The Gospel Is Everything You Need | Season 04, Episode 08 | Simple Truth Podcast

Too many Christians argue about and misunderstand what the gospel provides. When some people hear the word prosperity, they think of greed, materialism, and worldly excess. Others go the opposite direction and assume God wants his people living in poverty, lack, and constant dependency. But here's the question. Does the gospel only touch spiritual things? Or does the gospel also reveal God's will for physical needs like money, food, and clothing? If we misunderstand God's will and purpose for provision, we risk living a life of fear, distraction, or even greed. And that can keep us from obeying God fully, blessing others generously, and fulfilling our God-given purpose. In this episode, we're going into the Bible to see what biblical prosperity really means. No hype, no drama, just scripture. We'll look at Jesus, our example, and ask, was he poor? Was he materialistic? Or did he have everything he needed to fulfill the father's will? We'll see how the father provided for Jesus during his earthly ministry. We'll see what the gospel says about physical needs and what Jesus took upon himself at the cross for us. and we'll answer the question, what does God's provision look like for Christians today? By the end, you'll understand why the gospel is not just about forgiveness one day in heaven, but God's sufficiency for his purpose in your life right now. Let's get into it in this episode of The Simple Truth. Welcome to the Simple Truth Podcast, where we open the Bible to uncover simple, biblical, and essential truths that can transform your life. And now, here's your host, Ted Ross. Hi, my name is Ted Ross and this is the Simple Truth Podcast, your home for biblical truth clearly taught and freely given. Welcome to season 4 episode 8 where we discussed the gospel is everything you need. In our previous episodes in this season we talked about the many and critical spiritual benefits of believing the gospel. Now we ask the question does it also apply to physical things. Let's get into it. Why does this episode matter? Many Christians they argue about the word prosperity. Some assume that God wants his people brought low. He wants them in lack or even in poverty. Others they chase wealth. They chase comforts and worldly excess. And they do so in Jesus' name they say. So what does the Bible say? Is the gospel only for spiritual things? Or does it also apply to material needs like money, food, and shelter? In this episode, we'll look at how our example Jesus lived and take another look at what he accomplished at the cross, specifically when it comes to provision and our sufficiency. We'll see what God's provision looks like for Christians today. Because if we misunderstand God's provision, we can end up living in lack, fear, or distraction. It may even keep us from obeying God, blessing others, and fulfilling his purpose. Prosperity. It's become such a divisive word, hasn't it? The Bible frequently describes how God wants his people to prosper, be provided for, and have what they need to fulfill his will. I took a look at it and I found at least 18 examples in the Old Testament and 10 examples in the New Testament with terms like prosper, be provided for, provision, or simply having what you need to perform his will. But many Christians, they argue over what exactly this means. For some, prosperity, it's provision and sufficiency, right? God supplies what you need to obey his will and to fulfill his purpose. Whereas for others prosperity it comes across like greed or materialism where God is some kind of formula to get wealth to get comfort or to get worldly success. For others they even reject the term prosperity. They embrace physical poverty right being poor having lack or having dependency. So what is biblical prosperity? Well prosperity in the Old Testament right where we're going to talk about the Hebrew words associated with it. It's really when things go well with you based on God's blessing. So words associated with this and notice that we put Strong's numbers for those who are on YouTube. We have several Strong's numbers for several words which are prosper, prosperity or the words associated with it. It really means that things go well with you based on God's blessing. It means success, health, abundance, peace, security, and financial/material sufficiency. So in the Old Testament, this is how that term gets used. Now remember, all Bible verses in this episode are from the New King James Version. There's one example towards the end where we use English Standard, which we'll discuss a little later, but all the rest are from New King James. So feel free to follow along. Psalm 35:27. Here's an example in the Old Testament of the word prosperity. Quote, "Let the Lord be magnified who has pleasure in the prosperity of his servant." Or Deuteronomy 29:9, quote, "Therefore keep the words of this covenant and do them that you may prosper in all that you do." Or Joshua 1:8, quote, "For then you will make your way prosperous and then you will have good success." These are three of many examples in the Old Testament