Thank you. Be seated, please. I encourage you
to be back tonight as we look into the Word of
God, 2 Samuel chapter 7, to a passage which is
probably one of the key passages, if not the
key passage, in all of 1 and 2 Samuel. Today
I'm going to begin a brief series regarding God's
principles of family finance. We came to a point
in our study in the book of Acts where we were
talking about the sharing of the early church.
It is apparent to many of us that while our hearts
today may be somewhat the same regarding our
desire to share, there are many of us who cannot
share as we would like because of financial difficulties
that we are in. Someone said to me before this
service that he thought that up to 95 % of the
families that come here are in some sort of financial
difficulty. That may well be. I don't know whether
that be true or not. This much I do know that
the Bible says a lot about the subject of family
finances. We're told that there are some 700,
700 families direct statements in the Bible relating
to money. And in addition to that, there are
hundreds and hundreds of others that indirectly
talk about it. Of course, money itself is neither
good nor bad. It is all moral. It becomes good
or bad by the way that it is used by those who
possess it. I would guess that there's probably
not a more urgent need among Christian families
than to understand and to apply what God says
about how we're to handle our wealth. It is said
by some Christian counselors that up to two -thirds
of all of the cases they see where there are
marriage and family problems, those problems
are related to money. Two -thirds of the cases
are related to money Therefore I think it's very
important that we as a church Have some understanding
of what God says about how to handle our finances
Now I'm going to make a statement which is going
to sound a little familiar But it is my proposition
for this morning. This is the point I want to
mainly get across Not only today, but in another
week or two to come God loves you and has a wonderful
plan for your finances. He really does. God loves
you and He has a plan for your finances. You
say, what finances? You don't know how poor I
am. Well, I think I might have an idea of the
stress that some of us are under. And that brings
us to the first point actually, and it's this.
All of us possess wealth. God gives it to us.
That is the first thing I want you to get today.
That all of us possess wealth, it is God who
gives it to us. Now when I use the term wealth,
I'm using it in the biblical sense. It means
whatever we have. It does not mean that we are
rich. We have wealth, all of us, because we do
have some things as compared to having nothing.
Larry Burkett, in his book entitled Christian
Financial Concepts, a complete Bible study course
actually on finances, has this definition of
wealth. Historically, wealth has been related
to ownership, land, camels, cattle, slaves, etc.
Currently, wealth is often expressed in representational
ideas. For example, the dollar has no objective
value as an item, but it stands for ownership.
Similarly, the value of a stock is not based
on the value of the company, but on the collective
opinion of the public about the stock. Even gold,
which has fascinated man through the ages, has
a value based on opinion, as illustrated by sharp
speculative increases and decreases. Wealth is
also related to our creative ability, notice
that, and our credit or borrowing ability, the
trust others have in us. Thus, wealth becomes
an extension of our personalities. According
to our personality, it can be used creatively,
spreading the gospel, building hospitals and
churches, or it can be wasted, spending it on
frivolous activities. It can be corruptive, using
it to purchase influence, or it can be destructive,
buying guns and bombs. And then it concludes
with this very concise statement. Wealth is what
God entrusts to us. Wealth is what God entrusts
to us. It may be tangible or intangible. But
it's anything about us that does or can have
measurable value. That is our wealth. It is God
who gives us wealth. In Haggai 2 .8, the Lord
says that all of the silver and all of the gold
are His. Now essentially what God is saying there
is that all wealth actually is His. because he
is the creator. By virtue of that creatorship,
he is the owner of it all. But God gives it to
you and to me. He enables us to gain wealth so
that we become stewards of what really is God's.
Turn to the book of Deuteronomy, the eighth chapter,
the eighteenth verse. And notice this word, Deuteronomy
8, 18. But you shall remember the Lord your God,
says Moses, for it is he who is giving you power
to make wealth. He warns the Israelites, remember
the Lord, because it is he who gives you the
power to make to create, to gain in your wealth.
It is from Him. Whatever we have comes from the
Lord. The Apostle Paul in the New Testament now,
1 Corinthians chapter 4, says it a little differently.
It's used here in a more generic sense, but it
certainly applies to wealth. 1 Corinthians chapter
4, verse 7. I'm looking at the second sentence
in that verse. He says, what do you have that
you did not receive? It's a good question. That's
a question for all of us to consider. What do
we have that we did not receive? We may talk
about our spiritual gifts and abilities or our
Christian leaders, as Paul is talking here in
this context. Or we can talk about our personalities.
