Dr Greg Bahnsen - Proverbs: Proverbs 14:21 (Imitating the Father's Tender Mercies) (Part 70)

Please turn with me in your Bibles this morning to the Book of Proverbs, where we will consider this morning the theme of imitating the Father's tender mercies. The Book of Proverbs. We'll be looking at a variety of passages, a selection dealing with compassion for the poor, and we'll begin our reading in Proverbs 14 at the 21st verse. Proverbs 14:21. Hear now God's word. He that despiseth his neighbour sinneth. But he that hath pity on the poor, happy is he. And verse 31. He that oppresseth the poor reproacheth his Maker. But he that hath mercy on the needy honoreth him. Then turn to chapter 19, verse 17. He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto Jehovah, and his good deed, will he pay him again? Chapter 21, verse 13. Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor, he also shall cry, but shall not be heard. Chapter 22, verse 9. He that hath a bountiful eye shall be blessed, for he giveth of his bread to the poor. Chapter 28, verse 27. He that giveth unto the poor shall not lack, but he that hideth his eyes shall have many a curse. And then chapter 29, verse 7. The righteous taketh knowledge of the cause of the poor. The wicked hath not understanding to know it. Our New Testament reading is found in 2 Corinthians the 8th chapter, where I'd like to read for you the first nine verses. Please turn to Second Corinthians, chapter 8. Second Corinthians 8, beginning at the first verse. Moreover, brethren, we make known to you the grace of God which hath been given in the churches of Macedonia. How? That in much proof of affliction, the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality. For according to their power, I bear witness. Yes, and beyond their power they gave of their own accord, beseeching us with much entreaty in regard of this grace and the fellowship and the ministering to the saints, and this not as we had hoped, but first they gave their own selves to the Lord and to us through the will of God. Insomuch that we exhorted Titus, that as he had made a beginning before, so he would also complete in you this grace also. But as ye abound in everything, in faith, in utterance and knowledge, and in all earnestness, and in your love to us, see that ye abound in this grace also. I speak not by way of commandment, but as proving through the earnestness of others, the sincerity also of your love. For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye, through his poverty, might become rich. And thus far, the reading of God's word we've been considering in the Book of Proverbs, the subject of true religion In James, the first chapter, verse 27, by now it should be embedded in your hearts. I trust. James tells us that true religion, or pure religion and undefiled before God, is not found in religiosity. It's not found in going to church and carrying your Bible and being public in your prayers. But true religion is found in the way that we minister to others, the way we call upon the widows and the orphans and take care of them in their affliction. And so we've had a message on religiosity and how we shouldn't be caught up in the outward signs of religion and don't have a contrite heart before God. We've had another message on how we must protect the widows and their property rights. Today we come to the subject of the poor. The Book of Proverbs deals with the poor perhaps as much as any other subject, apart from pride, I believe, if we were to count up the passages. Interestingly enough, the Book of Proverbs has a lot to do with pride. And an unteachable spirit also has a lot to do with the compassion we show toward those who are less privileged than us, especially the poor. Concern for the poor has always been a characteristic of Christianity. You examine the other religions of the world, and this stands out conspicuously, that Christians have cared for those who are less privileged. Some religions actually encase people in their poverty. Some religions, like Hinduism, have a caste system that says people should be poor and they should stay poor until the cycle of life and rebirth or reincarnation betters them. They may come back in a worse state, like an animal or something, an aardvark perhaps. Or they may come back in a better position as they rise in society, up to the Brahman caste, and then finally they are oozed into the ooze, which is called God. They finally become part of the universal one. Well, religion like that, see, gives very little earthly motivation to improve the lot of the poor. And we see this not just in Hinduism, but any number of others. But Christianity, conspicuously in Western history, in even its worst moments of papal abuse, has always had those who had a heart for the poor, a concern to take care of those less fortunate than us financially and socially. In Proverbs 30:14 we read there is a generation whose teeth are as swords and their jaw teeth as knives to devour the poor from off the earth and the needy from among men. This is part of a well known passage in Proverbs. There is a generation and then the indictment is given. There is a generation. There's a circle of individuals characterized by the following kind of sinfulness in attitude and action and this generation, According to Proverbs 30:14, have devouring jaws and teeth to eat up the poor from off the earth and the needy. The the Psalmist speaks of God's people being eaten up like bread. In Amos 8, 4, the Prophet speaks out against devouring the poor from off the earth. There is a generation