Tithing

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PROSPERITY GOSPEL (A FALSE TEACHING)
By Pastor Timothy D. Roberson 
By The Grace Of God Home Bible Study

INTRODUCTION

CONTINUING TO GET RICH OFF THE POOR AND BRAINWASHED (SATAN’S MINISTERS)

Proverbs  8:10-11 “Receive my instruction, and not silver; and knowledge rather  than choice gold. For wisdom is better than rubies; and all the things  that may be desired are not to be compared to it.” Materialism has  overcome a large percentage of Christians in the Body of Christ. Many  Christians, preachers in particular, like to drive Cadillacs and  Lincolns, and other luxury cars, as if a luxury car is evidence of God’s  blessings, and somehow validates their ministry. That’s distorted  thinking from Satan my friends. Proverbs 30:7-9 “Two things have I  required of thee; deny me them not before I die: Remove far from me  vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food  convenient for me: Lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is the  Lord? or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in  vain.” This passage contains very important truth that is being totally  overlooked, not only by the prosperity preachers but also by many saints  in the Body of Christ. King Solomon wrote this passage here in Proverbs  30:7-9. He understood the corrupting influence of wealth; therefore, he  knew that people can have too much wealth. Solomon knew that wealth  deceives people into becoming materialistic; it deceives people into  depending on it for security rather than God.

COVET: To covet  something means that we desire to have it. It suggests that we’re not  content with what we have, that we’re not fully satisfied with the Lord  and with what He has given us, and that we need something else in order  to satisfy us. To desire (what belongs to another) inordinately (  exceeding reasonable limits). To want (something that you do not have)  very much. So seeing this definition of the term, we see that so many of  us in the Church are guilty of covetousness –of desiring a better car, a  better house, a larger bank account, of increasing our material worth.  It is truly sin in God’s sight.(1st Timothy 6:6). “But godliness with  contentment is great gain.

First of all, let us make it  absolutely clear: It’s not a sin to have a large income and be  financially prosperous in this world. My friends let us never make the  mistake of thinking that because someone has a large income that they  are in sin. It is easy to judge such people and be wrong because even  though we may know that they receive a lot of money, we don’t always  know what they are doing with all that money. Apostle Paul said to the  young preacher Timothy, “Charge them that are rich in this world, that  they be not highminded; nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living  God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy; That they do good, that  they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate;  Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to  come, that they may lay hold on eternal life” (1 Tim. 6:17-19). Paul  doesn’t tell him to outright rebuke those who are rich just because they  are rich, since it’s not a sin in itself to be rich, but he tells  Timothy to command them not to be proud because of their riches, not to  trust in their riches. In the Body of Christ, we will have those who are  rich or well off.

The Word of God encourage good works and  generous giving with their finances, so they can be generous with what  they have and help the poor, the widows and orphans, and give to those  in need, and promote the work of the ministry. But this message is about  the misuse of God’s Word to get rich and abuse saints in the Body of  Christ. Jesus spoke on money and material things often, but the thing  that prosperity preachers won’t tell you is that whenever He spoke of it  He almost always spoke against it, that is, against desiring it in any  way. This is because the Lord Jesus knew that “the love of money is the  root of all kinds of evil” (1 Tim. 6:10). He knew that money competes  for the heart and affection and devotion of man in a way that no other  thing does and therefore, He constantly warned that it was an imminent  trap waiting to snare the soul of any man at any moment. He knew that  the desire for money and worldly things would cause a great many of His  professing followers to stumble and fall. My friends do not be duped  into thinking that if you give to these preachers, God will make you  rich enough to give lots of money to them and also have plenty of money  for yourself, so you can buy a speed-boat, a BMW, and a big nice home.  There are many preachers and teachers in this movement who are motivated  by greed, but many local pastors who are teaching the prosperity gospel  are just deceived because they want the false teaching to be true.

Many  times we hold to traditions, mindsets, or beliefs that aren’t  Scriptural, and when we do, there comes a time when God is faithful to  confront us with truth and bring us correction. Whether we are obedient  to the Lord or not, and whether we will continue to walk with God or  not, is largely determined on how we respond to the correction He gives  us. It is important to realize that He doesn’t correct us because He  wants to rub our errors and misguided teachings in our faces, but  because He loves us and wants us to walk in truth. When we are  confronted with the Word of God rightly divided and it teaches us that  we are in error on some point, then we need to humble ourselves, and  correct our views. Colossians 3:2 “Set your affection on things above,  not on things on the earth.” If we are laying up financial abundance for  ourselves on earth for the purpose of enjoying ourselves in this world  then we are in disobedience. 2nd Corinthians 4:18 says “While we look  not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen:  for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not  seen are eternal.” Lets look at what‘s happening in the Body of Christ.  The poor and afflicted members aren’t shown as much favor as those  members who are wealthy and always have everything going well for them.  And this false teaching of prosperity gospel is shaming the poor man and  making him think that he must be in sin, not because there is actually  sin in his life, but because of his poverty. And those churches that are  large and wealthy are seen as particularly blessed, while those  churches that are small and struggling are seen as not so blessed.