We can talk about our very bodies. We can talk
about the material things that we have. There
is nothing that we, quote, have that we did not
receive directly or indirectly from the Lord.
So God does not condemn the possession of wealth.
Indeed, as we see in His Word, He gives us the
power to gain it. Now a question. How does God
enable us to gain wealth? What is God's plan?
What is God's way for us to gain wealth? There
are three answers, I think, at least, to that
question. Answer number one. W -O -R -K. One
of those four letter words. Work. In Proverbs
14 -23 it says, in all labor there is profit.
God's plan is for us to work, to gain in wealth.
God did not intend for us, necessarily, to be
born with a golden spoon in our mouth, so to
speak, so that we would not have to work. God's
plan is for man to work. Again, in the book of
Proverbs, and you may want to turn there to the
sixth chapter, Proverbs chapter 6, the Lord points
to one of the smallest of His creatures as an
example of work. You'll know what I'm talking
about when you see Proverbs 6, beginning in verse
6. Go to the ant, O sluggard." You say, what
in the world is a sluggard? Well, that refers
to a lazy person, a sluggish person. Go to the
ant, O sluggard. Observe her ways and be wise.
He says, if you want to gain wisdom, look at
the ant and follow the example of the ant. which
having no chief, officer, or ruler, prepares
her food in the summer and gathers her provision
in the harvest. The next time you go on a picnic
and you sit on an ant hill, which is inevitable,
isn't it? They're not there by accident, and
they begin to crawl on the table over your food
to get a little bit. Don't become angry. Realize
that that ant is simply doing what God has instructed
it to do. That ant is working. The ant is not
your enemy. Oh, the ant may bite you or sting
you, if you get in its way, but the ant really
is not attacking you. The ant is simply doing
what it feels intuitively, instinctively, it
must do. It must work to gain provision because
winter is coming. especially in the Minnesota
ecology. And when winter comes, the ant is not
going to come out. How is it that all these insects
are able to live from year to year? It's because
they plant ahead. An ant, for example, takes
all that food down into its home, in the ground,
and all winter long it's able to exist there,
in warmth, relative warmth, being nourished.
in safety, because it works ahead. So God says
to you and me, if you want to gain in wealth,
look at the ant. The ant works hard while it
can to lay up provision for itself. And of course,
the application to that is quite obvious. Now
I can hear somebody say, well, I know we have
to work, but that's related to sin and to the
fall of man. and thus it's the woman's fault
in the first place. Well, there are two things
equally true there, both of which are false,
and that is the woman's fault in the first place,
and secondly, that work is related just to the
fault. Go back to the book of Genesis for a minute
and look at Genesis chapter 3. We do have this
word, to Adam. By the sweat of your face, verse
19, Genesis 3, I have been told that animals
sweat, men perspire, and women shine. But God
says here, by the sweat of your face you shall
eat bread till you return to the ground. And
so after the fall, it is true, God said to man,
you will work. And you will work hard. You will
exhaust yourself in labor. You will sweat so
that you can eat bread until the day you die.
But back up another page. Have you ever looked
in chapter 2 of Genesis? And notice verse 15.
and put him into the garden of Eden. This is
now before the fall, remember. Now why did God
put him there in the garden? To cultivate it
and keep it. So you see, even before sin entered
the picture, it was God's plan for man to work.
Now there is a new dimension of it since the
fall. There is an intensity, a hardness about
it that was not present before. Eden was a perfectly
balanced ecological system. Man would have to
cultivate and till it and keep it. It would not
have been the kind of work that we have to go
through today. But nonetheless, work has been
a part of God's plan from the very beginning.
That is part of God's method for us to gain in
wealth, to work. That was not only God's plan
back then, it is God's plan in this age. The
apostle reminds us when he writes to Timothy
that if any man does not provide for his household,
his family, for his own and especially his family,
it says, then he has denied the faith and is
worse than an infidel. In other words, it is
God's plan in this age, too, for us to work.