characterized by that a self centeredness and a hostility that cares not for the less privileged that would devour them from off the earth. But while some would eat up the poor, the Bible indicates that others would give the poor something to eat. Christianity has always been known, the genuine Christian church has always been known by that desire to see too the poor having something to eat, showing compassion for those who are needy. In the Book of Proverbs we learn how to care for the poor. And in learning how to care for the poor, I think we learned something about pseudo care for the poor as well that we'll be talking about this morning. The Book of Proverbs also tells us why we should care for the poor. So let's examine those subjects. First of all, how should should we as genuine Christians that have a pure, a true religion that's undefiled before God, how should we care for the poor? The first thing that we learn in the Book of Proverbs is that we should care for them by hearing their cries and being sensitive to their plight. Chapter 21, verse 13. Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor, and he also shall cry, but shall not be heard. The Bible indicates that our ears should be open to the plight of the poor. And if I might be very honest with you, my middle class Christian brothers and sisters, I think this is where we have our biggest problem. We have our biggest problem because we're not sensitive to what's going on around us. We avoid it. We don't want to see it. Much like the Buddha was protected from the evil about him by his guardian so that he might grow up never to encounter a poor or dying person. We too go through life like the Buddha, perhaps being shielded from it or wanting to shield ourselves. We don't like to look at that. We always like to see it as something far away from us. Over there, the them are we hearing the cry of the poor when we do this? You see, the problem with us is not so much that we will not respond when opportunity presents itself. The problem is that we don't look for opportunity. He who stops his ears to the cry of the poor, the response will be what you too shall cry and not be heard. In Proverbs 28:27, the metaphor is used not of stopping the ears, but of hiding the eyes. Proverbs 28 at the 27th verse. He that giveth unto the poor shall not lack, but he that hideth his eyes shall have many a curse. God's word, as you know, tends to pierce right down to the very center of our being. And it pricks us, it indicts us. We stop our ears and we hide our eyes. We don't want to see this. The biggest problem we have, I would suggest, therefore, is an insensitivity to the plight of the poor. We don't take knowledge of them. Proverbs 29:7 speaks of that being a characteristic of the righteous, that we want to be knowledgeable of what's happening and to show compassion toward the poor. The righteous taketh knowledge of the cause of the poor. The wicked hath not understanding to know it. You say, well, Dr. Bonson, I don't know any poor people. I'm saying, well, that's characteristic of the unrighteous. They don't look for the poor. They don't take knowledge of the poor. The righteous, however, does take knowledge, does show concern. And that knowledge, by the way, it's a Hebrew word, knowledge, carries a greater significance than we think of. It does have a cognitive significance, an intellectual significance. The righteous knows about the poor. He looks for them. He doesn't close his eyes, doesn't try to resist coming into contact with the poor. But more than that, he takes knowledge. The Hebrew word knowledge implies a deep seated and personal concern and a love. We read in the Bible that Adam knew his wife and she had a son there. The sexual intimacy is euphemistically referred to as knowing. God knows his people. I want to assure you that has nothing to. Well, it has something to do, but not at all limited to the idea that God could write down the right answers on a piece of paper about his people. It's not just intellectual. God knows his people means he loves and is concerned for them. And the righteous, who are going to be like God will also take such knowledge, both cognitive and concern will take such knowledge of the plight of the poor. They will know about them. But then, of course, there are those who do know quite a bit about the poor and don't do anything about it. It won't be enough just to look at the world, hear their cries, see their plight, take knowledge of them. The book of Proverbs says, we must also show neighborly pity on the poor. Proverbs 14:21 suggests this when it tells us, he that despises his neighbor sins, but he that hath pity on the poor, happy is he. The contrast to despising your neighbor is having pity on the poor, not just knowing and hearing about them, but pitying them, taking personal action in a neighborly way to see to the relief of their situation. Well, how are you going to relieve their situation? You know, you've probably heard a number of people that are very embarrassing to me in the Christian community who talk about, we're much more concerned with the souls of people. You know, the real important thing is that they go to heaven. Well, it certainly is important that they go to heaven. The question is, those who are going to heaven, is that all they're concerned with in the. The plight of those individuals with whom they come into contact? Jesus was concerned that the souls of people go to heaven, wasn't he? The Bible also indicates that he took care of their physical needs. He healed them. And so the Book of