Jacob considers himself one of the lucky ones because he's the only one of his family to have survived two years in a concentration camp. He's now nearing 90, and his only remaining joy is the state lottery, which he's been playing for years without success. But then he wins the big one, $10 million. And a journalist from the local newspaper calls on him for a story. And Jacob tells him, as I'm the only one in my family to have survived the concentration camps, this has helped me to decide what I'm going to do with all of this money. So I've decided to donate $5 million to the Save the Children Fund, $3 million to the Simon Wiesenthal Center, $750,000 to the Jewish Museum, $750,000 to the Hadassah Hospital and $500,000 to be shared amongst my friends. I'm also thinking of donating $1 to the Nazi Party from my winnings. And the journalist is aghast. He says, but Jacob, how can you think of donating even one dollar to the Nazi party after everything that's happened to you and your family? And Jacob rolls up his sleeve and points, and he says, it's only fair they gave me the winning number. I guess if I were Jacob, I might figure that I had already won the biggest lottery in life. making it through two years in a concentration camp. So, playing the state lottery is no big deal. But as a believer in Jesus Christ, who desires to live my life based on the principles of Scripture, my view is very different. My view of the lottery, of the casino, of other forms of gambling, is based on what the Bible has to say about gambling. But that's actually where I run into a bit of trouble. You see, if you look up the words gamble, gambling, gambles, gambler, you look all of those up in a biblical concordance, you will find exactly nothing. Now does that mean that the Bible then has nothing to say about this issue? And we as Bible-believing Christians are free to do as we please. Everyone, shake your... Come on, everybody, shake your head. While we may not find these words in the Bible, there are many principles in the Bible that give us direction in regard to this issue. Now, I'll tell you why I'm preaching on this today. I want... No. Some of you remember a couple of weeks ago in in our discussion period in the Second Service. I made a comment about a fellow that I had met a Christian. Good Christian man who just on a lark had bought a lottery ticket and had won the lottery. And after the service, Marion asked me, he said, can you talk to us about what the Bible has to say about gambling? So that's what I'm going to do this morning. We're going to take time to examine this issue from the perspective of Scripture, to see the biblical principles that speak to the issue of gambling. Now, first of all, there is a custom used by God's people in both the Old Testament and the New Testament that seems to indicate that God endorses gambling. Now, notice I said seems. And I speak now of the custom of casting lots. If you have read through the entire Bible, then you know that this custom was practiced often And in very important situations, it was used to divide the land of Canaan between the twelve tribes of Israel. In fact, that's where we get the word lot. Our English word lot comes from the idea of dividing land by means of casting lots. Lots were used to determine which goat was sacrificed of the two on the Day of Atonement. Lots were used to determine the first king of Israel, King Saul. I just read this story in my devotions in 1 Samuel 11 this week. Lots were even used in life and death situations. You remember the sin of Achan? How did Joshua determine who among the hundreds of thousands within the nation of Israel, who had committed that sin and brought defeat on them? They cast lots. And the lot fell on Achan. And Achan said, I don't believe in that superstition. No. Achan said, I did it. And they Now, we're not even sure what lots were. Was casting lots like rolling dice, or was it more like drawing straws, or was it more like pulling a name out of a hat, or none of the above? We don't really know. But we can make three important observations about this biblical custom. Number one, money was never involved. Money was never involved. Casting lots was not a game of chance. There was no Israeli casino. where this kind of thing took place. And that's an important distinction. While very important decisions were determined by lots, it was not a means of transferring wealth. No many ever changed hands by casting lots. And as we continue our study this morning, as we see the biblical principles We'll understand that that is a very important distinction. God never intended anyone to depend financially on casting lots. And because of this detail, no one can really argue that casting lots and gambling in the modern sense are even in the same category. Secondly, casting lots was not a matter of chance. Casting lots was not a matter of chance. The view of God's people in regard to casting lots is summed up in Proverbs 1633. And I'm going to ask you to turn there with me, please. Proverbs 1633. Proverbs 16.33, the lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord. God's people never regarded those decisions that I listed a few moments ago as matters of chance. Rather, the lot was regarded as a means of God revealing His will in a matter. You read the stories that I just spoke of a few moments ago, and that point is very clear. This custom does not endorse a view of the universe that says that everything evolved by random chance and we have no better way to order our lives than by rolling dice. Casting lots was a means of referring matters to God. To depending in faith on His providence in a matter. However, in the third place, casting