Introduction:
A. In our sermon series from the book of Proverbs, we have been exploring some very challenging and controversial topics; like: anger, the tongue, sex and alcohol, and today we will continue that pattern as we dive into everyone’s favorite topic…money!
1. We pick up our thoughts and attitudes about money early in life.
2. One day a young boy was with his mother at the grocery store and as they were checking out, the cashier handed the boy a candy bar.
a. The little boy’s mother said what parents often say: “What do you say to the cashier, son?”
b. The little boy replied, “Charge it!” (I think his mom was looking for “thank you”)
3. On another occasion a young girl was with her mother at the ATM and her mother was letting her push the right buttons.
a. When the money was dispensed into the tray, the little girl squealed excitedly, “Look, Mommy, we won!” (We might wish it worked that way!)
B. The Wall Street Journal published an article with an anonymous quote that defined money as “an article which may be used as a universal passport to everywhere except heaven, and as a universal provider of everything except happiness.”
1. The writer might have added that money is also a provoker of covetousness and competition, and it is a wonderful servant but a terrible master.
2. What the Bible said so long ago is still true: The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. (1 Tim. 6:10)
3. Clement of Alexandra, a Christian theologian born in the 2nd century, said: “Wealth is like a viper, which is harmless if a person knows how to take hold of it; but if they do not, it will entwine round his hand and bite him.”
4. On a positive note, Billy Graham said: “If a person gets his attitude toward money straight, it will help straighten out almost every other area of his life.”
C. Solomon, the wise writer of Proverbs, would have agreed with all of those quotes!
1. Because Proverbs is a book of practical wisdom, it’s not surprising that it has a lot to say about money and how to handle it.
2. We live in a world where money is a fact of life that we have to learn to deal with and that takes wisdom.
3. Money can be either a great blessing or a great curse, but it depends on whether or not we learn to be wise in our pursuit of it and use of it.
4. As you probably know, there are tons of books, seminars, and courses that focus on how to get rich.
5. Unfortunately, many of the books, seminars and courses are less helpful to those who buy them, and mostly helpful to those who profit from them.
6. But that’s not the case with the wisdom about money offered by Proverbs – for one thing, it is free of charge, and for another, it is God’s wisdom, so we know it works.
7. The wisdom about money offered in Proverbs is scattered throughout the book, but from all these scattered verses, some principles about money emerge and I want to share them today.
I. Principle #1: Put Your Trust in God and Honor God with Whatever You Have
A. Proverbs 11:28 says: Anyone trusting in his riches will fall, but the righteous will flourish like foliage.
1. Proverbs 18:10-12 says: 10 The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are protected. 11 The wealth of the rich is his fortified city; in his imagination it is like a high wall. 12 Before his downfall a person’s heart is proud, but humility comes before honor.
2. These Proverbs clearly delineate the downfall of those who trust in their riches and allow their riches to be a source of pride.
3. No matter how rich or poor we might be, we must be humble and put our trust in the Lord.
4. And we must realize that everything we have comes from God and we wouldn’t have anything, or have the ability to earn anything, without God’s help.
B. Before we do anything else with our money, we should first honor God with it.
1. Proverbs 3:9-10 says: 9 Honor the Lord with your possessions and with the first produce of your entire harvest; 10 then your barns will be completely filled, and your vats will overflow with new wine.
2. The principle of “first fruit” giving became the norm in Israel because of God’s commands (Dt. 26:1-11)
a. Within this principle is the understanding that everything comes from God and therefore everything ultimately belongs to God.
b. By giving to God first, we honor God and show our trust in God’s ability to provide.
c. We honor God by giving to God from our first fruits and not our leftovers.
d. We start our budgeting process by deciding what we should give to God, and then we work at living on the rest.
C. These verses from Proverbs 3 suggest that if this “first fruits” practice is followed, then there will always be plenty of produce and wine.
1. It’s verse 10 that has caught the attention of those who promote the “Health and Wealth Gospel” that says that following certain financial practices guarantees God’s blessings.
2. But notice that the point here is that we must honor God with our money, not manipulate God into getting more money.
3. God’s promise is that when we put Him first, then we will have all we need.
4. That’s what Jesus said in Matthew 6:33 about seeking first the kingdom of God and the necessary things of life will be provided to us.
