Pleasure in Moderation: Moderation in Wealth

The Reading of Proverbs 30

Please turn in your Bibles to Proverbs chapter 30, which can be found on page 551. When you have that, please stand for the reading of God's word. I'll begin in verse one and read through verse nine. The words of Agur, son of Jacob, the oracle.

The man declares, I am weary, O God. I am weary, O God, and worn out. Surely I am too stupid to be a man. I have not the understanding of a man. I have not learned wisdom nor have I knowledge of the Holy One.

Who has ascended to heaven and come down? Who has gathered the wind in his fists? Who has wrapped up the waters in a garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is his name and what is his son's name?

Surely you know. Every word of God proves true. He is a shield to those who take refuge in him. Do not add to his words, lest he rebuke you and you be found a liar. 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 fool and deny you and say, who is the Lord? Or lest I be poor and steal and profane the name of my God.

Amen. You may be seated. Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for your mercies to us. We thank you for your word. We pray that you would help us to understand the moderation that we ought to have in our own wealth.

We pray that you would help us to, with enthusiasm, pray this prayer of agar, that we have neither riches nor poverty, and that you would give us precisely that which is needful for us. In Jesus' name, amen.

Agur's Prayer for Moderation in Wealth

Now, no chance if you are no, what's the word I'm looking for? It is very likely that if you have been coming here for some time, you are familiar with this proverb because you hear me say it pretty often.

I think I end up quoting this proverb very often in my prayers, that the Lord give us neither poverty nor riches. It's an important truth. It's important to understand God's purposes for us in our wealth, that it be moderate.

This chapter in the book of Proverbs is well-known to be the most difficult chapter in the whole book of Proverbs. It is not entirely certain who agar is. It could be just some man that exists at that time.

His name seems to mean gatherer, so it could be a term for someone who is gathering Solomon's proverbs. It could be Solomon himself who is gathering these things together. But in all likelihood, it is someone whose name is agar, son of Jacob.

Many different parts of this passage are difficult to understand, yet the proverb before us today is fairly straightforward. The only real mystery here is what is the relationship between falsehood and lies and poverty and riches?

And I will be answering that shortly by the end of this message. That will be answered, but I'd like you to hold on. I don't want to answer it just yet. What is the answer to the relationship between these things?

Wealth, Pleasure, and the Prosperity Gospel

In many ways, you might think of pleasure, since this is a series on pleasure in moderation, you might think that wealth is, in a lot of ways, contrary to pleasure. It's by the spending of wealth, it's by losing wealth, that one has pleasure.

In fact, Proverbs 21, 27 says, that whoever loves pleasure will be a poor man. He who loves wine and oil will not be rich. There it pits pleasure against riches. If you love pleasure, you won't have riches.

Yet other times, the Bible talks about these things going hand in hand. In Luke 8, 14, in the parable of the sower, talks about the thorny soil as a man who has his faith choked by the different cares and pleasures and riches of the world.

Pursuing pleasures, pursuing riches go hand in hand because it's by riches that one would have pleasure. Now, there are different kinds of false beliefs about riches. You might be familiar with what's known as the prosperity gospel.

The idea that God's purpose is for your life would be that if you please him, then he will give you many riches. Okay, that's the prosperity gospel. And the reason why, well, of course, the obvious reason why it's appealing is because people want riches.

But the reason why it seems to accord with what the Bible says is because God does guarantee rewards. It's just that they may not always be riches that one would experience in this life, not material riches.

There's also what is known as the poverty gospel. That's the idea that one can make themselves right with God by refusing all wealth and just living in poverty. So those are different beliefs about riches.

But what we're looking at today is not beliefs about riches, but what beliefs might come from riches or the extreme of poverty. What are the different things? You might say, who is the Lord? You might profane the name of God.

These different thoughts on who God is and your approach to God, your respect of him may be transformed by your wealth. Not that your wealth or lack thereof would do that by itself, but they form temptations that would lead you in one direction or the other.

