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But before that can happen, we need to soak in the cleansing and refining work of the Holy Spirit and the Jesus cross. The church as it is today cannot handle God's gold. What mega churches and wealthy churches have today is not "wealth transfer" or the prophesied abundance that God will pour out on His church in the last days. These are mere worldly material "blessings" God gives to both the wicked and righteous.
And anyway, the modern church is so allergic to sufferings. Almost all its prayer requests are focused on eliminating suffering. Some suffering must be taken away from us, some must end now, but most should remain for a while so we may come out shining like gold. Suffering molds our hearts to see the fallibility of materialism so that God can entrust us with His gold. But churches hate suffering. They ask God for a convenient life. As long as prayers are like that, God will never entrust his gold--his real treasures--to the church, but only His bronze.
If the church today lays hand on any of God's gold, they'll sell it for their own benefit. Solomon's temple of God had everything pure gold on the inside. But everything outside was merely of bronze or a likeness of gold. Pure gold was only allowed for the eyes of the priests, and pure gold in the inner sanctuary was allowed only for the eyes of the high priest, and that only once a year. Mere bronze was what fitted the eyes of the Crowd. And all they could do was peep into the temple court from the outer court and see things of bronze.
The Crowd can only handle bronze, as the church today can only handle God's bronze. The character has yet to be molded and refined before the Church Crowd can handle God's refined gold. So much corruption lies inside churches. Just note how church denominations that elect their church boards allow only the moneyed and titled to occupy position. Have you ever seen a carpenter or a street taho vendor become chairman of a church board?
And anyway, the modern church is so allergic to sufferings. Almost all its prayer requests are focused on eliminating suffering. Some suffering must be taken away from us, some must end now, but most should remain for a while so we may come out shining like gold. Suffering molds our hearts to see the fallibility of materialism so that God can entrust us with His gold. But churches hate suffering. They ask God for a convenient life. As long as prayers are like that, God will never entrust his gold--his real treasures--to the church, but only His bronze.
If the church today lays hand on any of God's gold, they'll sell it for their own benefit. Solomon's temple of God had everything pure gold on the inside. But everything outside was merely of bronze or a likeness of gold. Pure gold was only allowed for the eyes of the priests, and pure gold in the inner sanctuary was allowed only for the eyes of the high priest, and that only once a year. Mere bronze was what fitted the eyes of the Crowd. And all they could do was peep into the temple court from the outer court and see things of bronze.
The Crowd can only handle bronze, as the church today can only handle God's bronze. The character has yet to be molded and refined before the Church Crowd can handle God's refined gold. So much corruption lies inside churches. Just note how church denominations that elect their church boards allow only the moneyed and titled to occupy position. Have you ever seen a carpenter or a street taho vendor become chairman of a church board?
The money value system is still largely in use.
In God’s present move and in a Jesus Discipleship, material possession is defined or limited by how possessions enable you to meditate the Word with God. Anything else is garbage.
Anyway, a real Jesus Discipleship does not have church boards. It has the nucleus of close-in disciples hand-picked by the pastor (not elected), as Jesus chose "those he wanted" to be among the 12. No election was held.
I and my wife and my disciples have our share of financial woes at times. Most times, by God's grace, we live above financial concerns--not because we have lots of money, but because we learn to live radically simply. The Jesus cross teaches us to live radically simply as Jesus and His disciples did. We haven't mastered it yet but we're on our way there. When the church has mastered this radically simple Jesus LIFE, then God will start pouring in his gold. Prophets of long ago lived thus, too.
Elisha could receive gold, silver, and properties in his time, but he chose to live in a room on a roof with only a bed, table, and chair as furnishing—furnishings simple enough for one to meditate God’s WORD. In God’s present move and in a Jesus Discipleship, material possession is defined or limited by how possessions enable you to meditate the Word with God. Anything else is garbage.
Only when the church has learned to give up everything will it possess everything. As it is today, church denominations and independent churches race against each other acquiring properties and erecting mega buildings worth millions. For what? They are no different from worldly business corporations coveting everything and even eating each other up. To them, it's still an unseen Gospel.
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