In the sermon 'The Cause and Cure of Poverty' by Peter Allison, various biblical perspectives on poverty and wealth are explored. The speaker emphasizes that poverty is often misunderstood and is not solely the result of one's character but can be caused by a range of factors including oppression, laziness, incompetence, and a love of pleasure. The Bible encourages us to have mercy on the poor, while also recognizing that some poverty is a result of personal failings such as an unwillingness to work, gluttony, or lack of generosity. Honest labor is praised as a means to avoid poverty, and diligence in work is encouraged. Additionally, oppression, including unjust laws and systemic issues, is highlighted as a significant cause of poverty. The sermon also discusses the importance of listening to instruction and being teachable. However, it is noted that those who willfully refuse to work should not be supported. The sermon concludes with the reminder that Christ offers spiritual riches to those who trust in Him, transforming the lives of the poor in spirit and providing them with the grace and wisdom needed to overcome their challenges.

Our scripture reading this morning is from Proverbs chapter 14, a section dealing with riches and poverty. I'd like to read four verses, or five, 20 through 24. The poor man is hated even by his neighbor, But the rich has many friends. He who despises his neighbor sins, but he who has mercy on the poor happy is he. Do they not go astray who devise evil?

But mercy and truth belong to those who devise good. In all labor there is profit, but idle chatter leads only to poverty. The crown of the wise is their riches, but the foolishness of fools is folly." Thus far the reading of God's Word. May He write its truth upon our heart and add His blessing to it. Heavenly Father, please come now and visit us with Your Word.

May You give us understanding. May you give us understanding. May you enable me to proclaim with clearly and simply the truth of your Word, which does endure to all generations. Your Word is truth. In Christ's name we ask, Amen.

The Bible has a lot to say about poverty and about wealth. A lot. Far more than we could hope to cover this morning. I suppose we should start though by understanding what poverty is. Poverty as the Bible talks about it.

Poverty is destitution. To be destitute. To not have food or sufficient sufficient food or sufficient clothing or sufficient shelter or to be able to Provide for your your health your bodily needs That's destitution The Bible says that if we have these things, then we should be content. We may not have much, But if we have a place to live, if we have sufficient food, if we have adequate clothing, if we have protection, in other words, then we should be content with these things. Now it's easy to stereotype the poor and the rich.

It's easy because there is a measure of truth in some of the stereotypes. True in general that God is for the poor and against the wealthy. That's simply not a general truth, although as we'll see later, The Bible has a lot to say, and it is an especially egregious sin to mistreat the poor. It's an aggravated sin to mistreat the poor even more than it's a sin to mistreat others. He who despises his neighbor sins, but he who has mercy on the poor happy is he.

Remember in those Proverbs, these couples, they go together and we need to bring what's in the first clause, in the sense, into the second and bring what's in the second back into the first, to fully understand all that's being said. And so this is speaking about despising our neighbor. That's wrong. That is a sin. But it has, especially in view, the poor.

But He who has mercy on the poor, and also specifically, but in general as well, it has in view our neighbor, happy is He. Some poverty is the fault of the poor and arises from sins and character problems. But that's not the only cause of the poor. There are many other causes of poverty. The Bible has a lot to say about the causes of poverty.

Yes, and some of them are our own faults. Such as an unwillingness to work. That's in verse 23 says, in all labor there is profit. Even in lowly manual labor, in digging of ditches. There is profit.

You can live by manual labor. But idle chatter leads only to poverty. Proverbs 10-4 says, A slack hand, a hand that is not diligent in labor, a hand that is, for whatever reason, procrastinates, Never gets around to getting something done. Or a slack hand is a hand that doesn't work diligently. It's just a half-hearted work that doesn't accomplish everything that could be accomplished in the time that is allotted.

A slack hand, the Proverb says, causes poverty. But the hand of the diligent makes rich. How long will you lie there, oh sluggard? When will you arise from your sleep? A little sleep.

A little slumber. A little folding of the hands to rest and Poverty will come upon you like a robber. It sneaks up. You don't think that you'll get poor just because you're taking a few extra minutes of sleep. And like an armed man.

