Financial Principles from the Proverbs

Thanks for the next couple months. There's been a topic on my mind. It's always part of when I go up to the home office and part of what I do up there. And as I've been thinking about it and as I've been looking at some of the things that we do during the wintertime and how we spend our time—we'll talk a little bit more about that maybe next week—there are certain things that we can spend our time doing and learning. There are books in the Bible that teach us many things. There are books that teach us what the doctrines of the church are. We can read through the first five books and find out what the intent of God is, what the law of God is, the way of life that we should lead. There's the New Testament that teaches us the spiritual aspect of many of the physical things that the Israelites went through and what we need to do. And then there's the Wisdom books of the Bible that sometimes maybe we overlook or maybe even just kind of take for granted. We've all read through the Psalms a number of times. We've all read through Proverbs a number of times, maybe Ecclesiastes a number of times, and even Job, the book of Job, which has so much in it when you read through the detail of those 40 or 42 chapters that make up Job that help us to understand what life is. And of all the people who lived on earth, Jesus Christ was, of course, the wisest, but the most wise man besides him was the man Solomon, the king Solomon. You remember the story of Solomon when he was taking over for king, and God asked him, of anything that you would like Solomon, what is it that you would like? And he said, just give me wisdom so that I can judge your people right. And God was pleased with that response because he saw what was in Solomon's heart. I just want to lead the people in the way that they should go. And God said, I will give you the wisdom, Solomon, and I will give you riches besides because you weren't thinking of yourself first. You were thinking of what the needs of others were. And Solomon penned some pretty amazing books in the Bible. Certainly Proverbs and Ecclesiastes are one that we can read through, and we can learn so many life lessons from. If you don't know the book of Ecclesiastes, the Bible commentary, the UCG Bible commentary, has been updated so that there is the commentary on the book of Ecclesiastes, and I understand the New Testament will be coming shortly, the first four Gospels anyway.

There's also a series of 16 sermons on the book of Ecclesiastes, if you are interested in listening to those, where Tom Robinson, who does much of the work for the Bible commentary, went through that in detail. But you know, the book of Proverbs and the book of Ecclesiastes teach us life lessons. The book of Proverbs itself teaches us about wisdom. You know, wisdom is applying God's life, applying God's law into our everyday life. And when you read through the book of Proverbs, you know, the first six or seven chapters there kind of instruct the person who's reading, listen to me.

Listen to me. If you want a happy life, if you want a productive life, if you want a life that you can count on and you can be happy and satisfied in, listen. Listen to the words. And then Solomon goes through, and it's not that he's giving us any new laws or new principles. What he's doing is teaching us how to apply God's law into our lives, into the everyday situations that you and I all have, or have every single day. You know, in one chapter he talks about what it's meant to be a good wife.

And he kind of lays out those principles that God gave him as he wrote that book and as he looked at life. He gives instructions to young men how to live their lives. It teaches us about Christianity and what we do and the character that we're supposed to be developing. It teaches us about friendships, and yesterday in my letter I wrote a little bit about friendships in there, because it was one of the topics I was thinking about talking about today, but I chose another one instead, to show that there's things that we can learn in this book, the things that we know, the laws that we understand.

Proverbs and Solomon help us to understand how to apply it into our lives. But the book of Proverbs is not just a chapter-by-chapter thing. We have Proverbs 31 that will say, here's the virtuous wife. The first few chapters will talk about exactly what we need to do as young people to have a life and plan a life that will follow God and that will be blessed. But the other chapters we pretty much have to go through and look at the verses and pick out the pieces that tell us what to do.

And they're scattered throughout the Proverbs. They're not there. You can be reading through the Proverbs, and you know, one time you can be talking about marriage, the next time you can be talking about finance, the next thing you can be talking about a good business principle. The next one you can talk about, you know, not lying or morality or leadership or whatever it is. So it's always a good study to go through Proverbs and go through it slowly. And I think a good study would be to be able to go through it and pick out the topics, the key topics that are in Proverbs, and pick out those verses and outline for yourself what it is about these various things that Solomon says because he gives us some good answers to the problems that we deal with every day in life.

So today I want to talk about one of those things that we find in the book of Proverbs, and I'll be dealing almost exclusively in the book of Proverbs. Let me preface what I'm going to say, though, because this is kind of going to be a mini Bible study when we get into some of the points that I'm going to talk about. And I'm going to take you through several verses through Proverbs as we outline some points in this. But, you know, as we read through the Bible and as we see life as we know it, there are things that we all encounter.

Some of us do have trials in different ways. Some of us have health trials. Some of us have relationship trials. Some of us have financial trials. It's up to God what it is, and he knows what it is that we need to endure in life. But there are common things that we all have in our lives, all things that we deal with. One of those things is very well represented in the Bible. In fact, when you read through the scholars' comments on how the Bible is divided, and it'll talk about, you know, the most of the Scriptures in the Bible talk about Jesus Christ and the kingdom of God.

But the second most talked-about thing in the Bible might surprise you. Over 2,000 verses in the Bible apply to this subject that we're going to talk about.

Christ himself talked about it extensively when you read through the Gospels and read His words. In Matthew 6, 24, He kind of told us what it was. He says, You can't love God and Mammon. You can't have God first and Mammon first. Nothing wrong with Mammon, nothing wrong with wealth, nothing wrong with riches, nothing wrong with salaries, nothing wrong with the things that God gives us and that we accumulate in our lives.

