True Riches

Do you understand the value of true riches?

Listen to Adrian Rogers. Welcome to Love Worth Finding featuring the insightful teaching and lessons from pastor and author Adrian Rogers. It could be argued that our relationship with money says everything about our true nature. The Bible does not condemn having money, nor does it put a premium on poverty. But there are many believers who do not understand the meaning of true riches. There are several ways for a man to be wealthy in the eyes of the world, yet have a poverty-stricken spirit. If you have your Bible, turn to Proverbs 13, look at verse 7 as Adrian Rogers reveals more about true riches. I want to talk to you today about true riches, true riches.

Look, if you will, in chapter 13 in verse 7. There is that maketh himself rich, yet hath nothing. There is that maketh himself poor, yet hath great riches. Now, some of you may have great riches, and yet you don't have a big bank account, and vice versa. I know when I'm talking to you about money, I'm talking to you about something very pertinent, something that every one of us is interested in, and we ought to be.

Somebody said the most vital nerve in the body is that one that runs from the heart to the pocketbook. And sometimes we seem to be so sanctified, but yet when it comes to money, we're not really as sanctified as we act like we are. And the measure of a man really is what that man thinks about money. You tell me about money, and I'll tell you something about your character.

I'll also tell you something about your faith, because stewardship is that area of life not only where man makes money, but where God makes men. So we're going to be talking about this matter of real riches, true riches. You see, there are different kinds of riches. Some riches are not riches at all. Jesus in the 16th chapter of Luke was talking about what he called the unrighteous mammon.

That is, the stocks, the bonds, the gold, the silver. The currency that we have, and he called that unrighteous mammon. And he said, if you have not been faithful with that unrighteous mammon, who's going to give to you the true riches? So you see, there are true riches, and there are things that seem to be riches that are not riches at all. There's that maketh himself rich, and hath nothing. There's that maketh himself poor, yet hath great riches.

I want you to tune in today, and we're going to be talking about true riches. And first of all, I want you to see what I'm going to call the poverty of the godless rich. The poverty of the godless rich.

There's that maketh himself rich, yet hath nothing. That is, a man is in abject poverty, and yet he has a big bank account. Now, before I even talk about the poverty of the godless rich, I want to say that the Bible does not condemn your having money. The Bible does not condemn wealth, nor does the Bible put a premium on poverty. The Bible does not equate poverty with piety. You can be poor and be lost.

You may be rich and be saved. As a matter of fact, if you study the Bible, you'll find some of the great saints in the Bible are very rich. So the Bible does not say that it is wrong to have wealth, and yet there are times when a wealthy man may only be wealthy in material things, and he is impoverished in the sight of God. He is a wealthy pauper, and this is the poverty of what we want to call the godless rich. Now, when is a man rich but not rich? When does a man have plenty in his purse and nothing in his person? What is the poverty of the godless rich? What does the book of Proverbs mean when he says there's that maketh himself rich, yet hath nothing? Number one, a man is poor no matter how much he has. That's when he is seeking satisfaction in his money. When a man seeks satisfaction in his money, he is poor indeed. Now, the Bible says in chapter 13 and verse 7 of Proverbs, he has nothing because, you see, he finds out for the first time that his money cannot satisfy the deepest longings of his heart.

Somebody ask J.D. Rockefeller, the founder of that great empire and that fortune. He said, Mr. Rockefeller, how much money is enough money? You know what he said? Just a little more. Just a little more.

He had millions. You see, some people have more than they can spend. They don't need it anymore. They're not really making money. They're keeping score now.

It's sort of a game with them. They're always thinking that some way for some reason that they need more, and they don't find the deepest longings of their heart met because they're seeking satisfaction in the things of this world, and they do not satisfy. Solomon learned that money was not going to satisfy the longing of his heart.