Poverty and Wealth as Temptations

So this is the first point before us is that extremes and wealth are temptations. Extreme wealth, extreme riches is one kind of temptation. Extreme poverty is another kind of temptation. If you think about the unbeliever who has a lot of poverty, in fact, if you go into areas that are very poor, maybe inner city areas, the thing that comes to your mind about an inner city area is not a bunch of poor but very righteous people.

It's people who by their poverty have been tempted into many different sins. It's very hard to extract them from because they have become so hardened in the sins that they have pursued. Sometimes it's because of their sins that they are in poverty, but also that poverty reinforces the sin, places them in a place of need where they would just because of that poverty, whether it be steel or any kind of need, push them to some temptation to use means that God has not authorized in order to provide for themselves.

And thinking about how temptations relate to poverty, one thing that comes to mind for me as I've been studying this doctrine of simony is a question that often came up among those who talked about this doctrine, and that is whether or not it would be simony, whether or not it would be selling or buying a spiritual thing to pay someone in order to convert.

Maybe you've heard about this, that some missionaries, because of the way the incentives are structured, will just pay natives to ostensibly convert to the religion of Christianity. Does this constitute simony?

Well, it would, the answer is, is it would if that is the reason they are converting. However, it would not be if what you are doing is removing temptation from them. So in other words, and here's one example, let's say that someone has engaged in a lot of usury, they have lent in a harmful way to many people, and they know that in order to repent, it would cost them so much wealth that it would become incredibly burdensome to them.

And so the idea of coming to the faith is very difficult to them because of all the temptations that they face, that it would be in some measure appropriate to help them lift those temptations in order to assist them in their conversion.

And I think that it seems like a right sort of answer. In fact, there are people that we try to help when they are faced with temptation based on their own poverty, over at Planned Parenthood, as they are seeking all kinds of sinful means to deal with their situation, that we are eager to help lift those temptations in order that they would be able to serve God and not continue in sin.

All kinds of temptations that come from poverty. But think also how this affects the believer. You might think that that's just unbelievers, hardened in sin, et cetera. No, it affects believers too. In fact, as I talk to people and encourage believers to pursue the means that God has given, often what happens is because needs are so overwhelming, whether they be physical needs or otherwise, they choose the means that seems best to accomplish what they need.

Now, if you think about how this relates directly to wealth, how many people end up pursuing a job on Sunday that has no, that is not a job of necessity or mercy, as would be authorized, right? There's some work that would be appropriate on the day that the Lord has appointed for worship.

So many people, because of their need, feel that they must, their need that is not quite necessity that is described, but feel that they must, must give themselves instead to secular work rather than to the worship of God on this day that God has appointed.

Or so many people who, despite the Bible's command, be fruitful, multiply, think that their poverty is an excellent excuse not to pursue the fruitfulness that God has called couples, married couples, to pursue.

Riches as a Spiritual Danger

And then we have, and then we have also riches. Riches tempt as well. Think about the different way that riches tempt believers, or unbelievers. Job 21, verse 13 onward says, they spend their days in prosperity, and in peace they go down to Sheol.

They say to God, depart from us. We do not desire the knowledge of your ways. What is the Almighty that we should serve him? And what profit do we get if we pray to him? Behold, is not their prosperity in their hand?

The counsel of the wicked is far from me. So you have unbelievers who do not, they do not know God. They, because of their riches, do not sense their need for God. And so they say, we do not know you, we do not need you.

In fact, this was Pharaoh's response. Pharaoh, wealthy man, his response to Moses. Who is the Lord that I should obey him? I do not know him. Exodus 5 too, that is how he responds to Moses. Jesus, of course, teaches us that it's easier for a camel to go through with the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.

And is not this the case as you talk to the residents here in Silicon Valley? There's so much prosperity here that many people do not feel their need for God. They think that they have everything they need and they are not aware of their poverty, of their misery.

I don't know how much this will help, but I'll take it. They are not aware of their poverty and their misery. So they do not seek the Lord. And then there are believers who, because of their wealth, do not pursue God as they ought.