Proverbs would teach us that we must give generously to the poor. Proverbs 21:26. There is that coveteth greedily all the day long. But the righteous gives and withholds not. You can find two kinds of people. Those who are greedy, those who are coveting all the day long. Their orientation toward life is, how am I doing? Am I getting ahead? How much more can I get? Coveting all the day long. And then there are those who, because of their righteousness, are giving freely to the poor. The righteous gives and withholds not. The righteous is the one who says, let me empty my pockets for you. Which of those two classes do you fall into? Don't now try to rationalize. Don't now try to find a third category. Say, well, isn't it somewhere in between? I'm not quite the person who withholds not to the poor, but I'm not someone who covets all day long. Although it's true, I do want more for myself materially, I think about those things. Well, Proverbs offers only two ways to think about yourself. You're either someone who is concerned for others and their material betterment, or you're concerned for yourself, coveting all the day long. Which will it be for us who are Christians? Proverbs 22:9 he that hath a bountiful eye shall be blessed, for he gives of his bread to the poor. Actually, in Hebrew reads, he who has a good eye. The person with a good eye. The person who has a good outlook is the person who is bountiful. He gives his bread to the poor. He sees through it that those who have nothing to eat are fed. He is worried about them. The book of Proverbs also indicates that if we are concerned for the poor, we'll lend and lend freely to them. Proverbs 19:17 he that hath pity upon the poor lendeth, turns out lends unto Jehovah and his good deed, he will pay him again. When someone is in need and comes to us and says, can you help me out? I'm not even asking for a handout. Can you just help me for three months or for a year, or something like that. The righteous is characterized by willingly giving that loan, and that willing giving of the loan is is characteristic of grace when interest is not tacked onto it. The law of God forbids the charging of interest on loans made to needy brothers. We should probably look at a few passages in the law to get that firmly in our minds. But before we turn, I would liken lending to a Christian brother and charging him interest to a doctor who charges his children for treating them. When a brother comes to you, from a religious and Christian standpoint, he comes as a family member. When a family member comes and says, my children haven't enough to eat, or, I need a loan for this or that emergency purpose, you don't say, well, here's a great way for me to make some money on my investment. I'll give this money to this individual, and I'll get even more in return. That is a wicked, ungodly, unsavory attitude. Look what the law of God says about this. Exodus 22:25. If thou lend money to any of my people with thee that is poor, thou shalt not be to him as a creditor, neither shall ye lay upon him interest. Leviticus 25, verses 35 to 37, Leviticus the 25th chapter, and reading at verse 35. And if thy brother be waxed poor, and his hand fail with thee, then thou shalt uphold him as a stranger and a sojourner, shall he live with thee. Take thou no interest of him or increase, but fear thy God that thy brother may live with thee. Thou shalt not give him thy money upon interest, nor give him thy victuals for interest. You don't give the necessities of life to a needy brother and expect increase. Don't try to augment yourself on the basis of his poverty and his distress. The law forbids this. Further in Deuteronomy 15:7 11. Deuteronomy 15:7. If there be with thee a poor man, one of thy brethren within any of thy gates in thy land, which Jehovah thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not harden thy heart, nor shut thy hand from thy poor brother, but thou shalt surely open thy hand unto him, and shalt surely lend him sufficient for his need and that which he wanteth. Beware that there be not a base thought in thy heart saying, the seventh year, the year of release is at hand, and thine eye be evil against thy poor brother, and thou give him nothing. And he cry unto Jehovah against thee, and it be sin unto thee. Thou shalt surely give him. And thy heart shall not be grieved when thou givest unto him, because that for this thing Jehovah thy God will bless thee in all thy work and and in that thou puttest thy hand unto for the poor will never cease out of the land. Therefore I command thee, saying, thou shalt surely open thy hand unto thy brother to thy needy and to thy poor in thy land. Deuteronomy refers here to the fact that in the seventh year, the sabbatical year, all debts were remitted and the temptation would be there. God knows the hearts of the sinner. The temptation would be there for you to think, well, the seventh year is just a few months away. If I lend to this person, I'll not get repaid. The Bible says, especially in that situation, open your hand wide, freely give to this person with no thought of return. Of course, Jesus says, that's how we are to lend if we're to be blessed of God. When you lend to a needy brother, you should say it's as good as a contribution. If he can repay it, wonderful. But if the year of release comes, if seven years follows and he has not repaid it, it's a contribution. I don't have to have it repaid. And so when you think about a person who is in need, who comes to you, don't be looking for loopholes, don't be looking for excuses, just empty