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First Word
In 1980 I was introduced to the Prosperity Message on giving and
tithing through the
TV Ministry
of Kenneth & Gloria Copeland and
there was much controversy in the Church claiming that this was a false teaching;
that if it worked, it should work for every Christian.
33 years later I visited a Church and heard this teaching
“revisited”
and thought the Sunday School Teacher was
“tripping out”.
Then I read the FULL scriptures for myself.
Setting the Stage
- THE
PROSPERITY MESSAGE
- The scriptures on
giving of your tithe are right out of the mouth of the Lord. He said to “Test Me In This”.
NYOBS 4.30
The Tithe
- That if you gave your
whole tithe to the storehouse of God, that he would open a
floodgate of blessings that you would not have enough room to contain it.
- It will come back
pressed down, shaken together and running over and poured into your lap.
- You will be blessed
in the city and in the country, coming in and going out; your barns will
be full and your enemies will be defeated.
- The seed you plant
will go further and your harvest will be greater.
- You will have money
to lend to others and not borrow a penny.
- You will be the head
and not the tail.
- I BELIEVE
Mal 3:10 – Test me in this
10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that
there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD
Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and
pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it. NIV
Luke 6:38 – It will come
back pressed down, shaken, poured out
38 Give, and it will be given to you. A good
measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into
your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." NIV
Deut 28:3-8 Blessings
coming and going
3 You will be blessed in the city and blessed
in the country.
4 The fruit of your womb will be blessed,
and the crops of your land and the young of your livestock--the calves of your
herds and the lambs of your flocks.
5 Your basket and your kneading trough will be blessed.
6 You will be blessed when you come in and
blessed when you go out.
7 The LORD will grant that the enemies who rise up
against you will be defeated before you. They will come at you from one direction
but flee from you in seven.
8 The LORD will send a blessing on your
barns and on everything you put your hand to. The LORD your God will bless
you in the NIV
2 Cor 9:10-11 – Increase
of your seed and harvest
10 Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread
for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge
the harvest of your righteousness.
11 You will be made rich in every way so that
you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will
result in thanksgiving to God. NIV
Deut 28:12-13 – You will
be the head and not the tail
12 The LORD will open the heavens, the storehouse
of his bounty, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work
of your hands. You will lend to many nations but will borrow from none.
13 The LORD will make you the head, not the
tail. If you pay attention to the commands of the LORD your God that I give
you this day and carefully follow them, you will always be at the top, never
at the bottom. NIV
Abuse
- I firmly believe that
where the word of God is preached and established, the standard of living
is much higher than where it is not.
- Over the years I saw the
Prosperity Message become diluted and become a tool for Ministries to
raise money. Since I was a
Christian broadcaster, I begin to question the books that we were
presenting that smacked of just pure FUND RAISING. - What I mean to say is;
that every other chapter in the book was promoting giving to TV
ministries.
- The “Prosperity
Message” was not only presented on TV, but also in the local church claiming
that THEY were the ONLY storehouse for your gifts and tithes. But the Word presents it differently;
there are many storehouses. – This is liberating as you can give to as many
different storehouses as you want to; just don’t give into a “dead work”. – Check them out.
Gen 41:56 – There are many
storehouses
56 When the famine had spread over the whole
country, Joseph opened the storehouses and sold grain to the Egyptians,
for the famine was severe throughout Egypt
Neh 12:44 – Many storehouses
44 At that time men were appointed to be in charge
of the storerooms for the contributions, firstfruits and tithes. NIV
Acts 17:11 – Check out the scriptures
11 Now the Bereans received the message with great
eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was
true.
CASTING BREAD - RABBIT
TRAIL
Cast your bread upon the waters, for after
many days you will find it again.
While this sounds crazy, the husbandman knows he
will see his seed again with an abundant increase.
The casting of bread upon the waters is an
allusion to the oriental custom of casting rice grains on the fields where they
lie submerged beneath the annual inundation of water from the Nile River
When the water recedes the grain springs up.
Message Revisited
- Now we can FINALLY get to what I want to talk
about, and I promise this will be
- I want to look at the
Preacher Teacher Solomon
- The wisest man that has ever lived on the face of the earth; what he had
to say about sensible planning and eliminating as many of
the uncertainties of life as we can. (However,
do not look to him for good advice on women.)
