 This is the most well-known verse in all of the Old Testament, Jeremiah 29-11. For I know the plans that I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you, not to harm you, to give you a future and a hope. Now the prosperity preachers will take this verse and they'll say, see, right there, God says He wants to prosper us. So prosperity, health and wealth. Now we as Baptist, we may not take it to that extent, but a lot of us as Baptist, we still use this verse, don't we? We still really like this verse. And a lot of people make Jeremiah 29-11 their life verse, and they inscribe it on their Bible covers. You see a lot of leather Bible covers and they'll have Jeremiah 29-11 engraved in it or something like that. I can't tell you how many church signs I've seen, drive by a church and on their church sign they've got Jeremiah 29-11 on it. Be very careful in making Jeremiah 29-11 your life verse. Dear friends, this was not written to us. This was not written to us. This was written to the Jews in Babylonian exile. This was written to the Jews in Babylonian exile. Do we have any Jews here this morning who find themselves in Babylonian exile? No? Nobody here in Babylonian exile? Oh, well then it wasn't written to us, then was it? Well then question is, why were the Jews in Babylonian exile? The Jews were in Babylonian exile because God had instructed them to leave their land fallow every seventh year. But for a period of 490 years, the Jews had not done this. And so God put them into Babylonian exile. And He put them into Babylonian exile for a period of 70 years. Do the math, 490 divided by 7 is 70. So God put them in Babylonian exile for 70 years. That's a long time. That's the vast majority of a person's life. And so what God is saying to the Jews in Babylonian exile, He's giving them a message through the prophet Jeremiah, and basically God is saying this. He's saying, look, Jews, I gave you an instruction. You ignored it. And therefore I'm going to punish you. I'm going to bring judgment on you. You're going into Babylonian exile for 70 years. You're going to be basically in time out for 70 years. But I have not forgotten you. I still have plans for you. I still have plans to prosper you, not to harm you, to give you a future and a hope. So God was saying, I haven't forgotten you. Yes, you're in judgment. Yes, you're in Babylonian captivity. But I have not forgotten you. So unless we are Jews who have not left our, or if I failed to leave our landfallow every seventh year for 490 years, we find ourselves in Babylonian captivity, this was not written to us. It was not written to us. So it doesn't really apply to us now. Is there a general principle that can be gleaned from this verse? Yes, there is. Does God have plans for us? Yes, He does. Does God have plans to prosper us? Depends on what you mean by prosper. How many times have we heard the Gospel presented this way? God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life. Is that true? Yes. God does love us and He does have a wonderful plan for our lives. But what God deems wonderful may not always seem so wonderful to us. God had a wonderful plan for Stephen's life. What was the wonderful plan God had for Stephen's life? To be stoned. God had a wonderful plan for the Apostle Peter's life and that was to be crucified upside down. The wonderful plan God had for the Apostle Paul's life was to be shipwrecked and stoned, imprisoned, beaten, and ultimately beheaded. God does love us. He does have wonderful plans for our lives. But what God deems wonderful may not always seem so wonderful to us. Dear friends, sometimes God is most glorified in us when we suffer, when we are persecuted. Sometimes God is most glorified in us in those times, not in times of health and wealth and prosperity. Be very careful with Jeremiah 29-11. Another verse is this, 3 John 2. This is almost like the gold standard of the prosperity gospel. They love this verse. 3 John 2. Oops. There we go. Beloved, I pray that in all things that thou mayest prosper and be in good health even as thy soul prospers. And the faith preachers look at this verse and they say, see, there it is right there in black and white. God wants us to prosper and be in good health, health and wealth. Watch this video clip from Joyce Meyer. 3 John 2 says, Beloved, I pray that you might prosper in every way and that your body might keep well even as I know your soul prospers and keeps well. Now that's a very wonderful scripture. When I talk to my prosperity, he says, I would that you prosper and be in health and be in health. So we see right there that God wants us to be healthy. Can everybody say God wants me to be healthy? Well you can say it, but that's not what this verse is talking about. John was writing a letter to his friend Gaius. You would see Gaius' name in the first verse of this short little book of 3 John. And John opens his letter in much the same way that you and I would open a letter or an email that we write to one of our friends today. Basically, John is saying this, dear Gaius, I hope that this finds you doing well. Friends that's all in the world he's saying. This is not a doctrinal statement. It's not a didactic statement, meaning it's not a teaching statement, it's not a statement of theology. It's simply a common greeting to a letter. It was a common greeting in letters 2,000 years ago and it remains a common greeting today. Nothing more, nothing less. And the faith preachers know it, but they don't want you to know it because it just happens to fit their theology. So you can take verses out of their context, you can make the Bible say whatever you want it to say. Foundational to the faith preacher's teaching that it