Sermon Tone Analysis

*I.*

There are */2 main things/* that you *need to know about prosperity*.

*A.*

*/1st/* you need to know *that* it is *God's will to prosper His people*.

*/3JOHN 2/*

                        *1.*

The word “*/Wish/*” in this V would be *better translated* “*/Pray/*.”

*b.*

The apostle *John* that *walked with Jesus*, *knew Jesus*, and *served the Lord for many, many years*, who would *soon write the book of revelation*, *said* “*/I pray for your prosperity/*.”

(Also said *many other things* in this V)

              *B.*

The */2nd/* thing we need to *know* is the *reason* *for God prospering us*.

*1.*

Look at */EPH 4:28/*

                                  *a.*

*The reason why God blesses us* with a *job* & with *prosperity* is *so* that *we* can *do something* *about the poverty* in the world.

*i.*

That would *include giving to the church*, but it *also includes giving to those that are without*.

*b.*

(*/MAT 6:19-20/*) Says, “*/Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon Earth, where moth & rust doth corrupt, & where thieves break through & steal.

But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven/*.”

*i.*

*If we just give to someone* *without* them ever *receiving* the *Jesus* as Lord, they're *going to go right back to the same situation*.

*II.*

*God loves us & wants the best for us*, but *many times* are *motives* are *wrong* *when* we are *asking for prosperity*.

*A.*

*/JAMES 4:3/*

                        *1.*

The word “*/consume/*” in this *V* *means* “*/Spend in a bad sense, To waste/*.”

*a.*

The word “*/Lust/*” *means* “*/pleasure/*.”

*b.*

I like it the way the */NIV/* puts it, “*/When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what /*you get on your own pleasures.”

*B.*

(*/Psalm 35:27/*) Says, “*/Let them shout for joy, and be glad, that favour my righteous cause: yea, let them say continually, Let the LORD be magnified, which hath pleasure in the prosperity of his servant/*.”

(KJV)

                        *1.*

*God does take pleasure when we prosper*.

*2.*

*He just wants us to do it with the right motives*.

*C.*

*/MATT 6:33/*

                        *1.*

*If we want prosperity* we have to *do what the Bible says*.

*a* *That's where a lot of us miss it*, *we* want to *do it our own way* & we want to *do our own thing*.

*b.*

*If we want our prosperity* to come *from God*, we need to *do things Gods way*.

*c.*

*People sometimes think*, “I *don't care how* the *prosperity comes*, just as long as it comes.

*2.

**/PRO 10:22/*

                                  *a.*

In *the phrase* “*/The blessing of the Lord, it maketh rich/*,” the word “*/Blessing/*” can also mean “*/Prosperity/*.”

*b.*

And when he uses the word “*/RICH/*” it means “*/Rich/*, *or* */Wealthy/*.”

*3.

*But he goes on to say, “*/He addeth no sorrow with it/*.”

*a.*

*Prosperity* *that comes* *from* a *source* *other than God* is *going to have* a lot of *sorrow* *with it*.

*b.*

The word “*/sorrow/*” in this V *means* “*/pain, hurt, toil, sorrow, labour, hardship/*”

                                  *c.*

*I don't want my prosperity to come with a lot of hurt*, *pain & sorrow*.

*d.*

*I want my blessing to come from the Lord*.

*i.*

But *know this*, we *all ready have a lot of prosperity just by living in this country*.

*ii.*

*If it's not from God*, *it will come with* a lot of *sorrow*.

*III.*

In (*/JOHN 10:10/*) it *tells* *us how it is the thief that steals, kills, & destroys*.

*A.*

It's telling us that *the* *thief is Satan*.

*B.*

But (*/John 10:10/*) *goes on to* *say* that *Jesus* has *come to give* us *life* *& life more abundantly*.

*1.*

*Some* have *said* the word “*/life/*” in this V *means* “*/Life after death/*,” *but* in the *Greek* it *means* “*/all of life/*.”

*2.*

*Let me share with you* something that a *Greek scholar writes* about this word “*/life/*.”

*a.*

It means, “*/A life real and genuine, a life active and vigorous, devoted to God, blessed, in the portion even in this world of those who put their trust in Christ, but after the resurrection to be consummated by new accessions (among them a more perfect body), and to last for ever./*

”

                                  *b.*

*What* this Greek scholar is *trying to say* *is that the abundant life* that Jesus came to give us *is for the here & now*, *and in the life to come* where we'll be with the Lord forever more.

*C.*

The Lord says in (*/JOEL 2:25-26/*) “*/And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpiller, and the palmerworm.

(26) And ye shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of the LORD your God, that hath dealt wondrously with you: and my people shall never be ashamed/*.”

(KJV)

                        *1.*

*God* is *in the restoration business*.

*2.*

*/PRO 6:30-31/*

                                  *a.*

The *Devil is not going to give back anything on his own free will*, but *God will make him restore* *sevenfold* of everything that he took.

*IV.*

*/1COR 15:57/*

              *A.*

(*/2 Corinthians 2:14/*) Says, “*/Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place/*.”

(KJV)

              *B.*

*There are times* that *we are doing* *what we should* be doing, *but* we still *don't see* the *victory*.

Look at */HEB 10:36/*

                        *1.*

The *NIV* puts it this way, (*/Hebrews 10:36/*) “*/You need to /**/persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised/*.”

(NIV)

                                  *a.*

“*/Persevere/*” means *literally in the Greek **/steadfastness/*, */constancy/*, */endurance/*: it's the *characteristic* of a *man* who is */not swerved from his deliberate purpose by even the greatest trials and sufferings/*:

     *V.*

*/DEUT 30:19-20/*

              *A.*

*This* also *applies to the NT believer* *because* of the *covenant* that was *made with Abraham and his seed*.

*1.*

*According to* (*/Gal 3/*) *if we are Christ' then we are Abraham's seed*.

*B.*

But *notice that we are the ones to make a choice*.