Prosperity Killers

Introduction

I was privileged to travel for seven years with Rev. Kenneth E. Hagin as part of his crusade team. During those years, I sat on the front row in his services, listening intently as he imparted wisdom from his more than seventy years of ministry. I followed his ministry closely, and continue to do so today.

One of the many outstanding characteristics about Brother Hagin's ministry was the way that he dealt with the subject of money and finances. Brother Hagin saw many other ministers come and go during his years of ministry; many were his contemporaries from earlier years who had dropped off the scene. The reason for their downfall? An improper emphasis on money. Abuses were rampant in his day, and Brother Hagin credited these abuses with causing the great healing revival of the 1950's to dissipate.

Brother Hagin had several visitations from the Lord over the years, which brought revelation and instruction in many areas, including the area of finances. There were two things in particular that the Lord told him that have stuck with me throughout the years; I heard him mention these things over and over during my time on the road with him. The first thing he would talk about is something the Lord said to him in a vision in 1950. These were Jesus' words:

Be very careful about money. Many, upon whom I have placed my anointing, have become money-minded and have lost the anointing.

Jesus was no doubt referring, in part, to the many healing evangelists who were improperly emphasizing finances. They had indeed become money-minded, lost the anointing, and had fallen from their place of prominence in ministry. By making this statement, Jesus reinforced a central teaching of Scripture: money is no small issue, rather, it is a great responsibility. How we view and handle money can make us or break us, even affecting our spiritual life.

Brother Hagin heeded these words of Jesus, conducting more than seven decades of ministry without financial misstep, scandal, or fraud. His family, since his death, has continued to run his ministry honorably. I like following after people who have that kind of track record.

The second story that Brother Hagin often shared had to do with an encounter he had with the Lord in 1959. Jesus again appeared to him and, during the course of the vision, spoke to him about money. This is what He said:

If you will learn to follow My Spirit, I will make you rich. I am not opposed to my children being rich; I am only opposed to their being covetous.

How enlightening this statement must have been for Brother Hagin. What a blessing it is for us. The prevailing view in Brother Hagin's day was that the Lord was opposed to His children being rich. These words of Jesus (in complete agreement with Scripture) would have indeed been a shock to many. I was blessed to have heard Brother Hagin recount these two visitations many times over the years.

These two words of instruction from Jesus represent two sides of what remains a very misunderstood and controversial truth: the subject of prosperity. We must embrace both sides of this truth: the side of caution and the side of blessing. We err if we only talk about being rich, never heeding any of the Bible's other words about money. And, we err if we are cautious to the point of never receiving the blessing of the Lord that makes rich (Proverbs 10:22).

There are ditches of error – extremes – on both sides of the road to blessing. On the one side, we cannot become money-minded, trading the full truth of God's Word for a one-sided, self-absorbed, all-about-me gospel. Like it or not, a certain amount of suffering and self-denial are part of the Christian life. The ditch on the other side of the road, however, may be the more common one: failing to recognize and embrace the fullness of our redemption. We must constantly proclaim the blessed truth that God wants us fully supplied, and will abundantly provide.

The fastest path to prosperity is found by traveling down the middle of the road, avoiding the ditches of error on either side. The middle of the road is a place of balance, where all different sides of the truth are embraced. Brother Hagin successfully fulfilled seven decades of ministry by remaining balanced. Balance often eludes the Body of Christ, as we tend to gravitate to one side of the road or the other. This book seeks to bring balance to the subject of prosperity: a subject victimized by extremes.

Many tests will confront the believer where prosperity is concerned. We must consecrate ourselves sufficiently to God, passing those tests. Those who pass God's tests will enjoy God's best. Those who fail God's tests will eventually disqualify themselves from God's best. Some of these areas of disqualification are common; I call them prosperity killers. A primary purpose of this book is to help us identify and avoid these prosperity killers.

The tasks assigned us by God in the last days require large sums and vast resources. The plan of God is serious business. The time left until Jesus returns is short, and God's harvest is great. We must have the necessary funds available to accomplish His work. Prosperity is not an option; we must not succumb to the prosperity killers.

01 Help On the Road

Everyone wants prosperity.

The term prosperity simply means to succeed. No one sets out on a venture wishing for failure; all desire success. We want things to go well with us (that's another definition of prosperity: to have it go well). We want it to go well with our business, with the economy, with our friends, and with our family. We so desire prosperity for our children that we will sacrifice to make sure they have every possible advantage in life. No parent wants their child to have any less than they had. Only the best for our kids.

