The world and the things that of of it are the lust of the eyes, lust of the flesh and the pride of life (1 John 2:16). This is a very crucial concept to understand for the Christian, and understanding it will help Church as the body of Christ with exposing evils. So, if one wants to expose evil as per the Ephesians 5:11 and fight it, one must understand lust of the eyes, lust of the flesh and the pride of life. This, in your view, may be a "minor" issue. You may accuse me of having this "view". However, this is not a "view" - it is truth. Understanding lust of the eyes, lust of the flesh and pride of life will help the Christian with understanding how to live that obeys God in a dirty, vile, wicked and evil world.
It is also important to understand what the Bible means by poor, that is, who it refers to when it refers to the poor. You may simply argue, it refers to who has 'little'. However, the question is how little is little? Thus, defining the poor as who has little is very unhelpful to this discussion.
Who the Bible refers to as the poor are those who are oppressed, bullied and hated by others whose earthly needs are fulfilled:
It is also important to understand what the Bible means by poor, that is, who it refers to when it refers to the poor. You may simply argue, it refers to who has 'little'. However, the question is how little is little? Thus, defining the poor as who has little is very unhelpful to this discussion.
Who the Bible refers to as the poor are those who are oppressed, bullied and hated by others whose earthly needs are fulfilled:
Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him? But ye have despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats? Do not they blaspheme that worthy name by the which ye are called? If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well (James 2:5-8).
The poor is hated even of his own neighbour: but the rich hath many friends (Proverbs 14:20).
Wealth maketh many friends; but the poor is separated from his neighbour (Proverbs 19:4).
All the brethren of the poor do hate him: how much more do his friends go far from him? he pursueth them with words, yet they are wanting to him (Proverbs 19:7).
The rich ruleth over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender (Proverbs 22:7).
The way one treats the poor is and will be judged by God. You may argue, that it does not say in the Bible that that is the case, and thus argue against this. You need to be reminded of Proverbs 17:5: "Whoso mocketh the poor reproacheth his Maker: and he that is glad at calamities shall not be unpunished". This itself it is a judgment of those who mock the poor, that those who mock the poor are reproaching God. To blaspheme God is to mock, question or reproach Him. Thus, to mock the poor itself is to blaspheme God for "Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain" (Exodus 20:7).
You may argue that Exodus 20:7 only refers to use of language, not actions or beliefs. If it does only refer to 'language', that is, words, will it not also apply to actions, or beliefs that challenge God and His very character? Does God not judge actions and states of mind? It is not the case that evil anti-God doctrines such as evolution, which imply that God does not exist is blasphemy? To believe such doctrines itself is blasphemy and such a person will end up in Hell just on the grounds of holding this belief.
Likewise, racism, is a form of blasphemy because it implies that not all of God's Creations are to be treated as His Creation. Ecumenicism, the idea that Christians can cooperate with the unsaved in fighting certain evils, such as human trafficking, prostitution and abortion, is blasphemy. As long as one fails to give all glory to God, one is blaspheming God.
Taking credit for one's own "wisdom" and claiming one to the wisest is blasphemy, for example, by asking 'why do you need to use the Biblical model of evangelism when you can use your "own" ' as modern evangelicals ask. Claiming that one needs to win people to Christ by man-made techniques such as "cultural sensitivity", that is, for example, by not using the Law of God out of fear of people, is blasphemy. It is to imply that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is not alone the power of salvation, but that the sower contributes to the power of salvation. Even if a hypocrite preached the Gospel, or a mocker preaches it to mock it, the Gospel is still the power of salvation. Open-air preacher Ray Comfort explains:
If you read Philippians chapter 1, you will see that Paul rejoiced even though Christ was preached from the mouth of a hypocrite. This is because the quality is in the seed, not in the sower. This gives great consolation to those of us who lack what is commonly called “ability.”
