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Date Posted: 13:55:18 11/23/05 Wed
Author: Keys to the Kingdom
Subject: Conspiracy in the Church

Do you believe a misuse of our wealth could be a very deadly exercise? Could the misuse of our wealth be deathly serious? That’s what we want to look at today.

Perhaps we think of our own theology of possessions and wealth as something distinct from our Christianity, distinct from our religion. But, as we’ve seen in our series this summer, they are really linked.

We started with Moses and saw what Moses wrote in the Pentateuch about a theology of possessions and wealth. Then, if you remember, we moved to David, to Joseph, and to Solomon, who knew something about wealth. We looked at Jesus’ words, that he talked more about wealth, possessions, and money then he did about heaven itself. Why? Because they are so closely linked.

Today we want to look at the book of Acts—the early church. We’ll finish next week with a look at James and 1 Peter. A look at what the early church began to say and assimilate as far as what we should believe as Christians in regards to a philosophy or theology of our possessions and wealth.

And yet it looks like I’m preaching to the choir. I got back and, $50,000 since March 1? I remember the elders looking at $50,000 from March 1 to September 1—there’s no way!

But we have to have some goal to shoot at, something for our people to pray about, to be challenged about. Pastor Dave gave me a phone call when I was away. “Guess what? We’ve already surpassed it with two weeks still to go!” But, perhaps there are some churches that don’t experience or enjoy that. In fact, if we think through the story here about Ananias and Sapphira we see that they didn’t really believe, they didn’t grasp, they didn’t make the parable of the great pearl their own.

Let’s look at that, Matthew 13: 44-46:

The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it he hid it again, and then it his joy went away and sold everything he had and bought it. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.

Do you believe that is what the kingdom of heaven is like? Is it worth taking everything you have and saying, it’s not mine. It’s not my exclusive possession. I want God to use everything and anything I have for His glory, for His honor, and for the glory and honor of my brother and sister.

The Jews understood the misuse of funds. Jews understood that God gives us our possessions and our wealth in order to minister to other people and in order to promote the kingdom of God. That’s why God blesses us with our wealth. Why? So we can give to other people. They understood the importance of ministering and loving those who are poor among them. Deuteronomy 15:11 approaches that:

There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your brothers and toward the poor and needy in your land.

Are we openhanded as evangelicals, are we openhanded as Christians to be able to take our moneys, to distribute and use them to those who are hurting?

Remember Mary anointing Jesus’ feet. What a strong narrative that was in the gospels. Those that were taking care of the finances among the apostles said, oh that’s a lot of money to be washing somebody’s feet, isn’t it? Remember Jesus rebuking such a comment. The crowd of self-righteous judges judged Mary when the very presence of the poor judges the whole community of believers. Her very presence, giving all that she had and the widow’s mite, giving all that she had, was a judgment in and of itself upon a community of believers that would turn their backs on the poor and seek to use their finances on themselves.

Let’s think about this, Ananias and Sapphira. What happened here? What was going on? We better start in context in Acts 4. Chapter 5 doesn’t just appear out of nowhere. Something was going on in the early church. Look at Acts 4: 34-37:

There were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone as he had need. Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means Son of Encouragement), sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles’ feet.

What an example of generosity. What an example of a Biblical theology of wealth and possessions. He wanted to take all that he had and give it to those who were hurting, to those who had needs, to those who needed financial help.

Here comes chapter 5. Ananias is an Old Testament form of Hananiah. “God has granted” is what it means. How ironic, his name in the Hebrew sense would mean God has granted. Everything you have, God has given you, the clothes you wear, the house you live in, the car you drive. Ananias’ name means God has granted and yet he’s going to hold onto something. He is going to hold onto something God has given him. Sapphira is an Aramaic word for beautiful.

Here it is, the early church, many coming, land and home owners were selling properties bringing in the money from the sales and laying them at the feet of the leadership so that they could distribute it. This phrase, from time to time, is interesting. It shows a repeated as-need basis. It wasn’t a normative, one-time shot. It wasn’t, as you became a Christian you sold everything you had and became communal. It was from time to time, to give to those who had need. Please don’t assume that all were at the same economic level. That doesn’t seem to be the case. The text says that some owned property and some were in need. It wasn’t totally communal, totally socialistic. There were different economic levels there. But the principle was that they desired to live out the example of Deuteronomy 15:4. That text says, “There should be no poor among you.”

