I have entitled our message this evening “True Biblical Prosperity.” If there is “true” biblical teaching on prosperity, then there must also be “false” teaching. Therefore, I am going to briefly address the false teaching that’s out there, and then point out what the Bible defines as true prosperity.
Benny Hinn says, “Poverty is from the devil and God wants all Christians prosperous.” (1) Kenneth Hagan says that God “wants His children to eat the best, He wants them to wear the best clothing, He wants them to drive the best cars, and He wants them to have the best of everything.” (2) Jesse Duplantis says, “The very first thing on Jesus’ agenda was to get rid of poverty! Would you like to know why some people, including ministries, never get out of poverty? It’s not because they aren’t smart. It’s not because they don’t have windows of opportunity. It’s because they’re not anointed. If you’re not anointed, poverty will follow you all the days of your life. His first objective was to get rid of poverty.” (3)
The quotes that I just shared illustrate some of the false teachings that exist concerning prosperity, and I am sure you noticed a hint of selfishness and egocentrism in what was spoken by these individuals; selfishness in seeking out material possessions and worldly “stuff,” and egocentrism in viewing oneself as more loved by God as evidenced by having more possessions, therefore being more anointed and blessed. We also noticed how prosperity tends to be defined as having a lot of money; therefore, the majority of prosperity theology views money as equivalent to God’s prosperity.
In John 10:10 Jesus declared, “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly,” but did Jesus mean that He came to make us rich in material goods? About ten years ago, I began studying God’s desire to bless and prosper His children. I examined prosperity theology, and I kept observant to see if what I learned actually held up. However, I kept finding myself going through unending trials, and it just didn’t seem to make sense in light of prosperity teaching. If I were really favored by God then why wasn’t I experiencing financial freedom, and why was I going through so many trials?
The Lord then directed me to consider other believers across the world enduring poverty, trials, persecution, and even martyrdom. Just think about it for a moment. There are faithful Christians living in third world countries who are starving. So, I had to ask myself if these people were less favored by God; and of course, the answer is that they are not less favored. Could it be that when Jesus spoke of abundant life, He wasn’t talking about material abundance or even daily provision? This evening, we will explore the question of what type of abundance Jesus meant.
What exactly is prosperity? Prosperity is defined for us as, “a successful, flourishing, or thriving condition.” (4) To be prosperous is “having success” and “flourishing.” (5) If prosperity is measured by how much someone is successful or flourishing, then couldn’t we technically be prosperous if we are alive and breathing? Isn’t a flower out in the field flourishing and prosperous when it is growing and blooming? Jesus stated in Matthew 6:28, “Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.” Jesus pointed out how a flower was more prosperous than even King Solomon in all of his riches and his material possessions. Just to have our health reveals that God has made us to prosper, right?
What we will come to understand is that prosperity is not based on what we possess but on who we are inside, or who we are spiritually. Prosperity is not determined by a lack of hard times, but by how we handle tough situations; by whether or not we maintain our joy. Abundance and joy in life are not the result of “what” we have, but “Who” we have, or “Whose” we are. I want to take the remainder of our time this evening and explore what the Bible has to say about abundance, blessing and prosperity. We will discover that the Bible mentions more than one type of prosperity; however, there is actually only one type that is of utmost importance in our life, and I am going to go ahead and give it away and tell you what it is. The most important type of prosperity is “spiritual prosperity,” and I want us to consider this as we look at God’s Word.
Success in Efforts Seen as Prosperity
One meaning of prosperity in the Bible goes along with the definition we just read for prosperity of “a successful . . . condition.” There are a few verses that view prosperity as having “success” in our efforts, especially our efforts in God’s kingdom. Genesis 39:2-3 tells us that, “The Lord was with Joseph, and he was a successful man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian. And his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord made all he did to prosper in his hand.” In reference to obeying the law, Joshua 1:8 advises us, “For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.” We clearly see that obeying the law leads to prosperity, and prosperity is equated with “success.”
Success in our efforts is actually one way in which the “world” judges prosperity. This carries over into ministry to where we often believe that the bigger church is always the better one; however, God views success in our efforts through a different set of eyes than the world (1 Samuel 16:7). The reason why Joseph was seen as successful and prosperous by the Lord was because he was a man of integrity who remained faithful to God no matter what the cost to his own life. As long as our heart is pure before God and as long as we seek to serve Him, then our efforts are successful and we are considered to be prosperous. Colossians 3:17 says, “And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.”