But you can't have a priority in one and the priority in the other. It's either God first or it's wealth first, or riches first, or job first, or whatever is associated with money. In 1st Timothy 6, it tells us that the love of money is the root of all evil. Some people read that verse and they say, money is the root of all evil. No, money is not the root of all evil. The love of money is the root of all evil. Nothing wrong with money. God gives us wealth. Deuteronomy 8 tells us it's Him who gives us the power and gives us wealth. Nothing wrong with it, but the love of money, if that supersedes the things we should be doing and how our attitude is, that's the root of all evil. And by that, many people have been led astray. And as we look at the world around us, we see that the love of money and the love of other things that would be defined in Mammon, which can include position, power, title, and all those things, the things that we love of this world, they can lead us astray and cause some pretty dire things if we don't watch out what we're doing as Christians. Solomon talks a lot about money, too, and certainly Proverbs talks about it. I mentioned this is the second most talked about topic in the Bible. The scholars say there's over 2,000 verses in the Bible that talk about money and wealth. But let's go to Ecclesiastes, one of the wisdom books here. And look what Solomon says. In the book of Ecclesiastes, we have Solomon's writing at the end of his age. He has lived a life where God has given him wisdom, but he's lived a futile life because he traded it all for all the things that he had. God gave him riches, and he allowed those riches and the wealth that he had to overtake him and lead him astray. And at the end of his life, he writes, you know, Ecclesiastes here, and you can see just the futility that he says it all was. In Ecclesiastes 5 and verse 10, he writes this. He says, He who loves silver will not be satisfied with silver. You may spend your life seeking for money. You may be saved spending your life for riches. You know, in the end, you're not going to be satisfied with it. It's not going to be the thing that you want to have happen. It'll be a pretty futile life when you look back over it. He who loves silver will not be satisfied with silver, nor he who loves abundance with increase. This also is vanity, better translated futility. It's a futile existence when that's what we make our priority, when that's what we spend our time seeking. You know, Christ in Matthew 6 and in other places, he tells us, you don't have to worry about those things. I will give you what you need. You seek first the kingdom of God. You seek first his righteousness. And you know what? All these things will be added unto you.

He promised us a lot, and he gives us a lot. Every one of us sitting in this room have much more than what we need in life. You know, needs are things like clothing and shelter and food. We all have those, and we all have much more besides, no matter how little or how much we think we have. God has given us much more than just what we need. He promises we will provide what we need, not everything that we necessarily want. Over in Luke 16, in verse 10, he gives us a principle that for some of us, God blesses us very richly. We have adequate funds. He gives us good jobs. We're able to drive the cars we want, live in the places that we want. Money is not a problem for others. It can be a little trial to make ends meet on what we have coming in. But he gives us what we need, and he knows exactly what's going on. It's not because he favors one and doesn't favor another, but because he knows what we need in order that he prepares us for what he wants us to be in the kingdom. And we learn in times of want, and we learn in times of plenty, how to be what he wants us to be. So here in Luke 16, verse 10, a principle that is good to remind ourselves of says, He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much. Those who pay attention to the detail of life. Okay, I might be doing generally what God wants me to do. Am I doing everything the way God wants me to do? Am I obeying Him when I read through Proverbs or when I read through the Old Testament or the New Testament? Am I doing it in detail what He wants, becoming closer and closer to the way Jesus Christ who obeyed God in every detail in His life? Am I becoming more and more like Him? He who is faithful in what is least is also faithful in much, and He who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much. Therefore, if you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, if you haven't handled the money that God has given you, if you haven't handled the wealth that God has given you, if you haven't handled the resources that God has given you righteously, the way that He would have you handle them, if you haven't been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?

There's a lot that Christ says in that. How we handle what God has given us, how we respond to it, the importance or priorities that we place on it, He looks at that. And He says, how you deal with this, that every single generation of man from Adam and Eve all the way till the time Jesus Christ returns and even in the millennium there will be currencies, how you deal with that, He's looking at. And if we're not faithful in that, if we don't learn how to handle that in the way He wants, why would He entrust to us the true riches? So what we do in this matter that we have in front of us, that every single one of us, whether we're young, very young, or very old, whether we're working currently, whether we're retired, whether we're in high school and looking forward to a career, whether we're in grade school, and we get allowances or whatever it is, this is an important topic for us to have. And as we go through it, as we go through it, we'll talk about some physical things, but I want you to understand and think about the spiritual effects of what we're doing, because everything in the Bible, when we talk about the physical effects of things, there's a spiritual effect as well. And when God talks about riches, He can talk about the dollars we have in our bank account, but He's also talking about the spiritual riches and the things and the wealth that He gives us in that way. How do we handle it?

The point being that what we do in this area has a bearing on what God is looking at us and what He's developing us to do, and it's an area that we need to look at. Now, four or five years ago, I did talk about this subject. It's been updated since then, but let's go through the Proverbs. I'll have a few scriptures outside of the Proverbs, but we'll go through the Proverbs and see what Solomon says, because he gives us a pretty good outline of what we need to do if we're going to handle the unrighteous mammon that God gives us, the wealth that He gives us in the manner that He prescribes. So let's begin. I've got ten points, and I'll get through those. I'm not going to spend a lot of time on each one, but we are going to go through a lot of verses. So this is the Bible study part of the sermon here. Let's begin in Proverbs 8. Proverbs 8. The first point is the same as the first commandment. Put God first. Put God first. Proverbs 8 talks about wisdom and talks about this concept. Proverbs 8 and verse 12 says, You know what? I seek it out. We can seek out in Proverbs. We can seek out a lot in Ecclesiastes. We can seek out a lot in Psalms. When we read it and put it together and we contemplate it and meditate on it, and we don't just rush through it and say, that's a very nice psalm that David wrote. There's things that are buried in there when we take the time to look at them. I wisdom dwell with prudence, and I find out knowledge and discretion. Verse 15. By me kings reign and rulers decree justice. By me princes rule and nobles all the judges of the earth. I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently will find me.

Verse 18. Riches and honor are with me.

