WEBVTT 00:00:00.880 --> 00:00:04.000 It's good to be back. This morning we're continuing our series in the book of Proverbs. 00:00:04.320 --> 00:00:09.640 Proverbs is a book about living wisely. And Proverbs says that wisdom begins with 00:00:09.640 --> 00:00:14.160 the fear of the Lord, that is living in a right relationship to God, 00:00:14.400 --> 00:00:21.280 but it expresses itself in every aspect of our lives. A couple weeks ago, Pastor Nick said that 00:00:21.280 --> 00:00:27.179 the main part of this book, chapters 10 through 31, is like a tightly woven tapestry with different 00:00:27.179 --> 00:00:35.219 threads that are woven together, giving us, when we look at it as a whole, an integrated picture 00:00:35.219 --> 00:00:42.560 of what a wise life looks like. And what we're doing each week is focusing on one strand of that 00:00:42.560 --> 00:00:48.679 tapestry, one topic that the book of Proverbs speaks to. So, so far we've considered what Proverbs says 00:00:48.679 --> 00:00:53.980 about words, what Proverbs said about correction, giving and receiving correction, about anger, 00:00:53.979 --> 00:00:58.500 and about friendship. And let me encourage you, there are some good books on the bookstall 00:00:58.500 --> 00:01:04.319 downstairs that can help you go one step further in some of these areas. Let me recommend two 00:01:04.319 --> 00:01:11.060 on the topic of anger. Let me recommend Good and Angry by David Powlison. So, I started reading that 00:01:11.060 --> 00:01:16.299 book because I thought it might be helpful to some of you. And then as I was reading it, I realized that 00:01:16.299 --> 00:01:21.340 it was speaking to me. That's how pastoral ministry goes sometimes. You sometimes start preparing a sermon 00:01:21.340 --> 00:01:26.799 and you realize you need to preach it to yourself. On the topic of friendship, there's a short little 00:01:26.799 --> 00:01:33.780 book, but that's really worth reading, called True Friendship by Vaughn Roberts. This was the topic of 00:01:33.780 --> 00:01:39.359 Pastor Nick's sermon last week. If you weren't here, it's worth listening to on the website. It's an 00:01:39.359 --> 00:01:45.439 important and often neglected topic in our lives and in the church. What does it mean to be a true 00:01:45.439 --> 00:01:52.819 friend and to seek out genuine friendship? So, I want to encourage you to consider delving into one 00:01:52.819 --> 00:01:59.039 of those topics and helping sort of follow up on some of these topical sermons this summer. So, 00:01:59.079 --> 00:02:05.140 this morning we're considering the topic of wealth and poverty in Proverbs. And this is an area where 00:02:05.140 --> 00:02:10.620 it's sometimes challenging to do justice to the breadth and the balance of the biblical teaching. 00:02:10.620 --> 00:02:16.740 So, if you go to some churches, you will hear a message of health and wealth, right? And people 00:02:16.740 --> 00:02:22.460 will say, if you belong to Jesus, you're a child of the King and you should prosper and live like 00:02:22.460 --> 00:02:29.500 royalty. God put Adam and Eve in the garden to rejoice and delight in its bounty. He put Israel in 00:02:29.500 --> 00:02:35.960 the land of milk and honey. Jesus came declaring God's kingdom had come, a kingdom of joy and delight 00:02:35.960 --> 00:02:41.120 and dominion. And so, according to these churches, the ideal is for Christians to become wealthy and 00:02:41.120 --> 00:02:49.319 become generous with their wealth, to be prosperous and generous. Now, other churches react against 00:02:49.319 --> 00:02:55.860 anything that sounds like a prosperity gospel, and so they emphasize instead how Jesus identified with 00:02:55.860 --> 00:03:02.960 the poor, right? And Luke, Jesus says, blessed are the poor. He told the rich young ruler, sell all that 00:03:02.960 --> 00:03:10.500 you have and follow me. And in order to truly know God, we too must identify with the poor and follow 00:03:10.500 --> 00:03:17.080 Jesus' example of costly incarnational love to the marginalized and oppressed. Now, ironically, 00:03:17.980 --> 00:03:22.379 I think it's sort of ironic, the health and wealth message is popular in many poor communities, 00:03:22.379 --> 00:03:27.159 and the churches that speak about poverty in idealized terms tend to attract privileged, 00:03:27.280 --> 00:03:32.420 well-educated types. I won't try to analyze that phenomenon, but I will simply say there is a kernel of 00:03:32.419 --> 00:03:37.859 truth in both perspectives. They're getting at something important, but neither one of them does 00:03:37.859 --> 00:03:44.679 justice to the big picture of what the Bible says. So, as we look into Proverbs, I want to try to be 00:03:44.679 --> 00:03:51.779 careful to do justice to the breadth and the balance of the biblical teaching on this topic. And Proverbs is 00:03:51.779 --> 00:04:01.679 a good book because it gives us a lot of teaching on this topic in a lot of different ways. So, let me begin 00:04:01.680 --> 00:04:07.840 this morning with the verse that is on the front of your bulletin, Proverbs 30, 7 through 9. This is a 00:04:07.840 --> 00:04:15.159 prayer that comes toward the end of the book of Proverbs. And let me begin by reading this. It's a 00:04:15.159 --> 00:04:17.360 prayer to God. And verse 7 begins, 00:04:17.360 --> 00:04:47.340 You see, wealth and poverty present unique spiritual challenges. 00:04:47.339 --> 00:04:52.819 especially in their more extreme forms. And so, the author of this prayer doesn't idealize 00:04:52.819 --> 00:04:58.839 either one. And rather, he prays that God would protect us from the spiritual dangers that accompany 00:04:58.839 --> 00:05:09.679 both. Right? To… along with wealth comes a spiritual temptation to complacency or presumption. 