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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.
What the Bible Says about Gambling
| Sermon ID | 314121145212 |
| Duration | 46:32 |
| Date | |
| Category | Sunday - AM |
| Bible Text | 1 Timothy 6:10 |
| Language | English |
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