Prosperity Gospel

The title, as you can see behind me, is Prosperity Gospel. Do you know what prosperity gospel is? Maybe you've heard it. It's very popular today. I've had people ask me, do you believe in the prosperity gospel? What would your answer be? I spent about two hours this week alone just looking at prosperity gospel preachers. Watched as many as I could, about 10 or 12 watched, you know, 20-30 minutes each one. Some are very interesting.

I was going to play some of that, but I thought I wouldn't. But thankfully, Jeff back there found a parody of it, which I must say covers just about every aspect of watching for two hours. What they do, it's a parody of it. I do this not just for your entertainment, but for those that do not understand what prosperity gospel is. This saves you watching for hours, the same pitch that's basically done by these two individuals.

So, Jeff, if you will play that, and then I'll be back up. I wanted to do that because I am surprised at the amount of people who follow their doctrine of prosperity gospel. And I'm surprised sometimes that's even brought up to me and ask the question, does the United Church of God believe in a prosperity gospel?

Is health and wealth one of our teachings, and is health and wealth biblical? There are large mega churches being built all across America because of this prosperity gospel belief. They're proclaiming this as the gospel that Jesus Christ proclaimed. Do we understand that gospel as that? Well, I want to look at it, as a matter of fact. I very seldom go to Wikipedia, but I'll give you the definition because it's there, the Wikipedia.

A religious belief among some Protestant Christians that financial blessings and well-being are what? Always the will of God. And that faith, positive speech, and donations to religious causes will increase one's wealth. This is what's being espoused across America and even across the world. It has come to the Caribbean as more and more prosperity preachers are showing up in the Caribbean islands to fundraise, to increase people's faith in God through financial donations. It's even been called a health and wealth gospel, a gospel of success, and a seed of faith ministry.

If you haven't heard of planting a seed yet, you missed it. If you ever stay up very late or you catch one of these shows flipping, you'll fight. Somebody asking you for just a small seed. So I wanted to look at that, not that I am. I had a series in Fort Lauderdale on false ministers, false prophets. That's not my purpose here this week. It is about a false gospel because it is important to us. I brought some levity here just because many of you have seen some of that portrayed on television.

And there are actually people who say, I claim these promises and I claim healing. And so you believe in this, you'll be healed. There's no doubt about it. Is this what Jesus taught? Is this belief something that Paul taught? I know you can go to Galatians 1 and verse 8. You don't have to turn there. But Paul talks about whether a man or an angel brings another gospel, then this man's accursed.

And don't listen to him. So what gospel did Christ teach? I think that's a rhetorical question for you today. I think most of us know the gospel of the coming kingdom of God. I think we know that. And that gospel includes what Jesus Christ did for us. Not that we leave it out, but without him it is impossible to be in the kingdom of God. This prosperity gospel that's going around today, very popular, may, it's argued whether it is the fastest growing Protestant religion today, but it's not a new concept.

Not a new concept. Matter of fact, it's actually from and started from the around 1880 the Pentecostal movement where healings, magnificent healings were involved, faith healers, working up the spirit, being told that what you believe and how deeply you believe it can be made possible by what you have in your wallet. They didn't always put it so bluntly as they do today, but this prosperity gospel came out of the time when Pentecostalism and new thought theology was brought forward in the turn of the century.

I want to give you just a little bit of history. I'm not here to down anyone. I'm just here to point out the difference between us and a prosperity gospel that is shown on television, radio, and what's really out there today in a lot of younger people and older people and sick people and poor people are being preyed upon.

In 1947, a man by the name of Oral Roberts really got his start, and you can find that he is called the father or forefather of this prosperity gospel movement. Many of the prosperity preachers today attended Oral Roberts University. They were taught by him. He grew up at his knee, as one or two of them have said. You might remember Oral Roberts, because in 1989 there was a big proclamation made across the entire United States that he was going up into a tower and that he needed to raise $8 million in one month. And if he did not, God was going to take him home, kill him. And so he was praying for his life that everybody would send money.

Well, it didn't happen in four weeks. It happened in about two and a half weeks. He was able to raise the $8 million, but he didn't come down because he said, we need more than $8 million.