See how God compares the wisdom, the treasures, the riches that we have when we find Him, and we learn how to live life and coordinate our lives and direct our lives, led by His Holy Spirit in His care, the real riches that He gives us, and He likens it to the riches that He gives us physically as well. I traverse the way of righteousness in the midst of the paths of justice, that I may cause those who love me wisdom to inherit wealth, that I may fill their treasuries.

Seek God first. Put Him first. Seek wisdom. Seek doing things God's way.

In Proverbs 22, Proverbs 22, verse 4, it's a verse that we read not too long ago when we talked about the fear of God. It says, by humility, a trait that we almost have before pleasing God, by humility and the fear of God comes from the Holy Spirit.

The same fear of God that Jesus Christ had when He was a human, by humility and the fear of the Lord are riches and honor and life.

That's where the true riches and honor and life come from. Back in Proverbs 3, Proverbs 3, verse 9, It says, Honor the Eternal with your possessions. He's the one who gives those to us. Honor Him with your possessions. And with the first fruits of all your increase. Remember, it's Him who gives us the things we have. No matter if we think we have very much or no matter if we have very little, it is God who gives it to us. And He knows exactly what He provides for us. He knows exactly the situations that we are living in.

Honor Me with your possessions. Honor Me with the first fruits of all your increase. When you do, your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will overflow with new wine.

The first commandment is all-inclusive in every area of our life. I am the Lord, your God, have no other gods besides Me. No other gods. Nothing else. No other God except God. It stands in the way we handle money and look at money and perceive money as well. Put Him first. And He sets that up. You know what He says here in verse 9? Honor Me with the first fruits of all your increase.

Put Me first. When you recognize and when you know that I'm the one who's given this to you, put Me first. Don't put the rent first. Don't put the doctor's bills first. Don't put the groceries first. Don't put the entertainment first. Don't put the mortgage first. Put Me first. Put Me first. And when you put Me first, then you're learning a spiritual lesson that even in that you put Me first. And even though it may not make sense when you write things down on the paper, put Me first. Put Me first. So we can talk about tithes. We can talk about first and second tithes because God commands them both. One is given to His work so that His will is done with it. The other tithe is there so that we can keep His holy days and go to the place that He wants us to go, especially in the fall feast. Let's go back to Malachi 3, the last book of the Old Testament. In Malachi 3, as we talk about putting God first in our finances, He inspires these verses. Malachi, the last prophet before Jesus Christ came to earth and was born, and John the Baptist was the prophet. In Malachi 3, verse 6, He gives us a principle that goes right along with what Solomon is telling us, and of course what God has inspired, too, as we look at the first principle here. Malachi 3, verse 6. For I am the Lord, I don't change. But I told the people of the Old Testament, you still do it today. Those principles, those life principles, were put in place before the world ever was.

They were there for them, and they're there for you. I am the Lord, I do not change. Therefore, you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob. Yet from the days of your fathers, verse 7, you have gone away from my ordinances. You know, you kind of had the things that you needed, and you've kind of disappeared a little bit. You've kind of wandered away from the adherence to my laws of paying attention to them.

You've walked away from them, and you haven't kept them. Return to me, God says, and I will return to you. But you said, in what way shall we return? How did we depart from you, God? In what way have we wandered away from you? Well, God answers the question, will a man rob God? Yet you've robbed me. But you say, in what way have we robbed you? And God answers. In tithes and offerings, you are cursed with a curse, for you have robbed me, even this whole nation. You haven't put me first. You have disregarded the first commandment. You've disregarded the first principle of financial solidity, of financial paying attention to what God would have us do.

Put me first. It's a principle that we should play out in every single area of our lives, even in the financial area that we have. And sometimes, you know, I know you've heard the story. If you've been in the church for a while, people can tell you, I just can't do it. I can't make ends meet. If I pay 10% to the church, and if I give 10% and put it away, it'll only be used for the feast. I can't make it.

The ends don't work. And I know you've heard the story. When people say that, but they do it anyway, it's amazing that it does work. That God does provide what we need. He sees what our faith is. He sees if we're going to do what He says, if we're going to take matters into our own hands, or if we're really going to take Him at what He says and put Him first. And He says in verse 10, A challenge, bring all the tithes into my storehouse, that there may be food in my house, and try me now in this, says the Lord of Hosts, if I will not open for you the windows of heaven, and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it. Prove me. Prove me. Take me at my word, and I will show you. When you put me first, I will give you what you need. I may not give you the best house in the neighborhood, or the best house in the city. You may not drive the finest car. You will have what you need. I will see that your needs are met. He promises it. If we put Him first. You know, sometimes people will say, well, tithing was an Old Testament principle for the nation of Israel. Now, you can see, you can see, in 2 Corinthians 9, God talks about a cheerful giver. It continued into the New Testament. But long before there was the nation of Israel, tithing was something that the men of God and the people of God knew. Let's go back to Genesis 28 just to address that concern. We know that the man Abraham, when he was encountered by Melchizedek, he said, I'll pay a tenth to you. So we know Abraham knew what the principle of tithing was. He knew that this is the man to whom he should honor with the possessions that he had. And we find out that Jacob was the same way. You know, Jacob was a man who really was interested in money. When he foiled Esau and fooled or tricked him out of his birthright, what Jacob's priority was there was, forget the laws of God. I want that birthright. I want that wealth. And he tricked Esau out of it and the blessing, and then he was sent away. And on his way to Laban's house, he had a dream that we read about here in Genesis 28. And God told him, Jacob, if you will obey me, if you will follow me, if you will yield to me, I'll be your God. I'll give you what you need. I'll bring you back to your father as this place that you are. Follow me.

And Jacob woke up, and he was moved by that dream. And in verse 19, we find that he goes out in the place that he was sleeping that night. He put some stones on it. In verse 19, he says, he called the name of that place Bethel. It was a special place to him. But the name of that city had been loved previously. In verse 20, it says, Jacob made a vow, saying, If God will be with me, and keep me in this way, that I am going, and give me bread to eat and clothing to put on. He didn't ask for everything on earth. He asked for the necessities. If you'll provide those to me, so that I come back to my father's house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God. And this stone, which I have set as a pillar, shall be God's house. And of all that you give me, I will surely give a tenth or a tithe to you.