Material Possessions Seen as Prosperity
Next we find material possessions being viewed as prosperity; however, this is exclusively an Old Testament view. In Genesis 26:12-14, we read: “Then Isaac sowed in that land, and reaped in the same year a hundredfold; and the Lord blessed him. The man began to prosper, and continued prospering until he became very prosperous; for he had possessions of flocks and possessions of herds and a great number of servants.” In reference to Jacob, Genesis 30:43 says, “Thus the man became exceedingly prosperous, and had large flocks, female and male servants, and camels and donkeys.”
In Deuteronomy chapter 28, God promised numerous material blessings to the seed of Abraham. For example, Deuteronomy 28:4 and 12 pronounces, “Blessed shall be the fruit of your body, the produce of your ground and the increase of your herds, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flocks . . . The Lord will open to you His good treasure, the heavens, to give the rain to your land in its season, and to bless all the work of your hand. You shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow.” This is a passage that many prosperity preachers use to say that Christians, as the spiritual seed of Abraham, will be blessed and prosper in riches and possessions.
It is true that Christians are of the seed of Abraham (Galatians 3:7) and that God wants to bless us as well; and it might be His desire to prosper us in a material sense, but that doesn’t mean that it will happen. We live in a fallen and sinful world, and things don’t always go according to plan, for Satan is loose in this world (John 12:31). For example, Job was materially prosperous (Job 1:3, 10), but Satan took all of that away (Job 1:13-19); but hopefully we will be as Job and declare in such a time, “The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord” (Job 1:21). What is important for us is that we prosper spiritually whenever things go wrong.
Religious Persecution Seen as Prosperity
Many times things don’t go the way we think they should, and we do not see material or physical blessings from God. As I stated earlier, there are people all across the world that are going through persecution; and should we be so arrogant as to say they are not favored by God? The Bible actually points out persecution as a form of prosperity. In Luke 6:22, Jesus said, “Blessed are you when men hate you, and when they exclude you, and revile you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of Man’s sake.” 1 Peter 4:14 tells us, “If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. On their part He is blasphemed, but on your part He is glorified.” 1 Peter 3:13-14 says, “And who is he who will harm you if you become followers of what is good? But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you are blessed. And do not be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled.”
Religious persecution is seen as prosperity because it is often the result of our faithfulness to God, and it brings glory to God if we remain faithful to the Lord amidst persecution. As with Joseph, God views our spiritual success, or our faithfulness, as being truly prosperous. Job remained faithful to the Lord during his losses, proving to be spiritually prosperous; therefore, the Lord eventually restored his material possessions and gave him twice as much as he had before (Job 42:10, 12). The Lord is more concerned about our spiritual well-being than our physical well-being, which brings us to our primary biblical meaning of prosperity.
Spiritual Health Seen as Prosperity
The main definition of prosperity in the Bible is spiritual health, or spiritual prosperity. 3 John 1:2 says, “Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.” Ephesians 1:3 declares, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.”
Luke 6:20 says, “Blessed are you poor, for yours is the kingdom of God,” revealing that the poor are blessed because they inherit the spiritual blessing of entering the kingdom. On the same subject, we read in Acts 3:6, “Then Peter said, ‘Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk’,” and then in 2 Corinthians 8:9 we read, “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich” – that is, spiritually rich by inheriting eternal life. In Luke 14:13-14, Jesus said that we should invite the poor to dinner, knowing that they will not be able to repay us monetarily. He went on to say, “And you will be blessed . . . for you shall be repaid at the resurrection of the just” (v. 14), referring to a spiritual repayment, or spiritual prosperity, when we receive the payment of eternal life.
Psalm 133:3 defines spiritual prosperity for us. It tells us, “The Lord commanded the blessing – life forevermore.” Spiritual prosperity and health come to us in the form of “life forevermore,” or eternal life, and our eternal life is found in Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans 6:23). Looking back to 3 John 1:2, God wants us to prosper “in health” and “in all things,” but He is more concerned that we prosper in our “soul.” Do you prosper in a spiritual sense by having “life forevermore?” Does your soul prosper?
Fruit Bearing Seen as Prosperity
A sign of spiritual health and prosperity is bearing spiritual fruit. This can be seen in the form of exhibiting the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23), or in winning people to Christ. In John 15:5, Jesus said, “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.” If we are spiritually prosperous we will bear fruit. If we are not spiritually healthy we will fail to bear fruit, and Jesus told us, “Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away” (John 15:2), meaning that we will have to endure pruning and the shears, which is a very painful time. It is a time in which we will really have to demonstrate spiritual prosperity by remaining faithful to God amidst our trials and difficulties.