00:05:09.680 --> 00:05:16.000 Right? The verse talks about being full. Lest I be full and deny you. Right? When you're wealthy, 00:05:16.060 --> 00:05:23.400 you're full. Full of food, full of pleasure, full of possessions, full of distractions. And sometimes we 00:05:23.400 --> 00:05:30.399 can stop feeling our need for God. We can stop feeling our daily momentary… moment by moment 00:05:30.399 --> 00:05:37.540 dependence, absolute dependence upon the Lord. Or poverty, on the other hand. Right? The emptiness, 00:05:37.540 --> 00:05:44.260 the desperation of poverty. Where you… day by day, you… where… where's my next meal coming from? 00:05:44.340 --> 00:05:50.540 Where am I going to sleep tonight? Poverty can tempt people to resort to deception, manipulation, 00:05:50.800 --> 00:05:58.080 stealing. Right? Or to despair. So, the prayer here is that God would feed us with what we need. Or as 00:05:58.080 --> 00:06:05.340 Jesus taught us to pray in the Lord's Prayer, give us each day our daily bread. Now, we'll come back to 00:06:05.339 --> 00:06:10.599 this prayer at the end. But what I want to do for the bulk of our time this morning is to look at the 00:06:10.599 --> 00:06:16.399 teaching of Proverbs under three headings. The teaching on wealth and poverty. Now, each of these 00:06:16.399 --> 00:06:21.819 headings expresses an important aspect of Proverbs teaching, but it's only when you put all three 00:06:21.819 --> 00:06:27.979 together that you'll see the whole picture. So, don't stop halfway and think, oh, he's… you can't 00:06:27.979 --> 00:06:32.699 leave this sermon halfway. Okay? Otherwise, you will… you might get a completely distorted picture. 00:06:32.699 --> 00:06:39.199 You need to hear the whole thing to… to… to… to see the big picture. So, I put these… I put some 00:06:39.199 --> 00:06:43.680 of the main references in the bulletin this week because it's a little hard to flip back and forth 00:06:43.680 --> 00:06:49.099 to one verse in Proverbs. So, if you look at this page, Proverbs on wealth and poverty, this will guide 00:06:49.099 --> 00:06:54.199 you through the sermon. And this will be most of the things that I quote, but I'm going to quote some 00:06:54.199 --> 00:07:00.019 other things as well. So, feel free to use this if it's helpful for you to take notes or to guide you 00:07:00.019 --> 00:07:07.039 through the sermon. So, the first heading… and basically, to let you know how I did this… so, 00:07:07.099 --> 00:07:11.740 what I… what I did this week… Pastor Nick and… or the pastors were talking about this a while ago. 00:07:11.799 --> 00:07:16.799 How do we do these topical sermons on Proverbs? And… and Nick said, well, I'm just going to go 00:07:16.799 --> 00:07:21.099 through the chapters and sort of highlight the verses that seem relevant and then try to put them 00:07:21.099 --> 00:07:24.799 together. So, I… so, I said, well, that sounds good to me. So, I did that this week and I just sort of 00:07:24.799 --> 00:07:27.839 went through the chapters, tried to highlight the verses that were relevant, and then gather them 00:07:27.839 --> 00:07:31.399 under headings, and then see some other people who had done that and see if I'd missed anything. 00:07:31.759 --> 00:07:37.699 So, this is what we've… we've got. Number one, this is one truth that Proverbs gives. Wisdom leads 00:07:37.699 --> 00:07:44.000 to wealth and folly leads to poverty. This is the first truth that Proverbs teaches, and there are 00:07:44.000 --> 00:07:49.839 several verses in Proverbs that make this connection. So, 21.5, the plans of the diligent lead surely to 00:07:49.839 --> 00:07:57.419 abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty. Our 14.23, in all toil there is profit. 00:07:57.839 --> 00:08:03.919 But mere talk tends only to poverty. There are many other verses along these lines. 13.11, 00:08:04.099 --> 00:08:10.359 wealth gained hastily will dwindle, but whoever gathers little by little makes it grow. So, 00:08:10.399 --> 00:08:14.959 if you summarize these and many other verses in Proverbs, Proverbs encourages diligent work, 00:08:15.659 --> 00:08:22.019 careful planning, and prudent saving. And by contrast, many Proverbs warn against being hasty. 00:08:22.019 --> 00:08:27.779 That would mean like pursuing get-rich-quick schemes, schemes that promise fast and easy money. 00:08:27.899 --> 00:08:32.740 Proverbs says those don't usually pay off in the end, and they may be deceptive and manipulative. 00:08:33.579 --> 00:08:39.039 Proverbs warns against being idle, right? Sleeping too much, eating too much, drinking too much, 00:08:39.500 --> 00:08:44.319 talking too much, and not doing anything. It says all these things can lead to poverty. 00:08:44.320 --> 00:08:50.180 21.17 and 20, as it goes like this, it says, 00:08:50.260 --> 00:08:57.200 whoever loves pleasure will be a poor man. He who loves wine and oil will never be rich. Precious 00:08:57.200 --> 00:09:03.940 treasure and oil are in a wise man's dwelling, but a foolish man devours it. In other words, 00:09:03.980 --> 00:09:11.340 a wise man can have some things in his house and not use them right away, right? A wise person can 00:09:11.340 --> 00:09:17.480 put aside some things for savings. You know, we live in a world that says you need to have 00:09:17.480 --> 00:09:25.620 everything now, and you can pay for it later. And the results, here are some of the results. 38% 00:09:25.620 --> 00:09:32.399 of American households carry revolving credit card debt. That means you're not paying it all each 00:09:32.399 --> 00:09:38.600 month, but you've got balances and you're paying interest on it. And the average balance is $16,000 00:09:38.600 --> 00:09:48.040 per indebted household, which costs $3,000 per year in interest alone per household. 