Well, we are in missions month, which is November at Beacon every year. And during missions month, we focus on the charge of the Great Commission that we are to go into all the world and preach the gospel to all peoples and to keep doing that until the Lord comes again.
And we also focus on financial stewardship. And we focus our support in the financial support of missionaries around the world. And so last week we took a look at Leviticus chapter 25 and that little known requirement of God through Moses to his people that they were to observe a sabbatical year letting the land lie fallow for a year until the next year when they could begin cultivating it again. And with that, God promised that if they would obey, he would pour out such blessings upon them that they would actually prosper more greatly by skipping one year of agricultural produce than by disobeying him and cultivating during that year. The people of Israel did not obey him. And the Babylonian captivity in part was to collect those nearly 500 years of disobedient lost sabbatical years that God had commanded.
And so over 70 years, the land did lie fallow until the people were brought back to the land. But what a wonderful portion to consider and what wonderful promises of God to be reminded of that when we obey him, we do not lose in this life nor in the life to come. God fulfills his promises every one. Now next week, Lord willing, we're going to go to Psalm 67, the chosen text for our theme this year for missions month. Let the peoples praise you, O God. Let all the peoples praise you from Psalm 67, the missionary psalm.
And we'll be looking at that in the morning service. But today I will have us turning to many passages in the book of Proverbs. All of this, of course, because we have put Hebrews on hold for the time being. You know, most of you, that we are preaching through the book of Hebrews and have been for more than a year. And we still have a good ways to go and we're looking forward to getting back into that again in January.
But for this time, we have laid that aside and we are looking at other matters. And so today, several proverbs and particularly wisdom about money. What God gave to Solomon, who the Bible tells us was unusually wise, perhaps the wisest man who ever lived, at least in the early years of his life.
He certainly strayed from that wisdom in his latter years. But he whom God set upon the throne and who asked God not for riches, not for honor, but for wisdom to be able to rightly rule the people of God. And God granted that wisdom in such great measure that people came from all over the world to listen to him and hear the wisdom that God had given to him. And much of that is written down for us in the book of Proverbs and the book of Ecclesiastes. But you might also notice that though he asked for wisdom, God also gave him wealth and he was indeed the wealthiest king who ever sat upon the throne of Israel. So with that wisdom rightfully directed to honor God, God added riches and that's basically what we learn in other places in the Bible.
But today, proverbs, divine wisdom regarding money for the people of God, and I've gone through the book of Proverbs, I have noticed in reading that over the years that there are quite a few proverbs that deal with money. And we can't get all of them in one sermon today, but you might think I'm trying before this is over. But we're going to look at a number of them today and see what they say to the old covenant people of God.
And then also look at a text in each case in the New Testament to see whether the New Testament corroborates what God gave to the old covenant people through Moses. So that's our plan. And there are five key words that we're going to be looking at. Number one, contentment. Number two, diligence. Number three, priorities. Number four, investments.
And number five, security. First of all, contentment. The Bible teaches us to cultivate contentment with what God gives to us. And that I'm convinced is the most important of all of the lessons. Until we learn to be content with what God in his wisdom has divinely chosen to impart to us, we will never find happiness, we'll never find satisfaction, we'll never find fulfillment in this world. We've got to learn contentment first and foremost above all else. And so we begin in the passage I read earlier in Proverbs chapter 3.
And we notice again the words in verses 13 through 15. Happy is the man who finds wisdom and the man who gains understanding. For her proceeds are better than the profits of silver and her gain than fine gold.
She is more precious than rubies and all the things you may desire cannot compare with her. The blessings of wisdom. God's word in the book of Proverbs tells us that divine wisdom brings great blessing. But it also tells us that this wisdom must be sought. It is for those who find her.
It is for those who have gained her. Gain is something that you acquire. It's not something that you have automatically or that you have in fullest measure from the beginning. But this is something that you seek and discover and acquire and add to your life along the way.
But we are required to work at doing that. We are to follow and seek the fear of the Lord which is the beginning of wisdom. And these verses tell us that wisdom is more valuable than money. She's more precious than rubies and all the things you may desire cannot compare with her. She's better than silver and gold. Now the question is do you believe that? Because a lot of people don't.
A lot of people say yeah, yeah, that's just God taught. But gold is better. Money is better. Precious valuable things are better. The wisdom of God, that's of very little value to me.