lots was not continued after Pentecost among God's people. Casting lots was not continued after Pentecost among God's people. The last time we see this custom used among God's people was in the choosing of a successor for Judas Iscariot. Acts chapter 1. Let me read that passage for you, Acts 1 verses 23 through 26. Peter gives a speech about the need to choose a successor for Judas, talks a lot about why Judas did what he did and his ultimate destiny, and then choosing a successor, and the disciples proposed two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was surnamed Justice, and Matthias. And they prayed and said, You are, O Lord, who know the hearts of all. Show which of these two you have chosen to take part in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas, by transgression, fell. that he might go to his own place. And they cast lots, and the lot fell on Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven apostles." I want you to notice that clearly they were, by means of casting these lots, depending upon God in His providence to show His will in this matter. But it is also significant that this event took place just before Pentecost. Because what happened at Pentecost? The Holy Spirit was poured out on the church. And it seems from the evidence that we have in the New Testament that from this point forward, the church never depended on casting lots again. Rather, they depended upon the leading of the Holy Spirit. They depended upon the book that the Holy Spirit gave us. And so after this point, we don't see this practice. Even in the early church, this practice was not part of what the church did. And so there seems to be no reason why believers today would return to this practice. You know, some years back, I was involved in a pastor's organization in Western Pennsylvania where I was pastoring. And we had a very successful pastor come in and talk to us. And one of the things that he mentioned, I'll never forget this, was how in their church they came up with their elders and their deacons. They would find all of the men, they would determine all of the men in the church who qualified based on the scriptural principles in 1 Timothy 3. All the men who qualified to be deacons, all the men who qualified to be elders. But they didn't vote between them to determine who would serve. They cast lots. I found that interesting. I mean, you know, it certainly keeps personalities out of it. It doesn't become a personality contest to do that. On the other hand, it seems to me to run counter to the evidence that we find in the New Testament. So, I think that we can set the custom of casting lots to the side as far as seeking to understand what the Bible has to say about gambling. While this custom has some elements in common with gambling, the differences between casting lots and gambling indicate that we can't really use what the Bible says about casting lots to teach us whether or not we as believers can participate in gambling. So, let's turn our attention now to biblical principles that do apply. to gambling. And the first of these principles is a top 10. It is the 10th commandment. The 10th commandment. The 10th commandment reads, you shall not covet your neighbor's house, you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor's. Now, the crux of the Tenth Commandment, the heart of the Tenth Commandment, is that it commands contentment. It commands us to be content with the lot in life that God has given us. Now, let me ask you a question. Can we try to hit the jackpot in the weekly lotto and honestly say that we are content with the lot in life that God has given us? I don't think so. Folks don't spend money week after week after week trying to hit the big one unless they are discontented with what they've got, with what God has given them. Or we can flip this around. In the second place, the Tenth Commandment prohibits greed. And for the vast majority of folks who regularly participate in gambling, what is the attraction? I mean, it is a get-rich-quick scheme. And if you think about it, it is a legalized method of taking what belongs to my neighbor and making it mine. And that is a direct violation of the Tenth Commandment. Think about it. If greed were removed somehow from the human heart, how long do you think the lottery would last? How long do you think the casinos would stay in business? I heard of three clergymen who, like the fellow I told you about earlier, split the cost of a lottery ticket, and you guessed it, they won a million dollars. The first one, a Baptist minister, said, you know, this is such a blessing, but how do we decide how much to keep for ourselves and how much to give the Lord? And he thought about it a little bit longer and he said, I know, we'll draw a circle and we'll throw the money up in the air. And whatever lands in the circle, we'll keep, and whatever lands outside of the circle, we'll give that to the Lord." Well, the Roman Catholic priest thought he would one-up him a little bit. He said, you know, it's kind of windy today. He said, maybe we ought to throw the money up, and what lands outside of the circle, we'll keep, and what lands in the circle, we'll give to the Lord. So they turned to the rabbi, and they said, What do you think we should do? He said, I think we should throw the money up in the air and whatever the Lord wants he can keep and we'll split the rest. Some of you will get that later at lunch. I'm not sure folks ought to be listening to any of those three this morning. Greed. Most of us are familiar with 1 Timothy 6.10. It says, For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. Greed has devastating consequences. not just in the