Wisdom and Wealth (pt. 1) (Proverbs 10:16, 18:10-11)
Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet this week.
Transcript
Thank you. Thank you. We're going to be talking about money. Who's excited? Yeah. I knew y'all would be glad to be here.
The Proverbs has a lot to say about money. And we were going to try to take this all on in one week. But it was looking like it was going to be like a 37 point sermon. Which for those of y'all who've been here a while and have heard me preach, you know that I mostly like to preach sermons that don't even have a point. And so 37 was going to be a lot. So we're going to look at it in two weeks.
We're going to study it this week and we're going to see what the Proverbs have to say about our approach to money. How we ought to consider money as we come to it. But then next week we're going to look at basically what does Lady Wisdom do when she gets a paycheck? What does her budget look like? If you are wise and righteous, what does your budget look like? But this week we're going to take a more broad view and just kind of understand some of the things that the Proverbs has to say about money and finances and wealth.
And I know that talking about money can make some people uncomfortable. And I know for some of you if it's your first Sunday you were like, I knew it! I knew this is all they talked about in churches. It's not, but it will be for the next two weeks. But stay for three and then you'll hear something different.
But I know this makes people uncomfortable sometimes to talk about money and so I thought I'd ease us in by talking about something else to start off. So we're going to begin this morning by talking about guns. That's actually just a fun transition into this idea. We will get to guns, but let me tell you that I have two sons. I have a three-year-old and a six-year-old and I'm teaching them things all the time. And I'm going to have to continue to teach them things all the time.
And one of the things that I've realized is there are certain things in life that are good and enjoyable, but that you have to approach with a certain level of seriousness, a certain level of maturity, a certain level of caution, a certain level of wisdom. Otherwise, they can be very, very bad. Swimming is like this. Swimming is a lot of fun. But without a certain level of maturity, without a certain level of wisdom, without a certain level of seriousness, it can be very terrible.
We like to build fires in my backyard and roast marshmallows. And that can be a lot of fun. But without a certain level of maturity, it can be terrible. I want to teach my sons to hunt one day. That's where the guns comes in. It was just a fun intro, like I said, to this idea.
But without a certain level of maturity and seriousness and training and thought, that can be terrible. I want to teach them to drive a vehicle one day. And there's tons of things in the world that work like this. And the Proverbs are going to caution us that money is also like this. That finances are like this. Wealth are like this.
There's this idea that we have that if I just had more money, things would be better. And the Proverbs says, no, maybe not. Maybe you having more money would make things worse. Maybe it would be bad for you to have more money. And so even this tension of us going, well, money is not like that, means that we have some wisdom to gain from the Proverbs that knows something about wealth that we don't. So let's pray and let's study this together.
And hopefully we can change our approach to money a little bit. God, we thank you for this time we get to spend gathered as your redeemed people. That even as we've spent this time in the book of Proverbs over the past several weeks, and as we continue to spend our time in the book of Proverbs, and we grow in wisdom, we do not grow in our ability to be saved. We do not grow in our morality so that you might love us more. We do not come as people who are here to get this right so that we might have life. We come as those who have been given life through the work of Christ, and therefore get to grow in obedience and joy as we walk faithfully following you.
So, Lord, may we be a gospel people who trust your word and trust you, and may we grow in wisdom. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen. Proverbs 10, chapter 16 says this, The wage of the righteous leads to life, the gain of the wicked to sin. The wage of the righteous leads to life, the gain of the wicked to sin. So when the righteous get paid, good things happen.
Life increases. Life increases. Life increases. That there is more of God's work and ministry going on in the world when the righteous have money. That through money there can be people can be helped. People can eat.
Things can change. Sin can be held at bay. That there's these things through money, through wages, that in the hands of the righteous are very, very good. But money in the hand of the wicked, when they gain, when their portfolio looks really nice, it only increases sin. So if you take notes, one of the first things you need to write down is that money is a tool.
Money is a tool. And therefore, because it is a tool, it depends on who's wielding it as to whether or not it's good or bad. This is why, if you just think, if I just have more money, things will be better, the proverb says, maybe not. Maybe it will just empower you to sin more. My family, we appreciate the movie Megamind. It's a very underrated movie.