your pockets, see to it that his need is met. One more passage. Deuteronomy 23:19 20. Deuteronomy 23:19 22 Thou shalt not lend upon interest to thy brother. Interest of money, interest of victuals, interest of anything that is lent upon interest unto a foreigner thou may lend upon interest but unto thy brother thou shalt not lend upon interest, that Jehovah thy God may bless thee in all that thou puttest thy hand into into the land whither thou goest in to possess it. And so a foreigner who would have been in Israel, by the way, the word there is used of a traveling merchant, a businessman who wants to go into some profit sharing venture with you, you may charge interest to, but your brother the one who is in need. Absolutely not. It's an insult to Jehovah if you do that. It's unkind. It's. It's unlawful for you to do that. And so the book of Proverbs reminds us that we are to lend freely. And if we violate that gracious law of God, you know what will happen to the interest that you gain. You know what happens to people who take advantage of the poor and augment their own substance by taking usury from them in their needy situation. Proverbs 28:8 answers that question, telling us, you're not going to keep their interest anyway. It's going to go to someone else. Proverbs 28:8. He that augmenteth his substance by interest and increase, gathereth it for him that hath pity on the poor. God's hand is sovereign in history. We know that. We know that he directs the political and geopolitical affairs of men. We know that he directs every detail of our own individual and family lives. He even knows the number of hairs on our head. You need to be aware, then, that this sovereign God's hand is active in economic affairs too. And God says, you enrich yourself by taking advantage of the poor. The money you take will eventually profit the person who has pity on the poor. See, we don't live in a cold, impersonal universe of economic law. There is a personal intervention in the affairs of men and on the long haul. In terms of the general course of history, money flows from those who are greedy to those who are merciful. You take money from the poor by interest, eventually it's going to end up in the pockets of the gracious. So God says, and I believe him. And so we see how we must care for the poor. The book of Proverbs says that if we are wise before God, if we really fear the Lord, then We're going to take care of God's people. We're going to hear their cry and be sensitive to their plight. We're going to show neighborly pity to them. We're going to give generously when we can to them. And even when we can't give, we will lend to them and be willing to consider it a contribution if we can give it up at all. And so personal individual care for the poor. This suggests that there's a way that the Bible would not have us care for the poor, pseudo care for the poor, which is what our society has come to be characterized by. We are supposed to be a compassionate society with a welfare state interest in providing Social Security for people and benefits for the homeless and so forth. We make quite a bit of that. Well, we don't. Politicians do. Politicians make a great deal of how they are taking care of the poor and the needy. And the fact of the matter is the poor and the needy are not being taken care of. Look at the way the state takes care of the poor over against the way God has commanded us to take care of the poor in the first place. The state cares for the poor through compulsory state supported charity. Compulsory charity. Isn't that an interesting contradiction in terms? An oxymoron right, compulsory charity. The state comes to us and says, you will give us your tax money so that we can be gracious to other individuals. And if you don't, you'll go to jail, you'll be punished in one way or another. In other words, upon threat through compulsion, the state would exact money out of our pockets to show mercy to the poor. Of course this is ridiculous. It's not charity at all. Charity is what from the heart. Charity is free will. Charity is voluntary. It cannot be made compulsory. And yet the state thinking to outdo God would force compulsory charity from us. God has not authorized the sword of the state to provide such welfare. However, we need to remember that no matter how pious the excuse may be, when someone comes and demands money from me, that God has not authorized him to take it is theft. We have someone who meets us in a back alley and says, you know, your money or your life. We understand very clearly that that's theft. If the person meets us in the back alley and says, your money or your life, I say so in the name of the state, we call it taxes. And if the person in the back alley says, I'm taking it for the state in the name of the poor, we consider it something we shouldn't complain about because there's Something wrong with us. Well, I am going to complain about the state taking my money for the sake of the poor. I'm going to do so because in the first place, the state doesn't do it. Well, I'm going to do it because the state does not have the right to exact that money. And those who frame mischief by a law will be judged by the lawmaker himself. For this state welfare is impersonal. It is not neighborly concern, it's bureaucratic concern. State welfare is prejudicial. It does not go to the genuine needy. It goes to those who have the loudest voices and the best promoters in the political arena. State welfare is politically manipulative. We have people, very wealthy people, I'll not mention some of their