The Principles of Prosperity

Pastor, teacher, and author Adrian Rogers has introduced people all over the world to the love of Jesus Christ and has impacted untold numbers of lives by presenting profound truth simply stated. Thanks for joining us for this message.

Here's Adrian Rogers. Good news. Good news. Would you like some good news?

Here's some good news. God wants you to prosper. Now, you say, I'm not certain about that, Pastor. In case there's the shadow of any doubt, I want to give you some scriptures. Now, we're going to be studying from Ecclesiastes chapter 11, so you might just put these in the margin. Psalm 1, verse 3. The Bible says concerning the righteous man, and he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that bringeth forth his fruit in a season. His leaf also shall not wither.

Now, listen. And whatsoever he doeth shall what? Prosper. Joshua 1 and verse 8. This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth, but thou shalt meditate therein day and night that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein, for then shalt thou make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. Third John, verse 2. Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health even as thy soul prospereth. Psalm 35 and verse 27. Let them shout for joy and be glad that favor my righteous cause. Yea, let them say continually, let the Lord be magnified, which hath pleasure in the prosperity of his servant. God takes pleasure in the prosperity of his servant. Second Chronicles, chapter 20 and verse 20. Believe in the Lord your God, so shall ye be established, and believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper. Nehemiah, chapter 2 and verse 20. Then answered I them, and said unto them, The God of heaven, he will prosper us.

Need anymore? I am telling you folks that God has a plan for you, and it is prosperity. Just make certain it's real prosperity that you get. I didn't say that you were going to be a millionaire. I didn't I didn't say you were going to live a life of luxury.

I said you would prosper. So many times if we look at a man who has gone through several marriages, whose kids are rebellious, who has an ulcer, addicted to some alcohol or something like that, and he's got a big bank account, and we say he's prosperous. He's not prosperous.

He's a miserable failure. I'm talking to you about prosperity, the kind that God wants you to have. Somewhere years ago I read of an old prospector who had been out mining for gold out in Nevada somewhere, out in the west somewhere, and he had found what he thought was the mother lode, but what he found was what they call fool's gold.

It was mica. It wasn't gold at all. He had loaded down his old burrow with it and started out across the desert, ran out of water, and he and the old burrow died. They found him there, the old burrow, laden down the saddlebags full of nothing but fool's gold, but the old prospector wrote before he died, died rich, had nothing but fool's gold in his saddlebags. And there are a lot of people who had even real gold, but they're very much like that old prospector. They don't understand what real riches are.

Now, when I'm talking to you about prosperity, I'm not talking to you about the key but not necessarily, but I am talking to you about financial and fiscal responsibility and blessing. I'm talking to you about doing more than just drawing your breath and drawing your salary. I think one of the saddest things I read was where a Cook County sewer employee up in Chicago said this.

He said, I dig the ditch to get the money, to buy the food, to get the strength to dig the ditch. And that's the way some people are living. I mean, they're fighting to live while they're living to fight. They're drawing their breath, drawing their salary.

They are miserable in their lives. What is prosperity and how can we have prosperity God's way? Well, you have the book of Ecclesiastes written by the wisest man who lived outside the Lord Jesus.

His name was Solomon. Let me give you eight principles of prosperity right out of this 11th chapter. And I want you to write them down because you can use them if you will. Principle number one is the principle of investment. Investment. Look, if you will, in chapter 11 and verse 1. Cast thy bread upon the waters, for thou shalt find it after many days.

Now, what's he talking about? He's talking about making investments. That's what casting your bread upon the water is. Now, Solomon who wrote this knew very much about investing and how he invested was this.

He cast his bread upon the waters. You might put in your margin 1 Kings chapter 10 verses 22 and 23 and it tells exactly how Solomon did this. The Bible says there, For the king had at sea a navy of Tarshish with the navy of Hiram. Once in three years came the navy of Tarshish, bringing gold and silver, ivory and apes and peacocks. So King Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth for riches and for wisdom.

Now, what does that mean? Well, Solomon was a trader. He was an investor. He would invest money in ships and he would set them sail out across the sea. He was casting his bread upon the water and they would go out and stay out for as long as three years. But when they came back, they came back with incredible riches. I think probably this is where we get the statement when your ship comes in.

This is what we're talking about. Solomon was an investor and you need to learn to invest. The Lord Jesus taught us to invest. Remember the parable in Matthew chapter 25 where he gave the parable of the talents and he said this man gave to his servants some talents. He gave to one man five talents, one man two talents and one man one talent. You remember that?

