I'll ask you to turn again briefly to Colossians 2, the passage that was read earlier. I'll just confess that my message is not coming from this passage this evening, but there are a couple of verses in particular that I want to mention by way of introduction regarding Verse three, in fact, in whom in Christ are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. And this I say, lest any man should beguile you with enticing words. And then as you have, verse six, as you have therefore received Christ Jesus, the Lord, so walk ye in him. rooted and build up in him, and established in the faith as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving. Beware, lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. For him, in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. You know, clearly our only source of truth is the scriptures. Those who have departed from the scriptures or have been willing to accept other so-called competing truth on a par with the scriptures face the downward progression of circumstances, consequences that we see outlined, for example, in Romans chapter one. The appalling depravity that is accepted by many mainline denominations today in the name of Christianity is ample testimony to the fact that once we leave the foundation of the Word of God behind in any area of life, we open ourselves to unthinkable perversion and error. Our Lord Jesus proclaimed himself to be the way, the truth, and the life. He is, after all, the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, the first and the last, creator and sustainer of all, the final judge of all. Unfortunately, over the past half century or more, evangelicals have given up a large amount of territory intellectuals of the age by conceding such things as the world's version of anthropology, biology, geology, history, psychology, and the list goes on and on. Remember that 2 Peter chapter 1 tells us, according as his divine power have given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, all things. that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue. In 2 Timothy 3, of course, a familiar passage, all scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be, notice this, that the man of God may be perfect or complete Thoroughly furnished unto all good works. Now let me ask you something. In light of these two scriptures, is there any subject area in which the Bible is not completely authoritative? Obviously, no one in this room is gonna suggest otherwise tonight, but is it possible that the Bible, that there's any subject on earth about which the Bible is, the Bible's authority and reliability can be questioned? Yet for generations now, several generations now in America, Christians have been willing to allow the secularists, the evolutionists, the naturalists, the humanists to wax eloquent on virtually every area of life. And we behave as though it's okay as long as they don't touch the doctrine of Christ and his redemption. And of course, that barrier never lasts long anyway, does it? Once those other barriers come down and once the doubt of those other scriptures comes down, the doctrines regarding Christ and his person and work are not far behind. Someone may well say, as long as we hold on to John 3.16, it doesn't matter whether the rest of the Bible is authoritative or not. That kind of a position is at the very least naive. In reality, it's just a complete denial of the truth. Folks, if the Bible is not absolutely reliable and accurate on the subject of history or biology or geology or anything we can name, then it can't be trusted to provide our hope for eternal destiny. The absolute sole authority of the scriptures in everything that pertains to life and godliness is the reason that I can confidently and joyfully stand before my students each day in my HCS classroom and confidently present a biblical viewpoint of history, government, and economics. Now, don't misunderstand. I'm not suggesting that the Bible was intended as a textbook on any of those subjects. It certainly was not. However, what it says on any of those subjects can be counted on implicitly just as surely as we can count on the reliability of John 3 16. I firmly believe that our foundational understanding of any of these subject must begin with the word of God. One of the courses that I teach at Hartford Christian School is economics. The Bible has a lot to say about economics, about money and about the way we handle money, the way we think about money, the way we deal with money. In fact, over 2,300 verses in the scriptures talk about money in some fashion. Well, that suggests to me that it must be pretty important. In fact, it has a great deal to say about worth and value and choice-making, which is what economics is all about. And think of this one example. In 1 Peter, we read of the value of our redemption. For as much as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of lamb without blemish and without spot. In 1 Corinthians, Paul writes, what? Know ye not that your body, that you're not your own, that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in you, which you have of God, and you're not your own. for you're bought with a price. You know, I think if there's, this must be in one of those, in the category of one of those most important concepts in scripture for us to have clearly understood that we are not our own. We're bought with a price. And that means something. Therefore, glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's. And you know what? That takes care of every area of our lives, doesn't it? There's nothing exempt from that. And this is