spiritual realm, but in other realms as well. I don't have time to recount. I mean, I could have gone out and done the research and regaled you with all kinds of statistics about gambling this morning. But I'm going to make just one quotation from a book entitled, Gambling in America, Costs and Benefits, by Earl Grenells of the University of Illinois. Dr. Grenells did a cost-benefit analysis to determine whether casinos help communities or harm communities. And here's the quotation. The evidence indicates that casino gambling fails a cost-benefit test by a wide margin. Here's what Grinnell's research found. He estimates that casinos benefit each adult in a community that permits a casino by about $34 a year. At the same time, gambling in those communities costs each citizen between $180 and $289 a year. This is not a good idea. But the cost is more than just dollars and cents because that $190 to $289 a year, what is that money being spent on? It's being spent on more police. and bigger prisons, and more addiction services, and more family services. It takes a toll at that kind of a level. It provides the evidence that what Paul says here in 1 Timothy 6.10 is literally true. Greed, a love of money, and the gambling that it produces pierce people through with many sorrows. A second biblical principle that speaks to this issue has its roots even further back in the biblical record in Genesis 2 and that is the principle of honest labor. The principle of honest It's significant that in Genesis 2.15 we read, "...then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it." Before the fall, God gave man work to do. Work, labor, is not a result of the fall. God created man in his original perfect state to work. Working for our needs is part of the good life that God intended for every human being. Now, the book of Proverbs has a great deal to say about this. I won't ask you to turn, just listen to these. Proverbs 10.4, he who has a slack hand becomes poor, but the hand of the diligent makes rich. Proverbs 12.24, the hand of the diligent will rule, but the lazy man will be put to forced labor. And then a verse I just found this morning as I was finalizing my study. It's not recorded there in your outline. It's Proverbs 28.20. A faithful man will abound with blessings, but he who hastens to be rich will not go unpunished." Now let me read that to you in the message. The message is kind of hit and miss as far as, but I think it hits this one really good. Here's what it says. Committed and persistent work pays off. Get-rich-quick schemes are rip-offs. That's a pretty good sense of what that proverb means. Now, Proverbs includes many other passages that deal with this issue, particularly deal with the issue of laziness, of the desire to sidestep honest labor. But then there are the New Testament counterpart to these Proverbs. And I'd like you to look these passages up with me. So turn with me to the book of 1 Thessalonians. Two passages from the book of Thessalonians. Apparently they had a problem in the Thessalonian church because both of the letters that Paul writes to this church, he mentions this issue of honest labor. So first of all, 1 Thessalonians 4, 11 and 12. 1 Thessalonians 4.11, Paul exhorts them that you also aspire to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you, that you may walk properly toward those who are outside and that you may lack nothing. Then flip over a couple pages to 2 Thessalonians chapter 3. Apparently the problem continued. 2 Thessalonians 3.10, Paul says, For even when we were with you, we commanded you this, if anyone will not work, neither shall he eat. For we hear that there are some who walk among you in a disorderly manner, not working at all, but are busybodies. Now those who are such, we command and exhort through our Lord Jesus Christ that they work in quietness and eat their own bread. Christians are to work, not to gamble in order to meet their needs. By the way, that is why nations that have a Protestant Christian heritage tend to have a higher standard of living. I don't know if you've ever put those two together. It's because the scriptures attach dignity to honest labor. On the other hand, gambling is a means of subverting God's plan that human beings participate in honest labor in order to gain what they need. And I think what's most insidious here is not the casinos. It's the lotteries. It's the legalized forms of gambling. that many people participate in, because that attacks, it undermines the dignity of honest labor. It offers hope of financial gain, it offers hope of financial well-being apart from that honest labor, and that is not what God intended for human beings. Now, I guess it's somehow possible to do both, to gamble and to participate in honest labor. I heard about a farmer who was interviewed after he won $10 million in the lottery. The reporter asked what he was going to do with all that money, and he kind of scratched his head and said, I'm not sure I know right off. Guess I'll keep farming until it's all gone. None of you all know farmers, do you? That's not the idea that most folks have, is it? The idea in playing the lottery is that I'm going to hit it big so I can sidestep the need for honest labor to have what I want to enjoy in life. And then as we think about other principles that apply to our financial dealings, perhaps the most overarching principle here is the stewardship of our resources. the stewardship of our resources. In the New Testament, Jesus relates three parables that describe the kingdom of God. The parable of the talents, the parable of the unjust steward, and the parable of the pounds or the minutes. And in each of these stories, Jesus