That's the way a lot of people think. But I must have the things of this world in order to be happy. And if we will listen to God and heed His word and really believe that Godly wisdom is better than all the material resources that we could know about, think about, have, or covet to have, if we would come to believe that knowing God and His wisdom is more valuable, then we're well on the way to the contentment that will really make this life worthwhile. Now we turn to Proverbs chapter 15 to continue this same theme of contentment. Proverbs 15, and you're going to have to turn around, turn along in your Bible today. I know you're not accustomed to doing that with my normal style of preaching. Because normally we take one text, that is usually several verses, and we just camp in that one place for the entire sermon. But today is different.
You're going to have to let your fingers do the walking and find where we are going. So Proverbs 15, notice verses 16 and 17. Better is a little with the fear of the Lord than great treasure with trouble.
Better is a dinner of herbs, poor man's diet, vegetables, no meat. Better is a dinner of herbs where love is than a fatted calf, big sumptuous feast, a fatted calf with hatred. What these verses are telling us is that the fear of the Lord plus little is much. You've heard it said a little is much when God is in it. That's what this is saying. The fear of the Lord plus little, just enough to meet your basic minimal needs, is much.
It's great. And it contrasts a number of things in these verses. Little resources compared to great treasure, which is better.
Well, carnally minded men say great treasure is better. But God's word is teaching us that little with the fear of the Lord, not little by itself, but little with the fear of the Lord is actually better. He compares the fear of the Lord with trouble, which is better. In that regard, maybe many people would say, well, I don't want trouble.
Maybe I would accept that the fear of the Lord is better than trouble. And he contrasts meager resources with ample resources. These are pictured by a dinner of vegetables as opposed to a fatted calf sumptuous feast, which is better. The carnally minded will say, well, the sumptuous feast is better, always better.
But this text tells us that little, if the fear of the Lord is present, is actually better than that sumptuous feast. In other words, obtaining wisdom is better than obtaining wealth. And finally, all of this together tells us that obtaining wisdom is sufficient for contentment. Who is the richest person? The one who is content with whatever he has or the one who has a great deal but is not satisfied always will never be content until he has one more thing and then one more thing and then one more thing and then one more thing. Never satisfied, never content. Who is indeed the most blessed? Who is the most happy? Who is the most fulfilled in life? The person who has reduced his wants to the bare minimum and is totally content with those or the person who can never get enough to be satisfied.
Who is the richest of those two? The Bible says the one who has learned to be content with the minimal things of life is actually richer. He's better off than the person who has a whole lot. Little with love and peace is better than wealth with hatred. That's spoken of in these verses. The application of all of this is therefore seek the fear of the Lord and you will enjoy contentment which will make you satisfied with life. If you're content, you're content. If you're content, you're happy. If you're content, you are not dissatisfied because you don't have this, that, or the other. If you have the fear of the Lord and accept what he has given as being sufficient, you are happy in life. That's what the book of Proverbs tells us. Question, does the New Testament, the scriptures that are particularly directed to the new covenant people of God, bear this out? You're familiar, no doubt, with Philippians 4 and I'm going to read verses 10 through 14.
The apostle Paul is writing to the church at Philippi to thank them for their generous missionary support. And he says, but I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at last your care for me has flourished again. Though you surely did care, but you lacked opportunity. But then this, not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am to be content. I know how to be abased and I know how to abound. Everywhere in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. A generous gift had come to Paul to support him in his missionary work. He thanks them for that gift, but he wants to make clear that gift was not necessary for him to be content. He says, I want you to know that sometimes I am impoverished, I am hungry, I am in want. And other times I have had periods of great bounty, great surplus, and he said, I have learned to be as happy in the poor seasons of life as in the wealthy seasons of life.
My contentment, my happiness does not depend upon how much money I have or how many material things I have. Now Paul admits that that has not always been his condition. He says, I have learned in whatever state I am there with to be content. I haven't always known that, haven't always practiced that, but by my growing in grace, advancing in my Christian walk, I have come to understand this, to learn the lesson, to apply it, and to really feel this way. I am as happy, I am as content with little as I am with much.
Either way, I'm fine, but thank you for your gift. That certainly does help. And by the way, he said, I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me.
I referenced that last week, didn't I? How that verse is taken out of context. I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me if I put my mind to it and trust in the Lord. I can become a millionaire if I put my mind to it and trust the Lord. I can become a world known athlete if I put my mind to it and trust the Lord.
