PROSPERITY
PROSPERITY
1 Corinthians 16: 1, 2; 3 John 1-14
I wish to speak about prosperity. The first feature of what I have to say stands, as you will observe, in connection with “the collection for the saints”. None are more worthy of it; but my main thought is prosperity as it stands in this connection. The verse read contains one of the ‘concernings’ in the epistle, and it is in relation to the collection. The word “concerning” affords a certain heading for subjects in the letter, which is a lengthy epistle subdivided into subjects introduced by this word, as if it were needful either because the saints had written to the apostle about some matter, or because he knew of the conditions requiring to be dealt with. As it is always in the history of the saints, there are things that are distressing from time to time, such as are called a “present necessity” in chapter 7. What the “present necessity” in these parts is I am not undertaking to say, but this epistle furnishes us with an example of how current necessities or consequent ones have to be dealt with in an authoritative sense; because the idea of authority must have place, and we have the authority, not by human appointment, but by the Lord, as He says in the gospel of Mark: “having... given to his bondmen the authority” (Mark 13: 34). That is, there is only one. It came from God through Christ and it extends to the bondmen; not simply to the apostles but to the bondmen, those who are entirely subservient to the will of God. It works out through appointed vessels, for the apostle in this epistle says that if anyone takes the place of being spiritual, or a prophet, “Let him recognise the things that I write to you, that it is the Lord’s commandment” (1 Corinthians 14: 37). You could hardly get two words put together more pungent in that sense: the “Lord’s commandment”; not simply Christ’s commandment, but the Lord’s. So that what comes in the way of authority on this principle is to be observed, and if it be resisted or disregarded in any way it implies penalty. Let us not exclude the idea of penalty in this present dispensation; if it is not executed now it may be deferred. Deferred penalty remains; it is only a matter of time. So that in this epistle we have deferred penalty: “If any one love not the Lord Jesus Christ let him be Anathema Maranatha”, that is, when the Lord comes. It is deferred.
Well, the verse read in chapter 16 has a “concerning”, and it is the heading of a certain subject, namely, the collection for the saints. It is not just “a collection”, the object left hanging in the air. Is it for the levites, or for the saints? Is it for the needy? Well, it is for the saints here. There are no more worthy persons, and the thought ought to stimulate us as to the collection. Having the idea of prosperity in mind, I would point out, dear brethren, that the apostle is practical in connecting it with time, and with defined time: the first day of the week. That gives the first day of the week a certain status, though not an official or legal one. The Lord’s day has its status too, but it is not the day that the apostle brings into this verse. That day is only mentioned once in the Scriptures. We might have expected that as the apostle was dealing with this matter in a formal sense he would have brought in the Lord’s day; but he does not, he brings in the first day of the week. John brings in the Lord’s day, and it is a confirmed day because he was characterized by it. Whatever we deal with as representing the mind of God or the mind of heaven needs confirmation, and so the Lord’s day needs confirmation, that is to say, in the sense of subjective confirmation. John did not specify what he meant when he said he was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day. If anyone had [p. 122] been there he would have had confirmation of it. If anyone had said to him, John, explain to us the Lord’s day; can you point it out on the calendar? he would have said, No; there is no almanac that has it; no calendar has it. What authority has it then? How is it to be understood? We have according to Galatians that the assemblies in Galatia — of which there were more than one — observed days and months and times and years. If we were to enquire from any assembly in Galatia as to any given day, Why do you keep this day? we should probably have the answer, Well, it is a very recognized matter here, not simply by one of us but generally; and so in regard to the months that are kept, and the times and the years, it is very definite. Yet these designations of time are not confirmed in any spiritual sense at all. Years have rolled by and the days and the months and the times and the years have been added to ecclesiastically, but with no spiritual confirmation. Now it is clear from the epistle to the Galatians that we are, as Christians, to be free of all that. We are to be free of what has no spiritual confirmation or, I might add, scriptural authority. But