Well before there was a nation of Israel, well before Israel came out of Egypt, it was in place the men of God knew put God first in your finances, as well as in every area of your life. So number one, we have number two. Number two, if we're going to look at the financial principles that we see in the book of Proverbs, is work hard. Work hard. Let's go back to Proverbs. Proverbs 10.

Proverbs 10. You know, we can work hard at our jobs where we're paid. We can work hard at school. We can work hard in the chores that we're given at home. We can work hard in whatever endeavor we give us. So here in Proverbs 10 verse 4 it says, He who has a slack hand becomes poor. Oh, you see that, right? If we kind of are lazy, we kind of just want to go about doing whatever we want to do, and we're not paying attention to what it is we need to do. He who has a slack hand becomes poor.

And our income may not be great. We may find ourselves losing jobs. Our grades may be poor. He who has a slack hand becomes poor. But the hand of the diligence makes rich. You've got to work hard. You've got to focus in on what God is having you do. He who gathers summer in summer is a wise son.

He who sleeps and harvests is a son who causes shame. Look at the season you're in. Work hard. Where there's work to do, don't run away. Don't sleep. Don't forget about it. Think someone else will do it for you. Work hard. Develop that work ethic that those of us who are older have heard about, really, I think as we're growing up a lot, that maybe we don't hear so much about in the world today. Work hard. God works hard. Jesus Christ works hard. He expects us to work hard at whatever it is our hand finds us to do.

Ecclesiastes 9-2 says, whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might. Let's go forward. Proverbs 14. Proverbs 14, verse 23. In all labor there is profit. When we work, there's profit. You may not have the hourly salary that you want, but in all labor there is profit. But idle chatter leads only to poverty. There's a lot of truth to that. You probably know people with very good personalities. They have the gift of gab, and it's very enjoyable to talk to them and just be able to enjoy their company, their clever, their witty. But so many people, I won't say so many people, some who have that gift, forget that they have to work.

Back when I was in business and I managed people, there were times that you would come across people like this. And I remember once it was a good guy I worked with. He was very enjoyable to be around, among others. And he was a very pleasant person in the hospital we were at. He became very popular. And what I would find is that he would go around from person to person, and they would be talking, and they would be having a good time.

But after several months, I began to realize there's a lot of talk going on. There's not a whole lot going on in your fields of endeavor, though. And so I called him in and said, you know what, we've got, we've got, you've got to work. It's great that you get along with everyone. That's a positive. But we hired you not to get along with everyone, not to give the jokes, and not to be, you know, the neighborhood-friendly person, but to work.

He couldn't get it. And it was a painful day when I had to let him go. Painful day when I had to let him go. And I thought about that verse. Idle chatter, idle chatter, is going to lead to poverty. Now, years later, I, you know, he got the message, and he didn't get that message at that time, but years later, I connected with him again, and he had learned the lesson of what he was doing at that time. He had learned, you've got to work. You've got to work and not just get by on your personality.

And there's many, we probably have seen people in our lives that are that way. And all labor, there's profit, but idle chatter leads only to poverty. You've got to get the job done. You've got to put the effort into it. Proverbs 19. Proverbs 19 and verse 15. Laziness. Laziness casts one into a deep sleep. You know, there's patterns in life that can happen.

We can develop a pattern of hard work, and we wake up in the morning eager to do what we have to do. Or we can develop a pattern of laziness that's like, you know what, I'll do that tomorrow. I'll get it done another day. I'll just kind of laze around today. Laziness casts one into a deep sleep, and an idle person will suffer hunger. Somewhere down the line, it will come back to haunt you. God expects we're working hard. Proverbs 28. 28. Verse 19. He who tills his land will have plenty of bread.

But back in the agrarian days, you know, these verses really meant a lot. Like, if you don't go out and you don't work the land, you're going to be hungry. You're going to be hungry. He who tills his land will have plenty of bread, but he who follows frivolity will have poverty enough. He might have a good time momentarily, but it won't be such a good time when it comes time to eat and what comes time to look and see what you've produced.

It'll be a tough time at that point. So, a biblical principle is work hard. I won't turn to 2 Thessalonians 3, verse 10. You can mark that down. But Paul addresses that, and he says, if a man doesn't work, he doesn't eat. If a man doesn't work, he doesn't eat. We might think that's a hard saying to say. And there are some times when we just can't work, and that's a different story, but when someone chooses not to work, God says, here's what you do.

And Paul made that comment then. If a man doesn't work, he doesn't eat. If he can work. Finally, let's look at Proverbs 6. Proverbs 6 along this line. And again, we're talking about physical work. Remember the spiritual aspect of this as well. God expects us to be spiritually at work in what he calls us to do, and not just being lazy, getting through the day, forgetting what it is that we need to be doing working hard in our spiritual life.

Proverbs 6. Proverbs 6 and verse 9. How long will you slumber? Oh, sluggard! When will you rise from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep. No, it's not that important I get it done today. Let me just take it easy for a while. A little folding of the hands to sleep. So shall your poverty come on you like a prowler, and your need like an armed man. Work hard. Put God first. Work hard at what God gives you to do.

Whether you like that job or not, whether it's the end result of what you hope your career takes you to or not, hard work is looked at by God. Hard work is looked at by employers. Whatever you do, do it well if you want promotions to come.

Okay, point three, but don't overwork. Don't overwork. Don't put too. Don't spend too much time at work. Let's look at Proverbs 23. Proverbs 23 verse 4. Don't overwork to be rich. Don't overwork to be rich. Now we live in a age where we've all encountered the workaholics. They work seven days a week. They work 70, 80, 90 hours. Are they doing it because they don't need it to be done? Sometimes our jobs do require that we put extra time in.

