The TRUE Prosperity Gospel

The CCI Fellowship podcast discusses the concept of prosperity and how it is often misunderstood. The speaker challenges the idea that prosperity is solely about financial wealth and argues that true prosperity is about the transformation of the heart. They emphasize that prosperity should not come at the expense of losing one's soul or being drawn away from God. The speaker uses the example of Joseph's life to illustrate how God caused him to prosper in various areas before experiencing financial prosperity. They highlight the importance of vision, dependence on God, faith, surrender, stewardship, holiness, trust, and humility in the process of prospering. Ultimately, the true objective of prospering in all things is to walk in truth and glorify God. Welcome to CCI Fellowship's podcast. Thank you for joining us. At CCI Fellowship, we are reaching God, reaching each other, and reaching our community. We pray that this week's message challenges you in your walk with the Lord, causes you to grow in your faith, and encourages you in your love for the Word of God. If you'll open your Bibles to 3 John chapter 1 and verse 2, 3 John actually only has one chapter, so 3 John and verse 2, Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in good health, even as your soul prospers. Father, we thank you, Lord, for the opportunity to come together, Lord, to worship you, to seek your face, to come for prayer, Lord, to receive what we need, Lord, from you, but also to minister to you. God, what an amazing privilege it is that we can minister to you, to your heart, to lift up our hearts and surrender our lives to you. And right now, Father, we also want to surrender our hearts that you may speak your word to us, Father, through my mouth. Use me, Father, as a vessel. Give me utterance so that I may boldly proclaim, Father, what you have to say to us today. May your Spirit unveil the Word of God to us tonight. May we all be edified and strengthened in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Net worth, net worth is a phrase or a measure that the financial world uses to determine somebody's worth, somebody's financial worth. And they take it by adding up all the assets that that person owns, and then they subtract all the liabilities, all the debts that was acquired to purchase those assets. And whatever is left is that person's worth, that person's net worth. That phrase or that system sheds some light into the world's view of riches and wealth. And we have even bought into this system because we hear phrases like, she's a rich man, or this is a wealthy neighborhood, or even that is a prosperous nation. We even use phrases like that, and we immediately think about money. The system of the world has trained us to think that whenever the word riches or wealth is used, we think about money. Even Webster's Dictionary defines riches as having abundant possessions, and especially material wealth. Now, along this same line, the so-called prosperity gospel that is wrongly preached, by the way, I forgot to tell you the title of my message, it's the true prosperity gospel. So along this same line, the so-called prosperity gospel that is wrongly preached abuses the concept or the principle of sowing and reaping. God wants to make you rich, he wants to make you prosperous in terms of money. Bring your tithes and your offerings, give that, and God will give you back more than what you brought. Why? Because that is just how God is. And there is some truth in that, but these half-truths and these verses taken out of context have the ultimate impact of misinforming and poorly training or teaching people, and in the end they deceive people as to what the true principle that is behind sowing and reaping. Our opening verse, Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in good health even as your soul prospers. Well, Jesus said, but what will it profit a man if he were to gain the whole world and lose his soul? So yes, it is God's will for us to prosper in all things, but not to the extent of losing our own soul, not to the extent of being drawn away from God, not to the extent of losing ourselves. The true prosperity gospel that I want to talk to you about today is about the transformation of the heart. That is the real gospel that we serve. Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in good health even as your soul prospers. It says, just as your soul prospers, depending on what version you're reading, but that phrase, those two words, just as or even as your soul prospers, refers to indirect proportion to the degree that corresponding to fully exactly. In other words, beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things in the exact same measure that your soul is prospering. Whenever all these other things bring a prosperity that is beyond what our soul is prospering, then we get into trouble and we get hindered in our spiritual life, and that is not God's will. Now look at verse three, because verse three, I believe, reveals what is the true purpose of our soul prospering and us prospering in all things, is that, for I rejoice greatly when brethren came and testified of the truth that is in you, just as you walk in the truth. I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth. That is the true objective, the real objective of us prospering in all things, that we will walk in the truth. So the phrase, the prosperity gospel that has been used and abused, the real prosperity gospel, we can actually switch the phrase around and say the gospel that prospers to give us a better idea of what the essence of the true gospel is. It is a gospel that prospers, it is a gospel that transforms, it is a transformational gospel. Everybody can come in contact with the gospel of Jesus Christ and not be transformed or prospered. The word prosper simply means to have a prosperous journey, it means to be on the right profitable path, it is the path that leads to life, it is the path that leads to God, that leads not to calamity and not to being drawn away from God, but to being drawn towards God. To prosper means to be fruitful in everything. If you look closely at the Bible, you will find so many passages that talk about God's people prospering and Joseph's, our declaration, prospers and Abraham prospered and everybody is prospering. Why is that the case? Because it is impossible for you to be a child of God and not prosper. We are going to go into what I mean by God wants us to prosper, but the word prosper denotes a continual growth, it denotes a continuing to abound in all things. God takes us from glory to glory and from faith to faith. So whoever believes that it is not God's will for his people to prosper simply does not agree with scripture. And the life of Joseph is a great example. We, our declaration, we have been studying the declaration in our fellowship groups, we are doing that series from dream to destiny, so we are well acquainted with the life of Joseph and I want to go over some elements in his life that will see how he prospered in so many things before he was able to prosper financially. You know that God gave him a dream and so Joseph receives the dream and he's thinking, well, God wants to make me great in the eyes of all my family and other people. It was a means to an end. God wanted to bring salvation to an entire nation. So what did God do? He chooses Joseph and brings him through a process to a place of great power, wealth, and influence. But for Joseph to get from point A, the dream, to point Z, that place of influence, a lot had to happen. As soon as the dream was given to Joseph, God began to transform his heart. There is an erroneous thinking that says that for Joseph to be prosperous, he had to pay the price of God humbling and molding him. That is not true. The correction is that as soon as the dream was given by God, and the tunic, the tunic was symbolic of the anointing and the calling, as soon as the dream was given, God began to enlarge and prosper his soul. So I want us to go over quickly, if we go to the next slide, oh, never mind, this is it. I want us to go quickly over 14 stages of the life of Joseph and I will show you how God caused Joseph to prosper in each one of them. Number one, he's given the tunic and the dream. God causes him to prosper in vision, in his ability to see beyond what was there. That's what vision does. It enlarges your capacity to see. Number two, Joseph is thrown in the pit. Joseph has the opportunity to grow in dependence of God. Number three, he's sold as a slave. Joseph has the opportunity to prosper in his faith in spite of the circumstances of, Lord, I don't know why this is happening, but I'm going to trust in you. Number four, Joseph is brought to Potiphar's house. Joseph has the opportunity to prosper in surrender. Lord, you brought me to this place. I surrender my life. Number five, Joseph prospers in Potiphar's house and Joseph has the opportunity for the first time to prosper in being a steward of resources that were not his own. Number six, Joseph is tempted at Potiphar's house. Joseph has the unique opportunity to prosper in holiness and in purity of heart. Number seven, he's wrongly thrown in prison. Again, another opportunity to, I don't understand why this is happening, Lord, but I'm going to place my faith in you. He prospers in faith. Number eight, he prospers in prison. And again, he is given the opportunity to prosper in stewardship and in influence over all the people that were there in that prison. Number nine, Joseph seeks the cupbearer's help to get him out of the prison. And the Lord is like, you need to learn this lesson of trust. You need to prosper in trust and deeper dependence on God. Number ten, more time in prison. Again, another opportunity to prosper in faith because he didn't understand why he was spending two more years in prison or more time in prison. Then he is freed from prison. Joseph prospers in surrender and thanksgiving to God. Number twelve, Joseph interprets the dreams that were given to Pharaoh and he