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When God originally made man, he was employed in God’s service in the Garden of Eden. As we read in the second chapter of Genesis verse 8:
And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.
Notice how God planted the garden. He placed all the seeds in the ground. He did all the hard work. So what was man’s job? Again in Genesis 2:15 we read:
And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.
Man’s work was light and easy. The Garden of Eden represents a heavenly life, which is still available today to those who make JESUS the Savior and LORD of their lives. When we walk in the Spirit, life is effortless and a joy. The Holy Spirit will lead us to expand our heavenly life to include others into our circle of heaven on earth until it encompasses the entire earth and all its inhabitants. We don’t need to do this work in our flesh because God has already planted the seeds in everyone’s heart. We only need to share with others what God is doing in our life and that will activate and water the seed in every man’s heart to be drawn to JESUS. It’s easy to lead others to Christ when you do it God’s way.
In Genesis 1:28, God told man what His job entailed when He said:
And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth…
God’s instructions for man has never changed. He wants us to “Be Fruitful” which means we are to be full of the fruits of the Holy Spirit such as Divine Love, Divine Joy, Divine Peace, Self Control and more (see Galatians 5:22-23). As a Spirit-filled and Spirit-led Christian, we are commanded to “Multiply”, which means we are to disciple others to become like we are, and then our disciples are to disciple others, who in turn disciple others until the entire earth is replenished, or renewed. Do you see how simple God’s plan is?
Was it God’s plan to pay man to work for Him? Of Course!!! As we see in Genesis 2:16, the LORD fulfilled all of man’s needs by giving him food:
And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:
Man could eat all he wanted to. God gives us all we need. But He also gives us what we want as well. In addition to feeding man, He also gave him gold which represents wealth and riches. He placed the gold outside of the Garden of Eden as we read in Genesis 2:11-12
The name of the first is Pison: that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold; And the gold of that land is good: there is bdellium and the onyx stone.
This gold was outside the boarders of Eden. Man would have to expand the boarders of Eden in order to take possession of this gold. In the same way, we born again Christians have to leave our comfort zone to reach out to those around us with the message of JESUS. As we are successful in expanding the heavenly life we enjoy with others, we will take possession of the gold that God intended for us to have. PRAISE GOD!
For a while, Adam and Eve enjoyed this paradise on earth. The devil lives in misery and misery loves company, so Satan wanted Adam and Eve to be in misery with him. Satan was once the supreme angel named Lucifer. He was kicked out of heaven because he tried to become God. Now he uses that same ploy to get others kicked out of heaven. Listen to how he tempted Eve to sin against God:
For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
Genesis 3:5
Adam and Eve fell for the oldest trick in the book, and because they sinned and never truly repented, they were no longer able to work for God. So God set up a secondary financial system that was designed for people who want to be “self-sufficient” rather than “God-dependant”. This second system is the “World’s Financial System” as opposed to “God’s Financial System”. When Adam worked under God’s Financial System, his work was easy and light and he was rich. When he worked under the “World’s Financial System”, his work was hard and he had to struggle just to get by. The Scriptures describe the world’s financial system like this:
…cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. Genesis 3:17b-19
If you are not in the ministry, you are working in the world’s financial system. Even most ministries today are patterned after the world’s financial system. The world’s system is full of frustration and it keeps us from reaching our true potential. It becomes a vicious cycle where we work to eat and eat to work. The benefits are temporal with no eternal fruits whatsoever, unlike God’s Financial System which has eternal rewards and pays better in this life as well.
The third chapter of Genesis ended with Adam and Eve being thrown out of the Garden of Eden and Adam having to work under the World’s Financial System. But God could not wait to give us the good news about how His Financial System was still available to those who would follow Him. Observe how the first two verses of chapter four begin:
1And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD. 2And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.
Notice how quickly God goes from telling us about Cain and Abel’s conception and birth, to telling us about what they did for a living. He skips over 30 some years of their lives to focus on the two different financial systems they operated under. It’s as if He couldn’t wait to share the good news that God’s Financial System is still available to those who love and want to serve Him. Can you see that?
Let’s pause here for a moment. We are first introduced to Cain at his conception. He was born in the likeness of his father Adam. In the middle of his name, we find the letter “I”. Cain represents a self-centered believer. In Abel’s name, we find the letters “El” which is the Hebrew name for God. Abel represents a God-centered believer.