63% of Americans 00:09:48.040 --> 00:09:57.259 don't have enough money in their savings account to cover a $500 or $1,000 emergency bill. 00:09:58.200 --> 00:10:03.420 So they would have to ask friends for help or charge it to a credit card or do something else, 00:10:03.500 --> 00:10:08.580 right? The state of Connecticut is three weeks overdue in passing a budget because it's 00:10:08.580 --> 00:10:15.000 burdened with debt due to financial commitments made over decades that were not adequately funded. 00:10:15.540 --> 00:10:21.220 Whatever you think about the kinetic budget, that's the fact behind it, is we've been in the 00:10:21.220 --> 00:10:27.500 habit of making lots of commitments and not being able or willing and wanting to push off, you know, 00:10:27.540 --> 00:10:33.740 have now, pay later. So the consequences of our buy now, pay later mentality are only accumulating 00:10:33.740 --> 00:10:39.419 individually and corporately. So let me ask a couple of practical questions along these lines. 00:10:40.519 --> 00:10:45.740 Can you have money in your wallet or in your bank account and not spend it? 00:10:47.779 --> 00:10:52.480 Very practically. Can you buy two containers of ice cream because they're on a good sale 00:10:52.480 --> 00:10:55.159 and not devour them in the next three days? 00:10:55.159 --> 00:11:01.620 Right? These are sort of practical disciplines to cultivate. You know, if you know that you're 00:11:01.620 --> 00:11:06.179 impulsive, if you know that if you have money, you're going to spend it, then ask someone else 00:11:06.179 --> 00:11:11.159 for accountability. If you're married, you should ask your spouse. That should be the first person 00:11:11.159 --> 00:11:19.299 you talk to. If you're single, ask a trusted friend. You know, money is an area where we need to 00:11:19.299 --> 00:11:26.319 ask each other for help and advice more instead of keeping it completely private until we have 00:11:26.319 --> 00:11:37.259 a total crisis and are in a terrible situation, and then we ask for help. If we would pursue the 00:11:37.259 --> 00:11:41.839 kind of accountability and advice and encouragement that we need along the way, it would save us from 00:11:41.839 --> 00:11:46.799 getting into some of those disasters. If you're having trouble budgeting and making ends meet, 00:11:46.799 --> 00:11:51.059 and you're not sure who to ask, call the church office and ask to talk to one of the mercy ministry 00:11:51.059 --> 00:11:56.939 deacons. They can sit down with you. They can help you make a plan so that you can try to meet your 00:11:56.939 --> 00:12:03.339 needs and try to gradually save. Now, for some of us, this may be common sense, right? Maybe you learned 00:12:03.339 --> 00:12:07.459 this from Dave Ramsey, and you think, well, I didn't really need the Bible to figure that out. I already 00:12:07.459 --> 00:12:13.699 knew that. But, you know, Proverbs is not just making a pragmatic connection between wisdom and wealth. 00:12:13.700 --> 00:12:20.440 It's pointing to a deeper spiritual principle. So, go on to 22.4, the next verse listed on that page 00:12:20.440 --> 00:12:25.540 in your bulletin. This is the interesting verse. The reward for humility and fear of the Lord 00:12:25.540 --> 00:12:32.420 is riches and honor and life. So, think of King Solomon at the beginning of his life 00:12:32.420 --> 00:12:37.440 as an example of this. God appeared to him in a dream and said, ask me for anything you want, 00:12:37.440 --> 00:12:43.780 and I'll give it to you. And Solomon said, the one thing that I need most, since you've made me king 00:12:43.780 --> 00:12:50.820 over this great people of yours, is I need wisdom. I need wisdom and understanding to govern this people 00:12:50.820 --> 00:12:59.180 righteously and well. And God said, I'll give you that. And because you asked for that and not 00:12:59.180 --> 00:13:06.220 something else, I'm also going to give you riches and honor as well. Now, of course, when you read the 00:13:06.220 --> 00:13:11.759 story of Solomon, you have to remember that not every story in the Bible goes the same way. And 00:13:11.759 --> 00:13:15.960 when you read Proverbs like this one, you need to remember that Proverbs are not absolute promises. 00:13:16.220 --> 00:13:23.240 They are principles or patterns. Humble people who ask God for wisdom are not always rewarded with 00:13:23.240 --> 00:13:28.620 riches in this life. Okay? This isn't all of what Proverbs is teaching, but it is part of it. 00:13:28.620 --> 00:13:36.100 And I think the teaching here is that wealth can be a blessing from God to give unto those who know 00:13:36.100 --> 00:13:42.620 and love and trust and obey Him. And the New Testament affirms this as well. 1 Timothy 6, 17, 00:13:42.740 --> 00:13:48.740 God richly provides us with everything to enjoy. And the reason why we see this connection, 00:13:48.840 --> 00:13:53.320 the deeper reason why there is a connection between wealth and wisdom, and by contrast, 00:13:53.320 --> 00:13:58.460 folly and poverty is because we live in a world that is created by God, designed by God, 00:13:58.520 --> 00:14:04.620 and governed by His wisdom. And so, when we live in line with God's wisdom, we tend to flourish. 00:14:05.340 --> 00:14:11.740 When we live apart from God's wisdom, we wither and perish because we are God's creatures and He is our 00:14:11.740 --> 00:14:18.480 Creator. Now, there's one more way that Proverbs connects wisdom and wealth, and this one is actually 00:14:18.480 --> 00:14:23.560 counterintuitive. This one is… this one, your financial advisor will generally not tell you. 00:14:24.820 --> 00:14:27.600 So, 11, 24, and 25 says this, 00:14:28.740 --> 00:14:36.480 One gives freely, yet grows all the richer. Another withholds what he should give and only suffers want. 00:14:37.720 --> 00:14:43.820 Whoever brings blessing will be enriched, and one who waters will himself be watered. 