Ananias and Sapphira traded their eternal inheritance for money, becoming an example of those who lie to the Holy Spirit. Demas loved this present world and now his bones are rotting alongside his possessions leaving his name as a reminder to Christians of what not to do.

Of all the heathen gods of His day, the Lord Jesus warned us concerning only one mammon (money).

Paul declared that the love of money is the root of all evil.

In spite of all this, there are ministers of the Gospel of the Kingdom of God, supposedly believers in the Scriptures, who are proclaiming that material wealth is highly desirable and the sign of God's blessing.

Such preachers have convinced the "saints" of the wealthy nations that God wants them to be rich in material goods in the same goods that already have caused the steel of their consecration to turn to jelly. We have the confusing scene of people professing Christ, speaking in tongues, prophesying, healing the sick, and announcing that God wishes the Christian people to be wealthy and successful in this world.

One must acknowledge Antichrist as a master deceiver!

God has chosen the poor of this world. It is those who are poor in this world, but rich in faith and love for Him, whom God has chosen to be heirs of His Kingdom. God sends away empty the rich of this world. The rich are commanded to "weep and howl" (James 5:1).

It is nearly impossible for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God. The prostitutes and thieves find it much easier to enter. Yet, the "prophets" in the wealthy nations are teaching that the believers should be wealthier than they are now. Are they deliberately attempting to make it impossible for their hearers to enter the Kingdom of God?

Paul shows us that "Sodom" and "Egypt" have no place in the Kingdom of God:

For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. (Ephesians 5:5)

The "street of Sodom" and the "street of Egypt" are lined with the bodies of God's former witnesses. One can go to large cities and behold cathedrals and other Christian institutions that at one time played a role in the Gospel of the Kingdom but now are sepulchers. Such "dead bodies" will be found throughout the major cities of the world during the period that follows the latter-rain revival.

Now we come to the third city (although the three are one "great city" the world) in which the Lord always is crucified, which always seeks to slay the prophets of God. That city is "Jerusalem," the symbol of spiritual envy, of religious pride, of rebellion against God.

We are not speaking of literal Jerusalem, or literal Egypt, or literal Sodom. These are figures the Spirit uses in the eleventh chapter of Revelation. We are referring to the spirit of Jerusalem, of Egypt, of Sodom.

"Jerusalem" is so wicked, so stubbornly set in its ways, it will cry for the execution of its own Christ even when the world sees the injustice of the charge and seeks to release Him.

To be continued.