names, senators, who have a lot of money, who talk a great deal about taking money out of my pocket to take care of the poor when they themselves will not empty their pockets voluntarily and individually to take care of the poor. And so why do they talk such big talk about the poor? Because it gets them what votes. It gets them put in office. It provides power. Isn't that interesting, the irony of politics, that from the powerless people derive power in the name of the poor. You can get elected to office and stay in office. It's manipulative and it's inefficient. Let me illustrate that. In 1982, when the state would reconvert an apartment in New York City for the sake of the poor, it would cost approximately $40,000 a unit to do that. At the very same time, in Levittown, New York, it cost $25,000 to buy a new house. And so it was proposed by those who were down on what the state was doing. Why don't we just buy new houses in Levittown and give them to the poor rather than converting New York apartments at 40,000 DOL crack in the same year to illustrate how government bureaucracies work, you should be aware that the Department of Agriculture, supposed to be helping poor farmers. Remember, the Department of Agriculture's budget was cut 18%. One would think, oh, no. 18% of subsidies through farmers was cut 18%. Until you remember that the number of employees in that department was not cut by 18%. The number of employees was cut by 5%. Where do you think the rest of the money came from? Now, what's going on, you see, is that poverty programs benefit those who wish to benefit the poor. I'm going to say that again. Poverty programs benefit those who wish to benefit the poor. When a program designed allegedly and sold politically to help the poor has its budget cut. You'll notice staff is not cut proportionately. The staff that are supposed to be benefiting the poor keep their jobs. For the most part, poverty programs help those who help the poor. They do not, for the most part, help the poor themselves. If we took everyone below the government defined poverty line and gave him cash sufficient to bring him up to the non poverty line, that is, if the government just took everyone that is defined as poor, this artificial line of poverty the government has, and gave them enough cash so that they would not be at the poverty line, we would spend only 20% of what the government now spends in the name of the poor. Just a straight financial outlay, just write a check to them, and we would spend only 20% of what welfare programs are now costing us. From 1966 to 1980, the poverty population in this country rose slightly. And at the very same time, the federal social spending that is used for the poor in comparison to the gross national product doubled, Our spending doubled. And the poor, there were more of them. Now, how do you account for that? Except for the fact that poverty programs benefit those who benefit the poor, they do not benefit the poor. This is very similar, I think, to the fact that there's been a vast growth in education subsidies over the last 15 to 20 years. At the very same time, the test scores have been plummeting in the public schools. I read something a week or two ago where a woman in Chicago who is gone back to the basics, as it were, in education, has asked what the key to doing, you know, this marvelous inner city work is. And she at one point said, you know, things could not have gotten as bad in education without the help of the federal government. And it's true. Let the federal government get involved in something God has not authorized it to be involved in, and it will mess it up, it will destroy it. It will make a financial mess of of it. And this is what we have in terms of helping the poor. In 1962, less than one black family in 20 was on welfare. One in 20 in 1962. And then, of course, the war on poverty came in and the great society was issued in. And we've just gone crazy in terms of government programs to help the poor. And so in 1982, one black family in five was on welfare. We went from one in 20 to one in five. Who's winning the war on poverty when the government gets involved? The Social Security program is nearly broke, cannot stay solvent. Most people don't realize this, but the method used for collecting and distributing funds in the Social Security program is outlawed for insurance companies in every state of the union. You cannot run a program that way if you're called an insurance company. If you're called the government, we call it Social Security. In 1980, the General Accounting Office estimated that as many as 20% of Social Security recipients were actually ineligible for the benefits they were receiving. The state with the lowest unemployment and the fastest job growth of any major industrial state in the United States of America simultaneously has the lowest welfare benefits and tax law levels. I'll tell you later which state that is, if you're interested. I don't want you to move. It's not California. If the state wished to take care of the poor and show genuine protection for their rights, then I want to suggest that the state should get out of the market and let the market operate freely and efficiently. Here are some suggestions for the state. The state should abolish union protecting laws which operate as a special club to keep undesirables out of the union. And if you don't think that doesn't work, go find out how many people of certain ethnic origin are in this union or that union or the other. It's a good old boy club system enforced with violence sanctioned by the