Is Jesus a means to an end?

Is Jesus a means to an end ? Can we preach Jesus as 'prosperity' ? The prosperity preachers preach it, so do radical grace preachers who promote the health and wealth gospel, effortless success, or supernatural favour. The prosperity preachers do it in the name of faith and call people to worship their prosperity power; whilst the radical grace preachers do it in the name of 'lawless' grace and call people to worship it as their special favours. I don't see much difference. I will tell them, No, Jesus should never be preached as a means if we would still worship Him as God; otherwise He is just an idol, a mammon God, or just any object of worship for our selfish desires.

Can we 'use' God, 'use' Jesus, or 'use' the Holy Spirit ?
They will argue, "What's wrong with the desire to prosper? Don't you like money? If you say that you do not like money, you are a hypocrite. Please give all your money to me. Of course, God wants us to prosper. God wants us to use Him or make use of Him. That's why it is God's will to give His Son Jesus Christ to die for us so that we will live like kings, enjoy abundant life, and prosper. Hence, God's covenant for us today is no more about our love for God, but God's love for us. He wants to do everything for us; but we do nothing. He enjoyed it when we get more from Him. That's why Jesus would only rebuke the disciples for getting too little from Him and said, 'Ye men of little faith, Don't you know that I can calm the sea and multiply bread. However, you never let me do all these for you.. Jesus would never rebuke us for wanting more, seeking for more, desire more, or lust for more... "
I will tell them, If you think that you are Christians and you have the radical grace to live like kings and lust for more, you could be thinking like Judas Iscariot. Judas could have been using 'Jesus' while he was secretly enriching himself using the funds from the treasury of Jesus. However, I am sure that Jesus was not pleased to know that he had gotten too much. Have you thought of Simon, the sorcerer who had the intention to 'use' the Holy Spirit too. He was severely rebuked by Peter:

• Act 8:9-24 KJV  .. (13)  Then Simon himself believed also: and when he was baptized, he continued with Philip, and wondered, beholding the miracles and signs which were done.  ..   (18)  And when Simon saw that through laying on of the apostles' hands the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money,  (19)  Saying, Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost.  (20)  But Peter said unto him, Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money.  (21)  Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter: for thy heart is not right in the sight of God.  (22)  Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee.  (23)  For I perceive that thou art in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity.  (24)  Then answered Simon, and said, Pray ye to the Lord for me, that none of these things which ye have spoken come upon me.
• Act 5:1-14 KJV  But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession,  (2)  And kept back part of the price, his wife also being privy to it, and brought a certain part, and laid it at the apostles' feet.  (3)  But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land?  (4)  Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God.  (5)  And Ananias hearing these words fell down, and gave up the ghost: and great fear came on all them that heard these things.  ..

As usual, they will argue, "Did you see the word 'a certain man' in Act 5:1? It means that Ananias was not a believer. The above Bible verses are for the non-believers. These warnings can never be applicable to us or the believers. We are forever saved under grace. We are irreproachable. We would never be condemned because of wrong motives or wrong mistakes.What's wrong even if we preach God or Jesus as grace or as a means to our effortless success. Jesus wants us to 'use' Him. He felt satisfied whenever we draws from Him like the woman who drew  from Him at the Jacob's well in John 4:6-7. Grace supplies; but law demands - this is a biblical truth. Jesus would be happy to know that He is a means to our prosperity, to repentance, and to changing our minds too. If Grace is a supply, it is a means. That's why Jesus told me 'personally' that we should preach Him as 'radical grace' which will make us prosper. It may not be said in the Bible clearly but it is a better revelation and a proven effortless success to us. Look at the tremendous increase in our great wealth, beautiful buildings, and effortless prosperity now. We are not ashamed of the gospel of grace .. However, many people are jealous of us and they falsely accused us for preaching lawless grace .."
I will tell them, I am not concerned if the Bible verses above are for the believers, false believers, or false prophets. But thinking about radical grace or preaching God, Jesus Christ, or the Holy Spirit as a means, as a supply, as a favour, as prosperity, or as a 'cover' for our old self, is already showing us that you are condemned. The only 'cover' that the Bible would want us to preach is the cover of our sins through the blood of Jesus, and nothing more or less than that. Otherwise, we have not preached the gospel and we have not give due honour to the blood of Jesus Christ. We insult the blood and the grace of God:

• Heb 10:26-31 KJV  For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins,  (27)  But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.  (28)  He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses:  (29)  Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?  (30)  For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people.  (31)  It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

Hence, how can you keep denying it by arguing that you are a believer and can never be condemned ? You should repent; otherwise, no amount of self-assurance can deliver yourselves from the condemnation and rebuke of the Holy Spirit.
(see "The death of Ananias and Sapphira is the clear evidence that there is still judgement in the church of God" in my another post.)


Those who 'use' Jesus are the believers who know Jesus and they will be judged by Jesus
This is common sense - Only those who know Jesus or the name of Jesus can 'use' Jesus or abuse Jesus. Hence, it is ridiculous to falsely accuse the people of the world or the people of other religions, who do not know Jesus or God's grace, as the false prophets who will 'use' Jesus and insult grace of God in the Lord's warnings against His believers and servants. However, many preachers would still blind themselves and others by thinking that the parables and the warnings of Jesus Christ about false prophets and believers are no longer applicable to them. But I think otherwise. Please look at the parable of the tares again:

• Mat 13:36-51 KJV  Then Jesus sent the multitude away, and went into the house: and his disciples came unto him, saying, Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field.  (37)  He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man;  (38)  The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one;  (39)  The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels.  (40)  As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world.  (41)  The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity (lawlessness);  (42)  And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.  (43)  Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.  (44)  Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.  (45)  Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls:  (46)  Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it.  (47)  Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind:  (48)  Which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away.  (49)  So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just,  (50)  And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.  (51)  Jesus saith unto them, Have ye understood all these things? They say unto him, Yea, Lord.

I will tell them, This parable is more relevant to us than to any of the believers in the church history. Jesus was clearly talking about the end time when He will judge or separate the wheat from the tares, the good seeds from the bad seeds, or the children of the kingdom from the children of the wicked one. You may argue that the children of the wicked one in (v38) can never be you or the believers; but they are the people of the world. I will ask you, Why would Jesus use the tares to describe the children of the wicked one in (v38) ? Do you remember that Jesus said we are the light of the world and the salt of the earth (Mat 5:13-17) ? We are a peculiar people who have God's laws in our hearts (Tit 2:14, 1Pe 2:9, Heb 8:10).
Hence, would Jesus still use the wheat and the tares to compare us with world ? Of course, no, otherwise He would contradict Himself. The tares are those who have great resemblance to us, but they are not from God. They are 'fakes' with great resemblance to our lives, conducts, confessions, doctrines, and beliefs. They can never be the people of the world because they seem to be part of us in the sense that they seem to live with us and know God but they are not from God. They seem to preach the truth but they preach falsehood. They seem to preach obedience but they preach lawlessness. I believe that the Lord would include all those who devise lawlessness when He judges the false prophets in the following Bible verses:

• Mat 13:41-43 LITV  The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all the offenses, and those who practice lawlessness.  (42)  And they will throw them into the furnace of fire; there will be weeping and gnashing of the teeth.  (43)  Then the righteous will shine out like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. The one having ears to hear, let him hear. (44) Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.

Have you discovered the contrast Jesus have shown from the Bible verses above ? The are:

• The hidden falsehood - the hidden tares, hidden false doctrines, or hidden lawlessness, in Mat 13:41-42 and Mat 13:47-50, which would be judged and destroyed in the fire.
• The hidden truth - the hidden treasure, in Mat 13:44-46, which would be collected and kept in a 'safe' place - it means salvation for the righteous. 