I can do anything and all things. Please, please, please look at verses in their context. Remember that bumper sticker I told you about? I've actually got it pinned to my bulletin board. It says, I can do all things through a verse taken out of context.
What's the context? I can be happy, I can be content in penury as much as I can be happy in wealth. I can do all things, that is, be happy in penury and in wealth through Christ who strengthens me. That's the all things.
Have you learned that yet? Contentment. That comes by divine enablement. Cultivate contentment. Learn to be content with whatever God supplies and this, God may withhold bounty until you learn this lesson.
I'm not saying that he always does, but I'm saying he may. Learn contentment with whatever God has supplied and if it's little, learn contentment with that. And you say, well, I see other Christians who have more bounty than I do. Why don't you do that for them? Why don't you learn contentment with what I've given you so that I can give you more bounty profitably?
But we move on. I can't step on your toes too hard. So the second category is diligence.
Practice diligence. And back to Proverbs 21, we're going to see in this chapter a bad combination. And then we're going to go to the New Testament and see a second bad combination and another text in the New Testament and find a third bad combination.
But first of all, Proverbs 21, 25 and 26. The desire of the lazy man kills him for his hands refuse to labor. He covets greedily all day long, but the righteous gives and does not spare. Here's a bad combination. Sloth and desire. Sloth and desire. A desire for things that requires money to fulfill, but a lack of money as a result of slothfulness. That's a bad combination.
In fact, Proverbs tells us it's a deadly combination. It says, where is it again? It says, I've got to find it. The desire of the lazy man kills him. The desire of the lazy man kills him.
What King Solomon meant by that is not crystal clear. But it's something that's deadly. It's something that is destructive. The desire of the lazy man is destructive. It warps his thinking so that he cannot respond to anything in the way that he ought. It often brings bad health because he's sickened by the things he desires he cannot have because he's too lazy to work for them. And so he wants, he covets, but he's unfulfilled all the time. That's a bad condition mentally and physically. And sometimes it drives him to crime in the course of which he may get shot.
He may break into a house that somebody's there with a gun and bang, he's dead. I don't know what all the writer of Proverbs had in mind, but he does tell us that this kind of desire will bring an early death to many people. But the remedy is also given in the last part of verse 26. It says, but the righteous gives and does not despair.
And I think we have to fill in the blanks here. What the writer is saying, Solomon is saying, is righteousness equates with diligence. It's the opposite of the laziness that he's been talking about. And so laziness desires and does not receive. But righteousness gives and you have to have some steps in there, doesn't it? Righteousness equates with diligence and diligence equates with bounty, but don't stop there because bounty allows generosity. So on the one hand, you've got a person who desires and desires and desires, he wants, he wants, he wants, but he cannot get because he's not willing to work hard for it. And on the other hand, you've got a righteous man who in his righteousness is diligent and in his diligence has acquired sufficient for himself and more. And in his righteous heart, he desires to give. And so the point is this, that it's better to have a giving heart than a grasping heart.
Practice diligence. Sloth and desire are a bad combination, but so are sloth and meddling according to the New Testament text in 2 Thessalonians 3-11. Paul says, for even when we were with you, we commanded you this, if any man will not work, neither shall he eat.
You don't hear many people talking like that today. If it's a person's hungry, it's our responsibility to feed them. Well, why are they hungry? If they're hungry through unfortunate circumstances of which they are not responsible, then of course we have compassion upon them and help them. But if they're hungry because they're lazy, they're hungry because they won't work, they desire but they won't work, is it best to feed them or is it best to let hunger drive them to work?
If they're able to. But Paul goes on to say, for we hear that there are some who walk among you in a disorderly manner, not working at all, but are busybodies. In Proverbs, laziness and desire, bad combination. In Thessalonians, laziness and busybodiness. Meddling. And then he says in verse 12, now those who are such, we command and exhort through our Lord Jesus Christ that they work in quietness and eat their own bread.
That's the remedy. Work to provide for yourself instead of looking to others to supply for you because diligent labor yields satisfying rewards and in time even a surplus that allows you to be a giver rather than a grasper. And the third bad combination also in the New Testament is in Ephesians chapter 5 and this is sloth and stealing. So three bad combinations, sloth and desire, sloth and meddling, work hard and mind your own business. And the third bad combination, sloth and stealing, Ephesians 4-28, let him who stole steal no longer but, here's the opposite, let him labor, working with his hands what is good that he may have something to give to him who is in need.