state, keeping prices artificially high and destroying industry. And that is supposed to help the poor in the name of the poor, we are to protect the unions. If the state would protect the poor, let it abolish minimum law requirements, minimum wage requirements. If it did that, then people who are unskilled could compete in the market for what they would be worth and what people would hire them for. The statistics are overwhelming. Minimum wage goes up, unemployment goes up. You know why? Because employers get to the place where they say, I can't afford to pay that for the price of sweeping the floor. And so I'm going to have to lay the person off. I'll have to find another way to have that taken care of. And what happens when you set the minimum wage at a certain level? Teenagers and unskilled school dropouts, whatever it may be, can't get hired at all. And what happens? They go on welfare. They get accustomed to receiving welfare, and they become what I call welfare state slaves. They never get out of the system of welfare. Their mothers are on welfare, they are on welfare. It becomes a family tradition, and there's nothing that can be done about it because they will not be educated. Inner city schools are wretched in terms of what they teach children. And so they are uneducated Undisciplined and they're unemployable, and they stay that way. Let the state abolish rent controls. You know what happens in New York when rent controls go up? Housing. There are housing shortages because renters don't want to be kept in that particular bracket. They don't want financially to be disadvantaged through those things. And so they'll convert their apartments into condominiums and sell them. And you know what happens to the poor who can't buy a condominium or a house now there are less apartments to rent. And when there are less apartments to rent, what happens to the price of rent? It goes up. And so, in the name of helping the poor, we hurt the poor. The state, whenever it touches something God is not authorized it to touch does have that effect. Abolish government policies, so many of which I will not mention this morning, which contribute to inflation. Inflation hurts the poor. Take old retired people who are on set incomes. You know, they get a certain amount, $390 a month, and they get used to living on that. And then inflation bumps everything 5%. What happens if you're on a fixed income that just eats away at what you're able to do in terms of housing and food and medical care and so forth? Yeah, the state could do some things for the poor, but it's the very things the state will not do. Because the state wishes to be a messiah to the poor. The state wishes to be the savior of the poor, the poor. And the state starts doing things which the savior of men, the Lord Jesus Christ, has never authorized it to do. So there's a right and a wrong way to show compassion for the poor. What should you do? Well, I've told you some things the state should stop doing and should start doing. One of the things you might do is to work politically to get a state that would get out of the welfare business and let it get back to where it belongs in the family and the church. What do we do in our families and our churches? Well, first of all, make sure every member of your family is taken care of. A person who won't take care of his own, Paul says, is worse than an infidel family welfare is where most of this should be taken care of. When it cannot be taken care of, the church should be called in support the deacons of this church support the diaconal service of the Christian church in general public. Paul tells us in the book of Galatians, we should do good to all men, especially to those of the household of faith. And God has given us officers and leaders and promoters to do good to the household of faith. They're called deacons. They wait on tables. They take care of widows. They call on people in hospitals. They make sure that insurance premiums are paid. They find out when people can't buy their food or shoes for their children. And maybe you don't have enough money to, to help an individual family. But you know what happens when you take what little you do have and combine it with what little 20 or 30 other people have. Then we start getting a fund that is able to help people. So support the deacons of your church and tithe. That's a subject that, you know you're supposed to be, you know, pretty careful about. Do we not give the impression we just want money? Well, this morning I want to suggest that I don't want you to tithe to boost my salary. I want you to tithe because if we were all tithers, there would be plenty of excess to go to the deacon's fund to help people who are in need. Those who are not tithing are stealing from God. And those who are stealing from God ultimately hurt the poor. They are the ones who will not have their needs met. Why should you care for the poor? The book of Proverbs shows us how we should. Personal direct lending and generosity to the poor. Not state supported impersonal welfare. That's inefficient. But why should we help the poor? Well, first, for their own sakes. I guess I don't need to elaborate on that. Clearly it helps the poor themselves when their needs are met. But the Bible says we should also help the poor for our sakes and above all, for God's sake. Let's look at that in the book of Proverbs. In the first place, Proverbs says we help the poor. It brings us happiness. Proverbs 14:21. He that despises his neighbor sins. But he that hath pity on the poor, happy is he. You will be