where God speaks about his people, about his servants, and uses the term prosperity or prosper associated with it. Now, let's go into the New Testament. And you'll notice here that the references we have for these Strongs numbers, these are Greek words, right? So prosperity in the New Testament, it means much like the Old Testament to have things go well for you to succeed and to possess sufficient resources and abundance. That word is included for God's will, generosity and the needs of life. So there's a blessing, there's resources and abundance to perform God's will, to be generous to others, and to have the needs met in your life. That's how the New Testament uses that term. One example of many is Philippians 4:19. Quote, "And my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus." Or 2 Corinthians 9:8, quote, "And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you always having all sufficiency in all things." or Ephesians 4 verse 28, let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need. So here we see three examples where God is supplying your needs, where God is able to give you all sufficiency in all things to be sufficient. We're going to discuss that a little more later. As well as that you should work with your hands and do what's good so that you would have to be able to give to others to be generous to those who have need. So what is biblical poverty? In contrast, poverty means being destitute or economically disadvantaged. It means living with lack, needs that aren't met, vulnerable to things like oppression, reduced strength, reduced capacity, dependency on others, etc. And you can see a series of both Hebrew as well as Greek references to strong numbers associated with those words. Honestly, outside of Jesus blessing the poor in spirit as in the spiritually dependent, the Bible does not describe poverty itself as God's will or God's ideal for Christians. It does not. In fact, many times the Bible even says that God's people should be lenders and not borrowers. For example, Deuteronomy 28:12 as well as Psalm 37:21- 26. Feel free to check them out. So, what is God's will for financial provision, right? For sufficiency, for quote unquote prosperity of Christians. Let's take a look at Jesus Christ. Let's start there. Remember, as we covered in the Simple Truth Podcast, season 2, episode 1, what was called what it really means to follow Jesus. Remember how we discussed in great detail that a Christian is a follower of Christ who's called to live as Jesus lived to follow his example and to be conformed to his image. So Jesus is a very important example for us. So the way Jesus lived can give us a lot of understanding to the way we should live which brings us to simple truth number 67. Jesus lived a prosperous life on earth with his needs met. So let's take a look. The first section that we have in here is going to be how Jesus had his needs met for ministry. Let's go to Luke 8 verses 2 and 3. Here we're going to see that Jesus didn't carry out his earthly ministry in lack. He was not destitute. And I understand for some this is going to be hard to grasp. That's why in this episode we're going to take a look at a lot of scripture. We're really going to look at the Bible to really try to understand something that at times can feel like an age-old discussion here. We see in this verses that the father placed faithful people around Jesus who would help supply what was needed. Luke 8 verses 2 and three quote and certain women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities. Mary called Magdalene out of whom had come seven demons. Jesus cast seven demons out of this person. and Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod's steward, and Susanna, and many others who provided for him from their substance. It says, "These certain women who had been healed, these were cured, they were restored, they were made whole by the power of God through Jesus Christ." And it said that these women and many others provided for him. To provide means they served, they supported, they provided practical help, right? They actually gave of the substance of what they have. and substances, possessions, goods, a person's belongings. They had enough to meet their own needs. And then they also contributed out of their abundance to help meet Jesus's needs and his ministry's needs. Remember, he was also generously providing and helping others, too. Jesus did not live in helpless lack. Jesus was not destitute. The Father provided for his earthly assignment, among other things, through faithful people with real resources. Let's take a look at more verses. John 13:27-29. Here we're going to see that Jesus's ministry had financial resources available, not for greed or for luxury, but for needs, for worship, for generosity. John 13:27. Then Jesus said to him, "What you do, do quickly." This is actually Jesus talking to Judas Iscariot right before he was betrayed. Verse 28. But no one at the table knew for what reason he said this to him. No one knew why Jesus said this to Judas. Verse 29. For some thought because Judas had the money box that Jesus had said to him, quote, "Buy