That's just part of working hard and getting the job done you have to do. But if we're doing it for the reason to be rich, as it says here, don't do that. Don't do it. That's putting work first. Rather than the other things in your life, have the balance. God doesn't expect us to be working all the time. Six days we work, and He gives us a day of rest. He doesn't expect that for 16 hours a day we're going to be working every day of our lives and only going home to sleep.

But there are other things in life. It's okay to have leisure time. It's okay to have recreation time. We need time with family. We need time to rest and be refreshed. Don't overwork to be rich because of your own understanding. Cease. Because you know better than that. If you find yourself doing those things, cease. You might have to do it for a while.

There might be seasons that there are 60 and 70 hour weeks that you're required to do that. It might be times as you're building your career that you have to work hard. I remember the first three years that I was out of college. And the hours I put in with the accounting firm I was with, I would never do again. But it was necessary. The job had to get done. And it was just kind of the nature of the beast. And it paid off. It paid off. The job got done. And I can't have any complaints about the career that I had or that I have now.

Sometimes you have to work hard, but not the rest of your life.

I watched the partners in that accounting firm that I was with. And I thought, oh, that's what the goal should be. Be a partner in that firm. But you know what? They had no life. They had no life. All they did was work around the clock. It was 100% work.

And I thought, that can't be. I've got a family. I've got other things to do. So after I put my time in for three years, moved on to something else.

Don't overwork to be rich. Because of your own understanding, cease. Proverbs 28. Proverbs 28 and verse 20.

A faithful man will abound with blessings, but he who hastens to be rich will not go unpunished. Well, that's speaking more to get-rich-quick schemes, right? That's what we're talking about in verse 20. Don't overwork to be rich, and don't fall prey to the get-rich schemes. Now, it used to be that I would turn on infamilishers and whatever and say, you can get rich by being on the Internet six hours a day. You would hear those things, and you can make all this money by just working at home and doing these little things that happened.

And people would pay their money and send their money in, and you know what? Very few of them, if any, got rich. The people who put those promotions on got rich, as everyone else sent in their money and whatever. And, you know, I fell prey to one of them early on until I realized that was something—and it wasn't to get rich quick. It was because it was something that was interesting to me that I thought would be interesting to learn. It turned out to be kind of a scam and nothing that would happen. I learned, don't fall prey to those rich to get-rich schemes. That's what Solomon is talking here about in Proverbs 28, verse 20. He talks about it here in verse 22. A man with an evil eye hastens after riches. That's what his goal is. If I can just do the little I can, if I can just find some way to get rich, if I can just get money, I don't want to do it the way God said. I don't want to work hard. I don't want to put him first. I just want to get money. That's what my will is here. A man with an evil eye hastens after riches and does not consider the poverty will come upon him. God will see that what we reap, we are what we sow, we reap. Point number four. Work honestly. You know, in the world we live in today, this is one that every one of us here, every Christian, every child that's here, every teenager, every young adult, work honestly. When we see what's going on around us and we see that people just don't work honestly, they do whatever it takes. They take the law into their own hands. They'll do whatever it takes just for money. They're not thinking about what is right and what is wrong. And recently we've seen some people get into some real big problems because they weren't thinking. I've got to work honestly. I've got to work within the course of the law. Work honestly. Proverbs 10. Proverbs 10. Verse 2. Treasures of wickedness profit nothing, but righteousness delivers from death. Well, you can see the spiritual principle there. Treasures of wickedness profit nothing, but righteousness delivers from death. But it talks about what we do with the way we work and how we're working. Work honestly. Work honestly. Proverbs 11. First, next chapter over. Chapter 11, verse 1. Dishonest scales are an abomination to the Lord. Whatever you do, comply with the law. Dishonest scales are an abomination to the Lord. But a just weight is His delight. He won't reward those that are dishonest and that are looking to get gained by the things that they do dishonestly, especially those of us in the church, that know better than this because God is working with us to perfect us for what He wants us to do in the kingdom. We can never lose sight of that. Everything we do, everything we do, either builds or destroys our character, everything we do, God is watching to see, are they getting ready, and do they have an eye for what it is that I want them to do in the future?

If we fail to understand that and if we fail to have that be our guiding principle, do the things of life, enjoy life, do all the things that God allows us to do, but remember what it is that He's working and remember who God is and what His will for us is.

Proverbs 13 and verse 11, Might profit for a little while, might look really good, we might add it all up and say, wow, this worked out really well, but wealth gained by dishonesty will be diminished, but you who gathers by labor will increase. If He does the work and when He's doing the things honestly, putting God first, that will be where the lasting riches and the lasting honor comes from.

Proverbs 15, there's a lot of Proverbs that talk about this. Proverbs 15 and verse 6, In the house of the righteous there is much treasure, but in the revenue of the wicked is trouble. Is trouble. Trouble will come. And finally, Proverbs 21 verse 6, talks about something that we could see in the news around us today.

Proverbs 21 verse 6, Getting treasures by a lying tongue is the fleeting fantasy of those who seek death. Don't lie to get ahead. Don't lie. Be the truthful people God wants you to be, that He wants me to be. Do it honestly. Do it truthfully.

