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The False Gospel of Prosperity
David Wilkerson

David Wilkerson (1931 - 2011). American Pentecostal pastor, evangelist, and author born in Hammond, Indiana. Raised in a family of preachers, he was baptized with the Holy Spirit at eight and began preaching at 14. Ordained in 1952 after studying at Central Bible College, he pastored small churches in Pennsylvania. In 1958, moved by a Life Magazine article about New York gang violence, he started a street ministry, founding Teen Challenge to help addicts and troubled youth. His book "The Cross and the Switchblade," co-authored in 1962, became a bestseller, chronicling his work with gang members like Nicky Cruz. In 1987, he founded Times Square Church in New York City, serving a diverse congregation until his death. Wilkerson wrote over 30 books, including "The Vision," and was known for bold prophecies and a focus on holiness. Married to Gwen since 1953, they had four children. He died in a car accident in Texas. His ministry emphasized compassion for the lost and reliance on God. Wilkerson’s work transformed countless lives globally. His legacy endures through Teen Challenge and Times Square Church.
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Sermon Summary
In this sermon, the preacher highlights the dire state of the world, with one billion people near starvation and millions unemployed. He emphasizes the persecution faced by God's chosen people, who are losing everything they possess. The preacher questions whether Christians have been deceived by teachings that prioritize self and prosperity, and urges them to turn to the true gospel of Jesus. He contrasts the gospel of gain, which promises forgiveness without repentance, with the teachings of Jesus, who blesses the poor, the hungry, and those who are persecuted. The preacher warns against seeking material wealth and emphasizes the importance of valuing and helping the poor.
Sermon Transcription
The Redeemer of Zion is going to come. He's going to judge the carnality. He's going to judge our wickedness. He's going to judge our covetousness. And He's going to judge all the mockery of the truth of Jesus Christ in these last days. I ask you now in thanksgiving for a season right now. Come on now, if not in season 10, I tell you, what season? Satan is prevailing. You and I know that the kingdom hell will never prevail against the church of Jesus Christ, as it is. But is He prevailing for a season now? Has Satan established a feature in the church, a strong hurdle? Are many, many of God's chosen being deceived? Satan will come with another gospel, the Bible says. And Paul told us exactly how he's going to come against God's holy people to try to deceive them. We're not talking about homosexuals and drug addicts now. We're talking about preachers of the gospel. For Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore, it's no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness. For that's awesome. Many will come in these last days to oppose the apostles, to seek the workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. Satan's stronghold in the church in the last days is a host of teachers and ministers who have been transformed by a gospel of the flesh. They have come to us as the Lord's most enlightened ministers. They sound just like the preachers of the gospel. They freely use the name of Jesus. They speak of righteousness. They use the scripture. They cast out devils. They heal the sick. And the Lord's made them do many wonderful works. But the message is not of God. It's another gospel. It's a deception. It's a defection. It's not of the Spirit. And right now, these false doctrines of Satan are prevailing in the church in many areas. Multitudes of God's people are walking to conventions and meetings to hear this other gospel. This gospel of self and prosperity and success. The gospel of the flesh is riding high in the church. Come on, Christian, wake up! Are you and I being deceived? Have we been trapped into the teachings of an angel of light from Satan? Are you being swept away by this flood that the prophets told us would sweep the church as we're seeking to prevail? Get into God's Word and hear the true gospel of Jesus and begin to judge not what we hear here. And compare what Jesus said to what they are saying. The scripture proves God has shattered the doubt that Satan's new flood, his new gospel is. Satan is godliness. Satan is godliness. Listen to this. Clearly, if you don't hear anything else, I say hear this now. It's a compromising message without repentance or godliness. It promises forgiveness without repentance. All we offer people now is forgiveness. Turn on your television, listen. Godliness and forgiveness is all offered freely. No repentance. It's a gospel of gain. It's based on the supposition that the godlier you are, the more gain you have. Oh, listen to Paul's frightful warning. If any man seeks otherwise, even other than the words of our Lord Jesus and to the doctrine which is according to godliness, that man is crowned. He knows nothing. He gets the truth of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness. Paul cried out, turn away from them. Turn away from this other gospel. You want to hear the true gospel, Christian? You want to hear what Jesus really said? In this day and age of success