Now let's take our hard hats and put them on tonight firmly and let's take our Bibles and we're going to go back to our financial series. Now Pastor and I were talking about this and we went through how we're going to switch back and forth and take a few of these here and there. And the only thing he did not tell me was the ones that he was going to be gone for. And so he happens to be gone for this one. And this is the wonderful thing everybody enjoys and loves, it's called debt. We're going to talk about debt tonight. And I don't know about you, I don't consider myself to be a needy person when it comes to debt. In other words, I don't look at something and say, I have to have that. But nonetheless, I'm in debt. American society has figured out how to extract every last dollar that it possibly can from us. And we'd like to blame American society, but the truth of the matter is, it's the lusts that are in our own hearts is the reason why we end up in debt. I don't know, some of you could probably say, do you remember when people did not purchase their houses via a mortgage? Does anyone remember that? It's been a long time. It used to be that when you wanted to buy a house, you actually bought the house. Nowadays, and obviously very few people can remember the day in this country in which you could not get a house by going down to the bank and promising to pay for that house at some point in the future. And as we look at it tonight, we all could say, and even your good Christian financial books uh... that have a lot of great biblical principles they'll all tell you there are certain times when it's just you have to go into debt you need a debt uh... because there's no way you'll ever be able to get it now i understand it is a it is a decision that probably uh... ninety to ninety five percent of americans have made but there are people who actually live with no debt and it includes their house and uh... so what i want to talk to us about tonight is some of the downfalls of debt some of the discouraging things about debt, and then some victories that we can have in our lives concerning debt. I have been in debt, I have been out of debt, and I've been back in debt. And so it comes, after a while it makes me realize somewhere along the line there's something more important than just getting out of debt. Because it's easy to get in debt, it's pretty hard to get out of debt, but it's even harder to stay out of debt. And that's where I'm finding in my own life. I've been up and I've been down. I told you last week, I've made a lot of foolish decisions. I'll tell you one story just to encourage you. This will be a great blessing to your heart. Uh, when I was down in Florida, my wife and I lived in Florida and we had the salesman come through and I had only been married for maybe five to seven years. And somewhere along the line, you make all of the stupid financial decisions, a lot of them around that timeframe. So the salesman comes in, and I had no idea. You remember, who was it talking at the Bible conference about the dirt and the vacuum cleaner? Brother Shirley, right? Well, we had that guy come through as well. We didn't buy that. You kidding me? But we did buy some other things. We did buy the water softener. Because the water softener, and if you've ever been to Florida, you know the water is not pristine down there. At least Central Florida is not. It's basically a swamp, okay people? Florida is a swamp. Central Florida, if they had not been for tourism, they say, it never would have been inhabited. And you know how many acres that Walt Disney had to dredge out to create Disney World? I mean, multiple hundreds of acres to get the job done. So it's a swamp. And in that swamp, there is some disgusting water. And we take that disgusting water, and we put it in pipes, and we bring it right into our house. And we put it in glasses, and we drink it. And, uh, and I don't know if you know this, I didn't know it either, but there is just deadly toxins in that water. And it's a wonder that we hadn't died and all of our children hadn't died in agony. Right. But, uh, we never knew that until that guy came and he showed us all the stuff. So we purchased the water softener and it was a good chunk of change. And, uh, you know, the, the sad part about it is this when I sold the home, I sold it at a profit. But I did not put into that the fact that I had put a water softener in the house. And so when I left, I got the money, the profit from the sale of the home. I left and never, I don't think it ever crossed my mind to pay off the water softener. So here I am for how many years of blessed ministry in the Midwest, paying for a water softener back for someone else and their safety. down in central Florida. And if I could find that water softener today, what I would do to it would be nobody's business. I'll tell you that. But that's some stupid thing. That's a stupid thing that I did financially. And that's as far as we're going to go. And I'm not even going to tell you how much I spent on the water softener. But a whole house water softener is expensive. So it's the kind of thing that You get into, sometimes you do it accidentally, sometimes you do it unknowingly, sometimes it's naivete that causes you to get into debt. Sometimes it's nothing more than greed or desire to keep up with the Joneses. And the Joneses are trying to keep up with the Smiths next door. And the Smiths are trying to keep up with the Bernsdorfs next door. Right? Nobody can do that. So, uh, it's just a vicious cycle that all kinds of ways we get into