is always God's will to be healed is their teaching that healing is provided for in the atonement. That is a word that we give to the work that Jesus did for us on the cross. Now sadly, we saw the other day how the prosperity preachers don't believe that Jesus paid for our sins on the cross. They believe that He paid for our sins down in hell, but we looked at that the other day when it was yesterday morning. But watch this from Andrew Womack, watch this from Andrew Womack. He placed your and my sickness and diseases, infirmities upon Jesus and He bore them 2,000 years ago. If He already paid for your healing, how can you doubt that you are healed? I sometimes refer to Andrew Womack as the John Boy Walton of the Word of Faith Movement because he's just normal looking, you know? He's not flashy, doesn't wear a white suit. I mean, he's just normal looking and he's real low-key, normal-looking, normal sounding. But make no mistake about it, he is Word of Faith, hook, line, and sinker. He is Word of Faith. And in many ways, people like him are even more dangerous than the Benny Hens and the Todd Bentley's because he does look so normal. But what as to the point, is healing provided for in the atonement? Andrew Womack and all the prosperity preachers all appeal to Isaiah 53, 4, and 5. Let's look at this. Surely, he hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, yet we did esteem him stricken smitten of God and afflicted. And the faith preachers look at these 2 words that I have highlighted here, griefs and sorrows, and they'll say that another way to render these 2 words is as sickness and pain respectively. For Jesus bore our sickness, carried our pain, and because He bore our sickness, He carried our pain, we should not have to. So goes the logic. Well, in a sense they're right because these 2 words in Hebrew do have multiple possible renderings. And there's a lot of words in Hebrew like that. We have words like that in English. You can take the word are you in. You could run to the grocery store, you could run a marathon, you could run a business, you could run a computer program. You could get ladies, you could get a run in your stockings, right? It's the same word, but it has different meanings depending upon the, what? The context in which it is used. So this is nothing unusual. So now the question is, well, what's the context? Well the very next verse shows us what the context is. Verse 5, but he was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with the stripes we are healed. So very clearly the primary context of Isaiah 53 is not physical healing. It's spiritual healing, not healing from sickness and disease, healing from sin. We see that from these 2 words, transgressions and iniquities. In fact read the whole chapter of Isaiah beginning about midway through chapter 52, all the way through chapter 53. The whole thing is talking about transgression, sin, iniquity. It's not talking about cancer and arthritis. So what is the answer to our question? Is physical healing provided for in the atonement? Yes. Yes, it absolutely is provided for in the atonement. Dear ones, the reason that I'm crippled, the reason I walk on crutches is a result of sin. Not my personal sin, but the sin of Adam and Eve. When Adam and Eve sinned, when they ate of that fruit, whatever that fruit was, we don't know that it was an apple by the way. It's just what the coloring books have. But when they ate of that fruit, whatever it was, sin entered the world and so did sickness and disease and ultimately death, physical and spiritual death. So the reason I'm crippled is a result of sin. The reason many of you are wearing eyeglasses this morning, that's a result of sin. Not your personal sin, the sin of Adam and Eve. Next time you catch a cold, you can blame Adam and Eve for that. It's just one of the consequences of living in a fallen world. So when Jesus came and died on the cross, He paid for our sins, He also paid for all of the consequences of those sins, one of which is sickness and disease. So yes, physical healing is provided for in the atonement. But here's where the faith preachers get it very, very wrong. Not all of the benefits of the atonement are promised to be fully realized this side of heaven. Not all the benefits of the atonement are promised to be fully realized this side of heaven. Some of the benefits of Jesus' atonement we will not realize until the other side of heaven. And healing from sickness and disease is one of those benefits. To give you another illustration of this, a glorified body is also provided for in the atonement. Use your hand if you've got your glorified body. What? Nobody in here? Nobody's got their glorified body? Why not? It's provided for in the atonement. It's not promised to be realized here. Dear ones, when we die and go to heaven for all of us who are in Christ, when we die and go to heaven, we're not going to take our sickness and disease with us. No cancer, no arthritis, no muscular dystrophy, none of those things. Why? Because our healing has been provided for, bought and paid for with the blood, death, and bodily resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. But you know what? When we die and go to heaven, dear ones, I'm really not sure it's even going to cross our minds that we no longer have our sickness and disease. I'm really not sure we're even going to give it a second thought because we're going to have better things to think about. We will be in perfect worship of, fellowship with, service to the King of kings, the Lord of lords, the one who spoke the universe into existence. We will have perfect fellowship with Christ, Christ. He is the joy and the glory of heaven. He is who makes heaven