I will tell the radical grace preachers, There is a great hidden Bible truth which we can discover for the people, as well as a great wicked doctrine which we should ask the people to beware. How can you hide the truth instead, and blind their mind or influence their thinking to miss the truth ? Hence, I can assuredly say that those who keep saying that the preaching or teaching of Jesus has become obsolete are false prophets. They have created many false doctrines but they are afraid that the people would expose them if they know and believe in the warnings and parables of Jesus Christ. Hence, they would keep arguing why the teaching, warnings, and commandments of Jesus Christ are no longer applicable to them. But, this would keep proving to us how accurate and applicable are the warnings and prophecies of Jesus Christ to show that they are truly false prophets.

Those who 'use' Jesus will boast and argue convincingly with their Bible knowledge
They will argue, "What's wrong if we 'use' Jesus, 'use' Jesus' money, 'use' Jesus' favours, 'use' Jesus' grace, and 'use' Jesus' prosperity ? We are the pillars of our churches. We must prosper more than others because we are the pastors. We are destined to reign, If we don't reign or enjoy like kings, we are not anointed. If we are poorer than our congregations who are sinners, we would not be successful. Hence, those preachers who do not prosper as much as us are not anointed preachers. If we preach that Jesus has made Himself poor so that we are rich, we know that Jesus wants us to take His money, His grace, His fortune, and His benefits. If we stop taking from Him, we are not doing Him favour; we are insulting His grace. If we do not take more from Him and prosper, He would rebuke us and said, 'Oh, Ye of little faith, don't you know that I can do this.. and that.. for you ? (Mat 16:8, Luk 12:28, Mat 8:26)' In fact, Jesus is so good to us that that is the only rebuke He would say to us and the believers. He would never condemn us or judge us because He is more than happy if we take from Him. So, if we keep taking from Jesus, no one can accuse us .."
I will ask them, So, no one can question you even if you take Jesus' money or your churches money, and think like Judas Iscariot? Are you teaching the believers to be good stewards of Jesus' money or to be good 'suckers' of His money ? This is ridiculous prosperity and grace teaching. Churches which believe in your arguments or teaching for this type of prosperity are breeding grounds for false prophets and pastors who may go into the 'field' and take over all our churches one day.
Yes, king David and king Solomon reigned and enjoyed like kings because they are kings. They were supposed to collect the money from the people to build the country, eg. build roads, hospitals, markets, business centres, infra-structures, orphanage, welfare organisations, ... etc. Although you are not kings. You are pastors. When you get the money from the people, you get Jesus' money and you do not have the right to use all for yourselves. If you have only 10 people in your church and each one give $1,000 as their tithes and offerings through you, you may use all the money or the total amount of $10,000 after deduction of the church rental and general expenses. But if you have 20,000 members who will also give you $1,000 each, you would get an exorbitant amount of $20,000,000. Can you argue that you can use the total amount too after deduction of church rental and general expenses ? Yes, you may argue that you should be paid more because you are the pillars of the church who draw the people to give through you, but you do not have the right to use the whole amount of $20,000,000. Firstly, you are not the kings. Secondly, you do not need such a big amount for your living expenses. If you insist that you must get the full amount, it is your greed that is speaking. Yes, you can use Jesus' money to a certain extent, but when you claim, conspire, persuade, and collaborate with others to use Jesus' money or the church money, you are 'using' Jesus like Judas Iscariot. Jesus will rebuke you, no matter how well you can quote the Bible verses about your prosperity and confess His name. You have used Jesus and preached Him as a means to your end including the lust of your flesh:

• Mat 7:15-23 KJV  Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.  (16)  Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?  (17)  Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.  (18)  A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.  (19)  Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.  (20)  Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.  (21)  Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.  (22)  Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?  (23)  And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. (Jesus has clearly shown us in other Bible verses that those who do the will of the Father are those who do His commandments. Those who dispute about it are those who do not do the will of the Father, and they are those will confess, argue, and boast before the Lord.)
• Luk 6:46-48 KJV  And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?  (47)  Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like:  (48)  He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood (false doctrine) arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock. (Hence, Jesus said clearly that He would not just want us to have right believing, right faith, right miracles, right preaching, or right confession only; he wants us to have right doing with His words too, because right doing would prove that we are His true disciples on the rock of salvation.)

