ASI Southern Union 2024: His Capital Gains

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ASI Southern Union

Alistair Huong

Does God Want Me to be a Millionaire?

It's nice to see you here this morning in Gatlinburg, Tennessee.

This morning, you see the title on the screen here, but perhaps just by way of brief introduction in our next session this afternoon, I'll give a little bit more of a thorough introduction of myself and my background.

Most people here know me as associated with Audioverse, and we are a ministry that distributes free Adventist media online, And so the question inevitably results is, well, why are you talking about money?

Well, the reason is because I actually work part-time as a financial planner.

I have a business called Avent Edge Financial.

I have a professional designation in financial planning, and so I do have some professional training and interest in that area.

And so it is under that capacity, with that hat on, that I am addressing you today in my seminars.

And so the title of our seminar session today is Does God Want Me to Be a Millionaire?

And we are talking, we're gonna be looking at Bible principles on wealth.

And the way that this hour is gonna be organized is the first portion, we're gonna be primarily looking at inspired counsel from the Bible and the spirit of prophecy, and then we'll be taking a look at some nuts and bolts and some more practical application type things regarding money.

So, without going any further, Let's bow our heads for prayer to invite the Holy Spirit to be with us now.

Father in heaven, I thank you for this time we can gather to study together, to encourage each other in greater faithfulness and usefulness in your mission.

And now as we take a moment to contemplate your capital gains in the context of the literal capital that you have placed into our hands and stewardship, we pray for wisdom and that the Holy Spirit might be our teacher and our guide.

Open our hearts and minds and may we take home something that will help us be better servants of the Lord today.

So to begin, let's take a look at some familiar passages in scripture, shall we?

Jesus says, and again I say unto you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.

This is associated with the story of the rich young ruler.

He walked away very sorrowful, for he was very rich.

And Jesus then interjects this very statement.

It sure makes us sound like it is impossible for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.

And if you pair that up with the story of the rich young ruler, and then also shortly thereafter, there is also the story of Zacchaeus.

And then in the gospels, there's also the story of Nicodemus.

All of these wealthy people associated with Jesus, they all found, well, not the rich young ruler, but some of them found their way of salvation.

And it sounds like if we take the sum total of those stories, the only way for them to be saved was if they gave away all their riches, right?

The rich young ruler wasn't willing to do it, and so Jesus says, easier for a camel to go through an eye of a needle for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.

Zacchaeus gives away all his goods, and Jesus says, salvation has come.

Nicodemus eventually ended up as a poor man when he finally came to the light and accepted Jesus.

Okay, well that kind of seems like the trend of those stories.

Weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.

Your riches are corrupted and your garments are moth-eaten.

Your gold and silver is cankered, and the rust of them shall be a witness against you and shall eat your flesh as it were fire.

You have heaped treasure together for the last days." Speaking specifically now about the end times, the time in which we believe we're living, It sure sounds like riches are a curse.

Doesn't it look that way in this passage?

And so it seems to me when I look at this passage that if we believe that we are living in the last days, that We ought to avoid having any riches.

Back to Matthew chapter 6, verses 19 through 24.

Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal.

But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in and steal.

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

No man can serve 2 masters, For either he will hate the 1 and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the 1 and despise the other.

You cannot serve God and mammon." So the question is, who is our master?

And God and money are here put in opposition to each other.

You can choose 1 or the other, but not both.

And quite frankly, when we look at the world around us, it's quite obvious that for many people in the world today, money is their God.

Perhaps the most famous passage in scripture about money, 1 Timothy 6.10, 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." The love of money is just another way of describing greed or selfishness, covetousness.

These are all foundational precursors, if you will, foundational building blocks for every sin that results.

That is, is it possible to be afflicted with the love of money even if we don't have any?

We can covet even when we don't have much at all.

We'll come back to this thought in a moment.

But to summarize what we have looked at so far, it sure seems like the Bible condemns wealth.

The verses that we read, doesn't it seem that way?

The Bible seems to indicate that if you want to be saved, don't be a rich man.

If you want to be saved, don't be a rich man.

If you want to be saved, and the last days in particular, your riches will be a curse to you.

Do not love money and also make sure that you are serving God and money, and you can't serve both.

So, is it true then that a life of sanctification equals a life of poverty?

If we think about this logically and we just take these verses we've looked at, it is possible to come to the conclusion that we ought not have any wealth at all.

Because by any measure, even the poorest among us gathered here in Gatlinburg, I mean, we are in Gatlinburg, for crying out loud.

We are extremely wealthy, and so by the global measure of wealth, every single 1 of us would be condemned if we are to look at wealth in this way.

Should we not then shun all material goods, move into a cave, live in a cardboard box, eat dog food?

I mean, you can see it's easy for us to come to those kinds of conclusions.

But what is the principle when it comes to studying the Bible?

The basic principle of Bible study is this.

We need to take the whole counsel of the Lord.

If these were the only verses in all of Scripture that deal with wealth, then indeed that would probably be a logical conclusion, but those are not the only passages dealing with wealth from the Lord's Word, God's Word.

So let's take a look at some of the other verses, shall we?

Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.

When you look at this passage, I think a lot of times we automatically assume this is simply talking about spiritual prosperity.

But if you look at the way that this verse is constructed, it is very obvious that it's not only talking about spiritual prosperity because John says, I wish that you prosper, number 1, and be in health, Number 2, even as your soul prospers.

Those are 3 distinct items that he's itemizing.

And he's recognizing you have grown spiritually, and in the same manner, I wish that you would prosper materially as well as in health.

Deuteronomy 8.18, But thou shalt remember the Lord thy God, for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth.

Now, if it is evil and sinful and dangerous and a curse to have wealth, then why would God be the 1 that claims that he gave us the power to get wealth?

God intends material prosperity as well as spiritual prosperity and he gave us the means to acquire it.

Let's take another passage in Deuteronomy.

Does God Want Me to be a Millionaire?

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