The pharmaceutical company, Merck, developed a drug that could cure river blindness from those who had it in third world countries. But when they developed this drug that could cure river blindness they noticed that when they turned around to sell it those that needed it could not afford it. So what did they do? They jacked the price up higher? No. They made a political play on it? No, they didn’t do that either. They decided to give the drug away, free to those who needed it. That was the idea and thought of the early church. They gave things away because some needed it.

You know there’s a concert coming up, coming right here to Woodbridge, Labor Day. John Michael Talbot, anyone heard of him? When he started in a band called Mason Prophet, he was shocked by the materialism within the church and within the world he saw when he was performing. He left the band, Mason Prophet, and began a spiritual journey with many turns. He was inspired by the life of Francis of Assisi. He sold everything he owned and joined a secular Franciscan order. He built a hermitage in the woods near Indianapolis. He crafted his monk habit from discarded Army blankets. He later began his music ministry and founded The Little Portion Hermitage in Eureka Springs. Today, this community, Brothers and Sisters of Charity, have about 40 members of the monastery and 500 members in their own homes worldwide. What did John Michael Talbot do? Why did he have to change like that? Because he grasped what it meant to have a Biblical theology of possessions and wealth, and he gave it away. He could have become very wealthy. He could have gotten a lot of money from his gift, skills, and from performing but he decided not to do it.

Here it is, the early church giving away right in the context of Ananias and Sapphira. They didn’t cling to their possessions as if they belonged exclusively to them. Their possessions were fluid. They were there to give away, to use for others. Some have said, in their studying of some of the Qumran materials—the Dead Sea scrolls—they have this motto prior to Christianity starting and forming: What’s mine is yours. What the narrative shows in Acts is that giving is personal but not private. Do you believe that? We’ve always said in the evangelical community, since I’ve been a believer in 1978, that giving is personal and private. Some commentator I read this week said, yes, giving is very, very personal, but it wasn’t private here in Acts 5.

The second thing we see from this narrative is that somehow they could not see their sins. Look with me in verses 1 and 2:

A man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property. With his wife’s full knowledge he kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostles’ feet.

Now you’re probably thinking, now wait a minute, didn’t the church have all things in common according to Acts 2:44–47? Wasn’t everything together? Why were they holding onto some property? Were they recent converts?

It seems like there were two different entities within that early church. Some did decide to share everything, they sold everything they had, perhaps they didn’t have as much. But then there was another group, perhaps, that had property and decided at points, from time to time the text says, to sell that property and then give it to the church. Some landowners could do that. Or perhaps a family had a property surplus, which did not meet the needs of the community. They couldn’t do anything with it until something would happen. Or perhaps they received an inheritance or a business transaction where they could then turn the property over. The text doesn’t tell us. All we know is that Ananias and Sapphira came across this. Maybe a family had some swampland or maybe it was near Vienna, or it was toxic, or it was dedicated to an idol. Who knows? But somehow this land became available and they gave it up.

Verse 2 tells us that it was with his wife’s full knowledge. It wasn’t just Ananias hurting Sapphira. It wasn’t just Sapphira hurting Ananias. They both knew what was going on—they kept back a part of the money. The Greek term, nosphizomai means to swindle, to embezzle. They stole money that was supposedly devoted to God.

This made me think, how do we do that today? How do we take money that we devote to God? Maybe we promise to give them to the church, in a building-type sense. Maybe we say or tell others that we’re giving money to the church and we don’t. It’s supposed to be devoted to God but we don’t give it.

We use the term in our society, workaholic. People are workaholics. Why are people workaholics? What does being a workaholic do for them? If we really hold to true wisdom, that true wisdom is to be rich toward God, then work should have a limited yet important place in our lives. We will work hard enough to provide for the necessities of our family and other brothers and sisters, but then we leave the future in God’s hands.

