HAPPY, HEALTHY AND WEALTHY
Mark 11:22-24
Several years ago I read in Jews for Jesus newsletter, an article by Milton Kohut entitled, “Heaven wanted to wait.” Milton Kohut was Jewish believer in Christ and he shared how when his mother died, he was told, “God takes the best ones first.” That didn’t make sense, and he struggled to understand who God was and why He allowed things like this to happen. He shared that when he was in Korea during the Korean War, he met a missionary who cared for deaf children. Even though they had nothing, they were still joyful. Kohut ultimately came to believe that He could trust the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and His Son, Jesus Christ who died for his sins.
Milton Kohut was a business man and he had meeting in several cities and was finished his meetings in New York. He was getting ready to fly to Chicago for another meeting and when finished, he would fly back to Los Angeles, his home.
The weather turned bad in New York, and his flight to Chicago was cancelled. As a result, he missed his meeting and his flight back to Los Angeles.
American Airlines flight 191 from Chicago to Los Angeles was taking off on 25 May 1979. On takeoff an engine broke lose, damaging the control surfaces of the left wing. The DC-10 never got higher than a few hundred feet and crashed near a trailer park, killing all 271 aboard and 2 people on the ground.
I was at my mother’s watching TV when it happened. The stations interrupted the programming to tell us about the incident. I had flown many times, and thought nothing of it when I fly. But to those on board the DC-10 and to their families it was a different story. I knew that there were most likely those on board who had trusted in Jesus Christ as their personal Savior, and were now with Him. But I also knew that there were others who for them, would face the reality of a Christless eternity.
Milton Kohut was supposed to be on that DC-10. But the cancellation of his flight from New York to Chicago forced him to change his plans; reschedule his meetings and fly back to Los Angeles from New York. Needless to say he was badly shaken when he heard about the crash. Because he should have died. But for reasons unknown to him, or any of us, God spared him. But others died. He could not explain. And Kohut later wrote an article about his experience and he shared the response from a man who owned a Christian publishing company. One of this man’s employees was on the DC-10. She was going to Los Angeles for a Christian Bookseller’s Convention. She was killed along with everyone else on the plane. This man told Kohut, “I don’t question my colleague’s untimely death, and I cannot tell you how to live the rest of your life. It is my conviction that God has further work for you to do, while my colleague’s work has been accomplished.”
When we look at this, our questions might not be answered, but I can affirm, and I think you can too, that God is loving and just, and He does not make mistakes. Even though I don’t know why, I can still trust Him.
As Job, who went through intense physical and emotional suffering said, Job 13:15 a"Though He slay me, I will hope in Him. Nevertheless I bwill argue my ways 1before Him.
Several years later, while working at American Airlines, I was meeting with a number of our pilots for prayer. We were fast approaching a deadline of Friday midnight, to which if the pilot’s union and AA management had not agreed on a new contract, the pilots would go on strike. An airline can make it without a lot of people, but it will not survive without its pilots. One afternoon after we had finished praying we were staying around and talking. And I don’t know why, but I shared Milton Kohut’s story with one of the pilots. I was completely taken aback by the pilot’s reaction.
“It was not God’s will for that woman to die. God promises us a life of 70 years.
Psalm 90:10 As for the days of our 1life, 2they contain seventy years, Or if due to strength, aeighty years, Yet their pride is but blabor and sorrow; For soon it is gone and we cfly away.
It sounded to me that this pilot was implying God made a mistake. Maybe He is not sovereign over His creation. I spent a long time pondering that. Because what this pilot said was completely contrary to what I was taught and believed.
(By the way, the pilots did go on strike, but it only lasted 7 minutes). President Clinton intervened, ordering the pilots back to work and appointing a 3 member panel to study the issue and make their recommendation.
A few months later, I attended a prayer meeting at AA headquarters for the National Day of Prayer. There were several pilots there, and after the prayer meeting, we decided to meet and pray together. One of the pilots had been grounded due to a medical condition. Just so you know, pilots have very stringent physical requirements. The slightest abnormality can ground them. A pilot said, “We are going to pray and take authority over that sickness. It is not God’s will for you to be sick. God is not glorified in sickness. Maybe that pilot should have read John’s gospel where Jesus said the reason for the man being born was for the glory of God. While you’re at it, read about Lazarus in John 11.