00:14:43.820 --> 00:14:48.520 Now, Kevin DeYoung puts it this way, God gives you money because He is generous, 00:14:49.120 --> 00:14:54.680 not because you deserve it. Okay? God gives us… everything we have is a gift of God's grace. 00:14:54.820 --> 00:14:59.580 God gives you money because He's generous, but He's generous with you so that you can be generous 00:14:59.580 --> 00:15:05.660 with others. And if you are generous with your money, God will likely be more generous with you. 00:15:05.659 --> 00:15:12.899 Okay? There's many Proverbs. I've listed a few other references that are along these lines. 00:15:13.199 --> 00:15:19.980 28, 27, whoever gives to the poor will not want. 28, 22, a stingy man hastens after wealth and does 00:15:19.980 --> 00:15:25.980 not know that poverty will come upon him. So, again, this is a piece of Proverbs wisdom that your 00:15:25.980 --> 00:15:31.839 financial advisor probably won't tell you, right? The importance of generous giving. Now, of course, 00:15:31.840 --> 00:15:37.980 this principle can be twisted and abused. So, don't hear me wrong here, right? You should not put $100 00:15:37.980 --> 00:15:44.259 in the offering basket believing that God is going to send you a check for $1,000 this week 00:15:44.259 --> 00:15:52.220 as a blessing for your gift. And don't follow any pastor who says that. Don't give to their ministry 00:15:52.220 --> 00:15:58.379 because it's not true, and they're not teaching the truth if they're saying that, if they're trying 00:15:58.379 --> 00:16:04.000 to motivate your giving in that way. Okay? Proverbs doesn't say you should give generously simply 00:16:04.000 --> 00:16:10.500 as a means to getting richer. It simply says that those who give generously with a genuine heart, 00:16:10.980 --> 00:16:16.059 not out of selfish motives, God tends to bless those people with more ability to give generously. 00:16:18.600 --> 00:16:24.279 So, practically, if you're trying to grow your finances, are you also making it a practice to 00:16:24.279 --> 00:16:31.939 give generously and regularly out of what the Lord has already given you? Don't fall into the trap of 00:16:31.939 --> 00:16:39.439 thinking, I need to save now, and I'll only give later. Because later will… there will always be a 00:16:39.439 --> 00:16:45.079 later. And you will never feel like you have quite enough to start giving generously now, 00:16:45.179 --> 00:16:51.519 if that's how you think about it. The average American Christian today gives away 3% 00:16:51.519 --> 00:16:58.480 of their income. In the Great Depression, the average American gave more, percentage-wise. 00:16:59.819 --> 00:17:04.740 In the Old Testament, the Israelites were required to tithe 10% of their crops, 10% of the fruits of 00:17:04.740 --> 00:17:11.740 their labor. And then over and above that, at many times, they gave voluntary freewill offerings 00:17:11.740 --> 00:17:16.700 as the Lord enabled them, as they desired and chose. Now, some people say, well, wait a minute, 00:17:16.700 --> 00:17:22.080 the New Testament doesn't talk about tithing. Well, Jesus refers to tithing in one place, 00:17:22.460 --> 00:17:29.460 and He affirms it. Matthew 23, 23, He speaks positively of it. But more importantly, having 00:17:29.460 --> 00:17:36.200 received all that we've received in Christ, should we want to be less generous than God's people in the 00:17:36.200 --> 00:17:43.380 Old Testament were commanded to be? Shouldn't we want to at least give as much or more? Jesus says that 00:17:43.380 --> 00:17:50.000 whatever we give up for the sake of His kingdom and His gospel, including houses and lands, 00:17:51.100 --> 00:17:56.300 that is, that's how wealth was collected in the ancient world, He says we will receive a hundredfold 00:17:56.300 --> 00:18:04.860 in this life along with persecutions. Jesus' point is this, you can't out-give God. 00:18:04.859 --> 00:18:14.959 There's a joy in generous giving because we're imitating God's character. And yet, however generous 00:18:14.959 --> 00:18:21.279 you are, you will never be able to surpass how generous God has been to you and how generous He 00:18:21.279 --> 00:18:28.579 will be in the future to you. You can't out-give God. So, this is the first point. Wisdom leads to 00:18:28.579 --> 00:18:33.899 wealth and folly leads to poverty. But importantly, again, this is not the only thing. 00:18:33.900 --> 00:18:40.060 That proverb says. So, the second truth is a contrast to the first one, and you need to hold 00:18:40.060 --> 00:18:45.240 these two together. The second truth is this, sometimes fools get rich and the wise remain poor. 00:18:46.800 --> 00:18:51.920 Now, why is this, right? Wisdom leads to wealth because we live in a world created and designed 00:18:51.920 --> 00:18:56.540 by God and ordered by His wisdom. But sometimes fools get rich and the wise remain poor because 00:18:56.539 --> 00:19:04.359 we live in a fallen world under the curse of sin. Right? We're not just God's creatures living 00:19:04.359 --> 00:19:09.079 in God's world governed by God's wisdom. We're also sinners living with other sinners in a universe 00:19:09.079 --> 00:19:16.680 where principalities and powers and evil forces inhabit the heavenly realms. And we need to hold both of 00:19:16.680 --> 00:19:21.539 those truths together. We live in a created, a world created by God, and a world corrupted by sin. 00:19:21.539 --> 00:19:26.460 And in order to live wisely in this world, we need to live in light of both of those truths. 00:19:27.879 --> 00:19:33.059 Because otherwise, we can easily lose faith and hope in God when terrible things happen for no 00:19:33.059 --> 00:19:39.220 apparent reason. Now, other books in the Bible explore the questions of suffering and evil and 00:19:39.220 --> 00:19:44.319 God's providence in more depth. The book of Job wrestles with the question of why do righteous people 00:19:44.319 --> 00:19:50.099 suffer for no apparent earthly reason? The Psalms of Lament teach us how to cry out to God 00:19:50.099 --> 00:19:56.079 in the midst of oppression or persecution. Ecclesiastes meditates on the futility and 00:19:56.079 --> 00:20:00.919 apparent randomness of life under the sun. Now, Proverbs is more practical. It's a bit less 00:20:00.919 --> 00:20:05.779 philosophical. But it too acknowledges the fallenness and brokenness of the world. 