The first thing we learn about Cain and Abel is what they did for a living. God is trying to teach us something important here about our finances. God led Abel into the shepherding business, which represents the ministry. In the New Testament, JESUS is portrayed as “The Great Shepherd” (see John 10:14 or 1 Peter 5:4).
Before JESUS left this world, He asked Peter three times if he loved Him. Each time when Peter answered “Yes”, JESUS would say, “Then feed My sheep.” All those who truly love Him will feed His sheep. That’s what Abel was doing.
Now Cain, on the other hand, was a tiller of the ground. The ground represents the earth or the world. Cain went into a worldly profession.
Notice how Abel’s work was described. He was a “keeper” of sheep. Compare that to Adam’s work while He was in the Garden of Eden:
And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. Genesis 2:15
Did you notice how their job descriptions both had the word “keep” in it? The word “keep” indicates an easy task. When we are walking in the Spirit, our task just “flows”. That’s why God wants to bring all His children into a land that “flows” with milk (strength) and honey (sweetness).
Now compare Cain’s work to Adam’s after he went to work in the world’s system of finances. Cain was a “tiller” of the soil. Can you imagine him sweating out in the sun each day as he fought to keep ahead of the weeds (thorns and thistles) like Adam did in Genesis 3:17-19?
Let’s continue with the story of Cain and Abel in the forth chapter of Genesis:
3And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD.
We see here that Cain is a believer in God because he brings God some offerings. Cain represents most Christians today who work their worldly job all week and then bring their offering to church on Sunday. They are essentially saying to God, “I’ll work at my worldly job all week and throw some money in the basket so the Pastor can go out and make disciples.”
4And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering:
Abel, in contrast, went out and made disciples. He brought some fat lambs for his offering, which represents well fed disciples. God took great delight in Abel’s offering, but none at all in Cain’s:
5But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.
God never said that He accepted Abel’s offering, or that He did not accept Cain’s. So how did Cain know about this? The answer is quite simple. It is the same way we will know if God accepts our offering or not. God is the same today as He was back then. Cain knew Abel’s offering was accepted because he saw the favor of God on Abel’s life but not on his own life.
The secret to experiencing divine prosperity and divine favor is to go into business with God, like Abel did. This is not a difficult task when done correctly. When focusing on the task of making many disciples, your daily mantra should be the same as Abel’s which was, “I am Abel to do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
Cain went on to kill his brother Abel out of jealousy. When you start experiencing divine prosperity and favor because you are fulfilling your calling as a minister, don’t be surprised if your older brothers in the LORD try to assassinate your character.
JESUS spoke more about God’s Financial System than anything else. Does that surprise you? Yet even though this was JESUS’ favorite topic, the church to this day still doesn’t get it. Throughout this Bible Study course, we are going to cover the countless references JESUS made to God’s Financial System. Here is just one reference, which comes from the fourth chapter of John’s Gospel:
35Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? Behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.
JESUS is telling His followers, including you and me, to lift up our spiritual eyes and see that we are surrounded by people who are desperate and ready to hear the Good News about JESUS. The seed God has planted in their hearts is ready to germinate and grow if only someone will water it.
36And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together.
“And he that reapeth receiveth wages…” God is telling us that He will pay us wages for expanding our Garden of Eden, just like He put gold outside the Garden of Eden to give Adam an incentive to expand his circle of heaven on earth. If you give God everything He wants by bringing others into His kingdom, He will give you everything you want.
Notice how God’s partners will rejoice. His work is easy, pays well and is eternally rewarding. Why would anyone want to be involved in any other type of work???
37And herein is that saying true, One soweth, and another reapeth.
God planted the seed in people’s hearts. All we have to do is water the seeds and bring in the harvest, for which we will be paid richly.
38 I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labour: other men laboured, and ye are entered into their labours.
Some men have already had their seeds watered and fertilized by other men and are simply waiting to be harvested. God calls us to work in teams, with your upline and your downline, but all should share in the spiritual and financial rewards together.
Stick with us and you will learn how to be a great harvester of souls, and you and your co-laborers will be rejoicing together.
You may be a minister and be thinking, “I am in the ministry, yet the work is hard and the pay is low.” The reason for that is quite simple. Ministers have not been taught to “Be Fruitful and Multiply”, which means to reproduce yourself. Today’s ministers are trying to create Christians whereas they should be trying to create ministers. All Christians are called to become priests or ministers who partner with God in His business.
