Money and Wealth (Part 26) – Being Rich (Part A)

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Money and Wealth (Part 26) – Being Rich (Part A)

Being rich

1. Being rich should not be vilified (Ecc 10:20).
2. God gives men power to get wealth (Deut 8:18).
   1. Riches come from God (1Ch 29:12).
   2. The Lord is the maker of the rich as well as the poor (Pro 22:2).
   3. The blessing of the Lord makes men rich (Pro 10:22).
   4. God gives us richly all things to enjoy (1Ti 6:17).
   5. God even gives wealth to those who misuse it (Hos 2:8).
   6. Therefore, if a person despises a rich man who earned his wealth honestly, he is really despising God who gave it to him.
3. There is nothing wrong with being rich.
   1. Abraham was rich (Gen 13:2).
   2. David was rich (1Ch 29:28).
   3. Solomon was rich (1Ki 10:23).
   4. Joseph of Arimathaea, a disciple of Jesus, was rich (Mat 27:57).
   5. These were godly men (despite their flaws), and they were very rich.
   6. Paul instructed rich Christians to be generous with their wealth (1Ti 6:17-19), but he did not condemn them for having it nor tell them they didn’t deserve it.
   7. “Dallas Willard, in his book The Spirit of Disciples, says to use riches is to cause them to be consumed, to trust in riches is to count upon them for things they cannot provide, but to possess riches is to have the right to say how they will or will not be used. If you are a good person, it is your spiritual duty to possess riches for the good of mankind. If you are a Christian like me, it is your spiritual duty to possess riches so that you can do with them things that bring glory to God.” (Dave Ramsey, The Total Money Makeover, p. 221)
4. God sometimes chooses to bless those who are humble and fear Him and delight greatly in His commandments with wealth and riches (Job 36:11; Psa 112:1-3; Pro 22:4).
5. Wealth is usually, but not always, acquired by those who earned it and deserve it.
   1. Some people are hardworking and industrious, and such often are, and deserve to be, wealthy (Pro 10:4; Pro 13:4).
   2. Oftentimes wise men acquire riches (Pro 8:18; Pro 14:24; Pro 24:3-4).
   3. Some people have strength of character and wisdom, and therefore retain riches (Pro 11:16 c/w Pro 24:5), while some are weak and have no self-control, and thus lose it.
   4. Sometimes fools stumble into wealth by chance (Ecc 9:11).
   5. But that’s not how most wealthy people became wealthy.
6. With wealth comes much responsibility.
   1. To whom much is given much is required (Luk 12:48).
   2. Most people cannot handle wealth, which is why most people don’t have any.
   3. It takes a man strong in character and discipline to retain riches (Pro 11:16).
   4. Weak and foolish men spend all they make and save nothing (Pro 21:20; Luk 15:12-14).
   5. There is always time to change though. If you have been foolish with money in the past, you can reform your ways today, no matter your age.
   6. “It is never too late to start. George Burns won his first Oscar at eighty. Golda Meir was prime minister of Israel at seventy-one. Michelangelo painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel lying on his back on scaffolding at seventy-one. Colonel Sanders never fried any chicken for money until his was sixty-five, and Kentucky Fried Chicken is a household name worldwide. Albert Schweitzer was still performing surgery in Africa at eighty-nine. It is never too late to start. The past has passed. Start where you are, because that is your only option.” (Dave Ramsey, The Total Money Makeover, p. 164)
7. Wealth makes many friends (Pro 14:20; Pro 19:4).
   1. Every man is friend to him that giveth gifts (Pro 19:6).
   2. Men will praise thee when thou doest well to thyself (Psa 49:18).
   3. Sometimes wealth will make you the wrong kind of friends (2Ch 18:1).
   4. “Make money and the whole world will conspire to call you a gentleman.” (Mark Twain)
   5. “With money in your pocket, you are wise, and you are handsome, and you sing well too.” (Jewish proverb)
   6. We should not show favoritism to the wealthy (Lev 19:15; Job 34:19), especially in the church (Jam 2:1-4).