blessed by helping the poor. You will have a heart that sings for joy. You say, but wait a minute, I can't buy that new car. I can't get that new dress. We can't get a better vcr. We've been helping the poor. The Bible says you won't worry about those things. Your heart will sing for joy. You'll be happy in doing that and it will bring God's blessing upon you. Proverbs 22:9. He that hath a bountiful eye shall be blessed, for he giveth of his bread to the poor. God will see to it that you have a happy heart and a blessed living condition because you have been taking care of others. In fact, God will take care of your own needs so that you don't have to worry about being generous. Proverbs 28:27 he that giveth unto the poor shall not lack, but he that hideth his eyes shall have many accursed. Do you believe that? It comes down to, you know, your view of tithing too. A lot of people say, I can't tithe. We just can't make ends meet. God says, on the other hand, you tithe. I'll see to it that all your needs are met. Likewise he says, give generously to the poor and you won't lack. You take care of my people, and I will take care of you. So says God. Matter of faith, I guess. Whether you believe that or not. Proverbs 19:17 tells us that God himself will repay our kindness to the poor. He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto Jehovah. You give your money to a poor person, it's as good as lending to God for his good deed. Will he pay him again? You may not get the money back from the poor person, but the good deed will be repaid because you've actually lent it to God. And he never welches on his debts. He will take care of you. That's his promise. What did Jesus say? Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. The Bible says that if we stop our ears at their cry, their cries will. Our own cries will be ignored, not only by men, I believe, but by God. If the poor come to us praying for help, and we say, no, no, no, I don't want to hear this. Get away. God will likewise stop his ears when we cry to him for help. Proverbs 22:16 we read that perverted sympathies will prove a very expensive tactic in our lives. Proverbs 22:16 he that oppresseth the poor to increase his own gain, and he that giveth to the rich shall surely come to want, shall lack. There are those who help those who need no help, the rich and will close their ears to the poor. But you shall come to want, you shall be lacking if that happens. The Bible also says that God will defend the oppressed poor person and will punish the oppressor. Proverbs 22:22 and 23 rob not the poor because he is poor. Don't take advantage of him in his poverty, neither oppress the afflicted in the gate in the law courts, for Jehovah will plead their cause and despoil of life those that despoil them. Do you hear that? God threatens your life. You take advantage of the poor. God says, I will take your life. Not only will I defend them in the courts, not only will I become their advocate, but I will become the avenger who brings punishment upon you even to the point of death, because of your lack of mercy. And so why should we help the poor? For their own sake, of course. But we should help the poor for our sake too, that we might be happy and blessed and protected and taken care of by God. But thirdly, the book of Proverbs says we should help the poor for God's sake, because you see it on honors God when we care for the poor. Proverbs 14:31. He that oppresseth the poor reproacheth his Maker, but he that hath mercy on the needy honoreth him. When you oppress the poor, you are as good as oppressing the Creator of that poor person, His Maker. If you have mercy on him, you are honoring the poor person's Maker. The way you treat the poor person is the way you treat God. The book of Proverbs would tell us. And so Proverbs 17:5 says that if we oppress the poor, we are really reproaching God. And if we mock the poor, God's punishment will be upon us. Proverbs 17:5. Whoso mocketh the poor reproacheth his Maker. And he that is glad at collecting calamity shall not be unpunished. Don't rejoice in the plight of the poor. Don't mock the poor, don't oppress the poor. Because if you do so, you are mocking and reproaching God, and He will punish you for that. We've already seen in Proverbs 19:17 that if we lend to a poor person, it's as though we are lending to God Himself. I believe this is the religious background, the teaching background for Jesus own words in Matthew 25, where he says, the day is coming when he will return and separate the sheep from the goats, and the sheep he will welcome into his Father's kingdom. Because when he was naked and poor, imprisoned and thirsty, people ministered unto him. And then those who are on the right hand, those who are the sheep, will say, but Lord, when did we see you naked? When did we see you poor? When? When did we see you thirsty or imprisoned and minister to your needs? And what is Jesus? Answer inasmuch as you did it unto one of the least of these my brothers, you did it unto me. The message of the Book of Proverbs, reproach the poor, you reproach his Maker. Honor the poor, you honor his Maker, you do it as unto God himself. So why should we care for the poor? For their own sake, for our sake, and for the sake of God in his name, we should care for the poor. I think, finally, there is an insight in the Book of Proverbs as to why Christianity has always been characterized by such concern for the poor. In Proverbs 28:3, we have kind of an indirect insight into that fact. There we read, a needy man that oppresses the