Sermon: The Gospel Cycle: Pt.2 God Pays Wages and Gives Divine Favor to His Reapers
The majority of Christians really struggle with believing that within God’s plan for their lives that He desires to make them rich. By rich I mean abundantly supplied in all things, including material wealth and substance---MONEY! In fact, God has established three basic methods of making His people rich—through (1) preaching the gospel of Christ to the lost; (2) financial giving—tithes and offerings—to Churches that feed the people with the Word of God, and to the poor; and (3) worshipping God through speaking in other tongues—a subject too deep for this series.
The primary way in which God seeks to make the Christian rich is through the preaching of the gospel to the lost. Those who obey Christ and leave their homes and church pews and seek the lost in the streets and communities of the world, and win them to Christ are paid wages by God. (John 4: 35-38 & Luke 14:23) God does not send money, houses, and lands down from heaven as payment for preaching the gospel—good Lord no, someone could get seriously injured if He did. Instead, God empowers the Reaper to prosper by using people and businesses in society to bless the Reaper with money, favors and opportunities, which enables the Reaper to amass wealth. The purpose of putting wealth in the Reapers hands is so they can establish the Lord’s covenant in the earth. (Deuteronomy 8:18)
It would help Christians gain confidence in this truth that God pays wages and makes Reapers rich, by increasing their understanding in the foundations of the Gospel message of Jesus Christ. You see, God never changes. (Malachi 3:6 Hebrews 13:8). There is a principal called the “law of first mention”—meaning major truths first mentioned in the Bible lay the foundation that are then carried throughout the Bible to fruition. So, in order to more fully understand the effects of preaching the gospel on the Reaper, we have to go back in scripture and see what happened to the Reaper when the gospel was first preached.
In Galatians 3:8-9, we learn from the Apostle Paul that the gospel of Christ was first preached to Abraham, as God among several promises, told him that through his seed all nations of the earth would be blessed. So we must examine how Abraham went about preaching the gospel to see how God treated him to understand—God, the gospel, and money. In Genesis 12:1-5, God told Abram (later God changed his name to Abraham) to leave his country, kindred, and his father’s house and go into land that He would show him. At the time, Abraham was 75-years old and his wife Sari (later renamed Sarah) could not conceive a child. Look at the promise God made to Abraham at Genesis 12: 2-3
And I will make of the a great nation, and I will bless thee,
and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And
I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth
thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
Wow what a promise! To Abraham, this was amazing news—too good to be true news from God. What Abraham desired more than anything was to have a child with Sarah, and God promised to not only bless their marriage with offspring, but that through His seed the Messiah would come and bless all families from every nation on the earth. Abraham fully understood the meaning of the words “I will bless thee…and make you a blessing.” He understood the blessing, which comes from God causes a man to become rich. (Proverbs 10:22) Moreover, Abraham was overjoyed that a child coming through his bloodline would someday be responsible for seeing to it that every family on the earth would be blessed—made rich! This was super good news! Abraham not only had himself in mind, but cared about every family throughout their generations being made rich!
So in verses 4-5, look at what Abraham did. He departed from Haran where he resided—not with just himself and Sarah, but with a whole throng of people! Abraham preached the good news to his nephew Lot and his family, and all of the souls they had gathered in Haran. He told literally thousands of people about the promise, including the parents of at least 318-trained servants that were born in his home, as well as the families of the trained soldiers. (Genesis 14:14). Thereafter, God greatly prospered Abraham as He promised. After obeying God and leaving Haran with the souls he gathered, God made Abraham very rich. (Genesis 13:1-2) In Genesis 14:20-24, after the battle with the five kings in returning Lot from capture, Abraham served to be a blessing to others as God promised he would be. He gave tithes to Melchizedek (priest of the most high God), and the great spoils from the battle to the men who accompanied him into battle. At the end of Abraham’s life he possessed a massive amount of wealth, which even his own servant gave testimony. (Genesis 24:1, 35)
Now back to Galatians 3:9, the Apostle Paul said that anyone that is of faith in Jesus Christ is blessed with faithful Abraham. In other words, everyone who believes in Jesus Christ, and will go forth and preach the gospel to the lost will be blessed in like manner to Abraham—made rich! Most Christians do not understand that Jesus Christ died on the cross so that every person could receive the blessing of Abraham, which is intended to make them rich! (Galatians 3:13-14, II Corinthians 8:9, and Ephesians 2: 4-7)
If you have faith in Jesus Christ and His finished works on the cross, you are blessed with faithful Abraham and the same as the Children of Abraham. (Galatians 3:6-7) Just begin preaching the gospel to the lost and win souls to Christ, and the blessing of Abraham will cause money, favor, and promotion come your way. When you see and think of the cross of Christ, go beyond your understanding that Jesus died for the sins of the world, and believe that He died to make you and every person rich—so that you can freely give to the poor and needy and advance the work of the kingdom of God.