The Purpose of Prosperity

Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. (Ephesians 4:28)

There are three levels of how to live with material things: (1) you can steal to get them; (2) or you can work to get them; (3) or you can work to get in order to give.

Too many professing Christians live on level two. We glorify work over against stealing and mooching, and feel we have acted virtuously if we have spurned stealing and mooching, and given ourselves to an honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay. That’s not a bad thing. Work is better than stealing and mooching. But that’s not what the apostle calls us to.

Almost all the forces of our culture urge us to live on level two: work to get. But the Bible pushes us relentlessly to level three: work to get to give. “God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work” (2 Corinthians 9:8).

Why does God bless us with abundance? So we can have enough to live on, and then use the rest for all manner of good works that alleviate spiritual and physical misery — temporal and eternal suffering. Enough for us; abundance for others.

The issue is not how much a person makes. Big industry and big salaries are a fact of our times, and they are not necessarily evil. The evil is in being deceived into thinking that a large salary must be accompanied by a lavish lifestyle.

God has made us to be conduits of his grace. The danger is in thinking the conduit should be lined with gold. It shouldn’t. Copper will do. Copper can carry unbelievable riches to others. And in the very process of that giving we enjoy the greatest blessing (Acts 20:35).

 

John Piper 

Grateful Giving

“Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began but now made manifest, and by the prophetic Scriptures made known to all nations, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, for obedience to the faith—to God, alone wise, be glory through Jesus Christ forever. Amen.” ROMANS 16:25-27

 

PONDER THIS

Did you know every Christian is in debt? I’m not talking about what you owe the credit card company. You’re in debt. On Sundays, you sit in a chair or pew. Where did it come from? There’s a light shining down on your head. Where did that come from? Do you think this all just floated out of Heaven? For generation after generation, the blood, sweat, tears, prayers, faith, and sacrifices of others have provided what we enjoy today. We’re debtors. We’re debtors to the Apostles who suffered, the martyrs of the faith. We are debtors to Jesus Christ and His precious shed blood.

Some people think they’ve done God a wild favor by giving a little bit of money. We give not because of obligation or even to pay our debts but out of humility and worship to God because we are grateful for all that He has given us and passed on to us from generation to generation. In response, we give.

What are some things you have because someone has passed them on to you? How have people invested in you?

How does it feel to know God has been working throughout time, passing His hope and provision across generations for you to know Him? Who is someone from the next generation that needs to know Him?

PRACTICE THIS

Share your testimony with someone in the next generation.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Should a Christian Pay Taxes?

“Therefore you must be subject, not only because of wrath but also for conscience’ sake. For because of this you also pay taxes, for they are God’s ministers attending continually to this very thing. Render therefore to all their due: taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor.”

ROMANS 13:5-7

 

PONDER THIS

Jesus paid His taxes; you ought to pay your taxes. Jesus told Peter, “You go cast a hook in the sea and take the first fish that comes up. Look in his mouth, and you’ll find a coin.” Then Jesus said, “I’m a citizen of another world but, I’m doing this so I don’t offend them” (Matthew 17:24-27, author’s paraphrase).

We are called to give what is due from us. It is a part of living in this world. Jesus said, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s” (Mark 12:17). God has our highest, greatest allegiance, but as we live on this Earth, we will be in a certain place at a particular time in history. We will be registered as citizens who are a part of a country, and we give that government what we owe. These things do not always make sense to us, but to participate in government this way is part of our witness as Christians.

What is important about giving and contributing to our government through taxes? Why do you think this was something Jesus mentioned on multiple occasions?

What are the things that belong to God that you need to give to Him? Which one is more difficult for you to do: give to Caesar or give to God?

PRACTICE THIS

Pray for a heart bent toward giving. Ask God to grow your willingness to give as you are called.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

Are You Robbing God?

“‘Yet from the days of your fathers you have gone away from My ordinances and have not kept them. Return to Me, and I will return to you,’ says the Lord of hosts. ‘But you said, “In what way shall we return?” Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, “In what way have we robbed You?” In tithes and offerings. You are cursed with a curse, for you have robbed Me, even this whole nation. Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house, and try Me now in this,’ says the Lord of hosts, ‘If I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it.’” MALACHI 3:7-10

 

PONDER THIS

When we talk about giving and tithing, we have to remember that God is not raising money; God is growing Christians. God wants us to grow in the grace, knowledge, and love of Him. So, first of all, there must be a personal return. Many of us say, “Well, Lord, if You want me to return, where shall I return?” God says, “I’m glad you asked.” They say in verse 7: “In what way shall we return?” Well, God says, “In tithes and offerings.”

One of the greatest signs that you have returned to God is not the songs you sing; it’s the matters that get to your heart when you stop robbing God. The repentance that does not reach the wallet has really not reached the heart. Many have tried to put things first and God second, but it never works that way. One of the greatest promises in the New Testament is Matthew 6:33. It says, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” We often say, “I’ll seek things first, and then if I have time, I’ll seek God.” But that’s backward. Come to God. He will be in charge of adding the rest.

What is your giving to God like right now? Does it reflect your worship of Him? Explain.

What would it look like to seek the kingdom of God first in your finances?