So do this work. Don't believe me? Read the newspapers. They've got the clippings from Google, Oral Roberts 1989, and you'll see the entire story. You'll see how happy it was when he finally did come down. They raised all that money. But it just didn't start with him. In 1953 there was a faith healer named A. A. Allen. He would travel around and have all these healings and reach out and touch and do this. And if you believe, truly believe, you would contribute to his work. As a matter of fact, he's the first one that put out a published secret to scriptural financial success. It's one of the first of such books. Now you can go to a bookstore. You can go online. Nobody hardly goes to a bookstore anymore. And you will find hundreds of such books out there. So it went from the 50s all through the 60s and 70s. And we came to this individual. There are two Ks in it, my mistake. You might remember Jim Baker. From where? The PTL Club. He believed in a prosperity gospel. And he raised hundreds of millions of dollars during his run on the PTL Club with his wife, who? Tammy Faye Baker.

She could cry with her mascara. Everybody remembers those scenes. So forth. They started a park, a religious park, theme park. But Jim Baker had to go to prison. You probably remember that. Why did he go to prison? Because they couldn't find $92 million. He couldn't account for it during his time as a head of his ministry.

I think that we all remember the show that was PTL Club, but there were others who followed in his footsteps like Creflo Dollar, a very artistic speaking, well-educated individual who teaches prosperity gospel. He said he was called there because his name was Dollar, and it reminded people of what they needed to give, except he said his name should have been $10,000. I've heard him of myself. Ingest. But he launched a campaign a while back because his churches are doing well, but he needed a new Gulfstream jet. So he asked the people to donate $65 million so he could get a new jet. You might know Joel Osteen. You've seen him. He believes in the prosperity gospel. He teaches it. He sells his books. He is on television quite often. He believes in it because his house is 17,000 square foot, six bedrooms, six baths, and three elevators. So the prosperity gospel has worked very well for Joel Osteen, hasn't it? From Benny Hinn, the great healer has just moved from California to Orlando. So my friends from Cocoa Beach, you can just run right over to Orlando, 30-40 minutes, and get healed or whatever. There was one on late night television called Mike Murdock. The one who had a very bad die job. But Mike Murdock wrote all kinds of books and wanted you to send a seed. He would tell you not just a dollar, but you know, send $20, send 30 as a seed money. And then that money would increase and then it would come back to you in many ways. And then, of course, Kenneth Copeland, if you haven't seen the Inside Edition, interview with him with all of his airplanes and why he could not ride commercial because of all the demons sitting inside the plane. He learned at the feet of Oral Roberts. So I don't do this just to integrate them because I don't have to. They have their own life. They have anything you want to read about them. And they have no problem with saying that it is a prosperity gospel that they teach and that they preach and that seed money, money, money, money, money that's just piled up will come your way. If you just, what I said earlier, just give.

It's like they say, help me help you help me. So where do we go? What do we do believe? Gloria Copeland. Kenneth Copeland's wife is also a preacher. And she wrote in her book. The book is, God's will is prosperity. And I'll quote one line from her book. The book is, God's will is prosperity. Not that I would say go out and buy the book. But she said, give $10 and you'll receive $1,000. Give $1,000 and you'll receive $100,000. Because she said, and I quote Mark 10 verse 30 is a very good deal. Let's go, can we? Can you go with me to Mark 10?

Mark 10. Mark 10 verse 30. Who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time? So she's quoting the scripture saying in the context that if you if you give now in this time, you'll receive a hundredfold. And she's quoting Christ. That's saying that. Now, I don't think she wants us to go up to the previous verse and the one after and so forth like that, but it just sounds good like that's a deal. I want to go to God's word, and I want us to see the scriptures that are used to proclaim this prosperity gospel because the word of God proves everything. And so by watching these and reading all of their stuff, I pulled out some of the most used scriptures that they espouse to us of the reason this prosperity gospel is authentic and should be declared. So let's go. Let's go if we will. We were in, how about John 10? Here we go. He put them up here for me so we can go through these very quickly here. John 10, 10. The thief does not come except to steal and destroy. They don't read that. That's the rest of that. They just use part B of that. But they say the reason we need is that Jesus Christ said, I have come that they may have life and they may live it more abundantly.

