The Love Of Money.
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Those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition [destruction]; that the scripture might be fulfilled. (John 17:12)
How terrible to be lost! Judas Iscariot was lost—lost from the Presence of His Creator forever. And for thirty silver coins!
Judas Iscariot was one of the twelve disciples. There was nothing unusual about Judas except his love of money. He carried the bag of money, the common purse of the disciples. Money meant so much to Judas he would steal the money belonging to his comrades, his fellow disciples.
This he (Judas) said, not that he cared for the poor; but because he was a thief, and had the bag, and bare what was put therein. (John 12:6)
Jesus referred to Judas, Simon’s son, as "the son of perdition" (son of destruction). Jesus declared, "it had been good for that man if he had not been born" (Matthew 26:24).
This indeed is a fearful statement. How would you like to hear your Creator say it had been good for you that you never had been born?
Judas was not a man without a conscience. His future conduct portrayed conscience and remorse. But Judas loved money. The love of money provided the door through which Satan was able to enter him.
The moment Judas’ despicable deed was performed his conscience spoke to him. Judas repented and brought back the thirty silver coins to the priests and elders of Israel—the price of the life of God’s Christ.
"I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood," Judas cried. Judas’ sorrow was not that he had betrayed the Christ of Israel but merely an innocent human being.
Judas went and hanged himself. Truly, the love of money is the root of all evil.
What must have been Judas’ terror when he discovered, as he was descending into the bottomless pit, that he had turned over God’s holy Son to the Romans? What will be our terror if we discover when we enter the spirit realm that we have failed Christ because of our love of money?
Can you imagine the agony of Judas’ soul and mind? Christ was not the only person who suffered the pangs of death and Hell during those terrible hours. But Christ’s agony led to the throne of glory, while Judas’ agony increased a thousand times as he entered the frightful caverns of darkness, the abode of Satan, the fallen angels, and the most vile people of history. It was no comfort to Judas to realize he was surrounded with spirits like his own.
Christ was welcomed by the Father and the holy angels. Judas was greeted by fallen angels and demons, the sight of whose faces surpasses in horror any other experience possible to human beings.
There were three crosses on Golgotha: God was crucified; the saved criminal was crucified; the unsaved criminal was crucified. Nor did Judas escape. He also was "crucified," so to speak.
There is no way to escape crucifixion in the world. Those who enter willingly into the cross of Christ are lifted in His omnipotent resurrection.
Those who choose the way of the riches of the world, trusting their money will give them the power to escape the tribulations of life, destroy their relationship with their Creator. In the end, all are "crucified" in one manner or another, and the possession of great wealth cannot prevent it.
Balaam, Gehazi, Judas, and Ananias and Sapphira testify to us from the eternal darkness that riches are deceitful, that the love of money indeed is the root of all evil.
We have "Christian" ministers today who are teaching that the Lord’s people ought to be rich in the world’s goods and we should exercise faith in order to gain wealth. These Balaamite prophets, adorned in the finery of the present world, cannot see the bony ribs of the dying in Africa; neither can they hear the moans of despair coming from the parched lips of the mother attempting to nurse her starving infant.
These lovers of gold cannot see or hear the torments of the world’s population because the pursuit of wealth has blinded their eyes and stopped their ears. Yet they are preaching the saints should seek after money. The blind are leading the blind. Shall they not bear their judgment?
The hour will come when the false prophets of money will be in outer darkness, clothed in rags, begging for a taste of the water of life. The poor of the earth, rich in faith, will be reveling in the sumptuous riches of the Kingdom. They will be dancing and singing for joy, playing with the children in the grassy meadows of glory under a radiant sky.
The teachers of the love of money will see from their oppressive dens the wealth and glory of the Kingdom in the distance. They will hear faintly the strains of the music of the angels. They will smell a bit of the fragrance of the heavenly air. But they will be kept at a distance until the Day of Judgment.
They became rich from their preaching but now they are impoverished. They should have laid up treasures in Heaven so at their death they could have rejoiced in the beauty and love of the spirit Paradise. Instead they are in rags, awaiting the most terrifying of all court appearances.
This is the certain fate of Christian pastors, evangelists, and teachers who have chosen to use their profession to gain material wealth and comfort. When they die they will gnash their teeth in torment while the poorest of the saints will be dwelling in perfect joy and peace.
One of the conspicuous aspects of the reign of Antichrist will be the love of money, of material gain. The world government and the gigantic Christian organization of the last days will be dominated by the love of money. Money will be their idol and their power. They all will be destroyed in the end.
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