debt. But let me give you some myths very quickly here. about debt. We've gone through several things. I'm not going to recap all we've learned, but I will say this one thing before we go too far. Financial bondage is the natural consequence of misusing the resources God has entrusted to us. Proverbs 22, 7 says what? The borrower is servant to the lender. Now notice the verse did not say that you can't go into debt. It just says when you go into debt, you are a what? A servant. And we know that the Bible says that we should own no man anything, and that we should not be a servant to any man. We'll show that to you in a little while over in the book of 1 Corinthians. But financial bondage is the natural consequence of misusing the resources God has entrusted to us. You ever think back about things that you used to have, perhaps a nest egg that you used to have, a possession that you had? When I was a kid, I I left a piece of chocolate cake half-eaten in a Bob, it was a Frisch's Big Boy in Cincinnati, Ohio. And I'll never forget that piece of chocolate cake. It was a half a piece. Don't laugh at me, I know I could probably only eat half a piece, some of you would say that. But I left that, and I'll never forget it. And occasionally on nights I'll be sitting there on my couch and a tear will come. And you know, the reason is because there was something that I didn't understand the value of, or I couldn't finish it, and I had an opportunity to enjoy it, and now it's gone forever. And you know, there's something about it, as it goes through your life, that chocolate cake just gets bigger and bigger and better, and it's the best chocolate cake that could have ever existed. What I'm saying is that sometimes when you get into a debt, you find yourself looking back at what you had, and what you could have had, or you could have been by now. And may I say to you, that is a good thing for us to think about. It is good for us to think about how we misused our finances. It is better to go into the house of mourning than to the house of feasting. It's better for us to be sad about how we did stupid things with our finances than it is for us to just sweep it under the rug and say, well, tomorrow's a new day. Now, at some point, you do have to get to that place where you say, I am going to do better. I'm going to change how I act. But don't go to that place so quickly. Because if you're like some of us, you might say, well, you know what? Let's just forget it ever happened. Just forget it ever happened. No, you need to remember that it happened. You need to grovel in it and marinate in your bad financial decisions for a while so that you can determine, I am not going to come back to this point. Most of the time, we don't even think about the fact that we're in bad financial situations because the minimum payment is only $10. Amen? Now, I told you to put your hard hat on, and I told you the reason why Pastor was out of town when we did this, because this is not the fun one. This is not the fun one. But guys, if God is going to use us financially in our lives, we're going to have to make decisions that please Him. We're going to have to live our financial, set our financial house in such a way that it honors our God. And the idea that somehow God only has rule over 10% is ludicrous. God has rule over a hundred percent of our finances. It's not that God wants you to give all of that to the church. That's what everybody's afraid of. Preachers sometimes are afraid of preaching about money, and I understand why, because people do not give. Here at this church, God has blessed us with some wonderful givers. But the truth is, you have trusted God and have given to God, and God has blessed you. But let me ask you this, where are you in your finances? on a scale of 1 being the worst possible financial situation you've ever been in, and 10 being beyond your... I'm not saying you're a millionaire and you can buy everything you want. That's what we think is happiness. But you are beyond satisfied with your finances. 10 is here, beyond satisfied. 1 is horrible situation. Where are you? Where were you 10 years ago? Where are you going to be next year? That's the question. So as we go through and look at these things, I want to encourage you. That it is not just you that's in debt. It's everybody that's in debt just about Some here may not have any debt and thank the Lord But I will say this somebody did some work somewhere either you learn it the hard way or your parents Learned it the hard way and taught you and you're a recipient of that And so you can thank God for it But the truth is we're all trying to get to a place where we can honor God with our finances now some of you I can hear the myths I can hear the excuses rather. Excuse me If you tell a lie or spread a myth long enough, often enough, and loud enough, it becomes accepted as what? As truth. But is it truth? It's not truth. Debt has been marketed to us in so many forms, so aggressively since who knows how long. It started big time in the 60s that to imagine living without debt is just unbelievable. It would require a complete brainwashing and truly washing your brain. in order to get to where you need to be. Here's the myth. If I loan money to a friend or relative, I will be helping them. Truth, your relationship will be strained or destroyed. Car payments are a way of life. You'll always have a car payment. Truth is, staying away from car payments by driving reliable, used cars is how a millionaire, one of the ways in which a millionaire becomes a millionaire. By driving