(Prov. 22:7) "The borrower is servant to the lender..."
I preached on last Wednesday on "The love of money is the root of all evil".
I showed from the Bible...
I. Our responsibility toward our employer.
II. If you co-sign for a friend, he will become a stranger.
III. If you co-sign for a stranger you will smart for it.
IV. You put yourself in bondage to the person who you borrow from.
If you borrow money, you are responsible to pay it back. It is wicked to borrow & not pay back.
V. Business comes before luxeries, even before home necessities [Pr. 24:27].
I want to go a step further tonight. I want to preach on some practical ways of becoming financially free.
How To Escape Financial Bondage
But, let me first say, that everything we have, and the power to get it was given to us by God. James tells us that "Every good gift, and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, niether shadow of turning..."
In other words, if you have anything that is good, you got it from God. You should praise God for your good wife, and your good family, and your good church, and so on...
The tendency, when it comes to money, however is to beleive that it came fromhard work, and it was certainly not a gift. "Hey man, nobody gives me a free lunch, I work for a living, what I have is mine..."
This is exactly what God said Israel would say (Duet 8:10-17 "mine hand hath gotten me this wealth...").
But, God says, It is He that gives us power to get wealth (v. 18-20). What if God were to take your health from you? Or worse, take your mind from you, as He did king Nebuchadnezzer?
God warns us that everything we have comes from Him, and therefore, we should praise Him, and realize that everything we have is His.
But, there is another danger, we talked somewhat about it last Wednesday, and that is the danger of getting into financial bondage.
If we are in financial bondage to man, it means that some of our alligience is taken away from God. It means that we are limited in what we can do to be a blessing to others. It is not God’s will that we be in bondage.
If God has given us the power to get wealth, then why should we remain in bondage? If God has given us power, it is power to be free, not in bandage. Therefore....
How To Escape Financial Bondage
I. How to tell if you are in financial bondage.
A. Idebtedness - [Pro. 22:7] "The borrower is servant to the lender..."
1. You cannot just up and move without telling anyone.
- You have to write each of your creditors, and give them your new address.
- Some creditors may even request information concerning your new source of income.
- You have a responsibility to your creditors.
2. If you are in debt to someone, they have a claim to your income.
- If you file for bankrupcy, they have a right to make a claim against your estate.
- Some have file a claim against an individuals income tax return.
3. Like it or not, admit it or not, there is a certain amount of bondage we have to our creditors.
- On a regular basis (monthly, etc.) we feel the bondage of our lenders.
B. Preasure of bills.
1. If you are heavily in debt, the bill time becomes a juggling act.
- You sit at your desk and say, "If I put this off until this week, and pay this one, but put this one off until the following week..."
- You are juggling your money. And, like any juggler you run the risk of dropping the ball.
2. Some are so heavily in debt that bill time becomes a nightmare.
- Everybody in the house hates when you sit down to pay bills. You become a bear.
- The kids steer clear, the wife tries to avoid you, the dog even stays away.
3. If bill time brings on agonizing preasure, you are in financial bondage.
- If your afraid to go to the mailbox, afraid to answer the phone, you are in financial bondage.
C. Your life revolves around making money.
1. You make descisions based on how it will effect you financially.
- If I give to God’s work I will not be able to pay this bill...
- If I work one Sunday’s I can pay off this bill...
- I will tithe double next week. But, next week your even worse off than this week.
2. Your always looking for a way to change your financial situation.
- A person in financial bondage is always buying, selling, and trading. Not because he is frugal, but becaise he gets himself in a mess, and tries to trade his way out.
- A person in fanancial bondage will get himself out of a mess, and then turn right around and get in another one.
- He will trade out from under a car, to get out of bondage to it, then turn around and buy another one.
3. You life revolves around money.
- You are always in the process of either getiing out, or getting into debt.
- You are in bondage!
D. Entanglement in business.
1. You lose sleep over the falling stock market.
- Perhaps because of your personal investment.
- "Never invest what you cannot afford to lose..."
- But, you have invested your life’s savings (or worse, your wife’s savings) and you are losing sleep over it.
2. You go into business with a partner who doesn’t see things as you do.
- You feel his ways will ruin your business, or cause you to make less money.
- Or you make some other business agreement that will either make or break you, and you are deathly afraid it will break you.
- Whatever your entanglement, your entangled, and you know it.
E. You try every get rich quick scheme.
1. You play the lottery.
- You send off every Reader’s Digest 10 million dollar, sweepstakes entry.
- You get into evry pyramid you hear of. You even try the airplane.
2. You try every Network marketing plan that comes your way.
- And, everyone you get into, you are sure that this is the one that’s going to make you rich.
- But, after a year of hustling, the only thing you have more of, is bills and sore muscles.
3. You are an easy prey for gimicks, and get rich quick ideas, because you are in financial bondage.
- You may be unwilling to admit it. You may deny it. You may defend you position to fists and cuffs. But, deep down you know its true.
