says and looking at the crowd, it's even for a camel, it's easy for a camel to enter into the needle eye of the needle eye of the needle only be certain micro millimeters It will be easy for the camel to get into the eye of the needle but it very difficult for a rich man to possess the kingdom of heaven. Now, many people get stuck to this verse. Therefore, being born rich or becoming rich is an offense and it will definitely take you away from God and you will get into all sorts of worldly temptations, worldly pleasures, worldly riches. And therefore, you will definitely make your way not make your way to heaven and many people go to the extent of even condemning people if you are rich sell everything and give it to everyone and it's okay even if you are begging on the streets it doesn't matter you will still reach heaven it's absolutely a misconception let me clarify a few things i am not a prosperity preacher but i have a tremendous belief in belief in materialistic prosperity too why the more you are prosperous the more you can bless the poor. Brother, if you don't have provision to bless your own family, to pay your children's school fees, to pay your own, clear your own bills, then how are you going to bless the poor, downtrodden, the needy, right? You got to be rich. You need money for everything. Do not worship the money. That's the point, right? Do not be a worshipper of the mammon, but be the worshipper of God. Let your heart be not attached. Let your dependence not be on the bank balance, right? Let your eyes be not always on the money, right? But be on God who provisioned you with that money. Because everything that is existing in this world, everything that belongs to you actually is from God. We are all like tenants living on this earth, isn't it? Your house, your car, everything belongs to God. It's like you're renting it for a certain season, for a certain period of time that you would be living on earth. You drive the car on rental basis. You live in a house on a rental basis. You do this, you do that, you have all the property. It's all rental, right? Why? Because naked I came to this world, naked shall I leave from this world, isn't it? So we all have to leave everything that we have here, matter of time, right? We are all gone. Our spirit returns to God, body returns to dust and our soul makes its way to either paradise or into the place of torment, hell, right? That's called as Ecclesiastes 12.7. What am I trying to say? Let me come to the original point. The original point is, is it a crime to be a rich? Actually, it is not crime to be a rich. Then what was the problem with the anger ruler? Jesus told him, hey, sell all that you have. Give it to the poor and come and follow me. Jesus was putting him to a test, right? He was testing his spirit. Now, what this guy could have done is, he could have sold everything. And he could always go to Jesus and say, hey, Jesus, you know what? I honored your commandment. Now, this is my imagination. I honored your commandment. Three-fourths of all that I had, for example, he sold and he got 10 million dollars and he would say seven and a half million dollars. I've given it to the poor. I've called them. I've given it to the poor. Two and a half million dollars. I'm keeping it for myself. Why? Because it's needed for me. It's needed for my inheritances. It's needed for my wife's children. For those days, they used to have a lot of maidservants and menservants. All of them will become jobless. Therefore, I really want to have some more, some of the money, portion of the money retained for me and I'm just leaving this as a position for my inheritance and the little portion of that I'm keeping it for myself because I've been born and brought up in a luxurious family it'll take little time for me to come out of it so I'm just taking a portion and keeping it for myself and and and I'm going to follow you I'm going to be a disciple I'm going to go wherever you go and slowly I will give away even all that I have right that little share that I keep kept for myself also I'm going to give to the poor but give me some time and I'm going to do it but then I did not dishonor your commandment I haunted your commandment not in holistic measure but the little I kept it for my own inner retenses my own descendants why because they'll be begging on the streets what do you think Jesus would have told Jesus would have hugged him kissed him welcome my good servant no problem I'll tell you why because when Jesus entered into Zacchaeus house right? Jesus did not speak a word. He was putting Zacchaeus spirit to test through his silence. And you know what Zacchaeus said? All have cheated. I will give it fourfold. Zacchaeus never made a statement. I will sell everything I have. I will beg on the streets. My wife let her beg on the streets. My children let them beg on the streets. And I'll give everything that I have to the people, right? Jesus never demanded anything. Why fourfold? Sell everything and give. Did Jesus say that? No. He always makes certain statements or sometimes through his silence, he will put our spirit to test, our mentality to test, our attitude to test, our belief system to test, our priority system to test, our value system to test. I gave you eight, nine parameters, right? And that's exactly what he did even with the rich young ruler. The standards, the protocol were the same. The rich young ruler had a choice because he knew that Jesus was a very compassionate person. God