Five Principles of Prosperity | Part 2

How can we do the things God wants us to do? See your Bible turned there now. Once again, with part two of this insightful message, here's Adrian Rogers. One translation translates it continually, success. It may be translated good speed, success, or prosperity, whatever you want, but it means that God's hand is upon you. God is with you, helping you to do those things he wants you to do. Are you ready for these five principles of prosperity?

They're going to come out of this chapter. Principle number one, establish your cause. Put it down in your notes or put it down certainly in your mind. Establish your cause. Now, you've got to have something that motivates you, something that drives you. Every person needs a cause, a reason, a God-given goal and purpose for his life. Read now the first four verses. And Abraham was old and well-stricken in age, and the Lord had blessed Abraham in all things.

And Abraham said unto his eldest servant of his house that ruled over all that he had, Put I pray thee thy hand unto my thigh, and I will make thee swear by the Lord the God of heaven and the God of earth, that thou shalt not take a wife unto my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell, but thou shalt go unto my country, unto my kindred, and take a wife unto my son Isaac. Now, clear, beyond any stutter, stammer, or apology, Eliezer had a cause, he had a mandate. Question, do you have a cause? I mean, are you just drawing your breath and drawing your salary, fighting to live and living to fight, and you don't have a cause through life, you're just enduring life? Have a cause in your life.

You need goals in your life. May I ask you some questions about what you're doing right now? I want to ask you three questions. First, if you get to where you're going, and everybody's going somewhere, if you get to where you're going, where will you be?

You think about it. You're headed somewhere. Everybody is headed somewhere. If you get to where you are going, and I'm not just talking about heaven or hell, I'm talking about what we call in this life, if you get to where you're headed, where will you be? Second question, if you accomplish your goals, what will you have? What will you have? And then, when you consider what you will have, here's the big question. Are the things you're living for worth Jesus dying for? When you get to where you're going, where will you be? When you achieve what you want to achieve, what will you have? And are the things you're living for worth Jesus Christ dying for? Principle number one, therefore, is establish your cause.

Number two, principle number two is this, examine your condition. Now, this is what Eliezer had to do. He knew what his cause was, and then he had to see where he was right now. Look, if you will, beginning in verse five. And the servant said unto him, peradventure, The woman will not be willing to follow me into this land. Must I needs bring thy son unto the land from whence thou camest? In other words, if Rebekah won't come back with me, will I take Isaac to Rebekah? And Abraham said unto him, Beware that thou bring not my son thither again. No, you can't take Isaac back to where I came from.

You've got to bring Rebekah here. And the Lord God of heaven, which took me from my father's house and from that land of my kindred and which spake unto me and that swear unto me, saying, Unto thy seed will I give this land, and he shall send his angel before thee, and thou shall take a wife unto my son from thence. And if the woman will not be willing to follow thee, then thou shalt be clear of this my oath, only bring not my son thither again, and so forth.

I could read this more, but what is obvious is this, that Eliezer says, Look, this is a problem. You're asking me to go to a land, meet a girl that I've never met, establish a relationship with her, convince her to come and marry a man she's never met, and to leave father, mother, houses, lands, brothers and sisters, and come with me. That is my job. That's what I've got to do.

Now, those were the conditions. Folks, you have to see where you are this morning, not where you want to be, not where you wish you were. Take an honest inventory and see where you are right now this moment. Number three, number three, encourage your confidence. You know, many of us just, we just think we can't do it. We don't think that God wants us to prosper, but encourage your confidence. Now, how do you encourage your confidence?

Number one, there's the promise factor. Get a promise from the Word of God. Look, if you will, in beginning about verse five. And the servant said unto him, Peradventure, the woman will not be willing to follow me into this land. Must I needs bring thy son again into the land from whence thou camest?

Now, notice this. And Abraham said unto him, Beware that thou bring not my son thither again, the Lord God of heaven, which took me from my father's house and from the land of my kindred, and which spake unto me and swear unto me, saying, unto thy seed will I give this land. He shall send his angel before thee, and thou shall take a wife unto my son from thence.

Do you know what he's saying? Hey, this is based on the Word of God. We have got a promise from the Word of God.

You want to encourage your confidence? Get in the Word of God. Read the Scripture. Saturate your soul with the Scripture. You want a promise for a new millennium? Listen to Joshua chapter 1, verse 8. This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth, but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, and that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written. For then shalt thou make thy way prosperous, and then shalt thou have good success.

What we see right here is an illustration of that wonderful promise in Joshua 1, verse 8. And so we're talking about encouraging your confidence. And there's the promise factor.

Wait before God until you get a promise, and let that promise somehow come out of the Word of God. And then not only is there the promise factor, but here's another way to encourage your confidence, and there is the profit factor. Now, I said that some people attuned to radio station WIFM, What's in it for me? But there is a sense in which you need to ask, What's in it for me, in the right sense. You need to ask yourself this question, Where's the payoff? What is the bottom line?