F. You feel guilty about the way you use money.
1. You sit back at night and think, "Where does all my money go?"
- "God has blessed me. I have a good job. I may a good salary. But, I have nothing to show for it. Where does it all go?"
2. When the offering plate comes around, you feel guilty about the way you use money.
- "I know I ought to give, but I never have any money left over."
- "Oh God, I’ve blown it, Oh God help me to get out of this mess..."
3. If you are struggling with these symptoms.
- Maybe not all of them, but at least some of them, you are in financial bondage.
- This is what I am after tonight. This is what I want to get across...
HOW TO ESCAPE FINANCIAL BONDAGE.
II. What is the purpose of money?
A. To supply basic needs in your life (2 Thes. 3:6-12).
1. "Having food & rainment let us therewith be content".
- These are such basic needs that we must have at least these to be content, but having them we ought to be content.
- In the wilderness, God supplied Israel supernaturally with food & rainment. They received manna for food, and their clothes miraculously did not wear out.
- Did the ladies desire a new dress? Probably, but God only saw fit to make the old one last 40 years.
- I’m not saying don’t buy your wife a new dress every now & then. I am saying that food & rainment are basic needs. But, designer clothes, and new clothes every week is not neccesary a basic need.
- How much food has God promised to provide? "Our daily bread."
2. Shelter.
- Shelter is a basic need. God promises to provide food, rainment, & shelter.
- But, shelter may be a small apartment, instead on a $90,000.00 home.
- God may even allow you to take shelter in a tent. "I’ll never live in a tent!" Israel, God’s chosen people, lived in tents for 40 years.
3. God uses money, & gives me strength to make money to provide for me & my family.
- God gives us strength to earn money to supply our basic needs: Food, clothing & shelter.
- It may not be the designer clothes, and you may not be eating Filet Mignon, you may not live in the Dominion; but if God has given us the strength to supply these for ourselves and our families, we ought to be greatful.
- Most of the clothes we have are thrift-store specials. We wait until they go on sale at the thrift store.
B. To supply the needs of others (Eph. 4:28).
1. God has ordained that they that preach the gospel, should live of the gospel (1 Cor. 9:13-14).
- This is God’s way of supplying the need of His minister’s.
* Three rights Paul claimed as a preacher...
1. The right to eat & drink (v. 4).
2. The right to marry (v. 5).
3. The right to forbear working a secular job (v. 6) "Notice the sarcasm, ’I only & Barnabus...’"
* Three examples of this truth... (v. 7).
1. Does a soldier go to war out if his own pocket?
2. Does a farmer not have the right to eat of his own farm?
3. Does a shepherd not have the right to eat of his flock?
* O.T. Scriptural reference... (v. 8-10; 13-14).
This is God’s way. God has ordained it. God gives us strength to work to supply our own basic needs, and to supply the needs of others.
God uses earned money to supply the needs of preachers, and missionaries, and evangelsists, and pastors.
2. God’s people are to supply the needs of true widows, the poor.
- God’s people are to take care of the widows, in the church.
- God’s people are to be concerned with helping the poor.
3. God’s people are responsible to supply the neeeds of other Christians in need.
- Maybe this week, I have a need. I come to the church, the church takes an offering to help with that need.
- Perhaps next week, you will be the one in need, and I will be giving the offering.
- Hold on now! When people who have cable TV, new cars, new clothes, new jewlry, and all other kinds of luxeries, come asking for help, it makes it hard to give.
- No doubt that’s what God means when He says, "Honor widows that are widows indeed." There are some poor, who aren’t so poor, and some could buy groceries if they put away the luxeries.
- But, God gives us strength to earn money, so that we can supply our needs, and supply the needs of others.
C. To show God’s Power in your life.
1. How many here, could raise your hand....God supernaturally supplied a need.
- Sometime in your life, or perhaps several times in your life, you were at the place of absolute need.
- You had no idea what you were going to do about it. You were at your wits end.
- Yet somehow, by the end of the day, God had met that need, in a way that you never expected it would be met.
2. How many could raise your hand... God supernatuarlly used you to meet a need.
- You were in a situation, and God spoke to you gently and said, "Give that lady some money..." Or, "Give that brother $20.00."
- And after you did, that person said something like, "I was just begging God for some help," Or "I just prayed and asked God for gas money..."
3. God’s power is revealed in us, through us, and to us by our use of money.
- God dives us strength to make money, or He tyakes our strength and makes us unable to make money; so that He might show His power in us.
D. To unite Christians.
1. The truth is, very little could be done for the cause of Christ from my bank account.
- None of us here could really by ourselves alone support even one missionary. But, as a united body, we can support several missionaries.
2. If someone had a need, I could be of little use to them.
- But, as a united body, we could be a blessing.
- God gives us strength...so that we can unite in the cause of Christ.
E. To confirm direction.
1. God will send, or supress money to allow or disallow something you are doing.
- Not every time you run out of money is it because you are out of God’s will, but prolonged shortness is a good sign.
- God will provide for ministries He guides.
2. We buy cars, homes, with money we know we do not have.
- We do not even seek God’s will.