heaven. You know, I think sometimes we get such an earthly view of heaven, don't we? We think of heaven as this one big family reunion. You'll see grandma and grandpa and we'll walk on streets of gold and yeah, you know, we will. We will be reunited with our loved ones who preceded us in death if they were in Christ. But that's not the joy of heaven. The joy of heaven is Christ, knowing Christ. He is the joy and the glory of heaven. He is who makes heaven heaven. Open your eyes upon Jesus. Look full in His wonderful face and the things of this earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace. What of the biblical record? Can we look through the Bible and find examples of people who loved the Lord and served Him faithfully and yet did not walk in perfect health? Absolutely. Thomas was left sick at Meletus. Epaphroditus was sick to the point of death. The Apostle Paul encouraged Timothy to take a little wine for his stomach in his frequent ailments. Now, I find this very interesting. Notice that the Apostle Paul did not write to Timothy and say, Timothy, go see a faith healer. Be sure you sow a seed into his ministry so you can reap a harvest. Take a little wine for your stomach and your frequent ailments. Now I find this interesting on yet another level because the Apostle Paul wrote this about the year AD 64, about the year AD 64. Back up 10 years to the year AD 54. What was going on in the year AD 54? The events of Acts chapter 19 were going on. What was happening in Acts chapter 19, extraordinary miracles of healing. So much so that even handkerchiefs and aprons were being taken forth from the Apostle Paul and delivered to sick people and God was healing sick people at distances through the agents of these handkerchiefs and aprons, extraordinary miracles of healing in the year AD 54. Fast forward 10 years to the year AD 64. No handkerchiefs and aprons going forth from the Apostle Paul. What changed? Something significant changed, did it not? Could it be that even in that 10 years span that the apostolic gifts, the sign gifts, tongues, interpretation of tongues, miracles, physical healing had already passed out of operation, already faded away? Two years later Paul writing 2 Timothy and it says that he left trophium of sick at Meletus. Paul was with him and he left him sick. Didn't heal him, he left him sick. Interesting is it not? That maybe even in that 10 year span that the apostolic gift of healing had already passed out of operation. For those of you who may not have been here yesterday, do I believe that God still physically heals people today? Yes. When and only when it is His sovereign will to do so. Is that the apostolic gift of healing? No. I'm talking about two totally different things. The gift of healing was when someone, for example Peter and Paul, could go up to a sick person, heal them instantaneously, verifiably with confidence, knowing that God was going to do it, and that we don't see today anymore. There's nobody alive on the face of the earth today who has that gift. God does still heal people, but He does so when it's His sovereign will to do it, and that is not the same thing as the gift of healing. Does that make sense? Two totally different issues here. Job. Job is the 800-pound theological gorilla sitting in the living room of the prosperity preachers, none of whom want to admit is there. Job's a problem for the prosperity preachers, because here you have a man who is upright and righteous, and yet God still allowed Satan to come and to strike from Job everything that he had. His possessions destroyed. His family dead. His own health deteriorated. Job suffered horrifically. Job's a problem for the prosperity preachers, and they know it. So what do they do with Job? Well, it's hard to ignore an entire book out of the Bible. So you know what they do to Job? They turn the tables on Job, and they say the reason these calamities fell upon Job, they were all results of his negative confessions. Job spoke negative, fear-filled words, and he brought all these calamities upon himself. Job tapped into the dark side of the force. Do they really teach that? Yep. This is from Joyce Meyer. For the thing which I greatly fear comes upon me, and that of which I am afraid befalls me. Fear is a terrible emotion, a self-fulfilling one. Job had fears concerning his children, and finally reached a place in his life where he saw his fears coming to pass. The Bible says it will be unto us as we believe, totally takes that out of context. That principle works in the negative as well as the positive. You see it's this principle, it's this universal law of attraction, the good side and the bad side of the force. That's theology by Oprah Winfrey. That's New Age. It's not biblical. Let's see all this is. Our word-faith theology is, is cultic doctrine wrapped in some Christian ease, wrapped in some Christian terminology. Joyce Meyer and the prosperity preachers completely miss the point of the book of Job. Miss it entirely. You know what the point of the book of Job is, dear ones, the sovereignty of God. The sovereignty of God. God can do whatever he wants to do. And sometimes that means making us sick. Can you believe that? That sometimes God makes people sick. Now you tell that to a prosperity preacher or a prosperity person, they'll probably faint right on the spot. Get the vapors. But if God doesn't make people sick, then somebody needs to inform him because he seems to think that he does. Exodus chapter four, verse 11, the Lord said to Moses, who has made man's mouth or who makes him dumb or deaf or seeing or blind? Is it not I the Lord? Friends, that's God talking there. I don't know how you get around that. Who has made man's