In the Scriptures, Moses was the first minister (or priest) who stood between God and His chosen people. God told Moses to tell His chosen people, the Israelites, that they ALL were to become priests. Just as Moses was well paid as a priest over his flock, so each Jew was to be paid from the flock he raised. God gave these instructions to Moses to give to his flock:
And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel. Exodus 19:6
Every minister is supposed to give this same message to his flock. Every priest or minister is supposed to raise his disciples up to be priests and ministers who become partners with God in His work.
JESUS told His disciples that they were ALL to be priests (on God’s payroll) when He said:
Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you. John 15:16
Notice how those JESUS has chosen to know him He has also “ordained”. Ordained for what? For the priesthood. What is our role as a priest? We should bring forth fruit that remains forever, which means we help save people by showing them how to live in heaven, both now and for eternity, and teach them how to help save others. What will be our pay if we do this properly? YOU WILL BE ABLE TO HAVE WHATEVER YOU WANT. That’s what the last part of John 15:16 is saying. God will not only give you all the gold you could ever use, but also everything money can’t buy, like love and health and honor.
The apostle Peter confirmed that all Christians are called to be priests when he wrote to all those who are born again in 1 Peter 2:5:
Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.
And then again in 1 Peter 2:9 he repeats himself by confirming we are all to become priests when he says…
But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light;
Notice how we are called to belong to the “royal priesthood”. The word “royal” means “kingly”. Yes, we are meant to live like kings, just as our founder did. Do you know what priesthood order we belong to?
There are two orders of priesthoods in the Bible. There was the Levitical order of priests of whom Levi was the founder, the son of Jacob. The Levitical priests main job was to offer animal sacrifices so that the blood of the animals would temporarily cover the sins of God’s people until the Perfect Sacrifice would come. Once JESUS died in our place, there was no longer a need for the Levitical priesthood.
JESUS became the High Priest of the order of Melchizedek (see Hebrews 5-7), therefore this is the order we belong to as well. In Genesis 14:18-21 you can read how Melchizedek was not only a priest, but also the King of Salem. Salem was an extremely prosperous area that later became Jerusalem (Jeru-Salem). Melchizedek was the first member of the “royal priesthood” which we are now called to belong to. Melchizedek lived in royal splendor, just as we are meant to. When we get to the study of the 14th chapter of Genesis, we will see how Melchizedek earned more money as a priest than he did as the king of Salem. When you learn how to walk as a priest, you will earn more money as a priest than you do at your secular job, even if you are Bill Gates or Warren Buffet.
As priests, we make our money by ever widening the circle of our heavenly life, by constantly leading others to be closer to JESUS. This is why God placed the gold outside of Eden.
Consider this insight from Solomon, the richest man who ever lived:
…the wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just.
Prover
Solomon was known as “The Preacher” in his day. His gold reserves alone were worth over one trillion dollars. The richest men of today are not even worth 1% of what Solomon was worth. How did Solomon become so wealthy? We will study that in detail later, but the simplest answer is that he knew how to be a priest. Being a member of God’s priesthood is the most lucrative profession in the world. This is what the Bible says of Solomon’s wealth in 2 Chronicles 9:22-24
And king Solomon passed all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom. And all the kings of the earth sought the presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom, that God had put in his heart. And they brought every man his present, vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and raiment, harness, and spices, horses, and mules, a rate year by year.
Notice how ALL the kings of the earth came to visit Solomon to hear the wisdom or Word of God that was in Solomon’s heart. When they came, they brought great wealth with them to give to Solomon. Read again in amazement the things the richest men on earth gladly gave to Solomon; vessels of silver and gold (remember how God gave gold and other riches to Adam for expanding his heavenly circle?); raiment, harness, spices, horses and mules.
How much gold did the kings of the earth bring to Solomon to hear about the Word of God? In 1 Kings 10:14 we read:
Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred threescore and six talents of gold.
666 talents of gold came in just one year. That is equivalent to 25 tons of gold, which is 50,000 pounds. At today’s prices of gold, that gold would be worth nearly ONE BILLION DOLLARS. Imagine getting paid a billion dollars a year to tell others about the wisdom God has placed in your heart. Does that sound like a heavenly life to you???
What’s more, notice how they continually brought these riches to Solomon YEAR AFTER YEAR. This is what is known as RESIDUAL INCOME!!!