People who are legitimately in need. Sloth and stealing is a bad combination and sloth often drives people to steal. It's amazing how hard people will work at trying to avoid work.
Doesn't that manifest the sinful human condition? Some people work harder at avoiding work but if they work half that hard at working, they would have what they desire. But they're so determined they're going to find another way to do it. Another way to get what I want besides working. So they find ways to steal, to get what they want.
But that's a bad combination and Christians don't do that. Rather than stealing, being lazy and stealing, work, provide for yourself sufficiently to meet your own needs and to have a surplus to give to others. Because diligent labor yields satisfying rewards but sloth engenders sinful attitudes and practices. But we move on, number three, priorities. We're looking at five categories here. Category number one was contentment. Category number two is diligence. Category number three is priorities and now back to Proverbs chapter three.
I hope you're turning, turning, turning. Proverbs chapter three verses nine and ten. Honor the Lord with your possessions and with the first fruits of all your increase so your barns will be filled with plenty and your vats will overflow with new wine.
That's quite a statement. Honor the Lord with your possessions. Put God first in your material resources. Not give to God what's left over when you put everything else first. Give to God first and trust him to make the rest meet the needs.
And the result of that, we are told here, is an enlarged supply. When you put God first with your possessions, God's going to give you a larger store of possessions in order to continue to put him first and the cycle goes on and on and on. When God gives you full barns and vats that overflow with new wine, continue to honor the Lord first with your now greater possessions and continue to enjoy God's bounty so that you can continue this cycle throughout your lifetime.
In other words, arrange your priorities in such a way that you are honoring God first. He deserves the first. He deserves the best. He is Lord God Almighty. He has saved you from eternal damnation.
He deserves the best that you can give him. So prioritize your resources so that you give to him first. Question, does the New Testament teach the same thing?
Well, yes. In fact, it was Jesus himself in the Sermon on the Mount who said, but seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be added to you. Not seek last, but seek first.
He comes first in these things. His kingdom, those things that pertain to righteousness. And the result is, according to the words of Christ, that God will supply all your needs.
All these things will be added. And in the context, he's been talking about food and clothing and the material things of life. And he says, if you will seek God first in your resources, God will make sure that you have the necessities of life. God will supply your needs. These things will be added unto you. So arrange your priorities in such a way that you're honoring God first in your giving and trust God to supply your needs. Which brings us now to number four.
I'm moving along quickly. Category number four, understand investments. Investments. Back to Proverbs, chapter six, where we learn that reasonable saving is saving is encouraged by God. It's encouraged by Solomon when he tells us to give to the Lord out of the first fruits of our possessions.
He's not saying that we should not put away anything for future needs. There's wisdom in that. As long as you don't take it to success, but there's wisdom in that. Verse six of Proverbs six. Go to the ant, you sluggard, and 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.
So once again, diligence. Look at that hardworking ant, you lazy person. The ant is always busy.
Busy, busy, busy, busy, going here and there, collecting, doing, busy, busy, busy. Go to the ant, you sluggard, learn her ways and be wise. And then it goes on to talk about how the ant stores up. When there's plenty, the ant makes a storage deposit somewhere for the times of scarcity. In other words, the ant knows that in the summer and in the fall when there is a lot to gather, a lot of seeds, a lot of grain that can be stored up, the ant will store that up so that when the winter comes, there it is. She doesn't starve. She doesn't go hungry. She doesn't have need because she has worked diligently to not only supply what is needed during the summer and the fall, but in order to store up what will be needed for the winter. In other words, make provision for the normal seasons of life. That's wise.
That's commended. Those kinds of investments are encouraged by God. But as we continue in Proverbs, we learn that righteous giving is the wisest investment.
It's not the only investment, but righteous giving actually is the wisest investment that you can make. Notice Proverbs chapter 11, and we'll look at verses 24, 25, and 28. Proverbs 11, 24, there is one who scatters yet increases more. How does that make sense?
How can you figure that out? There's one that gives away and yet increases more. Wow. But contrast, the last part of verse 24, there's one who withholds more than is right. Again, it's not wrong to save moderately with the right concept of saving for the normal seasons of life. But there are those who save more than that. They're not saving moderately. They're withholding. And what happens to those? There's one who withholds more than is right, but it leads to poverty. How does that work? Here's one person who is giving away generously and ends up richer as a result.
