Adrian Rogers dives deep into the heart of financial issues that families face, exploring the traps and temptations that wealth can bring. In this enlightening episode, he examines the need for contentment and distinguishes between essential needs and mere wants. Through a biblical lens, Rogers sheds light on the importance of family unity and how financial transparency can bring families closer together and lead to mutual success.
Pastor, teacher, and author Adrian Rogers has introduced people all over the world to the love of Jesus Christ and has impacted untold numbers of lives by presenting profound truth simply stated. Thanks for joining us for this message. Here’s Adrian Rogers.
SPEAKER 02 :
Take your Bibles, find 1 Timothy chapter 6. Let me talk to you a little bit about your family and the finances of your family. I can say without a shadow of a doubt or equivocation that money is a root of all kinds of family problems. Theirs was a perfect marriage, but for one feminine flaw. He was quick on the deposit, but she was faster on the draw. Now, that happens many times in marriages, and sometimes, however, it is not the woman who is the spendthrift. It is the man. Many families. Many families, many of our best families are in financial bondage. Would you like to take a little test before we get into the word of God and find out whether or not you are in financial bondage? Just begin to count and see how many of these 11 factors are true in your life. Factor number one, find out whether or not you are charging daily expenditures because of a lack of funds. Factor number two, have you put off paying a bill that is due until next month? Factor number three, do you borrow to pay fixed expenses such as taxes or insurance? Factor number four, does your annual debt retirement on a long-term debt exceed 20% of your annual income? Next. Are you even unaware of how much you owe? Next, are creditors and bill collectors writing you about past due bills? Next, are you having to take from savings to pay current bills? Next, Are you making new loans to pay off old loans? Next, have you even thought about being dishonest concerning money? Next, are you having difficulty returning your tithe to Almighty God? Next, do you and your wife ever argue over money? Well, let’s look in the word of God here. First Timothy chapter six, and I’m going to break into a thought in verse five, perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth. Supposing that gain is godliness from such withdraw thyself, but godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain that we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment, boys and girls, that means food and clothes, let us therewith be content. But they that will be rich, that is they who determine to be rich, fall into temptation and a snare and into many foolish and hurtful lusts which drown the men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil. which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. And then go down to verse 17. 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 giveth us richly all things to enjoy, that they do good and that they be rich in good works.” ready to distribute, willing to communicate, laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come that they may lay hold on eternal life. Now, it is the devil’s plan to keep families in financial bondage. And we’re going to look right here in the word of God and find out what God’s word has to say about your money problems. You say, Pastor, mine is not a money problem. It is a lack of money problem. Well, whatever kind of a problem it is, it may not be truly a lack of money problem, and you think it is. Four words I want to write upon your heart in the word lack, the word loss, the word love, and the word luxury. They’re all right here. First of all, I want us to see something about the lack of wealth. The lack of wealth, and I want you to learn this, the lack of wealth, the lack of wealth cannot take away genuine commitment. Look, if you will, in verses six through eight of this passage again, but godliness with contentment is great gain for we brought nothing into this world. And it is certain that we can carry nothing out. Now watch this and having food and raiment. Food and clothes. Let us be content. Now, one of the greatest things that most families need to learn is the difference between needs and wants. Many of us have wants that are not genuine needs. Madison Avenue is built upon this premise that they can create in us needs and desires so that we will go out and buy things. Americans want something newer, bigger, better, shinier. And so we’re constantly reading the catalogs floating through the mall and the people are generating in us things that we feel somehow are needs and they’re really only wants, they are not necessities. And the children have become victims of these things as they watch television and those masterminds of Madison Avenue know how to sow seeds of discontent in the hearts and minds of our children. And make them see that they will not be happy unless they have the latest product that they saw on television. And so we have all of these perceived needs. And then on top of that, they tell us what? You deserve it. You have earned it. You need it. And you won’t be happy without it. And the truth of the matter is that the desire for more and more is not making us happy. It is truly making us unhappy. And surveys of married couples find out that a major, major, major problem in homes is not sex. It is not children. It is not in-laws. It is finances. And so many of our young couples today get married and they think they have to have in three years what it took their parents 30 years to accumulate. And they can go out and get it with the false god of credit. Now the scripture tells us here that you only have two basic needs, food and clothes. That simplifies it, doesn’t