the Father was a very compassionate, is and was and will be a very compassionate person. And he's not going to demand, calculate and say that, come on, give it right now. No He was not running any kind of a shop where he or a bank he was not a banker Jesus was not a banker lending it for interest and you did not pay interest Come on seize his property Jesus was not somebody like that. Right. He missed a great opportunity. Therefore, rich people do not go through the self-condemnation. There are certain churches who always, you know, look at these rich people as a bunch of people who are like satanic, demonic, this and that. and see look at the car he drives and all that if god blesses you with a good car fine drive it enjoy no problem but then let your heart be not attached towards that car towards that money the branded shoes the branded suit and coat and all that wear a decent shirt wear it is but don't be a spendthrift right when you have something when you have bunch of decent shirts and pants to wear don't keep on you know adding more pants and more shirts more shoes more cars more wives some people right you also get into the flood flirting habit why because you have too much of money and you know obviously girls are going to follow you right similarly you have too much of money you are a very good looking female obviously guys are going to follow you now you should resist the devil bible says you need to resist the temptation bible says and the temptations entry point is definitely riches i'm not denying it right the some of the churches which condemn the rich people is for this reason but they don't explain but they don't justify but they say simply bluntly they make a statement rich people know they are all demonic no they are not demonic rich person's mentality must not become demonic that control is in the hand of a rich person right you are a rich person you you grow richer you are a millionaire become a billionaire you're a billionaire become a trillionaire. Why? The more you have money, the more you have positions. Give it to the missionaries. Give it to the poor. Plant many churches, right? Build a free hospital and bless people. Build orphanages, right? Build all the homes like many elder people are being thrown out of their homes. Why don't you use your money? You need money to build all of that, right? But there are a lot of corrupt pastors and corrupt teachers who take these tithes and they buy properties and all that and they grow rich and they say without any shame on the pulpit, see how God blessed me, brother, and all that. They are the ones who need to get offended. They are the ones who need to have that guilt conscious. But you earned money out of your, you know, hard-earned money. And obviously, God enables it, right? Without God's grace, God only gives that opportunity. God only gives that grace and strength and health and everything, right? And promotions, everything comes from honor and opportunity comes from God. and if you're somebody who you know belonging to that category where you have not looted money or you have not stolen any anybody's property through your hard-earned money you have become rich do not have guilt conscious do not believe these false prophets they are liars right and you did not sit and calculate somebody else's tithes and you bought properties you know in your name on someone else's money then why are you feeling guilty chill out all right therefore but the principle only principle i'm telling you again and again is let your dependence heart's dependence be not on the money but let it be on the god and god the father who gave you the money sometimes see many people when they talk about temptation god allows temptation god doesn't tempt allows temptation only in a negative perspective he allows sicknesses he allows diseases he allows poverty and all that You know what? God allows someone to become rich and richer too. That is also part of God's strategy to test somebody's attitude, mentality and spirit. And that is also part of temptation. He will be allowing the tempter to make you richer. The tempter not only destroys, the tempter also makes richer. Right? Why? Because there are a lot of unbelievers only who are on the top 10 rich people list. Who is blessing them? Mr. Devil is blessing them. He has been given all the powers to bless people also. And likewise, he may come to you, you know, and bless you. And then he will be going to Jesus and God the Father and tell that now look at his attitude. His walks changed, his talks changed, his lifestyle changed. And now he's not coming to church. He's not praying. He's not fasting. Earlier, he used to be always on your feet, no reading Bible because he says no time and all that. Look at him. Now what happens? He becomes your master. Why? You are worshipping money. You are worshipping time. But you are not worshipping God the Father. Your attitude changed. This is where you need to watch out. My rich brothers and sisters, never ever feel deprived in your heart. Right? Being rich is good. Only then you can bless people. Only then you can be blessed. You think it's God's desire that you need to be poverty stricken and sitting on the side of the streets and begging for money? You think that's the reason God created you and me? No. Abraham was rich. Jacob was rich. Isaac was rich. If I speak like that, that's old covenant. Now new covenant, who said Jesus was begging on the streets? Jesus was having so much of money that he