Let me begin our discussion by saying that I LIKE David Platt.  I had heard him preach and I’ve read his book. We have a couple of couples who were raised in Northlake BC who have moved to Alabama and are members of the church that David leads – so I get frequent updates on the great work that he is doing there.  I believe he is unusually  spiritually gifted and that the Lord has a special work for him to accomplish.   I agree with his theology in general and his Calvinism in particular.  I have also preached that as believers in the United States we have ignored the Lords call of self-denial and cross bearing and have baptized the American Dream and called it Christianity.  But I disagree with his analysis on the causes and solutions to world poverty .

Last Night we began our discussion with  the Question that someone asked me after reading his book.   

Is it a Sin to Prosper when billions of other human beings are living in poverty?  Yes,   No,   Not Sure ?   Is it a SIN for Northlake to even consider ever building a  Million Dollar worship center –when Billions of People don’t even have the Basics of Life?

How many of you have ever visited a “3^rd World” country? How did you feel when you compared what you have to what they have?   UNFAIR? 

RICH YOUNG RULER – Luke 18:18-23 – Does this Teach that everyone should  sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”      That’s what it Says!  (Is this a “Case Study” of Jesus and One Particular Man or a Universal Principle ?)

Consider some other RICH MEN:

Luk 19:  8 Then Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor; and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold.”  9 And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of   Abraham;  10 “for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”  —   Why didn’t Jesus say  “NOT HALF.. GIVE it ALL!!”

Luk 5:27 After these things He went out and saw a tax collector named Levi (aka Matthew), sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, “Follow Me.”  28 So he left all, rose up, and followed Him.  29 Then Levi gave Him a great feast in his own house. —–      Apparently, Jesus didn’t make Matthew Give away Everything – still had his HOUSE and enough money to provide a GREAT Feast.

BACK to RICH young Ruler – What is Jesus Point?           (LORDSHIP – Who’s your God?  Lord Jesus or Almighty Dollar)

 SO – what did Jesus Mean in Luk 6:20 “Blessed are you poor, For yours is the kingdom of God.

Does that mean that the RICH cannot be Blessed?

Case Study Abraham –  Gen 13:2 Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold.

  Jam 2:23″Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” And he was called the friend of God.   ——-So Apparently SOME PEOPLE can be RICH and STILL be BLESSED ?        What’s the Difference?    Some People think their money makes them GOD — Some People see their Money as a Stewardship from GOD

Genesis 12:1 Now the LORD had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, From your family And from your father’s house, To a land that I will show you.  2 I will make you a great nation; I will bless you  And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing.  3 I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

Abraham remembered that GOD did NOT make him RICH –just so He could be RICH

                -God Blessed Him  – so – he could be a BLESSING to Others

                -God made Him RICH so that he would be a Channel of Blessing to Others

                -Gen 14:14   >> 318 Trained Servants – not incl House Servants & Field Hands  (to quote some of our Politicians  – Abraham used his wealth to bless others by ” Creating Jobs!! ” )

Have you ever worked for an Employer who was POOR?   It takes wealth to lift people out of poverty

IS it OK to PROSPER?   Deu 29:9 “Therefore keep the words of this covenant, and do them, that you may prosper in all that you do.

Deu 15:11  “For the poor will never cease from the land —    Jesus REPEATS – Mat 16:11  Poor you have with you Always —    Why?  —-      Not everyone will Keep the Commandments  —   Sometimes – Sickness / Disaster / Bad Things happen —   Stranger/Sojourners from other countries in the Land

As a General Rule – People who Obey/Keep Gods Commandments will PROSPER —   There are Exceptions – Sickness & Disasters & Accidents + Nations Rise &  Fall – & Peoples general prosperity is tied to their Country

 But GENERALLY Speaking – If you Worship God, Keep His Commandments >>> Honor  the Authorities He has Placed in your Life, Love your Spouse, Respect other Peoples Lives & Property, Avoid Debt, Live within your means, be Generous to People in Need, Stay away from Drugs/Alcohol – Most People will Prosper in that Environment.                      