compares the kingdom of God to slaves who were entrusted with money or goods and then were called to give account of how they handled those monies that they were entrusted with. So, get this. Jesus compares the kingdom of God to stewardship. He clearly teaches all of us who are part of His kingdom that we are stewards. Now, a steward is not an owner, just the opposite. The steward does not own what is under his own control. Rather, the owner has entrusted it to the steward so that he will manage it for the good of the owner, under the direction of the owner, and then someday he will give account for how he managed what was under his control. And that is precisely the position of every one of us here today who follow Jesus Christ with regard to our finances and our goods. We don't own them. We have no right to use them however we please. Rather, we must use them to build the kingdom of God, to further His interests. And we'll give account to God someday about how we handle that very large part of our lives. I like the way one Bible teacher put it. Those lottery tickets and trips to Atlantic City are going to be hard to explain when God calls stewards to account. Now you may think that if it's that way with believers that maybe it's better not to serve Jesus. But you know I don't see that people that serve Satan are any better off. You know, it's amazing to me how good Satan is at devising means for taking money out of the pockets of those who serve him. I had a deacon or an elder in my church in Mississippi who was, by that time, probably already about 60 years of age, and he told me, Since God saved me just in the cost of liquor and cigarettes, I have saved hundreds of thousands of dollars. He was an accountant. He had actually calculated it. And lotteries and casinos are just two more methods that Satan has invented to take money out of the pockets of his people. How many of you have had the experience? You've gone into a convenience store and you've had to stand in line and you've watched person after person after person put their money into lottery tickets. You know, I have a theory about this. I believe that pay-at-the-pump technology was invented precisely so that convenience store clerks don't have to pay attention to the gas pumps. They can pay attention to selling lottery tickets. And I almost always pay at the pump, but when I do have to go into a convenience store, normally it's when I'm on a trip or something and I want to get a drink. I am just amazed at how much money the average redneck spends on the lottery. By the way, you heard about the redneck who won the lottery down in Texas? He goes to Austin to claim his prize money, and the representative of the lottery is there, and he verifies his ticket, and sure enough, he's won. And the redneck says, I want my $20 million right now. And the man from the lottery replies, it doesn't work that way, sir. We give you a million today, and then you get a million every year for the next 19 years. And the redneck says, oh, no, no. I want my money, all of it, right now. I want it, and I want it right now. And again, the man very patiently explains, we give you a million dollars today, and then a million dollars for the next 19 years. And by this point, the redneck is literally red. And he's just furious, and he screams, look, I want my money, and if you're not going to give me my 20 million dollars right now, then I want my dollar back. I'm glad you all got at least one joke today. I think these three principles are enough to convince most of us that gambling in any form is not in line with God's will as it's revealed in the scripture. But there are a couple of other principles that I think are also important for this discussion. The next is the sovereignty of God. The sovereignty of God. You know, in some ways, it is not surprising to me that gambling in the form of lotteries and casinos is gaining so much ground in our culture. Because gambling aligns with a worldview that is based on random chance. I want you to think about this. People who hold to the theory of evolution believe that the highest life form on earth is the product of random chance. Now, if I really believe that, then why wouldn't I believe that random chance is going to do good things for me too? And so people in our culture who have been infected by the theory of evolution, I think they have little problem putting their faith in luck. It makes sense to them. They have little problem in believing that they will be the lucky one to finally draw that $68 million lottery ticket, even though the odds of winning it are 1 in 395 million. You're more likely to be hit by lightning twice in the same day! You've heard the saying, I get enough exercise pushing my luck? The average lottery player, that's exactly where they are. And we as believers need to repudiate that worldview. For us, living life is never a matter of luck. We do not believe that random chance has done good things. We believe God has done good things. And so for us, it's not a matter of luck. It's a matter of faith. When we have financial difficulties, the solution is not to trust to luck by putting the 20 bucks that we do have in our pocket into lottery tickets. When we're having financial difficulties, for us, the solution is to drop to our knees and to cry out to our God that He be faithful to His promises. Then one final point that goes beyond the personal level. The four points that I have made thus far concern our actions as individuals. But in thinking about gambling, we also must think in terms of our communities and our states and their treatment of the poor. That's my final biblical principle here, the treatment of the poor. Someone quipped that the lottery is a tax on people who aren't very good at math. But that really evades the issue. The lottery is a tax on people who can least afford it. You hear our politicians talk all the time about a progressive tax. We want a tax that costs the rich more. A lottery is a regressive tax. It costs the people who can least afford it more. How many people driving Jaguars and BMWs have you seen buying lottery tickets? Now the Old Testament prophets railed against those who devour the poor. And yet today it is not just the casino owners who are devouring the poor, it is even our state governments. In 49 out of 50 states, some form of gambling, and I'm not just talking about bingo. In 49 out of 50 states, some form of gambling is legal. 