Or there are many who are ostensibly part of the faith, but then they fall away because of their riches. Deuteronomy 8, beginning in verse 10. And you shall eat and be full, and you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land he has given you.

Take care lest you forget the Lord your God by not keeping his commandments and his rules and his statutes, which I command you today. Lest when you have eaten and are full and have built good houses and live in them, and when your herds and flocks multiply and your silver and gold is multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied, then your heart be lifted up, and you forget the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

People, by their riches, when they go into the promised land, the thing God is warning them about is that they will be full, they will forget who he is, they don't need him anymore, and this is indeed what happens.

In fact, a number of times throughout Deuteronomy, he doesn't just tell them that it might happen, he tells them it will happen. This is what will happen. Deuteronomy 32, 15 says, Jeshurun grew fat and kicked.

Jeshurun is a name for Israel. Jeshurun grew fat and kicked and forsook his maker. You also have the words of Hosea 13, 6. But when they had grazed, they became full. They were filled and their heart was lifted up.

Therefore, they forgot me. Common pattern throughout scripture and like I mentioned earlier, the parable of the sower. What does the thorny soil do? It's choked, the plant that grows up is choked by the cares and the pleasures and the riches of the world.

This is what happened to Judas. Judas was interested in the riches of the world. And so, many people taken away by such things. We must pray for moderation in our wealth. That should be evident from this passage that we pray for moderation in wealth.

It is abundantly evident. Remove far from me falsehood and lying. Give me neither poverty nor riches. Feed me with the food that is needful for me. Is this not also precisely what Jesus teaches us to pray in the Lord's Prayer?

Give us this day our daily bread. He does not teach us to pray for more than that. He specifically teaches us to pray for our daily bread. We also have other prayers. For example, the prayer of Jacob in Genesis 28, verse 20.

Then Jacob made a vow saying, if God will be with me and will keep me in this way that I go and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear so that I come again to my father's house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God.

He is describing a satisfaction with simply having enough, simply having what God would determine is enough and that he would be able to continue on as he ought. Now, there might be a bit of a gap in your mind for how you get from praying for these things to actually pursuing these things.

Discerning a Proper Level of Wealth

But is it not obvious enough that if you are to pray according to God's will, then you should also pursue God's will? If you are to pray for moderation in your wealth, are you not also to pursue moderation in your wealth?

Clearly, it is something that you are supposed to do. Now, how do you determine what moderation in your wealth looks like? How do you go about discerning this? Well, you can consider several factors in your life.

First of all, your obligations. If you have an obligation to a number of people, then that might keep you from a more impoverished state. For example, the one who has some aging parents or poor parents that they might need to take care of, it would be very foolish for them to donate all of their goods to the poor and then not be able to take care of their parents.

Remember, we looked recently at the Law of Corbin where different Jews in the time of Jesus would say that they had devoted their things to God and therefore they could not care for their parents. Now, that was a sort of trick that they were doing in order to keep these things for themselves, so it's not really like they were living in poverty.

But still, you could imagine that someone who would, sort of out of misguided zeal for God, give away all their things, failed to fulfill their obligations. So first, consider your obligations. Second, consider your abilities.

God has gifted different people for different things. Now, that is not on its own a determining, a certainly determinative factor, but if God has blessed you with the ability to make a lot of wealth, that certainly is something to consider.

If God has blessed you with the ability to live in rougher conditions, maybe you're someone who is more capable of it and you can tell that you're more capable of it. That is something that you should take into account as well.

Consider those different things, your obligation, your abilities. Consider also your habits, your spending habits. Are you someone who spends a lot and is not able to handle a lot of wealth? That if you were to have a lot of wealth, you would not use it well?

And also, are you proactive in your stewardship? To what degree are you really watching over your budget and investments? Are these things that would keep you from being able to handle much wealth? Those are factors you should also consider.