mouth? Who makes him dumb or deaf or seeing or blind? Is it not I the Lord? God speaking again, Deuteronomy, see now that I, I am he. There is no God besides me. It is I who put to death and give life. I have wounded and it is I who heal. And there is no one who can deliver from my hand. Put that verse in your prosperity pipe and smoke it. Sometimes God makes people sick. Now sometimes we make ourselves sick, don't we? You know, if you lay around all day long on the couch and you eat nothing but ding-dongs and twinkies and ho-hoes and little Debbie Fudge creams and you drink nothing but Dr. Peppers and you go through three or four packs of cigarettes a day, don't be surprised if you have some health problems. But sometimes we get sick just because we live in a fallen world. I mean, we live in a fallen world and people just get sick. Sometimes God makes people sick. Why would he do that? To watch us suffer? No, absolutely not. But sometimes God makes people sick to sanctify us and to glorify Himself, to glorify Himself. And ultimately everything that God does ultimately is about His glory. This is a man that I met a few years ago. His name's Rich. Rich lives in Long Island, New York. And Rich was born able-bodied. And he was saved when he was about 19 years old. God saved him. And then a few years later, he had a motorcycle accident and it left him paralyzed. He has no use of his legs, very, very limited use of his arms. But Rich loves the Lord. He lives with his brother and his sister-in-law, his brother's wife, neither of whom are believers. But Rich is. And every Sunday morning, Rich asks his brother and sister-in-law to get him up. And they get him up out of bed. They dress him, they bathe him, and then they dress him. And they put him in his electric wheelchair. And Rich drives his electric wheelchair five miles one way to church every single Sunday. Even when it's raining, they put a poncho over him to keep him in the electronics of his wheelchair dry so his wheelchair won't short out. And he drives his electric wheelchair five miles one way to church in the rain. And he never misses. The only thing that will keep Rich from going to church is if it's snowing and his wheelchair just won't go in the snow. The pastor told me he said, Justin, Rich is the most faithful church member I've got. He's got bumper stickers on the back of his wheelchair with scripture verses on them. He's quite literally a rolling testimony for Christ. Friends, God is glorified in that. God is glorified in that. How many people has Rich been a witness to when they see this man every Sunday driving his wheelchair five miles to church with the Word of God on the back of his wheelchair? And he's just full of joy. God's glorified in that. And yet we've got prosperity preachers today like Joel Osteen writing books, Your Best Life Now. And Joel Osteen recounts this story about how one day he and his wife Victoria were trying to find a parking spot at the mall. But all the good parking spots were taken, you see. But they just kept believing God for a good parking spot. And so they were coming down the aisle of cars not willing to take a space, you know, out in the back 40, they were just believing God for a good parking spot. So they come down the aisle of cars and wouldn't you know it, the car in the very front spot backed away and drove off just in time for Joel and Victoria to pull in, get that good parking spot right up front. And Joel Osteen says, friends, that's the favor of God. Really? That's the favor of God? Getting a good parking spot? Tell that to Rich. Tell that to our brothers and sisters in Christ around the world who right now are being persecuted for their faith in Christ. Tell that to Pastor Bill in Uganda, a man I met last April in Uganda, Pastor Bill who was out in his little village passing out gospel tracks. And there was a prominent word of faith preacher there in the area. And he heard about what Bill was doing. He didn't like it one bit. And so this prosperity preacher bribed the police to go and find Bill. They arrested Bill in front of his family, beat him, took him to the police station, chained him up to a tree, left him there, chained to a tree all night long in the rain, all for passing out gospel tracks. Tell Bill the favor of God's getting a good parking spot. Tell our brothers and sisters in Christ in countries like Somalia, in Ethiopia, Iran, North Korea. Tell them the favor of God is getting a good parking spot at the mall in the United States of America. Are you kidding me? The prosperity gospel is no gospel. If you have to add an adjective to the gospel, you've got a different gospel. There is no prosperity gospel. There is no social gospel. Thank you very much, Tony Kempolo. There is just the gospel. Elisha had a double portion anointing of the great prophet Elijah, yet Elisha was fallen sick of his sickness whereof he died. Dear friends, it's a matter of biblical record that not everyone who loved the Lord and served him faithfully walked in perfect divine health. It's not a matter of opinion. It's not up for debate. It's simply a matter of biblical record. Does God still heal people today physically? Yes. But only when it is His sovereign will to do so. Does God always heal people today? No. He wasn't doing it in the days of the Bible, and he's not doing it today either. By the way, how many times have you heard a prosperity preacher say this? Jesus healed everyone, right? Jesus never turned anybody down for healing. Jesus healed them all. Have you heard this before? Well, I would like to refer them to John chapter 5. Recall this, the pool of Bethesda. Remember the lame man who had been laid there for 38 years, and he was unable to