Our scripture reading this morning is Proverbs chapter 15. Proverbs chapter 15. The text for the sermon is verse 15. We will read the chapter. Proverbs chapter 15. A soft answer turneth away wrath. but grievous words stir up anger. The tongue of the wise useth knowledge aright, but the mouth of the fools poureth out foolishness. The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good. A wholesome tongue is a tree of life. but perverseness therein is a breach in the spirit. A fool despiseth his father's instruction, but he that regardeth reproof is prudent. In the house of the righteous is much treasure, but in the revenues of the wicked is trouble. The lips of the wise disperse knowledge, but the heart of the foolish doth not so. The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, but the prayer of the upright is his delight. The way of the wicked is an abomination unto the Lord, but he loveth him that followeth after righteousness. Correction is grievous unto him that forsaketh the way, and he that hateth reproof shall die. Hell and destruction are before the Lord, how much more than the hearts of the children of men. A scorner loveth not one that reproveth him, neither will he go unto the wise. A merry heart maketh a joyful countenance, but by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken. The heart of him that hath understanding seeketh knowledge, but the mouth of fools feedeth on foolishness. All the days of the afflicted are evil, but he that is of a merry heart hath a continual feast. Better is little with the fear of the Lord than great treasure and trouble therewith. Better is a dinner of herbs where love is than a stalled ox and hatred therewith. A wrathful man stirreth up strife, but he that is slow to anger appeaseth strife. The way of the slothful man is as an hedge of thorns, but the way of the righteous is made plain. A wise son maketh a glad father, but a foolish man despiseth his mother. Folly is joy to him that is destitute of wisdom, but a man of understanding walketh uprightly. Without counsel, purposes are disappointed, but in the multitude of counselors they are established. A man hath joy by the answer of his mouth, and a word spoken in due season, how good it is, is it? The way of life is above to the wise that he may depart from hell beneath. The Lord will destroy the house of the proud, but he will establish the border of the wicked. The thoughts of the wicked are an abomination to the Lord, but the words of the pure are pleasant words. He that is greedy of gain troubleth his own house. but he that hateth gifts shall live. The heart of the righteous studieth to answer, but the mouth of the wicked poureth out evil things. The Lord is far from the wicked, but he heareth the prayer of the righteous. The light of the eyes rejoiceth the heart, and a good report maketh the bones fat. The ear that heareth the reproof of life abideth among the wise. He that refuseth instruction despiseth his own soul, but he that heareth reproof getteth understanding. The fear of the Lord is the instruction of wisdom, and before honor is humility. So far we read God's holy word. The text for the sermon, verse 16, better is little with the fear of the Lord than great treasure and trouble therewith. Beloved in the Lord Jesus Christ, you know that the book of Proverbs is a book of wisdom. And if ever there was a proverb that is contrary to all the wisdom of men, it is the text that we consider this morning. In the face of Thanksgiving, as it is celebrated in our land, we should expect that this proverb is very much contrary to the thinking of the people around us. Thanksgiving is a national holiday, and that's part of the problem, of course. It's not a church holiday, first of all, but it is a national holiday proclaimed by the President of the United States, who gives reasons why we ought to be thankful. And if the unbelieving news media who want to capitalize on some special event go around asking people, why are you thankful? Then, of course, the normal answers are given. We have a house. We have food. We have good health and strength. We have freedom in our country. And these are all reasons for the citizens of America to be grateful, no doubt. but it's all earthly. Food and drink and good health and freedom, it's all about this life. Well, there are a few that would go a bit in a different direction and say, no, we're not thankful because of an abundance of things. They call themselves minimalists. They say we're going to reduce our carbon footprint here in the world and live with as little as we possibly can because we want to preserve the resources of America. But again, you see, all their goals are earthly. They are not heavenly. The fear of the Lord is nowhere to be found in that either. The stark contrast with these attitudes is the word of the text. Better is a little. with the fear of the Lord, than great treasures and trouble therewith." What strange teaching is this? Little is better. I remind you that the book of Proverbs is not a book that gives us nice little morals that it would be good for you to live this way. Like Aesop's fables, it tells a little story and then says, see, honesty is the best policy, that type of thing. That's not what Proverbs is. Proverbs gives true wisdom. It teaches