- We are plainly told
that if we INVEST time in the WORD OF GOD; wisdom and knowledge will pour
forth and our INVESTMENTS will prosper and be successful.
- King Solomon said in
so many words; “to cast your bread upon the waters and “in due season” it
will come back to you on every wave”.
- I have always
believed this was actually TALKING ABOUT CHARITY; but because Solomon “the
international trader” wrote this, I believe he is talking about
investing your money for your retirement years… SAY WHAT ! – Yes, I’m talking about a 401k
retirement fund.
- Solomon is teaching
us to INVEST WISELY
- Solomon was involved with
a fleet of ships in sea trade that sailed every three years.
- Verse
1
- Ship and expand your
commodity to many cities; if not nations. – Then like seed; give it a
season to produce a profit.
- Verse
2 - Diversify into six or seven
investments so that in case of an economic recession or depression you
won’t have “all your eggs in one
basket”. – SAY WHAT ! - The expression “seven” could be taken to
mean several or many. – Risk reduction.
- Verse
3
– Observe market Signs
– Act wisely, don’t sow seed if the wind is blowing; don’t begin to harvest
if it is raining. Some things are
predictable, like storm clouds forecasting the blessing of rain or a
dead tree starting to fall in a certain direction; that’s the
direction it will finally fall. – Both are beyond man’s control – I might
point out here that a man’s character sets the direction that he will fall
at death; to heaven or to hell.
It cannot be changed once death overtakes him – If a tree ceases to
bear fruit; cut it down and let the firewood be a blessing to
someone. – You should not invest
more money in a dead project just because it was your idea. – I’ll say it
another way; get a clear understanding of the signs of the market
before you launch a venture; once is it launched it will be very difficult
to change its direction.
- Verse
4
– Take a calculated risk
– Don’t spend so much time analyzing that you don’t have time to plant
your crop; let alone harvest it. – Don’t lose an opportunity because of
timidity. - NOTHING VENTURED, NOTHING GAINED. – The argument is against over cautiousness;
uncertainties and un-controllable factors; one must act sometime if the
tasks of life are to be accomplished. – Don’t let the small things you
- Verse
5
– Commit your ways into God –
Trust Him - We do not understand the path of the wind (the Spirit) or the forming of a
child (human Spirit), let alone the Ways of God. – BUT,
we can follow the common sense rules of daily living and welfare that
results in “God’s purpose” being accomplished – Ignorance and confusion
about how “it all works” is no excuse for standing still. – Commit your works and Trust in God.
- Verse
6
– Have a “Plan A” and a “Plan B”
and spend your whole day working both of them; who knows which will work
the best and maybe both of them will do equally well. – Make the most of
the time allotted to you. – Proceed and persevere in “well doing” all day.
– In the Morning of your youth give of yourself to do good; in
the Evening of your Old Age, don’t yield to the temptations of withholding
your hand from the needy for you don’t know what work of charity
that you placed forward will do the best; perhaps all of your efforts will
bring forth a harvest. – The choices you make in your youth will follow
you in your old age.
- Verse
7-10
– Follow your heart and ENJOY the blessings that
you have while you are still young. - There will be some good days and
some bad days, so be happy and don’t stress out; it’s all
meaningless anyway. – For the Believer; we are
- Meditating
on God’s precepts will not only lead us into success and prosperity, but
it will add length of years to our life, filling it with PEACE and
CONTENTMENT.
We
are advised to make wise choices in our comings and goings. In the end
we
are accountable to God for what we “covet with our eyes” and “lust for
in our heart”.
Life is a
Gift from God; enjoy it and use it ALL to the Glory of God.
1 Kings 10:22 – Solomon traded on the seas every three years
22 The king had a fleet of trading ships at sea
along with the ships of Hiram. Once every three years it returned,
carrying gold, silver and ivory, and apes and baboons. NIV
Eccl 11:1-5 – Cast your
bread – It will return
1 Cast your bread upon the waters, for
after many days you will find it again.
