Proverbs 10: "If I Was a Rich Man"

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The title of today is

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If I Were a Rich Man, and we're studying, we come to this topic in the book of Proverbs.

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Remember, Proverbs is wisdom literature. The purpose of the book is to make one wise. And remember, wisdom in biblical terms is not necessarily book smarts, but how to handle the everyday affairs of life.

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So wisdom is the ability to handle life with skill, and Proverbs addresses virtually every area of life, but in a very practical manner, very practical manner,

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I should say. And the section that we're into, we started in chapter 10 on this.

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It's made up of 375 maxims or short sayings, and sometimes they seem disjointed and whatnot, but there is a method to how we preach them.

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Therefore, these maxims must be handled differently than other portions of scripture, even other wisdom literature.

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We have whole chapters that are devoted to morality, immorality, etc.,

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but these maxims are different, and so we've decided to handle them in a certain way.

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We're working away systematically through each, through Proverbs, and here's the way we're going to handle this whole section.

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We're going to pause at the theme of each proverb that we come to, and then go around the book and glean every other proverb that addresses the same issue.

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And that way, so we're doing this chronologically topical. So this morning, we come to the topic of finances, and we begin with Proverbs 10, verses 15 and 16.

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The rich man's wealth is his fortress. The ruin of the poor is their poverty. The wages of the righteous is life.

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The income of the wicked, punishment. That's just how we're going to start.

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Title of the lesson is, If I Were a Rich Man. And of course, everybody saw, as soon as they saw that, everybody was thinking of Fiddler on the

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Roof. And let me just ask, how many people have either seen the play or seen the movie

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Fiddler on the Roof? About half.

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Okay. One of my favorite portions of Fiddler on the

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Roof is when Tevye, who is the lead character, sings the song, If I Were a

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Rich Man. And oh, by the way, the actor who played him, Topple, just recently,

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I think he died this past year. Huh? Well, in the movie, it was

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Topple. So he sings this song, If I Were a

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Rich Man. And what he's doing in the song is he's pondering what he would do if he had a lot of money.

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And he goes on, he says, there's a lot of things he would buy. One of the things that just struck me as funny is he said that he would buy a house, and the house would have three staircases.

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One for going up, one for going down, and one just for show. But that kind of gives you a little idea of how things were going with Mr.

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Tevye. Throughout the play, Tevye talks to God, or rather he, he bargains with God.

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He tells him, you know, if I were a wealthy man and if I didn't have to work, then I could devote more time to study the scriptures.

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All right. I think all of us have done something similar to that at some time.

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God, if you only just give me this, I'll use it for your kingdom, you know. So what would you do if you only had more money?

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Point is, we live in a money -oriented society, and I don't think anybody can deny that.

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And according to our society standards, your wealth determines how successful you are.

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All right. I remember I worked next to a detective sergeant many years ago, and he had a daughter who was approaching marrying age.

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And he says, he says, here's the key to whether or not I give my approval. Go stand in front of the guy's house.

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If you can see the house, you can't marry him. If you can't see the house, that means he's wealthy. And so he had his own criteria for who his daughter should marry.

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But our society uses wealth to determine how successful you are. And we even have the old phrase, keeping up with the

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Joneses. But what about the Christian? Is there a biblical view of money?

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Unfortunately, there is a proliferation of erroneous teaching on wealth within the church.

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I mean, you have some horrendous teaching concerning the aspect of money.

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One evangelist, this is a number of years ago, most of you probably wouldn't even remember him, so I'm not going to say his name anyway, but he published a book,

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Your Key to God's Bank. And the whole idea of the book was, if you just do these certain steps, these certain things, then

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God is obligated to open up the windows of heaven and pour money out to you.

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Just follow the simple steps in the book, and he'll shower you with wealth. Of course, one of those steps was sending him a generous donation.

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That was essential. All right. Several months later, he appeared on television pleading for donations, and he was so tired, he says, if I don't get your donations,

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I'm going to be forced to go off the air. And my thought was, did he lose the key to God's bank?

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It just didn't make sense. So is there a biblical view of money?

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That's the question that we're going to answer. And of course, the answer is yes, there is a biblical view of money.

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And no surprise, we begin our quest in the book of Proverbs. In fact, the

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Bible has so much to say, Proverbs has so much to say about money and finances that it's going to take us three weeks to cover the topic adequately.