But in all labor, the Bible says, in all labor there is profit. Now the Proverbs are always, when they speak, When the subject is a general category like this, we need to remember that it's speaking, it's assuming honest labor. It's assuming legitimate labor. There is no profit in illegitimate or sinful labor. So we need to remember that.

It's speaking about honest labor. In all proper labor, there is profit. Even if it's lowly labor, even if it's what we might call not very profitable in terms of an hourly wage, the Bible says there is benefit in labor. And that those who are diligent in it will be provided for. Love of sleep is another cause of poverty.

Proverbs 20-13 says, Love not sleep, lest you come to poverty. Open your eyes and you will have plenty of bread. A good night's sleep is good. It's necessary. But laziness in getting out of bed is according to the Bible one reason for poverty.

And that's why a schedule is important for us. We are creatures of habit. And having a regular schedule, a regular time to go to bed and a regular time to get up makes it much easier for us to lead a decent and ordered life and to not fall into the trap of loving sleep and coming to poverty. Incompetence is another cause of poverty. Incompetence.

Proverbs 24 recounts The author says, I passed by the field of a slugger, by the vineyard of a man lacking sense, somebody who was simply incompetent to manage the affairs of their property. And behold, it was all overgrown with thorns, the ground was covered with nettles and its stone wall was broken down. Then I saw and considered it. I looked and received instruction. A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and poverty will come upon you like a robber and like an armed man." Proverbs 27.

Be diligent to know the state of your flocks and look well to your herds? For riches are not forever, and doth the crown endure to every generation?" The answer is no. Riches are not forever. We need to be diligent. We need to have confidence in our work.

We need to look well to the state of our business. The hay appears and the tender grass shows itself, and the herbs of the mountain are gathered. When we have a saying that's common, we have to make hay while the sun shines. There's a limited time when the hay appears and you can make food. And if you are sleeping or lackadaisical about getting that work done, the window closes and you're without food.

Your animals are without food. The lambs are for your clothing and the goats are for the price of the field. And you shall have goat's milk enough for your food, the food of your household and for the maintenance of your maidens. Another reason for poverty is unteachableness. Being unwilling to learn.

Being unwilling to listen to somebody else who might have some wisdom about your situation. Proverbs 13, 18, poverty and disgrace. Come to Him who ignores instruction, But whoever heeds reproof is honored. Poverty comes to those who do not listen to instruction. There are just more things than we can figure out on our own.

That's one reason in the area of doctrine we have confessions. They are reliable guides as to the wisdom of the Scriptures. Yes, we need to understand why we do the things we do, but that takes time, it takes effort, and it takes years sometimes to learn why we do the things we do, to study these matters. And in the meantime, we have the guide of the confession, written by men to whom these things have been entrusted. Timothy was to commit to faithful men the truth, these words, sound words, and they in turn to other men.

So we have that benefit. And the same is true in our business. Those who will not listen to the old timers. The men who have been around a while, or the women who have been around a while, who know how things work, who know how to do things. Poverty and disgrace come to those who will not listen to instruction.

Another reason for poverty in the Scriptures is a love of pleasure. Gluttony being The love of wine and food. Proverbs 21, 17. Whoever loves pleasure will be a poor man. And he who loves wine and oil will not be rich.

Think of in our day, it might be movies. How many hours, how many productive hours are wasted just watching a movie? Now there's nothing wrong with pleasure. There's nothing wrong with food and good wine and a good movie. But what Proverbs is saying is that a love of these things can lead to poverty.

Proverbs 23, 20, Be not among drunkards, or among gluttonous eaters of meat. For the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty, and slumber will clothe them with rags." The drunkards come to poverty in many different ways. Those who cannot control their own bodies, those who have no self-control about how they care for their body, the food they put into their body. That lack of self-control often brings a lack of self-discipline in the area of work as well, in addition to the problems that may come directly from gluttony and drunkenness. One of the leading causes why sometimes people don't come to work on a regular basis is drunkenness, or should I say missing work.

Being undisciplined and unable to focus upon a task at hand, being unable to focus our effort on to know what we need to put our nose to the grindstone and know what we need to complete. Another cause of poverty, Proverbs 28, 19, whoever works his land will have plenty of bread, but he who follows worthless pursuits will have plenty of poverty. I've had days like this. You start one thing and then another thing and then you find another thing to do and another thing to do and pretty soon half the day is gone and you haven't gotten out to do what you said about to do at the morning. Maybe some of those things are even not worthless, But there has to be a focus.