But I think what happens in our society is that so many of us get wrapped around the axel of materialism. We wouldn’t make work a means of securing our lives against all possible calamities. I’m wondering if that’s one of the reasons that Ananias and Sapphira kept back some of the money. Maybe it was a protective mechanism; the way you and I might use money to protect us from difficulties, from hardships, from hurts in life.

How else is materialism in the world today? I came across another article, a new hot rage. I’m probably going to be stepping on people’s toes. A few days ago reporter, Leonard Pitts, was walking through an electronics superstore, “I passed a refrigerator that required a double-take.” What was in that refrigerator when he opened the door? A 15-inch TV. A TV in the refrigerator! We’ve reached heaven, it’s here. Now you don’t miss any of the talk shows, you don’t miss any of your favorite sitcoms while you prepare meals. He goes on and asks the salesman, “Are you selling a lot of these?” “Yeah, we can’t keep them on the floor.” He said, “That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever seen.” The salesman said, “Doesn’t seem that way.”

I checked the price tag, this fridge, which by the way, also had internet capabilities, goes for a very cool $3,200. Perhaps materialism creeps in and somehow we start thinking to ourselves, when our brother and sister is hurting, when the church doesn’t have enough money to move and begin planting other churches and reaching people for Christ. “I can’t live without a refrigerator with a TV. I can’t get by unless when someone e-mails me while I’m in the middle of preparing that filet mignon, I gotta be able to get to it! It might be important. It might be a message I can’t live without.”

You might be thinking, what’s going on here? Why did Ananias and Sapphira do this? How could they do this? We’re not told. But perhaps, as I thought through the reasons and talked to several brothers and sisters, maybe they wanted to gain a reputation of being more generous than they were. Maybe they wanted to gain a reputation for being more spiritual than they really were. Do you ever hear that going on in FLOCKS groups or Sunday School classes, someone gives a prayer request to help them be more financially generous? Or somehow they tell people how much they give. Maybe to want to be more spiritual or appear more generous. Maybe it was to gain a position. Maybe he felt like Barnabas and some of the others that we’ve seen in the New Testament, if they gave, they could gain a position. We don’t know.

It’s interesting, a parallel story about Achan in Joshua 7. The same term is used here, the fact that he held money back. Achan, in the Septuagint, Joshua 7, the same term is used to hold money back—to embezzle. The Israelites were just starting to get into the Promise Land. They had just annihilated the people around them and they were moving. All of a sudden, they got routed by a very small army. The leadership asked what’s going on? How could God tell us to go on and then they route us? How could that happen? Somebody is holding onto possessions, God told the people. Sure enough, they brought out the clans and then tribes and then families and then individuals. Here they came, until the Holy Spirit of God fingered one person, Achan. Can you imagine? Sure enough, Achan was the one fingered. When confronted Achan said yes, you’re right, I kept 200 shekels of silver. I kept this whole wedge of gold and I kept this beautiful Babylonian garment because it was so beautiful. I hid it. Isn’t it crazy when we’re materialists, when we worship possessions and wealth? What did Achan do with the gold and the silver and the clothes? He dug a hole and buried it. He must have looked good in that robe buried in the ground. What use did he have of the gold and silver?

And can I ask you, what were Ananias and Sapphira going to do with money? They couldn’t go to their brothers and sisters and say hey, let’s go to the nearest restaurant in Jerusalem and we’ll treat. Where were they going to get the money, they all had everything in common.

We have to ask ourselves today, that 401(k), that big retirement savings, that big nest egg we’re relying on, it might as well be buried. How is it being used? How is it helping my brother and sister? How is it helping the kingdom of God? What are Ananias and Sapphira doing? What was Achan doing?

Let me ask a different question. What were Ananias and Sapphira giving up in order to keep back part of the money? What was at stake? Well, their reputation was shot. Their relationship with God certainly was destitute and buried. Their joy of giving and meeting the needs of others was bankrupt. Trust with others, trusting others and them trusting them—shot, gone, bankrupt.

They lost something else. They lost their lives. They murdered truth for passionate gain. Sometimes we murder the truth of God for our own passionate gain, whether it be finances or position or status or relationship or friends or whatever it takes to murder truth for passionate gain. That’s the dilemma we’re in? Ananias and Sapphira had to deal with that dilemma; greed or mission, things that I have or God. What are they going to choose? Unfortunately they chose things over God, themselves and their own comfort over the mission.