those things we need for the feast or that he should give something to the poor." So you'll notice in here that Jesus was discussing something and telling Judas before his betrayal, which is really what we mostly emphasize on verses like this. But you'll notice in verse 29 that Judas was the treasurer of the group and he carried a money box. A money box is a container. It's a purse, some kind of container used to hold funds, right? And that when he Jesus said to him, "What you do, do quickly." that many people around him, the disciples, they misinterpreted it. They assumed that Jesus was saying, "Buy what we need for the feast." Which means there was money in that money box. Correct? For Jesus to say, "Go buy what we need," means Judas had a money box with enough money to buy what was needed for the feast or that he should give something to the poor. There was clearly enough in the money box. There was enough abundance that they could cover their immediate needs and be able to give something to the poor. Right? to give is to grant, to bestow, to supply. Jesus was not a person who was controlled by money. We're going to see this over and over again in scripture. But his ministry had money and had it available for what was needed and for blessing others. And this is just one of many verses that show these examples. Luke 22:35. Here we're going to see that Jesus sent his disciples out on assignment and the Father supplied them what was needed to do it. Luke 22:35. Quote, "And he said to them," this is Jesus talking to his disciples, "when I sent you without money bag, knapsack and sandals, did you lack anything?" So they said, these are the disciples, nothing. They lacked nothing. So when I sent you, when Jesus sent them out with a purpose, when he sent them out on an assignment, and you can see that earlier in Luke 22, he says, "When I sent you without money bag, right? No pouch, no purse, no money with you." They went out without money, without a knapsack. So they had no provisions. They didn't bring food. They didn't bring anything to drink. They didn't have sandals, extra sandals. And he says, "Did you lack anything when I sent you out? Were you deficient? Did you fall short? Were you in need of anything? And they said nothing. Right? Notice that we were discussing Jesus in the first two verses and now we're discussing his disciples. God's power and his provision. They're present wherever God sends us. That's what we're seeing here. The next section, God provided more than enough for Jesus. Let's take a look at Matthew 14:15- 21. Here we're going to see that Jesus did not operate from lack. He didn't operate in a panic. He didn't struggle. He trusted the Father's provision. And what seemed insufficient actually became abundance for over 5,000 people. Amazing. Matthew 14:15. When it was evening, his disciples came to him, saying, "This is a deserted place, and the hour is already late. Send the multitudes away that they may go into the villages and buy themselves food." But Jesus said to them, "They do not need to go away. you give them something to eat. And they said to him, "We have only five loaves and two fish." And he said, "Bring them here to me." They were in a deserted place. They were in the wilderness. In other words, they were in a desert, a place without supplies. We're going to take a look and remind ourselves what the wilderness looks like in a second. And he says, "Give them something to eat. Supply, grant, provide for them," Jesus said. Which of course like if we were one of the disciples, we'd look and say five loaves, two fish, over 5,000 people. Remember that was 5,000 men, not including women and children. That's a lot of people. So supply grant provide food for them. So let's give you a picture of what this could have looked like. This is the wilderness. There is no food here. There were no trees to pluck fruit from. Honestly, there may not have been any water even. Right? So this is to show you how barren the situation was. 5,000 people, just men, not including women and children, 12 disciples, Jesus Christ, and others, and you look at this situation and you see what Jesus said to them. So, Matthew 14 verse 19 here, we're going to see that God didn't just meet the need. He blessed what little they had until everyone was full and abundance remained. They had extra food, folks. Matthew 14, verse 19 Then he commanded the multitudes to sit down on the grass. And he took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, he blessed and broke and gave the loaves to the disciples. And the disciples gave it to the multitudes. So they all ate and were filled. And they took up 12 baskets full of the fragments that remained. So they started off with five loaves and two fish. And they ended with everybody eating until they were full. and having 12 baskets full of what was left. Now, those who had eaten were about 5,000 men besides women and children. So, he took it and he looked up to heaven and he blessed. He gave thanks. He spoke well of God. Sometimes you wonder, you say, "What prayer did he pray?" He gave thanks. It wasn't a lengthy extensive prayer. He looked up