Some of you are like, I've never heard of that. I just said it was very underrated. Megamind is a good movie. One of the scenes in Megamind, they encapsulate superhero powers basically in a pill. And they're trying to find someone to give this to. So they have basically the powers of Superman in a little capsule.
And what you realize is that the powers don't actually make you great. They just enhance who you are. So if you give the powers to someone who is already righteous, then they will be super-powered righteous. But if you give it to someone who is a fool, you will have a super-powered fool. I don't want to ruin the movie for you. It ends up in the hands of a fool.
And it makes things worse. And so that's actually somehow we ought to consider money. That if you had more money, it does not necessarily mean good things for you. It actually may be God's grace on you right now that he's kept you in your tax bracket. Because he's gracefully limiting your ability to multiply your sin. Some of y'all need to go home and say, thank you, Jesus.
That I only get to sin at just barely above the poverty level. Because if you'd have given me money, I'd have been all over the place. We've been convincing ourselves that if we just had money, things would be fine. But that's not necessarily true. And so we need to grow in wisdom before we get money. Because money works like this, it is a tool.
But that means that money is also a test. That money displays what you love, what you care about, what matters to you. That money displays your heart. It's like taking a test. That's what a test is, that it shows us where we are. And you don't actually have to have a lot of money for it to do this.
All money does this. It's what Jesus says in Luke 16, 10. One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much. And one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. Sometimes we like to convince ourselves that I'm only this way with my money because I don't have a lot. And that sounds great unless you talk to Jesus.
And he says, that's not true. But we believe this in other things. We don't think that she makes a terrible employee, but she'll be a great boss. She'll show up to time, work on time and really care. It's like she has this much responsibility right now and she can't do that. So let's give her more.
Don't believe that. If you're dating a guy and he says, yeah, I'm a bad boyfriend, but I'll really step it up when we get married. Don't believe that. That's not how it works. And so if right now you do not handle money well, biblically, getting more of it will not help you. It will harm you.
It will promote wickedness and sin. So money is a tool. And because of that, it's a test. Our money displays what we love, what we care about. But it's not that neutral.
It actually gets worse than that. The scriptures tell us that it's not just a test. It is also a temptation. That money woos us towards sin. And that you're better off without it to be sinless than to pursue it and grow in sin. So it's a temptation.
Proverbs 18, 10 through 11 says this. The name of the Lord is a strong tower. The righteous man runs into it and is safe. A rich man's wealth is his strong city and like a high wall in his imagination. I love those two verses together. The name of the Lord is a strong tower.
That you can run into him and be safe. This is told to us throughout the scriptures that all those who believe in him will not be put to shame. That if you trust him, he will rescue you. He will defend you. That all you really need is him and he can protect you and keep you. And then it says, but rich people replace God with money.
God is a strong tower, but to a rich man, his money is his strong city. Like a high wall in his imagination. Oh, a little pretend wall. That's cute. It's like when my son's holding up a cardboard like roll-up thing and it's a sword. It's like, that's neat.
You're not going to get to defend our house with it though because it won't actually work. That's what it says about money. And the truth is right now we can look at this and go, those rich people. Trusting their money. Thinking it's a strong tower. But the reality is, isn't that how money works?
Don't we see how much money we have first to then decide whether or not we really need to pray about something? Some of you, your tire blew out. It's not a problem. I have money. Some of you, your tire blew out and it was a big problem. Why?
Because you didn't have money. Your strong city was gone. You needed a strong tower. And it just depends on your tax bracket and your wealth amount and how many zeros you have in your bank account as to how safe you feel. And that's why money can lure us away because money makes God-sized promises that are extremely believable. I mean, extremely believable.
It says things to us and to our hearts. That's why it's competing. That you can trust in the Lord, but a rich man doesn't trust in his wealth. Because it's so easy to do. It makes God-level promises and we want to believe them. That's why Jesus says you can't serve God and money.
You'll either love one or hate the other. They're in competition in a distinct way. Your money says to you, do not be afraid for I am with you. I know the plans that I have for you. Plans for good and not for harm. To give you a future and a hope.