And has God any special calling on your life that would call you away from greater degrees of wealth? So what God calls many people to is they pursue ministry. Now, consider those things wisely. I think I know more people who have wrongly pursued poverty than I know people who have wrongly pursued wealth.

Yet all the same, the picture we get in scripture is that wealth is the greater tempter in a lot of ways. And so you should be cautious either way. I know a number of people who, out of a misguided spiritual crisis, decided to pursue God on some very foolish mission where they are serving Him in ways that really are not that beneficial to the kingdom, left behind an incredibly lucrative position by which they might have built up a lot and been able to give.

But just because they couldn't see the ways that God could use it, ended up moving overseas to very inefficiently try to serve the kingdom in ways that they simply weren't equipped for and never even bothered trying to become equipped for because they thought this was the appropriate way to go about the task.

Go through these different attributes. Think about how God has gifted you and consider it. Also, you should be aware that this is not something that is just a personal fixed thing where, well, God has called me to this level of wealth.

It is also something that may change over time. There is a when to this as well as the why and the what that we have just gone through. Give us this day, our daily bread. That daily bread, what you need each day is something that changes each day and that's evident by the fact that God gives us different measures of things each day.

Along with that notion of change, so being aware that God might give you each day something differently because you might need something different each day, you should also be aware that you can grow in your capacity to handle a greater range of poverty and riches.

Learning Contentment in Every Circumstance

And you should be preparing yourself to do so. In Philippians 4, 11, it says, "'Not that I am speaking of being in need, "'for I have learned in whatever situation I am "'to be content. "'I know how to be brought low and I know how to abound.

"'In any and every circumstance, "'I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, "'abundance and need. "'I can do all things through him who strengthens me.'. This is what we should be striving for, is not only moderation, but also the capacity to handle when God would take us to lower degrees of wealth or to greater degrees of wealth, that we would be able to handle much, that we would be able to handle little.

Now, to answer the question, what does this have to do with falsehood and lying? Maybe it was evident in the way that I introduced it earlier. There are false beliefs that come from poverty and riches.

People forget the Lord, and they profane the name of their God, as they are tempted in either direction by riches and poverty. That word that's used here for falsehood, the first time that word is used in Scripture is in Exodus 20, verse seven.

You want to guess which commandment that is? It's what we've been studying today. You know, the third commandment, that's right, it's the third commandment. It's do not take the Lord's name in vain. The word for falsehood here is the word for vanity.

Don't take the Lord's name in vain. And what is the nature of this passage? Lest he profane the name of his God. We do not want to profane the name of our God. What he is concerned about here, this falsehood in lying, is the kind of lie that would say, I don't know God, who is he?

And they suppress the truth of who God is as it talks about in Romans one. Or the kind of lie that profanes it, that treats it as an unholy thing, that he is not one who is to be honored. And either way, the same thing is being said, that God is not one to be honored.

Either I don't know who he is, or he is not worth obeying. I have to go to my own means. This is the same thing. The falsehood in lying is the poverty and riches. In fact, when he says, two things I ask of you, what are the two things?

You might be inclined immediately to think, okay, the two things are falsehood and lying is the one thing, and then the moderation between poverty and riches is the second thing. I don't believe that's what he's saying.

The more I look at this passage, and the more I consider the relation between falsehood and profaning the name of God, those referring to the third commandment, the more I think, well, I think the two things are falsehood and lying, which corresponds to what he might be tempted to do with poverty and with riches.

Augur is talking about the same thing in each of these two sections. To keep him from falsehood and lying is to keep him from both poverty and riches. This is why we should pray for these things in order that truth would be upheld.

And think about the way that the Bible talks about the truth being upheld by a moderation in wealth and not having a love of money that would tear our heart, should we be either in poverty or in wealth.

1 Timothy 6, beginning in verse six. But godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content.

But 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. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils.

It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs. People wander away from the faith, they wander away from truth because of a love for money.

Which is the heart behind the problem that you would face if you're tempted by poverty or by riches. It's not a different heart behind it. If you have a love of your own comfort and security, you are going to be tempted, whether you are in poverty or in riches.