has the unique opportunity like never before to prosper in a tremendous amount of influence that God was giving him. Number thirteen, Joseph is promoted as the second in command in Egypt. Joseph has the opportunity to prosper in humility and surrender. You can say, wait a minute, he's promoted to that high office and he's going to prosper in humility and surrender? Shouldn't that lead to pride? Well, after you've gone through all that process and prospered in all those things, trust me, when you get to a place of promotion like the one Joseph was receiving, you fall on your knees and you say, Lord, let it be for your own glory. You brought me to this place for you and not for me. Because he had prospered in all the other things. Number fourteen, Joseph encounters his brothers and has the opportunity to prosper in mercy. In each of these fourteen stages of his life, Joseph prospered. The Lord Jesus said, if you bear fruit, you will be pruned so that you will bear more fruit. And that is what prospering is all about. It is about bearing fruit, about being fruitful in spiritual things so that when the financial increase comes, so that when the increase of influence comes and so that when the promotion comes, you will stand the test and give glory to God by surrendering your life completely to him. Lord, all that I am and all that I have is yours. May it be for your glory. That is true wealth and that is true riches. These are riches and wealth that endure for all eternity. Money and material things, as important as they are, they will not last for all eternity. I'm not minimizing the importance of money. I know we need it and it's good, but I do think that sometimes we worry too much about money things and too much anxiety. We think we put too much emphasis on money than we should. The Lord Jesus said, Do not lay up for yourselves treasure in earth, where moth and rust destroy, or worse, where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasure in heaven, where neither moth or rust destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. So let's talk about true riches. Let's talk about true wealth. Not the world's definition, but God's definition. I want to show you three ways in which the Lord wants you and me to be rich in. Before I go through these three, I want to show you something so that you will keep it in mind when we go through those three areas. Just a question. How does a man become financially rich? That man is going to do four things. First he's going to be a good steward of the resources that he has in his hand. He's not going to overspend. He's going to be a good steward. He's going to spend it wisely. Number two, he's going to constantly look for opportunities to invest what he has so that his wealth can multiply. Number three, he's going to try to team up with other people so that the pool of resources that he has will be greater and thus the wealth can be multiplied even more. Number four, he's going to reinvest the profits that he earns so that he can again multiply his wealth. Keep those four things in mind as we talk about these two riches. Number one, God wants you to be rich in mercy. Ephesians chapter 2 verses 4 and 5 says, but God who is rich in mercy because of his great love with which he loved us even when we were dead in trespasses made us alive together. God who is rich in mercy. We don't think about being rich in terms of mercy, do we? But like father like son, God wants us to be rich in mercy. The word rich means to be fully resourced. It means to be abundantly supplied. It means to be rich in Christian virtues and eternal possessions. It means to be filled by having God's muchness. That's what it means to be rich. To have an abundant supply, lacking nothing. The Lord Jesus said, therefore be merciful just as your father also is merciful. Now what does the word merciful mean? It means to be compassionate. It means to experience deep pity. Compassion and pity, we're going to talk about both. They're not the same thing. One makes room for the other. The word pity according to the concordance means the act or capacity of entering into or sharing into someone's sorrowful feelings. It is not just an emotion, but it is the opposite of indifference. And from this place of sensitivity, compassion has the vessel to flow to. When you are pitiful, when you have pity for somebody, it's not that you feel sorry for them. You are being sensitive to their needs and that sensitivity makes room for compassion to flow to. Pity is something that we develop. Compassion is something that comes from the Lord. So how can we grow in pity? Well, it's something that needs to be nurtured and cultivated. We do this by having a vested interest in people's needs and people's problems and people's difficulties and tragedies. It's not about turning the blind eye because if we turn the blind eye when we hear about people's needs, then compassion will not flow. A good example of this is the parable or proof of this is the parable of the Good Samaritan. We are not