GOSPEL
FREEDOM BRINGS PROSPERITY
Since
Adam all men are born captive to a sinful nature and bound for eternal
punishment.
"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal
life in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Rom. 6:23)
God has chosen to free a people for Himself through Christ His Son
who died for their sins and rose for their justification.
"Just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all
men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification
that brings life for all men." (Romans 5:18) - "We were
therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that,
just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father,
we too may live a new life." (Romans 6:4)
These redeemed are then God's obedient servants!
"I tell you the truth," said Jesus, "everyone who sins
is a slave to sin… So if the Son sets you free, you will be free
indeed." (John 8:34, 36)
"He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners."
(Luke 4:18) "If you love me, you will obey what I command."
(John 14:15)
St Paul writes to the Romans: "You have been set free from sin
and have become slaves to righteousness. (Romans 6:18)
From
here and now to Eternity
True liberty is freedom from sin to do the will of God… to proclaim
the Gospel worldwide, teaching the nations to obey God's law!
"Then Jesus came to them and said, 'All authority in heaven and
on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of
all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son
and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have
commanded you. And surely I will be with you always, to the very end
of the age." (Matthew 28:18-20)
"Now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves
to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is
eternal life." (Romans 6:22)
"I will always obey your law, for ever and ever. I will walk
about in freedom, for I have sought out your precepts. I will speak
of your statutes before kings and will not be put to shame, for I
delight in your commandments because I love them." (Psalm 119:44-47)
Prosperity
is promised to obedient God-fearers
"Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, who finds great delight
in his commands. His children will be mighty in the land; each generation
of the upright will be blessed. Wealth and riches are in his house,
and his righteousness endures for ever." (Psalm 112:1-3)
"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth
and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store
up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not
destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your
treasure is, there your heart will be also… No-one can serve
two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he
will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve
both God and Money. Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your
life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body what you will
wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important
than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap
or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are
you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add
a single hour to his life? And why do you worry about clothes? See
how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labour or spin. Yet
I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendour was dressed
like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field,
which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he
not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry,
saying, 'What shall we eat?' or "What shall we wear?' For the
pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows
that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness,
and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not
worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day
has enough trouble of its own." (Matt. 6:19-33; Luke 12:22-31)
"And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father
or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred
times as much and will inherit eternal life." (Matthew 19:20;
Luke 18:29-30)
"Physical training is of some value, but godliness has value
for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the
life to come." (1 Timothy 4:8)
"If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially
for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than
an unbeliever." (1 Timothy 5:8)
"All things are yours, whether… the world or life or death
or the present or the future - all are yours." (1 Corinthians
3:22)
"Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly,
and whoever sows generously will also reap generously… You will
be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion,
and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God."
(2 Corinthians 9:6, 11)
"You gave abundant showers, O God; you refreshed your weary inheritance."
(Psalm 68:9)
"The LORD turned rivers into a desert, flowing springs into a
thirsty ground, and fruitful land into a salt waste, because of the
wickedness of those who lived there. He turned the desert into pools
of water and the parched ground into flowing springs; there he brought
the hungry to live, and they founded a city where they could settle.
They sowed fields and planted vineyards that yielded a fruitful harvest;
he blessed them, and their numbers greatly increased, and he did not
let their herds diminish." (Ps.107:33-38)
"You, O Lord, are loving. Surely you will reward each person
according to what he has done." (Ps 62:12)
"Because he loves me," says the LORD… "with long
life will I satisfy him and show him my salvation." (Psalm 91:16)
"Restore our fortunes, O LORD, like streams in the Negev."
(Psalm 126:4)
"If you pay attention to these laws and are careful to follow
them, then the LORD your God will keep his covenant of love with you…
He will love you and bless you and increase your numbers. He will
bless the fruit of your womb, the crops of your land - your grain,
new wine and oil - the calves of your herds and the lambs of your
flocks… You will be blessed more than any other people…"
(Deut. 7:12f)
"If you faithfully obey the commands I am giving you today -
to love the LORD your God and to serve him with all your heart and
with all your soul - then I will send rain on your land in its season,
both autumn and spring rains, so that you may gather in your grain,
new wine and oil. I will provide grass in the fields for your cattle,
and you will eat and be satisfied." (Deuteronomy 11:13f)
"Bring all the tithes of that year's produce, so that… the
fatherless and the widows who live in your towns may come and eat
and be satisfied, and so that the LORD your God may bless you in all
the work of your hands." (Deuteronomy 14: 29)
"Then the LORD your God will make you prosperous in all the work
of your hands and in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock
and the crops of your land. The LORD will again delight in you and
make you prosperous, just as he delighted in your fathers." (Deuteronomy
30:9)
"Do not make idols or set up an image or a sacred stone for yourselves,
and do not place a carved stone in your land to bow down before it.
I am the LORD your God. Observe my Sabbaths and have reverence for
my sanctuary. I am the LORD. If you follow my decrees and are careful
to obey my commands, I will send you rain in its season, and the ground
will yield its crops and the trees of the field their fruit…
I will grant peace in the land, and you will lie down and no-one will
make you afraid… I will make my dwelling-place among you, and
I will not abhor you… I am the LORD your God… I broke the
bars of your yoke and enabled you to walk with heads held high."
(Leviticus 26:1-13)
The
Wise also prepare for the Future