Do it the way He says, and He'll provide the lasting riches in everything we need. Again, I won't turn to Psalm 15. You can mark down Psalm 15 and look at it another time. Psalm 15 is the Psalm that talks about who is it that will dwell in God's holy hill, who will be on His mountain, who is the righteous man. And in the few verses of Psalm 15, it gives certain points of what God is looking for. If you look down past the first couple of verses, you'll see verses around verses 4 and 5 in there, Psalm 15, it's there as part, the two or three of the verses there, talk about the wealth of God. Psalm 15, verse 6, is there as part, the two or three of the verses there, Psalm 15, is there as part, the two or three of the verses there, talk about the wealth we have and how we handle it. Okay, number 5. Have a plan. Have a plan. Have a budget. You know, God has a plan. Before the earth was ever formed or recreated for man to be on it, God had a plan. He knew what the earth was going to be, what He wanted it to produce. Before He ever created man, He knew what the plan for mankind was that transcended this physical life beyond forever. He knew what that plan was, and He stuck to it throughout time. You know, the budgets that we do in our lives, the things that we put together, they're our plans in life. And for some people who have plenty, we may not think that we need to budget everything out because there's plenty to pay the credit card bills and to buy the groceries and to pay the mortgage and everything. Others need to have a budget because they have a more limited income. You know, I'm convinced God has provided what we need to meet our needs. It's up to us to plan and use it wisely.

Again, I think I mentioned it, I don't know if I mentioned it here already or in Jacksonville. You know, there's a difference between needs and wants and needs and luxuries. And so many times in our society today, people think, this is a need, and it's not really a need. We know what the needs are. We know what the needs are. God doesn't say He'll always give us all the luxuries of life or all the comforts of life. We're all blessed that we have those things. But some people need to budget. And what God gives us, we are able to live on. And in those cases where we run into hardships or whatever, we know there are people who are willing to assist, the Church is willing to assist, when there is a genuine need. And not just because wants need to be filled as opposed to needs. So let's look at Proverbs. We're here in Proverbs 20... are we in Proverbs 21? We're in Proverbs 21. Let's look at verse 5.

The plans of the diligent lead surely to plenty. Now, let's talk about budget. In the next few months, we'll be putting together the Church budget. And as we do that, we look at what are the things we need to do that God wants us to do. And we have the luxury of being able to do many more things than what we need to do. We need to have the Word going out. We need to have ministry. We need to have the things that we do. We need to have a magazine that's being sent out to everyone. And we have the opportunity to do much more because God has blessed us with a lot in the last few years. We still have a budget. We still look and see that everything that we're supposed to be doing as we seek the Scriptures, are we doing what God wants us to do? Is He behind the plans we have? The plans of the diligent lead surely to plenty. But those of everyone who is a hasty, surely to poverty.

Got a plan. Got to have a plan. Got to put it into motion. Proverbs 27. Proverbs 27 verse 23.

Be diligent to know the state of your flocks. Well, back in those days, it was how many, you know, how big your herd was. You know, how many cattle, how many sheep and everything. Today, we would look at our bank accounts. We would look at our portfolios or whatever it is. Be diligent to know the state of your flocks. Know what you have. Pay attention to it. And attend to your herds. For riches are not forever, nor does a crown endure to all generations. There will be times in our life when we have plenty. There will be other times in our life where we have enough to get by. And for each of those seasons that we're in, we learn something. We learn what it is, and we should be learning principles of God. And we should be learning trust in Him.

When the hay is removed and the tender grass shows itself and the herbs of the mountains are gathered in, the lambs will provide your clothing and the goats the price of the field. You'll have enough goats milk for your food, for the food of your household, and the nourishment of your maidservants. I'll see that you have what you need. Sometimes you may have plenty. Other times you may have little. Plan. Adjust. Learn. What God has for us to learn. And let's look at Proverbs 6. Proverbs 6.

We were back in Proverbs 6 when we were...

Proverbs 6, verse 6. We were talking about being diligent. Proverbs 6, you know, we learn from animals, we learn from trees, we learn from the creation around us. Some of the principles that God wants us to have and some of the traits that we need. I mean, here's ants, right? I mean, we all know ants are kind of pesky. But, you know, we sit and watch and we see how diligent they are. Go to the ant, you sluggard. Consider her ways and be wise, which having no captain, overseer, or ruler, provides her supplies in the summer and gathers her food in the harvest. You know, for what they do, they kind of know what's going on. They don't have to have someone there telling them, Oh, these are times of plenty. You might want to put a little bit away for a rainy day. You might want to put something aside. You may not have. Plenty forever. You know, the church, we realize we may not have the income that we have, the revenue that we have forever. We happen to be in a good economic time where God is blessing it. That could disappear. And when you look at what's on the horizon, you look at what's going on in the world, things could change very, very quickly. Even more so after some of the events of this week. They could change very, very quickly. The ant knows what to do. The ant plans. He's not waiting and waiting and not knowing what's going on. Neither should we as God's people. We read what's going on. We prepare. And we have a plan and a budget and stick with it. Now, let's do turn to Hebrews 10. Hebrews 10. Hebrews 10 and verse 36.

Hebrews 10, 36. The author here writes, under inspiration of God, For you have need of endurance. You need to stick with it till the end. You have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise. If you stick to the plan, you'll receive the promise. If you stick to your budget, everything will be fine. And there are times when things can be outside a budget, right? We experience those in our personal lives. We experience them in the church. What if we've got something on the side, which will be our next point here? You know, it does help to have those things resolved. Let me read what the message version of the Bible, how it translates to verse 36. If I can find my point here.

Hebrews 10, 36. But you need to stick it out, staying with God's plan, so you'll be there for the promise completion. You need to stick with it. You don't need to deviate from the plan. No matter how easy it may seem, no matter how tough it may seem, in good times and bad times, stick with the plan. When you establish a budget, stick with it. Stick with it. And don't let it get out of hand and just give up. We learn patience. We learn diligence. When we plan, and we look to God to provide what it is we need. Number six, save. Save. Let's go back to Proverbs 21. Part of any budget, I won't say any budget, sometimes budgets are such that we have enough just to get by and fill the needs that we have. But if we have more than what we need, saving is part of what God would have us do. And we learn that at the church level. We learn that in our own levels. Companies learn it as well. Proverbs 21, verse 20. There is—yeah, Proverbs 21, verse 20. There is desirable treasure and oil in the dwelling of the wise, but a foolish man squanders it. The righteous will know, don't use it all up. Don't just waste it. Pay attention to it. Pay attention to it, and don't just think because you have it, it has to be spent. It's one of the things that we talk about in the home office. Just because we have it doesn't mean it has to be spent. Remember the lesson of Jacob, or Joseph, with Egypt. In years of plenty, save up. Save up so that when the time comes, if a time comes, you have resources to see you through some of the tough times of life.