We have to be able to focus our effort on and to understand what needs to be done. Whoever follows worthless pursuits will have plenty of poverty. Have plenty of poverty. You can think of the people today who might spend hours and hours playing video games instead of working, instead of building skills, instead of laboring with their hands that they may have to provide for those who are in need. Lack of generosity and a love of money is another cause for poverty according to the Bible.

A stingy man hastens after wealth and does not know that poverty will come upon him. Proverbs 28, 22. Proverbs 11, 24. There is that that scatters and yet increases, and there is that that withholds more than is meat, more than is fitting, but it tends to poverty. The miser, the one who is trying to gather his money, the Proverb says, he doesn't realize that's coming to poverty.

The one who is generous and distributes, he increases. I have heard stories, although I don't know, I've heard stories from reliable, true stories from reliable people, though I haven't heard them myself, or known of them myself, of, in one case, a wealthy retailer who was very old, who decided in his old age that he was going to give his money away to worthy causes. And he told a group of board members of his plans to do so, and his fellow board members. And he came back a year later and said, I failed. I tried.

But the more I gave away, the greater the Lord blessed my investments. And I now have more than I had last year. Greed is another cause of poverty. Proverbs 22, whoever oppresses the poor to increase his own wealth or gives to the rich will only come to poverty. So those who oppress the poor are those who will come to poverty.

He that by usury and unjust gain increases his substance, he shall gather it for him that will pity the poor." In other words, he's going to lose what he's hoarding. But rather those who have pity on the poor will receive the wealth of those that by usury is interest. Whoever oppresses the poor to increase his wealth or gives to the rich, whoever he that by usury, He that charges interest to those who are in need, He's going to gather that money for those who have pity for the poor. So those who oppress the poor come to poverty. But another area of poverty is oppression.

Oppression. And that has nothing to do with one's character. Oppression is not a fault of the person who is poor. Oppression is exploiting people's weaknesses, like they're in trouble, their property is flooded, they've lost power. To exploit those weaknesses, to oppress, to defraud.

Oppression is defrauding, cheating, and stealing. Oppression can take many, many, many, many, many different forms. But oppression is a cause of poverty. It's probably one of the biggest causes of widespread poverty, is oppression. Not laziness.

Oppression, some examples of oppression would be a denial of justice. A judge that won't enforce the law, he won't enforce restitution. You've been robbed. And a judge will not enforce restitution. Remember, the Bible is always concerned with making the victim whole and doing so at the expense of the criminal.

So a judge that won't enforce the law, a judge that won't bring justice to that situation and mandate restitution can result in uncompensated losses. Unjust laws that provide no compensation to the victim, is another example of oppression. Or in our land, not only not providing any compensation to the victim, but requiring the victim to pay the criminal. If somebody steals your car, and totally smashes it up and destroys it, and the police find it and they say, oh, there's your car, sorry about that, it's just a crumpled pile of metal. But we caught the guy.

Then what happens? Does he have to make restitution in our land? No. No. Then the victim who lost his car now has to pay to feed and clothe the guy.

That's oppression. Racism is a form of oppression, resulting in denial of justice. Proverbs 13, 23 says, Proverbs 13, 23 says, The fallow ground of the poor would yield much food, but it is swept away through injustice. Exodus 23 says, You shall not fall in with many to do evil, nor shall you bear witness in a lawsuit, siding with the many so as to pervert justice. What happened to Naboth's family?

They brought at Jezebel's instigation, they brought false charges against Nabal. They got worthless fellows to bear false witness, to join in the lawsuit against him, Convicted him of blasphemy and executed him. That's oppression. And what happened to his family? Ahab took hold of his vineyard.

What was his family now going to live on? They came to poverty through oppression, through injustice, a denial of justice, a travesty of justice. Oppressive laws can be another cause of poverty. We have so many laws today that everyone commits three felonies by lunch. We don't even know it.