But things like this are being taught every day. Instead of solid Bible teaching, there is a gospel being taught, which has several names; prosperity gospel, health and wealth gospel, name it and claim it or blab it and grab it. I have another name for this gospel; it is a monstrous atrocity and blasphemous.
Because today you often hear, “God wants you to be happy, just believe and receive or claim it by faith. It is not God’s will for you to be sick, just declare healing in Jesus name.” Oh yes, if someone dies of cancer, it is not because it was God’s will, it was because he/she didn’t have enough faith.”
Today the emphasis is on “feel good preaching.” People don’t want to hear about sin and sanctification. No, they want something to make them feel good.
Do you recognize this man? He has a church of over 40,000 in Houston, Texas. Millions have read his books and listen to him on TBN or online. If you are feeling down and listen to Joel Osteen, you can’t help but come away feeling good.
Why is this teaching so popular? You’ve lost your job, your mate walked out on you, your children are rebellious, you were just told you have cancer. What is the first thing you want someone to say? You want them to say something that makes you feel better!
You want this suffering to go away, you want the pain to stop, you want to hear something good. I don’t think there is a single human being who doesn’t want this.
If you listen to a sermon by Joel Osteen, you will feel better. Why? Because God is going to pour out His abundant blessings on you, like you’ve never seen before. Oh yes, if you’ve never trusted in Jesus Christ as your Savior, now is a good time to do it. Who wouldn’t want to believe in Jesus after hearing that? Only a fool.
Does anyone know who this man is? Dr. John MacArthur. He stands in sharp contrast to Joel Osteen I have read many of his books, and heard him preach. He gets a lot more hate mail than Joel Osteen. But he unapologetically teaches God’s word, and I respect him for that.
I am not here to question Joel Osteen’s message or the man himself. But I am here to ask a question. Is this what the Bible teaches? My answer, is a very emphatic no, and I say this without apology.
The prosperity gospel, in my opinion and that of many others is very dangerous. It demotes God and elevates man to where he is a god. Instead of God being the sovereign who has the right to rule in our lives, He becomes the Cosmic Genie in whom our wish is His command.
Instead of existing for God, He exists for us. By faith, you can declare whatever you want into existence and it will happen. Sounds good, doesn’t it?
Friends, I want to share with you the dangers of this gospel. It sounds good, but it is sugar coated poison. You are going to hear some things you won’t hear on TBN. And you won’t hear any of these preachers say what I am about to tell you. They do that on purpose. I need to tell you, that some of you will be offended at what I am about to share. You will not want me to come back to AITCF and preach again. But if you remember a message I gave from 2 Timothy 4:1-5, Paul gave a solemn charge to Timothy. It is a charge I take very seriously myself.
It is understandable if you like a certain teacher because they make you feel good. But is your allegiance to a certain teacher or is it to the truth of God’s word? James gives a very solemn warning to anyone who aspires to teach God’s word. James 3:1 aLet not many of you become teachers, bmy brethren, knowing that as such we shall incur a 1stricter judgment.
Please listen to what I am about to say on this gospel. Because in the end you will be the one who has to discern if what I am teaching from the Bible is truly what the bible teaches or not.
Where did the prosperity gospel originate? It definitely did not originate from God. It originated from 1st century Gnosticism, Christian Science and ancient mysticism. Gnosticism teaches that matter is evil and spirit is good. Higher knowledge does not come from the Bible but a mystical relationship with God that is only available to a select few. John refutes this in his first epistle. If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, you can know God through His word.
Christian Science teaches that God is good and all creation is good. Therefore, sin, evil and death are not part of reality. If you are sick, it is because you are living your life apart from God.
And mysticism teaches that spiritual truths are obtained from living and imitating Christ.
What is the result of this? Very simple. Your problem is not physical but spiritual. I’ll have more to say on that later.