This is the kind of income Adam had in the Garden when the fruit trees continually produced food for him year after year without him having to replant new trees. Abel also enjoyed passive residual income year after year as his sheep reproduced, and those sheep eventually reproduced, who eventually reproduced., etc., etc.. When you work for God, He will give you residual income as well.
In a nutshell, here is the secret to the astonishing wealth of Solomon:
Solomon became rich by putting the wisdom of God into practice in his own life, and then taught others to do the same. That’s all you have to do as well. Solomon wanted to share his secrets of divine prosperity with others when he shared the following piece of advice in Proverbs 4:7:
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Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.
Wisdom comes from the Word of God. Solomon is saying to make the #1 focus of your life to gain understanding of God’s Word which will give you great wisdom. This wisdom will open the door for you to become rich in every area of your life. It’s really that simple.
Solomon got the people of Jerusalem to set aside their religious and other differences to become partners with the LORD in His business. The people gave freely of their time and money to build God the greatest temple in the world. Did God pay His people for their work? ABSOLUTELY! They became awash in gold. Consider this fact as it is revealed in 2 Chronicles1:15:
The king made silver and gold as common in Jerusalem as stones…
Does God want to make His people today awash in gold? Absolutely! God is not looking for a physical building today to dwell in, but a temple made up of human stones. Again quoting from 1 Peter 2:5:
Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.
If we born again Christians can put aside our differences and work together to make solid disciples (perfectly formed stones for the LORD’s temple), God will bless us as He blessed His people in the time of Solomon.
Satan has tricked most Christians today into thinking that they are too busy to meditate in the Word everyday so that he can keep them on the treadmill of the World’s System of Finances. Has he fed you this lie? Of course he has. If you will stop believing this lie and throw yourself wholeheartedly into God’s Word each day, and let it and the Holy Spirit transform you from the inside out, then God will be “Abel” to use you powerfully in the lives of others, just as He did with Solomon. You will be “Abel” to raise up priests, who in turn will raise up priests, etc., etc, until people from around the world will come to know JESUS. Those who are unjust today can come to know Christ because of you, and they will want to bless you with their wealth for helping them become saved and for helping them discover true peace and joy and the purpose for their life. Yes, the wealth that is currently in the hands of the unjust, will make it into the hands of those who help the unjust become just in the eyes of God.
In Isaiah 61:6, God tells what will happen to His people once they learn how His system of finances works:
And you will be called priests of the LORD, you will be named ministers of our God. You will feed on the wealth of nations, and in their riches you will boast. (NIV)
WOW! Did you see that? When you fulfill your role as a minister effectively, the riches of the entire world will come to YOU.
Now let me ask you a question. Have you ever heard a sermon on this verse (Isaiah 61:6)? I bet you haven’t. Why? Because it doesn’t make sense in the present day church structure. Does this promise apply to us who are in Christ? Paul had been asked if the promises in the Old Testament applied to the Christians in the New Testament, and his answer was:
For all the promises of God in Him are yea, and in Him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.
2 Corinthians 1:20
The current day church system has the idea that the only people who should get paid to work for God are those who go to Bible School and become full time ministers, but again, this is nowhere to be found in the Scriptures. Here is what the Scriptures do say about being paid to work with God:
Those who are taught the Word of God should help their teachers by paying them. (The Living Bible) Galatians 6:6
Even if you disciple one person, God wants to pay you. This is again confirmed in 1 Timothy 5:17-18 which states:
Elders who do their work well should be respected and paid well, especially those who work hard at both preaching and teaching. For the Scripture says, “You must not muzzle an ox to keep it from eating as it treads out the grain.” And in another place, “Those who work deserve their pay!” (New Living Translation)
Notice how the Holy Spirit commands that anyone, including you, should be paid well who does a great job of preaching (bringing others to the LORD) and teaching (making disciples of others). Notice how Paul uses two Scriptures to confirm the fact that God wants His people to be paid well for partnering with God in His business. The first verse is from the Old Testament revealing again that God’s plan to make us rich working with Him has not changed.
“You must not muzzle an ox to keep it from eating as it treads out the grain.” Deuteronomy 25:4
The truth revealed here is that we are like an ox working in God’s garden, and our mouths should not be hindered from partaking of all we want from the blessings of God’s business.
