Money Thoughts

Acts 10:38 says, "How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power; who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed by the devil; for God was with Him"

What You Have

Years ago there was a comedy TV show called "The Beverly Hillbillies" which was about a backwards hill country family whose land sat on millions of dollars of oil reserves and one day discovered that they were multi-millionaires.

The lyrics to the theme song were...

Come and listen to my story about a man named Jed,

A poor mountaineer, barely kept his family fed,

And then one day he was shootin at some food,

And up through the ground come a bubblin crude. Oil that is, black gold, Texas tea.

Well the first thing you know, Ol Jed's a millionaire

The kin folks said, "Jed move away from there"

Said, "Californy is the place you ought to be"

So they loaded up the truck and moved to Beverly. Hills that is. Swimming pools and movie stars.

The Beverly Hillbillies were millionaires long before Jed missed shooting at 'food' and struck oil. The oil reserves were there all the time, and according to the fictitious comedy, they simply discovered it one day, seemingly, by accident.

In 1869, Russell Conwell wrote his famous essay entitled "Acres of Diamonds", which became a short book, recounting the numerous true stories of individuals who had wealth and numerous obtainable resources at their fingertips, but didn't realize it, and often left what they had, in futile pursuit of the very thing they already possessed, on their land, or in their resources, but were unaware of what they had, and ultimately were not the beneficiaries of what was readily available to them.

What You Can Do

Jesus said that all authority has been given to Him in heaven and on earth (Matt.28:18) and so He told us, because of this, [the fact that He has all authority], to go and teach [make disciples] of all nations [ethnos - every ethnic group]. We wouldn't be able to exercise this authority, unless we had authority, or were authorized, by the One who HAS, or possesses, 'ALL' authority, to do what He said. The fact that He has 'all' authority, means that He has authority in the financial arena too. He went about 'doing good' [(euergeteo), 2109] or bringing financial abundance into the lives of people, to change their situation forever, because He had authority to do it, [see Authority to Bring Abundance - Acts 10:38], permanently bettering and improving their lives.

Who You Are

In Acts 10:38 the 'doing good' and 'healing' are both identified under the category of the 'oppressed', where the word 'oppressed', is (katadynasteuo), 2616, and is only used twice in the NT, with the second use being James 2:6, "...you have despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats?"

This word is a compound word from (kata), 2596, 'down' and (dynastes), 1413, 'a ruler' or 'officer', and comes from the word group where we get the English word 'dynamite'. The meaning is that of those in authority, or rulers, with power, pushing down, or subjugating the defenseless. In the numerous instances in the OT, the most common use of the word is lording it over the poor, widows, orphans, and the stranger, who do not have the financial ability or position to fight back or resist; they are the defenseless. Jesus delivers from 'oppression' by making the sick healed and making the poor financially elevated in life, overturning the degradation and domination inflicted by the devil.

Good News

When Jesus began to 'Preach the Gospel', He said that He came to 'announce the good news to the poor' (Lk.4:18). What does the gospel (good news) to the poor look like? The announcement of good news to the broken in heart is that they will be healed; the good news to captives is that they will be delivered, or set free; the good news to the blind is that they will see; the good news to the crushed and bruised is that they will be made whole. The good news to the poor is that they won't be 'poor no more' [bad grammar but good preaching!]. The good news of the gospel is the reversal of fortunes of the oppressive situation and circumstance that the devil has inflicted people with.

Money: The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly

It's a controversial topic among the church to talk about money, even though everyone wants some, and as the late, and very saved, Zig Ziglar used to very humorously say, "the person that says they don't care about money will lie about other things too".

In 1 Timothy 6:10, the Holy Spirit, through the apostle Paul, says that "...the love of money [literally, fondness of silver, as it was a medium of exchange at the time] is a root of all kinds of evil...". Unlike the KJV, it is not 'the' root of all evil, but 'a' root of 'all kinds' of evil. Secondly, it is the 'love of money' (philargyria, 5365), and not money itself, that is a root of all kinds of evil. Some of the most covetous people can be those who don't have money or resources, but desperately want them.