Why is this gospel so dangerous? For a lot of reasons. First, it makes faith nothing more than a force. I will talk about faith later, but the prosperity gospel makes faith nothing more than a force in which you can manipulate God to get what you believe the Bible promises; health and wealth.
The prosperity gospel denies the sovereignty of God and His prerogative to act as He chooses in accordance with His word. Instead of you being subject to God’s will, He is subject to your will.
Friends this is nothing more than idolatry and an abomination to the Lord.
If this teaching is so prevalent today, where did it originate? Let me give you a little history. Please keep in mind that although I am sharing a lot, I am really scratching the surface. I have read many articles and listened to sermons on this. That’s one of the benefits of having internet available.
E.W. Kenyon was a Baptist pastor who studied mind science and mysticism. He passed these on down to Kenneth Hagin, who is considered the father of the faith movement. Today, this teaching has spread throughout the world, and is rampant in places like Asia and Africa. I mentioned Joel Osteen, because he is so well known. There are others. I will give you their names and quotes from them.
Benny Hinn, “Give and God will heal you.”
Creflo Dollar, “Sow by giving money.”
Notice a them running here? Money. If I ever come here and try to manipulate you into giving, please kick me out!
Kenneth Hagin, “Never say to God, ‘If it be your will.’”
Joel Osteen, “You have God’s nature in you. By your words, you can declare it (healing, prosperity etc) into existence.”
Friends, if this isn’t heresy, I don’t know what is.
You may be listening to what I’m saying and asking yourself, “How come I never hear this taught?” Very simple. These teachers don’t want you to hear what I am going to say.
It is not my intention to indict any of these teachers. But it is my intention to teach Bible truth, and if that means refuting error, I will do it.
All of us have felt needs. Let’s say you need money. If someone were to tell you God wants to bless you abundantly above all you can think of, wouldn’t you listen to him? If you are dying of cancer, and someone tells you to come to his church and be healed of that cancer, wouldn’t you go there?
There is a problem with this. While there are many pastors who love God, love His word and His people, there are those who are nothing more than wolves in sheep clothing. They do not have your best interest at heart, they have their best interest at heart. And I would be very wary of any pastor who keeps asking for money with the promise of, “Give and you will get.” John 10:1-18 is a solemn warning to these teachers. So is 2 Peter 2:1. 2 Peter 2:1 ¶ But afalse prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be bfalse teachers camong you, who will dsecretly introduce edestructive heresies, even fdenying the gMaster who hbought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves.
There are 3 major errors or fallacies of this health, wealth and prosperity gospel. Again, you won’t hear this on TBN. They don’t tell you this and it’s for a good reason.
The first fallacy of the prosperity gospel is that you are a god who has the potential to call things into existence. Go back with me to the beginning of creation. Adam was a created being, created to be like his creator. He was in a perfect world. God gave him dominion over the creation. So like Adam, you have the same potential to call things into existence.
But there is a little problem and that brings us to our second fallacy. Adam lost all that to Satan. There was only one way to get it back and that is our second fallacy. Jesus would pay a ransom to get our divine authority back His death was a payment to Satan. So He got it back for us. You got the goods and we want it back! Notice what is not mentioned here. Nothing about Jesus blood as the payment for our sins, death to self, following Jesus.
So what does that mean for me? That is our third fallacy. You need to claim your authority and declare it. Are you sick? Declare healing. Need money? Declare blessing. Jesus paid to get it back, now you just need to claim it.
What happens if I don’t get the money I need? What if I’m not healed of my cancer? Have any of you been in this situation before? If you have, these prosperity teachers will tell you, “Your problem is not physical, it’s spiritual.” I haven’t shared this with you, but I have gone through very severe depression. In January I went to Cornerstone Christian Counseling in Chiang Mai and met with both a counselor and a psychiatrist. The psychiatrist told me that I have major depression. It is genetic; it runs in families. It can be precipitated by difficult circumstances. It is also caused by a depletion of a neurotransmitter; serotonin. I have a good friend, Tom Nelson, who is a pastor. I have known Tom for over 30 years. He told me when I finish seminary, he will get me a Bible. Here it is. Tom went through clinical depression several years ago. His advice to anyone going through it is to get medical help immediately. And be careful who you talk to. People can be as helpful as Job’s 3 friends. I was told by one friend, it is nothing more than a generational curse. When I told another friend about it, 2 weeks later she asked me, “Are you over your depression yet?” Another friend declared healing and said, “You don’t have it any more.” Guess what? I still have it.
