Proverbs 22:7 (KJV)
The rich ruleth over the
poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender.
A lot of people have it
out for the rich.
It’s like there is
something inherently evil about having wealth.
The democrats base their
entire political platform on it.
Seems like everything
they do is meant to take from the rich to give to the poor.
Of course,
· They ignore the fact that they are rich and
· They hide the fact that they want to keep the poor well,
poor
I think there are a lot
of explanations for this dislike of the rich:
· It’s a learned habit dating back to the days of the feudal
system where there was one rich land-lord who kept everyone on his land whipped
into submission.
· It’s a product of our corrupt nature to be jealous of those
who have more than we do and
· It is a misunderstanding of the Biblical teachings
concerning the rich
James 5:1-6 (KJV)
Go to now, ye rich men,
weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.
Your riches are
corrupted, and your garments are motheaten.
Your gold and silver is
cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat
your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.
Behold, the hire of the
labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud,
crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of
the Lord of sabaoth.
Ye have lived in
pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a
day of slaughter.
Ye have condemned and
killed the just; and he doth not resist you.
If we do not keep this
passage, and others like it, in context, we can get to thinking everyone who
has more than us deserves whatever trouble they get – in this life and the
next.
It occurs to me,
however, that this passage gives a definite benefit to being rich, and a
definite problem with not.
The rich get authority,
the others are servants.
I. WHO IS THE
RICH?
Proverbs 22:7 (KJV)
The rich ruleth over the
poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender.
The word rich means, “to
accumulate or to grow.”
There is nothing
inherently wrong with:
· Making money and
· Saving money so that one day you have
Enough and even more
than enough money.
There were a number of people in the Bible who
were considered rich and it did not hurt their character nor did it harm their
relationship with God.
· Abraham was very wealthy in cattle and substance
· Job was a rich man who, after being tried, became even
richer
· David had riches and
· Solomon had even greater riches than David
Joseph of Arimathaea was
rich enough to give Jesus His tomb.[1]
II. WHAT DOES
THE BIBLE SAY?
Proverbs 23:4 (KJV)
Labour not to be rich:
cease from thine own wisdom.
There are things much
more worthy of my life than that I would simply be rich.
It should not be my
goal, or at least my only goal.
Matthew
6:19-20 (KJV)
Lay not up for
yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where
thieves break through and steal:
But lay up for
yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and
where thieves do not break through nor steal:
I should want to
accumulate treasures, but my priority would be to lay up treasures in heaven,
not on earth.
1
Corinthians 7:21-22 (KJV)
Art thou called being a
servant? care not for it: but if thou mayest be made free, use it rather.
For he that is called in
the Lord, being a servant, is the Lord's freeman: likewise also he that is
called, being free, is Christ's servant.
This passage, I think,
speaks directly to our text in Proverbs 22:7.
If I can be free, so
that I am no man’s servant, I should rather want that.
If I can’t, I can be the
servant of Christ in either case.
But if I can accumulate
enough that I do not have to be obliged to anyone other than Jesus. That would
be, according to my Bible, the preference.
So what then is
III. THE
PROBLEM WITH RICHES
James 5:1-6 (KJV)
Go to now, ye rich men,
weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.
Your riches are
corrupted, and your garments are motheaten.
Your gold and silver is
cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat
your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.
Behold, the hire of the
labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud,
crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of
the Lord of sabaoth.
Ye have lived in
pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a
day of slaughter.
Ye have condemned and
killed the just; and he doth not resist you.
The trouble is not with
the riches themselves but with:
A. The love of it
1 Timothy 6:10 (KJV)
For the love of money is
the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the
faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
B. The abuse of it
James 2:6-7 (KJV)
But ye have despised the
poor. Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats?
Do not they blaspheme
that worthy name by the which ye are called?
C. The trust in it
Luke 12:16-21 (KJV)
And he spake a parable
unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully:
And he thought within
himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my
fruits?
And he said, This will I
do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all
my fruits and my goods.
And I will say to my
soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat,
drink, and be merry.
But God said unto him,
Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall
those things be, which thou hast provided?
So is he that layeth up
treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.
Conclusion
The wisest of us will:
· Work hard
· Plan ahead and
· Save
So that we become free
to dedicate ourselves to Christ.
We would still work
because there is honor in work.
But we would not be
slaves to others for our care.
[1] The prophet implies
that Joseph was a rich man, Isaiah 53:9 (KJV)
And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in
his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his
mouth. Matthew
27:57 (KJV)
When the even was come, there came a rich man of Arimathaea,
named Joseph, who also himself was Jesus' disciple:
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