It's the same sin that faces temptation in either direction. Hebrews 13, five through six says, keep your life free from the love of money and be content with what you have. So that we might say, the Lord is my helper, I will not fear, what can man do to me?

You cannot say the Lord is my helper, I will not fear. You cannot say that true thing that the Lord is my helper if you have a love of money. Because what are you doing? You are going to your own means and saying, I am my own helper, I need me.

Or I need me, let me change the emphasis there, I need me, not God. Consider the passage that comes before this in Proverbs chapter 30. It says in verse five, every word of God proves true. He is a shield to those who take refuge in him.

Okay, he protects, he provides for his people. Verse six, do not add to his words, lest he rebuke you and you be found a liar. And then he immediately says, remove far from me falsehood and lying. Okay, this is connected.

God protects, he will take care of you. Do not add to his words. What would adding to his words be? What would the lying be in this context? Saying that he's not really a protector, that he's kind of a protector, but he needs a little bit of extra help from me because he's not gonna do a good enough job.

I have to use my own means. I have to steal. I have to reject his commands in order to provide for myself. Or you would straight lie by saying, who is the Lord? He is not God, I don't need him. These are the lies that it speaks of.

God's Provision and the Sufficiency of Christ

And then if we walk back in the context a little further, who has ascended to heaven and come down? Who has gathered the wind in his fist? Who has wrapped up the waters in a garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth?

What is his name and what is his son's name? Surely you know. This speaks of God who can do all things, who can provide for his people. And it speaks also of his son and his son's name. That name might be honored.

And who is the son of God? He is the word of God. He is the one who is sufficient for us. He is the bread from heaven, the manna that satisfies. When we are in poverty or riches that are great temptations and we give into those temptations, then we dishonor the name of the son.

We say that the word is not enough. God's promises for us and his gift that he has promised everything in his salvation and his son is not enough. If he has given us his son, how much more will he give us all things?

That is the Christian faith that must be upheld. And it's not just that it must be upheld in the face of great temptations. We should also avoid great temptations in order that we not fall into those things.

We should avoid great poverty by pursuing the wealth that is good for us. And we should avoid great riches by giving as we ought to give and keeping from the greed that we ought to keep away from. Consider these things as you pray for yourself and for others, as you pray for yourself.

Praying Wisely for Daily Needs

Take into mind those factors. You should pray in a understanding way. It is good to pray according to the will of God. Now, this is something that is according to God. It is according to God's will for everyone, but you should particularize it for yourself.

You should have a sense of your own temptations, asking yourself, how would I respond with riches? How would I respond with poverty? And you should be asking God with a clear understanding of who you are.

You should be supplying that justification for your prayers. God, I am one who would be tempted in these conditions. Can you please keep me away from these temptations? God, I think given what you have gifted me with, I am one who would be able to handle this quantity well.

Please give me this situation in order that I might deal with it. And it might, as I say that, you might think, boy, the only way someone would pray for that is for riches. Someone who feels the calling of God in their life to do great things will often want that, that difficult thing, that impoverished condition, and not know whether or not it is right.

And so as they pray to God, they can, with clear conscience, pursue that thing, knowing that they're not abandoning some good that God has given them. Now, when you pray with an understanding that is specific, you should be praying with a request that is flexible.

Okay, when I say pray with an understanding that's specific, I'm not saying that you need to figure out the exact right number and then name that number for God and say, God, this is the number that I need.

And so you have to give that to me. Now, what you should be doing with the actual request is broad enough that God can answer it however He sees fit. But you should be praying with a justification specific enough that you are praying with a real understanding, aligning your will to His will.

Now, as you pray for others, you should be doing the same. Remember, it is give us this day our daily bread. We pray our because we are supposed to be praying with and for others. Now, as you're praying for others, you should have a sense of what they need.