The scripture also states, "...they that will be rich fall into temptations and a snare, and (into) many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition" (1 Tim. 6:9), which sounds like a situation that any sane person would want to avoid. The emphasis lost in the KJV is in respect to the 'will'. Other translations render the verse:

"...people who long to be rich..." (NLT, NET)

"...those who desire to be rich..." (NKJV, DBY, RSV, ESV)

"...those who have a desire for wealth..." (BBE)

"...those who are determined to be rich..." (HNV, RHM)

"...those wishing to be rich..." (YLT)

"...those who want to be rich..." (NIV, CSB, LSB)

"...those who keep planning to get rich..." (WMS)

"...those who crave to be rich..." (AMP)

"...those who are eager to be rich..." (MOF)

"...those who set their hearts on being wealthy..." (PHI)

The key phrase is "...they that will...", speaking of a person's 'will', where 'will', has the meaning of determined focus, deliberately making up one's mind to pursue a certain course [(boulomai), 1014], to the point where you 'fall into' [(empipto), 1706], or come under the influence of something; in a negative sense.

Again, neither the love of money, nor the pursuing of money is God's will, because He has said to have no other gods before Him, and anything that displaces His rulership in our lives needs to be dethroned and we should not be brought under the control of anything or anyone, other than His Spirit. However, for too long, the devil has lied to the church, and the church has believed it, that we are to be impoverished and destitute of financial resources, not only to provide for ourselves but restricted in our ability to extend beyond ourselves, to provide for the needs of others.

In the same passage, where at a peripheral exploration, it would seem to negate Believers acquiring financial wealth, the scriptures continue with the exhortation to, "Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not high-minded, nor trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy; that they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to share, laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life" (1 Timothy 6:17-19).

The scripture gives a proper perspective on riches where it states:

1) Our trust is to be in our Father God.

2) Riches do provide and afford physical, material enjoyment from their use.

3) Wealth enables a person to do good and to be rich in good works.

a) to distribute [(eumetadotos), 2130, liberally giving]

b) willing to share [(koinonikos), 2843, having a will or desire to give liberally].

[In other words, not only liberally giving, but wanting to be liberally giving, impressing that the motivation for wealth is to 'want' to give liberally and finding one's self in that position, to actively give without restraint].

4) like any other principle of sowing and reaping, the liberal mind set and act of giving liberally, "lays up in store a good foundation against the time to come"[where 'laying up in store' is the Greek word (apothesaurizo), 597, meaning to store up abundance for the future. You don't lose the seed you have liberally sown in giving, in fact you simply produce a bigger harvest of what you have planted].

Right to Riches

Again, the scripture states, as an argument for raising an offering, that, "...you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might be rich" (2 Cor.8:9). The very argument being used is that the wealth the Corinthian Believers had accumulated was because Jesus wanted them to have money for His kingdom, and just like He became sin and became or took on sickness, He also became poor, or took poverty on Himself, so that we don't have to be poor.

SIN

God, our Father, "...made Him, who knew no sin, sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him" (2 Cor.5:21)

SICKNESS

"He Himself took our infirmities, and bore sicknesses" (Matt.8:17) "...by whose stripes you were healed" (1 Pet.2:24)

POVERTY

"...though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might be rich" (2 Cor.8:9)

Jesus became sin...we are righteous.

Jesus became sick..we are healed.

Jesus became poor..we are rich.

"Spiritual" Riches

Poverty is spiritual in origin just like sin, sickness, and disease. Jesus became sin, and took on the effects and carried away sickness and disease, and poverty, on the cross, in His death and resurrection. This seems obvious since He habitually gave to the poor and had resources from many giving to Him, in His earthly ministry [see Authority to Bring Abundance - Acts 10:38], so that the poverty He 'experienced' was obviously not part of His experience other than in His death and ultimate resurrection. Jesus has delivered us from ever having to be poor, and His taking on poverty, on the cross, enables believers to be financially wealthy.