Philippians 4 and verse 19. And my God shall supply all, all your needs according to his riches in glory by Jesus Christ. It's there, black and white. Let's go down to another one, James 4 and verse 2. You lust and do not have you murder and covet and do not obtain. You fight war, yet you do not have because you do not what? Ask. You would ask. You would ask him to give me a hundred times. You would ask him for that boat. You would ask him for that new car. You would ask him any of this, but the prosperity gospel will teach you how to ask so that you can have.

I have three more of their most popular scriptures. Second Corinthians 8 and verse 9. For you know the grace of your Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for his sake he became poor, that you through his poverty might become rich. It's your destiny. Christ became poor so that you could be rich. And the ministers believe that they are rich. They have no problem saying, having these big houses, having planes and cars, everything else, because Christ gave it to them. And he wants to give it to you. No strings attached, really, other than financial and faith. That's it. You'll have everything. And Malachi, bring all the tithes into your store out there. Maybe food in the house and try me. Now, in this, if I will not open the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessings that there will not be enough room to receive it all. You going to try God? He said, test me. He wants you to have it. That you'll, if you truly believe this, that you will have to start looking at new houses, because yours not going to be big enough to hold all the blessings he's going to give you. Now, that's a pretty good, I mean, it's a pretty good pitch line, isn't it? No matter what you want, you're going to be able to get it. Now, let's go to the last one. John 14. If you ask anything in my name, I'll do it! Man, anything, anything.

And many people, well, how do I say? Hundreds of thousands of people around the world are buying into a prosperity gospel. Many poor will give everything they have, because they, for some reason, believe they use these scriptures and then these people tell them, just give it and God's going to give it back to you. But when, you might be like the cynic that I read about, that I read on one of the videos after I watched. They said, I'm an atheist, probably cynical about this, but it almost seems like God is paying you to like him. That kind of sounds reasonable, doesn't it? That I'm going to, if you'll like me, you'll follow me, I want to give you all this. But if you don't, then you'll have to continue in your misery and your poverty. But then you look at the examples. There were some very rich people in the Bible that were followers of God, right? How about Abraham? Was he rich? Hmm, who else? Solomon, Job, who? Lot? Lot? Yes, I guess he was. Joseph was obviously rich, too. Jacob was, wasn't he? So that just makes sense that if you're rich, you're a godly person. Hmm? I mean, if you look at this, right? How about then Bill Gates? Is this a godly man? He's worth, because his wife just divorced him, he's worth 136 to 150 billion dollars. So he must be godly, right?

What about Jeff Bezos?

That's the wife that divorced him, too. But he's still worth over 200 billion dollars, 202. Do you think he's a godly man?

I know Bill Gates was praised when he was married to his wife because of the millions they gave to Planned Parenthood. The largest abortion organization in America gave them millions. This guy. This guy.

You know what he makes every day? Excuse me. Every day when he gets up, at the end of the day, right now, he's making 200 million dollars a day. Think about it. 200 million dollars a day. He's making over 8 million dollars per hour. That's more than I get paid per hour.

Believe it or not.

Think, think about that.

Godly man? How about Elon Musk? He's worth over 300 billion dollars.

And his just continues to grow with his not only Tesla, but his space race and everything involved. They think he has the potential to be the first person worth a trillion dollars because he's young enough. But are they godly people? So, if you follow prosperity gospel, it's actually saying that no one following God ever has problems. Because what's the biggest, what are the two biggest things, two biggest problems most of us are confronted by? Money and health. Right? The older you get, so this isn't working and now this isn't working and this isn't working and you're going. Why didn't somebody tell me this when I was 40? I wouldn't abuse my self. I realized it was coming. Never a health issue because it's health and wealth. If you believe then you're going to be healed. Anything you ask, then you can be healed of. And they have it on TV. You can see Benny Hinn just healing, takes off his jacket and swoops it around the room and anybody touches, he's healed automatically. I mean, it's a funny show for about 10 minutes until you realize it's poor people. So do we believe in a health and wealth gospel?

I do know an individual, a woman who went to one of these health and wealth and prosperity gospel churches and I know her well and she truly believed and she said from the bottom of her heart that everybody that went there that was sick got healed. Every single person I said every single person, every single person, no matter what they had, came before the church and the minister prayed over them and they were healed. Everyone! I said I find that hard to believe. She was so convincing that she, her father was sick, really sick, and he didn't believe in, he believed what we believe.