it? I mean, that’s all you need. That’s what the Word of God says. That’s all you need. That’s all I need is food and clothes. And the Bible says if you have that, be content. Now what is contentment? Contentment is an inner sufficiency that keeps us at peace in spite of outward circumstances. An inner sufficiency that keeps us in peace in spite of outward circumstances. Now, if you depend upon natural and material things for contentment, you will never have it. Put down this verse in your margin, Ecclesiastes chapter 5 and verse 10. The Bible says, he that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver. Now, you think if you could just get more, it would satisfy you? The Bible teaches just the opposite. Sometimes people get on a raft in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean or the Pacific Ocean. And they have not enough water and they’re surrounded by water. And they think, well, maybe just a little drink of salt water would be better than no water at all. But if you drink salt water, what happens? It makes you thirstier. And that’s the way material goods are. It’s like trying to satisfy your thirst with salt water. Warren Wiersbe told of an old Quaker who was in his house and next door was a new family moving in and they were just unloading everything that they had. You know, all of the stuff that we gather, that we accumulate. And they were putting all of the toys and all of the tools and all of the finery and all of the gimmick and all of the furniture and all of these things, they were bringing it into the house. And this old Quaker was standing over there watching all of this stuff go into this house. And he’d learned what the Bible says. having food and clothing, be content. Finally, when they got it all in there, he went over there and said, Friend, if thou dost ever have anything that thou thinkest thou needest, come and see me, and I will tell thee how to get along without it. Oh friend, that’s what we need to learn the difference between our needs and our wants. Not to want something is even better than to own it. You don’t have to take care of it. I’m telling you there’s a false God in the land today and that is the God of credit who will give us things that God has not necessarily supplied. Friend, I want to tell you there is one thing that money cannot buy and that is poverty. You need credit cards for that. Did you know that a lot of people are looking around for a good investment? Pay off your credit card debts and you’ll be making about 20%. Where else can you get an investment like that? I mean, think about it. Why should you pay about 20% more? Why should you cut your family income like that? Because you carry those little credit cards. I’m not talking about for convenience. I’m talking about so you can have more. Many of our young couples today need to learn what God’s Word says, food and clothes be content. Some need to get those cards out and have a little plastic surgery. I’m very serious about that. Where is contentment found? Look in the word of God. Look at it. Verse six, but godliness. With contentment is great gain. Now, if you are godly, you’re wealthy. Let me say this, that your personal value is revealed not by money, but by godliness. Your personal value. So many times we look at a man, his stocks, bonds, real estates, cars, homes, etc. And we say, well, he’s worth this or he’s worth that. You cannot measure worth by money. Godliness is worth more than a bank account. That’s what God’s Word says. And so when you ask what is an individual worth, what an insult to Almighty God if you say he’s worth what he thinks he owns. If you want to know what any item is worth, you know how to find out what an item is worth? Find out what somebody will pay for it. I don’t care how much you think all that stuff is worth. Try to sell it and then you’ll know what it’s worth. What someone will pay for it. Any appraiser will tell you that. Isn’t that true? Now, what are you worth? Jesus died for you. You’re valuable. I mean, with his precious blood, he poured out his rich red royal blood for you and you are valuable. And don’t you ever, ever, ever measure your worth by your bank account. Don’t you do that? I’m telling you, friend, that your personal value is revealed by godliness. Your personal virtue is revealed by godliness. Do you think that God measures how good you are by how much money you made? That’s exactly what Paul is warning about in verse 5. There are those with perverse minds who say that gain is godliness. That is, if you make a lot of money, then somehow you’re more virtuous than somebody else. That is not so. Your value is not measured by your money. Your virtue is not measured by your money. That’s an incorrect barometer of your worth and of your virtue. And I’ll tell you something else. Your victory, your victory is not measured by your bank account. Do you think that the most successful person is the person that has the most money? That’s what everybody else says. He’s a successful man. She’s a successful woman. Look what he or she has accumulated. Success is not measured by the amount of money that you have in the bank. And I’m telling you that your value, your virtue, and your victory is not measured by money. You let people put this stuff on you. And you go around sitting in a corner, perhaps, walking with Jesus and loving God with all of your heart and thinking you’re a failure. The devil told you that. The Bible says that godliness with contentment is great gain. Now, you can be successful and have money. And you can be successful and not have money. But success is not measured by the amount of money that you have. David says, the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. That is, little girl said, she misquoted it but really quoted it right. The Lord is my shepherd, I’ve got all I want. Godliness, godliness with contentment is great gain. And what we