3John 1:2  Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.

Just note that the prosperity referred to here in 3 John 2 is to prosper in many areas of life not just financial. The third chapter of Proverbs give us great insight into how to prosper and be in health and how to prosper your soul.

Proverbs 3:1-5  My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments: For length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee. Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart: So shalt thou find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man. Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.

We trust in the Lord by doing or keeping His Word. To the best of our ability, we do or carry out what God has asked us to do. We give and forgive, we walk in love, we speak in tongues and in all things, we endeavor to keep Him and His Word first as our standard for believing and living.

Proverbs 3:6-11  In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil. It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones. Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase: So shall thy barns (storehouses) be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine.  My son, despise not the chastening of the LORD; neither be weary of his correction:

Interesting:  These verses deal with health and prosperity the same as 3 John 2. Note that these verses with regards to prosperity, the principle stated is to honor the Lord. In other words, take it to the temple. Second, they were to have a place to store the increase that God gave them. In their case, as an agricultural society, they were to have barns (storehouses). We might have savings account/storehouses for the abundance that God gives because of our giving.

In our walk, our life with God, we sometimes will need major and minor corrections in our course. It is like driving a car. To keep the car on course, it takes hundreds of minor corrections to keep it on the right road and to avoid danger.

Proverbs 3:12-13  For whom the LORD loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth. Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding.

The word “happy” in verse 13 is the same as the word “blessed” used in the first Psalm. Note here, too, that “blessed – happy” relates to prospering in whatsoever you do.

Psalm 1:1-3  Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.

The man here in Psalm 1 is prospering his soul as 3 John 2 says by delighting in the Word of God day and night. This is similar to if not the same as “seek ye first the kingdom of God” or “as thy soul prospereth”. How do we delight in the Word of God? By reminding ourselves during the day that we are the children of God, that we are set apart from the world by the work of Jesus Christ, that we are righteous, that our lives with our Father and Lord Jesus Christ are just beginning and that we have a long future ahead of us. We delight in these truths.

Proverbs 3:14-15  For the merchandise of it (wisdom) is better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold. She ( the wisdom of God’s Word) is more precious than rubies: and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her.

Every place you read “She” or “Her” in this chapter, it is a figure of speech where the wisdom of God is referred to as a woman.

Proverbs 3:16  Length of days (health) is in her right hand; and in her left hand riches and honour (prosperity).

Once again, it is the same as God’s great desire in 3 John 2 to prosper and be in health. And the key to these two things is to cling to, to delight in the wisdom of God and keep His Word first in our lives.

Proverbs 3:17-19  Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace. She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her: and happy is every one that retaineth her. The LORD by wisdom hath founded the earth; by understanding hath he established the heavens.

The wisdom of God that we are encouraged here to learn and live by is very great and powerful. God’s wisdom is so great and powerful it founded the earth and established the heavens. So, living according to the wisdom of God can give you a long peaceful life and great prosperity.

Proverbs 3:20-26  By his knowledge the depths are broken up, and the clouds drop down the dew. My son, let not them ( the wise words of God) depart from thine eyes: keep sound wisdom and discretion: So shall they be life unto thy soul, and grace to thy neck. Then shalt thou walk in thy way safely, and thy foot shall not stumble. When thou liest down, thou shalt not be afraid: yea, thou shalt lie down, and thy sleep shall be sweet. Be not afraid of sudden fear, neither of the desolation of the wicked, when it cometh. For the LORD shall be thy confidence, and shall keep thy foot from being taken.

God gives a great many promises in this chapter to those that love Him and keep His Word first in their hearts. This chapter could be considered a key to unlocking the door of The Prosperous Life.

Live long and prosper.

Lack of funds to meet current debt, bills and long-range obligations has been a problem for a couple of thousand years for God’s people. That is how we would classify poverty.

As I have looked at the subject of prosperity, the verse in 3 John 2 has interested me.

3 John 1:2-4 Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth. For I rejoiced greatly, when the brethren came and testified of the truth that is in thee, even as thou walkest in the truth. I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.

I wondered why did God pick health and prosperity? He could have said, “Beloved, I wish above all things that you walk in love, renew your minds, forgive one another, manifest the spirit I gave you at the time of the new birth or many other perhaps more spiritual things. But He chose health and prosperity. Why?

In these two areas, our enemy, the devil, has great leverage to afflict God’s people/children. As we will see, God set forth the pattern to overcome these problems years ago.

The first thing to note here in 3 John, verse 2, is that the two verses that follow this speak of God having no greater joy than to hear that His children walk in truth. So that health and prosperity here are tied in verse 2 and verse 4 with walking with God.

