A) THE LOVE OF MONEY.

B) WEALTH CAN BE AN EVIDENCE OF GOD’S BLESSING.

C) BY CONTRAST.

D) JUST A SIDE NOTE ON GAMBLING.

 

 

A) THE LOVE OF MONEY

 

 

The Bible condemns the “love” of wealth (1Ti. 6:10), not the possession of wealth.  Money is not good or evil, but neutral.  It is a tool in our hands, which can be used for good or evil, depending upon the intention of the person possessing it.  Just as a gun is no more or less evil than the person handling it, so is the handling, or owning of money.

 

 

B) WEALTH CAN BE AN EVIDENCE OF GOD’S BLESSING

 

 

Leviticus 26:3-5:

 

3.  If ye walk in My statutes, and keep My Commandments, and do them;

4.  Then I will give you rain in due season, and the land shall yield her increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit.

5.  And your threshing shall reach unto the vintage, and the vintage shall reach unto the sowing time:  and ye shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in your land safely.

 

Deuteronomy 11:13-15:

 

13.  And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently unto My Commandments which I Command you this day, to love the Lord your God, and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul,

14.  That I will give you the rain of your land in his due season, the first rain and the latter rain, that thou mayest gather in thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil.

15.  And I will send grass in thy fields for thy cattle, that thou mayest eat and be full.

 

These verses are evidenced in the life of Job, who was one of the wealthiest men in the East, that after the testing experience, he would receive prosperity as an evidence of Divine blessings:

 

“His substance also was seven thousand sheep, and three thousand camels, and five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred she asses, and a very great household; so that this man was the greatest of all the men of the east.”  Job 1:3.  “And the Lord turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends:  also the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before.”  Job 42:10.  See also Jer. 33:6-9.

 

Proverbs 8:20-21:

 

20.  I lead in the way of righteousness, in the midst of the paths of judgment:

21.  That I may cause those that love Me to inherit substance; and I will fill their treasures.
 

Ecclesiastes 5:19:  “Every man also to whom God hath given riches and wealth, and hath given him power to eat thereof, and to take his portion, and to rejoice in his labour; this is the gift of God.”

 

Jeremiah 33:6-9:

 

6.  Behold, I will bring it health and cure, and I will cure them, and will reveal unto them the abundance of peace and truth.

7.  And I will cause the captivity of Judah and the captivity of Israel to return, and will build them, as at the first.

8.  And I will cleanse them from all their iniquity, whereby they have sinned against Me;  and I will pardon all their iniquities, whereby they have sinned, and whereby they have transgressed against Me.

9.  And it shall be to Me a name of joy, a praise and an honour before all the nations of the earth, which shall hear all the good that I do unto them:  and they shall fear and tremble for all the goodness and for all the prosperity that I procure unto it.”

 

Mark 10: 29-30:

 

29.  And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel’s,

30.  But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life.

 

Third John 1:2:  “Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.”

 

 

C) BY CONTRAST

 

 

In Scripture material prosperity is not always a sign of Divine blessings:

 

Psalm 73:12:  “Behold, these are the ungodly, who prosper in the world; they increase in riches.”

 

Many texts in the Bible do not condemn wealth, but the means by which it was obtained or used (see Amos 5:11; Micah 6:10-12; Isa. 10:1-3; Jam. 5:4-6).

 

 

D) JUST A SIDE NOTE ON GAMBLING

 

 

The Bible teaches that wealth should be built up slowly through diligent work.

 

Proverbs 20:21-22:

 

21.  An inheritance may be gotten hastily at the beginning; but the end thereof shall not be blessed.

22.  Say not thou, I will recompense evil; but wait on the Lord, and He shall save thee.

 

Wealth can be amassed quickly through the lottery, or gambling, without any diligent work.  But God does not bless such wealth.  By enticing people with the promise of becoming rich overnight, gambling replaces the Biblical concept of diligent labor with the secular theory of luck.  The get-rich-quick philosophy mocks the core values of disciplined work habits; thrift, adherence to routine, and appreciation for the reward of diligent labor.

 

Repeatedly, Scripture equates wealth with diligent labor:  “The soul of the sluggard desireth, and hath nothing:  but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat.”  Proverbs 13: 4.  (See also Pro. 10:4; 12:11 & 24; Psa. 92:14).

 

Something to keep in mind:  “Wealth maketh many friends; but the poor is separated from his neighbour.”  Proverbs 19:4.  I’m pretty sure these types pf “friends” are not the one’s one would want.

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