to heaven and he gave thanks to God. He spoke well of God. And it said that they ate and they were all filled. They were fed fully. They were satisfied. They were filled with food. Praise God. God's provision was not barely enough. It was more than enough. And I say this to help understand that it shows us God's heart. When God provided for them, when he was when Jesus was doing the Father's will and when God provided for the 5,000 plus, it shows God's heart. God's heart wasn't to give everyone a crumb or to give everyone just enough. God gave it in abundance and there was food left and it shows you God's heart, right? So, we look at other verses here. Matthew 17 24 and 25 as well as verse 27. Here we see that Jesus wasn't caught off guard by the need uh to pay a tax bill. Right? Some of us are very familiar with that. We have some kind of bill from the government. In this case, it wasn't from the government. was from the temple. But here we had this situation where Jesus wasn't caught off guard by this need by this maybe unforeseen tax bill. But it was an opportunity to reveal God's supply. Matthew 17 24 when they had come to Capernaum, those who received the temple tax came to Peter and said, "Does your teacher not pay the temple tax?" This is found in the Old Testament. So Peter of course knew. He goes, "Yes, yes, we we pay the temple tax." verse 27. Nevertheless, so in verse 26, Jesus describes and goes back and forth with Peter and says, "Peter, uh, if you're the son of God, do you actually pay or is is it strangers who end up paying?" Right? And then Peter said, "Well, it's strangers, but he goes, well, I may be the son of God, but I'll still go ahead and pay anyway." So, in verse 27, he says, "Nevertheless, lest we offend them, go to the sea, cast in a hook, and take the fish that comes out first. And when you have opened its mouth, you will find a piece of money. Take that and give it to them for me and you. Right? The temple tax. It's an annual tax on males for the temple services. It's done every year. As God's son, Jesus was free from the tax Jesus was going back and forth with Peter on. But Jesus paid it anyway to avoid the offense. And Peter uh and Jesus were provided for because God provided. When money was needed, the father provided more than enough for Jesus. He provided for Jesus and Peter. Praise God. Right? Jesus did not live for luxury, right? Jesus is not known for gold suits and driving a Ferrari if they, you know, certainly they didn't have those things back then. But his needs were abundantly met, right? Luke 14:1 here, we're going to see that Jesus did not pursue earthly possessions or status, but God had him welcomed into places of influence, of provision, and of abundance. So in Luke 14:1, quote, "Now it happened as he went into the house of one of the rulers of the Pharisees to eat bread on the Sabbath that they watched him closely." Right? Jesus was repeatedly welcomed to tables and homes, by Pharisees, by tax collectors, by friends, by followers, whether it's in Matthew 9:10 or Luke 7:36 or Luke 11:37 or Luke 19 verses 5-7 or John 12 1-2, etc. Many times Jesus was brought in and he was blessed. As you could see repeatedly in the scriptures, Jesus's earthly life was marked by hospitality, by provision, not by poverty, and not by lack. Jesus even had fine clothes and a house. Wow. John 19:23 and 24. I thanks for sticking with me here and going through all these scriptures, but I think you would agree that reading the Bible about a topic is really, really important. We could take one or two verses and we could try to just run our episode off of that, but I think it is appropriate for you and appropriate for me where we handle God's word responsibly. So, we're going to look at several different verses, a variety of verses to make sure that we can confidently understand what God has to say and what is God's heart on any given topic. So John 19:23 here we see that Jesus was not materialistic but he also wasn't destitute. Even his tunic, his clothing was high quality and it was so valuable that the soldiers would not destroy it but they actually cast lots for it at the crucifixion. John 19:23 quote then the soldiers when they had crucified Jesus they took his garments and they made four parts to each soldier a part and also the tunic now the tunic Jesus's tunic was without seam had no seam woven from the top in one piece verse 24 they said therefore among themselves let us not tear it but cast lots for it whose it shall be wow so Jesus was wearing his clothing, the clothing he wore when he was betrayed and taken to the crucifixion. It was a tunic that was seamless. It was one large fine piece of material. So much so that the soldiers refused to tear it into four pieces because it was such high quality and of such value so that they actually gambled each other for it. So that instead of breaking it into four pieces, one person could have this beautiful article of clothing. Jesus did not worship possessions, but he certainly wasn't clothed in black, was he? As we see here in John 19. Interesting. Let's take a look at Mark 2:es 1 and 2. Here we're going to see