We have more laws than anyone could possibly know. Until you try and do something. Until you try and engage in productive business. Until you try and give food to the poor on the streets of Houston. And you find out there's a law that you can't do it.

That's oppression. That brings poverty and keeps people in poverty. Laws that outlaw labor by young people who haven't reached the years of majority. You're depriving them of the ability to learn as a young person the skills by which they can provide for themselves and their family. I have a video I downloaded off the internet.

It comes out of China, at least the boy in it looks Chinese or maybe Korean. He is operating a big bucket loader. I mean a big one, you know, the ones with tires that are six feet tall. He is barely taller than the seat, And he certainly can't sit in the seat. He uses the seat to push his back up against, to be able to push the pedals on the floor, and then operate the levers with his other hand and hang onto the steering wheel.

So he's grabbing on the steering wheel pulling on the steering wheel is back against the seat to operate the pedals on the floor and this boy is operating this bucket loader to to move gravel and cement to make in the cement plant And this video is five minutes long and it's all of this boy operating this thing quite skillfully. That's six years of age. In our country we have oppressive laws that prevent that, that stop that. How do you suppose our six year olds are going to learn those kind of skills that are necessary? I went to school with Mennonites when I was in third and fourth grade in Amish.

And I got there as a third grader, and I was a little bit startled to realize that my classmates had been plowing fields on their own since first grade. I was behind. I didn't know how to plow a field. And I was in third grade. We have oppressive laws.

And they are a source of poverty. How many people do we have in our country today out of work? People that aren't even in the employment group, when they give us unemployment numbers, they're not even counting people that are what they call unemployable or outside of the workforce. Because we have oppressive laws that bring poverty. We have legalized theft, another example of an oppressive law.

We have property taxes. You never own your property. In fact, over your lifetime if you were to live in it you would buy it probably several times over in the annual property taxes People have to sell their property that they've lived in all their life because they can't pay the tax every year on it Families have to sell the family land to pay the property tax. We have central banks. We have central banks.

We would be missing a huge reason for poverty from oppression, not to mention the central banks that are in not only our country, but in many other countries around the world. Our Federal Reserve is a monopoly. That's an unjust law that brings oppression. That law allows them to create money out of nothing. No work, nothing.

They just create it. And then they loan it to people at interest. They loan it to us. And we use that debt as our money. And they're making money without any labor.

And actually by this means of being able to make money out of nothing, are able to steal the wealth of the people of our land. Anybody else that tries this would be put in jail for counterfeiting. But it's legal for them to do it. That's an unjust law. It's wrong.

Nobody should be able to do it. Nobody should be allowed to create money out of nothing and loan it out at interest, And then forbid anybody else from doing the same thing. And put them in jail if anybody else tries to do that. That's oppression. Even Maynard Keynes, a perverted homosexual founder of the economic theory called Keynesian economics, which has directed and is the foundation of a lot of how our country is governed economically, understood that this form of oppressive law could impoverish a people.

He acknowledged it. Denial of medical help is another form of Oppression. People who find cures for illnesses are persecuted. We have an example right here in our own city. A man who has found a cure for cancer, he's been able to cure 20% of certain kind of cancer when government medicine can cure zero of those people and yet he's been persecuted for 30 years in an attempt to put him out of business.

That's oppression. How many people are dead today because his treatment that could have saved their life was denied to them. How many families are without a wage earner? Because of denial of medical help. Welfare is another form of oppression that brings great poverty.

It pays people to be poor and irresponsible and creates perpetual poverty that they can't escape. If you wave a poisoned steak in front of a dog and he eats it, whose fault is that? If you wave money in front of people without work and they fall for it, whose fault is that? Both really. The dog is not a moral agent, but we are.

We are. The people who are creating the welfare probably have more guilt than those who use it. Failure to pay wages is another cause of poverty. James speaks about those who by fraud withhold the wages of their workers. Persecution for the sake of the gospel is another reason for poverty.

Paul commends the Hebrews. He says to them in chapter 10, But recall the former days when after you were enlightened you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those who are so treated. For you had compassion on those who were imprisoned, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had better possession and an abiding one. The Hebrews, you remember there was a time in Jerusalem after Pentecost when there was great need around in the city. People were, remember Ananias and Sapphira, their situation arose in that context.