need to do is get our families together to have a family conference. One of the very first things we need to do is to confess the sin of discontent. Did you hear me? Confess the sin of discontent. Another thing that we need to do is to have a thanksgiving and a praise service. We need to think about what Jesus Christ has done for our families. And we need to add up everything that we own that money cannot buy and that death cannot take away. And then we need to praise God for that. It needs to be a family affair. Get your children together. Have a praise service. And then what I would like for you to do is to honestly, children included, let them in on it. Take a frank look at all of your debt. Look at and write it down. It will be as painful as getting on the scales after New Year’s. But I want you to do it. I want you to do it. I want you to write it all down how much you are paying on interest. And then as a family, set a goal. Say we will get out of debt and we’ll do it as a family. We don’t have to have a new coat. Our car will go 20,000 more miles. We don’t have to have the latest gadget or gizmo or whatever. And we as a family are going to get ourselves out of debt. And then we’re going to celebrate when we do. Wouldn’t that be a wonderful thing for a family to do together? It’ll take a lot of pain. Some of you are trying to hide from your wife, your husband, or from your children. What the family situation is like. How wonderful when a family comes together as a team and says together we’ll do it as a team and we can celebrate as a family. As a family. Do you know how to unify anybody? Get them all working on the same problem. That’ll bring unity in your family. When you get all of the members of your family working on the same problem, you’ll find a family unity that money cannot buy. Just say, hey kids, we’ve got a problem. Wife, husband, we have a problem. Now here’s the very first thing I want you to understand. Listen to what we’ve said. The lack of wealth cannot take away genuine contentment. If you have God in your family, you’re rich. You’re rich. All right, now here’s the second thing I want you to learn. The loss of wealth is inevitable. Look, if you will, in verse seven, for we brought nothing into this world and it is certain we can carry nothing out. Now, a lot of people don’t believe that they somehow think they’re going to take it with them. I think I told you about a man who had heard that you can’t take it with you, so he decided at least he would try. And so he put all of his money in a big jug with a handle on it and put it in the attic. He was going to die in his house. The attic was right over his bedroom. He figured on the way up to heaven, he’d snatch at that jug and see if he could take it with him. And sure enough, he died. And after everybody had come and gone, the wife went up in the attic to see if the jug was still there. And you know what? It was still there. She thought, well, maybe he should have put it in the basement. Now, folks, whether you put it in the attic or whether you put it in the basement, you are not going to take it with you. Look at this verse again. The Bible says we brought nothing into this world and it is certain we’re going to carry nothing out. Now, we need to understand this. If you want to know how much you own, really add up everything that you have that money cannot buy and that death cannot take away because money talks. It says goodbye. And if it doesn’t say goodbye to you, you’re going to say goodbye to it. Now, the Bible says this, Proverbs chapter 23, verses 4 through 6. The Bible says, labor not to be rich. Cease from thine own wisdom. Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? That is, are you going to keep looking at nothing? For riches certainly make themselves wings. They fly away as an eagle. toward heaven. And then put down what old Job said in the book of Job 1 verse 21. Naked came I out of my mother’s womb and naked shall I return thither. The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. Folks, when you were born, you’re born naked. And when you go, you’re going to go shrieved of all of this world’s goods. And so you don’t need wealth. to give you contentment. And number two, what you do accumulate, you’re not going to be able to keep. When will we learn this? A country woman knew it when she said, I wear this world like a loose garment. And that’s the way we need to wear it. The great missionary statesman Jim Elliot said, a man is not a fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose. There are certain things that we cannot keep. There are certain things that we cannot lose. Now, sooner or later, we’re going to die. And they’re going to have our funerals. If Jesus doesn’t come first, we’re going to die and they’re going to have our funeral. Now, I want you to imagine your funeral. Here you are right here in the casket. And here’s everybody coming by to look at you. Now, what do you want them to say about you? Well, he… He really did spend long hours at the office. He really was a good business manager. He really knew the stocks and the bonds. He was a shrewd operator. Is that what you want them to say about you? What do you want your children, your grandchildren, your wife, your husband, what do you want them to say about you? There you are. Jim Dobson is a personal friend, and Jim was telling some of us in a small meeting about a time when he was up with his family playing Monopoly. Do you ever play Monopoly? Well, it’s a great game. By the way, I enjoy playing Monopoly with my grandkids. And Jim Dobson was playing Monopoly. And boy, he was killing everybody. I mean, he had all the green ones. He had boardwalk and park place. He had everything out there. He had hotels on all of them. He owned the railroads. He owned it all. You couldn’t get around the board without paying old Dobson. Boy, he was just raking in the