This is a large subject, and I am only going to attempt to scratch the surface here. To start, I want to go back to the Pentateuch, but we need a verse from Galatians first.

Galatians 3:13 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:

What was the curse of the law that Christ redeemed us from? Well, those curses are listed in Deuteronomy 28. They are divided into two categories.

Curses Financially

Deuteronomy 28:15-20  But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee: Cursed shalt thou be in the city, and cursed shalt thou be in the ffield.  Cursed shall be thy basket and thy store. Cursed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy land, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep. Cursed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and cursed shalt thou be when thou goest out. The LORD shall send upon thee cursing, vexation, and rebuke, in all that thou settest thine hand unto for to do, until thou be destroyed, and until thou perish quickly; because of the wickedness of thy doings, whereby thou hast forsaken me.

Deuteronomy 28:38-40 Thou shalt carry much seed out into the field, and shalt gather but little in; for the locust shall consume it. Thou shalt plant vineyards, and dress them, but shalt neither drink of the wine, nor gather the grapes; for the worms shall eat them. Thou shalt have olive trees throughout all thy coasts, but thou shalt not anoint thyself with the oil; for thine olive shall cast his fruit.

Curses for Health

Deuteronomy 28:22  The LORD shall smite thee with a consumption, and with a fever, and with an inflammation, and with an extreme burning, and with the sword, and with blasting, and with mildew; and they shall pursue thee until thou perish.

Deuteronomy 28:27-29 The LORD will smite thee with the botch of Egypt, and with the emerods, and with the scab, and with the itch, whereof thou canst not be healed. The LORD shall smite thee with madness, and blindness, and astonishment of heart:  And thou shalt grope at noonday, as the blind gropeth in darkness, and thou shalt not prosper in thy ways: and thou shalt be only oppressed and spoiled evermore, and no man shall save thee.

Deuteronomy 28:35 The LORD shall smite thee in the knees, and in the legs, with a sore botch that cannot be healed, from the sole of thy foot unto the top of thy head.

Conclusion of the Curses.

Deuteronomy 28:45 Moreover all these curses shall come upon thee, and shall pursue thee, and overtake thee, till thou be destroyed; because thou hearkenedst not unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which he commanded thee:

Our subject is prosperity, and, in these verses, we see that poverty is a curse.

God’s great desire for His people, His children and His family is health and prosperity. God’s archenemy, the devil, desires for all God’s children to be sickly and poverty stricken. In this same chapter, God lists out the blessings that will be ours if we walk with Him and obey Him.

Blessings for Finances and Health

(Notice that these blessings are contingent upon listening to and doing His commandments)

Deuteronomy 28:1-14  And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth: And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God. Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field. Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep. Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store. Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out. The LORD shall cause thine enemies that rise up against thee to be smitten before thy face: they shall come out against thee one way, and flee before thee seven ways. The LORD shall command the blessing upon thee in thy storehouses, and in all that thou settest thine hand unto; and he shall bless thee in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. The LORD shall establish thee an holy people unto himself, as he hath sworn unto thee, if thou shalt keep the commandments of the LORD thy God, and walk in his ways. And all people of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of the LORD; and they shall be afraid of thee. And the LORD shall make thee plenteous in goods, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy ground, in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers to give thee. The LORD shall open unto thee his good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in his season, and to bless all the work of thine hand: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow. And the LORD shall make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath; if that thou hearken unto the commandments of the LORD thy God, which I command thee this day, to observe and to do them: And thou shalt not go aside from any of the words which I command thee this day, to the right hand, or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them.

One of the things we learn here is that God is extremely interested in seeing His children healthy and prosperous. So much so that part of what Jesus Christ paid for was to redeem us from the curse of the law, the curse of poverty and ill health. What a blessing!

But remember, nothing comes automatically. The promises of God are available to us by our believing them. Even the first of the promises, salvation, comes by confessing the Lord Jesus with the mouth and BELIEVING in your heart that God raised him from the dead.

We bring these promises into our lives the same way. We see them come to pass in our lives as we trust/believe that God will do as He has said.

Now, some may say, “Well, that is all Old Testament under the law. We are not under the law anymore nor are we of the tribes of Israel.”  True, but just as God’s desire for health and prosperity for us is laid out in 3 John 2, He laid out His instruction for the same to His people in Deuteronomy. A couple of verses in Romans and 1 John may help.

Romans 13:8-10  Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. 