Solomon wrote this proverb. He found out that money could buy wives, but it couldn't buy love. He found out that he could have plenty in his person, nothing in his person. He found out that his money could not quieten the cries of a guilty conscience. He found out that his money could not heal the bloody wounds of a wasted life. You see, this man is even more sad many times than the poor man because the poor man thinks at least if I can get money one day, I'll be happy. The rich man doesn't even have that hope. He doesn't even have the hope of getting rich and then being happy. He's found out that there's nothing there if that's what he's depending upon for the source of his wealth. Now, again, I want to remind you that the Bible does not condemn the wealth, but how sad it is when a man seeks satisfaction in that which cannot satisfy, and then later on this same Solomon said, He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver. How true that is. I know that the devil has told you and your own carnal mind has told you that if you can get enough of that green stuff, you are going to be happy. It is a lie out of hell, a lie out of hell.

You believe me today. The man is impoverished who depends in his money to bring him satisfaction. I'll tell you another way when the rich are poor. The poverty of the godless rich is when his money increases his trouble. Now, not only does it not bring him satisfaction, but to the contrary wise, it literally increases his trouble.

Now, who wants trouble? Look, if you will, in verse 16. Better is little with the fear of the Lord than great treasure and trouble therewith.

I mean, when your money, when your business, when your possessions increase your trouble, then you're not wealthy. Look in verse 17, one of my favorite verses. Better is a dinner of herbs where love is than a stalled ox and hatred therewith.

Do you know what that means? It's better to be sitting down to a vegetable plate and have joy and peace than to have a big house with a freezer full of filet mignons and no happiness and no joy. You see, the world is primarily composed of two categories of persons, the takers and the givers.

Now, let me tell you the difference between the two. The takers eat better. The givers sleep better.

They sleep better. You see, there's this peace, this peace that the Lord gives which is really real wealth. And so many of these things that we think that we need really rather than being a blessing, they are a burden. Now, I'll tell you a third way in which I believe that the very wealthy are sometimes impoverished.

When the aim of their life, the goal of their life, is in the making of money, then they are impoverished. Let me give you some scripture. Look here in Proverbs chapter 23 and verse 4.

Labor not to be rich. Cease from thine own wisdom. You know what your wisdom will tell you to do? Get it, buddy. I mean, Madison Avenue, this whole world is built on that, isn't it?

Get it! The Bible says, labor not to be rich. Don't make that the goal of your life. That's the wisdom of this world.

It is not the wisdom of God. Sometimes people tell young people something at graduations and other times that seems like such good advice. It's not good advice at all. Here's the advice that they're given. Make all the money you can just so you make it honestly. Does that sound like good advice? Well, it is not good advice. Nobody has a right to be making all the money they can.

Why? Because if you're making all the money you can, you're going to be making money when you ought to be doing something else. The Bible says to the contrary, Matthew chapter 6 verse 33, Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. But when a man starts out to make all the money he can, when money becomes the consuming drive of his life, he becomes impoverished and it warps his life. It twists his life.

It distorts his values. It's amazing what the love of money and the things of this world will do to someone no matter how fair and how beautiful they may be. You see, your discretion disappears and a person, no matter how much they have in the bank, is impoverished if the goal of their life is to be rich, to be famous. Now, I'll tell you again when a rich man is really a poor man, when he has no treasure in heaven. Look, if you will, in Proverbs chapter 27 and verse 24. For riches are not for ever, and doth the crown endure to every generation. Just as one kingdom does not always succeed another kingdom, you cannot continue to hold your riches. You see, that's the reason the Lord Jesus said, lay not up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust corrupt and where thieves break through and steal, but rather lay up for yourselves treasure in heaven where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt and where thieves do not break through and steal. You see, if you don't have treasure in heaven, you're not rich because what you call riches, you're going to leave. Do you remember what Paul told Timothy? It is certain that we brought nothing into this world.

And what? It is certain we're going to carry nothing out, right? You'll never see a hearse with a U-Haul behind it. You didn't bring anything into this world.