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So this is only part one of a three -part series on addressing wealth.

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This morning, we begin in Proverbs by examining five principles regarding money and finances.

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Now remember, this is only the first part, so these are not the only five principles.

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We'll address the others in parts two and three. First one, this is the first biblical principle.

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Wealth is not inherently evil. It seems funny that I would say that that is a biblical principle, because there are

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Christian teachers who teach that money is evil, all right? And over the years, we've even had people who took vows of poverty as though that was something that was good and is something that people should do.

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The Bible never says that money in and of itself is evil. In fact, it says it can be a form of blessing from God.

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Proverbs 10, 22, it is a blessing of the Lord that makes rich. And he adds no sorrow to it.

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So we can see, obviously, in and of itself, it's not the money. It is the misuse of money or the overwhelming desire for it that the

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Bible condemns, all right? So this is a very important point, and this is why

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I made this point one, because we need to get this out of the way first. Proverbs says, it is wise to avoid the extremes of finances, not to avoid finances.

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Proverbs 30, verse seven, two things I ask of thee, do not refuse me before I die.

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Keep deception and lies far from me. Give me neither poverty nor riches.

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Feed me the food that is my portion. This is the sayings of in Proverbs chapter 30, and it's often overlooked, but I love these particular

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Proverbs, and this one has direct bearing on our topic for this morning. Notice what he says, two things he's asking, keep deception and lies far from me, all right?

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But we're not dealing with that. But notice what he says, give me neither poverty nor riches. Feed me what the food is my portion.

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What is he saying? He's saying, I don't want to be overwhelmingly wealthy. I don't want to be extremely poor.

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I just need what I need. Yes. Yes. Yeah, there you go.

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But then he gives the reasons for it. Lest I be full and deny thee. In other words, if I have too much money, what's the tenancy?

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Who is the Lord? Look what I've done I mean, think of how many characters in the scripture,

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Nebuchadnezzar, Herod, you know, look at what I have done, you know? And so that's why he says, you know, he doesn't want a lot of riches because he may deny the

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Lord, or lest I be in want and steal and profane the name of my God. Notice either end of the spectrum has its own particular pitfall.

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Money is a tool to advance the kingdom. And that's one of the principles that we'll cover several times during the series.

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And like any other tool that can be misused, but that doesn't make it evil in and of itself.

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And here's, this is a very important point because people say money changes that part.

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He got money and that he changed. All right. Money doesn't change the character of a man.

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Money just allows the evil already present to be manifested. You know, it's the old punch the cup full of water.

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Remember, remember I've done for those of you who have, I take a cup of water and I punch it waterfalls on the ground.

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And then I asked the question, why is there water on the floor? Those of you who have heard it before, don't say anything.

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If you haven't heard it, who wants to take a guess? If I punched a cup full of water, why is there water on the floor?

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Huh? It was the cup full. Okay. You say, oh, it was the cups fall.

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No, most people say because you punched a cup. All right. Well, the punch is only the catalyst.

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The reason that there's water on the floor is because there's water in the cup. If there was coconut in the cup, there wouldn't be water on the floor.

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There'd be coke on the floor. All right. So if money is just a catalyst, if somebody gets a lot of money and they become very nasty or aloof or condescending, because that's the way they were before that.

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They just never had any opportunity. It's hard to be a condescending poor man. So Proverbs says, avoid the extremes.

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First Timothy 6 10 gives us the answer here for the love of money is the root of all sorts of evil.

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There's the key. It's not the money itself. It's the love of money and the pursuit of money.

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Second principle, understanding that money in itself is not inherently evil.

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It is morally good to work for financial success. All right.

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What do we mean by that? If we understand the riches are not inherently evil, then it follows that it is morally good to work for financial success.

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If you have the proper view of wealth in your heart, you will not be tempted or enticed by riches to do evil.

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OK. You'll be contented with what God has provided for you.

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God doesn't make everybody wealthy. God doesn't give everybody, quote, the keys to his bank.

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All right. He allots you what he believes that you can handle.

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This is another principle under working for financial success. There's nothing wrong with being paid well for doing a good job.

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That's a biblical principle. Working, you know. First Timothy 5 8, quoting the

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Old Testament, the apostle Paul says the laborer is worthy of his wages. So there's nothing wrong with being paid well for the job that you ask.