And he never believed that, but if he didn't get help he was going to die.

He went with her because he was that desperate.

Was he healed? No. No. No, it wasn't. When I brought it up to the young lady, guess what? I don't go there anymore.

It's sad. It really is when you see real examples like this. And this one I know very close to my heart because a man was 90 years old.

So I want to look at the other side of the coin. Because there are two sides of the coin, you can pull scripture out with 31,000 scriptures. You can pull a few out here and a few out there and you can do anything. I'd like to give this from this point of view here because this is a serious matter when it comes to your ultimate fate. When it comes to you believing in God and what he does believe and what he does teach and what his gospel is, what about Paul? What about Paul? You think he preached it? Acts 9 and verse 16.

Does that look like to you a health and wealth that you're going to prosper that anything you ask? So what happened? Three times he was what? Beaten? As soon as I said three times I've been beaten with sticks! Three times each time he was ordered to give 40 lashes minus one. Can you imagine what his back looked like? 39 times three. Right? 117 lashes.

Do you think he ever thought, okay, had enough? No. As Bill pointed out earlier, he was working his road to the kingdom of God. He knew what the gospel is all about. He preached it. He was beaten three times. 117 lashes. He was stoned and left for dead. They thought he was dead. Everybody left him. Shipwrecked three times. I will show many times. For what he's got, he has to suffer. Do you think he would be buying into this? No. Many of you have gone through quite a bit in your life. Certainly not of Paul's rank, but quite a few tests, trials, tribulations. Did you ever cry out to God, this is not supposed to happen! I'm supposed to get anything I want. We know better than to pick and choose your scriptures and twist them to the way you want them to sound. John 16, verse 33, says, what? I've overcome the world. But it says, you, in the world, we live in the world, right? You. That's you. Right, Chrissy? Right, Maria? That's us. That's me. We'll have tribulation! You know, not one time in any of the videos did any of them ever read that. For this prosperity gospel is all about, you know, let's give positive things and what's going to happen. No! Who says this? Jesus Christ said this. Now, are we going to have tribulation all the time? Did I give this sermon just so you can be depressed all week and go, ooh! No! But we should enjoy the good times, the times when there's not tests in tribulations. We should enjoy that time. Because most people cannot understand what joy is until you haven't had joy. You can't appreciate your good health until you've had some bad. This is what God said through speaking Solomon's word through Ecclesiastes. This is going to happen. This is going to happen. It's not all just one side. When you open up your checkbook.

Luke 22. Luke 22, 41 through 42. Oh, you know the story. Jesus Christ, he didn't, he got to the point. He didn't want this. If there's some other way, take this cup.

Take away this cup. But you remember those incredible words by our Savior, our lead. Not my will, but your will be done. Not my will, but your will be done. Amazing. I had to ask Mary this morning about a movie with Jim Carrey where he had to be God for a day. It was called Bruce Almighty. Remember? You remember when he was given the power of God, he could grant anything. So he decided he would just give everybody what they wanted. You remember? Oh, yeah! Well, they all, anybody that prayed to him, they were praying for the lottery, so you know there was a hundred billion dollars in the lottery, so a hundred billion people want it. And so he found out, he had given everybody everything didn't solve anything.

God tells us and answers our prayer, yes, no, and not yet. And we are the ones that have the opportunity to accept a not yet, a no, and also a smile when it says yes. And we have a chance to show, thank you God. Heard a minister say one time, I wonder how many times we've had God say yes, and we forgot to, we just, oh, that's great, and we didn't even thank Him. Tell me times you think He wants to give a yes when He's not even thanked for one. Are we sure we do that? That's part of our relationship building. John 15 verse 18. John 15 verse 18. His Christ said, if the world hates you, you know that it hated me before it hated you. So you following in Jesus Christ's footsteps, you're following God, not everybody's going to come out and go, oh boy, we like you so much. No, there's going to be issues. The carnal mind is what? Emmity.

They don't like God, and we're in this situation today. We're at this time, this hour of the world where God is not liked by a large majority of people. And it's only going to get worse. So He said, don't think it's strange.