that Jesus, he left Nazareth at the beginning of his ministry and he settled in Capernaim. There he had a house and people knew he was living there. Mark 2 verse1 and again he that's Jesus entered Capernaum after some days and it was heard that he was in the house verse two immediately many gathered together so that there was no longer room to receive them not even near the door and he preached the word to them praise God that's the purpose of his house people came and he could preach the word to them it's a city in Galilee it actually became a major kind of ministry base a base of operations where Jesus would leave from and then come back to etc. And it said that Jesus he entered Capernaum after some days and it was heard that he was in the house. A house is what you think a house is. It's a dwelling. It's a place of residence and that many gathered together. A large crowd gathered into the house. So it was sizable enough for a large crowd to at least fit into. Jesus did not live for possessions. Let's be clear. But he certainly had a place to live and he had a place to minister. He had a place to do God's will, right? Let's take a look at Mark 2 14 and 15. Here we're actually going to see this verses in the English Standard Version. And I'm going to explain to you why for the specific set of verses that we actually used English Standard Version. We'll discuss that in a moment. Here we're going to see that Levi followed Jesus to his house where he ate with sinners and tax collectors. Right? Mark 2:14. And as he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth because he was a tax collector, a chief tax collector even. And he said to him, Jesus said to Levi, "Follow me." And he, Levi, rose and followed him. That's Jesus. And as he reclined at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners were reclining with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. So Jesus said, "Follow me. Accompany, go after, join yourself to me," Jesus said. Right? And then he said, and he as he reclined at table. To recline a table is to sit at a meal, right? Leaned back, sitting at a meal. The Greek pronoun in Mark 2:15 is in his house. Right? So we see and he reclined at table in his house. But scholars often debate whether was this Jesus's house as we see kind of referenced in the English Standard Version or was it Levi's house? The folks who translated the New King James Version were so sure of it that they inserted Levi because they thought that was providing context for who his was. But the reality is this is a a debate between scholars. There are people who say this was clearly Jesus's house and there's people who says no no no this was Levi's house. Right? Jesus was a skilled tradesman and he was unmarried. He was not destitute. And to be clear it could clearly have been his house. He could afford a house. Right? Mark 6:3. Before Jesus even entered public ministry, he was known as a skilled tradesman who worked with his hands. Mark 6:3 is this not the carpenter the son of Mary and brother James Jose's Judas and Simon and are not his sisters here with us right we know of Jesus as being a carpenter a carpenter was a skilled tradesman it was a sought after trade right a carpenter is a builder a skilled worker an artisan if you will Jesus was again not portrayed as helpless or destitute Jesus had valuable skills he had work experience and the ability to provide most certainly for himself. And as I mentioned, he was unmarried. He didn't have a wife or children to have to care for. So Jesus certainly had an income. Jesus made a good living. By all means, we can make that assumption. It is reasonable to assume that Jesus could own a home and that Jesus could have his needs met because Jesus was a tradesman, a skilled tradesman who earned a fair wage at that time. Even in death, Jesus was provided for. Matthew 27:57-60. Here we're going to see that the father's provision continued all the way through to the tomb. Matthew 27:57. Now when evening had come, there came a rich man from Arya named Joseph, who himself had also become a disciple of Jesus. This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate commanded the body to be given to him. Verse 59, when Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, right? He prepared it for burial. And verse 60, and laid it in his new tomb, in Joseph's tomb, which he had hewn out of the rock. So it says that when evening had come, this is after the crucifixion and the physical death of Jesus Christ, there came a rich man. A rich man is a wealthy man with substantial resources. And his name was Joseph. And he was a disciple of Jesus, right? A disciple's a follower. And it said as we go down into verse 60 that after he prepared Jesus's body, he laid the body, which by the way, the body was wrapped in clean linen cloth. A very nice burial, a very nice, you know, mortuary, very nice preparation for burial. And it says that he laid Jesus's body in a new tomb hewn out of a rock, right? It's a burial place. It's a memorial chamber. Even after Jesus died, God provided honor for him, care for him, and a very costly burial place. Praise God. God