us spiritual truths. And yet it is very applicable to our daily life. And that's evident from the text. Better is little with the fear of the Lord. That crucial element there, better is little with the fear of the Lord. And if we take hold of this, we will be able to brush aside all of the false thanksgiving that is celebrated around us and properly to give thanks today. There are two things in my mind that are very helpful for us. to have a Thanksgiving day. And one is that we acknowledge that absolutely everything we have is from God, that we truly do say, my material things, whatever they may be, are a gift from God and I must thank Him. And then the other hand, the value of the day is to put those material things in a proper perspective. And that's what we seek to do today. So we take as the theme, better is little with the fear of the Lord. And then our first point will be, better than what? That's, of course, great treasure and trouble therewith, better than what? And then better what? What is exactly to have little and that with the fear of the Lord? So that's the second point to look at the main idea. And then thirdly, better Why? Better is a little with the fear of the Lord. Better than what? Better than great treasures. Better than great treasures. The word great treasures is usually translated just as treasure, but it's a treasure that is associated with the treasures of the king, his treasury. or the temple of the Lord when the people had put all kinds of gold and silver into it, the treasury of the Lord. It's money, therefore, in abundance. It's gold and silver that is sufficient to support a king and his lifestyle. Other times it is translated storehouse or cellar That is to say, a place for storing the extra things that one has, the extra food, the extra oil, the extra wine that one has. This too points to having, obviously, more than one needs. I have sufficient for my need today, and also over there in my storehouse or down in the cellar, I have more for me for the future. That's the idea of treasure. To have great treasure is then to have money needed for anything you need today, but plenty more besides in the bank. To have great treasure is to have food in the house for today, more than you can eat even today, and many more days supply beyond that. It is having cupboards that are stacked with food. It is having freezers that are full. It's having clothes for today and not having to worry about the winter. I have plenty of clothes for that as well. It is, in fact, many different changes of clothes. I'm hardly limited, is the one who has great treasures. One with great treasures has possessions in abundance. Furniture, cars, trucks, cell phones, and many other things. electronic devices. It is a house that they live in that is obviously not furnished merely to be a place of shelter and a place to lay one's head, but a home that is well decorated. It's like the palace of a king, where much more is found in that than what is necessary for living. There is great treasure. Now, we don't have any trouble understanding that. because we live in a tremendously rich country and we can look around and read of and see pictures of those who are extremely rich, the likes of which has not been seen in the history of the world. When a man can spend $44 billion purchasing a business and still have 150 billion left over in money and assets, that staggers the mind. The Bible says that Solomon was the richest man, and certainly was in his day, and yet there are many, many today who live in far greater luxury than Solomon. America has great treasure. And this is our invitement. We don't live in a poor country. We live in a rich country, and we share in the riches. And all around us, the American dream we know full well is that anyone can make it big. And the dream is to have cars and boats and motor homes and houses stuffed with expensive material possessions and untold millions in the bank. The American dream is always to increase wealth. If a man has 1,000, he wants to make that 10. If he has a million, he wants to make that five more. If he has a billion even, that's not enough. Let's keep going, five, 10, keep going. That's the American dream. And greed is all around us in this world, from labor unions that will strike in order to get astonishingly higher wages and do less and less work, to sports figures that get paid untold millions to swing a bat or throw a football, or corporate leaders who get exorbitant millions of dollars to run a company. For all of that, they say, we will give thanks. We will give thanks. We have much. And indeed, their thinking is the more we have, the more thankful we ought to be. Well, people of God, you recognize this is our country. This is where we live. And it is impossible not to be affected by that. That's impossible. And besides, our nature, our nature is covetous. That's what our nature is, covetous, seeking the things of this life. I know whenever someone says, what are you thankful for? What goes through our mind? Okay, let me see here. I have to be sure I give an answer that's right. And be sure that I emphasize that the spiritual things are the things I give thankful for. We know what we should say. But in our day-to-day living, what's giving us joy? What are we happy about? Is