and prosperity preaching, you want to know what the gospel says? Are you interested? Here it is from the words of our Master himself. Blessed be ye poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are ye that hunger, for you shall be filled. Blessed are you that feed not, for you shall last. Blessed are ye when men shall hate you, and they shall separate you from their company, and they shall reproach you, and cast out your name of evil for the blood of man's sake. Now here is what the gospel says about people in these modern times in the church who are seeking after material things. From the lips of Jesus himself. Woe unto you that seek to be rich, for you have received your consolation. Woe unto you that are full, for you shall hunger. Woe unto you that last night out, for you shall mourn and weep. Woe unto you when all men shall speak well of you, for so did the fathers to the false prophets. The gospel of Cain despises poverty. It rejects and despises the poor. Listen to what Cain says. He says, but ye have despised the poor. You say unto him that's prosperous and dressed best with the gold rings and the fine apparel. Sit up here in the good place. And to the poor you say, sit here in the low place. Sit at the footstool. This is a gospel of partiality to the prosperous and successful. It is an indictment against the poor to whom Jesus ministered. It exalts prosperity and success. Cain said, are you not partial? Hath not God chosen the poor of this world, rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom? And for you preachers of the gospel who try to tell me that he became poor, that we can become rich in houses and lands? You don't know your Bible. There it is. It says, hath not God chosen the poor? Rest in peace. How blind is the turd today. How blind! Is this a gospel for a dying world? Cain is godliness. Faith is for prosperity. Poor people lack faith. Christ became poor so that we can be rich in material goods. He came to give us abundant life. Is abundant life supposed to be wealthy goods? No, that's eternal life. Abundant life is the fullness. You and I don't have the life. We have just the seed. The life is encapsulated in that seed. And one day we're going to have abundant life, and that's eternal life in Jesus. We don't have it now. We're going to get it then. One billion people on this earth are near starvation. The heart of Jesus is breaking over the sight of weeping mothers and poor starving babies with their bloated stomachs. Millions are unemployed. The ends of the world are coming down on us. The world's headed for Armageddon. Our cities in America and Canada about to explode again in riots. Persecution and stipulations are coming. The Bible says the elements are going to melt with the fervent heat. The world's on fire. All over the world, God's chosen people are being jailed and being persecuted. They're losing all they possess. They're taking joyfully the sporting of their goods. And you tell me that God's going to send a man of God to tell me that I have a right to be rich? Was that a man of God who comes to me in the face of a starving world and says, You can be rich, you can be prosperous, you can have a bigger car, you can have a better home. What's happened to us? How blind can we be? You say that's an American message. No, it's speaking all over Canada right now. We got it all wrong. The rich man went to hell, the poor man went to hell. From such turn away. These preachers have no burden for repentance. They don't preach against sin. They offer blessings without sorrow. They are accumulators of this world's good. They accumulate. So the preachers say, I have to be successful. I have to drive a nice car. I have to prove what I'm preaching. Makes me want to cry. Amos the prophet cried out, Woe to them that are ease and science, Unconcerned about the evil day ahead. They lie upon beds of ivory, They set themselves upon their couches, And they eat the lambs of the flock, And they drink wine in bowls. And they are not free from the afflictions of Joseph. They are not free. And I shudder to think of standing before the judgment seat of Jesus Christ, Having preached that kind of a message.
The False Gospel of Prosperity
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David Wilkerson (1931 - 2011). American Pentecostal pastor, evangelist, and author born in Hammond, Indiana. Raised in a family of preachers, he was baptized with the Holy Spirit at eight and began preaching at 14. Ordained in 1952 after studying at Central Bible College, he pastored small churches in Pennsylvania. In 1958, moved by a Life Magazine article about New York gang violence, he started a street ministry, founding Teen Challenge to help addicts and troubled youth. His book "The Cross and the Switchblade," co-authored in 1962, became a bestseller, chronicling his work with gang members like Nicky Cruz. In 1987, he founded Times Square Church in New York City, serving a diverse congregation until his death. Wilkerson wrote over 30 books, including "The Vision," and was known for bold prophecies and a focus on holiness. Married to Gwen since 1953, they had four children. He died in a car accident in Texas. His ministry emphasized compassion for the lost and reliance on God. Wilkerson’s work transformed countless lives globally. His legacy endures through Teen Challenge and Times Square Church.