He warns in 2 Thessalonians about lazy, busybodies
who want to depend upon other people to support
them, who don't want to have to work and who
beg off of other believers. He says, don't feed
them anything. He says, if a man will not work,
neither will he eat. So you see, work is part
of God's plan for us to gain wealth. The Bible
teaches a work ethic. It is honorable for a person
to be involved in work with his hands. It is
an honorable work to labor hard. There's a second
way that God has planned for us to gain in wealth,
and that is through investment. Listen to the
words of Proverbs 21, 20. There is precious treasure
and oil in the dwelling of the wise, but a foolish
man swallows it up. The key word in that verse
is precious. He says there is precious treasure
and oil in the house of a wise man. In other
words, it's been saved. It's been stored up.
It's been laid aside for the future when it might
be needed. A wise man takes treasure and oil,
which was an important part of their life in
that day, olive oil, and he saves it. He lays
it up for the future. But he says, that a foolish
man swallows it all. He wastes it. The Living
Bible paraphrases it this way, the wise man may
save for the future, but the foolish man spends
whatever he gets. And so investment or savings
is one way in which God plans for us to increase
in our wealth. Now people do that in a variety
of ways. There are some people who have savings
accounts. There are others who invest in bonds
or in the stock market. There are some who buy
properties and they invest in that way. Many
of us intend for our home to be some kind of
a method for us to save. There are a variety
of ways to do this, but the point is that is
one way that God has legitimately provided for
us to gain in our wealth. God has not provided
for chance or for gambling. There is not a place
for that in the biblical ethic. Gambling involves
trying to get something for nothing and it always
victimizes other people. Furthermore, whenever
gambling is involved, you can always count on
undesirable elements and ultimately even the
underworld being involved in it. It is a concern
to me that gambling is going to begin in this
state with horse racing. And there are those
who are trying to get it into the state in other
means as well. That is not biblical. That is
not consistent with what God says. It is legitimate
to gain wealth through work and through investment,
savings. There's a third way to gain in wealth,
and that is through inheritance. Now all of us
do gain that way, but some of us do. I think
a verse that can relate to this is 2 Corinthians
12, 14 where Paul says, children are not responsible
to save up for their parents, but parents for
their children. Now he applies that to his own
situation in a particular way, but the point
is that he's laying down a certain law of society
or humanity there. And that is that children
are not responsible to save up for their parents,
but rather parents do indeed do that for their
children. Some can do it to a greater extent
than others. I have never inherited a large sum
of money in my life, one fellow pastor. The only
inheritance I think I've ever gotten was a fellow
pastor who died, and he left me $300 to help
me build my library, which I really appreciated.
Apart from that, I've never had an inheritance.
I have inherited, though, from my parents a good
name. which the Bible says is to be treasured
more than money. But the fact is that some people
do gain wealth through inheritance. Related to
you last week, I think, the friend of mine who
took a trust that had been left to him by his
parents, which was only a few thousand dollars,
and through wise investment and hard work he
has projected that, and so that today he is indeed
a very rich person. and has dedicated his riches
to the Lord. But he began with inheritance, you
see. That was God's provision for him. In Proverbs
19, 14, the first part of the verse, it says,
house and wealth are an inheritance from fathers.
It goes on to say a prudent wife is from the
Lord. That's even more important. But it does
say in the first half of the verse that house
and wealth come from fathers, from our parents.
And that is a legitimate way God has provided
for us to gain. The prodigal son was not wrong
in gaining an inheritance. He was certainly wrong
in the way that he used it, wasted it. And he
was wrong in the way he got it, because he went
to his father and said, give me my inheritance.
And some people say that when he was doing that,
because inheritance is supposed to come with
the death of the father, what he was really saying
was, you've lived too long, I wish you would
die, so go ahead and give me my inheritance.
So the way that he got it was wrong too, but
gaining the inheritance itself was not wrong.