going to read this story, but Jesus tells this parable to ask who is a good neighbor in this story. And he says that there is a man that is coming from Jerusalem to Jericho and on the way there on the road, he gets mugged and beat up and all his possessions were stolen and he is left half naked and half dead on the road. And so here comes a priest on the same road and sees him and as soon as he sees him, the Bible says he walked over to the other side of the road and went on his way. He turned a blind eye. The priest was not sensitive to the needs of this man. Then comes a Levite after the priest, sees him just like the priest, as soon as he sees him goes over to the other side of the road, it's like I don't want to deal with that, and goes on his way. Priests and Levites are symbolic of being God's children and they both turned the blind eye. It's kind of sad. The priest and the Levite were not being rich in mercy. Then comes a foreigner, a Samaritan, sees him just like the priest and the Levite, and as soon as he sees him, the Bible says that he came upon him. In other words, he saw him and felt pity, that sensitivity led him to come upon him, which is acting on that sensitivity, and the Bible says that as soon as he came upon him, he was deeply moved with compassion. God's compassion didn't come upon him when he saw him. If that were the case, then the priest and the Levite would have received God's compassion, which is a drive to help. It came only when he acted upon that sensitivity and came upon the man. So he comes to the man and starts bandaging up his wounds and disinfecting the wounds with oil and wine. He puts him on his own packed animal, takes him to a hotel, takes care of him the entire night. This guy is really going out of his way to help this person. Picture yourself driving to San Pedro and you see somebody on the side of the road that needs help. You stop your car, you get out, you start to attend to his needs, to his wounds. You put him in your own car, then you drive to San Pedro, you get a hotel, pay for the hotel room, continue to take care of him. Would you say that that is going out of your way to help somebody? And this is what this Samaritan, this foreigner, that is what he does. So the next day he wakes up and gives some money to the keeper of the hotel and says, take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I return. Every time we are being rich in mercy, like the Samaritan, Jesus says, I will repay you when I return. And so Jesus turns and asks the question, who in this story is the good neighbor? And the teacher of the law, the lawyer said, well, it's the good Samaritan, the Samaritan, the foreigner. And Jesus says, yes, now you go and do likewise. In other words, go and seek opportunities to be rich in mercy. The second area where God wants us to be rich, and I mean filthy rich, is in humility. Humility is not having a lowly view of yourself, it's having an accurate view of yourself. You and I are children of God, are loved by God, we are blessed by God, we are gifted by God, we were created by God to live for Him and to Him, that is what defines us. And on that plane, we are all the same. Yes, we are gifted differently, we are blessed in different ways, but different doesn't mean better. Turn with me to Revelation chapter 3. I want to show you a picture of a church that was not rich in humility. Revelation chapter 3, we'll start reading in verse 14. This is one of the letters that was written to one of the churches in Asia Minor. Revelation chapter 3, we're going to read verses 14 to 18. It says, And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write, These things says the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God. I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of my mouth. Because you say, I am rich and have become wealthy and have need of nothing, and do not know that you are wretched, to be wretched means to be deep in mystery, that you are miserable, that means to be in great need of mercy, and you are poor, poor here means being destitute of the Christian virtues and the eternal riches. It means to be powerless to accomplish God's end. Joseph started out very poor and God started to create wealth in his soul. He says to them, you are blind. This means mentally blind, not being able to see the right path that leads to godly living. And finally, he says, you are naked. According to Revelation 16, verse 15, to be clothed in this context means to be watchful and ready for the coming of the groom, like the five wise virgins. So to be naked means to be neglectful, to be distracted, and to be careless. Now look at verse 8, because Jesus is about to tell them how to get true riches. They thought they were rich, but they were poor. This is how you get true riches, according to Jesus. Verse 8, I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, that speaks of sanctification, consecration, and sharing in the image and likeness of Jesus Christ, that you may be rich, truly rich. Then he says, buy from