00:20:07.000 --> 00:20:11.219 So, the first time we hear people talking about wealth in Proverbs is in chapter 1. 00:20:11.980 --> 00:20:18.399 When the father is warning his son, don't follow the crowd. Don't join the gang who has a bag of money 00:20:18.400 --> 00:20:24.259 that they'll share with him if he will just join them in their greedy and violent ways. 00:20:26.300 --> 00:20:30.740 Proverbs acknowledges that wealth can be obtained through deception and oppression and exploitation. 00:20:32.320 --> 00:20:36.500 But the emphasis of Proverbs is not just that sometimes fools do get rich, 00:20:37.380 --> 00:20:42.220 but it reminds us that rich fools won't prosper forever. 00:20:42.220 --> 00:20:47.319 So, 1128, whoever trusts in his riches will fall. 00:20:48.539 --> 00:20:51.759 156, trouble befalls the income of the wicked. 00:20:53.819 --> 00:20:57.559 Sometimes we see this, even in our present world. 00:20:59.019 --> 00:21:06.400 Why are the rates of loneliness, depression, and suicide highest in the richest countries on earth? 00:21:06.400 --> 00:21:11.420 There's something about wealth that's profoundly unsatisfying. 00:21:12.720 --> 00:21:16.560 Especially when we think that just a little more will make us happy and then it doesn't. 00:21:17.519 --> 00:21:21.660 Or when wealth deceives us into thinking that we're self-sufficient and self-made, 00:21:22.500 --> 00:21:24.800 but then we realize that we're not. 00:21:26.519 --> 00:21:30.660 Or when we use our wealth to shield ourselves from the sufferings of others, 00:21:30.660 --> 00:21:35.080 and then we find ourselves alone, facing our own suffering. 00:21:35.079 --> 00:21:37.240 Our own grief. 00:21:38.179 --> 00:21:40.179 And we feel overwhelmed by it. 00:21:42.339 --> 00:21:45.319 Proverbs warns us that rich fools won't prosper forever. 00:21:45.839 --> 00:21:50.579 And that's true in this life, and it's true on judgment day. 00:21:50.679 --> 00:21:53.799 Proverbs says, on judgment day, all of our wealth will be worthless. 00:21:55.000 --> 00:22:00.759 11.4, riches do not profit in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death. 00:22:00.759 --> 00:22:06.039 Now, scholars debate whether the author of Proverbs was explicitly referring to the afterlife, 00:22:06.220 --> 00:22:08.859 but it doesn't matter much because the New Testament makes it clear. 00:22:09.500 --> 00:22:14.480 There will be a day of judgment, and on that day, only the righteousness of Christ 00:22:14.480 --> 00:22:16.759 will make an eternal difference. 00:22:17.660 --> 00:22:22.400 And in Christ, we can have the assurance of the psalmist that we read earlier in the service. 00:22:23.460 --> 00:22:25.440 The psalmist says, no man can ransom another. 00:22:25.440 --> 00:22:28.200 No one can give to God the price of his life. 00:22:28.580 --> 00:22:33.700 But then he says, but God will ransom my soul from the power of the grave, 00:22:34.019 --> 00:22:36.080 for He will receive me. 00:22:37.320 --> 00:22:39.980 You know, that's the assurance we can have through Jesus Christ. 00:22:41.240 --> 00:22:46.600 An assurance that no amount of wealth can ever provide a security and a confidence 00:22:46.600 --> 00:22:50.860 that no amount of riches can ever give to you. 00:22:50.859 --> 00:22:55.139 So, sometimes fools get rich, but they won't prosper forever. 00:22:55.279 --> 00:22:56.699 That's the first half of point two. 00:22:56.939 --> 00:22:59.639 But the second half is sometimes the wise remain poor. 00:23:00.859 --> 00:23:05.359 In other words, poverty isn't just a result of folly, it's also the result of injustice. 00:23:06.939 --> 00:23:10.279 13.23, this is in your bulletin, 00:23:10.740 --> 00:23:15.399 the fallow ground of the poor would yield much food, but injustice sweeps it away. 00:23:15.400 --> 00:23:22.380 Or 30.14, there are those whose teeth are swords, whose fangs are knives, 00:23:22.740 --> 00:23:26.300 to devour the poor from the earth, the needy from among mankind. 00:23:27.820 --> 00:23:31.320 And Proverbs acknowledges that it's not only rich people who oppress the poor, 00:23:31.420 --> 00:23:33.259 sometimes poor people oppress one another. 00:23:34.060 --> 00:23:35.160 And that can be even worse. 00:23:35.259 --> 00:23:40.960 28.3, a poor man who oppresses the poor is a beating rain that leaves no food. 00:23:40.960 --> 00:23:48.600 Now, interestingly, Proverbs uses several different words when speaking about poverty. 00:23:49.319 --> 00:23:52.400 I found this quite fascinating as I was studying this week. 00:23:52.480 --> 00:23:57.019 So, there are three Hebrew words that are translated either poverty or want 00:23:57.019 --> 00:23:59.539 in the verses that are listed under point one. 00:24:01.120 --> 00:24:05.740 These words are used in nearly all the Proverbs that speak about self-inflicted poverty 00:24:05.740 --> 00:24:08.840 or the ruin that comes as a result of folly. 00:24:08.839 --> 00:24:15.079 There are two or three different Hebrew words translated poor or needy in the verses listed 00:24:15.079 --> 00:24:16.000 under point two. 00:24:17.220 --> 00:24:23.740 These words are often connected with the concept of being weak or oppressed or simply low due 00:24:23.740 --> 00:24:25.559 to circumstances beyond one's control. 00:24:26.500 --> 00:24:30.439 They are used in nearly all the Proverbs that speak about God's concern for justice for the 00:24:30.439 --> 00:24:30.699 poor. 00:24:31.459 --> 00:24:32.799 Now, what do we make of this? 00:24:33.759 --> 00:24:38.099 I don't think we should say that Proverbs is establishing two kinds of poor people. 