In fact, the story that Jesus told suggests that
when he came back home to his father, he got
inheritance back. He was reinstated into the
family. As a full son and that was one reason
the older brother was so angry Because now what
was left had to be divided again with his brother
Inheritance is one way that God has given us
to gain wealth So the first thing I want you
to understand is this That God gives us wealth
all of us possess it all of us do to some degree
Lesser or greater all of us possess wealth God
has entrusted something to all of us, tangible
or intangible. The second thing I want you to
understand is this, that God uses wealth for
several purposes in our lives. Now, I want to
talk about four of them. The first purpose that
God uses wealth for is to bless us. Turn to Matthew
chapter 7, verse 11. You know, the devil has
done a number on a lot of people. and made them
think that God is a stingy God who loves to watch
his children beg, who enjoys watching them have
needs, and curiously perhaps, even with a sinister
motive, tries to find out what they're going
to do in their needs. My friend, that is not
our God at all. Our God is a generous God. Our
God is a God who loves. Our God is a God who
desires to bless us with fullness. Now those
may sound like strange words to you. To the extent
that they do, you've been conned by the enemy.
But it is true that God desires to bless us with
those things that will make us happy. God wants
our best. Just as an earthly father here enjoys
giving to his children, God enjoys giving to
us. It says in Matthew 7 -11, if you then, being
evil, know how to give good gifts to your children,
how much more shall your Father who is in heaven
give what is good to those who ask him? When
we come to our Heavenly Father and ask him, he
delights to be able to bless us. Now, he does
not always give us just what we ask for when
we want it. We parents don't do that for our
children either. But the fact is that God's heart
is bountiful toward us. God really wants to pour
out fullness upon all of us. That is where his
heart is. That's why in 1 Timothy 6, 17 it says,
God gives us richly all things to enjoy. God
is not a mean ogre. God is a generous and wise
Heavenly Father who gives us wealth to bless
us. Now there's a second purpose that God has
for enabling us to gain wealth, and that is to
test us. Turn to Matthew 25. We'll look here
at one of the familiar parables that Jesus told.
sometimes called the parable of the talents.
Matthew 25, beginning in verse 14. For it is
just like a man about to go on a journey, says
Jesus, who called his own slaves and entrusted
his possessions to them. To one he gave five
talents, to another two, to another one, each
according to his own ability. And he went on
his journey. Immediately, the one who had received
the five talents went and traded with them and
gained five more talents. In the same manner,
the one who had received the two talents gained
two more. But he who received the one talent
went away and dug in the ground and hid his master's
money. Now, after a long time, the master of
those slaves came and settled accounts with them.
And the one who had received the five talents
came up and brought five more talents, saying,
Master, you entrusted five talents to me. See,
I have gained five more talents. His master said
to him, Well done, good and faithful slave. You
were faithful with a few things. I will put you
in charge of many things. Enter into the joy
of your master. And the one who also had received
the two talents came up and said, Master, you
entrusted to me two talents. See, I have gained
two more talents. His master said to him, well
done good and faithful slave. You were faithful
with a few things. I will put you in charge of
many things. Enter into the joy of your master."
Notice that the one had five more, the other
had two more, but they both got exactly the same
commendation from their master because they did
what they could with what had been given them.
Verse 24. And the one also who had received the
one talent came up and said, Master, I knew you
to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow
and gathering where you scattered no seed. And
I was afraid and went away and hid your talent
in the ground. See, you have what is yours. But
his master answered and said to him, you wicked,
lazy slave, you knew that I reap where I did
not sow and gather where I scattered no seed?
Then you ought to have put my money in the bank,
and on my arrival I would have received my money
back with interest. Therefore take away the talent
from him, and give it to the one who has the
ten talents. And to every one who has shall more
be given, and he shall have an abundance. But
from the one who does not have, even what he
does have shall be taken away. And cast out the
worthless slave into the outer darkness, In that
place there shall be weeping and gnashing of
teeth." Now there's a lot said in this parable,
but I want us to take the most obvious and in
some respects superficial lesson of all from
it and apply it to our particular point. This
master gave to his slaves what belonged to him.
