Money and Wealth (Part 29) – Being Poor

Click here for the Entire Series and the Outline.

Click here for previous sermon.

Click here for next sermon.

Money and Wealth (Part 29) – Being Poor

Being poor

1. The poor will always be with us.
   1. Our Lord Jesus Christ taught that there will always be poor people on this earth (Mar 14:7).
   2. The same principle was taught in the law of Moses (Deut 15:11).
   3. “If you seized all the money from everybody in the world, and everyone had to start from zero once again, 95% percent [sic] of the money would end up back in the hands of the people who had it originally.” (Dean Graziosi, Totally Fulfilled, p. 23)
2. It is not necessarily a sign of a lack of spirituality or godliness for a Christian to be poor.
   1. God makes people poor (1Sa 2:7).
   2. The Lord is the maker of the poor as well as the rich (Pro 22:2).
   3. Gain does not equal godliness (1Ti 6:5-8).
   4. Never assume that a man is poor because he is not pure and upright (Job 8:6).
   5. Jesus was poor (2Co 8:9) and didn’t even own a house (Luk 9:58).
   6. Peter was not wealthy (Act 3:6).
   7. Paul and the other apostles went without at times in their lives (1Co 4:11).
   8. The saints in Jerusalem were poor (Rom 15:26).
   9. The saints in Macedonia were very poor, but very generous (2Co 8:1-2).
   10. The church in Smyrna was materially poor, but spiritually rich (Rev 2:9).
   11. The poor are blessed (Luk 6:20-21; Jam 2:5; Isa 66:2).
   12. It is better to be poor than a rich, dishonest fool (Pro 28:6; Pro 19:1; Pro 19:22).
   13. It’s better to be righteous and only have a little than to be wicked and be rich (Psa 37:16).
   14. An upright poor man is better than a perverse rich man (Pro 28:6; Pro 19:22).
   15. A godly poor man is wiser than a proud rich man (Pro 28:11).
   16. Being poor does not necessarily mean that one is foolish; there are plenty of poor people who are wise (Ecc 9:15-16).
   17. If you make yourself poor for God’s sake, you have great riches (Pro 13:7; 2Co 6:10).
3. It is indicative of a lack of spirituality or godliness if a Christian is poor because of laziness, wastefulness, foolishness, or imprudence.
   1. If you are lazy, you will likely be poor (Pro 6:9-11; Pro 10:4; Pro 13:4; Pro 19:15; Pro 20:4; Pro 20:13; Pro 21:25; Pro 23:21; Pro 24:30-34).
   2. If you are lazy and don’t work when you can, you should not eat (2Th 3:10).
   3. If you are wasteful, you will likely be poor (Pro 12:27; Pro 18:9).
   4. If you are foolish with your money, investments, or business ventures, you will likely be poor (Pro 13:18; Pro 13:23; Pro 21:20).
   5. If you love pleasure and the “finer things in life,” you will be poor (Pro 21:17).
   6. “The petty economies of the rich are just as amazing as the silly extravagances of the poor.” (William Feather)
   7. “I’ve never been poor, only broke. Being poor is a frame of mind. Being broke is a temporary situation.” (Mike Todd – quoted by Dean Graziosi, Totally Fulfilled, p. 8)
4. It is best to be neither rich nor poor, but to be in that middle station of life.
   1. Poverty is to be avoided if possible.
      1. Poverty is destructive (Pro 10:15).
      2. The poor are hated by their neighbors (Pro 14:20; Pro 19:4).
      3. The poor are even hated by their own siblings and friends sometimes (Pro 19:7).
   2. The poor are often oppressed (Deut 24:14; Job 20:19; Psa 12:5; Pro 14:31; Pro 22:16; Pro 22:22; Pro 28:3; Ecc 5:8; Eze 18:12; Eze 22:29; Amo 4:1; Zec 7:10; Jam 2:6).
   3. A wise man should want neither poverty nor riches (Pro 30:8-9).
   4. We should pray for God to give us our daily bread, not our lifetime bread, nor no bread at all (Mat 6:11).
   5. We should be content to have food and clothing (1Ti 6:8).