appointed a banker. His name is Judas Iscariot and he's the Mr. Treasurer for Jesus. Wherever Jesus went, offerings were given and he accepted it and he gave it to Judas Wherever he went and visited the poor people and downtrodden needy orphans and all that he used to take that money and give bless them that the reason he accepts to give to others right now let read what paul says 1 timothy chapter 6 three verses i will read and we will close you all got right instructions to the rich watch out these instructions are needed but i gave you a basic explanation also command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty principle number one don't be haughty proud and looking down on poor brothers and sisters in the same church or your neighborhood then all that and don't say thank God I am not poor like him and all that you did not jump from heaven like some people are born in rich family that's a different story but most of them are like you know made rich on the way in the journey of your life Therefore, don't be haughty. Principle number one. Principle number two, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God. I already told you, do not look at your bank balance. Oh, my bank balance is, you know, two and a half million dollars and I, you know, or two and a half crores of rupees, INR. Therefore, I have no problem and all that. Nothing wrong. But then that can become zero in one moment of time. One swing, right? Your stocks and shares goes down, finished. Market goes down, finish. You lose your job. You are bankrupt. You are not able to repay a loan. The banker will come and seize the property. Your trust is in the living God. Principle number 2. Principle number 3. Who gives us richly all things to enjoy. Now where you got the riches from? It's from the heavenly father. Therefore where? Your eyes are always on him. Always on him. Right? Principle number 3. Now verse number 18. 1 Timothe 6.18 Let them do good. Principle number four, if you are a rich person, the more you give, the more God will fill it. Seriously, I am telling you this. Let them do good means what? Get into a lot of charitable deeds. Please give money. Bless people, but don't get fooled, right? There are a lot of people who speak a lot of lies and they create that sympathy and all that and they loot your money. Be careful, be wise also to give money, right? But be a good person. God will show you. Pray about it. The Holy Spirit will bring such people to your doorstep and they will ask for alms and money and please help them. Aids, they help them. Principle number six. That they be rich in good works. That's principle number six. Rich in good works. Everything that you do will be a blessing to others. The church you go, your workplace and all that, you will be blessing all the people. Principle number seven. ready to give, willing to share. Ready to give, willing to share. Always they will share. They won't eat the best of the food they order. They will call somebody like Job. I would never eat alone. I would always have any time eaten alone. No. You would call the fatherless. You would call the widows and all that. They will be gathering together. It will be like a, what is a marriage feast or something like that. You know, every day. that's the way how job you know eats food along with all the deprived that's when he feel he feels satisfied he explains that to his friends you and I have to be like him let us learn right if you're rich person this is how you should share and I forgot the number principle number eight or nine right storing up themselves a good foundation for the time to come what is this foundation looking at you your children your descendants also will became like will become like if you are a miser if you are miserly you don't give anything to anyone your children also will learn the same they will also be miserly and all that now when you build that good foundation your children also benefit my time is almost up last that they may lay hold on eternal life this is not a principle this is the outcome what will be the end result or you're not dropping that crown of life you will make your entry into the eternal salvation yeah you will be part of God's city, which is described in Revelation 21. This is the outcome. In Matthew 24, when I was hungry, you never gave me food. When I was thirsty, you never gave me water. All these things Jesus said, no, you will not be in that category. Yeah, he is looking at all the rich people and the pastors who are in ministries and this and that. Right? You are miserly. You are taunting people and, you know, stealing the money and all that. He looks at Matthew 24. He looks at them and says, I knew not who you are. You wicked servant. Get out of my sight. you will not belong to that category the outcome is you will definitely have the crown of life in your hands, you will make your way into the eternal salvation God bless you, so from today on which never be having that guilt conscious, feel proud that you are rich, let your boast be in the Lord and follow all these 8-9 principles which we have learned today, rich people God bless you, poor people don't worry God is making you rich soon I am going to pray for all of you, God bless you thank you, take care and continue to share you know be part of our channel subscribe to our channel and share it with your friends and relatives whoever it may be that everyone be blessed take care God bless you

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