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The money, the problems come when the money becomes the goal and not the tool. All right.

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Proverbs says that a man should strive to make enough money to leave an inheritance.

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Proverbs 19 14, house and wealth are an inheritance from fathers, but a prudent wife is from the

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Lord. Well, forget the last part of that. The ladies aren't here right now. No, obviously, women play an important role in our in our lives as men.

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But house and wealth are inheritance from fathers. So we should leave, according to Proverbs, we should leave money to our progeny.

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In fact, a man should strive to leave something for his grandchildren. Proverbs 13 22, a good man leaves an inheritance to his children's children and the wealth of the sinner is stored up for the righteous.

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We're not going to address the last half of that at this point. But a good man. What is a good man, according in Proverbs?

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How does how does Proverbs describe a good man? Oops. Notice that Proverbs called the man good.

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Fingers. That means he is morally good, righteous. So basically what he's saying, if you want to be a righteous man, that's something that you should strive for.

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That is not that is not an illegitimate goal to leave enough money so that when you pass from this life, not only are you leaving an inheritance for your your children, but for your grandchildren, your children's children.

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I think of in Ginger's family, her grandfather was getting up in years.

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We were already married and and he just he called a family meeting and his wife had already passed.

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He called a family meeting and he gave away most of his money. At that point, he had a pension that he got by on because he wanted to see his children and his children's children enjoy the money that he had labored and was passing on.

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And he gave Ginger enough money that that's what we use as a down payment for our first house.

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And he was thrilled, you know, to be alive to see that, which I thought was a pretty, pretty neat deal that, you know, he didn't wait till he died to pass his inheritance on.

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So that means making enough money and managing it well is desirable and morally good.

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It's not the amount of money that makes the difference. It's the attitude of the heart. We should not be surprised by that.

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Christianity is a religion of the heart. It's your heart attitude, the intent of the heart, and it's always there.

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You can do look, look at the Pharisees. They did good works.

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But what did it account to their to their soul? Nothing, because they were doing it with the wrong motives.

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Third principle, there are some things more important than money. Now, you find a lot of people that disagree with that, but this is a biblical principle.

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There are some things that are just more important. If you're ever in a situation where you must choose money or righteousness.

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Now, most of us are never put in that position. But if you're ever in a position where you must choose, you must choose righteousness.

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Proverbs 16, 8, better is a little with righteous than great income within justice.

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In our society, there are many ways to increase the amount of money you make by stretching the truth.

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Well, if only I do this, then I can get a little bit more money. But even besides unlawful gain,

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Proverbs lists two things at this point that are more desirable than riches.

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Anybody want to take a shot at what? There's a lot more than there is two, but there's two things right off the top that are very clear in Proverbs.

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What are the two things that are more desirable than riches? Wisdom. There we go.

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We have a winner. Wisdom. Proverbs 16, 16. How much better it is to get wisdom than gold to get understanding is to be chosen above silver.

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Solomon made this choice and he wound up with both. If we only really understood what biblical wisdom was, we should be seeking that above almost everything else.

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That's the whole topic. It's the whole theme of the book of Proverbs. Second one is reputation.

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Proverbs 22, 1. A good name is to be more desired than great riches. Favor is better than silver and gold.

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Think of how many wealthy people have gone to their grave hated because of how they achieved their goals.

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Proverbs makes it very clear that a good name is to be more desired than great riches.

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Psalm 15, 4. This is one of my favorite psalms. It describes the man of God as one who swears to his own hurt and does not change.

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I tried to live my life by that, even down to the small arrangements.

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If you make an appointment to see me, whether it be for counseling or any other purpose, even if it's just for lunch, if I can't make that, if something else comes up,

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I don't just say, oh, by the way, I'm sorry, I can't make lunch or I can't make your appointment. I ask permission to be released from it because just my yes.

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If I say yes, I will be there. I have obligated myself and it goes to character,

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I believe, that of keeping your appointments. If something urgent comes up,

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I just call the person I was supposed to meet and say an emergency came up. Is it OK with you if we reschedule?

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And I always ask permission to be released from because when I say yes, that's a vow.

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OK. Joshua was lax in investigation, his investigation of the

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Gibeonites, and he entered into an ill -advised agreement with them.

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And then when he found out that they had lied, he still kept, he still kept his vow.