Throughout OT – we see stories of God Blessing His People with Prosperity –  i.e. the Reign of King David, and the Golden Age of Solomon

Acc to David Platt (pg 116ff) God promised Israel material wealth because He was forming them a  nation for Himself that would be a demonstration of His Greatness.. David & Solomon amassed great amounts of wealth as they established a Kingdom and a Temple so God could make His glory known in that place… the    disciples [of Jesus after the Rich Young Ruler event] realized that a radical shift was taking place… Gods PEOPLE are told to be the place of worship … in the dawn of this new phase in redemptive history,  NO teachers  (incl Jesus)  in the NT ever promises material wealth as a reward for obedience…

Is THAT TRUE!?    BACK to Story of Rich Young Ruler —  Luk 18:28 Then Peter said, “See, we have left all and followed You.”  29 So JESUS said to them,  “Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or parents or brothers or wife or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God,  30 “who shall not receive many times more in this present time,   and in the age to come eternal life.”—- Matthew adds “Houses & Lands.. Hundredfold” –   so apparently Jesus DOES promise material things in this life and   Eternal Life in Future — So apparently there is STILL some        correlation between PROSPERITY & KEEPING GODS COMMANDMENTS!

David Platt admits he is NOT an Economist – Neither am I !    But let’s add a little Economics to our Bible Study

1^st) Suppose EVERYONE who attends Northlake takes a Vow of Poverty – agree to give away all of our excess     material possessions – WHO pays the Bills for  Kingdom work? —  ALSO – Is a Missionary who RECEIVEs an offering to go on mission to a 3^rd    World Country – a BETTER Christian- than the one who stays at Northlake  and runs a business and GIVES their Tithe/Offering to support the  missionary?  What if the Northlake Member has a Boat and the Missionary  does NOT?   Is the Missionary CLOSER to GOD because of their POVERTY?     I think we are missing the concepts of Gifts & Calling.    1Co 12: [Spiritual Gifts] 20 But now indeed there are many members, yet one body.   21 And the eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you”; nor again the head to the feet,  “I have no need of you.”

2^nd) Economic Issue – David Platts underlying assumption – is that if  WE AMERICAN CHRISTIANs would just GIVE MORE then there would NOT be any POVERTY, STARVATION, or DEPRIVATION in the World.  I think that is a pretty SIMPLISTIC ANSWER for the COMPLICATED PROBLEM of Poverty.

The REASON that most of the 3 Billion in the World are Starving is NOT because of the Lack of Generosity of the American People –  It is because of the Philosophy, Religion, and Practices of the Government in many of those nations.

-Hindu nations tend to believe that the suffering of poor people is Karma or retribution of sins of a previous life – so they deserve to be poor

-Communist Nations tend to starve because their philosophy of “share the wealth” encourages mediocrity – Usually the Ruling Class lives well  and the Working Class shares “equal” poverty

-Dictatorships – where Corrupt Dictators and their friends live lavishly while the poor people starve

 -Then there’s the UNITED NATIONS – ANOTHER SERMON for ANOTHER DAY!!!

Many of those nations – you can send Money by the Billions & Food by the Boatload – and   at the end of the day – very little will make it to the POOR.  America has been sending the Billions and Boatloads for many years – to many of those nations that David Platt has visited –&- STILL they are Poverty Stricken. 

I Recently read in a CANADA FREE PRESS article (of all places) about American Generosity – dated Jan 2010 – by Judi McLeod– “The Americans are Coming” In the nightmare of Haiti – Americans were first to respond just as Americans have always responded, recession-bound or not. This is the giving spirit of America in action.  Not waiting for anyone else, just doing what is necessary to help, without boasts, without expecting anything back.  Simply America.

 Beleaguered Americans losing their homes and jobs will rush in to help Haitians with food, temporary shelters; emergency service of every kind. The American military, a welcome sight the world over even though politicians try to state otherwise, will be there for the people beginning with rescue and recovery efforts, remaining to build water purification facilities, repairing infrastructure and rebuilding.

In consideration of how America rushes to the side of the world’s most disadvantaged nations when hit by sudden disaster, it is difficult to comprehend how its leader can spread a message worldwide about an America so bad it needs overhauling. And this is happening just weeks after an attempted terrorist strike over Detroit and in a chapter of America where disturbing incidents continue on international air flights. America rushing to the rescue in all corners of the world is as old as the Constitution.