Surely you do. And I've tried to find out how much a talent would be worth and today's money and the sources that I've read said that a talent would be worth about $400,000. Five talents would be $2 million. Here's a man giving $2 million to invest and he invested it and got more talents, five more.

Another invested two and got two more. But you remember the story of the man who had the one talent? He refused the principle of investment. As a matter of fact, he just simply put his talent in the ground. He hid his talent in the ground. Now listen, Matthew 25 verse 24. Then he which had received one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown and gathering where thou hast not strawed. And I was afraid and went and hid thy talent in the earth. Lo, there thou hast that is thine. There it is, Lord.

You gave me a talent. I give it back to you. Do you think God will be satisfied with you if you give back to God simply what God gives you?

He will not. That's not good stewardship. His Lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not and gather where I have not strawed. Thou oughtest, therefore, to have put my money to the exchangers. And then at my coming, I should have received mine own with usury. That is, you should have invested this money.

You should have made it grow. And then here's what our Lord says. This is what Jesus is saying to every one of us. For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance. But from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath. And then he said, And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness, and there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Now, learn this. You are a steward. And what is the responsibility of a steward when his master entrusts to him goods? He is to make those goods grow.

He is to invest them. You're not simply to hold your own. One of America's military heroes was General Patton. General Patton told his troops this. He said, I don't ever want to hear anybody say or get any message from anybody who says we're holding our position. He said, The only thing we're going to hold is the enemy. He said, We are to be advancing.

And so many of us just simply think that if we simply hold our position that we are being biblical. We are not. We are stewards. We are to invest and see our investment grow. Now, when you invest, let me give you some principles.

Number one, examine your motive for investment. If your motive is greed or if your motive is pride, may God have mercy upon you. Put this verse in your Bible.

1 Timothy chapter 6 verses 6 through 9. But godliness with contentment is great gain. Godliness with contentment is great gain. If you've got Jesus, friend, you are rich. And to whom little is not enough, nothing is enough.

To whom little is not enough, nothing is enough. Godliness with contentment is great gain for we brought nothing into this world and it is certain that we can carry nothing out and having food and raiment, let us be there with content. But they that will be rich, it doesn't say they who are rich. It says those whose determination is to be rich. They who will be rich shall fall into temptation and a snare and into many foolish and hurtful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. And then in 1 Timothy chapter 6 verse 17, Paul told Timothy, here's what you tell your church members. Charge them that are rich in this world that they be not high-minded, nor trust in uncertain riches but in the living God who giveth us richly all things to enjoy.

Isn't that good advice? Now, so when I'm talking to you about casting your bread upon the water, I'm not talking to you about feeding your greed. I am telling you that we're stewards and what we are doing is managing what God has given to us and as good stewards we need to make it grow and therefore we need to take what God has put in our hands and we need to prayerfully ask ourselves, how much of this shall I use? How much of this shall I give? And how much of this shall I invest for the glory of God?

It's a good question. Now, number one, examine your motive when you invest. Number two, get wise counsel. Now, folks, when I'm talking to you about principles of prosperity, don't come to me and ask me about some investment.

I am not an investment counselor. I am a practitioner of truth. I'm telling you the truth of God's Word is that you should get wise counsel. For example, put these verses down. Proverbs chapter 13 and verse 20. He that walketh with wise men shall be wise, but a companion of fools shall be destroyed.

And by the way, your wife can spot those fools sometimes easier than you can, mister. Proverbs chapter 15 verse 22. Without counsel, purposes are disappointed, but in the multitude of counselors they are established. Proverbs 14 verse 15. The simple believeth every word, but the prudent man looketh well to his going.

You see, in investment, you need to be wise, not shrewd. If you're around some shrewd person, get away from them and walk with wise men. Now, let me say, any counselor that you get can only guide you. You're the one that must make the decision. Don't let anybody else make your decisions for you. Let them guide you, but you make the decision and you pray. And the Bible says if you lack wisdom, you ask God and God will give you wisdom. Examine your motives, get wise counsel, and above all things in every investment, beware, are you listening? Not to Adrian, but to God's word, beware of any get-rich-quick scheme.

Now, listen. The Bible says in Proverbs chapter 28 and verse 22, he that hasteth to be rich hath an evil eye and considerth not that poverty shall come unto him. Now, what is the first principle? The first principle is the principle of investment.