D. The Bible, as a whole, presents the truth that some righteous people will be wealthy and other righteous people will be poor.
1. Truth is that wealth isn’t always what is best for us - wealth has been the ruin of many people.
2. Also, we must understand that there are other forms of blessings that are more important than money and material things.
3. That’s why Jesus taught us to “lay up treasure in heaven” rather than here on earth.
4. When we experience heaven someday, I don’t think any of us will say: “I wish I had had more money and possessions while I was on earth.”
5. But sadly, there will be some who will wish they had put God’s kingdom first, who hadn’t.
6. So the first principle about being wise about money is to put your trust in God and to “honor God with whatever you have.”
II. Principle #2: Live Within Your Means
A. In other words, don’t spend more than you make or more than you have.
1. This means that we should be good stewards who know how to balance our income and our obligations.
2. A good budget puts God first by establishing our giving first, then after that our savings before we begin our spending plan.
3. Proverbs 21:20 says: Precious treasure and oil are in the dwelling of a wise person, but a fool consumes them.
4. The NIV renders it this way: The wise store up choice food and olive oil, but fools gulp theirs down.
5. When we wisely have savings in place, then emergencies are less of an emergency.
B. Another important part about living within our means is avoiding borrowing money – we should be careful about going into debt.
1. Proverbs 22:7 says: The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is a slave to the lender.
2. The word “slave” might sound rather extreme, but if you think about it, it’s really not.
a. Slaves are not free to do as they want, they have to do as they are told.
b. In ancient times, people who became indebted often worked off their debt as slaves.
3. The second we put ourselves into financial debt, we are then under the control of those we are indebted to.
a. If we don’t’ make our payments on time, then they can charge us penalties or change our interest rates, or repossess the car or evict us from our house.
4. Most of us won’t be able to buy a house without going into debt, but when we do so, we should use wisdom and make wise choices about how much indebtedness and interest rates, and the percentage of our budget it will involve.
a. We must be careful not to overextend ourselves, but when borrowing make sure we have the income to cover the loan payment and still have enough left over for other expenses.
b. Proverbs 22:26-27 says: 26 Don’t be one of those who enter agreements, who put up security for loans. 27 If you have nothing with which to pay, even your bed will be taken from under you.
5. Credit card debt is crippling many people, especially now in this period of high interest rates.
a. Sometimes people get into credit card debt because of emergencies like breakdowns or job losses, but most end up in debt because they bought things they didn’t have the money for.
b. They wanted something now and hoped to be able to pay for it later.
6. Sometimes the motivation is to pretend to be wealthier than you are…like the old saying “keeping up with the Joneses.”
a. Proverbs 12:9 says: Better to be disregarded, yet have a servant, than to act important but have no food.
b. How many people have gone into debt buying things they couldn’t afford in order to impress others or try to keep up with them?
1. I saw two of my second cousins where were trying to keep up with each other in their boat purchases – 16 foot boats, then 19 foot boats, then 23 foot boats.
c. But guess what – those who we are trying to keep up with or are trying to impress may have bigger debt problems than we know.
d. Self-control and contentment are necessary.
e. And once we have gotten ourselves into debt, we need to work hard and quickly to get ourselves out of it, and until then, we are a “slave to the lender.”
7. There are several of us who are ready to assist those who need help learning how to budget or need help working their way out of debt – just ask for some help.
C. Another important debt that Proverbs warns us about is taking on the debt of others.
1. Sometimes we are approached by people who want us to cosign a loan for them, but we must be careful about doing so, because we are obligating ourselves to pay the loan if they don’t.
2. Proverbs 11:15 says: If someone puts up security for a stranger, he will suffer for it, but the one who hates such agreements is protected.
3. In Proverbs 6:1-5, the wise man instructs us what to do after having put up security for another: 1 My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor or entered into an agreement with a stranger, 2 you have been snared by the words of your mouth—trapped by the words from your mouth. 3 Do this, then, my son, and free yourself, for you have put yourself in your neighbor’s power: Go, humble yourself, and plead with your neighbor. 4 Don’t give sleep to your eyes or slumber to your eyelids. 5 Escape like a gazelle from a hunter, like a bird from a hunter’s trap.
4. Notice how the wise man uses hunting imagery to describe the desperate situation of someone who has put up security for another person – he is like an animal caught in a trap and an animal will do whatever they have to free themselves.