Proverbs 22, verse 3. Prudent man foresees evil and hides himself. He looks ahead, he can see what's happening on the horizon, and he goes, you know, there's some trying times ahead. I'm looking at things, and don't just have my head buried, and thinking it's always going to be always wonderful, and everything's going to go on the way it is from now until the time Jesus Christ returns.

There may be some tough times. A prudent man foresees evil and hides himself, with a simple pass on, and then they're punished, because they don't read the writing on the wall. They don't pay attention. They're not planning for what may eventually occur. Proverbs 13. You know, going along with that is that we live in a society that is so different than the society and culture that I grew up in.

When I grew up, and I'm getting ahead of myself, I'll delay that thought until the next point here. Proverbs 13, verse 22. A good man leaves an inheritance to his children's children. You don't do that by spending every penny you ever earn.

It's because part of your plan is at your saving. A good man leaves an inheritance to his children's children, but the wealth of the sinner is stored up for the righteous. Again, you and I are people that God is working with. People that God is working with. He's watching to see what we do. There's principles he gives us in all areas of our life that he wants to see that we are doing it the way he says, the way he spells it out in the pages of his Word.

Things that we can learn spiritually from everything that we do financially as well as physically. Okay. Proverbs 21.17. You can write that down. It talks about eliminating wasteful spending. And, of course, you can write down Luke 15 verses 13 and 14.

You can see the prodigal son. What did he do? I want all my money now. I want all my money now. And then he squandered it. He totally wasted it. Didn't have an eye on the future, and when he had to come home in ignominy to his father and in a destitute state, looking to see whatever he could do because he wasted it all and didn't have an eye on the future. He didn't know or didn't put into practice, I need to have part of my idea or part of my plan going into the future.

Number seven. Stay out of debt if possible. Now, we live here in a world where we almost always are going to have debt. You know, it would be almost impossible, or very few people, buy a house in cash. We have to have mortgages in all likelihood, bar payments, whatever it is that we have. Those are some necessary things that we need in order to earn a living and live in the society that we do.

But there is other debt that we incur that we can certainly do without or limit. Let's look at some of the things. Proverbs 22. Proverbs 22 verse 7. The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender. The borrower is servant to the lender. You know, when we have a mortgage on our house, we have to do what the bank says.

We don't really own that house. They do. If we step out of line, if we don't do what they say, we don't pay as we're supposed to, they can take that back. The borrower is servant to the lender. So God says, don't put yourself in that situation. Now, in the case of mortgages, we need those, and I hope we're paying attention to those and paying them as we need to. Back a few years ago, there were people who wanted to get out of their mortgages. There were bad decisions as an economy failed. But when we make a promise, we follow through on what we do, whether it's good or not, when we read Psalm 15.

Psalm 22, verse 7, the rich...oh, I already read that. Okay, let's look at Psalm 37. Psalm 37, verse 21. The wicked borrows, the wicked borrows and does not repay. The wicked borrows and does not repay, but the righteous shows mercy and gives. Enough said about that. Let me talk about credit card debt, okay? Because again, we can get into the subject of wants and needs, and a society that thinks they need to have everything now. You know, when I was growing up, my parents provided all my needs, and they provided a lot of comforts.

But there were things that I wanted that weren't necessary to childhood, and they would have me save up for those things. You know, you save up, you get money for this, you do these chores, we'll pay you for this, and when you have that money, if you still want that thing, we'll go and get it. It never occurred to me to ask them, you buy it, and I'll pay you back. It just wasn't the way things were done. And we learned a lot during those days about that.

Today, we live in a society that's like, I've got to have it now. I'm going to put it on the credit card, and I don't care if I pay 18% or 24%. I'll pay the minimum payment for the rest of my life, I just want it now. And the verse today would have that application. Don't put yourself in debt. We learn money. We learn patience by saving.

We learn patience by not putting ourselves in debt. You know, patience is something that God wants us to do. He doesn't answer every prayer we have immediately for one reason. He wants us to develop patience and faith in Him, and we develop patience as we wait, and as we build that faith, and as we build that trust in Him. And similarly, financially, we learn patience by, I don't need that today.

It can wait. I'll save up for it. And then we'll buy it. But that's not the way society is today at all. And so many people get themselves into credit card debt, and it's a real trouble, and end up having to file bankruptcy. Shame on them, because they weren't handling their situations right. And shame on us if we end up in bankruptcy, if we have simply mishandled our finances.

Not if we've had a misfortune and loss of job or loss of income that can't be foreseen. But if we've done it to ourselves, shame on us. We have the principles we need to learn what to do. And make sure that we're not a servant to the borrower or a servant to credit card companies, because we just couldn't learn to wait for the things that we don't have to have right now.

Okay, number eight. One, stay out of debt. If possible, number eight is don't cosign someone else's loan. Proverbs 17. Now, you know, we are told, and the next point will be on giving when we are able to give and help people out, and God loves a cheerful giver. But there is a time when it would be okay to say no. If someone asks us to do something, and this is one of the occasions where it would be. Proverbs 17 and verse 18. A man devoid of understanding.

