B (39:56)
Very good. One of the things I've been preaching on brothers over the last couple of years is the book of Proverbs. And there's so much, much in that divine book of wisdom we call it. The study is wisdom from above. These are the words of God of how to live skillfully in his world. So much that is in the book of Proverbs is related to not being idle, not being lazy, being a hard worker, not being all talk and no labor. I mean, one of my favorite proverbs is in. In all toil, there is profit. In mere talk only poverty. So much condemnation against the sluggard. So much of what God says about, you know, look to the angels, ant, lazy person, you know, look at how the ant works, look how the ant prepares. Look how the ant is not overcome by obstacles. They, you know, that sort of thing. To study the ant and the work ethic of the ant, God says, just look at it. It doesn't quit. It keeps going. It will always overcome the obstacle. It repairs. And, you know, God's saying that. So my, my, the. The thing I've been stressing is that in the evangelical church today, just, I think in Christendom in general, is we've got this weird sort of perverse view of poverty where, like you said, brother, they're like, poverty equals piety, or the other way around, piety equals poverty. And that is just not biblical. I mean, poverty is unfortunately a consequence of a sinful, fallen world. But scripture never amplifies and glorifies poverty, right? It actually, specifically in the Proverbs, over and over and over again, God highlights the value of profit, and he actually talks about poverty in the negative. And when he does so, however, this is interesting. He does this in an interesting way. God does this repeatedly when he talks about poverty in the negative. He talks about it because of a lack of wisdom that put you there. So a bad work ethic, being a sluggard, being idle, loving your sleep right more than your work. And so God says, well, that leads to poverty. If you want the profit, then open your eyes, get up, get to work, toil, labor, because then there is profit. And so actually there's more condemnation of the issue of poverty because much of the time, not always much of the time, our descent into poverty, and you see this wildly applied today, is because of a lack of Christian virtue and work ethic and wisdom. You're poor because you won't get up. You're poor because you're idle. You're poor because you won't plan for the future. That's why that's your plight. And so repent of that, that follow God's wisdom. And God says, prophet, prophet. And then God and you, you highlight this verse, and I like to talk about this, you highlight the verse that is, I think, not very well known. And that's that a righteous man leaves an inheritance for his grandchildren. And that, that, that's a, that's a blessing, God's blessing that a righteous man leaves an inheritance for his grandchildren. And I've always said, as I've talked about this verse, brothers, and liked you guys to, to engage with this, this I've always said, of course, that principle there in the book of Proverbs has layers of application. Like, for example, you could be passing down an inheritance to your grandchildren, a spiritual inheritance, a love for the word of God, a love for righteousness. There's no doubt at all that that's true. But let's never forget that the, the proverb begins with. Before it gets to the layers. The proverb begins with, a righteous man leaves an inheritance for his grandchildren. And that has a specific biblical context. And it has to do with stuff. It has to do with wealth. So the first application of the proverb is money. Never forget that the next applications only come as you develop that principle and say, of course it's also spiritual. It's this kind of inheritance. No doubt whatsoever. However. But you can't just ignore the initial, the initial, initial principle and foundation and start talking about only the spiritual. Like, let's not ignore the fact that God is saying it's a righteous thing to have planned and worked and not been idle and have labored and risked and built stuff up so that your grandchildren are blessed by this and you give them an inheritance. Let's never forget that it's a good thing. Now if, last thing, I'll say this. If we're poor and it's through no fault of our own, and it's just part of this Thing we stepped into, we had no control over it. We're good workers, we're not idle. It's just, it's a providential hindrance. We are to be content in that poverty with God. Not grumble, not complain, glorify God, delight in God, even in the poverty. However, the poverty is not piety. Oh, that we all need to be poor for Jesus. That's just not biblical. You're not going to find that throughout the scriptures. And so brothers, I'd like you to speak to me that.