2 Give portions to seven, yes to eight, for
you do not know what disaster may come upon the land.
3 If clouds are full of water, they pour
rain upon the earth. Whether a tree falls to the south or to the north, in the
place where it falls, there will it lie.
4 Whoever watches the wind will not plant;
whoever looks at the clouds will not reap.
5 As you do not know the path of the wind,
or how the body is formed in a mother's womb, so you cannot
understand the work of God, the Maker of all things.
NIV
Eccl 11:6 – Work Plan A
and Plan B at the same time
6 Sow your seed in the morning, and at
evening let not your hands be idle, for you do not know which will
succeed, whether this or that,
or whether both will do equally well. NIV
Ps 37:5 – Commit your way
unto the Lord; he will bring it to pass
5 Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him;
and he shall bring it to pass. KJV
Job 36:11 – Retire taken
well care of
11 If they obey and serve him, they will spend
the rest of their days in prosperity and their years in contentment.
NIV
Josh 1:8 – Invest in the
book of the Law and you will prosper.
8 Do not let this Book of the Law depart
from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do
everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.
NIV
Prov 3:1-2 – Don’t forget
to keep my laws and commandments
1 My son, forget not my law; But let thy
heart keep my commandments:
2 For length of days, and years of life,
and peace, will they add to thee. ASV
Profit
- What ever we do, it
should be to the glory of God. – It does not glorify God to bury
the talents that he has given each of us; and it’s not too late to start investing the talents.
- It is Biblical to
pray for God to “enlarge your borders”; to increase your holdings.
- God wants us to plant
our seed; make it grow and have a harvest.
Weather seed or money or our talents, we are to invest time in them
to make them grow to the glory of God.
- The parable of the
talents is clear that we are expected to produce a return on our
investments that God has put before us; A PROFIT is expected even if
it is small.
- The person that is
faithful with just a little can be counted on to be faithful in much; be found
trustworthy in what you have; don’t worry about what you don’t have.
- A talent was a thousand
dollars in the time of Jesus. Quite
a sum in contrast to the widow’s mite which was only 1/8th of a
cent. – A shekel of silver was 64 cents; thirty pieces of silver
for Christ’s betrayal or the price of a slave would be about twenty
dollars. NYOBS 26.15 Measurements
1 Cor 10:31 – Do whatever you do to the glory of God
31 So whether you eat or drink or whatever you
do, do it all for the glory of God. NIV
Luke 16:10 -12 – Faithful in little will be faithful in much
10 "Whoever can be trusted with very
little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very
little will also be dishonest with much.
11 So if you have not been trustworthy in handling
worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches?
12 And if you have not been trustworthy with
someone else's property, who will give you property of your own? NIV
Matt 25:14-30 – Invest the
talents you have
14 "Again, it will be like a man going on a
journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them.
15 One he gave five
talents of money; another two talents, and another one talent,
each according to his ability, then went on his journey.
16 The man who had received the five talents went
at once and put his money to work and gained five more.
17 So also, the one with the two talents gained
two more.
18 But the man who had received the one talent
went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money.
19 "After a long time the master of those
servants returned and settled accounts with them.
20 The man who had received the five talents
brought the other five. `Master,' he said, `you entrusted me with five talents.
See, I have gained five more.'
21 "His master replied, `Well done, good and
faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in
charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!'
22 "The man with the two talents also came.
`Master,' he said, `you entrusted me with two talents; see, I have gained two
more.'
23 "His master replied, `Well done, good and
faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in
charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!'
24 "Then the man who had received the one
talent came. `Master,' he said, `I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting
where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed.
25 So I was afraid and went out and hid your
talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.'
26 "His master replied, `You wicked, lazy
servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where
I have not scattered seed?
27 Well then, you should have put my money on
deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it
back with interest.
28 Take the talent from him and give it to the one
who has the ten.
29 Everyone who has will be given more, and he
will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken
from him.
30 And throw that worthless servant outside,
into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'
Deut 12:20 – Enlarge my
borders Lord
20 When the LORD thy God shall enlarge thy
border, as he hath promised thee, KJV
The Point
- The Point of Getting is not to have
untold riches; because if we did we would forget about God, and on the
other hand, if we didn’t have some financial success we might be forced to
steal and that would grieve God. – Investing for the right reasons
glorifies God.