Grace is Jesus Christ or Jesus Christ is grace ?
It is ok to say that God is love, God is grace, God is truth .. etc. But the moment someone preaches grace, prosperity, riches, or any gifts of God radically and argue that grace is God or grace is Jesus Christ, we have to beware.  The point that I wanted to make was: Money is good, but money can never be God and it should not be preached like it is God too.

• Luk 16:13-14 KJV  No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.  (14)  And the Pharisees also, who were covetous, heard all these things: and they derided him.

Similarly, Grace is good, but grace can never be God and it should not be preached like it is God too. Grace is a gift which came by Jesus Christ (John 1:17). Grace is not Jesus Christ. Similarly, 'seek ye first the kingdom of God in Matt 6:33' should be preached to point people to God; not to point people to prosperity, favour, or the gift of God. However, I have heard many radical grace preachers who said that "grace is not a doctrine; grace is Jesus Christ, and grace will prosper you". We should question their motive or their reason for preaching it. Is it because they think that, if they preach grace, they preach Jesus Christ and, hence, no one can question them about their grace teaching or radical grace ? If this is the reason, they would not care if people are clear about sound doctrine or become so confused that they worship grace as their idol for prosperity or anything. This is the reason why we have to beware.

If we would 'use' Jesus as a means to an end, we would 'use' anything to get our selfish 'ends' met
Many people argue and believe that they should never vote for politicians who are evasive with they political agenda and promises, and who 'use' politics as 'a means' to 'an end'. Similarly, I would think so if we need to select pastors or preachers for the churches too. We should never believe the preachers who are 'ding dong bell' preachers, and who 'use' Jesus as 'a means' to 'an end' too.
I will tell them, You said that"you are the pillar of your church and therefore you deserve all the goodness and favour of your God, including money collected from the tithes and offering of the people. You should be paid better than all other pastors or ministers because you could preach better and you attracted most of the people to your church. You did most of the miracles in the name of Jesus. You have done this .. and that ... You are also the keynote speaker to a certain ministry. You are the senior leader of your church who is solely responsible for your church growth. You are this .. and that.."
I will tell them, If this is your philosophy, let me ask you, Will you do the same if you are a political leader too ? Will you say, "I am the pillar of my political party and therefore I deserve all the goodness and favour of my government, including all the money collected through tax and legal means. I should be entitled for all the surplus after the deduction of the expenditure in the process of tax collection, because I am the key leader who governs all the people.." I will tell them, If this is your philosophy, you are a tyrant or dictator who wrongly think that everyone's salary or possession belong to you Do you know how much would the money surplus be after the deduction of the expenditure ? It is an exorbitant amount. It cannot be all for you. It is still the money of the people for other contingencies and for future national development. The money is still theirs for their children and their children's children. It is too much for you to take all and to enjoy it. Don't be so greedy like the rich man in the parable that you would just want to hoard money and riches by doing nothing for others:

• Luk 12:16-21 KJV  And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully:  (17)  And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits?  (18)  And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods.  (19)  And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.  (20)  But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?  (21)  So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.

We do not worship Jesus merely as a 'supply' to all our needs or as grace which supplies like the 'casino'; we must worship Jesus as God. If we just want to worship Jesus our 'supply' or 'casino', we would not see the need to repent before Him or to serve Him. We would just see Him as our 'slave' or 'servant'.
(see "Can we use God?" in my another post)



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