David Diga Hernandez - What the Bible REALLY Says About PROSPERITY

So people ask me, «Do you believe in the prosperity gospel?» I can assure you, I certainly don’t believe in the poverty gospel. But all joking aside, people do want to know, what do you think about the prosperity gospel? There’s all this talk about the prosperity gospel now, and everybody defines the subject differently, or I should say, the term differently. To one person, prosperity gospel might mean one thing, while to another, prosperity gospel might mean another thing. So let me be very clear: I do not believe that we serve God for what we can get out of Him. I do not believe that the Bible promises that every believer will be rich. I do not believe that money is a sign of God’s love and favor. I do not believe that you can give money in exchange for a miracle or for a healing. I don’t believe those things. To me, that is the prosperity gospel. But if, by the prosperity gospel, you mean that God prospers the believer in times of difficulty, then yes, I believe that. But again, I must stress this: not every believer is going to be a millionaire, and not every believer is going to be a wealthy businessperson. We have brothers and sisters all over the world who are under the threat of persecution. Their worry isn’t about what kind of car they’re going to drive or what kind of clothes they’re going to wear; their worries are about life and death, and their concern is about where they’re going to gather for church. So I want to approach this subject with integrity, and I want to approach this subject with biblical truth. However, I do want to encourage those of you who experience or are experiencing economic difficulty or economic uncertainty, and I want to show you what the Bible teaches concerning this subject. So let’s go now to 1 Kings chapter 17, and I want to read verse number 8. I’m going to begin reading at verse number 8. Here we go: «Then the Lord said to Elijah, ‘Go and live in the village of Zarephath, near the city of Sidon. I have instructed a widow there to feed you.’» Now, that right there is interesting. Notice that God tells the prophet Elijah, «I have instructed a widow there to feed you.» So keep that in mind as we continue to read. He went to Zarephath, and as he arrived at the gates of the village, he saw a widow gathering sticks. He asked her, «Would you please bring me a little water in a cup?» As she was going to get it, he called to her, «Bring me a bite of bread too.» But she said, «I swear by the Lord your God that I don’t have a single piece of bread in the house. I have only a handful of flour left in the jar and a little cooking oil in the bottom of the jug. I was just gathering a few sticks to cook this last meal, and then my son and I will die.» Now, this was interesting to me because remember God told the prophet, «I instructed a widow there,» yet when he gets there, she acts like she never heard the command of God. This is what people do in difficult times when they face challenging economic or financial situations: when God gives them a command, the first human response is to pretend like they didn’t hear it, to be dismissive of it, or to try to make an excuse to avoid that command. So she tells the prophet, «Look, I don’t have anything. I can’t give you this because my son and I were planning on eating this and then we were going to die.» She gave her excuse. But then the prophet says, «Don’t be afraid. Verse 13: Go ahead and do just what you said, but make a little bread for me first. Then use what’s left to prepare a meal for yourself and your son. For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: There will always be flour and olive oil left in your containers until the time when the Lord sends rain and crops grow again.» So she did as Elijah said, and she, Elijah, and her family continued to eat for many days. Think about this: she gave her excuse, yet the prophet still confronted her with a challenge to her faith. God had spoken to her; we know that because in the verses above, God says, «I’ve already instructed her.» Yet even though she was instructed by God, she tried to present her excuses. Now imagine if a preacher were to do that today with some old woman who was in financial hardship; everyone would criticize him. But the prophet Elijah heard from the Lord, and he knew that by encouraging her to give, even in her lack, he was positioning her to walk in the provision of God. Now let me make something clear: every curse has been broken by the blood of Jesus. Whether or not you give financially to a ministry, God will take care of you if you’re a believer. Whether or not you give financially, healing is still promised to you. I often tell people who come to our healing meetings, especially when taking the offering, «Let me be very clear with you: this gift that you’re sowing is in no way tied to your miracle, ” and I really resent it when preachers try to make it seem like it is, because the Bible doesn’t say that. The Bible doesn’t teach that God won’t heal you if you don’t give. The Bible doesn’t teach in the New Testament that you’re cursed if you withhold a certain amount from a ministry or a church.