 The late Canadian broadcaster Gordon Sinclair wrote back in 1973,  “As long as sixty years ago, when I first started to read newspapers, I read of floods on the Yellow River and the Yangtse.  Who rushed in with men and money to help?  The Americans did.  They have helped control floods on the Nile, the Amazon, the Ganges and the Niger.  Today, the rich bottom land of the Mississippi is under water, and no foreign land has sent a dollar to help.  Germany, Japan and, to a lesser extent, Britain and Italy, were lifted out of the debris of war by the Americans who poured in billions of dollars and forgave other billions in debts.  None of these countries is today paying even the interest on its remaining debts to the United States. When the franc was in danger of collapsing in 1956, it was the Americans who propped it up and their reward was to be insulted and swindled on the streets of Paris.  I was there.  I saw it. When distant cities are hit by earthquakes, it is the United States that hurries into help…Managua Nicaragua is one of the most recent examples.  So far this spring, 59 American communities have been flattened by tornadoes.  Nobody has helped.  “The Marshall Plan…the Truman Policy—all pumped billions upon billions of dollars into discouraged countries.  Now, newspapers in those countries are writing about the decadent war-mongering Americans.”

The words of Gordon Sinclair, long gone, are as meaningful today as they were when he wrote them back in 1973. A country is its people and not its politicians. Every penny in aid comes not from the American government but from the American people whose taxes make it possible for their government to operate. Every ounce of energy in digging people from rubble, from rebuilding where only debris remains, comes not from chauffeur-driven, set-for-life-financially politicians but from the little people who till the fields and run the shops. God bless Americans who, even in the middle of a recession, and even being forced into a Socialism they do not want, still respond with heart to an impoverished country where the worst has just happened!

And WHERE – pray tell – does this AMERICAN Generosity come from?  It comes from the Christian Values of our Founding Fathers ( that the Globalists are trying to get RID of ) – the Idea of  being a Good Samaritan – and Helping out the Poor & Underpriviledged – but it is Still part of the American Psyche TODAY.

 HOW LONG will this AMERICAN Generosity last – when the Socialist Globalist take over?  When our kids have been taught this Darwinian “Survival of the Fittest” until the last vestiges of Christian Compassion have been lost  – then WHO will give??

 NO – Democracy is NOT the Answer to world poverty.  Socialism is NOT the Answer, Globalism is NOT the Answer, Sending Charity to Hostile Governments is NOT the Answer – the Answer is – to continue to SHARE the Gospel with ANYONE, ANY NATION who will LISTEN – And as People become Obedient to the Word of God – Peace, Freedom, Prosperity will Follow.

Is it a sin to prosper when billions of other human beings are living in poverty ?    My answer is NO – God Promised–2Chr 20:20 Believe in the LORD your God, so shall ye be established;  believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper.   GOD is NOT the GOD of GUILT TRIPS – He does NOT Bless you and then FILL you with GUILT & ANGST for Enjoying His Blessing. 

In the Famous interaction between King David & Nathan the Prophet –  God does NOT punish David for Enjoying this Prosperity – but for Breaking  Gods Commandment – 2Sam 12: 7 Thus says the LORD God of Israel: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul.  8 ‘I gave you your master’s house and your master’s          wives into your keeping, and gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if that had been too little, I also would have given you much more!-—  9 ‘Why have you despised the commandment of the LORD, to do evil in His sight?

Pro 10:22 The blessing of the LORD makes one rich, And He adds no sorrow with it.

SO – when God blesses us – How are we to handle those blessings?  

DOXOLOGY- “PRAISE GOD from Whom all Blessing Flow”

-Be THANKFUL to Him  for our Blessings.. Prosperity

-Be FAITHFUL in our TITHES,

-Be GENEROUS in our OFFERINGS

Most of ALL – Listen to the VOICE of the HOLY SPIRIT as HE reveals to us our GIFTS, CALLING, PLACE of SERVICE  – in the BODY of CHRIST.