Pleasures are at my right hand forevermore. And none of us doubt it. If I had enough money, wouldn't that just be true? I always feel like this is the reality because we can replace worship songs with money and they still make sense. I grew up singing the song, Because He Lives. That song could just be Because I'm Rich.
Because I'm rich, I can face tomorrow. Because I'm rich, all fear is gone. Come on. Because I know who holds the future. And life is worth the living just because I'm rich. And we believe that.
But it's not just that. A mighty fortress is our gold. We could make a whole album. Only bling forever in cash alone. Money makes God-level promises to us and we do not doubt them. And that is a danger.
And the more money you have, the more believable it becomes. And again, I'll say, God has been gracious to us in that He has not let us grow in finances if we are not yet trusting in Him. And it can actually be a form of His wrath on you for you to financially succeed so that you might run headlong into sin. Proverbs 11, 28 says this. Whoever trusts in his riches will fall. And in the Hebrew, that word fall means fall to His death.
But the righteous will flourish like a green leaf. So when we begin to believe this, when we believe that money can redeem us, save us, help us, protect us, that it is sovereign over us to keep us from harm and danger and to give us the good life, we begin to head into trouble. 1 Timothy 6, 9 says, Those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. Matthew 13, 22. As for what was sown among the thorns, this is the one who hears the word. These people who would say they believe, but the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word and it proves unfruitful.
That our money lies to us. And it competes with God and we begin to love it. We begin to worship it. We begin to serve it. And this is an idol. We have a handful of things that I think will help us identify this idolatry.
Let's look back at that chapter 18. So this is like a strong tower in his imagination. A high wall in his imagination. So I think one of the first questions you can begin to ask is, how does money work in my imagination? Be the first question to try to see, is this an idol for you? Is this something that you long for?
Is it something that you worship? How does it work in your imagination? How do you finish the sentence? If I just had enough money, then I wouldn't have to worry. As if money somehow replaces the sovereignty of God on the throne. If I just had enough money, then I could be happy.
I wouldn't be so stressed. Then I could really have the good stuff. If I just had enough money, then people would listen to me. They would respect me. What is it? How do you finish that sentence?
And the reality is, however you finish that sentence helps you begin to identify what it is that you want money for, what it is that you will most love to serve, and why you would get money. And all of them can be an extreme danger to us. So that's the first question. How does money work in your imagination? Number two, has money begun to give you identity? Proverbs 28, 11 says, A rich man is wise in his own eyes, but a poor man who has understanding will find him out.
Okay, so wealth and wisdom. So it says a rich man says, I'm wise. Becomes wise in his own eyes, which in the Proverbs, being wise in your own eyes is one of the pinnacles of foolishness. But he actually thinks that his wealth dictates to him his character and his maturity. And for many of us who aren't rich, we're like, But don't we often use money to help us know where we are in life? Like a tangible scorekeeper?
As to whether or not we're good, as to whether or not we're successful, as to whether or not we've progressed. Don't you, when you picture yourself, you have more money in the future than you do right now? I don't know of any American who thinks in the future I'll be poorer than I am right now. And if you do, someone near you will say, have you not heard of compound interest? You're doing this wrong. But there's this reality that we use this as somehow dictates to us how we're doing, who we are.
Like somehow wealth dictates to us character. And that is completely foreign to the scriptures and is actually foolish. So has your money begun to give you an identity? Either to grant it to you or to take it from you, depending on where your wealth is at the moment. Third question. Are you willing to sin to get money?
So here's how idolatry works. If we love Jesus as our highest joy, then we will forsake sin to have him. But if something else is our highest joy, even though we know that something is wrong, we will choose sin to have it. It's one of the best ways for you to identify what you love more than Jesus is just ask the question, what am I willing to sin to have? But specifically here, are you willing to sin to have money, to get money?
Proverbs 15, 27 says, Whoever is greedy for unjust gain troubles his own household, but he who hates bribes will live. Unjust gain means gain that you should not have gotten. You're welcome. That's greed. Wanting something that should not be yours. Sinning to get it.