Remember how we get understanding? By doing God's commandments, by following His principles, by learning wisdom, by seeking it out, by applying His principles into our everyday life. A man devoid of understanding shakes hands in a pledge and becomes surety for his friend. I think if someone come and asked, will you cosign my loan for me? We would feel, on one hand, compelled, let's help out. But on the other hand, there is a reason they need a cosigner. If a bank has said, we don't trust you, that you can pay it back.

We need a cosigner someone else we can look at to do that. Now, it's okay to say yes if you are prepared to give up what you have in order to pay that loan off.

And oftentimes, when we give, we should give, which is the idea, I have enough to just give, and if I never get it back, that's okay. If we sign for someone, be prepared. Be prepared, the Bible says, to pay it off for them. Be sure that you can do that, and if you can't, and if you don't want to, it's okay to say no. No. No, I won't cosign that loan. No, I won't shake my hand in surety and in pledge for you.

Proverbs 22.

Verse 26.

Don't be one of those who shakes hands in a pledge, one of those who is surety for debts. If you have nothing with which to pay, why should he take away your bed from under you?

Be prepared. If you say yes, it's okay, but be prepared, because it is okay to say no.

And most of the times when someone is asking for something in a pledge, it's something they don't need right then anyway. Of course, every one of these situations, we have to take into account and look at the situation. Let me have you, I'm looking at the time here, mark down Proverbs 6, 1-5, and you can look at that later, among some other verses that pertain to this as well. Okay, number 9. Be generous and be giving when you have the resources to do it. Proverbs 13.

Proverbs 13 and verse 7. There is one who makes himself rich, yet has nothing, and one who makes himself poor, yet has great riches.

There are those who will withhold what they have and say, no, I'm not going to give that to you, or not ask when someone has a legitimate need that we can help with.

They try to keep it for themselves. And when they do that, God says, there is one who makes himself rich, I'm going to keep this to myself, yet they really have nothing. And one who makes himself poor, yes, I'll give that. Yes, I see a need here, yes, I'm going to provide what you need, and avoid myself of that resource, or whatever money it is, and yet, God says that one will become rich. Ecclesiastes says a beautiful verse where it says, cast your bread upon the waters. Be willing to give, be willing to share. When you see a need, do it. If you can't fill that need, if your budget is so low that you can only do yourself, don't. But if you have the resources, do it. God is looking to see what's in our heart. Are we there to help each other? Are we there to recognize needs and help a person who is in need? Proverbs 19.

You can also mark down, and you'll notice there are Proverbs 11, 24 through 26, so you won't turn there. Proverbs 19, verse 17. He who has pity on the poor lends to God, and he will pay back what he has given. What God is looking for, put him first, but also have a tie-out for other people. Develop that love. Develop that agape that he's looking for. And sometimes that means you would offer up what you have to help them out, because we are family. We are friends. We are people that God is working with to prepare us and is preparing us to become like Jesus Christ, who is willing to give his very life for us, because he loved us and all of mankind so much. Luke 12, verse 48. Don't need to turn there. It says, To whom much is given, much is required. We have plenty. God is looking to see how do we handle that time of plenty. We're all keeping it selfishly just for ourselves. To whom much is given, much is required. And that can include how we handle our money and how we handle each other and the opportunities that come to us. Okay, number 10. Number 10. We started with the first commandment, put God first. We're going to end with the 10th commandment. Do not covet. Do not covet. Proverbs 30. Don't covet what others have.

Proverbs 30 and verse 8. Solomon writes here, actually, this is the words of Agar, the son of Jacob. It says, Proverbs 30, verse 8. Remove falsehood and lies far from me. Give me neither poverty nor riches. Feed me with the food allotted to me. God, don't make me rich. That I have to deal with the consequences of that and what my attitudes might be.

Don't make me poor so that I'm having to look at every single penny of what to do. Just let me enjoy. Let me be content with what you give me. Just give me what I need, and I'll be content with that. The job you have me in, that's fine. Let me live on that. Let me learn how to live on that. You know, Paul talks about in all states he was in, he learned to be content. There were times when he had plenty and there's time when he had very little. He never had a house. He never had any place that he could lay his head. He was traveling all the time. He was content in whatever state God gave him. And that's what he looks for us to. There'll be times in our life when we have plenty. Enjoy it and do the things that God says to do with it. There'll be time when there's very little. Be content with it and learn what God wants you to learn during those times. He knows every single thing that we're going through. He knows every single thing that he wants us to learn. And in times of plenty we learn things, and in times of little we learn things.

We learn things as well. Hebrews 13. Hebrews 13.

And verse 5.

It says, let your conduct or let your behavior, let the... how you live your life, let your conduct be without covetousness. Don't look at everyone else and say, well, they have it. I need it too.

It could be something so simple. Yes, God says he'll provide everything we need, but doesn't say that he'll provide everything we want. And sometimes when we want, want, want, want, want, want, he wants us to learn. Be content with what I've given you. Just because someone else has it doesn't mean you have a right to it as well. God will provide it in his own time.

Let your conduct be without covetousness. Be content with such things as you have. It's a principle for us all to learn and to remember and to grow into. Because somewhere down the line, we will be relying on God for the necessities of life.

Somewhere along the line, we won't have all the comforts, I believe, that we have today. We will be looking to him, and we'll understand what is necessary versus what is a luxury.

You know, you can look through the Proverbs. We can talk about financial principles. We could go another half hour with the verses I have written down here. I'm not going to do that. But when you look through Proverbs and how we handle our money, and the spiritual aspects of that, as well as the physical aspects of it, it points to one thing that God is looking for us to do. Let's turn back and conclude in Proverbs 3.

Proverbs 3, memory verse. When I say verse 5, for most of you, the words will come right to mind.

When we look at our finances, when we look at what we do in our lives, when we count points 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, it teaches us, trust in the Lord with all your heart, and don't lean on your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge him, and he will direct your paths.

Proverbs 3, memory verse. When we count on you,