it that those spiritual things that we we say this is why I'm thankful? Or is it? The life of ease. The comfort, the good food. The things that we enjoy in this life. We need to examine ourselves every one of us. How much has materialism? Taken over in our hearts. Do we desire, in fact, the great treasure? Again, it's not to make people feel guilty here, but we do need to examine ourselves. We do need to face the reality of that astounding temptation to seek great treasure. But the text says more than merely little is better than great treasure. It says little is better than great treasure and trouble therewith. Trouble. What does the text mean by that? We know, of course, that riches are a breeding ground for trouble. Those who win million-dollar lotteries or athletes who sign multi-million-dollar contracts soon find out that great treasure brings trouble. Wealth changes everything. Relationships that they had with family and friends suddenly are altered, where before friendship was based on mutual interest and respect, now people come swarming for a handout. And there is that barrier, those truckloads of money that this man has, and they can see the covetousness in other people's eyes and the envy soon turns to hatred. They learn that greed is in man, that this is the natural inclination of man to get what he can for himself. And he learns that within himself, that the more money he has, the more difficulty he has not to love it. And the love of money grows, and the love of money is the root of all evil. And troubles abound. But understand that when the text says that, better than treasure and trouble therewith, this is not Speaking of it in the sense of, again, some nice moral teaching that, be careful now, money brings problems with it, but the word trouble is trouble from God. 11 other times this word is used in the Old Testament, the word translated trouble. It's often translated differently, such as vexation or tumult or destruction. But every passage shows that the trouble is from God. It's from God. Let me give you a couple of examples of that. First of all, in 2 Chronicles 15, A prophet is warning a new king, Asa in Judah, warning him about departing from the Lord and recounting the history. He said, this is what happens when you depart from the Lord. So 2 Chronicles 15. Five, and in those times, says the prophet, there was no peace to him that went out and to him that came in, but great vexations, same word as trouble, the great vexations were upon all the inhabitants of the countries, and nation was destroyed of nation and city of city, for God did vex them with all adversity, trouble. God did vex them. Or again, in Isaiah chapter 22, verse 5, Isaiah 22, verse 5, for it is a day of trouble, trouble, and of treading down and of perplexity by the Lord God of hosts in the valley of vision, breaking down the walls and of crying to the mountains. The trouble is from God. Understand further that this trouble is from God in His judgment, in His judgment. Three times the word is translated destruction. The trouble from God upon the man walking in sin will destroy that man, destroy him. Now that puts it in a different light. It isn't merely that riches can cause some problems in his life, but riches can lead to destruction from the hand of God. Now, we need to be clear on that. The point of the text is not that every man who gets great treasure will have trouble that destroys him, troubles from God's hand. that to be rich is evil and will guarantee God's judgment, or that great treasures themselves necessarily cause this. That's not what this text is teaching, but it is warning us, it is warning us that this often goes together. There is a relationship between the great treasures and the troubles from God himself. It is rather the wicked life that is connected to the great treasures that brings God's judgment upon the rich. The wicked life. Proof of that is seen in Solomon. God gave riches to Solomon. Solomon didn't ask for wisdom, but God said I will give you riches. And Solomon lived in great. Luxury and that was not a sin that he had the luxury, the luxury to be able to eat off from solid gold plates. To drink out of solid gold wine glasses, to be able to enjoy everything that he wanted, making a throne out of ivory and covering it with pure gold and having lions made out of gold on the steps leading up to his throne. There's no indication that God disapproved of Solomon enjoying these luxuries. But the trouble is that as time went on, Solomon forgot the Lord. He forgot the one who had given him all things. He forgot the one on whom he depended, not only for the riches, but for the wisdom and for every blessing. In pride, he disobeyed God and he multiplied his wives. I can do this. I have plenty of money. Multiplied the wives and took heathen wives. And the heathen wives turned the wisest man in the world to utter folly, to getting down on his knees and bowing to a dead idol. His heart was turned from God, and God sent him trouble. The nations around them that had been in peace paying him tribute began to be stirred up against him and stopped paying. They began to revolt. And within his own country, there was unrest that would eventually lead to the rebellion that would strip 10 tribes away from his son, Rehoboam. Solomon