Are you starting to see the dangers of this? My prayer for you is that you are not caught up in this heresy, but experience the freedom and abundant life you have in Christ.
Because like my situation with my depression many people are caught up in this lie. “You are no longer bound by suffering and sickness. As a little god, by your words, you can speak blessing and prosperity, and declare healing into existence.”
OK, I spoke blessing and declared healing but I still have cancer. “Then you are lacking in your faith. It is not because God didn’t want you to have these, it is because you lack the faith. You need to confess and speak God’s promises into existence.”
Let’s suppose you are the one suffering. And you go to a faith healer but your cancer isn’t healed. You go back to him and tell him, and he says what I just quoted. How does that make you feel? After I got rebuked by my friends because I still have depression, I started going to another church.
You see, the health, wealth and prosperity gospel is great if it works. But when God doesn’t answer our prayers the way we had hoped, or if something we declare into existence doesn’t happen, we are the ones who usually suffer. Because if I’m suffering, I don’t need a judge. I need someone who has compassion. The problem with the prosperity gospel is that it promises but doesn’t deliver. Who is the one who makes promises and doesn’t deliver? It’s not God.
I have a question for you. Who is in charge here, me or God? I will let you answer that one. It can’t be both. You can choose to manipulate Him by your words of faith, or you can bow to His sovereign will and trust Him even when you don’t get it.
Let’s go back to the 3 errors I mentioned and see what the Bible does say.
First, we are not little gods. Let’s read Genesis 1:26,27.
Genesis 1:26-27 Then God said, "Let aUs make bman in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them crule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the 1sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." 27 And God created man ain His own image, in the image of God He created him; bmale and female He created them.
When God made man in His image, He made man to be like Him, not equal to Him. There is only one man who could claim to be God. Do I need to say who it is? Being given dominion is not the same as being equal to God. Don’t believe me? Can you make the sun rise tomorrow morning? Can you stop the rain? Job got asked 70 questions like these.
I want us to look at a verse that prosperity teachers often use to prove that we are gods.
Psalm 82:6-7 6 1I asaid, "You are gods, And all of you are bsons of the Most High. 7 "Nevertheless ayou will die like men, And fall like any bone of the princes."
John 10:34 Jesus answered them, "Has it not been written in ayour bLaw, c'I said, you are gods '?
Read the whole Psalm 82. In this Asaph is addressing judges who were appointed judges by God. Because they did not judge righteously they have reaped their own condemnation. Jesus, in John’s gospel quoted this Psalm. The Pharisees did not like Jesus making Himself equal with His Father. He quotes this Psalm to show the Pharisees made the same error in their self righteousness. Like I said earlier, there is only one man who can call Himself God and it’s not Benny Hinn.
Before we go on further I think there are some things we need to be reminded of when we study our Bibles. First, don’t take verses out of context. Much of the false teaching we see today comes from that. I once heard a pastor say, “You can prove anything you want in the Bible.” Study the passage in it’s context. Ask yourself questions. Who wrote it and who did he write it to? Why did he write it? What is the message? What does it say? What does it mean? What should I do? Ask these questions when you read your Bibles.
The Bible is God’s inspired word, but like any other book, I believe we need to read it in its entirety and get the whole big picture.
I have been asked questions like, “Show me one verse in the Bible that says it is God’s will to be sick.” Or, “Show me one verse in the Bible that says God is in control of everything.” Friends, you don’t build theology on one verse in the Bible. I used to try to do that, but once I learned the monstrous teachings of the prosperity gospel, I know longer try to find a proof text. Let’s look at the whole picture and the flaws in your thinking.