00:24:38.839 --> 00:24:45.359 And everyone is either undeserving poor who are oppressed or undeserving poor who are foolish 00:24:45.359 --> 00:24:47.339 or deserving poor who are oppressed. 00:24:48.139 --> 00:24:48.539 Right? 00:24:48.579 --> 00:24:51.319 If you think about any person, people are complicated. 00:24:51.959 --> 00:24:52.240 Right? 00:24:52.319 --> 00:24:54.839 Nobody quite fits into those categories very neatly. 00:24:55.839 --> 00:24:59.519 But Proverbs is indicating there are different aspects of poverty. 00:24:59.519 --> 00:25:02.819 There is self-inflicted poverty caused by foolish behavior. 00:25:02.819 --> 00:25:09.399 And there is also poverty that is a result of injustice and things beyond one's control. 00:25:09.839 --> 00:25:15.279 And both of those aspects are often mixed, but sometimes one is more dominant or more prominent 00:25:15.279 --> 00:25:15.859 than another. 00:25:17.139 --> 00:25:23.139 And so the loving and wise response to a poor person may not always look the same, even if 00:25:23.139 --> 00:25:25.220 their economic situation is identical. 00:25:25.220 --> 00:25:31.120 Now, this is a weakness of many large-scale and government-run anti-poverty programs. 00:25:31.279 --> 00:25:34.420 They often don't and sometimes can't account for these differences. 00:25:34.600 --> 00:25:36.240 Now, that's another topic for another day. 00:25:37.019 --> 00:25:37.860 The government… 00:25:37.860 --> 00:25:40.819 I'm not going to get into the government's role in helping the poor. 00:25:41.339 --> 00:25:41.519 Okay? 00:25:41.539 --> 00:25:45.740 There are verses that affirm that there should be a role, but it's certainly not… 00:25:45.740 --> 00:25:49.539 No matter how large the government's role is, it will never be sufficient. 00:25:49.700 --> 00:25:49.860 Right? 00:25:49.859 --> 00:25:54.259 There will always be a role for the church and for us as brothers and sisters in Christ 00:25:54.259 --> 00:26:00.079 to come alongside one another with the kind of relationships and accountability and love 00:26:00.079 --> 00:26:06.779 and mercy that we've been shown in Christ that may or may not be reflected in larger-scale 00:26:06.779 --> 00:26:07.359 programs. 00:26:10.240 --> 00:26:12.079 So, going on… 00:26:12.079 --> 00:26:12.959 That's a bit of a tangent. 00:26:13.219 --> 00:26:14.500 But the emphasis of Proverbs… 00:26:14.500 --> 00:26:18.500 Again, it's not just on the fact that some wise people remain poor. 00:26:19.359 --> 00:26:19.599 Right? 00:26:19.599 --> 00:26:22.019 Again, it doesn't just say some fools stay rich. 00:26:22.099 --> 00:26:24.759 It says, well, these people will not prosper forever. 00:26:25.319 --> 00:26:26.639 Some wise people remain poor. 00:26:26.959 --> 00:26:32.859 And so, Proverbs emphasizes, God identifies with the poor and cares deeply about them. 00:26:34.619 --> 00:26:36.980 1431, back to the verses in the bulletin. 00:26:37.039 --> 00:26:42.759 Whoever oppresses a poor man insults his maker, but he who is generous to the needy honors him. 00:26:44.399 --> 00:26:49.579 1917, whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will repay him for his 00:26:49.579 --> 00:26:50.059 his deed. 00:26:50.059 --> 00:26:55.039 Do you see how strongly God identifies with people who are poor? 00:26:56.299 --> 00:27:00.720 God says, I have made the poorest human being in my own image. 00:27:01.559 --> 00:27:04.399 If you oppress them, you are insulting me. 00:27:05.879 --> 00:27:07.460 If you are ignoring… 00:27:07.460 --> 00:27:10.879 If you deliberately ignore them, you are ignoring me. 00:27:10.880 --> 00:27:16.400 If you are generous to them, even if they never repay you, I will see that you are paid back. 00:27:18.140 --> 00:27:22.380 Now, many people have pointed out rightly that there are different kinds of poverty in the world. 00:27:23.200 --> 00:27:28.060 If you're poor in New Haven, you might live in an apartment, but it might be rat infested, 00:27:28.180 --> 00:27:31.720 and it might be on a street where someone got shot last week, and it might be in a neighborhood 00:27:31.720 --> 00:27:32.820 with a failing school. 00:27:32.819 --> 00:27:37.960 If you're poor in the slums of Cairo, you might live in a shack with no electricity, 00:27:38.200 --> 00:27:42.000 no access to clean water or health care or formal education of any kind. 00:27:42.779 --> 00:27:44.399 Poverty isn't the same everywhere. 00:27:45.179 --> 00:27:50.359 But one of the most common experiences of poor people throughout the world, in the first 00:27:50.359 --> 00:27:56.500 world or the third world, urban, suburban, or rural, young, elderly, or middle-aged, one 00:27:56.500 --> 00:28:01.559 of the most common experiences people have is of being treated as less than fully human. 00:28:02.700 --> 00:28:09.619 In the 1990s, the World Bank did a survey of 60,000 poor people from 60 different countries, 00:28:09.880 --> 00:28:12.000 and they asked them all the same question. 00:28:12.099 --> 00:28:13.819 They said, what is poverty? 00:28:14.700 --> 00:28:17.339 What is it like for you to be poor? 00:28:17.920 --> 00:28:18.480 And you know what? 00:28:18.539 --> 00:28:19.380 They didn't… 00:28:19.380 --> 00:28:24.160 Their responses did not focus on the material possessions that they lacked. 00:28:24.160 --> 00:28:30.259 Their responses mentioned those things, you know, being hungry or not having clean water, 00:28:30.380 --> 00:28:39.820 but they focus on the experience of shame, inferiority, powerlessness, humiliation, fear, 00:28:40.660 --> 00:28:45.400 hopelessness, depression, isolation, and voicelessness. 