Joel Olsteen will be making the rounds this April, May and June on his “Night of Hope” tour. On Saturday, June 7, he will be at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx for “America’s Night of Hope”.
America, as I will show you, there is no hope if God is not sovereign.
In his book I Declare: 31 Promises to Speak Over Your Life, released August 2013 Olsteen says,
Day 19 – “I declare there is an anointing of ease on my life.”
I guess it is safe to assume that Job had not declared this particular anointing on his life. Imagine what Job could have been spared if he had not bypassed this day 19 declaration!
We know of course from the Biblical account that it was within God’s sovereign purposes for Job to go through the sufferings he experienced.(Job 1:8-12; Job 2:3-6)
I wonder what some of the churches of the epistles would have thought of the “anointing of ease” on their lives? For example, the church in Thessalonica was birthed in adversity.(Acts 17:5-9 ) And that is why Paul in his epistle to them said,
…for you received the word in much affliction…”
1 Thessalonians 1:6, emphasis added
“..we had boldness in our God to declare to you the gospel of God in the midst of much conflict.”
1 Thessalonians 2:2, emphasis added
“that no one be moved by these afflictions.”
1 Thessalonians 3:3, emphasis added
In writing to the church in Philippi, Paul said,
“For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in Him but also suffer for His sake.”
Phil. 1:29
Faith and Suffering. All one Package. And this granted by God’s sovereign grace!
Consider Peter’s first epistle as he wrote to suffering Christians:
“And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.”(1 Peter 5:10)
Finally, in the last letter penned before his death, Paul reminded Timothy of the suffering he was to endure as a pastor.
“Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.”
2 Timothy 2:3
“Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.”
2 Timothy 3:12, emphasis added
Godliness, however, does not appear to be at the top of Osteen’s list. Instead it is traded in for a so-called “anointing of ease.”
Furthermore, the early church never asked the Lord to remove suffering so as to have an anointing of ease on their lives, but rather prayed for boldness in opposition to the gospel and rejoiced in suffering for the gospel.
“And now Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness.”
Acts 4:29
“And when they had called in the apostles, they beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name.”
Acts 5:40-41
If Job, the church epistles, the pastoral epistles, and the early church have not yet convinced you that Osteen’s declaration of an anointing of ease on your life is nothing more than nonsense, then the Lord Jesus’ words must.
“In the world you will have tribulation.”
John 16:33, emphasis added
So, having said all that, here is the crucial question: Who declares, God or man?
According to Joel Osteen, man declares. By inviting people to make declarations in their lives, Osteen is telling them to speak things into existence. Yet this is something that God alone can do. In doing this, then, Osteen is degrading God and elevating man as sovereign. That is nothing short of idolatry. But what does it matter if it makes people feel good about themselves? This is today’s man-centered theology rather than the Bible’s God-centered theology.
It will come as no surprise to hear that a recent Barna article titled, “U.S. Lacks Notable Christian Leaders”, claims that one of 20 U.S. adults think that Joel Osteen is the most significant Christian leader in America. (The Conference Chronicle, Volume 9, Number 1, Wednesday, March 7, 2012, The Shepherds Conference)
In direct opposition to Osteen, the Bible teaches that God alone, as the one and only Sovereign, is the One who declares.
“Remember this and stand firm, recall it to mind, you transgressors, remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,’ calling a bird of prey from the east, the man of my counsel from a far country. I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass; I have purposed, and I will do it.
Isaiah 46:8-11, emphasis added
Note that God declares “things not yet done” because in His Sovereignty He “will accomplish all His purpose” and He “will bring it to pass” and He “will do it”. There is no doubt or ambiguity. God does not say that He “might accomplish His purpose,” or that He “might bring it to pass,” or that He “might do it.”
To ask ‘who declares’ is equivalent to asking ‘who is sovereign?’ Who declares? God declares. He declares the end from the beginning and things not yet done. Man simply observes as God’s sovereign and eternal purposes and plans come to pass. Who is sovereign? God is sovereign over all, including circumstances and rulers. Man is simply His subject.
“The Lord of hosts has sworn: As I have planned, so shall it be, and as I have purposed, so shall it stand, For the Lord of hosts has purposed, and who will annul it? His hand is stretched out, and who will turn it back?”
Isaiah 14:24, 27
“…all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, “What have you done?”
Daniel 4:35
If Joel Osteen says that man can declare an anointing of ease on his own life, then the god of Joel Osteen is not sovereign and therefore is not the God of the Bible! With such a god, there is only despair. The God who has revealed Himself in Scripture, though, is a far greater God than any concoction of man. He is the Sovereign God and thus the only hope for salvation. Come to this God, come to Christ, today.