We need to remember that we live in a fallen world. One of my seminary professors said, “The gates of Eden are shut.” Interestingly enough, only 2 chapters in the Bible tell us what it was like before Adam’s sin. We don’t know a whole lot about it. I think one of the errors of this teaching is that people are expecting this present world to be an Edenic world, with no sickness, suffering or sorrow. I have good news for you; one day it will, but you will need to wait. Paul in his mountaintop passage in Romans tells us, that we do have a future hope of God restoring everything to glory one day (Romans 8:18-25). That will happen, but not in this present lifetime.
Why did Christ die? The prosperity teachers claim he died and went to hell as a ransom to Satan to purchase back our authority and dominion as little gods. Whenever someone asks me to define the gospel, I will define it as Paul did in 1 Corinthians 15:3,4
1 Corinthians 15:3-4 For aI delivered to you 1as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died bfor our sins caccording to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He was araised on the third day baccording to the Scriptures,
If there was another way for us to be saved, there was no reason for Christ to die.
A verse that is often quoted by prosperity gospel preachers to show Christ died and went to hell is Eph. 4:9
Ephesians 4:9 (Now this expression, "He aascended," what 1does it mean except that He also 2had descended into bthe lower parts of the earth?
This is a debated passages of which many believe, because of the context that His descending into the lower parts of the earth mean His incarnation.
But there are many other passages clearly stating the reason for Christ’s death and it was not for Him to purchase back our rights.
1 Peter 3:18 For aChrist also died for sins bonce for all, the just for the unjust, in order that He might cbring us to God, having been put to death din the flesh, but made alive ein the 1spirit;
1 John 2:2 and He Himself is athe 1propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also bfor those of the whole world.
There are many more verses, but I believe Jesus death was the payment for our sins. May I digress for a minute? I do not claim to have all the answers. I do not know everything there is to know about God, and if anyone claims they do, they are a liar. But I was taught how to study the Bible in seminary and how to teach it. One of the gifts of the spirit is the gift of teaching which we see in Romans, 1 Corinthians and Ephesians. A person with this gift can explain the Bible. This is not a gift everyone possesses. I love teaching the Bible, but I also spend many hours aside studying and praying. I am thankful for the gifted Bible teachers God has brought into my life. Just because someone gets up and gives a message, quoting a verse or two, does not mean they are teaching the Bible. I have heard many Bible messages which are wonderful exhortations from God’s word. But I was not taught the Bible. I think I mentioned this to you, but I once had a pastor who was a gifted Bible teacher. He read through the whole Bible every month. If you are going to teach the Bible, then you need to know what you are teaching. It is my opinion that many of the teachings of these prosperity preachers is not based on sound exegesis of Scripture.
Arguing against the 3rd point, no where in the Bible does it say we can declare what we want into existence. We are not divine beings. Declaring healing, blessing, prosperity etc. is making yourself to be God. What happens if you declare healing in someone and they are not healed?
We are to pray for our needs and that of others. The Bible commands us to. But I have a lot more respect for a pastor who in leading his congregation in prayer, brings his requests before the Lord, asking, but ultimately praying that God’s will be done than a pastor who by his prayers tries to manipulate God into doing what he wants. A model prayer is the Lord’s prayer give by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount.
Matthew 6:10 may your kingdom come,15 may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
What did Jesus pray in Gethsemane?
Luke 22:42 saying, "Father, if Thou art willing, remove this acup from Me; byet not My will, but Thine be done."
How dare we come before a holy God and make declarations. That is a monstrous atrocity.
Some of you might have never heard what I taught tonight. Please spend time in prayer and ask yourselves if this is really true. I will be happy to give both my Powerpoint and Word manuscripts to anyone who gives me their email address. Or better yet, I will include my email address. Please email me if you want a copy of these.
Some of you might have heard this and believe it, but are thankful I shared it. If this helps any of you not to be deceived by the error being taught, it was well worth my time.
But regardless of where you stand on this issue, you will need to make a choice. You only have 2 choices.
You can declare whatever you want into existence by your words of faith. Or you can follow Jesus and submit to His will for your life. Jesus requirements for discipleship are not what I hear get preached today.
