The Prosperous Believer
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Halfway through Genesis
Chapter begins with Isaac repeating Abraham’s mistake.
12 And Isaac sowed in that land and reaped in the same year a hundredfold. The Lord blessed him, 13 and the man became rich, and gained more and more until he became very wealthy. 14 He had possessions of flocks and herds and many servants, so that the Philistines envied him. 15 (Now the Philistines had stopped and filled with earth all the wells that his father’s servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father.) 16 And Abimelech said to Isaac, “Go away from us, for you are much mightier than we.”
In the old testament we often see men and women who have God’s favor also receive the gift of material blessing.
The success in business of Abraham
See it now with Isaac
Moses grows up as the adopted son of royalty
David and Solomon have huge amounts of wealth
We see it so often we can forget about those who went without
Joshua assumes Moses’s command and spends his life at war with nations. Jos 13:1 “You are old and advanced in years, and there remains yet very much land to possess.”
Solomon has great riches but writes of great depression.
Jeremiah prophesies and is imprisoned and cast into a cistern
Ezekiel who prophesies through symbolism and has to lay on each side to show the punishment about to come on Israel and Judah. He has to bake barley cakes on human dung.
Warning against the prosperity Gospel
Worldly prosperity looks only at your net worth.
19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
9 “But be on your guard. For they will deliver you over to councils, and you will be beaten in synagogues, and you will stand before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them.
13 And you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.
18 “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you.
Believer’s prosperity ensures your needs are met.
The prosperity “gospel” is an abomination that leads people toward the temporary refuge of their finances and away from the eternal security of salvation in Jesus alone.
So what do we see happening in the life of Isaac?
12 And Isaac sowed in that land and reaped in the same year a hundredfold. The Lord blessed him, 13 and the man became rich, and gained more and more until he became very wealthy.
The blessing of God is in the hundredfold reaping.
This is a work of God alone. Why did He do it?
He was preparing Isaac for a bigger family!
24 And the Lord appeared to him the same night and said, “I am the God of Abraham your father. Fear not, for I am with you and will bless you and multiply your offspring for my servant Abraham’s sake.”
Church prosperity is found in a bigger family.
1 “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. 2 In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.
Why do we gather here every week? We have MANY ROOMS to fill.
Helping people follow Jesus in our church, our neighborhoods, and our world.