Let's look at a couple. Proverbs 22, 16 says, Whoever oppresses the poor to increase his own wealth, or gives to the rich, will only come to poverty. So, the back half of these two that we're going to look at, show that God ultimately thwarts this plan. But it also, in the first half, shows us that we try it. So there is a way to oppress the poor to increase your own wealth, and to be generous with the rich, and Jesus talks about this as well, to be generous with those, to give to those who can give back to you.
But there's no point in being generous to the poor, because they can't help you. But being generous and gracious to the rich, rich is a good way to grow in social capital. The next one says this, Whoever multiplies his wealth by interest and profit, gathers it for him who is generous to the poor. Again, ultimately, God's going to thwart that plan. But, oh my goodness. I went to business school.
I have a business degree. I studied economics. Multiply your wealth by interest and profit. That's what we're supposed to do. It's what I've been told my whole life. Now, it's a little more nuanced than it reads.
I want to say some things real quick. One is, I'm a fan of capitalism. I think it actually does promote greater freedom. I think it does promote greater wealth. I think everybody ends up a little bit better off. But there is an untethered capitalism that most Americans ascribe to that is wickedness.
We're taught to pay the lowest wages you can possibly pay to retain the type of worker you need to retain. And that you pay them more if it's in your best interest to do so. We're told to charge the maximum amount of money you can charge for an item where people will still pay for it. We're told to gain as much interest as we possibly can to pay as little interest as we possibly can. And ultimately, the Bible's going to say that these tactics begin to oppress the poor. And that God does not look favorably on it.
You know who pays the highest interest rates on things? The poor. Do you know where payday loans are located? And buy here, pay here, car places are located? Do you know who has to take the lowest wages offered? And keep taking the lowest wage offered?
Do you know who buys things in smaller quantities for a higher markup? Do you know who does not have a Sam's card? Or a Costco membership? The Bible says that we practice this to the detriment of our souls. Now, some of you just got real excited because we took 15 seconds to stick it to the man. Well, you're included in here as well.
Let's see. Proverbs 20, 23 and 21, 6. It says, Unequal weights are an abomination to the Lord and false scales are not good. The getting of treasures by a lying tongue is a fleeting vapor and a snare of death. There's a possibility for you to convince yourself that whatever you do that somehow takes away from the big corporations, whether it's true or not, is perfectly justified because they're wicked. The Bible would call that wickedness.
Unequal weights is the idea that someone would have when they were buying and selling a different weight that they actually used to measure out goods so that you could pay less and charge more. You don't walk around with weights in your pocket. But you probably have played up the quality of the vehicle you were selling when you knew there were some things wrong with it. You probably have played down how much you wanted something, maybe even lied about it. I used to work in sales. Customers ask good questions that salespeople don't know the answer to.
People who sell a lot of things make up good answers that may or may not be true. If you meet a salesperson and they have really good answers to everything, there's a good chance that they are lying to you. Some people clock in and don't work. Have their friend clock in for them. Some of you have started working from home because of the pandemic. I'm sorry.
Working from home because of the pandemic. There's a way for us to lie to gain. You lie on your resume. Download pirated content. You know the sticker is wrong on something at a retail place, but the person running the register doesn't, so you pay what they asked you. It's a good way to save some cash.
It's an unjust weight. It's an abomination to the Lord. Are we willing to sin to gain? Now, I would encourage you to not just sit at this moment and try to think through that, but to go sit with the Holy Spirit and ask these questions because the Holy Spirit does not want sin for you because sin ultimately does not lead to life. I have found one of the questions. I ask the Lord a lot of questions.
I found one of the ones He's most readily able to answer and desires to answer for me is where am I sinning? I can usually sit with a blank sheet of paper and say, Lord, where am I sinning and not seeing it? He usually has a few things that He tells me. That's why I don't do it very often. I find it uncomfortable. But I would encourage you to sit and do that.
The next one is, are you willing to sin to keep your money? Some of us made it through. We're not willing to sin to get money. But the Proverbs says some things about keeping our money. Proverbs 11, 24 says, One gives freely. It grows all the richer.
We're going to talk about that next week when we talk about what does wisdom do with its money. But the next one says this, Another withholds what he should give and only suffers want. You'll see that word should in there. Not withholds what he could give. Not withholds what he might give. Withholds what he should give.
