I am personally disturbed by the preaching of prosperity in the main stream charismatic churches. It is so deep in people’s minds that financial success is taken as a mark of righteousness!
Does anyone else have a problem with this?
I remember rebuking a church leader for giving a preaching session in a church meeting to a non believing, unfaithful, a person antichrist sentiments, to talk to church members about family! It was hurting and ironical because this was the very thing that this particular individual was destroying! Why did it happen? The person was materially rich!
Seeds Of Error Planted By The Enemy
Many Christians are still trapped in this mindset that material richness is like righteousness without realising that it is a bad seed planted in their faith by the devil.
Mathew 13:24 Jesus presented another parable to them: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. 25 But while everyone was asleep, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and slipped away. 26 When the wheat sprouted and bore grain, then the weeds also appeared.
This gospel is preached in many churches where there is an awakening of the Holy Spirit.
When God is busy sowing good seeds in people’s lives, the devil is also busy sowing seeds of error. All may start well spiritually but the growth of the gospel of prosperity if not checked on time, takes centre stage.
It is not preached among people who are spiritually dead! Meaning that you will not find it in churches that follow boring religious traditions. Why? These religious practices are dead works and not a threat to the devil.
In charismatic churches where there is a possibility of the working of the Holy Spirit, the devil sets camp there. If he is unable to stop the revival, he plants seeds of error.
Unknowingly some believers preach this error with all the innocence.
If you have reached maturity in this area, it’s good to speak out.
Many people from all over the world who don’t even fear God acquire lots of wealth. Some of them worship animals, others worship spirits and others believe in nothing.
This is a clear indication that we can’t equate financial gain to godliness . The work of the Gospel is to redeem mankind from sin.
Look around. Most rich people are not even Christians. If you are an honest christian just work hard and don’t mix your personal achievements with the Gospel.
However, we won’t ignore the fact that it’s wise to allow God to break demonically induced poverty in your life. This is always an exception because the moment you start living right with God, some of these curses drop off.
Psalm 37:25 I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread.
The doctrine of the gospel is in 1 Timothy 6 11-12
Prosperity Gospel Is An Old Problem In The Church
One would not be blamed for thinking that Prosperity Gospel is a new thing. I was shocked when I saw it in the early church when Paul was still alive.
Paul was concerned about the doctrine of Gospel that was being preached in churches around Ephesus. This was when the church was expanding and there were lots of people coming to the Lord. Paul wrote to Timothy a faithful believer in Jesus Christ, warning him about an error in the gospel that was being preached by some people.
1 Timothy 1:2-3 To Timothy my true son in the faith: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, stay there in Ephesus so that you may command certain people not to teach false doctrines any longer
1 Timothy 6: 5 constant friction between people of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain.
What was the main issue here? A lying spirit was using part of the truth in the bible to plant an error. The error is a bad seed and it produces weeds in Mathew 13:24-26 above
The devil uses part truths! It’s true when Jesus comes to your life your circumstances change for the better in nearly all ways.
The Error (bad seed): It’s not true that our goal should be to accept Jesus in our lives so that our financial circumstances change for the better. Our goal should be to accept Jesus in our lives so that He can redeem us from our sins and set us free from being prisoners of the devil.
Luke 4:18 The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free
In our world today and especially in developing countries, prosperity gospel is being preached every where so much that the word blessing is synonymous to money and personal achievements. It’s very unfortunate. It is not a new thing it was there in Ephesus and other areas in the early church. Paul went through all the trouble to warn young Timothy to be aware of this lie
The Correct Doctrines Of The Gospel Of Christ
We should pursue righteousness and take hold of eternal life
1 Timothy 6 11 But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. 12 Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
We should seek the Kingdom of God and live righteously
Mathew 6: 31 “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ 32 These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs.33 Seek the Kingdom of God[e] above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.
We should not live as defeated people, under the power of sin, under any bondage or walk around in spiritual blindness. We are rich in Christ Jesus, we’ve been redeemed, set free and equipped with discernment
Luke 4:18 The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free
Prosperity is an idol that can cause hurts! Stay away from it!
Many scriptures point to us that, world riches, human praises and worldliness is never our God’s central plan in our lives. I would rather dwell in God’s true blessings, that is, happiness, peace, health and contentment, than choke up my spiritual life pursuing what the godless worship as their god! I am not saying this to deter anyone who wants to work hard to gain materially, no, I am emphasising that it is important to develop a lasting spiritual relationship with God that helps drive away unclean spirits in your life that are behind the need or urge to live in sin!
Material gain is an automatic achievement to humans, so long as they work hard for it. This is according to the law that was set up by God at the beginning of creation! Genesis 3:19 (NIV) By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food…
God’s promises are made up of things of a higher calling. It is a spiritual endeavour beyond wealth or physical provision!
It is therefore wrong to equate our reconciliation and worshiping God with material gain. It is a lie from hell for humans to preoccupy themselves with what God has already provided and therefore missing the goal of true worship!
Read more in a related article
[Article Author: Joseph GM]
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