Why am I doing this? And real motivation comes from proper motives. And when your motives are right, then it's an amazing thing. You see, what was Eliezer's motive? Well, he said, what was his reward?

What was the profit factor? Well, number one, his master Abraham would be pleased. Number two, there would be a bride for Isaac.

Number three, God would be glorified, and therefore Eliezer could have the joy. You see, we all serve for reward. It's not wrong to serve for reward. If your reward is to hear Jesus say, Good and faithful servant, if your reward is for the glory of God, listen, once you see what the profit is, what the payoff is, what the bottom line is, what really counts of a worthy goal, once you get that established, you determine the why, and God will show you the how.

I believe that with all of my heart. You determine the why. Why am I doing this? What is the promise factor? Do I have a basis in the Word of God?

What is the profit factor? Am I doing this for the glory of God? Bottom line is my whole life built around bringing a bride to Jesus. I mean, is that why I'm doing this? Is everything else contributing to this one thing?

There's the profit factor. And then last of all, we're just talking about encouraging your confidence, there's the prayer factor. When you pray over what you want to do, then you're going to find out that you encouraged as you pray.

Notice, go down to verse 12, and he said, this is Eliezer, and he's praying, O Lord God of my master Abraham, I pray thee, send me good speed. Translate that, send me prosperity. Send me, oh my God, success. That's the reason that you've got to have worthy goals, a goal that you can pray over. And when you pray, the Spirit of God comes into you to encourage you, to motivate you, to drive you, and you're not doing it alone, and you and God are doing it together, and you can say with the apostle Paul, I can do all things through God who strengthens me.

Get those things together now. We're talking about encouraging your confidence. There's the promise factor, there's the profit factor, there is the prayer factor. And by the way, if you're not praying about your cause, you know what he shows me? Either that you know that your cause is not God-given, or that you're not really depending upon God for the fulfillment of it. You've got to have a desire when you pray.

Mark 11, verse 24, Jesus said, And I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them. You will encourage your confidence through prayer. Now, number four, you must enforce your character.

You're not going to drift into success, I can tell you that much. You read this story, it's very, very obvious that this man was a man who enforced his character. What I mean is he disciplined his life.

He disciplined his decisions. Look in verse 21. And the man wondering at her held his peace to wit whether the Lord had made his journey prosperous or not. He's looking at Rebecca, and I wish I could tell you the background for this, but this verse is sufficient right now.

He's looking at her and he's saying, Huh, I wonder, is she the one? He's not making a snap judgment now. He's wanting God to affirm this. Here's a man that's disciplined. He's not just getting on a horse and riding off in all directions. He disciplined his appetite.

Look, if you will, in verse 33. In the midst of all of this, they're trying to get this servant to eat, and there was set meat, food before him to eat, but he said, I will not eat until I've told mine errand. There are times when we have to set aside food, television, ball games, vacations, whatever. There's no cheap way. There's no easy way.

There's no lazy way. He disciplined his appetite. He disciplined his time. Look, if you will, in verse 56.

That's what we read to begin with. They're trying to slow him down a little bit, but he said unto them, hinder me not, seeing the Lord hath prospered my way. Don't waste your time. Boy, I get under conviction about this one. I preach there's enough time in every day to do gracefully everything God wants us to do. Don't you dare insult God by saying you don't have enough time. Do you think God will tell you to do something and then not give you enough time to do it?

There's enough time in every day to do gracefully everything that God wants you to do. And here's this man says, look, no, I'm not going to turn to the right hand. I'm not going to turn to the left.

Hymnary me not, the Lord hath prospered me in my way. Don't waste, don't squander your time. Now, all of this I'm just simply saying is that you have to enforce your character.

There's no cheap way, no easy way, no lazy way. And so you have to ask yourself this question, where do you need to grow? Where do I need to grow personally? You remember we said examine your condition and look at those obstacles. Part of that may be something in your character, some lack of discipline.

Ask yourself, where do I need to grow? A wise man has said, when your professional life outpaces your personal life, you will have stress. And you will bring stress to other people.

When your professional life outpaces your personal life, you will have stress and you'll bring stress to other people. Prosperity and success is not the best. It is my best.

It is your best. And so I need to enforce my character. And this means that I must pay the price. Look, if you will, in verse 53 of this same chapter. And the servant brought forth jewels of silver and jewels of gold and raiment and gave them to Rebekah. He gave also to her brother and her mother precious things.

Now listen to this. Abraham said to Eliezer, look, I'm going to load you down with gifts. He took these camels laden with treasure and sent them off to do something. That is, he did not send them off to get the job done without equipping him and without giving him gifts. Now when God the Father wants to use Adrian Rogers to bring a bride for the Lord Jesus Christ, do you think He told me to do that and didn't give me the time or didn't give me the giftedness to do that?

No. He's given every one of us spiritual gifts, has He not? He's given me some, He's given you some. But God the Father has given us gifts and these gifts are tools, not toys. What they're to be used for, everything that God has given us is to be used for the glory of God the Father and we must be willing to release that. We must count the cost and pay the cost.