me garments, white garments, that speaks of holiness and purity of soul, that you may be clothed, watchful and ready, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed, and anoint your eyes with eyesalve, that you may see. This last part is talking, it was a medical procedure that when somebody was not able to see well, they would bond the eyelids, and so it carries the idea of bonding to a cleaving to the truth, so that you are able to see. This church, or the people of this church, thought that they needed nothing. He said, and you have need of nothing. And the truth is that they were self-righteous, and they were prideful, they were not rich in humility. I found this historical remark about the Laodiceans that says that they had success in banking and trade and in commerce, they were financially rich, but their spiritual lives paid low spiritual dividends. The Laodiceans were too highly motivated and mindful about earthly matters, and lacked real spiritual commitment. They were good, they were comfortable, they were complacent, they were deceived. Somebody once said, if you only want to be saved, sanctified, and satisfied, the Lord's battle has no need of you. First Peter 5, 6, the Bible says, therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God that you might be exalted in due time. In our fellowship group series, Dream to Destiny, in the first session, I don't know if you remember, but Robert Morris was telling the story that he was about to preach, and he was a little nervous, and he says to the Lord, Lord, please humble me, please help me stay humble. And he said, the Lord said, I cannot help you there, and reminded him of this verse, therefore humble yourself under the mighty hand of God. He went on to explain what the Lord, what he thought the Lord was trying to teach him is that when you humble yourself, when you come to that place of surrender, like we just did right now as we were singing that last song, when you humble yourself before the Lord, and see his greatness, and recognize that he is God, and that he is mighty, when you're able to behold his glory, and his splendor, that makes you humble. And that gives you a more accurate view of yourself. Proverbs 22, verse 4 says, the reward of humility, that is having a realistic view of one's importance, and the reverent, worshipful fear of the Lord, is riches, honor, and life. This is why when Joseph became rich in humility, then financial riches and influence and honor followed. Not before. If God would have given him that when he gave the dream, he would have been destroyed. He would have been a complete mess. He didn't have the maturity and the character. James 4, verse 6 says, but he gives us more and more grace. Therefore, it says, God is supposed to be proud and haughty, prideful, but continually gives the gift of grace to the humble who turn away from self-righteousness. In Matthew chapter 19, Jesus has an encounter with a ruler, a rich young ruler. You probably know this story. And after this encounter, he says to his disciples, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. I got into a taxi one time here in town, and I was talking to the taxi driver who was a believer, and we started talking about the Lord and salvation. And all of a sudden, he says to me, did you know that it's very hard for rich people to get into the kingdom of God? He thought Jesus was talking about money, but Jesus wasn't talking about those who are financially wealthy. He's talking about those who are self-righteous and prideful. If you remember, the rich young ruler comes to Jesus and says, what shall I do to be saved, Jesus? And Jesus says, very graciously, well, you keep the commandments and goes ahead and goes on and lists all the commandments, all the, yes, the commandments. And the rich young ruler says, well, all these I have kept from my youth. What do I still lack? Just tell me. Tell me I don't lack anything else. Just tell me I'm perfect, and I'm already on my way to heaven. And Jesus looks at him and says, well, since you asked, the Bible says that he loved them and says to him, one thing you lack. Go your way, sell whatever you have, all your possessions, and give them to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. And then come, take up your cross and follow me. And the Bible says that as soon as the rich young ruler heard this, he was sad and walked away sorrowful because he had great possessions. So on the surface, we can conclude that this man had a love, a big love for money. But the reality is that he was very self-righteous. What shall I do to be saved? All these I have kept from my youth. What do I still lack? This is the works-based salvation. He wanted to be justified by what he was doing and not by faith. And the last one where God wants us to be rich is in generosity. Second Corinthians chapter 8, starting in verse 1, says, Now brothers and sisters, we want to tell you about the grace of God which has been evident in the churches of Macedonia, awakening in them a longing