People were selling everything they had to provide for the needy among them. Their property was being plundered and Paul said they joyfully accepted this descent into poverty. That is Certainly not a fault of those people. That was a good work. That was a good thing they did.

And they also had their property plundered by oppression because of their witness for the Gospel. Now there are some poor who ought not to be helped. The text says, He that despises his neighbor's sins, but he who has mercy on the poor happy is He. The Psalms, the Scriptures are filled with commands and references and exhortations to show mercy to the poor. Those who steal are to stop stealing and work with their hands in order to be able to give to those who have need.

But there is a section, a slice of poor people whom we are not to help. We are not to help those who will not work. Not those who cannot, not those who are seeking to work, but those who habitually don't work. Who month after month and year after year do not have gainful employment because of their own unwillingness to learn how to work, unwillingness to listen, or whatever reason, They won't work. Those who will not work should not eat.

Should not eat. It doesn't say they won't eat. It says they should not eat. That means we should not be feeding people who will not work. But that's not speaking about people who aren't able to work or who through no direct fault of their own are out of work at the moment.

That's very different. This is speaking about people who will not, who will not, Will not accommodate themselves to the burdens of working, of a job. Also those who are criminal. Proverbs 28, 17 says, If one is burdened with the blood of another, He will be a fugitive unto death. Let no one help Him." It's futile to help these people.

Proverbs 19, 19 says, "...A man of great wrath will pay the penalty, for if you deliver Him, you will only have to do it again." In other words, you're a foolish if you try and deliver people from the penalty of their sin. A man of great wrath will pay the penalty. If you deliver him, you only have to do it again. Why will you do it again? Because there is no repentance.

And that penalty is what's necessary to restrain that sin. There needs to be a penalty. So don't take it away thinking that you're going to be kind. You're not being kind in that case. These people need to feel the penalty of their sin.

Or the fugitive, the criminal. Well be a fugitive. Somebody who is obviously poor, because he's a fugitive from the law. He's burdened with the blood of another. Don't help him.

Let no one help him. That's a command. Not to help those kind of people. Until they repent, until they repent it's futile. But Christ does protect the poor.

Christ does protect the poor who repent and believe. The Gospel is good news to the poor who are poor by their own sins and character choices. Christ takes away the reproach and the poverty of all who repent of those sins and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ's work. Who though He was rich, yet for our sake He became poor, that we through His poverty might be rich. The poor who is hated by his neighbor is loved by Christ.

The poor who was enslaved to money, Christ frees and makes them His servants. He sends His Spirit of wisdom and revelation to teach those who were unteachable, to bring wisdom to the foolish. The eyes that were fixed on money, He fixes them, those eyes on Himself. And those that were greedy for riches like Zacchaeus are given the riches of His grace and now desire His presence, desire to sup with Him. Those who once loved the pleasures of this world, Christ brings us to love Him, in whose presence is fullness of joy, and at whose right hand are pleasures forevermore.

How excellent is your loving-kindness, O God! Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of your wings, and they will be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of your house, and you shall make them drink of the river of your pleasures." David said in Psalm 34, "'O fear the Lord, you His saints, for there is no want to them that fear Him. The young lions do lack and suffer hunger, But they that seek the Lord shall not lack any good thing." God says to put His kingdom, His righteousness first, and all these other things would be supplied to us. The Lord will be a refuge for those who are oppressed. A huge in the time of trouble.

The prudent are crowned with knowledge. With knowledge. And our text says in verse 24 that the crown of the wise is their riches. And the best of those riches are the riches of the saints, that the saints have in Jesus Christ. Do you have those riches?

Almighty Father in heaven, we thank you for the riches of your grace to us. We thank you that in our deep poverty You have lifted us up, opened our eyes, taken our feet out of the slew of despond and despair, and set them upon the rock that is Christ. You have translated us from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light. And made us heirs, fellow heirs with Christ. Heirs of the one who holds the earth in his hands, to whom the riches of the earth belong, the owner of the gold in the hills and the cattle that graze upon them.

Father, You are sufficient for all of our needs. Oh, give to us this morning that water of life, which we drink, we will never need to drink again. We ask this in Jesus name. Amen.