 1 John 5:2-3  By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.

Israel under the law, was to hear, to do and to keep, all God’s commandments to see the blessings come to pass in their lives. Our commandment is that we walk in the love of God. By walking in love, we have fulfilled the law.

We saw in 3 John 2 that the great desire of God is that His children prosper and be in health even as our souls prosper.

Prosperity and health have been issues for people ever since the fall of Adam because our adversary, the devil, hates the children of God. In a fallen world, where the devil is the god of this world, God sets out in His Word how to live a prosperous and healthy life. This is the great desire of our Father for us.

This study answered the question for me as to why God chose prosperity and health in 3 John 2 to be the two great things God desired for His children as their souls prosper.  What a loving Father we have. What a wonderful piece of understanding to add to our believing about The Prosperous Life.

1Timothy 4:1-5  Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth. For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving: For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.

A certain Christian group would have many fewer lawsuits if they allowed certain of their leaders to marry. Where did this forbidding of church leaders to marry come from? Doctrines or teachings of devils.

Some groups forbid the eating of certain types of meat, and some secular groups forbid the eating of meat altogether. Where did this teaching come from? Doctrines of devils. Teachings from misguided souls that listened to the wrong source.

I read a short book the other day written by a preacher much older than I that said he grew up in a denomination that said, “God, you keep him (talking about the preacher) humble, and we will keep him poor.”

Where did this teaching that having money was wrong come from? Same as the others. Doctrines or teachings of devils. Since the first and second century, the church has taught that to have money at all was evil. That the pious have renounced all worldly goods. That if you desire more than the needs for the week, you are greedy. God must have changed because God did not present poverty as a virtue in the Old Testament. For instance:

Genesis 24:35 And the LORD hath blessed my master (Abraham) greatly; and he is become great: and he (God) hath given him flocks, and herds, and silver, and gold, and menservants, and maidservants, and camels, and asses.

Job 42:10 And the LORD turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends: also the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before.

2Chronicles 32:29 Moreover he (Hezekiah) provided him cities, and possessions of flocks and herds in abundance: for God had given him substance very much.

If you think that God only prospered certain people that He especially loved and you are not good enough or lovable enough, consider this:

 Romans 2:11 For there is no respect of persons with God.

In the book of Proverbs, God would be addressing all His family, and there He states:

Proverbs 8:21 That I may cause those that love me to inherit substance; and I will fill their treasures (storehouses).

In the last book of the Old Testament, God reminds us:

 Malachi 3:6 For I am the LORD, I change not; ….

Toward the end of the New Testament, God again reminds us of another great truth:

3John 1:2 Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.

Health and prosperity are the two great areas where the devil attacks God’s children. But no matter how much you have been attacked by the devil in these two areas, you have the right to reach out and claim your God-given heritage.

The idea of having a lot of money being sinful started as early as 100 AD and came into its own around 300 AD. Here are several quotes from the early church fathers:

You are not making a gift of your possession to the poor person. You are handing over to him what is his.  Ambrose of Milan, 340-397 AD

Not to enable the poor to share in our goods is to steal from them and deprive them of life. The goods we possess are not ours but theirs.      John Chrysostom, 347-407 AD

Instead of the tithes which the law commanded, the Lord said to divide everything we have with the poor. And he said to love not only our neighbors but also our enemies, and to be givers and sharers not only with the good but also to be liberal givers toward those who take away our possessions.  Irenaeus, 130-200 AD

The rich are in possession of the goods of the poor, even if they have acquired them honestly or inherited them legally. John Chrysostom, 347-407 AD

Now you can see better where this poverty teaching in the church comes from. It came from twisting the scriptures to a devilish end. Our Father is the same today as He was in the days of Abraham, Job and Hezekiah. He is the Lord God, and He does not change. He desires above all things that we prosper and be in health as we keep Him first and love Him in our lives.

2 Peter 3:16-18 As also in all his epistles, speaking in them concerning these things. (In them some things are hard to be understood, which the unlearned and unstable twist around, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures unto their own destruction.) You, therefore, beloved, since you have foreknown these things, watch so that you are not led astray by the delusion of the lawless ones and fall from your own steadfastness. Instead, grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and unto the day of the age. Amen. (WTJ)

The more you look at what God actually said in His Word, you can see His desire for you is to prosper and He wants to fill your storehouses with good things.

So, if you have begun to tithe/give and save as God teaches in His Word, you might find some good books on how to save, invest and become a good steward of the wealth your Father has in store for you.

Learning to look at God’s Word for yourself for your doctrine is all part of The Prosperous Life.