5. We might decide to cosign for a close friend or family member, but when we do so we have to keep in mind that we have put ourselves into serious jeopardy, because we have no control over whether they will follow through, but we are on the hook if they don’t.
III. Principle #3: Don’t Sacrifice What is Truly Valuable for the Sake of Money
A. As you probably know, there are things that are far more valuable than money and as we have mentioned during this series: wisdom is one of them.
1. Proverbs 3:13-15 says: 13 Happy is a man who finds wisdom and who acquires understanding, 14 for she is more profitable than silver, and her revenue is better than gold. 15 She is more precious than jewels; nothing you desire can equal her.
B. Another thing that is more valuable than money is a good reputation.
1. Proverbs 22:1 says: A good name is to be chosen over great wealth; favor is better than silver and gold.
2. A good reputation is a priceless asset and all the money in the world can’t buy one.
3. But the pursuit of money and wealth can cost you the one you have.
C. Here’s a great Proverb that gives another warning about sacrificing what is truly valuable for the sake of money: 4 Don’t wear yourself out to get rich; because you know better, stop! 5 As soon as your eyes fly to it, it disappears, for it makes wings for itself and flies like an eagle to the sky. (Pr. 23:4-5)
1. These verses should not be viewed as advising us to refrain from working for a living, rather they are telling us of the importance of knowing when enough is enough.
2. This proverb reveals the truth that wealth is often a fleeting thing and the fact that it isn’t worth the sacrifice of our health, our family, or even our lives.
3. There has to be a balance between work and leisure and the wise person will recognize that balance.
4. In the end, what is the point of getting money if we don’t have the time to enjoy it, don’t have someone with whom to share it, or if we die striving to get it?
5. Those who pursue wealth are often thinking about the “bottom line” and according to Proverbs, the over pursuit of wealth at the detriment of everything else is not a wise use of our lives.
IV. Principle #4: Learn to Be Content with Enough
A. Proverbs 30:7-9 contains a powerful prayer that we would all do well to pray and to live by: 7 Two things I ask of you; don’t deny them to me before I die: 8 Keep falsehood and deceitful words far from me. Give me neither poverty nor wealth; feed me with the food I need. 9 Otherwise, I might have too much and deny you, saying, “Who is the Lord?” or I might have nothing and steal, profaning the name of my God.
1. This prayer sums up the spirit of Proverbs where money is concerned: make me neither poor nor rich.
2. Why is it best that we be neither poor nor rich, so that we will be able to keep perspective and maintain spiritual priorities.
3. If we have too little, then we will be tempted to sin in the way we pursue money, and if we have too much then we might forget about God and become proud and self-centered.
B. Similarly, Proverbs 16:8 says: Better a little with righteousness than great income with injustice.
1. And Proverbs 15:16 says: Better a little with the fear of the Lord than great treasure with turmoil.
2. The pursuit of much more can lead to injustice and the exploitation of others, and great treasure can bring much turmoil and many problems.
3. Learning to be content when we have enough is wise and is a safeguard.
C. The apostle Paul gave us some powerful spiritual truths when he wrote about money and contentment: 6 But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out. 8 If we have food and clothing, we will be content with these. 9 But those who want to be rich fall into temptation, a trap, and many foolish and harmful desires, which plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and by craving it, some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. (1 Tim. 6:6-10)
1. What are Paul’s main points?
2. First, Paul said: we came into the world with nothing, and that’s how we will leave this world.
a. When John D. Rockefeller died a reporter kept asking one of Rockefeller’s top aides: “How much money did Rockefeller leave behind?”
b. The aide finally said: “He left all of it.”
c. It doesn’t matter how much we leave behind, whether great or small, we leave it all.
3. Second, Paul said: if we have what we need, then we should be content with that.
a. You want to talk about being a minimalist, Paul said having sufficient food and clothing is enough.
b. Our needs may be a little more than that, we certainly need shelter, but in reality, our real needs are not much more than that.
4. Last of all, Paul said: the desire to get rich is dangerous, both physically and spiritually.
a. The love of money and the pursuit of wealth has led many people to ruin and destruction.
D. Along these lines, Proverbs also warns us against “get-rich-quick” schemes.
1. The promise of easy money quickly gained has always been a temptation but modern technology makes it even more widespread and easy to be exploited by.