Notice in verses 3 and 4, in trying to deceive the community they were really trying to deceive the Holy Spirit whose life giving power had created the community and maintained its being.

What a reminder for us today. The Holy Spirit in the church is God Himself present in and with His people. When we lie to each other, sometime we want to lie to people outside. The Holy Spirit doesn’t dwell in them but we lie to brothers and sisters. When we lie to the church we’re lying to the Holy Spirit of God. Materialism tempts us to do that. Materialism somehow tempts us to believe that money can shield us from pain, can insulate us from hard times, perhaps serve as a buffer against trials and difficulty. If I have more money I won’t have to hurt like those that don’t. I can have more choices in life, more freedom if I have more money. Materialism tempts us to self-protect from those things that can hurt us very deeply. Please understand their sin was not in not giving enough. That’s never a sin, not being able to give enough. But the sin was in lying about the amount given. It was intensified by the fact that they lied to the Holy Spirit of God through the leadership of the church.

Look at verses 3 and 4:

Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied to men but to God.”

The fascinating thing in the first century is that early on someone might come into the church and for a time they could donate land for the governance of the community but they could still liquidate the funds and use it. Then after a year, if they so choose to continue to give liquidation, to sell it to give everything now and give up the governance of that land and the community decided to receive them in, then they would liquidate it. But for now it was still Ananias and Sapphira’s. Why lie about it? They still could have used it for their own security for their own spending. They could have drawn it back. Except, it may not have looked good.

Jewish commentator, Bart Crosby, said, “Messiah can smell out a man, whether he be guilty or innocent.” Also, the Holy Spirit knew exactly what was going on. Doesn’t that strike fear in your hearts? Those that are answering to their parents still—who dwells inside your moms and dads? The Holy Spirit! Guess what, your moms and dads may be praying, I’m sure they are. God said, “if you ask for wisdom, I’ll give it to you.” So your moms and dads—I’m sure—are praying for wisdom as they seek to raise you and to love you. So, if we turn around and lie to our parents because we believe they don’t love us or because they don’t know what’s best for us. Guess what, the Holy Spirit is the one we are lying to. They may be given truth, understanding, or wisdom, from the Holy Spirit. We should think about that before we try to concoct some lie.

Do you ever notice, like Ananias and Sapphira, before we lie to other brothers and sisters, somehow we devalue the wisdom that they have. We swell our own wisdom, thinking we’re a little bit smarter than mom and dad or those in authority. So we feed them some line thinking they’re going to buy it. We’ve been able to come up with some concoction a little bit brighter than they can come up with. That looked like what Ananias and Sapphira were doing.

But what blinded them to the fact they were lying to the whole community, directly to the leadership, the apostles and the Holy Spirit? Another reminder that we’ve seen in Jeremiah is that sin blinds us. It hardens us and blinds us to what we’re doing. What hardened Ananias, to be so proud and daring in his sin? Sin deceives as so he was very deceived by sin. Then he deceived others. He should have been reminded of 1 Corinthians 3:16-17:

Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him; for God’s temple is sacred and you are that temple.

So when he lied to his brothers, when he lied to leadership, he’s lying to the Holy Spirit. Ananias and Sapphira are dreadful monuments to greed in the Christian community. They are an example to any who may think about tempting the Holy Spirit or vilifying Him.

The Essenes had a rule in their community. Essenes were the people who tried to live and follow God. They had this book called the Rule of the Community. It was a document, which detailed a complex process for property sharing when entering the Essene community. They would surrender property; it was done on a provisional basis until they met the qualifications of being faithful in that community. Property always stayed in one’s legal name for legal purposes. So they still had a right to it. But then after a year the candidates decision and the community’s permission allowed them to do whatever they wanted to with it, that is the faith community.

So why would Ananias and Sapphira do this? The text doesn’t tell us. But I want to know why, don’t you? Why? What would motivate them to do it? Maybe they needed spending money. Someone has said that perhaps they already had spent the money on immoral or unrighteous purposes. They were embarrassed to say where the other money was. Maybe they didn’t have it to give. Maybe just for reputation, wanting to be seen better. The early church did that to their destruction.

