The Goodness of God (Chapter Three)

Chapter Three

Error Two: We Will Get All Blessings In The Sweet By And By

This error is just as dangerous and subtle as the last one. It also borders on asceticism. It preys upon sincere Christians who truly love the Lord and care nothing about anything except furthering His kingdom.

Yet it breaks the heart of God to watch such loving and faithful children suffer needlessly because they are denied all that has been made available in this life upon earth as well as the life to come. They suffer because they do not expect, and even believe that it is a sin to expect any reward upon the earth.

The "sweet by and by" error teaches that we will either receive all blessings such as healing, prosperity, and complete victory when we either get to heaven or during the millennium when Jesus is physically ruling and reigning upon the earth for a thousand years. Some Scriptures that are used to support this view are Matt. 6:19-21, Col. 3:1-2, and 1 Pet. 1:4. There are more but these are enough for the moment.

The "sweet by and by" error is only half true. In Heavenly mathematics a half truth equals a WHOLE LIE. Satan Has destroyed many Christians for years with "half truths."

In the garden of Eden he deceived Eve with a half truth. He told her that when she ate of the fruit that she and Adam would be as gods, knowing good and evil (Gen. 3:5). That was true. However, he lied about the part that they would not die (Gen. 2:17; 3:4).

On the other hand he tried to get Jesus to commit suicide based on a half truth. He quoted Psalm 91:11-12 out of its context. This Scripture was a promise of protection from God but Satan tried to get Jesus to apply it incorrectly. Jesus caught on to it and reminded Satan of the WHOLE truth (Matt. 4:5-7).

Satan preys upon Christians with half truths. When we look at the whole truth and apply it then we are victorious over the devil. In this case of the "sweet by and by" we will receive many rewards and treasures in heaven for serving the Lord (1 Cor. 3:12-16) and many blessings during the millennium (Rev. 20).

However, the Bible makes it clear that we will receive many wonderful material and spiritual blessings in THIS LIFE also. In Mark 10 a rich man came to Jesus inquiring as to how he may receive eternal life. This man had kept the ten commandments all his life.

Yet Jesus could see that the man was still in bondage to his many great possessions. You see when Jesus told him to give them all up and follow Him, the man could not do it. If you cannot give up something for Jesus my friend you are in bondage to that thing. God does not mind you having great possessions, but if those great possessions have YOU, then He minds. You cannot worship both God and mammon (Matt. 6:24).

Jesus told the disciples it was a difficult thing for a rich man to enter into the kingdom. He did not say it was IMPOSSIBLE. Only difficult. The reason it is difficult is because most rich people have a tendency to trust in their money more than God. Some people feel that if they are rich then they do not need God.

Nevertheless, this amazed the disciples. Think about this for a moment. Tradition says that the disciples were poor. If that were true then they should have been overjoyed at Jesus' statement. On the contrary they were astonished. Why? Because they were not as poor as tradition leads us to believe.

This statement must have given Peter much concern because he points out the fact that they had left ALL to follow him. If they were so poor, he would not have needed to make such a statement. Jesus relieves Peter's concern with a promise that destroys the "sweet by and by" error:

"And Jesus answered and said, verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel's, But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come, eternal life." (Mark 10:29-30)

Jesus said we will receive NOW in this time. Why wait to get your blessings in the sweet by and by when they are available right here in the "sweet now and now."

The Living Bible paraphrases the latter part of verse 30 like this: ".....All these will be his HERE ON THE EARTH, and in the world to come he shall have eternal life." You see what that poor rich man missed out on. He could have had a hundred times better than what he had if he would have given up all his possessions for Jesus.

There has been some controversy over the meaning of this particular passage of Scripture. Some have taken this passage to literally mean that we can claim from God 100 houses, and brothers, etc. Others do not believe that Jesus is speaking this way. I certainly do not deny that God will bless us in this lifetime with material as well as spiritual blessings and I endeavour to prove this in this book. However, I have some difficulty believing that our Lord is teaching us that every believer should reap 100 times more physical property that was given for the sake of the kingdom.

The New Living Translation says, "will receive now in return, a hundred times over, houses, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and property – with persecutions." J.B. Phillips Translation and the Jewish New Testament also says "a hundred times over." I believe that God will bless us 100 times over, or another way to say this is "100 times better" than what we give up for His sake (in the case of missionaries who have left all to serve in a foreign country, etc.) in this lifetime, but not 100 additional houses, brothers, sisters, etc. A.S. Worrell, a Greek scholar, also seems to agree with this translation. In his notes he makes this comment concerning Mark 10:30: "A hundredfold; blessings a hundred times as valuable as those given for Jesus." And the most wonderful aspect of this is that it will occur in this lifetime.

Nonetheless, our Lord shows us that there are two kinds of rewards, those that we receive in heaven and those which we receive while we are still on the earth. We can expect to receive these with persecutions. Rich or poor, we will be persecuted either way. Personally I can handle persecution a whole lot better when I am prosperous, how about you?

Other passages make it clear that we can receive all that God has for us while we are still alive on the earth.

"Behold the righteous shall be recompensed in the earth: much more the wicked and the sinner." (Prov. 11:31)

That which you sow is what you will reap, whether it is good or bad. You and I can have the joy that our reaping of righteousness will be done upon the earth in this age.

Many blessings of the righteous are mentioned in Proverbs 10. They have deliverance from death, never famish (starve to death), BLESSINGS upon their head, they walk securely, their DESIRES are granted, they have an everlasting foundation, their hope is gladness, God is their strength and stronghold (protection), they will never be removed, and wisdom from their mouths. Other Scriptures show that the righteous have guaranteed answers to all of their prayers (Prov. 15:16; James 5:16; 1 Pet. 3:12).

