Page 38 - The Gate and the Way

exists in their hearts toward those who are Christ’s disciples. A man cannot serve God and
mammon. Despite this clear declaration of Christ, the vast majority of Christians today are
trying to do that which He testified to be impossible. Most Christians are attempting to
serve God and to pursue material prosperity at the same time. Little do they realize that in
doing so they are adopting a mindset that is antagonistic toward Christ and His disciples.
Such ones are at risk of becoming the persecutors of the righteous while thinking they are
doing God a favor.

Luke 16:13-15
“No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one, and love the other,
or else he will hold to one, and despise the other. You cannot serve God and
mammon.” Now the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, were listening to all these
things, and they were scoffing at [Yahshua]. And He said to them, “You are those
who justify yourselves in the sight of men, but God knows your hearts.”

There are many pharisees in the church today. Many of them appear as the most
righteous and devoted of all believers. They sit in the best seats, and are given honor, for the
leaders of the churches favor those who exude a material prosperity and worldly success.
The Scriptures, personal experience, and the witness of the Spirit of Christ, all lead me
to conclude that much of the suffering, reproaches, and persecution that will accrue to those
who surrender to follow Christ in this hour will arise from those who profess to follow
Christ while pursuing material prosperity. Christ will lead many of His sons and daughters
to embrace a path where most, if not all, of their material possessions must be left behind.
Having a house, or a nest of their own will no longer be a certainty. Those who follow Christ
will of necessity need to manifest a contentment with whatever God chooses for them.
There will be periods of lack. Food will not be present in the same abundance as former
days, nor the comforts of life that so many take for granted.
Those who esteem such things will become critical of those whose pursuit of obedience
to Christ has replaced a pursuit of the material. Family members, church leaders, fellow
saints, and the members of a materialistic society will all scorn those whose lives appear to
be cursed with poverty. Men and women will receive condemnation for not giving
themselves to a pursuit of mammon. They will be vilified as lacking compassion for their
family members, of being lazy, prideful, or spiritually deluded.
I am at this very moment aware of saints who are entering into times of material lack
as they labor to follow Christ with all their hearts. God has certainly ordered their steps. He
has promised not to forsake them. He will provide them their daily needs, but what God has
defined as man’s need is very different from man’s definition.

I Timothy 6:8
And if we have food and covering, with these we shall be content.

Remember once more the Scripture we reviewed in the previous chapter.

Luke 6:20-26
And turning His gaze on His disciples, He began to say, “Blessed are you who are
poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who hunger now, for you shall
be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh. Blessed are you