You're not going to bring anything out. All, my dear friend, that you'll carry to heaven is that which you've given away. If you want to know how rich you are, you add up everything that you have that money cannot buy and death cannot take away, then you know how rich you are. Now, all of this could be summed up and I would say that a rich man is a poor man if he doesn't have Jesus Christ in his heart. And I think there's a proverb that really deals with that. I want you to look in Proverbs chapter 11 and verse 4, if you will, please. Proverbs chapter 11 and verse 4. Riches profit not in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivereth from death. Who is our righteousness?

Christ is our righteousness. Righteousness delivereth in the day of death, but riches profit not in the day of wrath. What does that mean? It means, sir, that no matter how much money you have in the vault, you're going to die. There's a life to live.

There's a death to die. There's a judgment to face. And riches will not profit in the day of wrath.

What does that mean? It means you'll not bribe that judge. You'll not buy God off. You'll not buy your way into heaven when you die a Christless death and stand before the judgment seat of Almighty God, the great white throne judgment, rather.

When you stand there, your money is not going to profit you one little bit. If you don't know Jesus Christ, I don't care how rich you are, I don't care how handsome you are, I don't care how strong you are, how intelligent you are, how witty you are, how charming you are, you are a pauper indeed if you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, this is what I want to call the poverty of the godless rich.

But now let's just turn that around. The prosperity of the godly poor. The prosperity of the godly poor.

What does our text say? Our text says, there's that maketh himself rich, yet hath nothing. There's that maketh himself poor, yet hath great riches.

Now, while we're in the neighborhood, let me just, I want to pay my respects to a heresy that's around. There are people today, and many of them are on the commercial stations, the television stations, and also the religious channels, and they're preaching a message of prosperity. And what they're saying is this, that God wants you rich, that it's not God's will that any of his children ever be poor, and that all you have to do is get right with God, have enough faith, and ipso facto, you're going to be very rich.

And you're being told this. These joy boys tell you that you've got to just name it and claim it. And they say the way to get is to give. And so if you want to get, you give to them. Just send me your money. And if you will send us your money to show your faith, God's going to bless you. And they'll say, see, it's working for me.

Yeah, it really is. It is working for him, but I want him to go down into Bangladesh or to the slimy streets of India and preach that to some poor beggar in the mud. Let me tell you something, dear friend. If just simply being right with God and loving God would make you rich, Peter and John would have been millionaires. But they stood there at the gate of that temple and said to that lame man, silver and gold have I none, but such as I have give I thee in the name of Jesus, rise up and walk. Do you remember what Paul told Timothy? He said there will come some who suppose that gain is godliness. He said from those people just turn away. Just turn away.

You read it there. 1 Timothy chapter 6. From those people, turn away. He says godliness with contentment is great gain. Just to know God and to be happy, that's where real wealth is. Why are the poor who are rich in faith, why are they so rich? What is the true riches?

Well, first of all, their riches are spiritual riches. Now don't put that down. Don't laugh at that. Don't you be so carnal that you say, ah, pie in the sky.

Oh no, my friend. I'm talking to you about peace. Love, joy, forgiveness, being right with God, having a hope in living, a purpose in living, a hope in dying. That is wealth. I'm talking about having the things that money cannot buy. These are spiritual riches and they are riches indeed.

Not only are they spiritual riches, friend, they are secure riches. Look, if you will, in Proverbs 13 where our text was. And look in verse 11. Wealth gotten by vanity shall be diminished, but he that gethereth by labor shall increase.

Look, if you will, in verse 22. A good man leaveth an inheritance to his children's children, and the wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just. Do you know what that means? It means that if you're a good man, you have riches that cannot be taken away. You leave an inheritance to your children's children. Now you think that means you're going to leave them a bank account?

I don't think that's what that means. A man that has true riches can leave those true riches. The Bible says the generation of the upright should be blessed. You see, we have riches that are secure riches. The Bible says we have an inheritance laid up for us in heaven that is incorruptible and undefiled, that fadeth not away.