All of these blessings will be recompensed to us upon the earth. We do not have to wait until we get to heaven or until the millennium to get them.

When we give to the poor, we will be blessed for our giving here upon the earth:

"Blessed is he that considereth the poor: the Lord will deliver him in time of trouble. The Lord will preserve him, and keep him alive; and he shall be blessed upon the earth: and thou wilt not deliver him into the hands of his enemies." (Psalm 41:1-2)

I can personally testify to the truth of this Scripture. This ministry has financially blessed ministries in poor countries such as India and the Philippines. God has never failed to meet our need nor our desires. We have received an abundant return for our giving to the poor.

God really and truly cares about the poor and expects you and I to bless them. But we cannot bless the poor if we are in poverty ourselves. One must be blessed in order to be a blessing. You should desire material wealth if for no other reason than to fulfill God's commandment to take care of the poor.

God's principle for blessing us financially upon the earth is by our giving. God makes a wonderful promise concerning giving in Luke 6:38:

"Give, and IT shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again."

What is the IT that will be given to you? Whatever it is that you GIVE. If you LOVE, you will get love. If you give TIME, you will get time. If you give MONEY, you will get money.

Notice that MEN shall give into your bosom. This would have to happen right here on earth. In heaven you will already have everything that you will ever need or desire. You will need no man to give you anything. However, on earth God uses men and women to accomplish His purposes. So it is on earth that you will receive your reward for your giving.

We want to experience the blessings of the Lord right now. We want them in our lifetime. David makes this statement concerning God's goodness:

"I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living." (Psalm 27:13)

It was not in the land of the "sweet by and by" that David believed to see the goodness of the Lord. In heaven, you are no longer "living." You are what is considered "dead" where THIS life is concerned. The land of the living is here on the earth.

We saw in Previous lessons that God's goodness has been stored up for us (Ps. 31:19). It is not stored up waiting until we get to heaven. It is stored up for us and awaiting us to claim it right here upon the earth, in the land of the living.

This Psalm shows us why so many people fail and give up. They do not believe that they will see God's goodness in this lifetime. David believed to see God's goodness in the land of the living and he did. If you and I will believe God for the same thing then we will get the same results.

The main reason we do not see God's goodness is due to a lack of faith. Faith can only go as far as your knowledge of God's Word. If you do not believe that God's goodness is available for you NOW, you will not step out in bold faith and claim what is rightfully yours.

Israel offers us an illustration of this. God delivered Israel from Egypt that is the land of bondage and made promises concerning the land that He would give them (Exodus 13:5-11; 20:12; 23:30; 33:1; Lev. 14:34; 20:24; 23:10). This event was recorded as examples for us so we will draw some lessons from this (1 Cor. 10:1-11).

Egypt is a type of the world while Pharaoh is a type of the devil. Egypt kept Israel in bondage and until God redeemed them by the blood of a lamb (Ex. 12). This is a "type" of our redemption from the world and from the devil by the blood of Jesus (John 17:9-23; Col. 1:12-14).

They spent 40 years in the wilderness due to their lack of faith in God to bring them into the promised land (Num. 13 and 14). This is a type of the immature Christian who wanders about aimlessly in life with no purpose for God. This person misses out on the best that God has for them.

Finally, the next generation of Israelites made it into the promised land that is Canaan.

Many people have taught and many songs portray Canaan as a type of heaven. This could not be true because there were enemies in this land (Ex. 23:27-33; 33:1-2; 34:11-17). There will be no enemies in heaven (Revelation 21 and 22) therefore this could not be a type of heaven.

Canaan was a type of the rights and privileges that belong to every born again believer. It is also a type of the spiritual warfare that every believer must engage in order to possess these things (Read Joshua).

Making Canaan a type of heaven has contributed to the "sweet by and by" error. People believed that they would see their promised land in heaven. You can have it right here on earth if you are willing to fight the good fight of faith (1 Tim. 6:12) and take possession of what God says is already yours.

One last thing that proves the "sweet by and by" error to be just that: an error. God tells us clearly that He wants His will done on earth as it is in heaven:

"After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven." (Matt. 6:9-10).

God wants His will done on earth as it is in heaven. But why does it not just happen automatically if it's His will? Why must we pray for this to be done?

The reason is that there are enemies on the earth - Satan and his evil forces - who work hard to try to hinder God's will from being done here just as there were in Canaan. These enemies are defeated but we must act upon our the victory that Jesus has appropriated by His blood by faith.

We find more proof of this in Deuteronomy. God commands the people of Israel to obey His commandments, and for good reason:

"That your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, in the land which the Lord sware unto your fathers to give them, as the days of heaven upon the earth." (Deut. 11:21).

In heaven there is no lack, sickness, sin, or any other negative thing that we experience on earth. These things that are in heaven God wants us to have on earth also. This is the will of God for you. You need not wait for the sweet by and by to get heaven's blessings when you can experience most of them right here on earth in this lifetime.

Our focus should be on heaven (Col. 3:1-2) but that does not mean that God will not bless us abundantly on the earth. When we focus on GOD and not THINGS then we will receive material as well as spiritual blessings in this life.

It is true that many Christians must get beyond the point of asking "what can God do for ME?" and begin asking more "what can I do for God?"

The difference between the carnal minded Christian and the spiritually minded one is that the spiritually minded Christian keeps his or her mind filled and focused on God and His Word. The Carnal Christian has his or her mind focused on everything else but God and His Word (1 Cor. 2:12-16; 3:1-4).

There must be balance in all things. We cannot go from one extreme of being materialistic or the other extreme of being so "spiritual" that we deny ourselves of material blessings. The "sweet by and by error" has put too many sincere Christians in bondage. However, if we learn the truth concerning this, this truth will make us free (John 8:32).

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