provided for Jesus. So, let's take a moment. Biblical prosperity. It's not about greed and it's not about materialism. Nothing that we saw was Jesus heaping comforts onto himself, right? It was about God's provision, God's sufficiency, and God providing abundance for God's purpose in his life. Amen. Poverty is not God's ideal for us. We didn't see in any of these scriptures or any of these verses where God intended for Jesus to live in lack or his disciples to have need or to have dependency on other people. Nothing did we find in those scriptures. In fact, Jesus even you may remember early in this episode Jesus said when I sent you without money bag or or knapsack or sandals did you need did you lack anything? And they said nothing. We lacked nothing. Because when God has a purpose for you, and God has a purpose for all of us, he wants us to be abundant. He wants us to be sufficient. And he wants us to have everything we need to fulfill his purpose. The same way we saw Jesus doing it in all these verses that we just read. Jesus did not live for luxury. He did not live in a way where he was just trying to heap on his own desires. He didn't own and have all these things so that he could just be, you know, over satisfied and overindulged in his flesh. Instead, his needs were abundantly met throughout his earthly ministry, even in his own death. Jesus lived with all that he needed taken care of, except at the cross. At the cross, he took on our poverty and our lack. That's the time that you will see that Jesus became poor. And he did this so that we could receive God's provision and God's sufficiency. He paid the price for our poverty. He paid the price for our insufficiency and our lack. And that's when we saw that lack, that poverty, that insufficiency put onto him at the cross. Which brings me to simple truth number 68. Jesus became poor at the cross so that you could have God's provision. 2 Corinthians 8:9, "The gospel does not leave you in lack. Jesus took our poverty upon himself so that we could receive God's provision in him." 2 Corinthians 8:9. Quote, "For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that you through his poverty might become rich." Amen. It says, "For you know the grace, you know God's unearned favor, God's kindness. We didn't deserve this. This is all grace bestowed to us." I know quite often when we discuss things like prosperity or abundance or provision, sometimes we'll say, "I'm not worthy. I did something really terrible or I've done many terrible things." God's not doing it because you're a great person. God's doing it because he has a purpose in your life and he's doing it out of his grace. You didn't earn it. It's a gift. So, please just receive it. Right? So we know the grace, the God's honor and favor, the kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he Jesus Christ was rich, that word means wealthy, abundant, possessing riches. Wow. Yet for your sakes he became poor. To become poor is to be reduced to poverty, to enter into lack. And he did it on the cross, folks. And he says that you, that's you and me, through his, that's Jesus's poverty, the poverty he took onto himself at the cross. Poverty means lack, destitution, need. That through his destitution, his lack, his need on the cross, we might become rich. That's to be enriched, to be supplied with abundance. 2 Corinthians chapter 8, feel free to read it when you have a moment. It's all about generosity and it's all about financial giving. It's about physical things. That's the nature. That's the context of 2 Corinthians chapter 8. Jesus took our poverty, took our sin, took the curse that was placed upon us, right? And our lack upon himself. So through the gospel, through the death, burial, and resurrection, Christians could receive God's riches, God's provision, and God's sufficiency. Thank God. And its grace from top to bottom. Let's take a look at 2 Corinthians chapter 9:8. No, it's not lost on me that the last scripture was 2 Corinthians 8:9 and now we're looking at 2 Corinthians chapter 9:8. Coincidental, folks. 2 Corinthians chapter 9:8. The gospel here we see supplies more than just survival. We're just barely keeping our head above water. As they say, the gospel brings grace, sufficiency, and abundance for God's purpose. Praise God. 2 Corinthians 9:8. And God is able to make all grace abound toward you that you always having all sufficiency in all things may have an abundance for every good work. Praise God. God is able. That means God is powerful. God is capable. God has the strength to accomplish to make all grace, all there's that word again, all unearned favor, all kindness. It's really interesting these last two verses that word grace keeps popping up. So if you're a person who has provision, who has abundance, who has supply, who has resources, who has wealth, so to speak, if you're a person who has it, thank God for it. Praise God for it. You didn't earn it. It's grace. It's God's unearned favor and kindness on your life. We see all throughout the scriptures, even folks like Job, where at any point in time, God could allow the devil to touch it, and then next thing