44 out of 50 states have state lotteries. I want you to turn with me to Romans chapter 13 and let's look at the duties of government according to God. What God says good government looks like. Romans chapter 13. And I'm going to read verses 2 through 4, Romans 13, beginning in verse 2. Therefore, whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same. For he, the ruler, is God's minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain, for he is God's minister and avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil. Now, in a word, government is there to protect us. It's there to protect us internally by police action, and it's there to protect us externally by military action. But the state government has reversed God's role, the God-given role that they have in order to increase their budget. By what percentage do you suppose? Let's take a little poll. Some of you may know, but what percentage of state budgets is raised by lottery income or from the casinos? Anybody know? How many of you think it's more than 50%? I got one. How many of you think it's more than 40%? 30%? Okay, several. 20%? How many of you think it's more than 10%? How many of you think it's less than 10%? It is about one or two percent in nearly every state. That's all that lotteries are raising. And yet state governments are doing that at the cost of devastation in families and homes and communities when they permit casino gambling. they are subverting their God-given role. Now, how do we as Christians respond to these principles? Well, I think obviously we ought not ever use our monies to buy lottery tickets to frequent casinos and so forth. But it also seems to me that the prophetic voice of the church is heard less and less in the public forum in regard to the evils of gambling. It seems like we've just kind of shrugged our shoulders and given up. We've surrendered to the prevailing attitude. I'm reminded of John the Baptist. You know, he publicly spoke out against the evil Herod taking his brother's wife. Now do you really think that Herod thought anything different was going to happen in the palace because of what he said? I don't. But that wasn't the point. John was a public voice for righteousness. Christians are to be salt and light. We are to be the conscience of our communities. And yet it seems to me that less and less are we as Bible-believing Christians willing to be that voice for righteousness. You know what I heard this week on the news? I was just flipping through. The state legislature of South Carolina is moving quickly, I understand, to make the time necessary in order to gain a divorce much shorter. Is that a good thing? Is that a biblical thing? And yet I've heard nothing, nothing, from God's people on that. There is no voice crying in the wilderness. There is no voice of righteousness in this. So I think we need to find our voices on issues like this. It may not change anything, but someday we'll give an account to our Lord. We're not here to please men. We're here to please our Lord. Do you remember what Jesus said of John the Baptist? He said, not a greater has arisen, born of woman, than John the Baptist. What an epitaph. I'd like Jesus to say something like that about me. But we must be willing to be that kind of a voice. We must be willing to serve as that kind of a conscience. Now maybe you don't have a public voice. I have a very limited public voice. But you know, all of us have a voice in conversations with people. We have the ability to influence within our sphere of influence. Are we a voice for righteousness? As far as other ways to respond to these principles, we'll take time to discuss those applications after we eat some Sunday dinner. I've got some what I think are good questions. John was saying that he had a great question for the discussion afterwards. He said, you know, what if somebody wins the lottery and they give all the money to the church? You come back after the meal and we'll discuss that and similar questions that might be interesting for us to talk about. Heavenly Father, I pray that you will help us to live scripturally, but beyond that, Father, I don't think that there's anyone here that engages in gambling in the sense that we've been talking about this morning. But I pray also, Father, that we would be willing to speak out for righteousness in our culture, that we would be willing to defend the poor in a way that many, even in our state government, will not. And so strengthen us in this way. Give us grace. I pray as we set the tables here in a few minutes as we eat together, I pray that our fellowship would build up the body of Christ here. I pray that we would profit from that fellowship. And then as we return in the second service to to gather around your word and to think about these things and how we can live them out. I pray that your Holy Spirit will be with us in that as well. For I pray all this now in Jesus' name. Amen.