when John uses the expression “the Lord’s day”, were I with him I would enquire as to his meaning. He says, “I became in the Spirit on the Lord’s day”. Suppose I had been with him on that particular day and seen how he acted on it, how he spent it, what occupied him, I should have some impression as to what the day meant. There was a subjective confirmation of it; one man, anyway, was in the Spirit on it. But the Galatians had no such confirmation, and I speak of it in this way, dear brethren, so that we might in a very practical way be free of these days and months and times and years, of which the apostle spoke. They have become so numerous and extensive that they have involved the whole world system, as I might say, with no confirmation from the Lord. If [p. 123] we are to be taken up with them we shall be engulfed with them. But you may say, Why should the apostle say elsewhere to the Roman Christians that one brother may observe a day and another brother not, but regard every day alike? One brother observes and another does not. Why should the apostle admit of these things at Rome and not in the Galatian assemblies? The simple fact is that the apostle’s letter to the Romans is setting up, among other things, individual Christianity. He is telling them that there is such a thing as having faith and having it to yourself; there is such a thing as one brother observing a day and another not. Why should he be allowing that? Well, it is to bring out the flexibility of the truth in certain applications of it, that the persons believing in it are of immense importance to heaven, every one of them. That is to say, each is a Christian; each is a brother; Christ has died for him. He has no personal friends in his special exercises, he has no conferences, he is of no party, he has no following, he is not influencing anyone into his way of thinking. He is in principle in the realm of the Spirit, the realm of faith, which God has inaugurated: “Jesus the leader and completer of faith”. The apostle is making much of everyone that has faith, making much of him by himself; he is so valuable, even the weak brother, for whom Christ died. And so we have this first day of the week. Is the apostle telling the Corinthians that they are to mark it on the almanac to be observed as the sun rises on that particular day? No, he is not meaning that at all; he is not speaking of legal observances. He is implying in what he directs them to do as to the collection for the saints that there is such a day as the first day of the week and that they know and recognize it. It is not binding them, it is not a party matter, it is Christianity. It involves Christian sentiment,
[p. 124] if I may stress that expression, for why should we not have sentiment? What would we be without it? The Spirit of God in each of us promotes such a thing as that, He witnesses to each one in himself that he is one of God’s children. He is making much of the individuality of the saints. And then He brings in the collection and He says that it is to be on the first day of the week; He does not say on the Lord’s day. Why should He not say the Lord’s day? He uses in chapter 11 the very same type of expression, only instead of the Lord’s day it is the Lord’s supper. It is the dominical day, a very beautiful thought, that is, the day that is characterized, not by Christ, but by the Lord, by what belongs to Him. This day belongs to the Lord. It is a question of what each individual saint makes of it. It is no matter of a national day nor of a local day, nor of a local position or holiday. It is a day that belongs to the Lord. How does it belong to the Lord? The trains run as usual, thousands of things happen as usual. These things do not afford any suggestion of authority for the day, and they are likely to influence those that do afford such suggestion. I am seeking to bring out the greatness of a Christian, weak though he be — what he effects by his estimate of the day, that it is the Lord’s day; it belongs to the Lord. There is such a thing as that, that heaven is intervening and taking on that day. But how? Not by appointing it officially or legally. It is established in one man, John the prophet. He says it was that to him. Nobody else says so, showing what one Christian may effect as he responds to what is presented to him subjectively. He confirms it, that there is such a thing as that as an actual fact, in a confirmatory way and in an enjoyable way, for what confirms me in heaven is enjoyable. As I said, the apostle Paul uses the same expression without the word ‘day’ for the dominical supper. These [p. 125] are precious thoughts and have confirmation in persons. No one person can keep the Lord’s supper, it is a collective thought; but the observance of the Lord’s day is not necessarily collective, it is an individual matter. John expresses it when in the isle of Patmos as a prisoner. The prison does not express it, no, indeed! but John does.