get into the waters. You know, it's an unusual account where the angels would come and stir the waters and people would go in and be healed. But there was this man who had been there for 38 years, lame, unable to get into the pool by himself. And the Scripture says in John 5 that there was a multitude of sick there, a multitude of sick. How many people did Jesus heal? One. One. According to the prosperity preachers, not only must you have enough faith, you must also, if you want to receive healing, another requirement you must meet, show me the money. You better sow that seed. Watch this from Joyce Meyer. It says you ask people to give money, so you say, do it cheerfully, because the Bible says give, and shall be given unto you, so giving is a major part of the whole Christian. But do you believe if someone gives money to the ministry, right, that more will come back to them? Yes. I think that's what they mean by prosperity. It's not. No, but do you worry at all that sometimes your message will be heard by someone in the most dire circumstances. This is sort of a black wheel, a sort of gambled with God. Okay, well I can't pay the rent, but I'll give it to Joyce and we'll see what happens. Do you worry at all about that? No, I don't worry about that. Oh no, I totally don't worry about that. I'm sure she doesn't, but she should, because right now there are thousands and thousands of people all around the world right now watching Christian television. And they're being told if they will sow a seed, God will grant them a harvest. You need to get out of debt, sow a seed. The only thing that'll do is get you further in debt. You need healing, sow a seed. I'm sure Joyce Meyer doesn't worry about it, but she should, because the sick and the poor and the desperate are being exploited right now all around the world. And this is the face of Christianity in much of the world today. You know when I was in Uganda, we were staying in a little, what they call a little guest house. We were staying there and there was a little black and white television there. And Mike, my friend and I, Mike and I went there. We were staying in the, we were roommates there in the little guest house. And we hadn't even turned the TV on, but long story short, Pastor Bill and his wife and five kids came over to see us at the guest house. And Bill and his wife and family, they don't have a television in their little hut. They don't have a toilet either, by the way. But they came to the little guest house and they saw it television. The kids were just enamored with it and they turned on the TV. And I kid you not, you know what the very first thing was that came up on that screen when that little television warmed up? The very first thing I saw was Jan Crouch and her big mop of pink hair, thrilling for money. Watch this from Rod Parsley. Rod Parsley, Pastor in Columbus, Ohio. Rod Parsley says that he wants you to sow a seed of $54.17. Well, why so specific? Why $54.17? Well, based off of Isaiah 54 verse 17, of course. Silly goose. There's a battle raging and it's raging right now. A fierce, all-out attack against you, against everything of great value in your life. But my dear, dear friend, your commander-in-chief has full supremacy, absolute authority, and he's decreed and declared that no weapon formed against you shall prosper. On this broadcast, you're about to discover how to receive for yourself his miraculous anointing of provision and protection. Stay right where you are. I'm Rod Parsley. And I'm going to take you at your word. I'm going to stand up in faith and I'm going to sow an Isaiah 54.17 seed of $54.17. Let's go to the phone. Do it right now. Go to the phone. Right now, this is a moment of faith that may never, ever, ever be repeated again. But God is saying that if you're hearing this word, take hold of it. Seize this moment. Claim this word right now as your own word and say, God, that's me. That's my family. That's my business. That's my ministry. That's my church. God, those are my children. That's my marriage. So I feel the adversary releasing his strangler holder. You going to your phone? $54.17. Are you going to your phone right now? Are you? Are you going to your phone? Are you going to your phone right now? Don't miss this special time of anointing. There's anointing right here for prosperity. There's an anointing right now. I feel it. There's an anointing right now for healing. Hurry up and go to your phone. You know why the prosperity preachers do that all the time? All the time. You know why? You know why they want you to hurry up and go to your phone? Because they know that if you actually stop and think about the sheer absurdity of what it is that they're preaching, you might not go to your phone. You might not sow your seed. But let's be fair to Rod. Let's look at Isaiah 54.17. No weapon that is formed against you will prosper. Wow. Well, it does say that, doesn't it? In every tongue that accuses you in judgment, you will condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord and their vindication is from me to clear as the Lord. Huh. It does say that. Well, a couple of points to be made here. Number one, there is nothing inspired about 54.17. The chapter divisions and the verse numbers are not inspired. Man put those in there just to help facilitate us looking things up in the Scriptures a little bit more easily. So there's nothing inspired about 54.17. The content is, but the chapter divisions and the verse numbers are not. So that's meaningless. That's meaningless. But what of this? No weapon that is formed against you will prosper. Well, it's kind of similar to what we were discussing about Jeremiah 29.11 and healing in the atonement. In fact, we