PRACTICE THIS

Look at your budget and assess if your giving reflects your investment in the kingdom of God and pray about how you can seek the kingdom in your spending and giving.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

The Purpose of Prosperity

Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. (Ephesians 4:28)

There are three levels of how to live with material things: (1) you can steal to get them; (2) or you can work to get them; (3) or you can work to get in order to give.

Too many professing Christians live on level two. We glorify work over against stealing and mooching, and feel we have acted virtuously if we have spurned stealing and mooching, and given ourselves to an honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay. That’s not a bad thing. Work is better than stealing and mooching. But that’s not what the apostle calls us to.

Almost all the forces of our culture urge us to live on level two: work to get. But the Bible pushes us relentlessly to level three: work to get to give. “God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work” (2 Corinthians 9:8).

Why does God bless us with abundance? So we can have enough to live on, and then use the rest for all manner of good works that alleviate spiritual and physical misery — temporal and eternal suffering. Enough for us; abundance for others.

The issue is not how much a person makes. Big industry and big salaries are a fact of our times, and they are not necessarily evil. The evil is in being deceived into thinking that a large salary must be accompanied by a lavish lifestyle.

God has made us to be conduits of his grace. The danger is in thinking the conduit should be lined with gold. It shouldn’t. Copper will do. Copper can carry unbelievable riches to others. And in the very process of that giving we enjoy the greatest blessing (Acts 20:35).

John Piper 

Five Rewards for Generosity

Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality. (Romans 12:13)

What are the rewards if we trust God’s promises, give lavishly, and open our homes to each other and the needy?

The suffering of the saints will be relieved or at least diminished. That is what this verse means when it says, “Contribute to the needs of the saints.” We lift a burden. We relieve stress. We give hope. And that’s a reward!

The glory of God is displayed. “Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:16). Lavish giving and open homes display the glory and the goodness and the worth of God in your life. The reason God gives us money and homes is so that by the way we use them people can see they are not our God. But God is our God. And our treasure.

More thanksgiving to God is unleashed. “The ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the saints but is also overflowing in many thanksgivings to God” (2 Corinthians 9:12). God has given us money and homes not just to make us thankful, but by our generosity and hospitality to make many people thankful to God.

Our love for God and his love in us is confirmed. “If anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him?” (1 John 3:17). In other words, when we give generously and open our homes, the love of God is confirmed in our lives. We are real. We are not phony Christians.

Finally, we lay up treasure in heaven. “Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail. . . . For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Luke 12:33–34).

Lavish giving and open homes are close to the center of life in Christ. The reasons we don’t open our moneybags — our checkbooks — and homes as often as we should are rooted in the bondage of fear and greed. The remedy is the pleasure of Christ’s presence and the certainty of Christ’s promise: “My God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19).

Our reward is the display of God’s glory, the good of others, and the joy of treasuring Christ together forever. Therefore I exhort you, “Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.”

John Piper 

Let Goods and Kindred Go

Recall the former days when, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated. For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one. Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. (Hebrews 10:32–35)

The Christians in Hebrews 10:32–35 have earned the right to teach us about costly love.

The situation appears to be this: In the early days of their conversion, some of them were imprisoned for their faith. The others were confronted with a difficult choice: Shall we go underground and stay “safe,” or shall we visit our brothers and sisters in prison and risk our lives and property? They chose the way of love and accepted the cost.

“For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property.”

But were they losers? No. They lost property and gained joy! They joyfully accepted the loss.

In one sense, they denied themselves. It was real and costly. But in another sense, they did not. They chose the way of joy. Evidently, these Christians were motivated for prison ministry the same way the Macedonians (of 2 Corinthians 8:1–9) were motivated to relieve the poor. Their joy in God overflowed in love for others.

They looked at their own lives and said, “The steadfast love of the Lord is better than life” (see Psalm 63:3).

They looked at all their possessions and said, “We have a possession in heaven that is better and lasts longer than any of this” (see Hebrews 10:34).

Then they looked at each other and said — perhaps sang — something like Martin Luther’s great hymn:

Let goods and kindred go

This mortal life also

The body they may kill

God’s truth abideth still

His kingdom is forever

John Piper 

The Purpose of Prosperity

Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. (Ephesians 4:28)

There are three levels of how to live with material things: (1) you can steal to get them; (2) or you can work to get them; (3) or you can work to get in order to give.

Too many professing Christians live on level two. We glorify work over against stealing and mooching, and feel we have acted virtuously if we have spurned stealing and mooching, and given ourselves to an honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay. That’s not a bad thing. Work is better than stealing and mooching. But that’s not what the apostle calls us to.

Almost all the forces of our culture urge us to live on level two: work to get. But the Bible pushes us relentlessly to level three: work to get to give. “God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work” (2 Corinthians 9:8).

Why does God bless us with abundance? So we can have enough to live on, and then use the rest for all manner of good works that alleviate spiritual and physical misery — temporal and eternal suffering. Enough for us; abundance for others.

The issue is not how much a person makes. Big industry and big salaries are a fact of our times, and they are not necessarily evil. The evil is in being deceived into thinking that a large salary must be accompanied by a lavish lifestyle.

God has made us to be conduits of his grace. The danger is in thinking the conduit should be lined with gold. It shouldn’t. Copper will do. Copper can carry unbelievable riches to others. And in the very process of that giving we enjoy the greatest blessing (Acts 20:35).

John Piper