You should be thinking about what they can handle and being praying in accord with that. Now, one thing comes to mind is that as you get requests from other people, sometimes you will get poorly informed requests where they will ask for something, maybe a job that seems well outside of their realm of capabilities, or maybe it's someone who has a very aging grandparent, and you think, well, given what God says in Scripture, let's say, just pick an extreme example, this 120-year-old grandparent, I'm not sure if I can pray for an extended life because God has not promised life forever.

Here are a couple of things that you can do. First, you can tell someone that you will pray for their daily need. You can just say it that simply. You can also ask them and say, I wanna pray powerful prayers.

Can you tell me how you believe or what ways you believe this would glorify God in order that I can pray effectively for this? And that could be a way of helping people to think through the nature of their prayers and whether or not they are asking for something that is beyond the kind of daily need that God has promised.

He has not promised this life to be eternal. It's the eternal life that we have is not one that is in the body in this condition. The riches that we have been promised are not all going to be experienced in this life.

In fact, very few will be experienced in this life. And so you should be thinking about these things for yourself. You should be thinking about them for others. And then you should adjust your wealth accordingly as you pursue either riches or poverty or the moderation.

Practically Pursuing Moderation

As you pursue moderation in between those, you should adjust in a sensible way. So what are sensible ways of pursuing riches? If you decide that I am in a condition where I am tempted to much sin, I would be able to provide better for others.

I would be able to take care of myself better. I should pursue more riches. How should you do that? Well, clearly there are some simple ways, right? There's spending less on yourself. There's saving more.

There's working harder. And there is investing. Now, there are all kinds of sinful ways you could pursue more wealth. And these are the things that the Bible speaks of frequently the kind of greed that would lead you to cheat, that would lead you to forego your other obligations that should come first, that might call you to all other kinds of things, just abandoned callings, all kinds of things.

Don't pursue wealth in a sinful way, obviously. Don't forego charity. Okay, well, I should have more wealth, so therefore I'm going to just stop giving. Now, maybe if you were giving far too much, that would be a reasonable thing.

But in general, you don't say that, well, because it might be a good thing for me to have more wealth, therefore I'm going to stop giving. And then as you think about poverty, what are good ways of pursuing poverty?

Well, you can pursue, and by poverty, I don't mean the extreme of poverty. I mean having a more moderate, less wealth. You can reallocate your funds. You can give them to good causes, whether they be those to whom you are obligated in your family, whether it be to causes of the kingdom, whether it be simply foregoing the kind of spending in a rich lifestyle that is really at the heart of many of these things, and it is just putting it in a kind of investment where you're not able to use it in the way that would bring such temptations.

Those are all reasonable ways. Now, there are, of course, unreasonable ways of pursuing poverty, and they are typically destructive. If you get rid of all means that you would have in order to care for others, if you would destroy your wealth rather than giving it, if you would undermine your ability to invest if God has called you to provide in greater ways.

Imagine someone who has a tree, and they decide that they want to, and it's a fruit tree, and instead of giving fruit from it every year, they just chop it down and give it to someone as firewood, a very foolish way of giving.

You should do these things, and you should practice. You should practice. When you find yourself in situations of little, you should learn to be content, as Paul is content. If you find yourself in situations with much, you should learn to be thankful, as Paul was thankful, and not engage in excess.

Observe your condition in each of these and practice. Practice having the right sort of attitude, and that will extend your range so that God can use you in greater ways. He uses some people in very great ways in poverty, like Paul.

He uses other people in very great ways with riches, like Solomon. He does these things, and as you expand your abilities, He may use you in greater ways. You can pray that God would use you in greater ways, and you can also look at your life and assess, what would I do if I had very little?

What would I do if I had very much? These are important questions to ask yourself. If you have not asked yourself and not assessed your own character in this, this is a very important question. I'd like you to meditate on that.

Maybe you have some thoughts now, but you know, tonight, when you're at home, maybe tomorrow, as you're commuting to work or something, meditate on that a little and think, how would I respond, and how can I begin training my heart to have a different response than I would?