Mark 8:34 And He summoned the multitude with His disciples, and said to them, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and atake up his cross, and follow Me.
Let me tell you about the context of this passage. Jesus was dealing with an unbelieving generation. 3 times in Mark He clearly told His disciples His mission would be to die on the cross and be raised 3 days later. He would be arrested, tried, convicted and crucified. If you are serious about being a disciple of Jesus Christ, this is discipleship.
We just had a presidential election in our country. Many people were very happy Barack Obama was reelected President. Others were very disappointed. Go back with me to the first century when Israel was under Roman rule. Nero was the emperor. And he is much worse than Barack Obama. He persecuted Christians. These 1st century believers weren’t declaring blessing or prosperity. They were following Jesus, even if it meant to death. When Jesus said, “take up your cross,” remember the cross symbolized death. So He was saying, “Be ready to die.” Why isn’t this being preached today?
I told Norman my central passage is Mark 11:22-24. Let me touch on it briefly. Because this is what many of the prosperity teachers use to justify faith.
Mark 11:22-24 And Jesus answered saying to them, a"Have faith in God. 23 a"Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be taken up and cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it shall be granted him. 24 "Therefore I say to you, aall things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they shall be granted you.
Jesus had just cursed a fig tree. If you read Mark’s gospel, you will see much unbelief. Jesus spoke to an unbelieving generation. Remember, Mark wrote this during a time of intense persecution. God does and will answer our prayers. But like one of my seminary professors said, during this time of heavy persecution, the disciples would not think of praying for anything other than God’s will. I do not believe this is a verse that says God gives you everything you want.
I remember when I was a new Christian. I had failed an Organic Chemistry exam. For anyone thinking of going into medicine, dentistry or veterinary medicine, you must have a good grade in Organic Chemistry to get into one of these colleges. I was naturally quite concerned about this. My friend told me God will get me through Organic Chemistry. I had lunch with her, and I remember her saying to me, “God gives you everything you want and more.” She went on and told me how God was going to bring her and her ex boyfriend together and they would get married. It didn’t happen. I told her, “Let’s go ask God for a Cadillac if that is true.’ I asked a more mature Christian if God gives you everything you want and she replied, “He does, according to His will.” The Bible tells us that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us and answers.
Let’s look at these passages from Hebrews to get a better understanding of what faith is.
First it is the assurance of something happening.
Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the 1aassurance of things bhoped for, the 2conviction of cthings not seen.
But please read the whole chapter. Notice what the writer of Hebrews says in these next 2 passages.
Hebrews 11:13 aAll these died in faith, bwithout receiving the promises, but chaving seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and dhaving confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.
Hebrews 11:39-40 And all these, having 1agained approval through their faith, bdid not receive 2what was promised, 40 because God had 1provided asomething better for us, so that bapart from us they should not be made perfect.
This is the Faith Hall of Fame. Notice that “all died in faith without receiving the promises, but having seen them and welcomed them. And how God provided something better for us. We are heirs of these promises.
I cannot promise you a life that is free from suffering, sorrow and sickness. God doesn’t promise that either. What He does promise is that He loves you (John 3:16), He will never leave you or forsake you (Hebrews 13:5), He will meet all your needs (Phil 4:19) and will always give you grace for whatever situation you may be facing (2 Cor. 12:9). What could be better than that.
Friends, if you have been deceived by this health, wealth and prosperity gospel, there is good news for you. Jesus Christ offers you much more than health, wealth and prosperity.
Perhaps John’s description of heaven should be a comfort to anyone who is suffering today.
Revelation 21:1-4 Revelation 21:1 ¶ And I saw aa new heaven and a new earth; for bthe first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. 2 And I saw athe holy city, bnew Jerusalem, ccoming down out of heaven from God, dmade ready as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, "Behold, athe tabernacle of God is among men, and He shall 1bdwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be among 2them, 4 and He shall awipe away every tear from their eyes; and bthere shall no longer be any death; cthere shall no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; dthe first things have passed away."
Let’s pray.