economics at its best. There's nothing free. Everything has a cost attached. And our salvation is freely provided, but only because Christ, our substitute, our surety, paid the price of our sin. Now, my plan this evening is not so ambitious as to try to give an exhaustive view of what the Bible says about money or economics, but I wanna lay down just a few examples, principles of scripture on the subject, especially because we read that where our treasure is, there will our heart be also. Well, that's pretty important, isn't it? It wasn't until the past century or so, at least in this country, that the concept of government evolved into one in which citizens have come to expect government to provide cradle-to-grave security in the form of education, housing, health care, social welfare, and of course, safety net from the most difficult circumstances of life. Interesting. Most of us recognize the name Davy Crockett. Those of my generation or earlier would recognize, would immediately think of a guy in a coonskin cap. And we think of all kinds of stories of this back woodsman and all of that. But many people realize that Davy Crockett was at one time a member of Congress. In fact, he served two non-consecutive terms in Congress. And back in the late 1820s, early 1830s. In fact, it was after his second defeat from running for Congress that he decided to go to Texas and became one of those that died at the Alamo. Some years ago, I read a story of of Crockett that as a member of the House of Representatives, one day there was a bill introduced to provide help, financial help, for a widow of a war veteran. Army veteran. And it seemed reasonable enough, I'm sure, to many folks. And the reality was that the bill was about to pass. I mean, who would argue against taking care of the widow of a veteran, after all? Davy Crockett got up and said, plainly, this is not our job. This is not the way that we were intended to spend the people's money. And in fact, he said, I have I have as much concern for this dear woman's welfare as anyone here in this room. And in fact, I'm probably the least capable of helping her financially of anybody in this room. But here's what I'm going to do. Rather than set a very dangerous precedent by passing this bill, I'm going to promise a week's wages. And I encourage my fellow congressmen to do the same and will more than take care of this woman's needs. Imagine that. And the bill didn't pass. The rest of the story is rather pathetic. Probably you might be able to expect it, and that is that he was the only member of the House of Representatives that opened up his own wallet to help that woman. They're very generous with our money, aren't they? But that wasn't the purpose of government. The purpose of government was to protect its people from enemies, foreign and domestic, to reward righteousness and punish unrighteousness. That's the purpose of government. The idea of equal justice under law has come to be interpreted as equal outcome. equal results, whatever falls into the category of what is called social justice today, which by the way, boils down to redistribution of wealth by the government, of course, because they are eminently fair and just. In fact, the Bible speaks to that issue as well. How indeed are the poor to be cared for? First, let me say that there is no indication in scripture that we're to make the elimination of poverty our number one priority. The social gospel is all about that. The social gospel, of course, is really a misnomer. It's something we don't know what else to call it, so we call it the social gospel. It really is no gospel at all. There's no good news there. But the social gospel is the idea of providing for people's physical needs. And ultimately, in many denominations, that became the be all and end all of their existence, their purpose. But let's... Let's remember that Jesus himself responding. Remember when the woman broke the ointment and anointed Jesus' feet with it? Remember who it was that complained? Judas. And really, to be fair, others of the disciples joined in. Why was this waste of the ointment made? This ointment could have been sold and the money given to the poor. And Jesus' response, do you remember what it was? He said, the poor you have always with you. The poor you have always with you. Now, don't misunderstand. Jesus wasn't suggesting that the poor don't matter. That's not what He said. He didn't say don't be concerned for the poor. But I think He made it very clear to His disciples that caring for the poor was not to be their life work. Let's first hear what Paul said about the responsibilities of men in society. He said in 2 Thessalonians 3, for even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat. And again, in 1 Timothy 5, but if any provide not for his own, and especially those of his own household, he hath denied the faith and is worse than an infidel, worse than an unbeliever. He doesn't take care of the needs of his own, of his own household. By the way, there was provision for those who needed help. In the New Testament church, we know that widows could be taken in, a widow indeed, a woman who was at least 60 years of age, who had possessed a godly reputation, testimony, had been a faithful follower of Christ, could be taken into the care of the church. If there was no one else to care for her, no children, no grandchildren, presumably no nieces, nephews, otherwise families were to shoulder that kind of responsibility. Now this doesn't suggest that a believer shouldn't be concerned or show compassion for the poor. Forget that the Israelites in fact were commanded