Robert McLaughlin Bible Ministries
The secret of the mystery. Part 172. Prosperity and the right priorities in life.
Friday, December 8, 2006
The eighth category of testing = prosperity testing.
TLJC was not poor when He walked on this earth two thousand years ago.
How can anyone say that Jesus was poor if He was able to meet the needs of such a large group of people?
How many poor people have a treasurer to keep track of their finances?
Jesus and His organization had a treasurer, Judas - JOH 13:29 “Judas had the money box”
JOH 6:70 Jesus answered them, “Did I Myself not choose you, the twelve, and {yet} one of you is a devil?”
JOH 12:6 he was a thief, and as he had the money box, he used to steal what was put into it.
Jesus was a complete master of God’s guidelines and instructions to prosper. TLJC had the most genuine faith that has ever been seen on this earth. As a result, He was able to turn little into plenty.
When the tax collectors of Capernaum came to Peter and asked for money, was Jesus able to pay them?
Our Lord obviously was able to master God’s laws of prosperity in order to pay His taxes and even Peter’s taxes, as He does yours.
Miraculous things happen to believers who have PVTD - perception, metabolization, and especially application of Bible doctrine.
When Peter and the other disciples had fished all night and came up empty, Jesus was able to produce so many fish that the nets broke, LUK 5:1-11,
JOH 21:1-11.
Or was the Lord so much in fellowship with His Father and God the Holy Spirit that He received divine guidance concerning where the fish were?
He simply told two of His disciples to go into the village of Bethphage to look for a donkey and its colt tied alongside the road.
When Jesus needed a room to serve the Passover meal, He did not go to a hotel to rent one.
They should tell this man that they needed a large upper room and he would take care of everything.
How can anyone claim that Jesus was poor when He was able to obtain transportation and hotel rooms so easily?
If He was poor during His earthly ministry, where did He get a robe that was so valuable that soldiers gambled for it?
Jesus Christ had the purest faith that has ever been seen on this earth.
He had absolutely no need for worldly, material assets because He knew that He could apply His faith to God’s laws of prosperity in order to obtain whatever He needed.
Because Jesus followed all of God’s laws of prosperity, He enjoyed total prosperity, not just financial prosperity, but total prosperity of the spirit, soul, and body - throughout His earthly ministry.
JOB 27:16 “The evil man may accumulate money like dust, with closets jammed full of clothing - yes, he may order them made by his tailor, but the innocent shall wear that clothing and shall divide his silver among them.” - TLB
Our Father wants us to prosper financially; however, this prosperity is not “automatic” just because we are Christians.
PSA 84:11 No good thing will He withhold from them who walk along His paths.
PSA 68:19 Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits.
1. “Always keep God first,” MAT 6:33.
MAT 6:33 “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you.”
Never start any day without first of all spending a period of quiet time of prayer.
MAT 7:8 “For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it shall be opened.”
Set definite goals of Bible study either through face to face teaching or personal Bible study on a daily basis.
2CO 13:5 Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves!
Take a test with me for a moment concerning whether or not you are putting God first in your life.
1. Do I actually place God ahead of each member of my family?
2. Is God always more important to me than my friends?
3. Do I spend more time seeking God each day than I do watching television or enjoying hobbies?
4. Is God more important to me than any possession that I have?
5. Is seeking God on a daily basis more important to me than seeking financial prosperity?
If you are going to be a winner in the spiritual life and receive God’s highest and best, greater than anything you can imagine, then you are going to have to overcome distractions and opposition.
You will be hindered by your friends, family members, co-workers, and even enemies from fulfilling the PPOG.
You will have distractions sent by the kingdom of darkness to try to stop your spiritual momentum and draw you away from the PPOG.
Abraham stayed with his father because of sentimentality, and that was a mistake because his father led him down the path to reversionism.
Jonathan chose a member of his earthly family, his father, over God’s people and died on the battlefield, 1SA 31:2.
Many times families hinder the spiritual growth of believers because the believer is forced to compromise certain standards and convictions that are developed through doctrinal growth.
Your family life is not the most important thing in your life.
MAR 3:21 And when His own family heard of this [that He claimed to be the Son of God], they went out to take custody of Him; for they [members of His family] were saying, “He has lost His senses.”
They did not come to believe on Him and to follow His teachings; they came because they thought He was going nuts - He was taking this God thing a little too seriously!
JOH 7:5 For not even His brothers were believing in Him.
They were standing outside; they did not even want to come in and listen to Him.
Per-act-ind - hestekasin = they have been waiting outside for Him for a long time.
TLJC taught that His followers are even closer to Him than His natural family and closest relatives.
MAT 12:50 “For whoever does the will of My Father Who is in heaven, he is My brother and sister and mother.”
1TI 2:4 He wills all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
Relationship with God must have priority over relationship with people.