Chapter 11.2
Prosperity
Riches & Honor
Ask and Receive – Name it and Claim it – Blab it
and Grab it
God’s Part – Our Part – Work – Welfare – The Poor
– The Tithe
First Word
The
Prosperity Message has been around
for a number of years and has certainly brought prosperity to those who teach
it. Scripture supports Ask and you will
receive,[1]
so for a good while, all we heard was Name it and Claim it; prosperity was
a PROMISED gift from God to the Believer, then it became just Blab it and Grab it, it was your entitlement.[2]
I must admit that the nations that embrace
Christianity are certainly more prosperous than those that do not, especially
those Countries that practice the occult and the secret arts. Scripture seems to support prosperity; that
the Believer will be the head and not the tail; [3]we
will lend too many and owe no one.[4]
God will give us the desires of our heart and He will use other men to bless us[5] and we will have a prosperous retirement.[6]
There are to be TWO
PARTS to prosperity; God’s part and our part.
God’s Part - The Promise
First
of all, God’s promises cannot be applied
universally, they are only for Believers and are limited to the works that give
glory to God. The Believer has promises throughout the Bible.
Some are One Sided; meaning that they
are all God; He will
perform the promises no matter what we do.
Others are Two
Sided involving our participation and have an IF, THEN, BUT clause included in them.
The Promise: We will be established as Holy unto the Lord and
everything we undertake will succeed.
We will
be blessed coming in and going out, blessed in the city and in the country. Blessed with children; lots of cattle and
good crops; our barns will be full of food.
God will open up His treasury and we will abound in Prosperity. We will lead to many and owe nobody and our
enemies will flee from us in fear
IF
Clause: IF we
obey the commandments of the LORD our God, which
He commanded us, being careful to do them, and IF we do not turn aside from any of
His words that He commanded, to the right hand or to the left, or go after
other gods and serve them, THEN I will perform
my promise, BUT
if you do not, CURSES will overtake
you.
Deuteronomy 28:2-12 – THE IF PROMISES
2 And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, IF
you obey the voice of the LORD your God.
3 Blessed shall you be in the city,
and blessed in the field.
4 Blessed shall be the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground and
the fruit of
your cattle, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock.
5 Blessed shall be your basket
and your kneading
bowl.
6 Blessed shall you be when you come in,
and blessed shall you be when you go out.
7 The LORD will cause your
enemies
who rise against you to be defeated before you. They shall come out against
you one way and flee before you seven ways.
8 The LORD will command
the blessing
on you in your barns and in
all that you undertake. And he will bless you in
the land that the LORD your God is giving you.
9 The LORD will establish you as a people holy to himself, as he has sworn to you, IF you keep the commandments of the LORD your God and
walk in his ways.
11 The LORD will make you abound in
prosperity, in the fruit of your womb and in the fruit of your
livestock and the fruit of your ground, within the land that the LORD swore to your
fathers to give you.
12 The LORD will open to you his good treasury, the heavens, to
give the rain to your land in its season and to bless all the work of your
hands. And you
shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow. And the LORD will make you the head
and not the tail.
(ESV)
Deuteronomy 28:13-14 – IF You Obey My
Commandments
13 IF you obey the
commandments of the LORD your God, which
I command you today, being careful to do them,
14 and IF
you do not
turn aside from any of the words that
I command you today, to the right hand or to the left.
(ESV)
Our Part – The Request
The Promise of Prosperity has some
stipulations that are in place; only the Believer has
the right to appropriate, inherit or have any interest in the promises. The name of Jesus Christ is the pledge that
redeems them, His name is the Key that fits the Lock of the treasury.[7]
Ask according
to His Will.[8] How can you know His WILL? Study His Word, pray and seek the direction of
the Holy Spirit.[9]
Ask for what
would glorify Jesus Christ. How can you
know? Study His Word. In all your ways; acknowledge and reverence Him. Seek and Thirst[10]
for the kingdom of God; then the rest will be added to you.
Cast your finances over the SEA
of humanity and before long you will see it coming back on wave
after wave.[11]
Why Prosper?
Out
of all of God’s wealth and possessions, He values man the most. What do we have that we did not receive from
God?[12] All the Silver and Gold belongs to Him; it is
God that gives Health, Wealth, Possessions, Power and Honor.[13]
Man makes his plans, but God is the one that directs his steps.[14] We
prosper so that we can make a difference in others’ lives. When we water the
lives of others, we actually water our own lives.