Have you got that? Investment. That's verse 1. Cast your bread upon the waters. Now, here's the second principle.

The second principle is the principle of diversification. Look, if you will, now in verse 2. Give a portion to seven and also to eight, for thou knowest not what evil shall be upon the earth.

I looked this up in another translation. Take shares in several adventures. You never know what will go wrong in this world.

What do we say in our nomenclature today? Don't put all your eggs in one basket. Just don't do it. Just diversify. As you make your investments, put some here and some here and some here and some here. That's the reason that some investment people have come up with things they call mutual funds, which basically for most who are novices who don't know how to invest in stocks and bonds, a mutual fund is probably a good thing. But open yourself up to new ideas and new opportunities. Let God speak to you.

That's what verse 2 is saying. It's the principle of diversification. First investment, number 2, diversification.

Don't invest everything in one thing. Got it? Got it.

Let's go on to number 3. Here's the third principle. It's the principle of preparation. Look, if you will, in verse 3. If the clouds be full of rain, they empty themselves. Folks, when enough moisture gets up there, it is going to rain. When the clouds be full of rain, they empty themselves upon the earth. And if the tree fall toward the south or toward the north in the place where the tree falleth, there shall it be. What's he saying?

He's saying get ready. Sooner or later, there's going to be a storm coming. Sooner or later, there's going to come a rainy day, and it's going to blow over some trees. And when it blows over those trees, the way the tree falls, that's where it's going to lie.

That's what he's saying. And you don't know when it's going to storm, but you just know that sooner or later, it's going to storm. Things happen. You need to get ready for the foreseen and the unforeseen. Now, some of you just say, well, I'll just trust God.

Well, you ought to trust God, and I'm going to talk to you about that. But the Bible teaches that you are to make preparation. And if you say I will just trust God, but you don't make preparation for the foreseen and the unforeseen, that is not trust.

That is presumption. The Bible says keep back thy servant from presumptuous sins. The devil tried to tempt the Lord Jesus to do just exactly this thing. He said jump off the pinnacle of the temple, and God will take care of you.

Just cast yourself upon God. Jesus knew better than that. Jesus said thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. The Bible teaches the principle of preparation.

Put it in your margin. Proverbs chapter 6, verses 6 through 11, listen to it. We're going to learn a lesson from an ant, an A-N-T, not an A-U-N-T, an ant.

Listen to it. Go to the ant, thou sluggard, consider her ways and be wise, which have no guide, overseer, or ruler. Nobody cracking a whip over the little ant's back.

Notice this. Go to the ant, thou sluggard, consider her ways and be wise, which having no guide, overseer, or ruler, provideth her meat, that is her food in the summer, and getherth her food in the harvest. How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? When wilt thou arise out of thy sleep? Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep, so shall thy poverty come as one that prevailth, and thy want as an armed man. Just like a woman who is pregnant, going to have a baby one of these days, you're going to have trouble, mister, if you don't make preparation. And just as like sometime a thief will break in your house and steal, the circumstances, the vicissitudes of life will come upon you as much as if a man put a gun in your face and were to rob you.

What does the ant tell you? What does Solomon tell you here in verse 3? Prepare for a rainy day. Are you saving?

You ought to be saving. You say, oh, no, I'm just trusting the Lord for the future. Well, listen to Proverbs chapter 21, verse 20. There is treasure to be desired and oil in the dwelling of the wise, but a foolish man spinneth it up. Save some of everything you make. The ant is known for wisdom and work. You say, well, I'm trusting God. Faith and prudence are not in competition, one with the other.

I read something that was so sad, I had to read it and reread it, getting ready for this. Did you know that the average 65-year-old man in the United States of America, when he is 65, if he were to cash out everything, you know how much he'd be worth? $100. I'm talking about a 65-year-old man, and let's say he begins his work when he's 20 or something like, worth $100.

That's the average. And he's looking to somebody else or something else to take care of him because he's not learned the lesson of the ant. What a pity. So few people understand this principle of prosperity, which is preparation. Now, here's the fourth principle.

You ready for it? It's in verse 4. He that observeth the wind shall not sow, and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap.

Now, in verse 3, it says, you know, it can rain. Well, you say, well, if it can rain, then I'm just not going to do anything. I'm just going to not make any venture.