He gave to each man according to his ability
to one five talents another two another one and
he instructed them to use them that was the expectation
in the committing of the talents to the servants
there was a time when he came back it was a long
time but he did return and it seems as though
the first thing he did was to call in his slaves
to get an accounting of what had been given to
them for their use. And the story is, the one
who received five, the other who had received
two did well. The man who received but one did
not receive blessing from his master because
he had not done well. What he did have was taken
away from him. The application is this. Our Lord
has entrusted to you and to me resources. That
includes our money, it includes our time, our
talents, that is our abilities, our spiritual
gifts. That is our wealth that God has committed
to us. It differs with all of us. There is coming
a day when our master will call us before himself
so that we can give an accounting of what we
have done with what He has entrusted to us. We
will be asked to present on that day no more
than we could with what has been given. There
will be people there on that day of the judgment
with more or less of, quote, return to give to
the Lord. Those who have been faithful with what
they were given will receive the same reward,
a commendation from the Lord and an equivalent
blessing, I believe, in the kingdom to reign
with Christ to their faithfulness here over what
they had been given. The warning of the parable
is that we should think that we could waste or
at least not be very careful about the investment
of what God gives to us. For if that is our attitude
on that day of the judgment, then our Lord will
take away what we do have and we will enter into
the kingdom with no share in His reign. We will
have no parts in reigning with Him. That seems
to be the application of the parable, at least
one of them. The Lord gives us our resources,
here's my point. to test us. You say, what difference
does it make what I do with my money? I give
my tithe to the Lord. Well, in the first place,
we don't teach tithing here. But in the second
place, more than the tithe is the Lord's. 100
% of it is the Lord's. And what I do with what
I don't give to the Lord directly is just as
important as what I do give to Him. Do you get
that? If I give to the Lord 10%, what I do with
that other 90 % is just as important and just
as accountable to God as that 10 % I do give.
That's part of the wealth that God has given
to me. And someday, when I'm called before Him
to give account of my stewardship, God isn't
going to ask me about the 10 % only. He's going
to be interested in all of it. And according
to my faithfulness to use wisely for legitimate
needs what I have been given, I will be given
greater blessing to reign with Jesus Christ in
his kingdom. God gives us our wealth to test
us. That's part of its purpose in this life.
I overheard a couple of elders in a church. Long
way from here talking about their pastor and
what he had been paid and The one said you know
I was amazed at what he said because he said
to us that he didn't need that much money and
The other said well, I know that that's true.
He doesn't need that much money But I want to
see what he's going to do with it You see, the
attitude of that wise elder was the same attitude
that God has with every one of us. I want to
see what he, what she is going to do with it.
That's the test of it. There's a third purpose
for wealth in our lives. God gives us wealth
to teach us. Turn to Matthew chapter 14. We'll
look at verse 13. You know, there were times
when Jesus became tired, when the pressure of
the crowds was very great. In verse 13, it seems
as though we come upon one of those occasions.
It says, now when Jesus heard it, he withdrew
from there in a boat to a lonely place by himself.
And when the multitudes heard of this, they followed
him on foot from the cities. And when he went
ashore, he saw a great multitude and felt compassion
for them and healed their sick. And when it was
evening, the disciples came to him, saying, The
place is desolate, and the time is already past.
In other words, it was past three o 'clock in
the afternoon. That was the first hour of the
evening. It was getting late in the day. The
sun was going down. So send away the multitudes,
that they may go into the villages and buy food
for themselves. But Jesus said to them, They
do not need to go away. You give them something
to eat. I can just see their mouths drop wide
open when he said that. You give them something
to eat. What did they have? They said, Lord,
we have only five loaves and two fish. Now, was
that theirs? Did it come from somebody else in
the crowd? The context here doesn't say. But
that was all they had. That was the wealth that
had been entrusted to them. Now get that. It
wasn't much, but it was something. That was what
was entrusted to them on this occasion. Now Jesus
says, feed the multitudes. Well, he said, bring
them here to me. And ordering the multitudes
to recline in the grass, he took five loaves
and two fishes. And looking up toward heaven,
he blessed the food. And breaking the loaves,
he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples
gave to the multitudes, and they all ate and
were satisfied. And they picked up what was left
over of the broken pieces, twelve full baskets.
And there were about five thousand men who ate,
aside from women and children, perhaps up to
ten thousand people. Ten thousand filled themselves
for their evening meal on five loaves and two
fish. And besides that, there were 12 full baskets
of food that were left over. You see what Jesus
did on this occasion? He used the wealth that
He had given to His disciples to teach them a
lesson about His power and His sufficiency. Now
my friend, that's what God does with the wealth
He commits to you and me as well. As the poet
has put it, little is much when God is in it.