00:28:47.960 --> 00:28:53.720 That's something that in any society, many people who are poor experience that. 00:28:53.720 --> 00:28:54.940 Maybe you've experienced that. 00:28:55.000 --> 00:28:59.660 Maybe you experience that on a day-to-day basis, and you feel like, that's my life. 00:29:01.360 --> 00:29:04.860 A while ago, I was talking to a homeless man here in New Haven, and he said, I don't want 00:29:04.860 --> 00:29:07.920 pity over how hard my life has been. 00:29:08.740 --> 00:29:11.440 I want to be treated with dignity and respect. 00:29:12.600 --> 00:29:18.319 And this is exactly what Proverbs emphasizes, the human dignity of every person, of the poor, 00:29:18.319 --> 00:29:20.659 as men and women created in God's image. 00:29:22.500 --> 00:29:24.579 And that's what God calls the church to be. 00:29:25.779 --> 00:29:30.159 The church is not just called to be an organization that does things for the poor or gives things 00:29:30.159 --> 00:29:35.480 to the poor on occasion, but the church is called to be a community where poor and rich 00:29:35.480 --> 00:29:41.599 and everyone in between come together and open our lives to one another because we stand together 00:29:41.599 --> 00:29:48.299 before God who made us and before Jesus Christ who died for us while we were still sinners and had no hope. 00:29:48.919 --> 00:29:52.719 The ground is always level when you're standing at the foot of the cross. 00:29:54.399 --> 00:29:58.859 Proverbs 22.2, maybe one of my favorite Proverbs, says this, 00:29:58.859 --> 00:30:00.579 The rich and the poor meet together. 00:30:01.339 --> 00:30:03.839 The Lord is the maker of them all. 00:30:06.119 --> 00:30:07.919 That's what we come together… 00:30:07.919 --> 00:30:09.979 That's what brings us together as a church. 00:30:11.679 --> 00:30:14.619 Whatever our differences may be, the Lord is the maker of us all. 00:30:15.240 --> 00:30:18.879 We depend on Him as our Creator, and we trust in Christ as our Savior. 00:30:22.779 --> 00:30:27.119 So far, we've seen that wisdom leads to wealth and folly leads to poverty because we live in a world 00:30:27.119 --> 00:30:32.279 that's ordered by God's wisdom, but sometimes fools get rich and the wise remain poor because we live 00:30:32.279 --> 00:30:37.039 in a world that is fallen and disordered because of sin. And so, our third and final truth seeks to 00:30:37.039 --> 00:30:43.159 bring it all together. We live in a world that's both created by God and corrupted by sin, and so we 00:30:43.159 --> 00:30:49.159 should recognize that. Three, wealth is a good thing, but it's not the best thing. 00:30:50.599 --> 00:30:55.339 In many places, Proverbs acknowledges the goodness of wealth. The crown of the wise is their wealth. 00:30:55.339 --> 00:31:01.240 10.22, the blessing of the Lord makes rich, and He adds no sorrow with it. 00:31:04.079 --> 00:31:06.039 Chapter 10, verse 15 says, 00:31:06.099 --> 00:31:10.759 A rich man's wealth is his strong city, but poverty is the ruin of the poor. 00:31:12.039 --> 00:31:13.319 In the words of John Schneider, 00:31:13.419 --> 00:31:16.199 Material wealth brings empowerment, strength, and freedom. 00:31:16.939 --> 00:31:21.720 Poverty brings powerlessness, isolation, and leaves people trapped with no way out. 00:31:21.720 --> 00:31:28.220 Proverbs never celebrates or idealizes poverty. But at the same time, Proverbs is very quick to 00:31:28.220 --> 00:31:34.860 remind us that wealth is far from the best thing in this world. Wealth is a good gift from God meant 00:31:34.860 --> 00:31:39.759 for our enjoyment, but it's also one of the primary means through which human hearts are turned away 00:31:39.759 --> 00:31:48.440 from God. Ever since Adam and Eve greedily grabbed the fruit from the tree in the garden and devoured it, 00:31:48.440 --> 00:31:55.440 believing the lie that wealth apart from God would make them wise and happy in a way that God couldn't. 00:31:57.039 --> 00:31:58.980 Proverbs reminds us that wealth is deceitful. 00:32:00.660 --> 00:32:03.019 I just quoted Proverbs 10.15, which says, 00:32:03.080 --> 00:32:04.920 A rich man's wealth is his strong city. 00:32:05.980 --> 00:32:08.860 It's a proverb that acknowledges that wealth provides a sense of security, 00:32:08.859 --> 00:32:15.079 that you don't always have… you don't… you're not necessarily worrying about some day-to-day 00:32:15.079 --> 00:32:22.099 things. But then that proverb comes back again in Proverbs 18.11, which the first half is identical 00:32:22.099 --> 00:32:23.199 to 10.15. It says, 00:32:23.279 --> 00:32:26.619 A rich man's wealth is his strong city. And so, when you begin reading it, you think, oh, 00:32:26.979 --> 00:32:31.219 it's repeating, it's emphasizing what another proverb has already said. But then the second half 00:32:31.220 --> 00:32:41.100 says, and it is like a high wall in his imagination. In other words, wealth gives a sense of security, 00:32:41.259 --> 00:32:51.720 but ultimately it's a false sense of security. It's in your imagination. Your wealth is not… 00:32:51.720 --> 00:32:56.940 your wealth cannot ultimately protect you. You might feel like it protects you, 00:32:56.940 --> 00:33:07.340 but ultimately in the big picture, it can't and it won't. Wealth is deceitful, and wealth is fleeting. 00:33:09.100 --> 00:33:17.279 Proverbs 23, 4 to 5 says, Do not toil to acquire wealth. Be discerning enough to desist. 00:33:18.980 --> 00:33:26.240 When your eyes light on it, it is gone. For suddenly it sprouts wings, flying like an eagle toward heaven. 00:33:26.940 --> 00:33:33.220 In other words, don't spend your life, don't waste your life chasing after wealth because it's not 00:33:33.220 --> 00:33:38.120 worth it. Ecclesiastes says it's like chasing after the wind. 00:33:41.039 --> 00:33:43.420 Wealth is a good thing, but it's not the best thing. 