I have a little document that I researched and found. A resident at Corinth in the first century, Claudius, writes about Ajunia. Ajunia is written about and inscription dating about 43 AD. Claudius says Ajunia, she was a women of highest esteem who with full measure and generosity aided many of our citizens from her own means. She welcomed them in her home and in particular never ceased benefiting our citizens regarding any favor asked. The majority of the citizens have met in assembly to give testimony on her behalf. This lady is great. The early church said why, because she was generous and hospitable. For this reason, I won’t bore you with all of it; he goes on to give her laud and adoration. For this reason may good fortune attend to Ajunia. It was decreed to commend her for all that she had done. So that was the culture of the first century. Perhaps Ananias and Sapphira got caught up in that. The text just doesn’t tell us.

Also in the Qumran community in the Dead Sea scrolls, in first QS, chapter 6, it says if one person who gives their goods to the community, if they lie deliberately, they shall be excluded from the pure meal (their communion table) of the congregation for one year and shall do penance with the respect to 1/4 of his food. So, if someone in the Qumran community gave a certain amount and lied about it they wouldn’t be able for one year to be able to take part in the communion and they would have to give up 1/4 of their food.

Here’s the conviction in verse 5:

When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard what had happened. Then the young men came forward, wrapped up his body, and carried him out and buried him.

Is it harsh judgment? Perhaps not if we think about 1 Corinthians 5:5, Paul says, “hand this man over to Satan, so that the sinful nature may be destroyed and his spirit saved on the day of the Lord.” Maybe Ananias and Sapphira were going down an even worse path. Peter knew that, knowing what he knew by the Holy Spirit, said maybe his flesh should be destroyed so his soul and spirit will be saved in that last day.

Do you believe that Christians can die prematurely for chronic or severe sin, for lying to the Holy Spirit, for misuse of our finances? Scriptures come up with instances and examples of that, too. Let’s look at three quickly. 1 Corinthians 11:30, “That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep.” Around the communion table, many were coming in and gorging themselves, eating and drinking before brothers and sisters got there. Forgetting that it was a religious celebration and just eating for their lusts and their appetites.

Another verse, James 5:20:

Remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will same him from death and cover over a multitude of sins.

If you see a brother or sister and they’re moving down a bad path, a heinous or ongoing sin, you may be saving them from death. It’s a loving thing to do.

One more, (1 John 5:16-17):

If anyone sees his brother commit a sin that does not lead to death, he should pray and God will give him life. I refer to those whose sin does not lead to death. There is a sin that leads to death. I am not saying that he should pray about that. All wrongdoing is sin, and there is sin that does not lead to death.

So some seem to, in their chronic nature, in their heinous nature and some do not. We may be thinking, oh, if I misuse my wealth God’s not going to strike me dead. He may not in His love, benevolence and mercy. But, if we misuse our finances we may be dying a very slow death as we seek to live for God and love others. It may be a slow death that we’re experiencing.

What about Mr. Judas? Judas seemed to die a premature death, didn’t he? He was the banker. He was the one that took care of the finances for the apostles. He died a premature death for thirty pieces of silver. Many Israelite kings died premature deaths because of their love of possessions and power.

Does it seem strange to you that we link death with money and money with death? Seems strange for Ananias and Sapphira. There’s a large chain now doing it:

Cosco tries to corner the casket market. Now you can go into Cosco pick your casket out, all colors. From cribs to graves, Cosco wants your business, literally. It now hopes to close the deal on your final purchase, a casket. Stores are thinking about earthly things when we die now. Two Chicago area Cosco stores began test marketing six models, all priced at a low, low, low $799. “Some people take a little offense to it,” he said. “Others are very interested. At the price it’s at, it’s a great bargain.”

Shoppers won’t find the caskets in the store [don’t want to mix death with materialism]. Cosco’s final resting place kiosks allows customers to touch samples from the steel caskets that are for sale. Shoppers can choose lilac, Neapolitan blue, or four other colors, and have the casket delivered in about 48 hours.