'Ability', as used by modern evangelicals, includes ability to appear outwardly, humble and gentle, even if this is not the case on the inside. They impose rules on people to give the outward apperance of being "gentle", stubbornly and vehemently refusing to admit that it is not about what humans think, but what God thinks. The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the LORD shall be safe (Proverbs 29:25). Such is the idolatry of modern evangelicals - they make a golden calf of seeking approval from people before witnessing to them. If that is the case, one should never witness at all for the world would never approve of hearing the Gospel.
The poor are those who are oppressed, bullied and hated by the world. The world hates them. It uses them mercilessly and thinks it is so pure to do so, just as the adulterous woman eats and wipes her disgusting, vile mouth and asks "what is wrong with that" (Proverbs 30:20)? Likewise, the modern evangelical asks "what is wrong with not using the Law of God" and "why should we use the Biblical model?" as though they were so wise. Of course, likewise, the world asks "what's wrong with oppressing the poor", "what's wrong with taking advantage of the poor", and "what's wrong with hating the poor"?
Why does the world hate the poor apart from its vile pride of life and lust of the flesh? The only time when the world cares for the poor is when it compares itself with the poor to console its envy. To say that looking at the poor makes one feel so thankful for what one has is the height of pride. To help the poor despite not caring for them, but to gain a "good" reputation is the height of hypocrisy and the height of deceitful manipulation. Just as he who mocks the poor reproaches His Maker, God, he who helps the poor, despite hating them, only to gain a 'good reputation' is bribing God. Is this not the case for many, if not most, false religions? They bribe God by doing good works which are filthy rags in the eyes of God (Isaiah 64:6).
The world seeks its own ways to worship what is thinks its should. However, the whole world, that is, all people of the world serve mammon. They serve mammon by seeking to serve their own fleshly desires, which itself is to serve mammon. Mammon was the name given to an Ammonite idol. He is a real demonic spirit who works through envy, anxiety, covetousness and greed. He feeds on it. The Bible refers to him either implicitly or explicitly. When Jesus told His followers to not worry in Matthew 6:25-31, He was explaining to them what it means to not serve God, but serve mammon:
Taking credit for one's own "wisdom" and claiming one to the wisest is blasphemy, for example, by asking 'why do you need to use the Biblical model of evangelism when you can use your "own" ' as modern evangelicals ask. Claiming that one needs to win people to Christ by man-made techniques such as "cultural sensitivity", that is, for example, by not using the Law of God out of fear of people, is blasphemy. It is to imply that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is not alone the power of salvation, but that the sower contributes to the power of salvation. Even if a hypocrite preached the Gospel, or a mocker preaches it to mock it, the Gospel is still the power of salvation. Open-air preacher Ray Comfort explains:
If you read Philippians chapter 1, you will see that Paul rejoiced even though Christ was preached from the mouth of a hypocrite. This is because the quality is in the seed, not in the sower. This gives great consolation to those of us who lack what is commonly called “ability.”
'Ability', as used by modern evangelicals, includes ability to appear outwardly, humble and gentle, even if this is not the case on the inside. They impose rules on people to give the outward apperance of being "gentle", stubbornly and vehemently refusing to admit that it is not about what humans think, but what God thinks. The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the LORD shall be safe (Proverbs 29:25). Such is the idolatry of modern evangelicals - they make a golden calf of seeking approval from people before witnessing to them. If that is the case, one should never witness at all for the world would never approve of hearing the Gospel.
The poor are those who are oppressed, bullied and hated by the world. The world hates them. It uses them mercilessly and thinks it is so pure to do so, just as the adulterous woman eats and wipes her disgusting, vile mouth and asks "what is wrong with that" (Proverbs 30:20)? Likewise, the modern evangelical asks "what is wrong with not using the Law of God" and "why should we use the Biblical model?" as though they were so wise. Of course, likewise, the world asks "what's wrong with oppressing the poor", "what's wrong with taking advantage of the poor", and "what's wrong with hating the poor"?