to make provision for the poor. They were to leave behind the gleanings of a harvest field or a vineyard after harvest so the poor could come behind and gather what was left behind. In fact, what a wonderful example of that in the account of Ruth gleaning in the field of Boaz. In fact, it certainly appears to me as I read that account that as though one of the things that first caused Boaz to take notice of Ruth was her faithfulness in laboring to care for her needs and the needs of her mother-in-law. But notice, no one delivered those cleanings to them, did they? They didn't drop them off at their doorstep. They had to go and work. They had to labor. There is, in many areas of economics and money, a good deal of misunderstanding among believers, I think. Actually, economics is defined as the science of choice, of how and why people make the choices they do. My wife is fond of saying that we make our choices and our choices make us. And like everything that my wife says, that's very true. This is true and proven in many areas of life, not the least of which is in the area of finances. You know, the Greek word translated steward in the New Testament is the same word from which we get the word economics. It's literally the keeper of the house. Take debt, for example. Proverbs 22, seven reminds us that the borrower is servant to the lender. Those of us who've been in debt understand that. Notice also an interesting idea that Paul brings in to Ephesians chapter four, when he says, let him that stole steal no more, but rather let him labor, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he might hoard large amounts of cash to satisfy his every desire. If that's the way your Bible reads, you probably need to get a different translation, right? No, it says, let him labor working with his hands the thing which is good that he might have to give to him that needeth. See, we're not to close ourselves off and not give. That's certainly not the message. But notice it's a message of giving. An interesting view of the object of our labor and earning, isn't it? You know, my students are required every spring to read a biography of George Mueller, entitled George Mueller, Man of Faith and Miracles. And I often challenge them at the beginning of the semester that if they don't understand why I'm giving them a book about an English preacher who ran an orphanage in economics class, what does that have to do with economics anyway? And I always tell them if they don't know now, they will hopefully within a few weeks. I can't honestly say that I've ever gone back and asked them if they understood why, because I really don't want to know the answer to that. Sometimes there are more things, often there is much more taught than is caught. Sadly, most teachers understand that. But in the book at one point he mentions that he had a firm determination never to go into debt. Now understand, here's a man who over the course of his lifetime housed and fed and clothed hundreds and hundreds, thousands actually, of orphans. And he didn't get on the radio, which would have been difficult at that time, right? This is in the 1800s, you understand. He didn't get on the radio or post notices around town mentioning that there were hundreds of orphans that needed their help. And if you want to keep this faith ministry going, you need to keep those cards and letters coming in, folks. In fact, the thing that was most remarkable about George Mueller was that he decided early in his life, based on his understanding of the word of God and God's purpose for him, that he was never to ask anyone for anything except God. And so he asked God every day for the needs of the orphanage and of what he called the institution, which was an outreach that involved translation of the scriptures and Bible schools and foreign missions By the way, in that time period, you can imagine, I would think, he raised over, I shouldn't say he raised it, God entrusted to him over $15 million to that ministry over the course of his lifetime. Over $15 million. I'll let you calculate how much that would be in today's money. And he never asked anyone for help. Except God. And God repeatedly supplied. The accounts of being coming to the end of a day. And having several hundred orphans to feed the next morning, there was nothing in the house for breakfast. But by the time breakfast came around, there was food on the table. He prayed specifically one time for 2,000 bananas. God supplied 4,000. He had 50,000 specific. Now, we're not talking about Lord bless the missionaries. That's not really very specific. 50,000 specific answers to prayer in his lifetime. 10,000 of those on the same day he asked. Now, you might say, Why was he keeping those kinds of records? Who would keep records? Because he understood that God had uniquely called him to a ministry of faith that was going to be based and focused on doing everything as God supplied, and only as God supplied. And every time he built a new orphan home, by the time it was completed, he already had money coming in from places that he'd never heard of, offering to help with the next project. I love his comment about debt. He said, all we buy, we pay for in ready money. Thus, we always know how much we have and how much we have a right to give away. I love that. I always especially like to call my students' attention to that quotation, because that's not the way most of us naturally think about our money, is it? I wonder how much money I have so I know how much I can give away. But that's exactly the way we ought to think because we're not our own. And nothing that we have