Here's another person who's saving, saving, saving, saving, hoarding, hoarding, grasping, grasping, doesn't give anything and ends up poor. You say that doesn't make sense. It makes godly sense because there's a ruler in heaven who is overseeing all these things. There's a ruler in heaven who is watching these things. There's a ruler in heaven who sees your heart.
There's a ruler in heaven who knows whether you are being obedient to his word or not. There's a ruler in heaven who knows whether you have a covetous heart or a generously giving heart and he will cause these results to come forth in your life. If you are giving away to God with the right heart attitude, you will receive more in return.
You'll be better for doing that. And if you save and save and save and are tight-fisted and unwilling to give, you may end up poor. Have you ever observed that? I've lived long enough to see this happening in the lives of people around me. Some people who are making good salaries and seem to be investing and you say, wow, they're going to really be well off when their day of retirement comes and then something happens and wipes it out. What happened? Unforeseen circumstances. Bad investment. Company went broke. Who knows?
All kinds of things happened. And here they are. They have saved and saved and saved and they end up with nothing. And then you see somebody else who allots their material resources in an orderly way. Some of it they use to take care of their present needs. Good portion of it they give to the Lord regularly all along. A portion of it they save.
It's not going to be a huge, huge, huge surplus, but they're following the wisdom of scripture and they're putting aside for the normal seasons of life. And somehow miraculously their smaller investments grow much larger than the larger investments of that really worldly wise person who knows how to do this, but somehow his collapse. And somebody else's just grow more bountiful. How do you explain that? There's a God in heaven. That's the only way to explain it. I've told you about some examples of that in my own life.
I won't go through that again, but it still astonishes me. It astonishes me how God honors His word. These things are true. They really do come to pass the way that God says they will. Righteous giving is the wisest investment. Yes, there's an appropriate amount of investing, like the ant putting away for the future, but the best investments are laying up in store in heaven, as we shall see in a moment. But righteous giving yields tangible results, we read in Proverbs, whereas unrighteous hoarding yields penury. Generosity, according to Solomon in Proverbs, results in prosperity, but trusting riches results in failure, whereas trusting God results in flourishing, if you drop down to verse 28. He who trusts in his riches will fall, but the righteous will flourish like well-watered foliage. It flourishes. So, learn about investing. Learn about wise investing. Does the New Testament bear this out?
It certainly does. Back to the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapter 6, the words of Jesus once again. Listen to the words of Christ. Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in and steal, for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. What does Jesus say? Here's what he says.
He says, earthly investments may fail. We've all seen that happen. It'd be interesting to ask for a show of hands. I'm not going to do it, but it would be interesting to ask for a show of hands and say, how many of you have invested in something that flopped and you ended up losing what you invested somewhere along the way of life? I won't ask you to raise your hand, but I'll do that.
That's happened to me on one occasion, just one. It was a small one, but it was a good lesson. Super duper. This is really going to grow. This is really going to do it. This one is going to exceed all other investments.
Just put a couple thousand dollars here and it'll make you a rich man. In six months that, I think it was $2,500, became zero. It was wiped out.
The company went bankrupt. Dummy. Dummy. That happen to any of you? I can tell by the smile on your faces that that has happened to some of you. I can see it. I can see some people.
I could call some names and say that happened to you, didn't it? Yeah, I can see it on your faces. That's what this is telling us. Earthly investments may fail. When you lay up in your treasures on earth, moth and rust can corrupt and thieves can break through and steal.
Unscrupulous financial advisors, unscrupulous CEOs of corporations, unscrupulous who knows what can wipe it all out. Thieves can break through and steal, but the treasures you lay up in heaven will never ever ever ever ever ever fail. They last for eternity. You say that sounds like a fairy tale. It may sound like it, but that's what Jesus said. If you don't agree with it, take it up with him. But I choose to believe him.
I know it's true. Heavenly investments never fail. In fact, heavenly investments not only secure greater bounty here upon the earth and secure a more bountiful entrance into heaven as Jesus taught in the parable of the unjust steward and the applications of that parable, but heavenly investments also affect your spiritual well-being now. For, said Jesus, and concluding these remarks, these instructions, these commands, for, and I forgot what he said.
I lost my train of thought there. Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. If your treasure is all in earthly things and your heart's all tied up with earthly things, but you're investing in the kingdom of God and his righteousness and your heart's there with the Lord and with Christ's kingdom and with the souls of men and with the gospel to the ends of the earth and you are investing in those things, those heavenly things, then your heart prospers. It blossoms. It grows in grace.