There are a lot who are squandering the God-given gifts that they have and they're giving away so much and getting so little. We need to give all for the Lord Jesus Christ. Enforce your character. Last of all, enlist your comrades.

Enlist your comrades. Eliezer, when he went to get a bride, and I don't have time to even open the scripture, I just want you to suggest that you read in about verse 49 and go on, read the whole chapter when you get home. He knew that this was not a one-man show. He knew that in order to get this done, He had to get her father, her mother, her brothers to cooperate. He knew that He needed to get helpers to get the thing done.

You can't do it by yourself. When people are prosperous doing the things of God, do you know what God does? God makes us dependent one on another. That's the reason that we have a church. The eye can't say to the hand, I have no need of thee.

The ear can't say to the foot, I have no need of thee. You find people who think they don't need one another, and I'm telling you, they will not succeed. Ask yourself this question. Am I a cooperative person? Have I learned to enlist others? Have I learned to depend upon others? Have I learned to delegate?

Have I learned to cooperate? My heart almost jumps out of my throat as I look at this congregation and think, what can be done if we would all do it together? A single snowflake isn't much, but you get enough of them together, they can stop traffic. I mean, that's together. God brings us together. Now, that's the end of the message. Those are five principles of prosperity.

They're found right from the Word of God. Just make certain that it's not fool's gold. Just make certain that it's real prosperity that you get. Now, the bottom line is this, the bottom line.

Men are interested in the bottom line. In the Bible, the Lord Jesus Christ told of a rich man. His barns were filled.

The Dow Jones and Nasdaq were, they were topping the record. And this man, Jesus said, he got in his hammock and got him a glass of lemonade and he built bigger barns to store everything. Now that you realize, this is the Adrian version. But he got in his hammock and he stretched out and a big smile went ear to ear and he said, soul, eat, drink, and be merry. And God said unto him, thou fool. Thou fool. This night, thy soul shall be required of thee.

Then who shall those things be which thou hast provided? That, my friend, was a successful fool. Remember what success is. The progressive realization of the will of God for your life.

Failure, failure is succeeding at the wrong thing. Soon and very soon. Soon and very soon.

I mean soon and very soon, sooner than you think. We're going to stand before God. And when you die, you're going to leave behind everything you have and you're going to take with you everything that you are. And then you'll find out whether or not you've been prosperous.

Do you agree with that? I hope you do. Let me tell you the first step is to give your heart to Jesus Christ. For Jesus said, what should it profit a man if he should gain the whole world and lose his own soul?

Or what should a man give in exchange for his soul? Would you pray a prayer like this? Lord Jesus, I'm a sinner and I need to be saved. You died to save me and you promised to save me if I would trust you.

I do trust you, Lord Jesus. I believe you're the Son of God. I believe you paid for my sin with your blood on the cross.

I believe that God raised you from the dead. And now I receive you by faith now as my Lord and Savior. I turn from my sin to you, Lord Jesus. Save me by your grace. I receive the gift of salvation. And from this moment on, I will live for you. Not in order to be saved, but because I am saved. I will live for you, my Lord. And help me never to be ashamed of you. In your name I pray.

Amen. And if you prayed to receive Jesus Christ today, we want to celebrate with you and invite you to our website where you'll see our Find God's Love page. There you'll find answers you may need about your newfound faith. Who is Jesus?

How can I know him? Go to lwf.org slash radio and click on the tab that says Find God's Love. Welcome to God's forever family.

We can't wait to hear from you today. Now, if you'd like to order a copy of this message in its entirety, you can call us at 1-877-LOVEGOD. Mention the title, Five Principles of Prosperity. The number again, 1-877-LOVEGOD.

You can also order online at lwf.org slash radio or write us at Love Worth Finding, Box 38600, Memphis, Tennessee 38183. Prosperity is more than wealth or extravagance. It's knowing your God-given purpose and being given the grace to accomplish it. Adrian Rogers said, the bottom line is, when we die, we leave behind everything we have and take everything that we are. We hope you'll join us next time for more profound truth simply stated right here on Love Worth Finding. Here's an encouraging note from one of our listeners who wrote recently, Adrian Rogers was a true messenger of God. His biblical teaching has changed my life. I listen daily and I've learned so much from him. There are not enough words to convey the gratitude I have for the relationship I'm growing in with Jesus because of this ministry.

Isn't that encouraging? Thank you for taking the time to share your testimony. We love sharing these messages to help you find and grow your faith in Christ. And when you donate to the ministry right now, we want to say thank you by sending a copy of the book, God's Wisdom is Better Than Gold. This insightful book is packed with studies from the book of Proverbs as Adrian Rogers shares the profound yet practical way to health, wealth, and wisdom. Request a copy of the book, God's Wisdom is Better than Gold when you call 1-877-LOVEGOD or give online at lwf.org slash radio.