see kind of both of those principles at work here. Was this written to us primarily? No. No, it was written to Israel. However, is there a general principle that can be gleaned? Yeah, because it does kind of have a universal qualification here in this verse. It says this is the heritage of the servants of the Lord. Are we servants of the Lord? Yes. So does this apply to us? Yeah, actually it does. Just like healing in the atonement applies to us. Is it provided for in the atonement? Yes. Is it to be realized here? Not necessarily. Is this a promise for us? Yes. Is it promised to be realized here? No. It seems to me that the sword that was formed in the blacksmith shop that lopped off the head of the apostle Paul, that weapon certainly seemed to prosper, didn't it? It seemed like the nails that were fashioned to affix Christ to the cross, those weapons seemed to prosper. But in the eschaton, when God brings all things to their appointed end, it is true that no weapon that is formed against us or God will prosper. It's very cliche and I almost hate to say it, but we've read the back of the book and we win. God wins. So it is true that in the eschaton, in the grand scheme of things, no weapon that is formed against us will prosper. Is that promise to be realized here and now? No. No, it's not. By the way, verse 17 is the last verse of Isaiah chapter 54. Do you know what Isaiah chapter 55 verse 1 says? Now that would mean even more money for Rod. I mean a $55 one cent seed, that would be more money for him, right? That would be 84 cents more money per sower. So why didn't he ask for an Isaiah 55 verse 1 seed? Here's why. Ho, everyone who thirsts come to the waters. You who have no money come, buy and eat. Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. That's why he doesn't want you to sow an Isaiah 55 verse 1 seed because it totally obliterates everything he was just saying. You think Rod Parsley hasn't read Isaiah 55 verse 1? Oh, he's read it. He's a charlatan. He is a snake oil salesman. My apologies to snake oil salesman. If you have your bibles, look at Luke chapter 21. Luke chapter 21. This is the account of the widow, the widow's might we often refer to it. And I don't know about you, but this account, this story has never made sense to me. There's just something about it that's just never made sense. Let's look at Luke 21 verse 1. And he, Jesus, looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury. And he saw also a certain poor widow putting into copper coins. So he said truly I say to you that this poor widow is put in more than all of them for all of these out of their abundance have put in their offerings. But she out of her poverty put in all that she had to live on. And that's it. Now the way we have most often heard this text preached is that the widow should be our model in giving. We should give like the widow gave. Well, let's keep in mind, dear ones, that the widow didn't give some. She didn't give most. She gave everything she had and went home completely destitute. Raise your hand if you've done this. Has anybody here ever given everything they've got to the church? No? I can't raise my hand either. So you know what, if the widow is our model in giving, you know what, we've all blown it. I don't know anybody who's ever done this. And think about this too. This was a widow. This was a widow who had no means of support. And so in all likelihood after she gave everything and went home completely destitute, in all likelihood the Bible doesn't say this but it's just an educated guess. In all likelihood, not long after this, she probably died. Well, we're told that the widow gave so selflessly. Does the Bible say this? No? Or she gave out of the abundance of her heart. Does the Bible say that? No. Jesus doesn't make a comment one way or the other about her motivation for giving. He just makes an observation. She gave everything. He doesn't commend her. He doesn't say this was a good thing that she did. He just makes an observation. Do you think Jesus expects little old widows to give everything they have nowadays to the church? Is that what God wants widows to do? Uh-uh. The Bible actually has a great deal to say about how we are to care for the poor and the orphans and the widows. Jesus doesn't commend her. He doesn't say this was a good thing. Now, for context, to what was she giving? Was she giving to Cornerstone Baptist Church of Jerusalem? No. This was Wednesday of the Passion Week. This was two days before Jesus went to the cross. You know what she was giving to? She was giving to the temple. She was giving to the same religious system that in two days was going to nail Jesus to a tree. That's what she was giving to. And she gave everything she had. She gave everything she had to a religious system that was corrupt from top to bottom. That's what she was giving to. I don't think this pleased Jesus at all. I think it angered him. This widow was being told that if you want the favor of God, give your money. Look up a few verses for context. Remember the chapter divisions aren't inspired here. Look at verse 45 in chapter 20. Then in the hearing of all the people he said to his disciples, who desire to go around in long robes, love greetings in the marketplaces, the best seats in the synagogues, the best places at the feast, and look at verse 47. Who do what? Who devour widow's homes. And for a pretense make long prayers. These will receive greater condemnation. And what's the very next thing that Jesus sees? He sees a poor widow giving everything she had. You see how important context is? The same thing that was going on 2,000 years ago in corrupt religion is going on today in corrupt religion. You want the blessing