00:33:45.779 --> 00:33:52.019 One of the most recurring refrains in Proverbs, at least seven Proverbs about poverty and wealth, 00:33:52.019 --> 00:33:57.740 it's probably the largest group of Proverbs about poverty and wealth, are framed as better than 00:33:57.740 --> 00:34:03.319 statements. I've listed three in the bulletin. Let me read those and the other four which are 00:34:03.319 --> 00:34:12.000 mentioned, which are… the verses are mentioned there. 15, 16, and 17 says, 00:34:12.099 --> 00:34:17.440 Better is a little with the fear of the Lord than great treasure and trouble with it. 00:34:17.440 --> 00:34:24.280 Better is a dinner of herbs where love is than a fattened ox and hatred with it. 00:34:25.159 --> 00:34:31.880 16, 16, how much better to get wisdom than gold? To get understanding is to be chosen rather than 00:34:31.880 --> 00:34:39.220 silver. 16, 8, better a little with righteousness than great revenues with injustice. 16, 19, better to 00:34:39.220 --> 00:34:45.019 be of a humble spirit with the poor than to divide the spoil with the proud. 22, 1, a good name is to be 00:34:45.019 --> 00:34:52.840 chosen rather than great riches, and favor is better than silver or gold. 28, 6, better is a poor man who 00:34:52.840 --> 00:34:59.759 walks in his integrity than a rich man who is crooked in his ways. See, Proverbs acknowledges that wealth 00:34:59.759 --> 00:35:09.300 may be more desirable than poverty, but it's nowhere near as good as righteousness or integrity or humility 00:35:09.300 --> 00:35:15.240 or a good reputation in society or genuine love shared with friends and family or most of all, 00:35:15.300 --> 00:35:21.780 the fear of the Lord. You see, at the end of the day, money cannot give you any of the things 00:35:21.780 --> 00:35:32.120 that you most need. It can't make you loving. It can't make you righteous. It can't make you wise. 00:35:32.119 --> 00:35:40.199 And it can't save you from your sins. Only Jesus can do all of those things through the power of 00:35:40.199 --> 00:35:46.259 the Holy Spirit who He freely gives to those who believe in Him. You see, at the end of the day, 00:35:46.339 --> 00:35:51.940 Proverbs isn't just giving us practical advice about how to manage our money a little more wisely 00:35:51.940 --> 00:35:59.839 in this world. It's not just making pragmatic, insightful observations about the dynamics of rich 00:35:59.840 --> 00:36:04.100 and poor people and their relationships with one another. It's pointing us toward what we most need 00:36:04.100 --> 00:36:12.059 for time and eternity. And it's saying that's not wealth. At the end of the day, if you have Jesus 00:36:12.059 --> 00:36:19.640 Christ, you are spiritually rich because in Him you are an heir to God's everlasting kingdom. 00:36:20.900 --> 00:36:27.900 In Him you are clothed in the royal robes of His righteousness. In Him you are honored and beautiful. 00:36:27.900 --> 00:36:33.400 In Him you are secure and you are loved with an everlasting love. 00:36:35.500 --> 00:36:38.740 Jesus Christ said, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, 00:36:39.380 --> 00:36:45.800 which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy, he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. 00:36:48.780 --> 00:36:52.579 Have you found Jesus to be that kind of treasure? 00:36:52.579 --> 00:36:58.299 The treasure that makes everything else seem worthless in comparison to Him. 00:37:00.880 --> 00:37:02.900 That makes you look at all your wealth and think, 00:37:04.179 --> 00:37:09.360 yeah, it's never going to really make me happy, but I have Him. 00:37:12.059 --> 00:37:16.380 Do you see that Jesus, though He was rich, willingly became poor for your sake, 00:37:16.380 --> 00:37:23.680 so that you and Him might become eternally spiritually rich? Do you see that all you really need is found 00:37:23.680 --> 00:37:31.800 in Him? He is better. As we end, I want to come back to where we started, the prayer of King Lemuel 00:37:31.800 --> 00:37:39.340 in Proverbs 30, where he says, give me neither poverty nor riches. Feed me with the food that is 00:37:39.340 --> 00:37:46.480 needful for me. And that's a good prayer for those of us who know the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:37:47.720 --> 00:37:54.940 To pray, Lord, You are all that I need. What I need most is not money, more or less of it. 00:37:56.579 --> 00:38:01.720 Protect me from the spiritual dangers of poverty and wealth. Help me to share in Your delight and 00:38:01.720 --> 00:38:07.420 Your generosity. Above all, help me to rest and rejoice in You, my greatest treasure. 00:38:07.420 --> 00:38:18.039 Father, let's pray. Our Father in heaven, we pray that You would give us each day our daily bread. 00:38:20.700 --> 00:38:26.539 For those of us who are struggling financially, we pray that You would provide for us day by day 00:38:26.539 --> 00:38:33.780 and help us to trust in You day by day. We pray that You would make us good stewards of what we have, 00:38:33.780 --> 00:38:41.900 even if it is only a little. We pray that You would protect us from falling into envy or despair or 00:38:41.900 --> 00:38:47.780 dishonesty. We pray that You would grant us wisdom, which is far better than gold or silver. 00:38:51.660 --> 00:38:58.500 Give us joy and delight in knowing You. For those of us who are prospering financially, 00:38:58.640 --> 00:39:03.240 help us to delight in Your good gifts and receive them with thankfulness and not with entitlement. 00:39:03.780 --> 00:39:10.400 Give us also a renewed joy in being generous, for it is more blessed to give than to receive. 00:39:11.940 --> 00:39:17.980 Protect us from the dangers of our wealth, from complacency and distraction and pride, 00:39:17.980 --> 00:39:28.580 and help us to love and delight in You above all things. We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. 00:39:28.580 --> 00:39:28.700 Amen. 00:39:28.700 --> 00:39:28.740 Amen. 00:39:28.740 --> 00:39:28.780 Amen.