If you want to get rich today, all you need to do is create a product or provide a service that everyone wants, sell it for more than it costs to produce and distribute, and there you go. Still, risk exists. There could be liability issues, technical failures missed during testing, or competition that displaces your money maker.
But what if you could maximize your margins and eliminate the risk. How much more money could you make and keep? Well, there are many people out there who have found this ideal market of low risk supply and demand and are laughing all the way to the bank. These people tell you beautiful things, create formulas for success, and if it does not work out, it is your fault, not theirs.
I am just going to jump right in the middle of this and try to bring things together at the end. And I know this is not going to sit well with many who will read this and you are welcome to correct me if I am in error with any of this. So lets just get started with one thing I hear so often used as a bedrock principle.
Matthew 18:19-20 "Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them."
Taken alone, this is used to show that God promises that if two agree and ask God for anything, God has to give it to them and He will be in the with them. So if this were so, why aren't all Christians completely healthy, debt free, rolling in money, surrounded by the best of everything, and living the ideal life? There are no restrictions here on what to ask for, so this is quite a dilemma. I will talk about how the marketing geniuses get around this a little later.
First I would like to talk about a little thing called context and why these people are counting on your laziness and ignorance.
This verse is taken alone and used in their context. They talk about how wealth, or health, or prosperity is promised to you and then presto, here is the verse that confirms this. They are playing the numbers here. The expect that there is a far greater majority of people who do not study the Bible then there are who do. I believe that is a safe assumption because their audience consists primarily of those who do not study the Bible or their idea of studying the Bible is to read the latest best seller about things in the Bible. I can say this in confidence because they maintain a huge market for what they are selling.
Ok, so some of you are saying to yourself how dare I talk about you like that because you also believe that is what that verse means. Well, so did I at one time. I would have argued against anyone who thought differently and probably written them off as a self-righteous bigot. I did not study the Bible and I read the best sellers about the Bible. I created and used all kinds of things to explain away any doubts I had and beat myself up over and over again for my failure to implement the principle that this verse supposedly confirms.
When I started prayfully reading the Bible and studying it, I discovered so many things I never once considered before and these included context and the time when the Bible was written. Lets use the following as an example:
Matthew 19:24 "And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God."
The first time I heard that, I thought to myself that since it is impossible for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, then a rich man could not be saved. Someone then explained to me that during the time it was written, there was a small door in a main gate that was opened at night. To get a camel through that door meant that it would have to be unloaded first. To me, that explained everything and still made it possible for a rich man to be saved.
If we look at this from the perspective of the time it was written and the context, it takes on a completely different meaning. To this day, there is no record found that refers to that door being called a "needle" or "eye of a needle". Since Jesus was not near any city gates at the time, for this to mean the small door in a gate, it must have been common knowledge to all those he was speaking to as he had nothing nearby to help illustrate what he meant. It seems even less likely that this is what the "eye of a needle" meant when there is no historical reference for something that would have been common knowledge.
Let us also look at the context; the verses around this one. We will just stick to verses 16-26. These verses begin with a rich young man asking what he must do to receive eternal life. Jesus then lays out a few things and the young man responds that he has kept all these things since his youth and asks what else. The Jesus says he should sell everything he had and give to the poor and he will have treasure in heaven and then to follow him. Then the Bible says he went away sad because he had great possessions. Jesus next talks about how hard it is for a rich man to enter heaven and makes reference to the camel going through the eye of the needle. In the very next verse, the amazed disciples asked who then can be saved. Jesus responds by saying that with man it was impossible, but with God all things are possible.
All of this is in a greater context of the kingdom of heaven and salvation, but I would like to focus on verses 25 and 26.
I do not believe Jesus was speaking about the "eye of a needle" being the small door in a city gate. If He were, then the disciples would not have been amazed and ask who then could be saved as it says in verse 25. It would have been apparent that it was possible but it took a lot of work to accomplish it. This would also present a doctrinal problem. If all that was required for salvation was some hard work, then Jesus is implying that His sacrifice was not necessary and we could all be saved by our own works.
Verse 26 also provides a big clue when Jesus says that "With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible". It would be possible for a man to get a camel through the small door of the gate if it was unloaded, but it would be impossible for a camel to pass through the eye of a sewing needle and still be considered a camel.