God is no different. His desire for the well being of His children is intense, exceeding the desires we have for our kids. He wants us to succeed more than we want to succeed. This verse below, penned by the Apostle John, is a picture of the Father's desire for all His children. It's His will for you.

Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, as it goes well with your soul. 3 John 1:2

The New King James Version of the Bible says it this way:

Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.

The Greek word translated here as prosper literally means help on the road. As one who travels and spends time on the road, I appreciate that definition. The phrase on the road indicates a journey: a starting point and a finish line. If life is anything, it is a series of journeys. We find ourselves constantly on the move, always in motion. Thank God, we have help on life's road. We need not attempt these journeys on our own.

Prosperity means that we always arrive safely, successfully completing each of life's journeys. Every endeavor that we undertake flourishes, every project succeeds. Our continued success is not only due to our own efforts and strength, but also due to the help that is offered us from God. We must accept His help, avoiding the kind of ugly, proud attitude that insists on doing everything ourselves. Many insist on pulling themselves up by their own bootstraps: becoming a self-made man. Most self-made men I know are a mess. There is no true prosperity without the help that comes from God.

The help that God offers us is supernatural, allowing us to accomplish what our humanity alone could not. With His help, we can do what we otherwise could not, have what we otherwise could not, give what we otherwise could not, and enjoy what we otherwise would not.

Give us this day our daily bread. Matthew 6:11

God, our Provider, wants us to learn to look to Him daily. He's an everyday God, not just a once-a-week (or one Sunday a month) God. He wants to be constantly involved in our lives. Of course, there is effort required on our part as well. God can't prosper us without us. It's help on the road, not help on the couch while we sit around, doing nothing. We must have our feet on the ground, our hand to the plow. To enjoy God's prosperity is to put forth effort, naturally and spiritually, working with Him to receive His best. We have His help on the road only if we are on the road – following His path – looking to Him daily for His provision.

02 Rich

God is interested in our prosperity; He wants it to be well with us.

That's a nice thought, but for many, that's all it is: just a nice thought. People hear these things and go on their way without recognizing the magnitude of what they heard. There's so much more to this subject, however, than just nice thoughts and well-wishes. Prosperity is not an Oh, by-the-way topic that we mention once a year just to say we preached on it. This truth – God's desire for our well being – is at the very heart of the gospel. It's so central to the plan of God that when Jesus introduced His ministry to the people in His hometown, He read a passage from Isaiah that began with prosperity.

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed. Luke 4:18

Was this just a slip of the tongue or a one-time honorable mention? No. Three chapters later, Jesus again summarizes His ministry, again including prosperity.

And he answered them, Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them. Luke 7:22

This is outstanding. Look at the company in which prosperity finds itself: blind people seeing, crippled people walking, incurable leprosy vanishing, deaf people hearing, and the dead rising again to life. Is good news to the poor really worthy of mention among the works of might in this passage? Many would think not, however, Jesus included it, not randomly but purposely. He lets us know that prosperity is by no means an afterthought. It's right in the thick of the most amazing works of God.

Notice that this verse didn't say the poor received handouts, food vouchers, or housing assistance. (It's scriptural, of course, to minister to the poor in tangible ways, but we must understand that temporal assistance is never the permanent answer for poverty.) The poor received the gospel: good news. The gospel is the answer for the poor person, not handouts. Poverty is not eradicated by getting something, it's eradicated by knowing something. The good news – knowledge of how to function in the Kingdom of God – will bring anyone out of poverty. Good news to the poor is as precious and significant as sight to the blind or life to the dead.

The gospel that Jesus preached included deliverance from poverty. It had to. Can you imagine Jesus, after opening the ears of the deaf and the eyes of the blind, turning to the poor, saying, Now, I know it's tough for you guys down here, but I have good news for you: you'll get to Heaven someday where it's not so bad? No! The poor person who heard Jesus preach learned that their poverty faced the same fate as leprosy, blindness, deafness, and premature death. It was abolished; annihilated. The gospel of Jesus is not just a guarantee of Heaven; it encompasses our entire life, earthly and heavenly. 

Made Rich

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich. 2 Corinthians 8:9

The person who approaches God's Word intellectually (rather than receiving by simple faith) would filter this verse through theological thought or religious tradition, forcing it to say something other than what it really says. I've heard such people explain that this verse is really talking about spiritual riches, not material riches.