a used, reliable car, didn't say a piece of junk, a used, reliable car. I can tell this is going to go over like a sign in a cancer ward. It says, what's eating you? Leasing your car is what sophisticated financial people do. You should always lease things that go down in value. There are tax advantages. Consumer Reports, that's the myth. Here's the truth. Consumer Reports, Smart Money Magazine, and a good calculator will tell you that car lease is the most expensive way to finance an operated vehicle. Now, I'm sure there are people that are more much more wise when it comes to financial things than I am. But I will tell you this, if I'm going to listen to an expert, I'm going to listen to a millionaire. And I'm reading some myths from a millionaire right now. A millionaire that lost a million and got it back. Myth, you can get a good deal on a new car. The truth is a car loses 60%. A new car loses 60% of its value in the first four years. and it's the largest purchase that most consumers make that goes down in value. Now, unless you live in a place like Papua New Guinea, where you just can't have another car shipped in from down in Alabama somewhere, or trucked in, I will tell you that occasionally there are places where a car can actually hold its value. I heard of a missionary that bought a $20,000 Land Cruiser, not a Land Rover, but a Land Cruiser, Toyota, about 16 years ago and he sold it recently for $16,000. That does not happen in America unless it's an antique car of some kind. It doesn't happen. Our cars go down in value, especially new cars. So people say, uh, I'll take a 30 year mortgage and pay extra. I promise. That's a myth, isn't it? Because we don't. And how many of you even realize you could take out a mortgage for less than 30 years? I don't even consider doing that. Let me give you a quick way of looking at this. If you purchase a $90,000 home and put $10,000 down, you would have what kind of an interest? I'm sorry, what kind of a mortgage would you have? You're mortgaging how much? $80,000. This is 10% interest. Now, right now, you can get a whole lot less than that for a home mortgage, if you can get a mortgage. For a 30-year mortgage, you're going to pay $702 a month at 10%. $702 a month for 30 years, you're going to pay back $252,000. If you got a 15-year mortgage instead of a 30-year, your payment's going to be double, right? It's actually not going to be double. Your payment would actually be $859. That is a $157 difference that you're paying. You following me so far? Instead of a 30-year mortgage, paying over 30 years, you pay over 15 years and you pay $159 more every month. You will pay back $154,000 and you save yourself $97,000. That's a lot of money. That's almost $100,000. What would you do with $100,000? Go to Disney World. What else? Amen? Like five times. Right? Think about this, folks. Are we listening? You've got to think about these things. And you know what you say and what I say is this, that's for other people. That's not for me. You don't, you don't understand. It's like the woman called and left a voicemail at the bank. She said, y'all, you said you had a repo guy come by here. She said, you don't understand. We're not rich like y'all. Okay. So if you want it, you can just come and get it. Cause we're not rich like y'all. We can't afford to pay for that. Like somehow the bank is the bad guy. for requiring that she pay back what she agreed to pay back. She said, my favorite line, we're not rich like y'all. See, we always think we're poor and everybody else is richer than we are. We think that until we go to places where people are actually poor. Like third world countries. And we realize, oh, you can live on a little less than I live on. And notice the smiles. They're everywhere. On the Christian's face especially. With and literally nothing. So we just saved $100,000 by paying $159 more. Now that does mean this, I cannot spend that $159 on everything else under the planet, under the sun this month and every month. So I'm cutting back this month, but I'm saving $100,000 over 15 years. That's pretty amazing, isn't it? Here's another myth. You have to take a credit card or a car loan to build your credit. Did you realize that open credit card accounts, even with zero balances, count against your credit score as well as your car payments when you're qualifying for a home mortgage? There's all kinds of ways you can do it. I'm going to shock you. And even some of this stuff, I'm not even going to bother backing up. I'm just going to throw it out there for you. I want you to think about it and think about how possibly you're going down along with the course of this world, not even realizing it. Someone said you need a credit card to rent a car. That's not true. You can use a debit card. It comes directly out of your bank. You can use a debit card to check into a hotel, make a purchase over the internet or over the phone. Some people say, I pay off mine every month and I have no annual fee. I get brownie points, air miles, and a free hat. All because I use this credit card. You are in the minority. 