There is a false doctrine that says Jesus was poor; Jesus was not poor.  They talk about His poverty, but the Scriptures says He was poor when compared to what He had left.  But we know that rich women supported His ministry.  Jesus was the not out looking for money; He was distributing money to the poor.  Judas carried the bag of money; he knew how much was in there because he was responsible for that area.  They weren’t of the poor; they were distributing to the poor.  With all the major issues considered at the counsel in Jerusalem, when they were coming to the sound doctrine that this gospel is for the gentiles, they said that the believers should keep in mind to always minister to the poor.

I won’t get off on this so much right now, but that doesn’t mean that we start ministries in the church to go out and find all the poor people we can and give stuff to them; that’s not what He is teaching.  We get the great teaching on giving to people in need from the story of the Good Samaritan:  When you run into somebody personally and they have a need, you bless them.  You don’t start an organization.  The Bible makes it very clear that Jesus Himself said, “For ye have the poor with you always.”  There is no stamping out poverty in the world.

But when we encounter different needs, we have other biblical guidance.  Whenever we minister to different needs, we are to start with the household of faith; amen?  We don’t go out and find every derelict and give him money so he can buy more wine; we minister accordingly.  I know many of you have done this, when you find people on the streets and you take them with you and you feed them; amen? We were in Reno when we found this derelict and asked him, “Would you like some food?”  He responded, “Yes, I would.”  The guy sitting beside him said, “No.”  And this guy said, “If you’d given me the money, I’d just have gone to buy more wine.”  I thought, “Well, at least he’s truthful.”  There was a guy sitting on the side of the road one time in Las Vegas holding this sign saying, “Need more weed.”  I thought, “I’m almost tempted to give him something because he’s telling the truth.”

That’s why we’re blessed: it’s for when our brothers and sisters are in need.  That’s what he goes on to say at the end of that sixth chapter.  Proverbs 28:20: “A faithful man shall abound with blessings: (look) but he that maketh haste to be rich shall not be innocent.”  If you love it that much, and you’re after it that much, then you’re going to make some mistakes that pertain to your character and Christlikeness because you have an idol, you have another God.  Be aware of its power:  for us to sit here and think that there’s not a demonic force there, listen, “Ye cannot serve God and mammon” (Luke 16:13).  It’s a demonic power behind money; it’s satanically controlled.  The devil told Jesus, “I have power:  just worship me and all of these, kingdoms, all of this money and all of this wealth are mine to give to whomever I want.”  Is that Bible?  So, who is distributing this, then?

Aren’t you glad that our money comes from outside the world’s system?  What do I mean by that?  There is only so much wealth.  We have this election going on, and the one person wants to tax the wealthy, saying, “We’re going to get their wealth.”  Why?  Why bother?  We hear that term “the one‑percenters:  the total holdings of the one‑percenters, if they gave every bit of their net worth, it would run the government for something like six months.  We printed somewhere near that amount in a year and a half during the Covid epidemic, which is twenty‑five percent of all of the money that has ever been printed since we started printing back in the 1700’s.  About twenty‑five percent of all the money ever printed in America was printed in that eighteen‑month period.  What’s our national debt?  Just to fix our roads, bridges, and sewers, the infrastructure of America, would cost thirteen trillion dollars.  It’s all falling down; does it sound like Rome?  What are we going to trust in?  Which kingdom are we a part of? 

Father, we just thank You for Your Word.  You have told us to not trust in uncertain riches.  You have told us that riches will take wings and fly away.  You said that to accumulate them is vanity, so help us to become seekers of the kingdom and Your righteousness, and let all these other things be added to us.  And if You do choose for us to be rich, if we become one of those in Your body that You trust with this ministry, the rich are charged that they be not high‑minded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God who richly gives us all things to enjoy.  Teach those with abundance to do good, to be rich in good works, to distribute, to communicate, and to lay for themselves a good foundation of Christlikeness so that, in the times to come, they may lay hold on eternal life.  That’s our hearts’ desire, Father, in Jesus’ name; amen.