Why does the world hate the poor apart from its vile pride of life and lust of the flesh? The only time when the world cares for the poor is when it compares itself with the poor to console its envy. To say that looking at the poor makes one feel so thankful for what one has is the height of pride. To help the poor despite not caring for them, but to gain a "good" reputation is the height of hypocrisy and the height of deceitful manipulation. Just as he who mocks the poor reproaches His Maker, God, he who helps the poor, despite hating them, only to gain a 'good reputation' is bribing God. Is this not the case for many, if not most, false religions? They bribe God by doing good works which are filthy rags in the eyes of God (Isaiah 64:6).
The world seeks its own ways to worship what is thinks its should. However, the whole world, that is, all people of the world serve mammon. They serve mammon by seeking to serve their own fleshly desires, which itself is to serve mammon. Mammon was the name given to an Ammonite idol. He is a real demonic spirit who works through envy, anxiety, covetousness and greed. He feeds on it. The Bible refers to him either implicitly or explicitly. When Jesus told His followers to not worry in Matthew 6:25-31, He was explaining to them what it means to not serve God, but serve mammon:
Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?
Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
This is one of the most commonly quotes passages of the Bible. Yet, what most people skip out when quoting it is the preceding verse, Matthew 6:24.
Matthew 6:24 is the most feared verse in the whole Bible, one that is so simply, but yet the one which has been the most manipulated and twisted by Christians without realising it. When Jesus said do not worry, He was not saying do not worry for God will provide you all your "basic" (earthly) needs so that you will not be 'poor' in the eyes of the world. That is precisely what many in the modern church think. They think God promises to give them riches if they obey Him. This is a lie from the Pit of Hell! It is a doctrine of demons! No where in the Bible does God promise that His true followers will not be 'poor'. Never!
You may not be a prosperity "gospel" adherent, but a genuine convert who attends a genuinely Biblical church. However, this does not means that your church is free from the spirit behind the prosperity "gospel". You may argue, a true Church can never by influenced by the prosperity "gospel" and that careerism is not a problem that your local church needs to deal with. They may be true, however, a person can absolutely not be a careerist, but earthly, anxious and mammonised like the the world.
You may still argue, such a person is not a true Christian. A true Christian indeed cannot serve mammon. However, he can still be under it if he succumbs to it and does not fully submit to God, and still tries to trust in His own flesh to obtain his earthly needs. He may be a person who is a great family man, a great husband and father, who thinks that by being a great husband and father in providing for his family, he could never be under the spirit of mammon. This is precisely where mammon deceives many true Christians. A person can absolutely be a great provider or his or her family's needs, and be anxious to do so. That is exactly what is means to be under the spirit of mammon.
The world knows that being enslaved to mammon is idolatry. The world likes to ask others about their idols and talk about who their idols are. It knows that idolatry is a sin for God has written the Law on the hearts of all people, "Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;) (Romans 2:15).
Thus, whenever they see a poor person, they both feel self-contented, in a smug way, arrogant and proud, while at the same time, think that they deserve to be poor. The world thinks the poor deserve to be poor because it thinks it "entitled" to its possessions, on the grounds of its "hard work" in seeking these things. No one "deserves" anything, not even a single breath. Even many in the modern church think that some poor people "deserve" to be poor, owing to a lack of understanding of what the Bible means by poor, and ultimately, their smugness behind their wealth, although they may not despise the poor.
Anyone who despises the poor is not a true Christian. It is because such a person who hates the poor, serves mammon. He is not merely influenced or under it, but serves mammon. The spirit that is behind genuinely helping the poor opposes the world's actions of serving mammon because their blood cries out for justice at the hands of the rich. It is opposed to the smug earthly comfort that the rich (as the Bible defines it) enjoy. God is behind helping the poor if they cry out to Him "for he shall deliver the needy when he crieth; the poor also, and him that hath no helper (Psalm 72:12).
Genuinely helping the poor is diametrically opposed to the flesh. It is just against the nature of the unsaved to genuinely care for the poor. That is precisely why one needs to shake off all condescending pride, or false humanistic sympathy to genuinely care for the poor.
The world, looks through its worldly mindset at the poor, and are reminded of their idolatry. They love their idolatry because they hate God. This is another reason why the world hates the poor.
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