Meaning that some of the money you have, there are claims made to it that are not your own. Three primary ones that the Bible is going to give us. Is that we are to return our first fruits to the Lord. Meaning to support His work. We're to pay our taxes. And to be generous to the poor.
And that when you get money, you are a steward of God's provision. And you ought to handle it well. The FedEx driver does not get to go through the boxes and decide what they keep and what they deliver. And some of the money that is coming into your account is not for you. But we withhold what we should give.
The poor is disliked even by his neighbor. But the rich has many friends. Whoever despises his neighbor is a sinner. But blessed is he who is generous to the poor. So I think one of the best questions is to ask, how do you defend your money?
How do you defend your money? What do you tell yourself to make yourself feel better about the fact that you are guarding your money? Well, I would give to them but they'd handle it poorly. So I'll handle it poorly for them right now. I don't have to give because I give my time. Which you should do.
You give your time. That's good. But that's also a really good way to defend your cash. Oh, this is one of my personal favorites. I like to execute this move. It's I find out someone needs something.
I tell myself I'm more than happy to help them. Because I have to say that to myself so I can feel good. And then I say, but I'll wait and see if somebody else takes care of it first. I don't want to get in the way of letting someone else receive a blessing by being generous. You have really needy friends. So then you just change that to I had some really needy friends.
You avoid certain sections of town because someone might ask you for something or you'll just see them and know they need it and you feel uncomfortable. So you just tell yourself it's not really safe over there. What you really mean is my cash isn't really safe over there plus my guilt feels bad when I'm in that side of town. You've got 15 I hadn't even mentioned. We're all really good at this. But are we willing to sin to keep our money?
Proverbs 21, 26 All day long this is the sluggard. He craves and craves but the righteous gives and does not hold back. I think just one of the simple tests is does all your money terminate on you? Every bit of the money that comes in go towards your life your lifestyle how you get things. Do you crave and crave? Can't wait until you get your next paycheck because you know already what it's going to get for you.
It's a good way to indicate that you're handling your money poorly. Money is a tool it tests us and it tempts us. Proverbs 23, 4 says Do not toil to acquire wealth. Be discerning enough to desist. That be discerning enough means in the words of the way my dad would put it is have enough sense. Have enough sense to stop.
When your eyes light on it it is gone for suddenly it sprouts wings flying like an eagle toward heaven. Some of you are like I thought that was just my money. The Bible says all money works like that? It just disappears? It's one of the ideas from the scriptures that ultimately all your money will be gone but you can use it in a way that has eternal effect but to pursue money ultimately will fail you. And so the Proverbs says have enough sense to stop.
But how many of us have just bought into the lie that if I can just make more if I can just get to here if I could just be as high as if I could just have as much as if I could just finally get this house this car these clothes these friends this job that office Proverbs says see it and stop. Now why? Why does God tell us that? Proverbs 15 16 Better is a little with the fear of the Lord than great treasure and trouble with it. If you don't fear the Lord your great treasure will trouble you. It will lead you into sin.
It will lead you into temptation. It will convince you to trust it and it makes very convincing arguments. But the Bible says it's better it's better if you just have the Lord. That Jesus is better if you can end up with him and no money no treasure you're better. Why does it say that? Because it believes it.
Is better if you can end up with him and no money no treasure you're better. Why does it say that? Because it believes it. It believes that he actually is a strong tower that can defend you that can protect you that can provide for you that can guard you that can help you.