All this leads me to believe that Jesus was talking about an actual needle and it shows that man cannot save himself and only God can make that possible.
Now I went through all of this in hopes that using a well known verse would serve as a good example of why it is necessary and what it means to study the Bible. It does not take a PhD, just a little effort and prayer. Now back to the topic of this post.
If we look at the context of Matthew 18:19 we will find a much different meaning than what these people are using it for.
This context starts at Matthew 17:14. It starts when Jesus is brought a child the disciples could not heal and he heals the child. This sets up several verses about His coming betrayal and crucifixion and resurrection. After Jesus talks about this, the next set of verses deal with offense, separation and loss, and reconciliation. Immediately after verses 19-20, Peter asks how many times he should forgive his brother who sins against him and Jesus says "...seventy times seven."(v 22). I believe He using these examples to show the disciples how to deal with what is about to happen to Him and nowhere is there any mention of prayer. Why would Jesus suddenly throw in two verses about prayer? I don't think he did.
I believe that Matthew 18:19-20 are dealing with restoration. He is explaining how to restore a relationship that was severed by offense. He is talking about restoring a relationship in verses 15-17 and in verse 18 He is talking about the disposition of the trespassing brother talked about earlier. Even if somehow we could show that Matthew 18:19-20 are talking about prayer, then why does Peter seem to completely ignore that and immediately ask about forgiveness? I believe that the context does not permit those verse to be used in reference to prayer.
But still, these people use this verse to show that if you want something, you will get it if you pray in agreement. How can this possibly be true. I know there are those that did not get what they want when they prayed in agreement with others. And how is it possible for God to give you something that would be against His Will for your life. Do you only pray God's perfect Will in your life? James 4:3 says absolutely not, "Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts." Even if you do pray for only those things that are God's Will for you, James clearly says that someone is praying for things that are lusts. Since there are no Conditions in Matthew 18:19-20, then why would these people James is referring to not receive what they are asking for and it is not because it is only one person praying. James is talking about groups of people in these verses.
And still there are many other situations where this is contrary to the scripture. In 2 Corinthians 12:7-9 Paul talks about praying to God to remove a thorn in his flesh. God did not, and it was not because he did not have someone praying in agreement with him, but instead "And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me." (v 9). Even if there were a group praying in agreement for his healing, God would not answer those prayers with healing because it was not His Will. God did not let Moses into the promised land. God did not pick someone else to lead his children out of Egypt. God did not pass the cup to anyone else when Jesus prayed to let it pass from Him.
These people are counting on you to just take their word for it when they use these verses.
Since there are no conditions in Matthew 18:19-20, how do they handle it when prayers are not answered? That is the beauty of this scheme. It is your fault. You either did not pray enough, or have faith enough, or have unconfessed sin in your life. Whatever the reason, it is all on you. Talk about your win-win scenario. They are either telling you the truth of God because your prayer was answered, or you are preventing God from working in your life. But they do have the solution for this as well.
Did you know that for a "gift" of X number of dollars, you can buy the way; err sacrifice to get your prayers answered? You can obtain pieces of anointed cloth, blessed trinkets, self help books and study guides, and special prayers by a highly trained and anointed prayer team. Or you can plant seeds of faith with your credit card and the bigger the better; cha-ching. They prey on your desperation and dangle the occasional person who had their prayer answered in front of you. They show you all the good works your money is doing. They live a lifestyle you aspire to and declare that God is using them as an example for what He has planned for you. And all the while they are twisting God's word and spouting off special revelations God has shown only them to maintain the perception of legitimacy.
Before I going any further, I do want to say that I believe that God still performs miracles. I believe that He wants to give you the desires of your heart. I am not saying who should and who should not be healed and who should or should not be blessed. This topic is about those who are twisting the Bible and making up doctrine to fleece those taken in and trying to show how this is possible. I also believe that there are consequences for the things we do. If you ate a gallon of ice cream every day and now have heart problems would God heal you if that shows there is no consequence for abusing your body. If you went into debt buying what you wanted and not what you needed and could afford, should you expect that God will restore your finances? If you murdered someone, would it be just if God kept you out of prison? When we fail to live as God wants us to live and bad things happen, should we expect that He will just fix it all. God's Grace and Love makes this a very real possibility, but no plan, program, or formula will force God to act against His Will.
I will continue this in the next blog post.
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