you know, you do not have all the things that you have. So we don't set our heart on our wealth. We don't set our heart on money. That's just it's something here to do God's purpose, to do God's plan. In our next episode, we're going to talk about how to prosper through the gospel. And we're going to discuss this in more details. Never set your heart on never set your heart on riches. It's a tool to accomplish a purpose. It's a tool to get you food, a tool to pay for a vehicle or transportation. It's a tool to be a blessing to other people. That's what it is. That's what it is. It's a tool to serve God with. So it says here to make all grace, all of God's unearned favor and kindness abound towards you. To abound is to overflow, to exceed, to be more than enough. These are not scriptures that describe lack or destitution or struggle. These are scriptures that describe power, favor, you know, ex exceeding, overflowing. These are such blessings, right, toward you that you always having all sufficiency. To have sufficiency is to have enough, to have adequate supply, to have provision. Right? It's not about having, you know, six vehicles so that you could just flaunt it and show off all these things you have. It's about having what you need when you need it. Right? Praise God. Praise God that you have all sufficiency in all things and that you may have an abundance. That's an overflow. It's having more than enough again for every good work. It's a good deeds. You have abundance. You have sufficiency so that you could do good deeds so you can accomplish God's purpose. So that you can do every good work, which by the way, it lays up fruit in heaven. That's what you're seeking after. Keeping a bunch of riches or money or abundance on your own desires on this earth is not laying up treasures in heaven. It's laying up desires and honestly maybe even sin here on earth. Instead, lay up treasures in heaven. Have fruit for yourself. Praise God. Take your abundance. Take your resources, take your sufficiency and use it for God's purpose. God's provision is not for selfish access. It's for sufficiency. It's for generosity and the fulfillment of God's purpose. Just like Jesus, praise God. Let's take a look at Genesis 1 verse 28 and 29. Going from New to Old Testament now, right? We're going to see here. In fact, before sin entered the world, God's will for humanity was blessing, dominion, fruitfulness, and abundant provision. Genesis 1:28, quote, "Then God blessed them." This is Adam and Eve. And God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply. Build the earth and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth." Verse 29. And God said, "See, I have given you every herb that yields seed, which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed. To you, it shall be for food." We're seeing abundance. God is not only providing them abundantly out of the animals and out of their vegetables, but he's even telling them to go be fruitful and multiply based on it. Right? God blessed them. Says God bestowed favor. God enriched them with benefits. Remember this is before sin. This is before the fall. Adam was not created in lack. Adam was not created in poverty. Adam and Eve did not live in survival mode, barely able to pay rent. That is not the way that they were. Lack entered after sin. God's will from the beginning was sufficiency for us. You'll see quite often, and we discussed this, it talked about the first Adam and the last Adam. The first Adam was Adam and he got into sin and he got us into trouble and the last Adam rescued us from it and that the gospel was performed by Jesus Christ and in many ways the gospel restored us back into the relationship that Adam had before the fall and that includes physical provision and sufficiency. So what should I do now? Well, first of all, trust God as your provider. Don't trust yourself and your own cleverness and your skills. Trust God. Stop seeing lack as a part of your identity. Don't think of yourself as someone who's constantly lacking. Bring your needs to the father and believe that he wants to provide sufficiency and provision for his will in your life. Number two, seek God's purpose first. Seek God's purpose. Right? Prosperity is not for greed. It's not for comforts. It's not for status. That's what the world seeks after. You're a Christian. You don't seek after those things. you're not part of the world. Ask God what he wants you to do with that provision, with that abundance, and then trust him to supply what is needed for the assignment and then some. And I say and then some because that's what we saw in scripture. We saw that God provided for the need and then some. So be ready to do something with the then some. Number three, use what God provides for good works. That is the point of it. Remember really what wealth, what what resources, what are these things for? They're a tool for a purpose. They're not something to be able to have selfish access. They're something to be able to perform a purpose for it. You need transportation. You need a place to stay. You need a way to get around. You need clothing. You need food, right? But