He owns all the money multiple times in this these Proverbs it kept saying God's going to take the money and give it to who he wants to. He can do that anytime he needs to for you and he will. Now you can have treasure actual real treasure and you can also have a little an actual
Little this isn't some sort of trick like if I get Jesus then I get the cash no you you might just have a little you might miss out on some things there might be some stuff you don't get to go do you don't get to partake in
Your house is not as nice but you get Jesus and he's better there's joy and peace and hope and life and if you read through the Proverbs you'll see this over and over again it's better to just have some love than a giant house where there's wickedness and trouble
It says it's better to eat herbs than a meal with meat where there's trouble and wickedness and sin now herbs is the stuff we put on top of our meat so just eating herbs is like what but it says it's better because he's better he wants himself for you
So much so that he was willing to die to rescue you to steal your heart back from money he wants good for you and hope and life for you and money lies to you and we so often believe it isn't it more tangible isn't it more under our control isn't it nicer to
Have at some point I just want money because I don't really want God to be in charge of how things work out for me it's not that I don't trust him it's just that I don't really trust him that's really what we're saying
I just need well okay but I just need the money and if he could just give me the money then I'll just handle it fine and that'll be great ultimately money is a good gift it's just a terrible God it can be used for good things
We'll talk about that next week but if we don't have wisdom we don't have righteousness we don't have the fear of the Lord you don't want money it's just gonna be worse if you have righteousness if you have wisdom if you have fear of
The Lord then you can have some money because it won't grab your heart you can handle it much much differently Proverbs 11 7 when the wicked dies his hope will perish the expectation of wealth
Perishes too the rich and the poor meet together the Lord is maker of them all eventually everything money told you it was gonna do it fails to deliver eventually yes you can be super rich and you
Can own a chimpanzee and have a super nice house and a swimming pool but eventually everything money tells you it's going to do it fails to do it doesn't protect you it doesn't provide for you it doesn't save you it doesn't give you pleasures forevermore
It doesn't have a hope and a future for you Jesus does but your money doesn't that's what it says Proverbs 11 4 riches do not profit in the day of wrath but righteousness delivers from death you know there's a day of
Wrath coming where we stand held accountable for our sin and we want to stand in the righteousness of Christ not in the wealth of our bank account one of the benefits that rich people have in the world right now is that
They can sue out of court they can settle out of court they can just work something out with somebody they can make a deal most people can't do that they have to go to court to get justice but a lot of wealthy people can just say it's gonna be too much of a
Burden too much time too expensive and I'll just settle out of court there is a court that rich people cannot settle out of because no one can settle out of it you stand in that court on that day before the king and you are
Either clothed in his righteousness or you stand on your own and wealth cannot save you but all those who put their faith in Jesus will not be put to shame so may we be wise enough to stop chasing money to understand its inherent dangers to approach it with some
Wisdom and some temperance and some calm and be happier to not have it and have Jesus than to just get it so that we can feel okay right now in our imaginations the band's gonna come back up we're gonna
Be thankful in Christ that we have an inheritance that is undefiled unfading and kept in heaven for you we read that earlier together but that's the reality for those who have placed their faith in Jesus is that there is hope
In him that he keeps us from danger that he keeps us for all eternity so we're gonna try to join with Proverbs 37 through 9 that says this two things I ask of you deny them not to me before I die remove far from me
Falsehood and lying give me neither poverty nor riches feed me with the food that is needful for me lest I be full and deny you and say who is the Lord or lest I be poor and steal and profane the name
Of my God can we be that free can we just come to him and say Jesus I just want you you handle the finances give me what you want me to have I trust you but don't give me so much that I
Lose this make sure I'm fed make sure I'm cared for Lord I trust you to do that but oh Lord help me not have money be a thing
That stands in the way of me having you can I just have you can we say that can we believe that by the power of the spirit can we just say I just can it
This not get in the way can I just have you so we're going to stand and we're going to sing take the world but give
Me Jesus and we're going to try to join with Proverbs 30 and say Lord let me just have you and if I can have
That it'll be enough and there can be times I really need to trust you and I really need to lean in you but
The truth is in those moments I get more of you that's what he wants for us so much so that he would die
That we might have him and he might have us and the truth is if money gets in the way of it get rid
Of it let's pray Lord our money tempts us towards sin and it exposes our hearts and may we not believe the lie that
We're told by money and that our culture supports wholeheartedly that it will give us hope it will give us future it will keep
Us safe it will tell us who we are and how much value we have may we run from that to the cross and
The king who holds all pleasure and joy and treasure and hope forever Lord may we handle money as if we have been redeemed
And were held in the very competent hands of the ruler of the universe might we look so drastically different when it comes to how we
Handle our finances to what our bank account looks like because we trust that you are God over all may we be honest in
Our dealing may we be open with our finances may we be generous Lord may we have you in Jesus name Amen we have
In įŽ we have him may speak in your words