belongs to us. The ultimate goal of our labor is to earn that we might be able to give. take care of our family's needs to be sure, but then to give. If we're in debt, our creditors have a claim on our money. It's not ours to give. By the way, not only are we restricted in giving, but also in service if we live with debt. Another biblical principle is that of industry or hard work. Old-fashioned historians used to refer to it as the Protestant work ethic. Won't hear that too much today, right? It was one of those intangibles that made America one of the greatest nations on earth. I think many folks believe work to be a consequence of the fall. It was what happened when Adam sinned, right? He had to work from there on. Don't overlook the fact that Adam was employed in the garden before he sinned. It wasn't backbreaking toil. I believe from the pronunciation of the curse that we find in Genesis 3.15 and so on, that there was no back-breaking toil before the fall. There was no sweat dripping off of him. But he worked. He had meaningful occupation. By the way, can I just share this little bit of... speculation. I believe that's the kind of thing we're going to be doing throughout eternity. I am absolutely confident of one thing and that is that we're not going to be sitting on a cloud strumming a harp. We're gonna have work to do. I have no idea what it might be, but I'm excited to find out. I do know we're gonna be employed. Because that was what God intended for us. Labor is honorable and the absence of it in anyone's life is a sign of other character issues as well. In Proverbs, we find many admonitions concerning hard work as opposed to sloth. The sluggard will not plow by reason of the cold. Therefore shall he beg in harvest and have nothing. Don't miss the example of the virtuous woman in Proverbs 31 and just notice a few of the phrases in that passage. She seeketh wool and flax and worketh diligently with her hands. She riseth while it is yet night and giveth meat to her household. She considereth a field and buyeth it. With the fruit of her hands, she planteth a vineyard. She stretcheth out her hand to the poor, yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the needy. She eateth not the bread of idleness. We could go on, but it wears me out just thinking about it. Clearly, there were a multitude of economics lessons in this one passage, each one a demonstration of God's ideal for everyday economic choices. I want to talk just a bit about the concept of contentment, because really this is at the heart of a lot of issues that have to do with our handling of money. When it comes to finances, there's probably no principle more valuable to the Christian than that of contentment. In many cases, the problem of debt is really a problem with contentment because we go into debt sometimes to purchase things that we want rather than things we need. It's no accident that Paul's exhortation to young Timothy included a solemn instruction regarding money. In first Timothy six, he wrote, but godliness with contentment is great gain. We brought nothing into this world and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment, let us be there with content. But they that will be rich, and I believe the best understanding of that passage is they that will to be rich, those who desire to be, those who inordinately desire. to be rich, fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil, which while some coveted after, they've heard from the faith and pierced themselves through with many sorrows." Once again, The example of George Mueller is valuable. After Mueller's death, his son-in-law discovered through various records that Mueller had given nearly half a million dollars of his own money to various ministries, including his own. Remember, again, this was in the 1800s. When he died, Mueller's entire estate had a value of $850, including only $350 in cash. He died a poor man in the world's eyes. Though God had entrusted millions, millions to his hands throughout his life. By the way, likewise, It was said of John Wesley that at his death, he left behind a well-worn frock coat, two silver teaspoons, and the Methodist Church. Maybe the best way for us to conclude this evening is to remind ourselves of the admonition of Christ to His listeners in Luke chapter 12. And He said unto them, Take heed and beware of covetousness. Take heed and beware of covetousness. For a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things he possesseth. Of what does my life, of what does your life consist? Is my life more about more than the pursuit of my own welfare, my own pleasure, or comfort, or wealth? What would our children say, or our coworkers, our neighbors was our legacy. Let's pray. Our Father, we're so thankful for your word. We thank you, Lord, that it is forever settled in heaven, that there is nothing that faces us in this life for which your word does not instruct us and have the answers for us. And in this area of money, of finances, how we spend our time, how we invest our lives, oh Lord, I pray that you might move upon our hearts to give more of ourselves. When we think of the testimony of the Apostle Paul as he met with the elders of the church at Ephesus that last time, and recalled that he had kept back nothing that was profitable for them. And he penned those words that he attributed to the Lord Jesus Christ himself, that it's more blessed to give than to receive. Oh Lord, teach us the blessing of giving. Teach us the blessing of investing ourselves in your kingdom, recognizing that after all, we are not our own. We pray in Jesus name, amen.