writes this from experience. Better is little. with the fear of the Lord than great riches and trouble therewith. God brings trouble. For his people, it is chastisement, but it can be a severe chastisement. For the ungodly, it is punishment for their destruction. It will leave them ultimately to their eternal destruction. So we need to learn from Solomon. And let us not say, oh, well, I don't have quite the witches of Solomon, I don't have to worry about that. Or, I can handle it, I can handle these things, I can keep my heart right with God. And then how foolish if we imagine that that's something you can do. If Solomon, the wisest man in the world, had his heart turned away from God to idols, Do you think that you and I can stand against the temptations of this world and of Satan? This is the warning. Over against that is this Word of God. Better is little with the fear of the Lord. Little. The text intentionally draws a contrast to the great treasures of a king with the word little, the little of a poor man, the poor man that has no luxurious home to live in. He has a home. It's very humble. It gives him shelter when it rains, mostly. It gives him shelter when it's cold. though one would hardly call it comfortable. His clothes are not the abundance of closets that are stuffed full. He certainly does not have the latest fads and styles, and indeed, many of his clothes are obviously quite worn. His transportation is not the latest and the best, the newest car or truck. Of campers, boats, and four-wheelers, he knows nothing. He's never owned them. His food is sufficient, though there is certainly not a great variety, and his family could wish sometimes that there was a bit more. And money, well, there's never enough, surely not to do the things that are being done by so many others all around him. But if they're careful month by month, they get by, they pay the bills, they pay the tuition, mostly, they're able to pay bills. And as they sit and give thanks at the table, there is enough food there. It's not anything like the variety of the one who has great treasures, but he has sufficient. Now, many of us who are older probably have gone through times like that, but This situation that I described is almost impossible to grasp because we live in this rich country and we share in the riches of this country. And if we do not have quite enough money, well, what's the problem? We have credit cards. We can buy what we want. But try to imagine a situation where your income today is cut in half. Cut in half. Because of fewer hours or you lost your job and now you're required to go out and scrape for a job at $15 an hour and suddenly you have little and credit is denied and you may find that No, we can't buy groceries today. We do not have money to buy groceries. We cannot buy new clothes for the coming winter season. We cannot simply go away on a whim in our car because we have to save the gas that's there for work and for church. And that's better? Better is little? Well, not in itself. Again, there are people that misunderstand this and teach that it's better just to have little. That it's the opposite side of the coin that it's evil to be rich, so the poor are good. This was the idea of the monks in the Middle Ages. There were groups of monks that took on an oath of poverty. They said, we swear to be poor. And they said, we will get our money by going door to door and begging for our food day after day. That's how they would live. And the church blessed that. and said they were earning something with God by living in poverty. Well, that of course is wrong. Being poor is not meritorious. Being poor is not righteous. The poor whose hearts are not right with God will be in hell just as much as the filthy rich whose hearts are not right with God. Being poor is not somehow more righteous. Rather, this little, if it is truly to be better, must be little with the fear of the Lord. What's that? What is the fear of the Lord? Well, first of all, from a negative point of view, understand it's not the fear of terror. The fear of the Lord is not something terrifying. The scripture surely teaches that the Lord is terrible to the wicked. That is, He is terrifying to the wicked. They are scared to death of God, one could say. He comes against them with a dreadful wrath. and he has determined to punish the ungodly with an eternal death. They have every reason to be terrified of God. In that sense, the wicked Fear. That's the fear of a little child who looks up into his father's eyes and he sees hatred there in his eyes and he knows his own father intends to kill him. That child would be terrified. That's not the terror. That's not the fear of the Lord of the text. That's the fear of the ungodly. The fear of God is especially two things. It is, first of all, the fear of reverence, reverence and awe. All God's people must have this. The fear of the Lord is in a believer who looks at the amazing greatness of God, His majesty, His glory, His power, and then looks at himself and he says, I'm nothing. I am a nothing. And then not only am I just a speck of dust here, but I'm a vile sinner against this holy God. I deserve the terrible wrath of God as the ungodly do. And the only reason I don't have that is because of the mercy of God upon