God Wants You to Be Rich

Col 3:16-17

16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. 17 And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him. NKJV

You often hear the speaker tell everyone how God wants them to be rich. Well I had been skeptical in the past but now no more. In the passage today Paul plainly tells us that God wants us rich, extravagant rich. Now I know you think that I might be pressing that point a little too much. Well, God does want us rich, but not how we want to be rich. We want to be rich in money and God wants us to be rich in Christ.

I.         How does that happen?

            A.        By the word of Christ Paul means the Bible

                        1.         Jesus is the Word

            B.        By reading the Bible

                        1.         Josh 1:8 This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.

                        2.         Deut 17:18 “Also it shall be, when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write for himself a copy of this law in a book, from the one before the priests, the Levites. 19 And it shall be with him, and he shall read it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God and be careful to observe all the words of this law and these statutes, 20 that his heart may not be lifted above his brethren, that he may not turn aside from the commandment to the right hand or to the left, and that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he and his children in the midst of Israel.

                        3.         Psa 119:11 Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You.

                        4.         Paul told Timothy that he was to devote himself to the public and priviate reading of the Scriptures. 1 Tim 4:13

            C.        Bible Study, both public and private, “teaching and admonishing one another”

                        1.         Every Christian must be involved in a group Bible study.

                                    a.         Part of that is attending the worship service where the word of God is taught.

                                    b.         It could also involve home Bible studies or SS or some other type of Bible Study.

                                    c.         Paul is telling them that this is a part of the Word of Christ dwelling in you richly.

                                    d.         How would you say God is pleased with your Bible study time.

                        2.         Every Christian must also be involved in a personal study of the Bible.

                                    a.         Jesus said, “Give us this day our daily bread”

                                    b.         And He also said, “Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.”

                                    c.         Do you believe that?

                                    d.         John 15:7 (NKJV)
⁷ If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.

                                    e.         Let me look at your Bible and then tell me that the Word of Christ dwells in you richly.

                        3.         In psalms, hymn and spiritual songs (these are some of the early Christian hymns)

                                    a.         Colossians 1:15-20 (NKJV)
¹⁵ He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. ¹⁶ For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. ¹⁷ And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. ¹⁸ And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence. ¹⁹ For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, ²⁰ and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross.

                                    b.         Philippians 2:5-11 (NKJV)
⁵ Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, ⁶ who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, ⁷ but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. ⁸ And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. ⁹ Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, ¹⁰ that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, ¹¹ and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

                                    c.         1 Timothy 3:16 (NKJV)
¹⁶ And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh, Justified in the Spirit, Seen by angels, Preached among the Gentiles, Believed on in the world, Received up in glory.

            D.        Bible memorization.

                        1.         This comes naturally for those who spend time in the word, in whom the word of Christ dwells richly.

                        2.         But you can also be very purposeful in memorizing scriptures.

                        3.         The Navigators have a good system now from NavPress

                        4.         Or you can do your own, just write down verses you would like to memorize on a card and then carry it with you. Look at it several times a day, when you are waiting, or during a TV commercial. You will be amazed at how quickly and easily you can commit passages to memory.

                        5.         That is by divine appointment.

                                    a.         Deuteronomy 6:6-9 (NKJV)
⁶ “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. ⁷ You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. ⁸ You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. ⁹ You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

II.        What does that look like?

            A.        We need to be aware that all the above is meant to make a change in us.

                        1.         If there is no change then it matter very little how much we know in our heads.

                        2.         it must dwell in us, or keep house—enoikeitoμ, not as a servant in a family, who is under another’s control, but as a master, who has a right to prescribe to and direct all under his roof. . . Many have the word of Christ dwelling in them, but it dwells in them but poorly; it has no mighty force and influence upon them.

                        3.         “The word of Christ.” The Lord Jesus said, “Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you” (John 15:3). The best Saturday night bath that you can take is to study the Word of God. Dwell means “to be at home, to be given the run of the house.”

                        4.         Matthew 13:1-25 (NKJV)
¹ On the same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the sea. ² And great multitudes were gathered together to Him, so that He got into a boat and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore. ³ Then He spoke many things to them in parables, saying: “Behold, a sower went out to sow. ⁴ And as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds came and devoured them. ⁵ Some fell on stony places, where they did not have much earth; and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth. ⁶ But when the sun was up they were scorched, and because they had no root they withered away. ⁷ And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them. ⁸ But others fell on good ground and yielded a crop: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. ⁹ He who has ears to hear, let him hear!” ¹⁰ And the disciples came and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?” ¹¹ He answered and said to them, “Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. ¹² For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. ¹³ Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. ¹⁴ And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says: ‘Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, And seeing you will see and not perceive; ¹⁵ For the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, And their eyes they have closed, Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, So that I should heal them.’ ¹⁶ But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear; ¹⁷ for assuredly, I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it. ¹⁸ “Therefore hear the parable of the sower: ¹⁹ When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is he who received seed by the wayside. ²⁰ But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; ²¹ yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles. ²² Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful. ²³ But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.”

                        5.         Philippians 2:14-16 (NKJV)
¹⁴ Do all things without complaining and disputing, ¹⁵ that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, ¹⁶ holding fast the word of life . . .

            B.        There is a parallel passage to this in Eph. 5:

                        1.         Eph 5:17-19 17 Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18 And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, 19 speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, NKJV

                        2.          “This concept is parallel to being filled with the Spirit in Eph. 5:18 since the results of each are the same. The MacArthur Study Bible

                        3.         “He is rather giving a command for believers to live continually under the influence of the Spirit by letting the Word control them (see note on Col. 3:16), pursuing pure lives, confessing all known sin, dying to self, surrendering to God’s will, and depending on His power in all things. The MacArthur Study Bible

                        4.         “Lord Jesus Christ, letting His mind, through the Word, dominate everything that is thought and done. The MacArthur Study Bible

We shall not be filled with the Spirit unless we are saturated with God’s word; and the study of God’s word will not be effective unless we yield up our inmost being to the control of the Holy Spirit.