money, making everybody in the family mad. And after a while, he had it all stacked up there. And finally, he just wiped everybody out. They were so mad at him. Got up and went to bed and he sat there looking at that pile of play money. All those hotels. Everybody been peeved and went to bed. There was the winner. Jim said, I had to put it all back in the box. And he said, I thought to myself, isn’t that like life? Isn’t that like life? We spend our lives getting it all away from everybody else. And when it’s over, they don’t like us. And we put it all back in the box. One of these days, folks, you’re going to put it all right back in the box. We didn’t bring anything into this world. We’re not going to take anything out. And we need to understand this. Do you know what prosperity is? Let me give you another word. Sounds like posterity. prosperity is posterity. What are you leaving behind in the hearts and lives of your children? What are they going to say when they come and look into that casket at your funeral? They’re not going to be talking primarily about your bank account. Again, listen, you can’t take it with you. When will families learn this? And here’s the third thing I want you to learn. Now, remember, we’re talking about the lack of wealth. Then we talked about the loss of wealth. Now let’s talk about the love of wealth. Here’s something. The love of wealth may be dangerous. Look, if you will, in verses 8 and 9. And having food and raiment, let us therewith be content, but they that will be rich. Now, what this literally means is not those who are going to be rich. It means those who determine to be rich. Those who will to be rich, those who say this is my life’s goal, those who will be rich fall into temptation and a snare and into many foolish and hurtful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil, which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith. and pierce themselves through with many sorrows. Is your desire, your ambition, to be a rich man, a rich woman? Then you, my friend, are headed for disaster. You are walking on thin ice. I’m not saying it’s wrong to be rich. Many of the most godly in the Bible were rich. But if your burning ambition is to be rich, you’re headed for trouble. And I’m telling you that this is what many people have as their goal in life is to be rich. And God’s word is so clear about this. If that is your goal, why is this? Well, sometimes you hear a person in a graduation, a commencement address, and he will say something like this concerning money. He will say, let me give you young people some advice. Make all the money you can to Just so you make it honestly. Now that sounds like good advice, but that’s terrible advice. Terrible advice. No man has the right to make all the money he can. Because if he makes all the money he can, he’s going to be making money when he ought to be doing something else. He’s going to be making money when he ought to be spending time with his family. He’s going to be making money when he ought to be in church. He’s going to be making money when he ought to be praying. He’s going to be making money when he ought to be sleeping. He’s going to be making money when he ought to be fishing. Money will become his God if he makes all the money he can. Now the Bible teaches that you ought to be productive. And the Bible teaches investment. The Bible does not teach sloth. The Bible does not say that you’re more spiritual… Because you’re poor. Some of the meanest people I’ve ever met are poor people. It’s true. Some of the nicest people I’ve ever met are successful people. When I say success, let me reiterate that. People have a lot of money. Success is not measured by wealth or poverty. It is measured by godliness and But I want you to listen to me. If your desire, if you’re burning gold, if the thing that consumes you is to be rich, then you’re headed for trouble. If that is your priority. And many people who desire to be rich become victims of get-rich-quick schemes. The Bible says in Proverbs 28 and verse 20, a faithful man shall abound with blessings, but he that maketh haste To be rich shall not be innocent. Now you say, well, pastor, what is my relationship to these things? Well, doesn’t the Bible say that godliness with contentment is great gain? So what therefore is my ambition to be rich? No, it’s Matthew 6, 33. Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you. Now, God knows you have need of things. God knows that you have need of food and clothing. And not only does God want you to have your needs met, but God is a good God, as we’re going to see, who’s going to give you a lot of things you don’t need just because he loves you. And God is not a God who is a cosmic killjoy, who makes you squirm like a worm in hot ashes. God is not saying that all I want you to have is food and clothes. That’s not what God is saying. But God is saying that’s all you really need. And if you have me and food and clothes, you can be content. That’s what he’s saying. Now, notice verse 17. Charge them. 