THE TYPES OF MONEY MEN

Proverbs 2:1-5 (KJV)

My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee;

So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding;

Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding;

If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures;

Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God.

I want to go through Proverbs studying the subject of stewardship – money and finances. I want to work from the beginning to the end of Proverbs rather than just bring one or two messages on each topic found in Proverbs.

Having said that, I do think it would be good for us to become familiar with several key subjects:

I have found thirteen kinds of people in the Proverbs as they relate to the subject of money.

I have separated them first of all into six contrasting pairs and then categorized them into three groups.

First of all we have what I will call,

*I. A STATE

Proverbs 22:2 (KJV)

The rich and poor meet together: the LORD is the maker of them all.

The first contrast is between the: 

A. Poor

And the

B. Rich

Our world will sometimes call them social classes and will probably add a middle class in there.

It can sometimes seem like,

• • The poor want everything given to them
• • The rich don’t want to give anything to anybody so
• • The middle get stuck carrying the load for everybody

Regardless of what is our social class, the same Lord is over us all.

We will find out from the book of Proverbs that both riches and poverty are relative states.

*II. A SPIRIT

People come to think of their possessions in different ways depending upon the sort of spirit they have.

A. Financing

Proverbs 22:7 (KJV)

The rich ruleth over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender.

The first spirit I want to point out is:

Borrower

versus the 

Lender

Some people make every financial decision based upon whether or not they can get a loan for it.

Other people only use financing when it can advance their interests.

*B. Generosity

Proverbs 11:24 (KJV)

There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth; and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty.

The second spirit is 

Liberal

versus the 

Stingy

Some people earn only for themselves and lose the wealth that others would have cheerfully provided them.

Others freely give of themselves and earn a wealth of riches from those who come to appreciate them.

*C. Charity

Proverbs 19:17 (KJV)

He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the LORD; and that which he hath given will he pay him again.

Evil Eye

versus the 

Pity

Caring for others is one way to worship the Lord.

*D. Heart

Proverbs 15:27 (KJV)

He that is greedy of gain troubleth his own house; but he that hateth gifts shall live.

Greedy

versus the 

Contentedness

One of the things that I became convinced of last year, as I preached on the subject of happiness, is that contentment is an equivalent of happiness.

The person who never has enough is just about the unhappiest person alive.

*III. A SEPARATION

My last group doesn’t possess such a neat contrast.

First of all, I felt like I need to bunch three similar things together as one:

A. Sluggard/ Slothful/ Sleeper

Then, there was another characteristic that I thought belonged here,

B. Hasty

Because it contrasted to the same thing, 

C. Diligent

The one who is: 

• • reticent to act, 
• • slow to act or 
• • does not act

Is in just about the same boat as the one who acts too quickly and without studying a thing out before he acts.

The answer is diligence.

Which just means steady, meticulous, persistent action toward an observable goal.

The Lord willing we will begin next week at the beginning of Proverbs, or near it, to try to discern all the wisdom of Proverbs concerning money and finances.