I have, can you hand me that book out of that? I don't know whether many of you have read, I have my paperback version here. I have back in Tennessee, I have my hardback. No, I mean, but this is Fox's book of martyrs, Fox's Christian Martyrs of the World. This is a small version. There's a bigger version here. You know what it tells in here? It tells all the persecution of those following, follow God. It starts out with the apostles. It's not good. It's not a prosperity. They all suffered martyrdom except for John. We know Timothy. It tells what happened to Timothy in here, what happened to Titus, what happened to all these followers. This is a historical book. You'll never see this advertised on a prosperity gospel channel because it shows what they went through and how dedicated they were. And as I've said before, they got what I deserve. They didn't get a chance to live the life that I live or that you live. They didn't know what air conditioning was.

As a matter of fact, in Hebrews 11, you remember, we talked about in Hebrews 11, verse 37. You don't have that, Jeff. But it said, they, followers of God, they wondered about in sheepskins and goat skins, being destitute, afflicted, and tormented, of whom the world was not worthy. That's a big statement. I've had issues. I've had problems. I've had troubles. Man, I'll take my life and thank God every day because I'm not wandering around in goat skins, sheepskins, afflicted and tormented with the ones who came before us. Of that gospel, of the gospel of the kingdom of God, that's what they experienced. And God hasn't asked us to do that yet, has He? How blessed are we?

How truly blessed are we?

I'll wrap this up now because that incredible statement that is given by Paul to the church Galatia when he lists the fruits of the Spirit. Remember Galatians 5 and verse 22? You remember that one in there? Why do you need the Spirit? Why do you need the fruit if there's going to be no long suffering?

Patience. Why do I need patience when I can say, God, give me that boat! I need it this weekend. I'm going out tomorrow night. I'm going fishing. See, it doesn't match. It doesn't fit. Men have created a gospel to fit their needs.

This is not a gospel of Jesus Christ. This is not a gospel of God.

Let's go over to my last verse, 1 Peter 4. I think you've got it up there. 1 Peter 4. Verse 12. Peter is saying, beloved, do not think it's strange concerning the fiery trial. I thought this was a prosperity. Why do I have to go through trial and fiery? Which is to try you. As though some strange thing happened to you. It's kind of like most of us over the years have been around for quite a while. We've gone through quite a bit. Nothing really shakes us through the core anymore, does it? Can you handle it? Right, Dale? I mean, it's not well. Haven't been well in a while.

But he's got a grip on it, and he's got a grip on Tuesday. He's not all worried. You'll pray. I pray. A lot of people in here will pray. She's going to pray. Well, I hope she does. She's your wife. Of course she will. This is what we know. We have faith, and we put you in God's hands. We're good with it.

Verse 13, But rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ's sufferings, that when his glory is revealed, you also may be glad with exceeding joy. Because Christ suffered, and we know that's not all to this world. That when we pass on in this life, that isn't the end. Should that give us joy? I've talked to many people. Either email me or find out I'm a preacher, a pastor, and say, what does happen when you die? How hot is hell?

Because people really believe that. And how can God keep me alive forever and ever just to burn? And I say, well, he is God. Nothing's impossible. But that's not what the Bible says.

Verse 16, And yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, how about you? Let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this matter. Total contradictory scriptures for this prosperity gospel. That health and wealth, and that all you do is send in cash.

Cash, seed money. That solves everything.

Solomon, richest man ever, had so much that Elon Musk wasn't in Solomon's league. If you take the money and you understand what was done. His house was the house that he built would have cost over $500 million today. Just for his house, not costing the temple. That's just where he hung out and he had three or four of them.

Brethren, we do preach a prosperity gospel.

It's a prosperity gospel of the coming kingdom of God. When not only Bill Gates, not only Elon Musk, only Jeff Bezos, but the entire world will prosper, has never been seen before in the history of mankind or ever will. Brethren, I'm looking forward to that prosperity gospel when the whole world can share in God's wealth, in God's blessing, and that health will no longer be just how much money you have. What doctor can you afford?

Crying out, trying to find some faith healer. No. Brethren, the coming kingdom of God is our prosperity gospel.