2. All of us have received those emails about super rich African princes who need our help moving their wealth to America and they will give us half if they can move their money into our bank account.
a. How thrilling and enticing! What a quick and easy way to become rich!
b. We all know what happens, rather than putting their money into our account, they take our money and put it into theirs.
3. Proverbs 13:11 says: Wealth obtained by fraud will dwindle, but whoever earns it through labor will multiply it.
4. Proverbs 15:27 says: The one who profits dishonestly troubles his household, but the one who hates bribes will live.
5. Proverbs 20:21 says: An inheritance gained prematurely will not be blessed ultimately.
6. When we earn our income through hard and honest work, we have a better sense of the value of money.
7. But when the money comes too quickly or in too great an amount and we don’t have wisdom and self-control, the money causes trouble and hardship.
8. The majority of those who win the lottery end up bankrupt, divorced or dead.
9. The truth of the matter is that most of us would not be able to handle sudden wealth.
V. Principle #5: Be Generous Towards the Poor
A. There’s a simple spiritual principle involved with money and it is: you can’t be blessed by keeping it to yourself.
1. It’s somewhat of a counterintuitive concept, but Scripture is clear about the fact that you have to give in order to receive, and you have to lose in order to gain.
2. Proverbs 11:24-25 says: 24 One person gives freely, yet gains more; another withholds what is right, only to become poor. 25 A generous person will be enriched, and the one who gives a drink of water will receive water.
a. Here we clearly see that counterintuitive concept – the one who gives freely, gains more and the one who is generous is enriched.
B. Those two verses don’t mention that the giving and generosity should be to the poor, but other verses in Proverbs do focus on giving to the poor.
1. Proverbs 14:21 says: The one who despises his neighbor sins, but whoever shows kindness to the poor will be happy.
2. Proverbs 14:31 says: The one who oppresses the poor person insults his Maker, but one who is kind to the needy honors him.
3. Proverbs 19:17 takes it a step further: Kindness to the poor is a loan to the Lord, and he will give a reward to the lender.
a. In other words, to give to the poor is to give to God Himself.
b. This reminds us of Jesus’ words in Matthew 25 that those who give food, clothing, water, and hospitality to those in need, are doing it to and for Jesus Himself.
C. So, how can we show our generosity to the poor?
1. It starts with having a heart of compassion for those caught in a cycle of poverty realizing that there are many different reasons and causes that lead to poverty.
2. But then from a place of compassion and with a commitment to please and honor God, we set aside some of our income to help the poor and we do so by helping where we can or by making donations to help feed the hungry or support and get involved in other ministries that help the poor.
3. I’m thankful for our outreach ministries here at Wetzel Road that seek to offer food and clothing to those in need, and I’m thankful for those serving in those ministries who are looking for an opportunity to alleviate needs, develop relationships, and offer the good news of Jesus.
Conclusion:
A. Let’s do a quick review: God’s plan for financial management and stewardship is pretty simple.
1. #1: Honor God with everything you are and have and trust in God not in riches.
2. #2: Live within your means (there are four simple parts of a wise financial plan).
a. Give generously.
b. Budget carefully.
c. Save proportionately.
d. Borrow sparingly.
3. #3: Don’t Sacrifice What is Truly Valuable for the Sake of Money
a. Many things are more valuable than money – like God’s wisdom, our good reputation, our health and our families.
4. #4: Learn to Be Content with Enough
a. The love of money and the desire to be rich leads to danger and destruction.
b. Watch out for the “get-rich-quick” schemes.
c. Keep the right perspective on money and possessions.
d. Jesus said: “Watch out and be on guard against all greed, because one’s life is not in the abundance of his possessions.” (Lk. 12:15)
5. #5: Be Generous Towards the Poor
a. Generosity leads to blessings, hording leads to poverty.
b. By sharing with others, we give to God Himself.
c. And we remember this important truth: Rich and poor have this in common:
the Lord makes them all. (Pr. 22:2)
d. Rich or poor, God loves us and we belong to God.
e. Rich or poor, pleasing God includes trusting Him, putting Him first, honoring Him with all we are and have.
Resources:
• Don’t Be Dumb! The Wisdom of Proverbs for Today, by James T. (Tommy) South
• Wise Money, Gregory Neill, SermonCentral.com