of God? You want healing? You want healing for your sick children? You want to restore your marriage? You want to get out of debt? So accede. Give me some money so I can fly around in my private jets and you know where these prosperity preachers get a lot of their money from? From little old ladies, little old widows who are sitting at home or sitting in their nursing home and tragically the only church they have is this filth that they see on Christian television. One day these false teachers will have to stand before a holy God and give an account for what they are doing to sick and hurting and desperate people and they'll have to give an account for what they're doing to the Gospel. Watch this video clip from Mike Murdock Mike Murdock in light of what we just saw. There is a widow who is watching a day star watching us right now and you're sitting there and your thoughts are now I wish I was young again and I wish I had a business but I'm on a fixed income and I don't know where I would get the $58 that's what makes it faith that's what makes it faith. Same thing that was going on 2,000 years ago is going on today. There's nothing new under the sun. According to the prosperity preachers if you receive your healing you must have a right heart. Your heart must be right with God. This is what Benny Hinn told a miracle crusade audience in which I was in attendance it's the first Benny Hinn crusade I went to actually. He said this you cannot receive healing unless your heart is right with God. Healing is easily attained when your walk with God is right. So stop and think just for a moment put yourself in the shoes of someone who is there and they are sick they are in a wheelchair they have cancer they have a sick child and when the show is over they leave with the same cancer in the same wheelchair with the same sick child now not only do they have their illness with which to deal now they also have to worry about their own spiritual deficiencies that there's something wrong with their walk with the Lord because they are sick simply because they are sick now I do want to offer a little caveat here if a person is at a Benny Hinn crusade in hopes of being healed that is an indication that something is wrong that is an indication that something is wrong they are either a very immature Christian or they may not be genuinely converted but the point of the matter is this is that being sick in and of itself is not a reason to doubt your walk with the Lord being sick in and of itself is no indication that there is something wrong with your walk with the Lord watch this from John Hague that's what that means let me tell you sickness comes from the devil when you walk into a hospital room and your friend is there a member of your family is there you have the power to say in the name of Jesus I repute that disease and the God of heaven will heal that disease when you are right with God in heaven so John Hague says that as a Christian you have the authority to walk into a hospital room and if your friend is there your family member is there you have the authority to command that sickness to leave and as long as you are right with God in heaven that sickness must leave so if the sickness doesn't leave then you are not right with God in heaven alright? well this was aired in March of 2010 you know where John Hague was about a year and a half before this in October of 2008 you know where John Hague was he was flat on his back on an operating table with his chest cracked open having quadruple bypass surgery why didn't he just command his arteries to clear up would have saved him an awful lot of time and heartache pardon the pun was he not right with God? why didn't it work for him? I take no joy that John Hague had to have quadruple bypass surgery take no joy in that but I do find it interesting that what the faith preachers preach doesn't seem to work for them and if what the faith preachers preach doesn't work for them that ought to be a clue to them there just might be something wrong with what they are preaching why are they sick? W. Kenyon, grandfather of this movement died from a tumor Kenneth Hagen died from heart disease or Roberts died from heart disease Fred Price's wife treated for cancer, Jen Crouch treated for cancer, Nora Lamb the faith healer that I went to see when I was a teenager had a massive stroke in 2003 died early the next year friends the faith healers get sick just like us common folk do and if what they preach doesn't work for them it ought to be a clue to them just might be something wrong with what they are preaching this is an interesting photograph I came across Jesse Duplantis, Benny Hinn and John Hague now look at the man in the middle Benny Hinn what's he got on his face? oh, eyeglasses Mr. Miracle himself has to wear eyeglasses friends never trust a faith healer who wears eyeglasses they teach that it's always God's will to be healed because we've been completely delivered from all of the effects of the curse of the fall next time somebody tells you that ask them this question okay have you stopped aging because the reason we age is the same reason we get sick it's part of living in a fallen world the reason we cannot physically do at age 80 what we could do at age 20 is because of the fall it's part of the curse of the fall so next time somebody tells you it's always God's will to be healed because we've been completely delivered from all that ask them okay have you stopped aging pull out a picture of yourself from 10 years ago let's take a look and until they stop aging they've got nothing to say to us well if you're not healed it's probably just because you just don't have enough faith watch this from Benny Hinn and hear