The fourth principle is the principle of venture, V-E-N-T-U-R-E. Or if you want to put down another word, risk, R-I-S-K. Did you know that the Bible encourages you to take a risk? You say, oh, isn't that like gambling? Not at all. Not at all. Every farmer that puts his seed in the ground takes a risk.

Isn't that true? Do you think a farmer is guaranteed a good crop every time he sows? He's not. He's got to risk. There may come a flood. There may come a drought. There may come some pestilence and wipe him out. But if he thinks that way, he will never, ever plant. If he becomes a part of the society of wind watchers and cloud examiners, he's not going to plant. This is what it says.

Look at it. He that observeth the wind shall not sow, and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap. If you don't sow, you are not going to reap. You have to take a risk. Now, what is the difference, therefore, between taking a risk and gambling?

What is the difference? All business involves risk. You have to venture. But what is legitimate business?

Legitimate business is win-win. I make a widget. You need a widget. I sell you the widget. I sell it for a dollar. I get the dollar.

You get the widget. That's win-win. All business is built on that principle. All gambling, A-double-L, all gambling is built on win-lose. There can be no winners without losing. You see, listen, gambling is bogus. It's a fraud. It is pleasure and profit. It's somebody else's loss and sorrow. The Bible encourages risk, but the Bible is totally against gambling, and the spirit of love is against it. Who wants to profit at somebody else's loss?

Legitimate business is I help you, and you help me, and we both gain. But there is a risk. Remember the story of the man who hid his talent in the ground? Why did he say he hid his talent in the ground?

He said, I was afraid. Friend, you've got to get out on the limb because that's where the fruit is. That's what the Bible is teaching right here. The Bible is not against risk. As a matter of fact, to preach the gospel, you have to take a risk. The Bible says in Acts chapter 15 verse 26 that these men have hazarded their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. That is, they risked their lives to get out the gospel. Now, when I say there is the principle of venture, I want to come back and underscore and reiterate and emphasize I'm not talking about foolish chance. I am not talking about an inordinate gain to get rich quick.

If you do that, you're going to get in trouble. Let me tell you again, put these verses down. Proverbs 14 verse 18, the simple inherit folly, but the prudent are crowned with knowledge. Proverbs 21 verse 5, the thoughts of the diligent tend only to plenteousness, but every one that is hasty only to want. Proverbs 27 verse 12, a prudent man foreseeeth the evil and hideth himself, but the simple pass on and are punished. And then the one I've already given you, Proverbs 28 and verse 22, he that hasteth to be rich hath an evil eye, and considerth not that poverty shall come upon him. But there is, there is the principle of venture.

I mean, look around and see. There are opportunities. And don't be afraid to step out and to venture. But now, let's move on to the fifth principle.

There's the principle of trust. Look, if you will, in verse 5. As thou knowest not what is the way of the Spirit, nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child, even so thou knowest not the works of God who maketh all. Now, what does that mean? It means, folks, there's some things we don't know.

How do we know? Who's known the mind of the Spirit? Who knows the ways of God any more than we understand how a baby is formed in its mother's womb?

That's one of the greatest miracles of the ages is the precious little baby being formed in its mother's womb. There are some imponderables in life that are under the sovereign control of Almighty God. And so, therefore, you have to trust Him. You have to say, Lord, I just look to you. Lord, I realize I've got to make investments. I realize, Lord, that I must diversify. I realize, Lord, that I must make preparation. I realize, Lord, that I must be willing to venture. But after I've done all that, Lord, who knows?

Isn't that right? Who knows what's going to happen? So, Lord, I just trust you. I'll trust you.

You see, there comes a time when you have to say, God, it's in your hands. I will trust you, God. Let me give you some verses. Isaiah 58 and verse 11, the Lord shall guide thee continually and satisfy thy soul in drought and make fat thy bones, and thou shalt be like a watered garden and like a spring of water whose waters fail not.

That's a pretty good recipe for prosperity, God's guidance. Psalm 32 verse 8, I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go. I will guide thee with mine eye. Psalm 37 verse 23, the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and he delighteth in his way. What do all of these verses mean? There's one most likely we'll deal with tonight, one of my favorites and your favorites, Proverbs 3 verses 5 and 6, Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not into thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

People are so uptight because they're worried about the finances. There comes a time when you say, Lord, it's in your hands. I don't know what the future holds, but I know you, Lord, and I know that you love me, and it's vain to rise up early to stay up late to eat the bread of sorrows, for he giveth his beloved sleep.

