OPEN HEAVENS DEVOTIONAL-THURSDAY-06/10/2016-THIEVES IN THE SANCTUARY II-BY PASTOR E.A. ADEBOYE
THIEVES IN THE SANCTUARY II
Memorise
Thou
therefore which teachest another; teachest not thyself? Thou that preachest a
man should not steal, does thou steal? Romans 2:21
Read
1st
Samuel 2:12-17
12 And
Abner the son of Ner, and the servants of Ish-bosheth the son of Saul, went out
from Mahanaim to Gibeon.
13 And
Joab the son of Zeruiah, and the servants of David, went out, and met together
by the pool of Gibeon: and they sat down, the one on the one side of the pool,
and the other on the other side of the pool.
14 And
Abner said to Joab, Let the young men now arise, and play before us. And Joab
said, Let them arise.
15 Then
there arose and went over by number twelve of Benjamin, which pertained to
Ish-bosheth the son of Saul, and twelve of the servants of David.
16 And
they caught everyone his fellow by the head, and thrust his sword in his
fellow's side; so they fell down together: wherefore that place was called
Helkath-hazzurim, which is in Gibeon.
17 And
there was a very sore battle that day; and Abner was beaten, and the men of
Israel, before the servants of David.
KJV
MESSAGE
The worst of
all thieves in the church are the ministers who take the tithes, offerings and
the first-fruits collected from member for their personal use. You hear them
say, “He who serves at the Altar must eat from the Altar.” As true as this statement
may be, custodians of the Lord’s sanctuary should be wary of greed and the love
of money. 1st Timothy
6:10-11 says:
“For the love of money is the root of all evil: which
while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced
themselves through with many sorrows. But thou, O man of God, flee all things;
and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love patience, meekness.”
In the Bible
reading for today, the children of Eli corrupted the people’s sacrifice through
greed. Unfortunately, the same thing is happening today; some ministers of God,
through greed, have made the tithes, offerings and first-fruits that people
bring to the sanctuary unacceptable to God. Sometimes, members of the
congregation suspect this foul play and begin to ask the ministers in charge
what they use their tithes and offerings for. Though the ministers should be
accountable to God through men, however, the tithes and offerings become an
abomination before the Lord when the givers monitor it to the extent of wanting
to know what God does with it. This is the reason some people claim to be
paying their tithes and offerings and there is nothing to show for their
giving.
In Matthew
6:3-4, Jesus Christ said:
“But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand
doeth: That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which Seeth in secret
himself shall reward thee openly.”
It is
dangerous when brethren are not being encouraged or motivated to give more
because they do not have anything to show for their previous giving. This
happens when they begin to develop a negative attitude towards the way their
pastors handle the finances of the Church. Some people leave their local
assembly to go and pay their tithes and offerings elsewhere. This is
counterproductive. Hence, the ministers handling God’s assets must be very
careful. They must not become thieves in the sanctuary. The Lord enjoins us to
fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life whereunto we have been
called, and keep away from the love of this world. If it is dangerous to rob
God by not paying our tithes and offering, it is deadly to steal out of the one
that the brethren are faithfully contributing for the advancement of the
Kingdom business. We must learn from the children of Eli and the children of
Samuel himself (1st Samuel
8:1-5).
Prayer Point
Father, please deliver me from the demon called
mammon and don’t let me end up like Judas Iscariot.
Bible in one year
Ezekiel 37:15-39:29, Psalms 74:12-23
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