The Poor
To some; wealth and prosperity
may prove to be destructive and deadly and so it’s withheld. Not everyone will prosper; not everyone has
been given the same talents,[15]
but everyone has been given at least one ability; life is not about how much
you have been given, but what you have done with what you have.[16]
Prosperity is accompanied by the cares of
the world and the deceitfulness of its riches which chokes the word of God and
makes it unfruitful[17]…
Everyone cannot handle this.[18]
Solomon the wisest man in the world said; Give me neither poverty nor riches,[19] don’t
let me become so poor that I am forced to steal and disgrace your name and
don’t give me so much that I forget your statutes.
We will always have the poor with us;[20]
the bigger question is; what are YOU going to do about it?[21]
To whom much is given, much is required.
Welfare
If you are not willing to work, then
neither shall you eat.[22]
God said
it; not me.
Jesus talks about prosperity in the Gospels, He starts off by letting us
know that by example, the Father worked and so did the Son;[23]
even the disciples set their own example by working to pay for their food so
that they would not be a burden to anyone.[24]
Jesus was a carpenter[25]
and encouraged us to work with our hands; that the excellence of our work would
be like a “SILENT SALESMAN” that recommends us
for promotions. It has happened to me all
my life.
Our wealth will
increase directly proportional to our labors. We are to be diligent; we were created to do
our work as unto the Lord. [26]
He is watching how we perform our work
even in the absence of our boss; God will bless and reward us.[27]
Even if you are poor; Jesus has already
ask God the Father to give you your DAILY bread;[28]
not a week’s worth or months’ supply; but just today’s needs. Even the Hebrew’s in the desert were provided
there daily bread; the manna, one day
at a time.
The Tithe
The
Full Gospel Businessmen’s Fellowship was for
the most part made up of Pentecostal Businessmen that believed in the ACTIVE “Gifts of the Spirt”. I am a life member and have not changed my Belief System. The
book says that the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable. [29]
I expressed to the fellowship that I
needed prayer, that I was making 16k and needed a job that paid more… they
asked if I was tithing… I said NO,
because I did not make enough to tithe, but I was giving. They
admonished me to tithe on the amount that I wanted to make. I did and three months later I was promoted
with a salary of 20k, just the amount I was tithing. I shared with the FGBMF what had happened and they said I was short
sighted, that I should have tithed on more. I increased my tithe and in 3 more months I
was promoted again, receiving 24k the exact amount I was tithing.
Within the year I was FIRED and I asked to work out my two weeks’ notice and on
that FRIDAY, the very same day, I received an unsolicited phone call
at 5pm and was offered the very best job I have ever had in my whole life… On MONDAY, I walked into a new job and was not only making more
than enough to live on, I was fulfilling my dreams and the indescribable
desires of my heart.[30]
True Story… I just need to brag a little on God. I was sending a small check to a missionary
every time I receive their envelope in the mail which I thought was once a
month… At tax time I was checking my bank statements and discovered that I had
been sending money to them three times a month and had not even noticed. Praise
God
Jesus Christ fulfilled the 613
Old Testament Laws, therefore I must confess that under the New Testament, even
though it’s a New Testament principal; we are NO LONGER under the LAW to TITHE, however in my BS, I believe we would still
do well to continue to tithe not because we HAVE TO, but because we WANT TO, this lets us get in on what God is
doing. We give not by force, but by
desire.
Good News; God has many storehouses;[31]
you can spread around your tithe; you can give anywhere your spirit directs you
to, and that’s the FUN. Give
to your church to pay the workers, give to strangers[32]
and the beggar, the widow and the orphan. [33]
More good news, you can take care of a
family member and that will reduce the drain on the church’s finances.[34]
Bad
News; if you are living in deliberate
sin, your giving will not be blessed at all.[35]
The Take Away
This study is to re-direct your thoughts
on Welfare, Work and Prosperity. God supplied our
needs in our yesterdays and will supply it in our tomorrows. Prosperity is not Name it and Claim it or Blab it and Grab it. It’s a two sided
promise that requires our participation to glorify God.
