Biblical Success

Matt. 6: 19Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:20But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:21For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.22The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.23But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!24No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.25Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?26Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?27Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?28And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:29And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.30Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?31Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?32(For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.33But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.34Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

1 Kings 21Now the days of David drew nigh that he should die; and he charged Solomon his son, saying,2I go the way of all the earth: be thou strong therefore, and shew thyself a man;3And keep the charge of the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, to keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his judgments, and his testimonies, as it is written in the law of Moses, that thou mayest prosper in all that thou doest, and whithersoever thou turnest thyself:4That the LORD may continue his word which he spake concerning me, saying, If thy children take heed to their way, to walk before me in truth with all their heart and with all their soul, there shall not fail thee (said he) a man on the throne of Israel.

It is simply impossible to cover any topic adequately in one sermon. At times I get overwhelmed at the amount of information to be given on anyone topic. So we will take a look at what success is according to the Bible. The key to understanding Biblical success is contained in this one phrase from 1 Cor. 10:31, “whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.” If we will make that thought our focus in business, church, family life, hobbies, friendships, etc. then our life is on the path of success. If we will determine that whatever we do, we do it solely and wholly for the Glory of God it will change our motivation and purpose. Why do we work? Is it just to pay the bills, save for retirement, and have nice houses, clothes, cars, and things? Are we motivated to make money so we can get ahead or maybe just so we can survive or are we motivated to work and prosper so we can use what we have to further the Kingdom of God? Christians often take the view that 10% is God’s and 90% is ours when the Bible actually teaches us that 100% is God’s and it should be used for His purposes and His good pleasure. Do we give extra to missions and other Christian ministries above our tithe? Do we ever use our vehicle to take people to church, the hospital, grocery shopping????? Do we have a home open to hospitality? (Be hospitable to one another without grumbling. As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. 1 Peter 4:9-10) That is Biblical success that all we have and all we are, are given over to God. It’s not my house it’s his, not my car, truck, money, or time. IT ALL BELONGS TO GOD. After all, "The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof; the world and they that dwell therein." Psalm 24:1

That is really Biblical success in a nutshell and you can read countless scriptures about prospering when you give yourself over to God. Matthew chapter 6 tells us not store up earthly treasures that can be stolen and corrupted but to seek God over all else. When we seek God over all else HE will provide what we need and success will be when we realize the difference between what we need and what we want.

As David was giving his throne over to Solomon he gave this advice, “be thou strong therefore, and shew thyself a man; And keep the charge of the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, to keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his judgments, and his testimonies, as it is written in the law of Moses, that thou mayest prosper in all that thou doest”. David’s advice can be divided like this:

1) Be a man-catch that? God actually wants men to act like men not sniveling little purpose driven cowards but MEN. We need a true, Godly masculine spirit to return to the church.

2) Follow God. Pretty simple advice. David said “hey son God’s word is written down for you so follow it and you will be a success.” The simplicity of the Gospel is the power of the Gospel. It’s so simple even a caveman can do it. (that’s my hip culturally relevant reference)
Solomon went on to pray for wisdom, not wealth, power, or prestige and upon finding Godly wisdom he found everything else he needed to be a successful King.

Biblical success is following God and being devoted to Him. If we’ll give HIM what we’ve got he’ll give us more than we ever dreamed of.