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And they became a thorn in his side. There were consequences, but he kept the vow.

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He kept his word even though they were deceptive. Fourth, don't romanticize poverty or riches.

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This covers a lot of ground. There's no virtue in trying to be poor. I remember my father, when he had his catering business, he says, yeah, we're a nonprofit organization.

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He says it wasn't meant to be that way. It's just the way it turned out. But because there is no virtue in trying to be poor, there's no command in Scripture to be poor.

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We are to be poor in spirit. All right. But not to be poor. And we've seen just the opposite.

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To work hard to leave an inheritance to your family is considered the righteous thing to do. So how can you justify that as a teacher and say, well, no, you should be poor?

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All right. There's no virtue in placing riches as a priority in your life either, or using money as a gauge for success.

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Notice, don't romanticize neither poverty nor riches, because wealth is not a biblical gauge for success.

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Many a wealthy man has died lonely, bitter, angry men.

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There are many gauges for success found right in the book of Proverbs. We're not going to address them all this morning, of course.

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So let's look back again on don't romanticize being poor. There's many disadvantages in poverty.

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If you're poor, there are some things you will just not be able to do. I want to make,

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I inserted this statement here because it's important that we see this. This is one of those times that Proverbs isn't assessing the morality of the situation.

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It's just telling it like it is. Proverbs says, if you're poor, you're going to have problems. It's not telling you to be poor.

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It's just saying that's the reality. And that's something, as you go through Proverbs, there's a lot of wisdom in here that are not listed as commands.

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And to take, you know, wisdom literature, wise statements, pithy statements, and make them commands when they're not commands is going to do harm to your interpretation of Scripture.

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Proverbs 10, 15. The rich man's wealth is his fortress. The ruin of the poor is their poverty.

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Poverty can have, will, can have a negative aspect. Remember the saying of Augur.

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He says, I'm afraid that if I didn't have enough, I might be tempted to steal. So it's just telling, remember

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Proverbs just telling, look, this is the reality of it. So you want to avoid both. Here's the reality of life.

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When it comes to living in a material world, it's easier if you have money. It's simply the way it is.

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Proverbs 22, 7. The rich rules over the poor and the borrower becomes the lender's slave.

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Here's an example of what I was talking about just a few minutes ago. There are

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Christian teachers who will use this verse and say it's sinful to borrow money.

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It's not what it says. It's warning you against being the borrower because if you borrow money, you're a slave to the lender.

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So avoid it at all costs. But there may come a time where you do have to borrow money.

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As a church, we borrowed money to buy this building. Very fortunately,

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God blessed us and we were able to free ourselves from that bondage and now we owe nothing to anyone.

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So that's, but it was not sinful for us to borrow money. Does everybody understand that, the difference?

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Again, this is one of those times that Proverbs isn't assessing the morality of the situation. It's just telling it like it is.

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So don't romanticize poverty, but don't romanticize being rich either.

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Wealth has its own set of liabilities. Riches can place a man in jeopardy.

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Proverbs 13, 8. The ransom of a man's life is his riches, but the poor hears no rebuke.

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A wealthy man is subject to extortion, kidnapping, and a host of other problems.

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I mean, we've seen, how many times have we seen that? Where a wealthy person's son, daughter, wife, or even he himself is kidnapped.

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His very life may be in danger because of his wealth. Have you ever seen any of the studies done on people who have won the lottery?

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It's pitiful, you know, how it has ruined, you know, so many, so many people.

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A poor man doesn't have that problem. You know what the, if you kidnap a poor man, he says you can't get blood from a stone.

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You never heard of a homeless man being abducted for ransom. Many wealthy men have no peace because they are worried about their money or the loss of it.

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See, because the wealthy tend to place their trust and confidence in their riches, and those are fleeting at best.

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A rich man's wealth is his strong city, and like a high wall in his own imagination.

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You know what, there's nothing more pitiful to see a man who thinks that because he's wealthy, he can't be touched.

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What's the old saying? He still puts his pants on one leg at a time, and he's still going to, one day he's going to die and meet his maker, you know, and if he thinks that his wealth is going to do anything, you know, he's mistaken.

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I love the story of the business, three business partners.

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They decided that they had gotten so wealthy that just to show how extremely wealthy they were, when each one of them died, the other would put a million dollars in the casket with them.