It is reserved in heaven for us. There is a godly legacy. That's the reason why our riches are so secure. They're spiritual riches. They're secure riches.

One last thing. They're satisfying riches. Now, remember that Solomon tried to find satisfaction and he couldn't find it? Neither will you.

Neither will you until you find it in the Lord. One of the stories that I love is a story, a true story of a missionary who was getting ready to go overseas. And it was back before the days of many of the amenities that we have even for the missionaries today. She had packed her trunk and all of her little earthly belongings that she needed on the mission field. And she was going up the game plank of that ocean liner. I mean, she didn't fly in a 747.

She's going over an ocean liner. And her friends were there saying tearful goodbyes. And just before she went up the game plank, a friend reached in his pocket, pulled out an envelope and handed it to her, a sealed envelope, and said if on the mission field you ever come to a time when everything runs out and there's nowhere else to turn, open this envelope. The missionary thanked her and took the envelope and put it with her belongings.

I know what most of us would have done. We'd open it right away and see what's in that envelope. But she didn't do that. She put it in her belongings. And then after spending 30 years on the mission field, she came back to give her testimony. And she held up that envelope still sealed.

And to that day, the missionary had no idea what was in that envelope. And she said with glistening tears of thanksgiving, ladies and gentlemen, for 30 years on the mission field in hard times and good times, in bad times and other times, I have never come to the place where there was nowhere else to turn. Amen?

That's what I'm talking about. Friend, those are riches. Riches in Jesus, how rich I am. Friends all around me are trying to find what the heart yearns for by sin under mine.

I have the secret. I know where it is found only true riches in Jesus abound. Jesus is all this world needs today. Blindly they strive, for sin darkens their way.

Oh, to pull back the grim curtains of night, one look at Jesus, and all will be light. Now let me give you a verse of scripture. Paul said, you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he were rich, yet he became poor, that through his poverty you might be rich.

Do you know what that means? He died for you that you might be rich. Rich indeed, and the Bible says the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. And if you call upon him today, you my friend will have true riches. True riches.

True riches. Would you like to accept that priceless gift of salvation today? Pray something like this from your heart. Oh God in heaven, I know I'm a sinner. I know that my sin separates me from you.

You're holy, I'm not. And I can't do enough to work my way to heaven. That's why you sent Jesus to die in my place on the cross.

I believe that he was my substitution right there. He took my punishment for my sin, and he rose again. He resurrected to new life, and I ask you to come into my life right now. I trust fully, wholeheartedly, in what Jesus did for me on the cross. I ask you to make me a new creation in you, and help me to live for you from this day forward. I pray in the name of Jesus.

Amen. Well, if you've given your life to Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord today, let us celebrate with you. Go to our website. You'll see our Find God's Love page at the top. You'll find answers you may need about your newfound faith. Here's the website, lwf.org slash radio, and click the tab that says Find God's Love.

Welcome to his forever family. Let us hear from you today. Now, if you'd like to order a copy of today's message, you can call us at 1-877-LOVEGOD and mention the title True Riches. This message is also part of the insightful series A Word to the Wise. For that complete collection, all six powerful messages, call 877-LOVEGOD or order at the website, lwf.org slash radio, or you can write us if you'd like Love Worth Finding. Box 38600, Memphis, Tennessee 38183. You may not know you can also purchase our new Bible studies much like this message in our online store.

To find that, go to lwf.org slash radio. Do you have true riches that are spiritual, secure, and satisfying? Adrian Rogers said if you want to know how rich you are, add up everything that you have that money cannot buy and death cannot take away. Be sure to tune in next time for more timeless truth right here on Love Worth Finding. Thanks for your support of Love Worth Finding and your encouraging messages. Here's part of a testimony we received recently. We are so thankful to Love Worth Finding and the solid teaching of Adrian Rogers. It is such a joy to listen to his messages and the way he delivers them makes the profound truths of the Bible stick with us.

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