to contribute. For during an ordeal of severe distress, their abundant joy and their deep poverty together overflowed in the wealth of their lavish generosity. Wow to this phrase. They weren't just generous. It says that they were overflowed in the wealth of their lavish generosity. Verse 3, For I testify that according to their ability and beyond their ability, they gave voluntarily, begging us insistently for the privilege of participating in the service of the support of the saints in Jerusalem. This is not just the casual giving where we have a primitio, an outreach invited by the angelus. By the way, how many of you brought a donation or gave online? All right, we still have time. But this is not just the casual, I will respond to this need that has been told me. This is coming to Adriana and saying, Adriana, I hear that there's an outreach coming. I beg you, please give me the opportunity to help. I want to help. That is what being, what is lavish, that the wealth of this lavish generosity is. Begging insistently for the privilege, seeking opportunities to multiply your wealth. Verse 5, Not only did they give materially as we had hoped, but they first, and this is key, but first they gave themselves to the Lord and to us, overflowing in the wealth of their lavish generosity. This is beyond money. This is about the heart overflowing with generosity out of their love and thanksgiving to God. Verse 7, But just as you excel in everything and lead the way in faith and speech and knowledge and genuine concern and in your love for others, see that you excel, CCI Fellowship, in this gracious work of giving also. So you sow seeds with money. What do you get in return? According to 2 Corinthians 9, it says you will be enriched in every way so that you may be generous, so that you will grow rich in generosity. And this generosity administered through us is producing thanksgiving to God from those who benefit. For the ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the saints, God's people, but it's also overflowing through many expressions of thanksgiving to God. You sow seeds with money through generosity and you reap thanksgiving to God. Hosea 10.12 says, Sow with a view to righteousness. That is, righteousness like seed may germinate, reap in accordance with mercy and lovingkindness. Sow with that intent to righteousness. This should be our focus and the intent of our heart, the motivation of our heart when we give. Not to get money. We sow with a view to righteousness that the kingdom of God may grow and expand. Now in closing, let me say this. All these that we have gone over will serve in your life, they will function as pillars when prosperity comes. Spiritual pillars that will help sustain the weight of men's praise when it comes, when God gives you victories and success, of having financial wealth, of having an increased influence and impact over people, of being in the spotlight, or in the words of the parable of the talents, the weight of being set over much. If we don't have these spiritual pillars in place, if they're not strong and nurtured, then the success that comes can severely damage us and even crush us. It can even crush our ministries. This is why God isn't interested in financially prospering somebody so fast because character needs to be developed first. Now as you seek to create the true wealth and riches, remember the four things that we share. Be a good steward of the wealth that you already have. Look constantly for opportunities to reinvest, to invest and reinvest your wealth so that it may grow, your spiritual wealth. Join with others, serve with others so that the greater pool of riches that you have may bless people more and more and will multiply even more. And finally, reinvest your profits, in other words, do it over and over and over and over again. So as we read and speak forth our declaration for this year, keep this teaching in mind so that you will better understand what the essence of it is. What is the essence? That the true prosperity gospel is the kingdom of God prospering in God's people. Let's pray. Father, we thank you Lord for this instruction, Father, this challenge that you are bringing to our congregation, to our hearts to create spiritual wealth. God, we also thank you for financial wealth that you give us. All of us here, Father, have an abundant supply financially speaking. So Father, you want us to be diligent to create true riches, true wealth, so that your kingdom, Father, may be shown in us and so that the light of Jesus Christ may shine and so that other men will see and say, I want that, I want those true riches. Father, may we be diligent, Lord, to give ourselves to this. May you be glorified, Father, may you be glorified for all generations through the church. In Jesus' name, Amen. If you would like prayer or more information about our church, contact us at fellowship.cci at gmail.com, that's fellowship.cci at gmail.com or follow us on social media. We hope to see you or hear from you soon. Blessings. Amen.