me, because of the redeeming blood of Jesus Christ. He is filled with reverence, with awe. He cries out, what a great God is Jehovah. He bows before that God in humility, in gratitude, in reverence. That's the fear of the Lord, first of all, recognizing the greatness of God and our own insignificance and unworthiness. We stand in awe of God. Secondly, the fear of the Lord is love. It's love. God works in his heart, in the hearts of his people, and he puts their love, his love for them, which then responds in God's people's hearts, loving God. And that creates a bond between God and the believer. a deep, abiding, unbreakable spiritual bond. The believer that has this love will do anything for God. It is a love that is loathe to offend God, because the believer never wants to disappoint this God. The believer knows that sin is a terrible offense to God. God is the Holy One, and He hates sin with all His being. And it is especially heinous for one who is a child of God, one who has been eternally chosen by God unto salvation, redeemed in the blood of Jesus Christ, given the life and love of God into his heart. For such a one to sin against God is particularly an offense against this God. One who fears God, therefore, will do his utmost not to sin, not to offend God, because he loves Him. That's why I say the fear of the Lord is a love for God. There's an awe and a reverence for God, and there's a love for God that is, if I may put it that way, afraid ever to offend Him. I never want to offend Him. But that leads to one more thing. It isn't really an element of it, but it's always attached to the fear of God, and that is trust, trust in God, Look it up in the Bible once and look at those concepts and you'll find how many times the Bible admonishes those that connects the fear of the Lord and trust in the Lord. The fear and the trust go together and that makes sense because a person who fears the Lord recognizes the greatness of God is filled with love for that God and says, I trust him. I trust him. He has all power. He has love for me. I can put my complete trust in God. The fear of the Lord governs the life of a believer. The scripture describes the fear of the Lord. And first of all, it says the fear of the Lord is to hate evil, to hate evil. Of course, I do not want to offend God. I hate evil. The fear of the Lord, the Psalmist promises, I will teach you the fear of the Lord. Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from guile. Depart from evil and do good. Seek peace and pursue it. I'm teaching you the fear of the Lord, he says. The fear of the Lord is a way of life demanding complete trust with all our hearts, with all our lives. There is a relationship between having little and the fear of the Lord. Just as from the other point of view, having great treasure and the fear of the Lord, they do not combine so well. Because if we have great treasure, we tend to put our trust in the treasures. We tend to set our heart on those, whereas fear of the Lord has its heart set on God. Great treasures makes us inclined to the things. And when we are interested in great treasures, the fear of the Lord isn't so important, but fear of men is quite important, because this man can give me more treasure, so I'm honoring him, or this man could take my treasure away, so I'm fearing him. And then besides, when the tables are loaded and the bank accounts are stuffed, it's very easy for us to imagine, I deserve this. I have this coming. I worked for it. Instead of saying, I don't deserve a thing except God's wrath. Great treasure. works against godly fear. Having little, by the grace of God, encourages it. Better is a little. With little our hearts are not all wrapped up in things. With little We are finding we depend on God daily, daily. The word better in the text, you must understand, is not that one is simply preferred above another, that it would be a better thing to have a nice meal as opposed to a crust of bread. I mean, it's not better in that sense. The Hebrew has a very striking way of making comparisons, and more literally, verse 16 says, not better, but good is little with the fear of the Lord from great treasure with trouble therewith. That's the literal. Now, the English puts it better than, okay, But understand, then, that the idea is this. Little with the fear of the Lord, this is good. In contrast with great treasures and trouble therewith, there's no goodness there. The goodness is all over here. This is a blessing. This is a curse. Here is life. Here is death. That's how strong this text is. Tremendous warning. Why then? Why is little with the fear of the Lord better, the only good, as opposed to great treasures and trouble therewith? Simply because, as we said, Where there are great treasures and the trouble of God, there is no blessing there, only a curse. Great prosperity is not evidence of God's favor. We saw that in Sancho's class, common grace teaches that. The more you have, it's obviously an evidence of God's grace. Grace is not in things. Grace is not in things. What is given in favor to one man by God may be given to another man for his destruction. God gave Abraham much riches. That was not for his destruction. But in Psalm 73, when Asaph looks at the wicked, those wicked people who were in Israel, who were