The second quotation Paul uses is from JESUS Himself who commands that all who partner with God should be paid well:
“Those who work deserve their pay!” Luke 10:7
In the world’s system, the more valuable the work that is performed, the higher the pay. Many sports figures and musicians get paid tens of millions of dollars per year, and no one complains. But what about the man or woman of God who saves people from going to hell for all eternity? Shouldn’t they get paid much more? Of course they should. It is the devil himself that gets us to feel indignant when a man or woman of God gets paid millions of dollars. As long as you allow the devil to make you feel this way, you are blocking the enormous blessings God has in store for you when you become an efficient vessel of His salvation.
Let’s look at another Scripture that confirms that God wants to pay you well for partnering with Him, which comes from 1 Corinthians 9:7-14
Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat of its grapes? Who tends a flock and does not drink of the milk? Do I say this merely from a human point of view? Doesn't the Law say the same thing? For it is written in the Law of Moses: "Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain." Is it about oxen that God is concerned? Surely he says this for us, doesn't he? Yes, this was written for us, because when the plowman plows and the thresher threshes, they ought to do so in the hope of sharing in the harvest. If we have sown spiritual seed among you, is it too much if we reap a material harvest from you? If others have this right of support from you, shouldn't we have it all the more?
Paul continues by saying…
Don't you know that those who work in the temple get their food from the temple, and those who serve at the altar share in what is offered on the altar? In the same way, the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel. (NIV)
Paul made several disciples. He trained them all to be paid ministers of the Gospel. This is what all ministers today are meant to be doing with their flock. One of those disciples was Timothy. Timothy was having trouble receiving a lot of money for preaching and teaching God’s Word, something Timothy would have gladly done for free, but Paul had to tell him that it was God’s will that he be paid well. Paul taught Timothy that it was God’s will to pay EVERY believer who taught the Word of God, and that EVERY believer is called to teach and preach it. Listen carefully to how Paul revealed to Timothy how the church should grow:
And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others.
2 Timothy 2:2
Did you get that? Timothy was to take the words of his mentor, Paul, and find reliable men to teach them to, who would in turn teach them to others, etc., etc., and each person gets paid for being a part of the God’s Multi-Generational Discipleship Plan. Do you see that? This, indeed, is how the New Testament Church operated. Please allow me to share with you a little church history here. For the first 300 years of the church, all churches were house churches. If you do a word study on the word “church”, you will see that every church referred to in the New Testament was a home-based church. Here are just a few of many references:
Acts 8:3
As for Saul, he made havock of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women committed them to prison.
Acts 20:20
And how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have shewed you, and have taught you publicly, and from house to house.
Romans 16:5
Likewise greet the church that is in their house. Salute my well- beloved Epaenetus, who is the firstfruits of Achaia unto Christ.
1 Corinthians 16:19
The churches of Asia salute you. Aquila and Priscilla salute you much in the Lord, with the church that is in their house.
Colossians 4:15
Salute the brethren which are in Laodicea, and Nymphas, and the church which is in his house.
Acts 5:42
And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ.
Acts 2:46
And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart.
The two verses above reveal that Christians not only met in small, intimate house churches, but they also met corporately in the temple for an area-wide meeting.
The person who hosted the church in their home was normally considered the pastor of the church. Each day when people would come to church, they would give their tithes and/or offerings to the pastor. The congregants would regularly be witnessing and bringing others to church. Whenever a visitor became born again, the person who brought them to Christ would then take on the assignment to teach that person in the Word until they became a solid disciple who was leading others to the LORD and discipling them.
Let’s say Peter led Bob to the LORD, and Peter began to disciple Bob. Every time Bob gave an offering to the pastor, the pastor would take a percentage of Bob’s offering and give it to Peter. This is only fair and it was the commandment of JESUS that a worker deserves his wages and should be paid accordingly.
When the house church couldn’t hold all the people that were coming, it would have to divide and multiply like a fertilized egg continually does. If Peter had made the most disciples, Peter’s pastor would ask Peter to start a church in his house. Peter would now be a pastor of his small flock and his income would rise to a new level. Soon, Peter’s house church would be bursting at the seams and he would ask Bob to take his disciples and start a new church in Bob’s house. Peter would now become an “overseer” of Bob’s church to see that Bob was teaching God’s Word correctly and that the church was growing as it should. Bob would keep a percentage of the income and pass the rest onto the head Bishop of the church, who would see that Peter got paid for being Bob’s “overseer” and all the “overseers” above Peter would be paid as well. This is essentially how all large, multilayered churches work today, except that they don’t recognize all believers as being paid priests.