2 Corinthians 8:9

"You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ---He was rich, but became poor for you to make you rich by His poverty" (Beck)

"You know how gracious our Lord Jesus Christ was; rich though He was, He became poor for the sake of you, that by His poverty you might be rich" (Moffatt)

"For you know by experience the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that He being wealthy, for your sakes became poor, in order that, as for you, by means of His poverty you might be made wealthy" (Wuest)

"Do you remember the generosity of Jesus Christ, the Lord of us all? He was rich beyond our telling, yet He became poor for your sakes so that His poverty might make you rich" (Phillips)

"For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ---how for your sakes He became poor, though He was rich, in order that you through His poverty might become rich" (Weymouth)

"For by experience you know the unmerited favor shown by our Lord Jesus Christ; that although He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, in order that by His poverty you might become rich" (Williams)

"You do not need to be reminded how gracious our Lord Jesus Christ was; how He impoverished Himself for your sakes, when He was so rich, so that you might become rich through His poverty" (Knox)

"For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, how, when He was rich, He became poor for your sakes, so that you by His poverty might grow rich" (Berkeley)

Greek on Greek

The verse states that Jesus was 'rich', or more literally, 'being rich', (plousios on), [where (on) is from (eimi), 'to be', a present tense participle, and (plousios), 4145, means wealthy, abounding in material resources]. A more literal rendering would be, "He exists as being rich, wealthy, abounding in material resources'', but he became 'poor', (ptocheuo), 4433, [a beggar, cowering in fear and poverty', "poverty deep down'', (Robertson)], primarily referring to "abject poverty, beggary'' (Vincent), and He ''became'' poor, not that He was poor, but He 'became" poor, where the aorist tense denotes the "entrance" into the condition of poverty (Vincent), and the aorist tense also "marks a definite point of time" (Expositors) of which, nowhere in His earthly ministry was He in abject poverty, a beggar, cowering in fear, in 'poverty deep down' (Robertson). He existed as abundantly wealthy, abounding in material resources, but at some 'definite point of time' (Expositors), He entered into the condition of poverty, that 'through His poverty' (tei ekeinou ptocheiai) [in the instrumental case, conveying the thought of, "by the means of" His poverty] you might become rich. (Robertson)."Might be rich" is all one word in the Greek, [(plouteo), 4147], and in 2 Corinthians 8:9, very specifically, it uses "the aorist tense expressing completeness, with permanent results" (Vine).

Paraphrase

 2 Corinthians 8:9, "...you know by experience the generosity of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He exists as being abundantly wealthy, abounding in material resources, yet for your sake and benefit He entered into the condition of complete and utter abject beggarly poverty at a specific and definite point in time, so that by means of Him entering into the condition of deep poverty, you are now enabled to experience the completeness of being abundantly wealthy, abounding in material resources, as your permanent condition"

Summary:

The good news (gospel) is that you don't have to be bound by sin and Satan, you have a choice, since Jesus became sin, and took on that condition for you, now you can be a new creation translated from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light. You don't have to be bound by sickness and disease; you have a choice, because Jesus took sickness and disease on Him, you don't have to live with sickness and disease. You don't have to be poor, you have a choice, because Jesus 'became' poor, and actually conquered poverty for you forever so that "...you through His poverty might be rich" (2 Cor.8:9). Will everyone be 'saved' and delivered from the bondage of Satan and sin...no, even though our Father is not willing for anyone to perish (2 Pet.3:9). Will everyone be healed and walk in divine health and healing...no. Like salvation, it comes by revelation, and if we don't see it, we won't experience the results of what has already been provided by the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Will everyone be rich...no. Just because we don't experience what the word says does not negate the provision that is available for our lives.

Divine Purpose

The purpose is not just so you can enjoy what God has provided for you, but like every other aspect of the gospel, the good news and the purpose, is to bring others into this liberty by giving what you have, "...freely you have received, freely give" (Matt.10:8).

You Are God's Best and God's Best is Yours