poor is like a sweeping rain which leaves no food. You have to stop and think about that one. That's one of the tough proverbs. A needy man who oppresses the poor. That is, a needy man who takes advantage of another needy man. Somebody who is in need himself ought not to be oppressing others who are in need. And if you do, you're like the sweeping rain, which instead of prospering the crops that food might come, is so destructive that it ruins the crop crops. And farmers know that freakish event sometimes when they see the storm clouds rolling in and the rain's going to come, that they need for their crops. But the rain becomes so violent that it actually ends up destroying the crops. So is a needy man who oppresses another needy man. There is that freakish, unnatural fact that certain needy people are uncharitable and oppressive to others who, like themselves, are also needy. You see, the Christian faith begins with the very sober acknowledgment and admission of our own spiritual poverty and need. If we are needy people, we can't oppress the poor. If we are needy people, we can't be like the rain that destroys the poor and the crops. We need to be like the rain that prospers them. The Christian faith understands this proverb. The Christian faith says, look, we begin as poor people before God. And as poor people, we are concerned for others who are poor as well. Jesus said, blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Poor in spirit, not just in pocket, but those who know that before God they have nothing, who before God must be humility before God, who must be bowed down, who know that their resources are nothing but what God provides. Those who are so poor in spirit as to see that will inherit the kingdom of heaven. Revelation 3:17. Jesus condemns the church at Philadelphia. Excuse me, at Laodicea, he says, because you think you are rich and you are poor, you had better buy of me true wealth. You think you are rich. Genuine Christianity begins with the humble acknowledgment of our spiritual poverty. We are nothing before God. And that's why it should not surprise you, should not be considered manipulative on the part of the Apostle Paul. When in Second Corinthians, the eighth chapter, which we read this morning, Paul is appealing to the Corinthian Church to be liberal in their giving, to help other Christians who are in need, especially in Jerusalem. And Paul uses as the reason for the need of Christian charity that you know the Lord Jesus Christ, how, though he was rich, yet became poor, so that you, through his poverty, might become rich. Christians are generous toward the poor because Christians know their own poverty. And Christians know the example of the Lord Jesus Christ, who had everything at his disposal, who was the very Lord of glory, who reigned from all eternity with the Father and the Spirit, who is the Creator of all things. And yet for our sakes gave up his wealth, gave up his privilege, gave up his comforts, and came and lived a life on earth. And where was this savior of men born? Where was this king of kings and Lord of lords? And where did he minister? He was born in a stable and ministered among peasants and was rejected of the wealthy on earth. And how did he die? He did not die as all men die, nice long life or with some disease. He died because men put him to death and put him to death as a criminal. You know the grace of our Lord Jesus, friends, don't you? Though he was rich, he became absolutely destined, destitute, not only in earthly terms financially, but destitute of reputation, destitute of health and very life itself. Though he was rich, for your sake he became poor. Why? So that through that poverty, you who are so poor and naked as to have nothing before God, might become wealthy, might become rich, might become the children of a king. My father is rich in houses and lands. He holds the wealth of the world in his hands, and that's ours. For all things are yours. Paul says in First Corinthians 3, all things are yours because you belong to Christ, the one who was impoverished, that you might become wealthy. That's why Christianity cares for the poor, because we understand first of all that Jesus poverty enriched us. And so we must now take what earthly riches we have to be willing to help others as well. You see, it's just inconceivable that a poor sinner could be enriched by the gracious salvation of Jesus Christ and not then show pity upon the poor. It's the very fleshing out of the gospel which we believe when we take care of the poor. It is in fact pure an undefiled religion before God to visit the widows and the orphans in their affliction because God once visited us in ours. Let's pray. Lord, give us generous hearts this morning. Hearts that have been truly touched by the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit. Hearts that have been brought back from the dead. Hearts that have been shown our own spiritual poverty that we might become rich through the redemptive mercies of our Savior Jesus Christ. Help us to understand how you have responded to us, that we might in your name respond to others likewise. Lord, we ask you that you would forgive us our debts, that we might learn to forgive our debtors. Teach us also to take the riches you have shown to us and to turn around and to be rich toward others. That we might do this for their sake, for our own sake, that we would be blessed and taken care of by you, but above all, for your sake. Because you are the one above all who knows how to show grace. We thank you for that grace. In Jesus name, amen.