this well the reason people lose their healing is because they begin questioning if God really did it we'll receive it by faith we keep it by faith say by faith kind and touched is gone now before she touched verse 28 says before she said before she said before she said before she said say that with me in other words she knew she knew that she knew that she knew she's gonna get a mirror first key she heard second key she came third key she knew when you know you're on the way but if you sit there and say I'm not sure you just lost it what does laying your hands on a human have to do with healing? really nothing we touch people all the time what he's looking for is permission the power to heal is always present but having permission to heal is held up by humanity and their lack of faith having permission to heal is held up by humanity and their lack of faith is faith required for us to receive healing from God well dear ones let me put it this way if you are here this morning and you know Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord don't let anybody tell you that you don't have enough faith to be healed if you've been granted the faith to be saved you've certainly got enough faith to be healed because being saved faith is by far the greatest miracle if God were to heal me right now of my CP and he could dear ones that would pay all in comparison to what God did for me when he saved me from my sins when he saved me from his own righteous wrath when he caused me to be made alive in Christ that is the greatest miracle of all don't let anybody tell you you don't have enough faith to be healed I want to close with the Gospel just want to close with the Gospel has there been a time in your life when you have been convicted by God's Holy Spirit that you're a sinner that you have broken the laws of God and just like when we break laws here on earth there is a penalty to be paid how much more so when we break the laws of the eternal God but unlike on earth if we break a law the penalty is temporal when we break the laws of the eternal God the penalty for that is also eternal his character and his nature demands it his righteousness demands it and if we die and if we die in our sins then we will all very rightly and very justly go to a very real place that the Bible calls hell and it will never end and dear ones let's not soft pedal hell you know I've heard preachers say so often that if you die in your sins if you die without Christ you will go into a Christless eternity entirely accurate do you know what the worst thing about hell is? God because he's there Revelation 14 verse 9 those who are in the lake of fire are tormented day and night in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the lamb the most terrifying thing about hell is God because he's there in his mode of judgment people in hell are separated from God relationally there's no fellowship there's no love there's no love exchanged but judicially they are in the presence of God and God's wrath will be poured out for all of eternity let's not soft pedal hell that's the bad news but there is good news and the good news of the gospel is this is that God loves you God loves you and he is made a way of escape he sent his son Jesus Christ to this earth and Jesus lived a perfect life sinless never broke any of the laws of God and Jesus willingly laid down his life on the cross his life was not taken he gave it and Jesus bore the wrath of God so that you and I would not have to and on the third day bodily raised from the dead and he proved himself to be who he said he was God in human flesh and the only way to have the wrath of God removed is to repent of sins turn from sins and place your trust in the risen Lord Jesus Christ there is salvation in no one else and then some people have a question well how do I repent I got an email just late last night somebody does not they emailed me and they said how do I repent they've tried and then tried but they just can never seem to repent dear ones we can't you cannot repent on your own and I think what a lot of people try to do is they try to repent in the flesh they try to just it's a glorified New Year's resolution you may give it a good go for a while but it never lasts why because genuine repentance is in and of itself granted by God God grants repentance 2 Timothy 2 24 and 25 Acts chapter 5 verses 30 and 31 Acts chapter 11 verse 17 God grants repentance we can't He gives it and so if you're not sure of where you are with Christ I would encourage you examine yourself to see if you're in the faith do you have a godly sorrow over your sin has there been a change in your life do you have a love for the Lord do you have a love for His Word do you have a love for the brethren and if you're not certain get real honest before God and cry out to Him genuine repentance in faith in Christ there is salvation in no one else let's close in a word of prayer our Father we do we thank you for your gospel we thank you for making a way for us to be reconciled to yourself I pray Lord that as your gospel has been presented this morning we pray that your Holy Spirit would do his work would convict even now the truth of your glorious gospel we pray that your Holy Spirit would do his work Lord we thank you for the salvation and you have offered to us Father I pray in this time of equipping the last few days that we would be better equipped to speak your truth to people to speak that truth in love to be ready to give an answer for the hope that is within us and that we would live lives of obedience to the commands of Christ live our lives in such a way that honor Him and glorify Him and point others to you and these things we do ask in His name Amen Amen