God prospers me not to raise my standard of living, but to raise my standard of giving.
The Treasure Principle, 2002, p. 73, Used by Permission from Eternal Perspective Ministries, www.epm.org. Get this book!
For every one hundred men who can stand adversity there is only one who can withstand prosperity.
Losses and disappointments are the trials of our faith, our patience, and our obedience. When we are in the midst of prosperity, it is difficult to know whether we have a love for the Benefactor or only for His benefits. It is in the midst of adversity that our piety is put to the trial.
Christ Precious.
To see a man humble under prosperity is one of the greatest rarities in the world.
It is appropriate that a prosperity gospel be born in the hedonistic, self-centered, get-rich-quick milieu of modern American society. We are, by nature, pagan. Either our religion will transform us or we will transform our religion to suit our sympathies.
The Agony of Deceit, Moody, 1990, p. 123-125.
Material success is no measure of spiritual health. Nor is apparent affluence any criterion of real godliness. And it is well for us that the Shepherd of our souls sees through this exterior and takes steps to set things right.
A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23, Permission by Zondervan, www.zondervan.com, 1970, p. 59. Get this book!
It is not the convicting work of the Holy Spirit that is drawing converts, but the allure of material possessions and the hope of physical healing.
Strange Fire, Copyright © John MacArthur, 2013, p. 14.
The greedy materialism of the prosperity gospel turns the biblical gospel on its head. The true gospel is an offer of salvation from sin and spiritual death. The prosperity gospel ignores those eternal realities and falsely promises deliverance from temporal problems like financial poverty and physical sickness. Jesus called His disciples to abandon all, take up their crosses, and follow Him (Luke 9:23). By contrast, the prosperity gospel offers carnal comforts, earthly riches, and worldly success to millions of desperate people who literally buy into it. Whereas the true gospel centers on the glory of God, the prosperity gospel puts man’s wants and desires front and center.
The prosperity message unashamedly calls people to place their hope in the passing pleasures of this world. Rather than denouncing wrong desires, it glorifies worldly lifestyles, feeds on sinful greed, and makes poppycock promises to desperate people: “Get right with the Lord and He will give you a well-paid job, a nice house and a new car.” The prosperity gospel is more morally reprehensible than a Las Vegas casino because it masquerades as religion and comes in the name of Christ. But like the casinos, it attracts its victims with glitzy showmanship and the allure of instant riches. After devouring their last cent, like a spiritual slot machine, it sends them home worse off than when they came.
Strange Fire, Copyright © John MacArthur, 2013, p. 59.
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We can stand affliction better than we can stand prosperity, for in prosperity we forget God.
Nothing fails quite so totally as success without God (Vic Pentz).
Leadership, v. 10, n. 4.
Material prosperity and physical health do not invariably accompany faithfulness to God. But spiritual health and prosperity do (William Greathouse).
The message preached in some of the largest churches in the world has changed. A new gospel is being taught today. This new gospel is perplexing – it omits Jesus and neglects the cross. Instead of promising Christ, this gospel promises health and wealth, and offers advice such as: declare to yourself that everything that you touch will prosper, for, in the words of a leading prosperity gospel preacher, “There is a miracle in your mouth.” According to this new gospel, if believers repeat positive confessions, focus their thoughts, and generate enough faith, God will release blessings upon their lives (David Jones and Russel Woodbridge).
Taken from Health, Wealth and Happiness Copyright 2011, by David Jones and Russel Woodbridge, Published by Kregel Publications, Grand Rapids, MI. p. 14-15. Used by Permission. All Rights Reserved.
God does not promise material rewards to those who become His and who give themselves completely to the Person of Christ. He may turn a man’s material prosperity into poverty that God might teach Him the lesson of the sufficiency of Jesus Christ. God might strip away what a man has to show a man where His love actually was so that a man might become a disciple of Christ. We have no promise that our bank accounts will automatically double when we commit ourselves to Him.
Design for Discipleship, Zondervan, p. 44.
They will object: does not the Old Testament promise that God will prosper His people? Indeed! God increases our yield so that by giving we can prove our yield is not our God. God does not prosper a man’s business so he can move from a Ford to a Cadillac. God prospers a business so that thousands of unreached peoples can be reached with the gospel. He prospers a business so that twelve percent of the world’s population can move a step back from the precipice of starvation.
Desiring God, Bethlehem Baptist Church, 1996, p. 169, used by permission, www.desiringGod.org.
We are settling for a Christianity that revolves around catering to ourselves when the central message of Christianity is actually about abandoning ourselves.
Prosperity is a great mercy, but adversity is a greater one, if it brings us to Christ.
Commentary, Matthew 15.
It is good to understand that Christ’s service never did secure a man from all the ills that flesh is heir to, and never will. If you are a believer, you must reckon on having your share of sickness and pain, of sorrow and tears, of losses and crosses, of deaths and bereavements, of partings and separations, of vexations and disappointments, so long as you are in the body. Christ never undertakes that you shall get to heaven without these. He has undertaken that all who come to Him shall have all things pertaining to life and godliness; but He has never undertaken that He will make them prosperous, or rich, or healthy, and that death and sorrow shall never come to their family.
Taken from Holiness by J.C. Ryle, Moody Publishers, copyright 2010, p. 194.
Not every man can carry a full cup. Sudden elevation frequently leads to pride and a fall. The most exacting test of all is to survive prosperity.
When we are in prosperity our prayers come from our lips; and therefore the Lord is forced to cast us down, that our prayers may come from our hearts, and that our senses may be wakened from the security in which they are lying.
A Sacred Septenarie,1638.
It is never said, “Whom the Lord loveth He enricheth,” but it is said, “Whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth.”
If God should always rock us in the cradle of prosperity; if we were always dandled on the knees of fortune; if we didn’t have some stain on the alabaster pillar; if there weren’t a few clouds in the sky; if we didn’t have some bitter drops in the wine of this life, we should become intoxicated with pleasure, we should dream “we stand;” and stand we should, but it would be upon a pinnacle. Every moment of our lives is in just as much danger as a person asleep upon the mast… Continued worldly prosperity is a fiery trial.
Morning and Evening, Morning: March 10.
People are usually better in adversity, than prosperity. A prosperous condition is not always so safe. True, it is more pleasing to the flesh – but it is not always best. In a prosperous state, there is more burden. Many look at the shining and glittering of prosperity – but not at the burdens of prosperity.
The Lord’s Prayer.