Is it possible to be spiritually rich? Certainly. It's actually a requirement for the believer. Paul, speaking to the church at Colossae, encouraged them to allow the Word to dwell in them richly (Colossians 3:16). We already read 3 John 1:2, which says we will prosper as our soul prospers. So yes, we are to be spiritually rich. Being rich in spirit is not what this verse is talking about at all, however. 2 Corinthians chapters eight and nine are speaking exclusively of material riches: cold, hard cash. The word rich in this verse refers to money – financial and material wealth – nothing else.

Jesus: Poor and Rich

. . . . though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich. 2 Corinthians 8:9

We must answer these important questions: When was Jesus rich, and when did He become poor?

Jesus was a partaker of God's riches in glory from eternity past. He was also rich upon the earth. Not long after He arrived as a baby, extravagant monetary gifts from unlikely sources showed up, sustaining He and His family. Those who say Jesus lived in poverty because He was born in a barn are forgetting this part of the story.

Much of what we know about Jesus' life on Earth is found in the gospels. Contrary to religious belief, the gospels just don't depict a man who was poor. Quite the opposite. He always had plenty of the best of everything He needed. The one time that we see Jesus experiencing lack, He dealt with it immediately and severely.

On the following day, when they came from Bethany, he was hungry. And seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see if he could find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs.  And he said to it, May no one ever eat fruit from you again. And his disciples heard it. Mark 11:12-14

This tree, being in leaf, advertised provision but instead surprised Jesus with lack. Jesus didn't adapt to lack when it showed up in His life. Instead, He rebuked it and forbade it. He took a hardline stance against poverty, denying it any place in Him. Full provision was what He expected as He performed the will of God, nothing less. Full provision – a full supply – is what the Bible means when it uses the word rich.

Jesus simply was not poor on the earth. When He needed a ride into town, the brand new colt, upon which no man had ever sat, was there waiting for Him (Luke 19:30). When He needed a banquet facility for the Passover meal, a large, furnished upper room – the penthouse suite – was ready and waiting. Wealthy women regularly donated to His ministry. The robe He wore to His crucifixion was evidently of the highest quality (the Roman soldiers gambled to see who would get it after He had died). In both Heaven and on Earth, Jesus was fully supplied. He was rich.

When, then, did Jesus become poor? He became poor when He became sin: at the cross. When Jesus suffered the curse of sin, He also took upon Himself the curse of poverty. Notice the redemptive language used in the verse we have been studying:

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich. 2 Corinthians 8:9

This verse speaks of Jesus taking something He didn't deserve (our poverty), so that we could have something we didn't deserve (His prosperity). He didn't deserve our poverty, yet He took it upon Himself, becoming poor in our place. We didn't deserve His riches and provision, yet the Master, by His grace, redeemed us unto that very thing. He took our poverty, we got His riches. He was made poor, we were made rich. This great exchange took place way back when Jesus died on the cross.

Any time the Bible speaks of Christ taking something from us in order to give something to us, it's speaking of our redemption: something He died for. Notice how similar this verse sounds to other redemptive verses:

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 2 Corinthians 5:21

He was made sin. We were made righteous.

Surely he has borne our griefs (sickness) and carried our sorrows (pains); yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. Isaiah 53:4-5

He took our sicknesses. We received His healing.

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich. 2 Corinthians 8:9

He became poor. We were made rich. This is part of our redemption.

Someone may ask, Wait a second. Are you saying that Jesus died to make us financially rich? No, I'm not saying that. The Bible says that. I'm just repeating what the Word says. I understand that such statements sound sacrilegious to people. It sounds like we are cheapening His sacrifice by reducing it to money in our pocket. To think those things is perfectly natural, but we are not to think according to the natural. We are to renew our minds to the truth, changing our thinking to match the Word of God.

The truth is, He died to provide. He bore wounds on His back for us to have more than enough. He had spikes driven through His hands so that we could give freely to the work of God. It does not cheapen redemption to boldly declare these things, it honors it. What cheapens His sacrifice is failing to recognize the magnitude of it: applying the great work of redemption to just one area instead of celebrating its all-inclusive greatness. 

Israel, put your hope in the Lord, for with the Lord is unfailing love and with him is full redemption. Psalms 130:7 (NIV)

Our redemption includes deliverance from sin, and everything that came into the earth as a result of sin, namely sickness and poverty. Just as we are no longer slaves to sin, we have been set free from the bondage of