But here in 1 Corinthians 16 it is not the dominical day, it is “the first day of the week”, and I wish to enlarge on that for a moment, dear brethren, because of its bearing as over against the Lord’s day. The Lord’s day is in time, and obviously it will have no place eternally. There will be the day of the Lord, but that will be introductory, involving judgment. There will be the day of God too, and the day of eternity. But the Lord’s day is a term that is not applied save as to an individual Christian, a very remarkable fact, and I want to be one of those Christians in confirming that there is such a day. It is a special day to me; if it cannot be carried out externally, it is a real thing to me in my soul, as it was to John. He was not causing that the prison where he was should keep it; he made no suggestion of such a thing. It was in himself. But the first day of the week is brought in here, in 1 Corinthians 16, as to how it is to be carried out in the affections of each individual saint. The point is not that he is going to break bread on that day, it is something else that he is going to do, and it refers to temporal matters, to money. It refers to money that he has been prospered with, not to a legacy. Understand, I am using words designedly to make the thing clear. It is not exactly what is ‘left’ to a man, although that might be included; it is a question of his prosperity, that in which he is prospered in the ordering of God. It does not say in the original that God has prospered him, the idea is that he is a prospered person; and his prosperity has to do with the collection,
[p. 126] and it is to be affected by the first day of the week. That is to say, he is a brother who has spiritual sentiment. He is looking on into eternal things. The steward that the Lord brings forward in Luke 16 had in mind eternal habitations; he knew that his money or whatever material wealth he had would have no value in eternal habitations; but he used what came to him by his own cleverness in view of a latter day. “Eternal tabernacles” is the expression the Lord uses, and He wants us to become familiar with Scriptural expressions. “Eternal tabernacles” — what a thought that is! What an incentive as outlook! What greatness we are coming into! We are going to be received there. You do not want to have to knock at the door or present your credentials; the idea is that we shall be “received” into eternal habitations. The Lord Jesus was received up in glory, and so are we to be received. The poor man Lazarus was received: he was carried by the angels into the bosom of Abraham. What a thought that is! What a reception it suggests! Carried into Abraham’s bosom: may we not dwell on it as indicating how we are to be received? The idea of the bosom of the Father — the Lord Jesus is said to be there, in the bosom of the Father, that is His place; but what a thought that we are loved as the Son is loved! What a prospect! How it should affect us as regards what we are earning, and what we are doing with what we are earning in a material sense.
Now “collection” is the word used here, and it is used twice. The apostle says there is to be none “when I come”, no collection, meaning that it was no authoritative matter. It was not the Lord’s day as such he had in his mind, it was the first day of the week. He is assuming that the saints are going to be affected by what he is writing. And so the question is as to the prosperity and what is accruing [p. 127] from it, what use is being made of that with which each is prospered? It is not said that God prospers us, but right Christian sentiment and understanding would say, It is God’s prosperity; it is material blessing that God affords us. Perhaps you say, I applied for a position and I got it and I lost it. Why should you lose it? But perhaps you say, I got a position through prayer. A Christian who has the first day of the week in mind, who enters into the spirit of the first day of the week and is thinking of eternal habitations, such a man is having to do with God about his matters and he prays. Such a man would say, I made a sale through prayer; I made a purchase through prayer; I am accustomed to doing things that way and I am prospered. Can I leave God out of that? I do not leave God out, I am in the strongest way bringing Him in. I am not thinking of losing the position, I am thinking of what I am going to do with the proceeds, with the prosperity; I am with God. I am not going to reckon on the basis of Monday morning, or of rent day, or tax day; I am going to reckon on the basis of the first day of the week.
I think you understand me, dear brethren. I am not seeking to interest the natural mind; but that in this matter God is thinking about local conditions and general conditions, and about persons and the whole assembly; and He is thinking of how the proceeds are to be used. Is the enquiry on our side: Will it mean an increased number of dresses or cars, or increased importance in business circles or in acquiring neighbours? No, that will not do. It is a question of the first day of the week, and of being surrounded, as Hebrews 12 says, with a great “cloud of witnesses”. That is on this first day of the week; John and Paul and Peter and all the saints come into the cloud of witnesses; not that they are looking on, but they are witnesses to this great [p. 128] matter, and we are going to be caught up together with them to be with the Lord. I am thinking of that, of being like Christ forever, of being amongst the sons of God and He in the midst of us. There is a great cloud of witnesses and I want to be with them, to add to the cloud, because everybody that is affected by any particular testimony adds to the witnesses. “For in the power of this the elders have obtained testimony” (Hebrews 11: 2): that is the idea, the elders. And so I am affected in this way and so are all the brethren. It is the first day of the week we are thinking of, it is that particular day, and I have sentiment about it. I have a long outlook, I am looking on to eternity, to the eternal day. So if I am requested to work on the Lord’s day, and I should get twice as much for it as for Thursday or Friday, what am I going to do about that? I am speaking practically; we are tested by these things, as to whether we are selfish, whether we are denying the Lord in this matter of days or time for the sake of what we are getting, and thus losing ground among the saints and losing ground in heaven, losing status.