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 giveth us richly all things to enjoy, that they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute. willing to communicate, laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come that they may lay hold of eternal life. Now, here’s the fourth and final thing. The luxury of wealth brings responsibility. And by the way, I would say, by and large, we’re all luxuriously wealthy compared to most of the people in the world. Now, let me tell you this. The word responsibility goes with the luxury of wealth. You see, we are stewards. We’re not owners. I mean, God says, what do you have that you’ve not received? The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof. All God has done is loaned it to you. God has made you a steward over it. You’re not an owner. Now, if you think you’re an owner, you don’t understand Bible. Now, let me tell you the difference between a steward and an owner. An owner has rights. A steward has responsibilities. God is the owner. He’s the one with the rights. We are the stewards. We have responsibilities. The Bible says a steward is a man who is to be found faithful. I’ve talked to you about the financial bondage of those who don’t have much and have put themselves in debt. Did you know that you can be wealthy and be in financial bondage? Did you know that? Let me tell you about the financial bondage of the wealthy. A wealthy man is in financial bondage if he seeks satisfaction in his money. Why? Because he will never find it. Did you know that even a poor man has an advantage over a wealthy man? At least the poor man has hope that if I could get enough, I’d be happy. The rich man says, I have it and I’m still not happy. He doesn’t even have the hope anymore. So there’s the financial bondage of the rich when they seek satisfaction in their ownership. All right, I’m going to tell you again. A wealthy man is in financial bondage when his wealth increases his worries. Now, think about it. There are people today who cannot get a good night’s sleep, not because of their poverty, but because of their wealth. Proverbs 15, verse 6 says, In the house of the righteous is much treasure, but in the revenues of the wicked is trouble. Now, if your revenue is based somehow upon your inordinate desire to get rich, all you bought for yourself is trouble. You’ve pierced yourself through with many sorrows. A rich man is in financial bondage when he becomes a slave to his money. I mean, if you’re a slave to your money, you’re still in bondage. The Bible says in Proverbs 23, verse 4, labor not to be rich. That is, you are a laborer. You are in bondage. Money is a wonderful servant. It’s a poor master. A rich man is in bondage when he has no treasure in heaven. Lay up for yourselves treasure in heaven. A rich man is poor and in bondage if he dies a Christless death. Proverbs 11 and verse 4. Riches profit not in the day of wrath. Say, here, God, here are a few millions, Lord. Here are a few thousands. Lord God, let me own into heaven. No. Riches profit not in the day of wrath. So what are the responsibilities of the luxury of wealth? Well, let’s look at them and see. Number one, be humble. Notice verse 17. Charge them that are rich in this world that they be not high-minded. Hey folks, if you’ve got more than somebody else, don’t you strut your stuff. You’re not better than somebody else because you happen to have more. Be humble. Warren Wiersbe says, material wealth is either a window through which we see God or a mirror in which we see ourselves. Number two, be trustful. Don’t trust in uncertain riches, but trust in the living God. You think you’ve got much goods laid up for many years? Friend, an air bubble can hit your brain in the next 15 seconds. What good is your money then? Next, be joyful. Notice again what he says. But in the living God who giveth us richly all things to enjoy. Again, God is not a cosmic killjoy. God is not trying to say, I want to keep you poor. I want to keep you down in the dust. No, God is a good God. The Lord thy God is the sun and the shield. The Lord will give grace and glory. No good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly. And the devil will get you to think that somehow God doesn’t want you to have a good time, but he does. God gives us richly all things to enjoy. And if God has given you a fine house and God has given you a fine car and God has given you a bank account and God has given you good things, I am so happy for you. That’s wonderful. Just don’t trust in it. Don’t trust in that. Trust in the living God who giveth us richly all things to enjoy. Be humble. Be trustful. Be joyful. And last of all, be generous. If God has given you much, look at it here. That they may be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate. Don’t squeeze it and hold it. You are a steward. It belongs to God. God has given you wealth. It is an opportunity and it is an obligation. Now listen to me. The greatest wealth that you have is not in the bank if you have children your greatest wealth is your children now people say well children they make a rich man poor you’ve got it backward they make a poor man rich a rich man can’t take his money to heaven i’m taking my children to heaven i’m taking my children to heaven thank god for a christian family thank god for the things that really matter godliness with contentment is great gain. And that godliness comes when we give our hearts to Jesus Christ and trust him as our Lord and Savior. Would you begin to pray for your own heart? Just pray, dear God, I want to be godly so I can be content. God, I want to be godly so I can give you glory. The Bible says, these things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life. And it comes by believing on the name of the Son of God. Now, if you want that assurance, here’s what I want you to do. I want you to pray this prayer. Dear God, I’m a sinner. My sin deserves judgment. But I need mercy. Jesus, you paid for my sin with your blood on the cross. You died to save me. If I would trust you. I do trust you. I believe you’re the son of God. I believe you died for my sin on that cross. Thank you for doing that. I believe that God raised you from the dead. And right now. Right now. Right now. This moment. This very moment. I receive you as my Lord and Savior. Come into my heart. Forgive me. Cleanse me. Save me. And begin now to make me the person you want me to be. In Jesus’ name, amen.
SPEAKER 01 :
If you would like to learn more about how you can know Jesus or deepen your relationship with Him, simply click the Discover Jesus link on our website, lwf.org. For a copy of this message or additional resources, visit our online store at lwf.org or call 1-800-274-5683. Thank you.