- The Problem – Without God’s Word to guide us, MONEY
becomes the goal in life; we never have enough of it – We want more
– We don’t think of ourselves as greedy, we only want the land that
touches our land. - What we do with our money is a strong “market
indicator” of where our heart is.
- Profits are a
blessing from God - Profits should not become our god.
- Our investments are
blessed so that not only can we have a good retirement, but that we can
be generous too and it is to the glory of God that we leave
an inheritance for our kids.
- When we take
inventory of our lives and our preparations for eternity, making money and
everything else becomes meaningless.
- Even if we have not
received the
- Read His Word – Keep His commandments – This is the whole duty
of human mankind; to obey and reach our greatest potential as part of His
creation.
Live in relationship with God regardless of
your circumstances.
Eccl 12:1 – Remember God
while you are still young.
1 Remember your Creator in the days of your
youth, before the days of trouble come and the years approach when you will
say, "I find no pleasure in them"- NIV
Prov 3:5-6 – Trust the
Lord – Acknowledge Him – He will direct
5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean
not on your own understanding;
6 in all your ways acknowledge him, and he
will make your paths straight. NIV
Matt 6:21 – How you invest is where your heart is.
21 For where your treasure is, there your heart
will be also. NIV
Prov 30:8-9 – Give me
neither poverty nor riches
8 Remove far from me falsehood and lies; Give
me neither poverty nor riches; Feed me with the food that is needful for
me:
9 Lest I be full, and deny (thee), and say, Who is
Jehovah? Or lest I be poor, and steal, and use profanely the name of my
God. ASV
2 Cor 9:11 – You receive so you can be generous.
11 You will be made rich in every way so that you
can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will
result in thanksgiving to God. NIV
Prov 13:22 – Leave an inheritance for your kids
22 A good man leaves an inheritance for his
children's children, NIV
Eccl 12:13 – Fear God and keep His commandments
13 Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion
of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the
whole [duty] of man.
NIV
Eccl 12:6-8 – Remember God
– Everything else is meaningless
6 Remember him-before the silver cord is
severed, or the golden bowl is broken; before the pitcher is
shattered at the spring, or the wheel broken at the well,
7 and the dust returns to the ground it
came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.
8 "Meaningless! Meaningless!" says the
Teacher.
"Everything is meaningless!" NIV
Rom 2:13-15 – You will be
judged by the light you have
13 For it is not those who hear the law who are
righteous in God's sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared
righteous.
14(Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law,
do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even
though they do not have the law,
15 since they show that the requirements of the
law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness,
and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them.) NIV
In the multitude of counselors,
there is wisdom.
Prov 11:14
I am grateful for those that went before me providing concepts, ideas, historical information, and scripture verses. Because of them I can stand on their shoulders and see further than I otherwise ever could have.
A Commentary; Critical, Experimental and Practical
– Eedmann
All the Promises of the Bible – Herbert Lockyer
All the Women of the Bible – Edith Deen
Antiquity of the Jews – Josephus; The Jewish Historian
Baker Commentary on the Bible – Walter A. Elwell
Bible Almanac; The – Packer Tenney White
Bible Commentary – F.B Meyer
Bible Dictionary – Harper’s
Book of Bible lists – Joel Meredith
Customs and Folkways of Jewish Life – Theodor H. Gaster
Dake’s Annotated Reference Bible – Dake
Ecclesiastes and Song of Solomon – J. Vernon
Encountering the Old Testament – Arnold-
Explore the Bible – LifeWay
Expositor’s Bible Commentary; The – Frank E. Gaebelein
Matthew Henry’s Commentary – Zondervan
Illustrated Bible Dictionary – Nelson’s
Illustrated Bible Dictionary – Tyndale
New International Dictionary of the Bible; The – Douglas - Tenney
Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible; Zondervan
Victor Journey through the Bible; The – V. Gilbert Beers
Who’s Who in the Bible - Gardner
Wycliffe Bible
Commentary; The – Pfeiffer & Harrison
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