Yes, and no. I have often said that one thing the prosperity preachers have right that so many of us miss is this- because of Jesus our heavenly Father delights to bless us. What they have wrong is they have too narrow a view of what blessing means. Can it include health and wealth? Of course it can. There too the prosperity preachers have got something right we too often have wrong- they agree with God that health and wealth are good things. Where they err is in thinking they are the only good things.
The Bible tells us, as does my blessed experience with Lisa, that finding a good wife is a blessing from God. The Bible also tells us that being single is a blessing from God. The Bible tells us that God sends trials to bless us, and the Bible says God rescues us from trials to bless us.
What God wants for us is to grow in grace and wisdom. That may come through the blessing of strong and healthy bodies. Or it may be brought to us through thorns in our sides, a life in a wheelchair, or eyes growing dim. When that journey is complete, when we pass through the vale we receive the blessing of moral purity and perfection. And when our Redeemer returns, we receive the gift of resurrected bodies which will know neither sickness nor death.
What God wants for us is to inherit the world. That may come through prudent investing, hard work, serving well the needs of others, all of which can bring prosperity. Or, it may come through bitter financial hardship, through monumental losses. What we have, however, either way, is that which we would joyfully trade all the wealth in the world for, the Pearl of Great Price. We are already immeasurably wealthy. When we die our spirits will go to where our Treasure is. And when our Redeemer, the one with whom we are joint heirs, returns, we will indeed inherit the earth, an earth remade, reborn into perfection.
What God wants from us is joy and gratitude. He wants trust and patience. He wants us to believe that the Husband He has given us loves us perfectly, in sickness or in health, in plenty or in want. That we have already been given more than we could want or ask, and that what lies ahead of us is too much for our minds to imagine. He wants us to set aside our grumbling and to take up the mantle of praise. He wants us to acknowledge our dependence on Him, and to give thanks for His perfect care, whatever circumstances He calls us to walk through.
A day is coming when by the standards of this world, all of us who are in Christ will enjoy perfect health and immeasurable wealth. This day, and every day between now and then, however, all of us who are in Christ enjoy perfect standing in the eyes of God and irrevocable possession of the Pearl of Great Price. We have much to give thanks for.
Earlier this year I gave my life to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Giving thanks and praises for the regenerative and salvific works He has done within my innermost being. The Lord has restored, transformed me, and given me a new heart.
During the period leading up to, and just after my baptism, and ongoing. I started to be aggrieved and concerned about prosperity and false teachers. I had been led down a wrong path and listening to a false gospel. Thankfully the the Lord worked things out and led me to the true gospel. The Lord somehow made me receptive to, and led me to watch you father RC Sproul senior and yourself . Sinclair Ferguson, John Macathur and others, and it has certainly been a blessing.
Now I am at a stage in my life where I want to work after a long period of unemployment due to addiction and mental health issues. I want to make sure I am doing so in service to the Lord and not for worldly reasons. In my humble opinion the prosperity gospel appears to teach about prosperity in terms of satisfying the flesh.
The journey I am on can be very troublesome at times but in the trials I have learned to rejoice particularly when I reflect on where the Lord has brought me to. My salvation. I will rejoice in that. That is where true prosperity lies. Thank you Lord for my salvation. Merciful and loving God.
I Thank the Lord for you all and may he continue to bless you.