Amen? I heard of a woman who called the doctor one morning. She said, Doctor, you've got to get over here in a hurry. He said, What's wrong? She said, I've got an emergency over here. It's my husband. Said he woke up this morning and he took his vitamin pill first of all.

Then he took his appetite depressant, and then he took a tranquilizer, and then he took some antihistamine, and then he took some benzodrine, and then he lit a cigarette, and there was this explosion. We're just so keyed up. There comes a principle of trust. You don't know, but God knows.

Would you just relax and say, Lord, I'm your child. You're going to take care of me as I obey you. Now, here's the next principle, principle number six, and I'm sorry about this one, but it's the principle of, here's a four-letter word, work.

Work! Verse six, In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand. For thou knowest not whither shall prosper, either this or that, or whether they both alight shall be good. So, again, it's the principle of diversification and it is married now to the principle of work. Somebody says, well, man, I'm looking for a formula that works. Well, stop looking. There's not one that works. You do the work.

That's the trouble with everybody, looking for some formula that works. A man came to work. He had two big shiny black eyes, and his boss said, man, look at those black eyes. Who gave you those? He said, nobody gives them to you.

You have to fight for them. We've got people today who are just wanting somebody just to give us this or give us that. The Bible says in Proverbs 14, verse 23, In all labor there is profit. Proverbs 20, verse 4, The sluggard shall not plow by reason of the cold, therefore shall he beg and harvest and have nothing. Proverbs 28, verse 19, He that tilleth his land shall have plenty of bread, but he that followeth after a vain person shall have poverty enough.

And then 2 Thessalonians, chapter 3, verses 10 and 11, that I think all of us know, For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat. Now, there's something terrible happening in America today, and that is we're encouraging people not to work, to stay on welfare rolls. That, my friend, is a crime against the person who's paying for this welfare and against the person who's receiving it.

If you think I'm hard-hearted, if you accuse me of being hard-hearted against the poor and all that, you don't know my heart. I have a heart of sympathy for these people. But we're doing something terrible in America.

We are depriving some young people by government example of the joy of honest employment. And even those who receive welfare ought to have something to do. In 1992, over $33 billion in tax dollars. $33 billion was spent on food programs alone. $33 billion, that's in 1992, for food alone without one single hour of work being required to get it. Now, if you were to pay those people at the rate of $11 an hour, that would have amounted to 3 billion hours of work. 3 billion hours of work. What could 3 billion hours of work do for the person who does it and do for the society where they live?

But what we have done is, we have failed to understand God's Word. I'm not talking about those who cannot work. I'm talking about those who will not work.

The Bible says they should not eat. They need the dignity. They need the dignity of work. They need the joy of work. They need the reward of work.

They need to learn how to work. In America today, we'll take a little teenage girl who has her heart at home and we'll say to her, listen, child, if you just get pregnant without getting married, have a baby, and promise not to get a job, we'll give you money. But now remember, you get married, or if you get a job, it's all off. You've got to be unmarried. You've got to have a baby, and you can't work.

We'll pay you. That's wrong, folks. It's wrong to that young lady. It's wrong to society.

It's wrong to her offspring. There's a principle of work, and we need to get that back in our heart and in our mind. Now, it's not just these folks in the poverty areas that have problem. I'm talking to a lot of people right here today.

Do you know what you've substituted for work? It's credit. More than half of all Americans carry credit cards. There are more than one billion credit cards out in the world, $328 billion in credit debt. Twenty-five percent of every dollar is consumer debt that you pay.

Twenty-five percent. So many, their salary is pre-committed before they get it. They call them credit cards. They'll call them debt cards.

I mean, I'm talking to folks right now who are saddled with that, and the Bible says in Proverbs 22, verse 7, the rich ruleth over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender. One couple took all their credit cards. They got so sick of it, they put them on a piece of aluminum foil and turned the oven up to 350 degrees. 450 degrees, got the oven real hot and put those credit cards on that foil, and they all melted and turned different colors.

They peeled it off and hung it on the wall. They got on their wall this mosaic of these melted credit cards just to remind them of how foolish they've been. You go out and buy a dinner for $20 and put it on your charge card and then pay the minimum amount. Do you know how much that dinner's going to cost you?

It's going to cost you more than $50. You just pay the minimum amount on your credit card. You say, well, can I just make the payment? That dinner's going to cost you $50 if we're talking about just the routine interest. If you go out here, if you've got your cards charged up to $2,000, you say, well, I've got one, let me charge $2,000, and I'm making the minimum payment. Do you know how long it's going to take you to pay off that credit card at $2,000? It's going to take you, you're going to be paying for the next 17 years paying the minimum payment. Do you know how much you're going to pay?