Yet,  this is what these prosperity preachers are doing. They are living  extravagant lives, living in luxury, self-indulgence, buying the most  expensive hotel suites, driving in the most expensive luxury cars,  living in the most lavish multi-million dollar homes, feasting on most  expensive dinners as a lifestyle. They are in clear disobedience to the  Word of God by being friends of the world: “Ye adulterers and  adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity  with God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy  of God” (Jam. 4:4). It is sad but true that many in the Body of Christ  show favoritism to the wealthy and treat the poor as if they’re not as  worthy of respect and honor. They uplift the rich by giving them the  best seats in the church but shaming the poor by making them sit on the  floor or give up their seat to the rich. It’s sad that many honor the  rich but shame the poor. Please wake up and see what this false teaching  of prosperity gospel is doing. It honors the rich as if they’re blessed  by the Lord and it shames the poor as if they’re not blessed and treats  them like they aren’t living right or don’t have enough faith to get  out of their poverty. This false teaching mocks the poor by saying it’s  their own fault and lack of faith that causes them to be poor. This  “gospel” of prosperity is a rotten abomination in the eyes of the God  whose word says, “Whoever mocks the poor reproaches his Maker” (Pro.  17:5).

Frequently the impression is given which ultimately makes  people think, “God wants me to have more money”. And so believers start  praying and asking God for more financial prosperity and even begin to  seek after increasing their economic status in this world. Spreading  this false teaching of prosperity gospel has become a very profitable  business for Satan’s ministers. It is affording them the opportunity to  live in mansions, own private jets, take exotic trips, relax in hotel  rooms that cost thousands per night, and even own second and third  homes. The prosperity gospel (False Teaching) goes by many names: Word  of Faith, Health and Wealth, Name It and Claim It. These false teachers  teach that God provides rewards, including personal happiness, financial  wealth and physical health, for believers who have sufficient faith. My  friends do not believe this false teaching, the Word of God points out  in the Bible that Christians are assured persecution (2 Tim. 3:12) and  suffering (Acts 9:16). Romans 8:18 “For I reckon that the sufferings of  this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which  shall be revealed in us.” These false preachers and teachers take  scripture and twist it. These false teachers will tell you that if you  “Give $10, you will receive a $1,000; give $1,000 and receive $100,000.  Many who are weak in the Word of God buy right into these scams and send  their utility bill money in the mail or give their money for food to  these false preachers and teachers. This false teaching is one of the  biggest hindrance to the spiritual growth of Christians in the Body of  Christ. It is one of the most dangerous and ruinous false teachings in  the Church today; it is not just harmful, destructive, and dangerous, it  is the opposite of the true gospel and, therefore, an evil lie from the  pit of Hell.

CONCLUSION

“Mortify therefore your members  which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate  affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry: For  which things' sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of  disobedience” (Col. 3:5-6). Here the sin of covetousness is grouped in  the same level with fornication, with lascivious living and practicing  immorality. We are commanded to mortify, or put to death, any desire  within us that we find desiring to covet anything. It doesn’t matter if  someone calls themselves a “Christian”, it doesn’t matter if someone is a  preacher, it doesn’t matter if they have a large ministry and many  people like them; if they are given over to a covetous heart they will  held accountable. God hates covetousness just as much as He hates  fornication and murder. Those who desire to increase their material  worth and desire the things of this world will fall into many foolish  and hurtful lusts, which will drown them in destruction and perdition.  Many Christians look up to these famous preachers with huge ministries  who are living in luxury and extravagant abundance, who openly say that  they want more money and continually ask their congregation and  audiences to give them money. Many Christians look up to them as great  men of God, but the true God of Heaven is not pleased with their  behaviors and sinful acts.

A particularly enlightening Scripture  on this subject is found in Hebrews 13:5: “Let your conversation be  without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he  hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” It commands us  to have our conduct free from desiring money or material things, and on  the flipside commands us to “be content with what you have”. In other  words, we are either one or the other; we are either content with what  we have, or we are covetous. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord  Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in  heavenly places in Christ” (Eph. 1:3). This is a much greater deal than  mere temporary, physical riches on earth. Our lives are passing away on  this earth and will soon be gone. We’ll be in eternity where only that  which is eternal will remain. Eternal riches are truly what are  important. What we really need to focus on receiving is not earthly  prosperity, but heavenly, and to be rich in all spiritual things in  Christ Jesus. What a shame to put so much trust in money, rather than  God to supply our needs. But the fact of the matter is, when we give  money for the purpose of getting lots of money back, which is the whole  doctrine of the prosperity preachers, then we are giving with wrong  motives.