Prosperity
3 John 1-6
Obedience Brings Prosperity
Deuteronomy 29:9 “Therefore keep the words
of this covenant, and do them, that you may
prosper in all that you do.”
Joshua 1:7 “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.”
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.”
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.”
3 John 1-6 (NKJV)
The Elder, to the beloved Gaius, whom I love in
truth: 2 Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in
all things and be in health, just as your soul
prospers. 3 For I rejoiced greatly when brethren
came and testified of the truth that is in you, just
as you walk in the truth. 4 I have no greater joy
than to hear that my children walk in truth.
5 Beloved, you do faithfully whatever you do for
the brethren and for strangers, 6 who have borne
witness of your love before the church. If you
send them forward on their journey in a manner
worthy of God, you will do well,
3 Questions To Consider
1. WHAT ARE THE SIGNS OF SPIRITUAL PROSPERITY?
- The Truth is Abiding in You . . .
• In conclusion, a prosperous soul is one whose
heart and mind are opened to receive all that
Jesus taught, feeding daily upon the Word of
God, resulting in spiritual vitality and health.
- You Are Walking In the Truth . . .
• One must be acting upon it, living according
to it, as illustrated by Jesus in His sermon on
the mount Mt. 7:24-27 (building on the rock)
2. THE PROPRIETY OF PRAYING FOR MATERIAL
PROSPERITY
- John thought it was proper to pray for
material prosperity other than spiritual
needs.
- John was following the example set by:
• Jesus (Mt 6:11) “Give us this day our daily
bread”
• Psalmist (Ps 144:12-15)
- The challenge is keeping it in proper
perspective . . .
• If our desire for material prosperity is for
personal gain, the we should not expect
God to answer favorably. James 4:3 “You
ask and do not receive, because you ask
amiss, that you may spend it on your
pleasures.”
• But if our praying for material prosperity is
for altruistic reasons and for the
establishing of God’s kingdom, it is right and
proper.
3. WOULD WE WANT JOHN TO PRAY SUCH A
PRAYER FOR US?
– John prays that Gaius prospers materially
just as he does spiritually. It means that
Gaius would prosper to the degree his soul
has prospered.
– It takes spiritual prosperity on our part to
properly use the material blessings we
have .
1 Tim 6:8-10
And having food and clothing, with these we
shall be content. But those who desire to be
rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into
many foolish and harmful lusts which drown
men in destruction and perdition. For the love
of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which
some have strayed from the faith in their
greediness, and pierced themselves through
with many sorrows.
CONCLUSION
• So while we certainly pray for our material
prosperity, may we never lose sight of the fact
that our greatest need is spiritual prosperity,
which last forever.
PROSPERITY GOSPEL
• It has many names such as “name it and claim
it” gospel, the “blab it and grab it” gospel, the
“health and wealth” gospel, and “positive
confession theology.”
• The prosperity gospel teaches that God wants
believers to be physically healthy, materially
wealthy, and personally happy.
Robert Tilton, Word of Faith Ministry
I believe that it is the will of God for all to
prosper because I see it in the Word, not
because it has worked mightily for someone
else. I do not put my eyes on men, but on God
who gives me the power to get wealth.
• Benny Hinn: Poverty is from the devil and God
wants all Christian prosperous.
• Kenneth Hagins: 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.”
Jesse Duplantis
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 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.”
5 MAJOR THEOLOGICAL ERRORS IN
PROSPERITY TEACHING
1. The primary purpose of the Abrahamic
Covenant was for God to bless Abraham
materially. Since believers are Abraham’s
spiritual children, we have inherited these
financial blessings (Gen 12)
2. Jesus’ atonement extends to the “sin” of
material poverty. Kenneth Copeland; “the
basic principle of the Christian life is to know
that God put our sin, sickness, disease,
sorrow, grief and poverty on Jesus at
Calvary.”
3. Christian give in order to gain material
compensation from God. Gloria Copeland in
her book God’s Will is Prosperity, “Give $10
and receive $1000, give $1000 and receive
$100,000 (Mk 10:30)
4. Faith is a self-generated spiritual force that
leads to prosperity. According to prosperity
theology, faith is not a God-granted, Godcentered act of the will. Rather, it is a
humanly wrought spiritual force, directed at
God.
5. Prayer is a tool to force God to grant
prosperity. Prosperity preachers often note
we “have not because we ask not” (James
4:2). They encourage us to pray for personal
success in all areas of life. “When we pray,
believing that we have already received what
we are praying, God has no choice but to
make our prayer come to pass . . . It is a key
to getting results as a Christians.”
Charles Spurgeon
• I believe that it is anti-Christian and unholy for
any Christian to live with the object of
accumulating wealth. You will say, “Are we
not to strive all we can to get all the money
we can?” You may do so. I cannot doubt but
what, in so doing, you may do service to the
cause of God. But what I said was that to live
with the object of accumulating wealth is antiChristian.”
John Piper
"If you entice people with wealth, ... ease,
health, chipper, bouncy, light-hearted, playful,
superficial banter in your worship service posing
as joy in Christ, you will attract people, oh yeah,
you can grow a huge church that way. But Christ
will not be seen in His glory and the Christian life
will not be seen as the Calvary road that it is."