you also have means that you could be able to then be a blessing to others. Or, you know, for example, we're here doing a podcast. for a podcast, we need a camera and we need a computer and we need lighting and we need all these tools. We need to be able to host it and do our video editing, right? All the things that go into this. You've got to understand that God had to convert my soul and had to transform me and had to bless me with abundance so I could even even have the podcast because it would be such an inappropriate thing for God to say, "Get out there and all of you put together this podcast, but I won't give you any of the things you need to be able to do it." Right? That's not how it works. God has a plan. He got a mission. He's got a purpose. and he will provide and he'll prosper and he'll deliver all that he needs so that we could deliver and thank God deliver it well. Right? Deliver it with quality. Deliver it up to a standard that is pleasing to God. So use what God provides to you for good works. When God provides, don't cling to it in fear. Don't keep it on yourselves in comfort or in excess. Be a good steward. Steward what God provides you. Do use wisdom. Give generously to what you believe is God's will. and use it to serve others and to accomplish God's purpose in your life. That's what those things are for. Next episode of The Simple Truth. Thanks for bearing with us. Boy, did we go through a lot of scripture, didn't we? But boy, is it important because this is one of those topics that people like to argue about or they take a stance without even knowing any scripture. And I think it's really important on a topic like that that we are able to go through the Bible and see with great clarity where God's heart is when it comes to it. So what is the next episode of the simple truth? So we see that the gospel is everything you need for spiritual things and even for physical ones. Jesus lived in God's provision. He took our poverty on himself at the cross and he restored us to sufficiency and to provision the same way that we had those things before Adam sinned before Adam had the fall in the garden. But if God wants his people to prosper, how do we actually walk in that prosperity while also not falling into greed and worldliness and all the other things that sometimes get associated with this topic? Don't miss next episode, How to Prosper Through the Gospel, where we'll show you how to trust God as your provider, how to obey his word for financial sufficiency, and how to prosper for his purpose. Thank you for listening to this episode of the Simple Truth Podcast. Today, we saw that the gospel is truly everything you need. Biblical prosperity, it's not about greed, materialism, or chasing worldly comfort. It is God's provision and sufficiency for his purpose in the earth and in your life. Jesus lived with provision for what he needed to fulfill the father's will. He was provided for in ministry and he had resources available for both his needs and generosity towards others. And yet at the cross Jesus became poor. Only it wasn't his poverty was it? He took our poverty and our lack upon himself so that through the gospel we could receive God's provision. So I want to challenge you to do something for the next seven days. I want you to stop seeing yourself as insufficient, lacking or physically poor. I want you to start seeing yourself as a child of God with a father who provides through the gospel. I believe the best way to do this is to meditate on a few key scriptures throughout the week. First, consider meditating on 2 Corinthians 8:9. This verse talked about Jesus becoming poor so that through his poverty you might become rich. Second, look at 2 Corinthians 9:8. God is able to make you have all sufficiency for every good work. And Matthew 6 verses 31-33, your father knows what you need, so seek first his kingdom. Remember what biblical meditation is. It is thinking deeply about God's word. When you read these scriptures, ask yourself, "What does this reveal about God's heart toward my needs, my purpose, and my provision?" Repeat them to yourself throughout the day, and ponder them. When you do, it'll start to change your mind and change your life. You can learn more about biblical meditation in the Simple Truth Podcast, season 3, episode 3. How meditating on God's word can change your life. This is useful preparation for our next episode where we get practical and tactical regarding prosperity. Please also consider sharing this episode with someone who needs to stop seeing poverty as their identity and start trusting that through the gospel, God provides sufficiency for his will. If this episode helped you, please be sure to like and subscribe. Next episode, we'll get into how to prosper through the gospel. We'll show you what the Bible says about how to prosper and be sufficient in your life. It's been a real pleasure talking about the Bible with you. I pray God bless you, God keep you, and teach you to walk in his sufficiency for his purpose. Until next time, thank you for listening to the Simpler Podcast. For additional episodes, visit us at www.simpletruth.org.