It becomes so much greater. Your spiritual life becomes so healthy because you listen to the words of Jesus and obeyed him and it affects your whole spiritual health, but if you don't obey him, it's going to affect your spiritual health in the other direction. Where you invest affects your spiritual health. Are your investments primarily in things or in Christ? Are your investments primarily in pleasures? Are you spending your money on things that bring you pleasure in life or in Christ? Are your investments primarily in building a big portfolio of wealth or are you interested in investing in Christ and in his kingdom and in the souls of men? Because which of these it is is both a monitor to tell us, tell you anyway, about the condition of your own heart as well as an influence that's going to direct the future growth or wilting of your spiritual health. And finally, number five, security.
Enjoy security. Back to Proverbs 13, 21. Evil pursues sinners, but to the righteous good shall be repaid. Evil pursues sinners. It chases them down. I think one translation said adversity pursues sinners, not evil in the sense of sinful evil, but bad things that happen to sinners who are pursuing a life of self-indulgence, concerned only about themselves and what they can enjoy in this life. Adversity chases them down, tackles them.
But what's the opposite? Verse 21, to the righteous good shall be repaid. What are we learning here? Adversity will befall those who direct their material resources only for self with no thought for God. But prosperity, the opposite, will pursue the righteous.
That's what it's saying. The righteous, but to the righteous good shall be repaid. The next verse says a good man, same person referred to in verse 21, a good man leaves an inheritance to his children's children. But the wealth of the sinner is stored up for the righteous.
Did you know that? A lot of sinful people who are grubbing, grubbing, grubbing for money, you know what they're doing? They're collecting it for us. God has a way of transferring some of that from them to us who have lived according to his standards. Isn't that the ultimate irony? They ignored God and worked only for their own financial well-being.
And over here are people who lived a moderate lifestyle and tried to obey God's rules for handling our money, God's rules of stewardship and trying to allot the proper portion to each place and not really making it their goal to get wealthy. God says, you're doing good. I think I'll just take some of his and give it to you.
And he has different ways of transferring that. But there it is. That's what the Bible says.
In other words, God is the only reliable source of security. The reason why some people are unwilling to give is because they have these fears about what will the future hold. What will I have enough for? Will I have enough for? Will I have enough for this? Will I have enough for that?
Well, let me tell you something. It doesn't matter how many millions you have, there are some possible scenarios that could wipe it all out. God doesn't have enough to meet every possible contingency.
So what do you do? Follow God's rules and trust him to make it enough. Because he can do that. He will do that.
He promises to do that. Does the New Testament endorse that Old Testament thought? Yep, back to Philippians chapter 4. And we read now in verse 19, And my God shall supply all your need according to his riches and glory by Christ Jesus. There's another one of those texts that are often taken out of context. Who's Paul writing to? The Philippian church. What is he writing? A thank you letter for their generous giving. Sacrificial giving for the cause of missions.
What does he say to them? Because you have done that. Because you have given away. Because you have invested in the kingdom of heaven and God's righteousness.
My God, says Paul, shall supply all your need. You don't have to worry about what if this happens? What if I have long-term, one that I think about and I probably all think about, What if I get into a situation where I need extensive long-term health care? That'll wipe out an awful lot of retirement investments. It can just drain it all away.
It can. But I trust God's word that if I do what he says, he's going to take care of me, whatever those needs may be. And that's what we learn here. Paul's declaration, my God shall supply all your need. God's declaration, I, God, will supply all your need. Every need, whatever it may be.
The worst scenario that you can imagine, if you are doing things God's way, God says, I'll take care of it. To the utmost extent. God promises to take care of it according to, not your riches in your retirement portfolio, but according to his riches in glory.
How much is that? Is that enough? That's what he promises. Seek me first, put me first, and I'll make sure that your needs, whatever they turn out to be, I will make sure that they're all taken care of. That's better security than having a 10 million dollar portfolio.
Isn't it? If God promises to take care of your needs, whatever they may be, what's better than that? What's more secure than that? All of this together says if we give generously to God with the right heart motives, God will ensure that all of our needs will be met. All your needs. And with that, we will close in prayer. Thank you, Father, for these wonderful promises from your word. And we acknowledge, O Lord, that sometimes our doubting hearts are reluctant to embrace these promises and believe them. But help us, O Lord, to honor you by trusting you and obeying you and watching you work according to what you have promised to do as we ask it in Jesus name. Amen.