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So the first guy dies, second guy comes up and puts a million dollars in cash on top of the casket.

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The third guy comes up, writes a check for two million dollars, puts it down, takes the million dollars back off the casket.

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So anyway, I thought it was funny. Many wealthy men have been brought to ruin because they put their confidence in their money, and wealth can bring out the worst in the man.

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Now notice what I said, bring out, not cause it, but wealth can bring out the worst in a man.

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Proverbs 18, 23, the poor man utters supplications, but the rich man answers roughly.

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I was told a story, it's supposed to be true, I could never verify it, but this wealthy couple was flying, and they were in first class, and this flight attendant came over and asked the lady, who was obviously multi -billionaire, was asked if she could get her a drink, and the woman just looked straight ahead, and she said, excuse me ma 'am, can

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I get you a drink? And the husband says, excuse me, but she doesn't talk to the servants. Yeah, wealth or the absence of it can affect relationships.

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Proverbs 14, 20, the poor is hated even by his neighbor, but those who love the rich are many.

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Now again, this is one of those things, you may not like it, but it's true.

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How many times you have a, bring a homeless home, a hostel or something into a neighborhood, how many, oh yeah, we're so glad we can help the homeless.

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Is that what happens when they open one in a neighborhood? Far from it, they do everything they can to get it out.

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Proverbs 19, 4, wealth adds many friends, but a poor man is separated from his friend, and of course, friends would have to be in quotations there.

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Wealth or the absence of it can affect relationships. 19, Proverbs 19, 6, many will entreat the favor of a generous man, and every man is a friend of him who gives gifts.

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All the brothers of a poor man hate him. How much more do his friends go far from him? He pursues them with words, but they are gone.

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Notice Proverbs just, it's telling it like it is. This is the reality of the situation. Again, Proverbs is not condoning or advocating the behavior in these verses.

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It's just stating the reality. Remember, the wisdom of, in Proverbs is meant to prepare you for the realities of life.

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That's why it's addressed specifically to young men, but it's not in here for old men too.

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Excuse me, older men. So don't be naive.

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The extremes of life both have a unique set, their own unique set of problems, and that brings us to the fifth lesson concerning wealth.

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Greed is sin. Unlike what Gordon Glecko said, greed is sin.

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Here's a biblical description of greed. Proverbs 27, Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied.

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That's the grave it's talking about. Nor are the eyes of man ever satisfied.

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Proverbs 30, 15, and 16, the leech has two daughters, give, give. There are three things that will not be satisfied, four that will not say enough.

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Sheol in the barren womb, earth that is never satisfied with water, and fire that never says enough.

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In Proverbs 30 there, that's in that same section about, from the Proverbs of Augur.

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And notice, it's just really interesting how the examples that he gives.

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A leech, two daughters, give, give. Everybody knows what a leech is. If you don't know what a leech is, see the movie

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The African Queen. That'll give you a good idea of what a leech is. All right?

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Sheol, the grave, and fire that never says enough.

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Greed is sin and brings with it trouble. Proverbs 15, 27. He who profits illicitly troubles his own house, but he who hates his, hates bribes will live.

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Proverbs 28, 20, and 22. A faithful man will abound with blessings, but he who makes haste to become rich will not go unpunished.

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To show partiality is not good, because for a piece of bread, a man will transgress. A man with an evil eye hastens after wealth and does not know that want will come upon him.

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It's a lot in the book of Proverbs, and we're just really scratching the surface here. Proverbs 1, my son do not walk in the way with them.

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This is talking about the evil person. Keep your feet from their path, for their feet run to evil.

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They hasten to shed blood. Indeed, it is useless to spread the net in the eyes of any bird, but they lie and wait for their own blood.

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They ambush their own lives. So are the ways of everyone who gains by violence. It takes away the life of its possessors.

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Greed is the love of money. It's idolatry. It brings destruction.

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Thoughts or questions? Remember, this is only the first of three parts.

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No? Okay, we should take an offering at this point. All right, let's close in prayer.

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Father, once again, we thank you for your word, which teaches us and instructs us in the way of life.

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We thank you for the wisdom contained in the book of Proverbs. Help us, Father, to take the wisdom in your book, apply it to our lives, that we would become more like our

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Savior, Jesus Christ, and that we would, by the way we live, that we would draw people to salvation in him.