Next time you go to a brother or sister’s house ask where’s the casket. Do you want to see my new casket? Only paid $800 for it.

It’s not so strange that Ananias and Sapphira, in Acts 5, were mixing death with materialism. Notice in verse 7,

About three hours later his wife came in, not knowing what had happened.

Three hours, why is that important to the text? It was long enough to bury the body of her husband in a crass fashion. You see, we’re told that she didn’t know what had happened. Ananias would not have been prepared and dressed for proper burial the way he typically should have been. There wasn’t enough time to choose clothes, to choose jewelry, to choose the things he might want to have included in the casket. The burial place in the Levitical city would have been about a mile and a half outside of the city. The mentioning of the time may have suggested that Ananias was buried as far away as possible because of his sin, greed, and his lying.

Notice the question Peter asked in verse 8,

Tell me, is this the price you and Ananias got for the land?

We don’t know what happened between his question and her answer. I’ve been reminded lately that truth is the quickest answer. Have you ever experienced that with your kids?

“Why is Johnny crying?”

“Well, you see, I had my bike and then the rain started coming, and and then...”

The truth is the quickest answer.

“Why is your brother crying?”

“Well, yea, he said this and then he did that to me and then...”

“Why is he crying?”

You get more frustrated. The truth is the shortest answer

We don’t know what happened. Can you imagine the rest of them listening as Sapphira perhaps hemmed and hawed, made excuses, trying to find someway out of it. Her answer was, “’Yes,’ she said, that is the price’” (verse 8).

Why did Peter do that? Maybe Peter didn’t have a lot of pastoral experience at this point. He was a new apostle, a new prophet, perhaps. If he had, he would have broken the news to Sapphira about her husband’s death in a private and tender manner before he questioned her. Maybe you would have called her to the side and said quietly, “Sapphira, I’ve got bad news. Your husband lied to the Holy Spirit. He stole money. So I have to tell you this.” Peter didn’t do that, he needed more pastoral experience. Maybe the result would have been happier, but I don’t think so. Why? Because of verses 9 and 10:

Peter said to her, “How could you agree to test the Spirit of the Lord? Look! The feet of the men who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out also.” At that moment she fell down at his feet and died. Then the young men came in and, finding her dead, carried her out and buried her beside her husband.

He was loving, but he wasn’t super merciful. He just told the truth. It’s the shortest answer, isn’t it?

Sapphira falls to her death. Her sin, her lust for wealth, and her emblazoned character to commit the same act of greed and lying as her husband, led to her death.

The last point in your outline, did you notice that conviction leads to growth in the church. Look at verse 11:

Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events.

Great fear, great adoration, great praise, great respect seized the whole church and all those who heard. That’s the second time that is mentioned. The text says it in verse 5, after Ananias leaves this earth. It also mentions it about Sapphira when she leaves. Great fear seized. There’s growth in the church.

Let’s look at 2 Timothy 2:19:

Nevertheless, God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and “Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness.”

What should we do about taking our possessions and misusing them? Putting possessions above the mission that God has for us, whether giving to our brothers and sisters, giving to the church, using them to meet the needs of the poor and needy. If we’re in love with possessions, with wealth, and whatever they do for us, whether it’s giving us status, freedom of choice, or entertainment, if we’re in love with those more than God we need to depart from wickedness and begin to use them in a more godly fashion.

Perhaps the application can also be found in 1 Timothy 6:17-19:

Command those who are rich I this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope I wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.

Interesting that Paul in the passage gives so much direction about finances through Titus and Timothy. You remember the arrogance we saw in the Old Testament as we studied through there. Those that were wealthy, those that had power became very arrogant. So, we have to guard against arrogance as we use our money, our possessions to give, serve, and love others in the kingdom.

You know, the world is saying that money is everything. Misuse of our money is a very dangerous, dangerous thing. Have you ever noticed that the wealthy have the most bizarre problems and most severe difficulties? I could take an hour just to give you example after example. Howard Hughes, perhaps the most extreme. They have the most severe family issues, psychological, isolated loneliness. But the way to stay away from that loneliness and that difficulty and destruction is to have a Biblical theology of our possessions and wealth.

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