God wants us to see that. God wants us to understand
the potential of even a little bit that he puts
into our hands if we give that to him. He is
able to take that and to bless it beyond anything
that we could imagine, certainly anything that
we could do in ourselves. The Lord desires to
use the wealth that He gives us to teach us of
His ability, His trustworthiness, to increase
our faith, to develop our patience. There are
times when God in fact withholds, perhaps, so
that we may learn patience and trust. God uses
wealth or its lack in our lives to teach us.
It's certainly one way he can get our attention
quickly in our society, isn't it? We are such
a materialistic, money -oriented society that
money is one way that God can quickly snap his
fingers and we're listening. And hopefully we're
listening well and learning to see what he wants
to teach us. A final, a fourth purpose of God
in bringing wealth into our lives is in This,
to use us. To use us to meet others' needs. We
saw this in 2 Corinthians 8 14 last week. Do
you remember that? Paul said, look, right now
you are being used of God to meet the needs of
the saints in Jerusalem by your giving. There
may come a day, he suggests, when you will be
impoverished and they will send an offering to
you. That is an equality, he says. It all comes
out in the end. One of the purposes that God
gives us wealth is this, that He wants to use
us to be a channel to give to other people. We
become channels of His resources to others who
have needs around us. There are some of you who
have entered into this. We have one person in
our church who has shared with me that he has
a separate bank account for this purpose. makes
deposits into that account. It becomes God's
account so he doesn't feel too bad writing the
checks. And when he hears about a need and God
lays it on his heart, he writes out a check to
meet the need, often doing that anonymously.
I remember the first time this happened to me.
The first time that I can recall. And it was
a friend who was in Christian work. My wife and
I went to another church in our metropolitan
area to hear him speak. And after the service
we went up to greet him. He did not know the
financial pressures that we were going through
at that time. At all. As we waited in line our
turn finally came and when we shook hands I felt
something in his hand. I looked down. And it
was a $50 bill. I said, what's this, Larry? He
said, I don't know what it's for, but God laid
on my heart last night to give that to you when
I saw you. He had no idea that we needed that.
But that was God's using one of His children
to be a channel to meet our need in that case.
There are others here who have experienced that
same kind of blessing. You know what's even greater
than looking down and seeing it in your hand?
You know what it is, don't you? It's having it
in your hand and putting it in somebody else's.
Or in some other way, giving it to them so they
may not even know where it came from. But it's
being that channel of God to meet somebody else's
need. That's why God gives us wealth in part.
because he wants to use us, to make us a channel
of blessing to others. That's just great, isn't
it? What a great joy it is to be able to be used
of God in that way. So God uses our wealth for
a number of purposes in our lives. To bless us,
to test us, to teach us, to use us. Now the third
area I'd like to address today is this. We must
beware of the dangers of wealth. Now, I've said
that all of us have it because God gives it to
us and that God uses it in our lives, but folks,
there are dangers when it comes to wealth. I
want to talk about three of them today. Number
one, gaining it can become the focus of our lives.
Turn to 1 Timothy chapter 6. One of the dangers
of wealth is that gaining more of it can become
the reason for our living. 1 Timothy chapter
6 verse 9, but those who want to get rich, the
idea is those who choose, who set their minds,
who will to get rich fall into temptation and
a snare. and many foolish and harmful desires
which plunge men into ruin and destruction. Do
you want to know the fastest way to end up at
the bottom? It is to set your mind on getting
rich. That is the fastest plunge there is into
ruin and destruction. He says, for the love of
money is a root of all sorts of evil. And some
by longing for it, longing for it, have wandered
away from the faith and pierced themselves with
many a pang. They have inflicted injury upon
themselves. They have wandered away from the
faith because they have longed for money. They
have longed for money like a lost lover. They
love it. Now one can have it and not love it
and not have it and love it. I mean, you know
that. He's not saying here that having it or
not having it is wrong, but he's saying that
whether you have it or not to love it is wrong.
Because it eventually controls and dominates
your life, it becomes the God Mammon. Jesus said
you cannot serve God and Mammon. It subverts
a person's morality to love money. It causes
one to manipulate other people, to destroy anyone
or anything that gets in the way. Jesus warns
in Matthew 13 -22 about the deceitfulness of
riches. If you love money, you are loving something
that lies to you. What does money say? Well,
a couple of lies that you hear from money. Money
says, if you get this much more, you'll be satisfied.