Dual Intent of Prospering
and Giving:
1) It demonstrates
our thankfulness for what God had already given to us; and 2) it
demonstrates our trust that He will continue to bless us.[36] It
is God who gives us the ability to have the power to obtain wealth, it is given
so that we can water others and in so doing, we water ourselves. God wants us to personally enjoy AND partake
in the results of our Work.[37]
Whether
Rich or Poor; as believers we been redeemed without money.
[1] John 16:24 – ASK AND YOU WILL RECEIVE that your joy may be full
[2] Philippians 4:19 - God will supply your every need -- Deuteronomy 28:12 - God will open
to you His good treasure -- Luke 11:13
– God will give good gifts to His children -- Psalm 84:11 - No good
thing will be withheld -- Proverbs
28:10 - The upright shall have good things in possession -- Deuteronomy
15:18 - The Lord will bless
all that you do
[3] Deuteronomy 28:13 - The LORD will make you the head
and not the tail
[4] Deuteronomy 28:12 - You shall lend to many nations, but you shall
not borrow
[5] Luke
[6] Job 36:11 – Spend your retirement years in contentment
[7] Philippians 4:19 – God is ABLE to
supply ALL our needs
[8] John 16:24 – Ask according to My Will and
God will most certainly give it -- John
14:13-14 – Ask that the Father may be glorified
-- John 15:16 – Ask and Receive, then Go and bear
fruit that will last
[9] Matthew 6:33 - Seek first the kingdom of
God and all these things will be added to you
[10] Psalm 42:2 - Thirst for the Living God
-- Psalm 115:13 – Fear and reverence
the Lord and be blessed -- Proverbs
3:6 - In all your ways acknowledge Him and
He will make straight your paths
[11] Ecclesiastics 11:1 – Give
to the sea of humanity and after a while you will see it coming back
[12] Isaiah 13:12 - Man is worth more than fine gold -- 1 Corinthians 4:7 - What do you have that you did not receive? -- Haggai 2:8 - The
silver is mine and the gold is mine says the Lord --Acts 20:35 – The blessing is in the giving -- Deuteronomy
15:7-8 – Don’t be tight fisted toward the poor. -- Proverbs 19:17 – When you’re kind to the poor, you lend to the Lord -- Proverbs 11:25 - The generous soul will be made rich -- 2
Corenthians
[13] Ecclesiastes 5:19 – It is God that gives Wealth, Possessions and Power
[14] Proverbs 16:9 - Man plans his way, But God directs his steps
[15] Matthew 25:14-15 – God gives Talents according to our ability.
[16] Mark 12:42-44 – It’s what we do with “What we
HAVE”
that matters
[17] Matthew 13:22 -The deceitfulness of riches
choke out the word
[18] Proverbs 16:8 - Better is
having little and have righteousness than vast revenues without justice
[19] Proverbs 30:8-9 - GIVE ME NEITHER POVERTY NOR RICHES
[20] Deuteronomy 15:10-11- We will always have the poor with us
[21] Psalm 34:10 – If you seek the Lord you will not lack
[22] 2 Thessalonians 3:10 - IF YOU DON’T WORK, NEITHER SHALL YOU
EAT.
[23] John 5:17 - The Father and Son have been
working
[24] 2 Thessalonians 3:7-8 – The disciples worked for their food -- 1
Thessalonians 4:11 - Aspire to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business, and to work with your own hands
[25] Matthew 13:55 – Jesus worked as a carpenter.
[26] 2 Timothy 2:15 – Be diligent, DO YOUR
WORK AS IF YOU ARE WORKING FOR THE LORD-- Proverbs
22:29 – Do work of Excellence and you will stand
before kings -- Ephesians 2:10 - You
were created to do good works
[27] Proverbs 13:11 – Your wealth will increase according to your Labor.
-- Deuteronomy 15:18 - God will
bless you in all that you do -- 2
Chronicles 15:7 – The work of your hands shall be rewarded
[28] Matthew 6:11 – God will provide the poor with daily bread -- Isaiah 52:3 –
We have been redeemed without money
[29] Romans 11:29 - For the gifts and the calling of God are
irrevocable.
[30] 1 John
[31] Nehemiah
[32] Deuteronomy
[33] Deuteronomy 26:12 – Give
to the orphan and the widow.
[34] 1 Timothy
[35] Deuteronomy
[36] Philippians 4:19 – God will supply all our NEEDS
[37] 1 Corinthians 9:9-10 – Share in and enjoy the profits of the work of your
hands
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