Matthew 11:20 King James Version (KJV)
Then began he to upbraid the cities wherein most of his mighty works were done, because they repented not:
As I lay in bed last night, I talked to my husband about the trend of prosperity preaching. I was on Twitter and wound up on a popular minister's page. As I scrolled down the page, all I saw were quotes about success, new beginnings, and breakthroughs. While I love an encouraging message just as much as the next person, I found it odd that the only thing this particular minister tweeted about was related to prosperity. I strolled through a month's worth of tweets and every single tweet was about followers being on the horizon of divine abundance.
A MONTH WORTH'S OF TWEETS.
There are 66 books in the bible, yet somehow this minister only tweeted about prosperity for an entire month...
I don't recall the disciples telling their followers they were on the verge of receiving an abundance of cattle, silver, or gold. I don't recall Jesus telling the disciples to go out into the world and preach prosperity. Excuse me if this article is dripping in sarcasm, but I just don't understand how you can call yourself a minster of the Word of God and go an entire month without mentioning repentance or at minimum mentioning Jesus. Christ didn't tell the disciples to go and preach prosperity, but He did tell them to do this:
Matthew 28:18-20 (KJV)
And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
Yet, I didn't see anything close to this scripture in the popular minister's tweets. Oh, but whenever the gospel was mentioned, it only supported prosperity. Lord knows it is not my intent to come across as a Negative Nancy because I am not. I promise I'm not! I'm usually Quiet Quin... but I just can't keep quiet on this subject.
Indeed, Christ is a miracle worker. He blesses us with unmerited favor. There are plenty of scripture to support prosperity preaching. I AM NOT AGAINST PROSPERITY SERMONS. I am for it! The goodness of Christ and His never-ending gifts need to be shared with the world. Yet, Matthew 11:20 listed above states Christ upbraided the cities he performed most of His works in because they failed to repent. Jesus rebuked them for a lack of repentance.
My Lord! Is this not confirmation that you can receive your breakthrough but still be rebuked for your sins? Tell me which one is more important, your prosperity or the forgiveness of your sins? Jesus asked this same question to a man who came to Him for the healing of his body.
Matthew 9:2-5 (KJV)
And, behold, they brought to him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed: and Jesus seeing their faith said unto the sick of the palsy; Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee.
And, behold, certain of the scribes said within themselves, This man blasphemeth.
And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts?
For whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and walk?
Of course, the forgiveness of your sins supersedes your prosperity. Yet judging by the climate of today's preaching, you would think the opposite was true. But Christ is so good that he forgave the man's sins and healed him from palsy.
You see, prosperity is possible. Prosperity is promised. However, prosperity needs to follow repentance. Don't put the cart before the horse. It'll be a pity to finally receive your abundance of favor just to have Christ rebuke you because you failed to repent.
Whew! I think I'm done ranting now (or preaching... you be the judge). I just had to get that off my chest. I'll revert back to being Quiet Quin for now :-)
But I'll be back just as soon as God puts something else on my chest.
Until then, be prosperous! But first, repent.