Acts 20:28
Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.
Here we see that the ultimate purpose of an overseer is to make sure his flock (remember Abel?) be well fed.
1 Timothy 3:1
This is a true saying, if a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work.
Another word for “overseer” is “bishop”. A bishop is someone who is in charge of multiple congregations. Bishops were people who were making serious money partnering with God. Is it good to be ambitious in our work with God? Paul tells his disciple Timothy that it’s a good thing to strive to have your flock grow and to make a lot of money overseeing multiple house churches.
Titus 1:7
For a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God; not selfwilled, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy lucre;
Don’t seek to be a bishop until you are a model Christian. Make sure you are sold out to JESUS until you try to encourage others to be sold out to Him. And never go into business with God simply because of all the money you can make.
Titus 1:11
Whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucre's sake.
Because people were making so much money in the early church, it attracted those who had the wrong motives. Don’t go into partnership with God because of your love for money, because if you do, God will see that you ultimately fail. You should go into partnership with God because you want to see His kingdom prosper. Your personal prosperity should be your secondary goal, not your primary goal.
Acts 16:5
And so were the churches established in the faith, and increased in number daily.
When God’s Financial System is utilized, the church will prosper. In the early church, the number of house churches increased daily, even though Christians were being persecuted.
Acts 9:31
Then had the churches rest throughout all Judaea and Galilee and Samaria, and were edified; and walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost, were multiplied.
In places where the churches were not persecuted, they “multiplied”. That’s what will happen today as people return to God’s Financial System.
2 Corinthians 6:10
As sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.
Paul taught the New Testament Christians God’s Financial System and as a result, he helped MANY to become RICH! The current church system does not know how to interpret this verse so they try to say that it’s meaning is spiritual. If that were the correct interpretation, the verse would be saying that though Paul was spiritually poor, he made many spiritually rich. That could not be true because a spiritually poor person can not make anyone else to be spiritually rich. The truth is that Paul was poor at times because he was jailed for his beliefs, yet he continued to teach his churches by his
writings which caused MANY of its members to become financially RICH.
Luke 2:49
And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business?
In the above verse, JESUS reveals that His Heavenly Father is a Business Owner.
2 Corinthians 8:9
For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.
JESUS came for three primary reasons. The first reason was to die in our place so that we could be forgiven of our sins so that we could have an intimate relationship with our Heavenly Father both now and for all eternity. The second reason was for our health. By His stripes (or whippings), we can claim our physical healings. And the third main reason was so we could become rich. He gave up His riches in heaven to come to earth to become relatively poor, so that we might become rich.
2 Corinthians 9:11
You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.
God wants to make us rich not so that we can spend it on our flesh, but so that we can fund the Gospel and be a blessing to those in need. If your intention is to spend it on your flesh, you will ultimately fail.
So why does God want to have all His children be paid ministers of the Gospel? Let’s look at some of the reasons:
Studies show that the best way to learn anything is to teach it. God knows this which is why He calls all His children to be teachers of the Word. He wants us all to make disciples by teaching them the Word. As we teach the Word to our disciples, we will learn it better and live better lives as a result.
A recent poll revealed that less than 5% of Christians have ever led another person to Christ or made a disciple. People who are most likely to lead others to Christ or make disciples are paid ministers. If all Christians were to become paid ministers, Christianity would explode. God knows this, which is why He wants to partner with all Christians. This is why God’s Financial System was JESUS’ favorite topic. The devil also knows this which is why he has worked overtime on the church to cause believers to believe that there is something wrong with being paid for working with God.
Paid ministers are the least like of Christians to abandon their faith. They are the least likely to neglect fellowshipping with their fellow Christians. They are the most likely to study the Word and to pray each day. They are the most likely to use their finances to reach others for Christ.
The bottom line is that paid ministers make the most solid Christians. Isn’t God’s wisdom awesome?
If your heart and mind is open, stay tuned and you will see God’s plan clearer and clearer as we meditate in His Word each day together. If you hear God speaking to you through our program and the Holy Spirit leads you to partner with us, we will show you how to get paid well to share this program with others.
We will be faithful to God’s command to pay you when you disciple others in the Word. The more effective you are in doing this, the more you will get paid. Let’s hope you are able to do this as effectively as Solomon did it, and that you get paid as much as he did.
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