Over $5,000 at 16.08% interest. Don't do that. Now, using debt to buy something is going to accrue in value like a house.

Certainly that's permissible. But if you think you can have instant gratification, instant pleasure, using credit cards to buy consumer goods, thinking is going to bring happiness. It's like trying to put out a fire with gasoline. There's a principle of work. Now, very quickly, there's a principle of perspective. Look, if you will, in verses 7 and 8. Truly the light is sweet and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the sun. But if a man live many years and rejoice in them all, yet let him remember the days of darkness, for they shall be many. All that cometh is vanity.

Now, what's he saying? He's saying enjoy life, but remember the bad days are coming. Remember sooner or later you're going to get sick, you're going to die.

Just keep that in perspective. Enjoy life. God wants you to enjoy life.

If you have good things, enjoy them. Jesus was not a recluse. Jesus was accused of being a wine bibber and a glutton.

Of course he was not, but Jesus was a man of joy and so forth. The Bible teaches in Ecclesiastes 2, verse 24, there's nothing better for a man than that he should eat and drink and that he should make his soul enjoy good and his labor. This also I saw that it was from the hand of God. God is showering you with blessings. If God prospers you, if God gives you a home, enjoy it. If you sit down to a Sunday dinner, thank God for it and eat it. If you're surrounded by your wife and your children and your grandchildren, rejoice. If you've got brothers and sisters in Christ today, thank God for them. If there's beautiful music, let it bless your heart. God is good.

Don't you forget that. The Lord thy God is a sun and a shield. The Lord will give grace and glory and no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.

The Bible says in I Timothy, chapter 6, verse 17, it's God who giveth us richly all things to enjoy. So, but remember this. Remember the principle of perspective. This is not all there is. One of these days we're going to get sick.

One of these days we're going to wind down to the grave. That's what this verse says. But if a man live many years and rejoice in them all, yet let him remember the days of darkness, for they shall be many. All that cometh is vanity. That is, if in this world only we have hope, we are of all men most miserable. Now, here's the last principle, and I only have time to touch on it, and it is the principle of accountability.

The principle of accountability. We are stewards. Look now in verses 9 and 10. Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth, and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart and in the sight of thine eyes, but know thou that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment. Therefore remove sorrow from thine heart, and put away evil from thy flesh, for childhood and youth are vanity. That is, grow up, put away pessimism, put away sin, live wisely, because we are stewards. And sooner or very soon we're going to stand before God, and God is going to say, what did you do with what I entrusted in your hand? You need to pray and say, God, how much of this?

Do I need to use? How much of this do I need to save? How much of this do I need to invest?

How much of this do I need to give? For, Lord, none of it is mine. Lord, it is all yours, and I know soon and very soon I'm going to stand before you. And I am a steward. Now listen to me.

Listen well. What you call your own is not yours. You are a steward. You're only a manager. Owners have rights. Stewards have responsibilities.

Did you hear that? Owners have rights. That's not you. You're the steward. He's the one that has the rights. You are the manager.

You're the manager. Now let me say this. I'm talking to you about prosperity, and the wisest one who ever walked this earth walked in sandal shoes, and he said, for what should it profit a man if he gained the whole world and lose his own soul? Or what should a man give in exchange for a soul? Your soul is worth more than all the stocks, the bonds, the rubies, the diamonds, the emeralds, the schools, the education, the military.

The government put it all together. Your one soul is worth more than all of that. Don't be like the old prospect and say, well, I died rich. If you die without Jesus, you die in poverty. And if you have Jesus, you're already rich. You can receive salvation today.

It's a gift, because Jesus suffered, bled, and died for you. He paid your sin debt with his blood on the cross. And the Bible says if you'll trust him, you can be saved. The Bible puts it in a sentence.

Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. But that word believe means trust. Trust him.

Trust him right now. Would you pray a prayer like this? Pray it from your heart. God, I know you love me, and I know you want to save me. Jesus, you died to save me, and you promised to save me if I would trust you.

I do trust you right now. I turn from my sin. I open my heart. I receive you now as my Lord and Savior. Come into my life.

Invite him in right now, friend. Come into my life. Forgive my sin. Forgive me, Lord Jesus. Come into my life.