in the church, Those wicked people were given much money that they would be sliding down to their greater destruction. We reject that idea of common grace. We reject the idea that the more money you have, the more blessed you are. So serious is it. that Jesus had to warn his disciples that it is well nigh impossible for a rich man to enter into heaven. With a figure that all of us can understand, little children can understand, that a camel, a great big camel, Jesus said, it is easier for this camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into heaven. No wonder the disciples said, Lord, who then can be saved? If Peter and John walked into Byron Church this morning, what would they say? Lord, who then can be saved? Again. My point is not that you all have to feel guilty about having riches. But do we see the danger? Do we see the danger? That's. My great concern. Arising out of my own heart, me not looking at you and saying you have a problem we. We. Of course, God is able to save the rich as well as the poor. Nothing is impossible with God. That was Jesus' response to their question. Who then shall be saved? Nothing is impossible with God. But it is normally God's will that His people be poor because it's spiritually better, better for them. And then He gives riches to the wicked but adds to that trouble, and it's to their destruction. So the important thing here, obviously, is the fear of the Lord. It's better to have little with the fear of the Lord. Because the fear of the Lord, according to the previous chapter, Proverbs 14, 27, the fear of the Lord is a fountain of life Fountain of life. Think about that. The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life. It's a beautiful expression. Where the fear of the Lord is, there is God's blessing. Psalm 103, 11, for as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is His mercy towards them that fear Him. Scripture promises He will fulfill the desire of them that fear Him. Of course, their desire is not money. Their desire is the glory of God. Their desire is growing spiritually. He will fulfill the desire of those that fear Him. The Lord taketh pleasure in them that fear Him. Why is that? Why does God take pleasure in them that fear Him? Well, of course, we know it's not because somehow by fearing God they've earned it. that their fearing of God has now brought blessings, God's blessing which they wouldn't have. God's good pleasure on them is because he has chosen them eternally, redeemed them and purchased them in the blood of Jesus Christ. And when he looks at them, he sees his own work. He sees the life that He has put in them. He sees humility. He sees the proper love, reverence, fear, love for God. And that they fear God is evidence that they are one of His children, that His Spirit is working in them, and He delights in that. We sing with the psalmist, how great is thy goodness which thou hast laid up for them that fear thy name. How great indeed, it's heaven. It's all the blessings of salvation are laid up for them that fear the Lord. And for that, we give thanks. It is not how much we have materially how great our treasures are that determine how much thanksgiving is in our hearts. It may not be that the amount of food on the table determines how fervently we pray, Father, we thank Thee, or that the money in the bank determines how joyfully we sing. We must give thanks. We must give thanks for the food at the table every day. But it's the fear of the Lord that produces the abundance of proper thanksgiving. That's what it produces. Therefore, at the table today, tomorrow, every day, whether the Lord has given you much or the Lord has given you little, care not for that. Only be sure that our hearts and our lives are showing forth the fear of the Lord. With little and with the fear of the Lord, that is better, that is good. Amen. Father in heaven, thou art a good God. and we in no way minimize thy abundant goodness to us in providing material things. And yet, Lord, our great concern is that thou wilt also work in us always the fear of the Lord, an awe and reverence of thee, a love for thee, and complete trust in thy will for us. With that, Lord, we will go forth and we will thank thee We will thank Thee today and all the days of our life. We thank Thee for this power, the power of the Spirit of our Lord Jesus Christ. In Jesus' name we pray this, amen. Psalter number 81. Number 81, how great the goodness kept in store for those that fear thee and adore in meek humility. Let's sing the four stanzas, number 81. How great a goodness hath this Lord, for those who hear the air of hope in humility. How great a gift when mercy comes, I lay the ground for those who trust in me, for those who trust in me. To say, Lord, my God, I am filled with grace, ♪ And cause their cause to be wise ♪ ♪ Our stories we now will prepare ♪ ♪ And even safely shall prepare ♪ ♪ Whose bright old town shall rise again ♪ Let me adore him for he has shown, And given me a safe abode, he seemed to hide. He ever heard me when I cried, and made my heart despair. And made my heart despair. He said, All ye that wait for him to save, in God the Lord abide. Joy to sound Yahovah's praises, Thou our Lord! The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit abide with you all. Amen.