Wesley On The Economy Series

Wesley on Economy

1 Timothy 6:6-10

I was going to tell a joke about the economy, but the government beat me to it

Some of you have asked me what I think is going to happen this next year

I have given it a lot of prayer and meditation and I believe that I have heard from the Lord

You might want to write some of these down

Ten Predictions – Thus saith the Lord

1. The Bible will still have all the answers.

2. Prayer will still work.

3. The Holy Spirit will still move.

4. God will still inhabit the praises of His people.

5. There will still be God-anointed preaching.

6. There will still be singing of praise to God.

7. God will still pour out blessings upon His people.

8. There will still be room at the Cross.

9. Jesus will still love you.

10. Jesus will still save the lost.

ISN’T IT GREAT TO KNOW WHO IS STILL IN CONTROL?

There is always HOPE for those that believe

However, you and I need to be ready for a falling economy

The economy was bad in Wesley’s day

(For those of you new to our church and the Methodist system, John and Charles Wesley began the Methodist movement out of the Anglican movement in the 1700’s)

John Wesley had much to say about the economy and how to protect ourselves

He had three simple rules

The first is Gain all you can

On the surface, this may seem obvious

There are some stumbling blocks

“Gain all you can” means you must work

You cannot gain by stealing, cheating, lying or hurting somebody else.

An adult cannot live with someone else and let them support you

In fact, Paul tells us in 2 Thess 3:10 “If one will not work, neither let him eat.”

This does not refer to the young or old or to the ill or infirm, but to the lazy

No work, no food

We must look at gain through the lens of love

We cannot foreclose on widows and orphans

We cannot pay poor wages to increase our profits

We cannot bilk or con people out of their money

If the people in the news looked at gain through the lens of love, we would not be in this fix

The second of the financial rules is Save all you can

“The wise man saves for the future, but the foolish man spends whatever he gets.”

Prov. 21:20 (TLB)

One way we can protect ourselves is to save

I know there are some here that are living from paycheck to paycheck

You are the ones that really need to be saving all that you can

To be able to save, some of us may have to take another job

But, if we save, we are protected from emergencies

If we cannot find five or ten dollars every paycheck to put back, where will we find the money to fix a car that breaks down?

Or pay a larger than average heating bill?

Or fix a water heater that goes out?

Whether living from paycheck to paycheck, living on a fixed retirement income or making more than two or three thousand each month, these times call for all of us to be saving all we can

Now, you might think, “Well, I have my credit cards for emergencies.”

Have you looked at your bill lately?

We just did. We have good credit and pay our bills monthly.

Our credit cards have increased the interest we pay.

28% per year

Using the “rule of 72” your debt will double in a little over two and one-half years

That is why the Bible says, “The borrower is servant to the lender.” Prov. 22:7

AND, “Keep out of debt and owe no man anything.” Rom 13:8 (Amp)

If you are deep in debt, you must get out or you can lose everything you have in these perilous times

We are cancelling our credit cards

When I get back, we will have a lesson on “How to get out of debt” for those that are not certain

Until then cut back on your spending, maybe get a second job, but start saving all you can

And finally, Wesley said, Give all you can

I know that this sounds strange to you

Prosperity is like love – the more you give away, the more you get

The Bible says that God will open the windows of Heaven and pour more blessing in your lap than you can hold

IF you will give to the church and others (Mal 3:10)

Scriptures also say if you cast your bread on the water, it will return to you many times what you gave (Ecc 11:1)

In Galatians (6) Paul says we reap whatever we sow – much more than we sow