Whenever we seek to bear spiritual fruit by leading people to faith in Jesus, we begin by planting seeds of the Word of God. We are told in Isaiah 55:11, “So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.” Zechariah 8:12 says, “For the seed shall be prosperous, the vine shall give its fruit, the ground shall give her increase.” In 1 Corinthians 3:6 Paul stated, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase [or the prosperity].” Whenever we are prospering spiritually, we will be seeking to become successful in leading people to Christ. Keep in mind that prosperity, or success, in our witnessing is not based on the numbers won, but on the number of seeds planted. We are called to be faithful sowers, and God promises that His Word will become prosperous and accomplish His purpose if we will just share it.
Seeking God Leads to Prosperity
We have just finished viewing “traits” and “characteristics” that are seen as images of prosperity, and now I wish to point out some “actions” that lead to prosperity. The first action we find in the Bible that leads to living a prosperous life is “seeking God.” 2 Chronicles 26:5 says about King Uzziah, “He sought God in the days of Zechariah, who had understanding in the visions of God; and as long as he sought the Lord, God made him prosper.” In 2 Chronicles 16:9 we read, “For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him.” God wants to show Himself strong on our behalf by making us to prosper. Now, in what way we prosper us totally up to the Lord and His will.
If we seek God as Uzziah and place Him first in all that we do, and seek Him with all of our heart, then He will prosper us. Proverbs 3:5-6 says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.” The Lord will direct our paths and provide a future and hope, as we read in Jeremiah 29:11, if we will seek Him; and seeking the Lord actually leads to the number one biblical understanding of prosperity which is spiritual prosperity. When Isaiah spoke of God’s Word prospering (Isaiah 55:11), he was telling us that it would prosper in people’s hearts and lead them to spiritual prosperity. Just a few verses before this, in Isaiah 55:6, he said, “Seek the Lord while He may be found.” When we seek the Lord, then His Word works in our heart to bring about His will in our life, and this leads to spiritual prosperity.
Obeying God’s Word Leads to Prosperity
The second and final action that leads to prosperity is obedience to God’s Word. Deuteronomy 29:9 says, “Therefore keep the words of this covenant, and do them, that you may prosper in all that you do.” Joshua 1:7 says, “Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go.” We read in 1 Kings 2:3, “And keep the charge of the Lord your God: to walk in His ways, to keep His statutes, His commandments, His judgments, and His testimonies, as it is written in the Law of Moses, that you may prosper in all that you do and wherever you turn.” 1 Chronicles 22:13 states, “Then you will prosper, if you take care to fulfill the statutes and judgments with which the Lord charged Moses concerning Israel.”
In Psalm 1:1-3 we read, “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper.” James 1:25 says, “But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does,” and in Luke 11:28, Jesus Himself said, “More than that, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it!” Obedience to God’s Word also leads us to spiritual prosperity, which I must emphasize is the number one biblical meaning of prosperity.
Time of Reflection
This evening we have made an attempt to understand the meaning of prosperity as portrayed in the Bible. We have seen prosperity defined as “success in our efforts,” as “material possessions,” as “religious persecution,” and as “bearing fruit.” However, the most important form of prosperity that should actually undergird all of these others is “spiritual health,” or “spiritual prosperity.” We obtain spiritual prosperity by seeking the Lord and by obeying His holy Word; and spiritual prosperity is equivalent to having eternal life in Jesus Christ.
Once again I want to ask you, “Are you spiritually prosperous, and do you have eternal life?” In Romans 10:9-13 we are shown the way to spiritual prosperity. We are informed, “If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the Scripture says, ‘Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.’ For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. For ‘whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved’.” When we receive salvation in Jesus Christ our Lord, we become spiritually rich!
NOTES
(1) “Prosperity of the Faith Teachers,” taken from the Internet in December of 2006 at http://www.letusreason.org/Wf12.htm; spoken on the Trinity Broadcasting Network, November 6, 1990.
(2) “Prosperity of the Faith Teachers,” quoted by D. L. McConnell in the book A Different Gospel, p. 175.
(3) “Prosperity of the Faith Teachers,” found in the magazine “Voice of the Covenant,” November 1997, p. 5.
(4) “Prosperity,” Dictionary.com Unabridged, taken from the Internet in December of 2006 at http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/prosperity.
(5) “Prosperous,” The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition, taken from the Internet in December of 2006 at http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/ prosperous.