Now it may be a thousand dollars or maybe five
hundred thousand dollars, but doesn't matter.
Anxiety sets in. You see, possessing it can create
anxiety if we allow it to. That's the second
danger. The third danger is this. Failure to
manage it can bring one into bondage. By that
I mean debt. It's important to define a word
like debt. What I mean by that is what I think
the Bible means by it, and that is the inability
to repay what has been borrowed. In other words,
if one is current in his obligations, if he's
meeting his loan obligations, that is not debt
in the biblical sense. Debt is when I have overextended
myself. I know there are those who use a proof
text in Romans 13, 8 that says, oh, no man anything.
The verse goes on to say, but to love one another.
In other words, what the verse really is saying
is you can never say I've loved enough and paid
all I owe. Keep on paying or keep on loving,
in other words. It's an obligation that can never
be fully repaid. The text is not there relating
to finances particularly. One is in debt, he
is in bondage, however, when he has gotten to
the place where he cannot repay as he's promised
to what he has borrowed. The result is frustration,
unfulfilled needs, worry, and one becomes the
servant of another. Proverbs 22 -7 warns us that
the borrower becomes the slave of the lender
in a situation like this. When one has gotten
beyond what he's able to repay. So the third
danger of wealth is this, that failure to manage
it properly can bring one into bondage. And I
guess one of the reasons that I feel so impelled
to talk about it for a week or two is the fact
that there are so many in our church who are
facing this kind of bondage. Young couples who
have gotten into homes, for example, and the
result of that is financial bondage. Beware of
borrowing money based upon the fact that you
and your wife are both working now because you
don't know what's going to happen tomorrow. You
may not have both of those incomes to depend
upon. You students beware of borrowing money
too much for your education. People are making
it easier and easier to borrow huge vast sums
of money in order to finish your college education.
But there comes a point when that becomes unwise.
We have numerous families in our church today.
who are in financial bondage because of college
loans. Upwards to five, ten, even $20 ,000 borrowed
to finish college. And the thought is back at
the time is, well, when I get out of college,
I'll earn $50 ,000 a year and pay all that back
in two years. You got some surprises coming.
You're better off quitting college, going out
and working for a while, earning some money,
coming back and then finishing college and paying
for it that way. than borrowing vast sums of
money. Beware of financial bondage. It can happen
before you know it. And the sad thing is that
early in your married life you can make mistakes
that you pay for for years and years and years.
Now how can one escape these dangers? How can
one be delivered from the love of money? How
can one be released from worry? How can one get
out of financial bondage? Those are good questions,
and we're going to talk about them in two weeks.
We're out of time today. We've talked a lot about
money. Just want to remind anyone who's here,
though, who's thinking somehow that money is
what life is all about, that that rich man there
in Luke that we just looked at was caught up
short. He said, I'm going to build barns, and
I'm going to do this, and I'm going to do that,
and I'll take care of myself and be at ease.
You see, he bought the lies of money. He said
in the first place, if I get this much, that'll
be enough. I'll be at ease. You see? He was deceived.
He bought the lies of money. Listen, God said
to him that night, you fool, your soul is required
of you. Your soul is required of you, you and
you and you and me by God. How is it with your
soul and the Lord? How is it today? Is all well
between you and the Lord? As a Christian, are
you walking in obedience? As one who's never
trusted Jesus Christ, will you come to him in
faith today so that all will be at peace between
you and God? I hope you will. Let's pray. Lord,
thank you for the instruction of your Word. My
prayer is that we will not just be hearers of
it and write it down on a piece of paper, but
that we will also be doers of it and put it into
practice in our lives. And I pray, Father, that
we will be obedient to the principles of finance
that you've laid out in your Word and wherein
we haven't in the past, that you will help us
to know what to do to get into the place of obedience.
Father, I especially want to pray for that one
who is here today who is deceived by money and
who thinks that with his money he doesn't need
God. I pray that that one will be delivered from
that deceit, that lie today, and will turn to
you in repentance and will trust you so that
all can be well between him and you. Deliver
those of us who are your children from the deceit
of riches as well. And if there needs to be repentance
in our lives, if we need to make some decisions,
Lord, to be in conformity to Your will, then
get us to that point quick. We pray this in Jesus'
name, amen.