So in the third epistle of John we have this same word, “prosper”. It is written to the special brother, Gaius, “whom”, says the apostle, “I love in truth”. You can see how authoritative persons such as I have been speaking of single out persons who are lovable, lovable as in the truth. The apostle goes on to say immediately about this brother, that he desires his prosperity in all things. The Darby Translation says, “Beloved, I desire that in all things thou shouldest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospers”. Now here it is not simply a matter of making money, making a bigger salary, but that in all things I may prosper and be in health as my soul prospers. So that we have another point of view, as to a brother who loves the truth and is [p. 129] known universally. John has a good deal to say about him. When you can speak freely to a brother about himself, and the things in him that are worthy and commendable and honourable, that brother is worth loving. He is trustworthy. That is what this brother was, known to the apostle John. He says to him, “Beloved, I desire that in all things thou shouldest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospers”. Notice the individuality of it. He is not building up any partisan views, or building a brother up in his own mind in relation to others who admire him — one of the most baneful things — a circle of admirers. That is not in mind at all. It is an individual matter here, and I am aiming at that, dear brethren, that we might be built up individually and then go on to the collective side; and first as regards love of the truth. Gaius is looked at as loved in the truth, he is lovable in that connection.
And then the apostle says, “I desire that in all things” — whatever it be: my business matters, family matters, including marital matters, assembly matters, and if I have gift or ability or if I am an elder, these matters too — “that in all things thou shouldest prosper”. It is to accredit the man. You say, Is he accrediting the man to himself? Yes; to strengthen him in his soul as regards what he is going on with. In everything I am handling I am to be prospering. If I am not handling anything I am not prospering much. The Scriptures contemplate men of affairs and particularly spiritual men of affairs. Some have too much, perhaps, but nevertheless it is an honourable thing to have affairs, a lot of things to do. Someone has said, If you want anything done, ask a busy man to do it; he is a likely man to do it. People who have nothing to do are inclined to be indolent. Persons who are accustomed to doing things get commissions, and such commissions [p. 130] as are valuable. Even a cup of cold water given in the name of a disciple shall not lose its reward. But I am speaking now of “all things”. Joseph in Egypt was a man of affairs; he came into his house at lunch time, and you can imagine that he could have spent the whole afternoon there; his long-lost brothers were there, and he loved them. And yet he gave to them only a small portion of his time on that day. Who knows what he had to do with Pharaoh that day? But he was able to take up things as they came and he prospered in them. I am often rebuked because I turn down something that I am asked to do. I may think, Why did not someone else do that? Why did the person who made the request not do it himself? But if it comes to me, let me be ready to do it. And so the apostle says here, “Beloved, I desire that in all things thou shouldest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospers”. A mountain of things are there in the morning to be done, and he gets them done. If you have to leap over a wall — David says, “By my God have I leaped over a wall” — you do it by God. It is a matter of prosperity. In everything you do you are conscious, in that sense, that you are well paid for it. This very apostle speaks in the previous epistle of receiving “full wages”. How do you get the full wages? Not by cheques, no; he got the wages largely in the doing — full wages — although, of course, there are rewards at the end.
But here, dear brethren, we are to prosper and be in health, even as our souls prosper; so that the saints of God are to be fat and flourishing. The Scriptures abound with these thoughts. As one is speaking there are many things that come up that we could speak of, and it is well God has apportioned a short time for such a season as this, because people cannot take in very much at one time. The hours are well named. An ‘hour’ is often a critical time; it is a time, however, in which things can be done. One thing can be done or a number of things, but the point is that I am prospered in what I do. I am never overcome with the sense that time is getting ahead of me, that business is getting ahead of me, that work is getting ahead of me. If I am overcome I am not prospered; I am depressed by the fact that there is a pile of work to be done. It is a question of what I can do by God’s help. I thus learn to work methodically; to do it as to God; and to do it well, as it says of the Lord, “He does all things well”. So that the apostle John would look at his brother in fatherly affection. He addresses himself to him as “The elder”; he does not call himself by name. Gaius might say, He is well worthy of that title; his very words mean that to me, he is thinking of my prosperity. I often think of the prosperity of the brethren; and this elder, this brother, is thinking of the prosperity of Gaius. It is not only in one thing he is to prosper but, as I said, in his family, his business, his ministry, in all things. Gaius is a prosperous man and his soul is prospered; that would mean that inwardly he is becoming as great as he is outwardly. Even John could not know, perhaps, all that was going on in that man’s soul. God knows. The apostle Paul says as to one of the most wonderful things that happened to him, “God knows”. Whether Paul was in the body or out of it when caught up to the third heaven, God knew. And so John could not know everything that this dear brother enjoyed inwardly, for each of us has an inward history with God; it is a most precious thing to have an inward history with God; and that in that history my soul is prospered. Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Saviour”. If I am divinely prospered, that is my own inward matter. I commend [p. 132] the word, dear brethren, in the sense of prosperity; individual prosperity, and correspondingly, of course, collective, that the assembly is prospered.
May God bless the word.