78% of Americans do not pay off their credit cards every month. And these statistics are dated. So I'm assuming it's gone up, but good for you. And if you can do that and you are, you are the man with finances. I have nothing against that. No problem with that. Use your credit card 0% interest for X amount of years. Sometimes it can make good financial sense. But here's a better question. Did you buy that without cash or without buying it outright because you didn't think God could provide it for you? Sometimes we don't look at it from that way, do we? Debt is a tool and should be used to create prosperity. Boy, that's a lie. That's a lie. Why? Because God told you in Proverbs 22 that the borrower is servant to the lender. So who's right, God or them? Financial bondage is the natural consequence of misusing the resources God has entrusted to us. Now, are you ready? Let's get going. Debt originally meant an arrangement for acquiring a benefit at the expense of a risk. I am going to get something, but I'm going to also risk something. Now, when I get a home mortgage for 30 years, I am risking what? What am I risking? I'm risking me that I'll be alive in 30 years. You follow what I'm saying? I promised the bank I will pay you for 30 years. So I'm risked. They say, we'll accept that because generally speaking, most people live 30 years. What if you don't? Well, I'm going to have to buy a mortgage insurance. Now you're paying someone to let you borrow money from them. You're paying twice. And when you have less than 20% equity in your home, they don't give you an option of whether you pay that insurance. You have to pay it. You say, well, if you rent, you're just pouring money down the drain. A lot less people think that nowadays, don't they? How's that? Because they bought a home up here and they found out now their home is worth this. So even if they wanted to sell, they're going to, they're going to lose their shirt. Even if they had to sell, they're going to lose their shirt. I have good friends who have gone had to have their home foreclosed on because they had to go somewhere else and they couldn't help but they had to go and then they had to have their home foreclosed on. Why? Because renting is supposedly pouring money down a drain. Let me ask you this. If you raised your children 25 years in the same home and it was rented, how much do you think they would know the difference? They would know the difference zero. Unless mom always was around kicking everything as she walked through the house. I hate this house. I can't wait till we get our own house. Dad says maybe next year, 23rd year. She's still, you know, still going kicking things, right? Your kids have no idea because isn't it true that you don't actually own your home anyhow? Is that, is that truth or is that false? That is actually truth. You, if you have not paid your home mortgage completely off, do not own your home, but the bank does own your home. And we talk about, do you rent or own neither or both? I guess I'm renting my house from the bank. It's another way of looking at it. Now I'm coming down hard on us because guys, this has not always been the modus operandi of America. This has not always been the way people operate in society. I could tell you, don't believe me. Let's keep going. A hundred years ago, debt was regarded as an earned privilege for the few. Now it's seen as an inalienable right for all. Debt is a right. Did you know that there's actually, in the law of God, there are restrictions on lending money even to poor people? Exodus 22, 25 tells the person who is lending money, it says, If thou lend money to any of my people that is poor by thee, thou shalt not be to him as an usurer. Who is that? Someone who charges interest. Neither shalt thou lay upon him usury. What does this mean? That even in the law, God had restrictions on who could get a loan with interest. So here's the thing. Some people say, I'll lend to anybody as long as they pay me back, but I'm going to charge them interest. God says, if you're going to give money to somebody that's too poor, to get a loan and too poor to have money, then you're not going to be able to charge them interest. Why? Because I want it to be more of a gift. I don't want you to even take advantage of poor people. To me, that means that not everybody, even in the land of Israel, was able to get a loan. Why? They were too poor. Too poor. Today, how many of you received in the last week a credit card offer? Raise your hand. Give me a quick estimate. Somebody tell me, how much money are you over the, let's say the last, if you counted up all the credit card offers that you have, how much could you go out and put on plastic? Somebody give me a number. If you took those and you actually went and activated the cards and use them, how much could you put on plastic? Somebody give me a number. Raise your hand. $200,000. Anybody top that? That's pretty good. $200,000. That means that you could, you could spend someone else's money right now. and live for how long? Well, depends on where you went, right? Okay, continuing on. Someone stands to profit from that debt. That is why it is so, there are so many of those offers in our mail, because somebody is going to make money off of me. Right? Why? Because there's a 78% chance that they're going to get interest from you. Do you follow what I mean? 78% chance. Herbert Hoover said this, blessed are the young. for they shall obtain the national debt. That's true, isn't it? That's true. All right, continuing. Let's go to Deuteronomy chapter 28. I'm going to talk to you, first of all, about what God's perspective is concerning debt. God's perspective concerning debt. Deuteronomy chapter 28, verse 44. Now listen, if you feel condemned tonight, I want to tell you who is condemning you. Debt is condemning you. If you feel condemned, it is not me. Because I already told you, I'm in debt. And I'm working as hard as I can to get out. So if you feel condemned, and you feel like, oh, the preacher was just kind of, I feel like he was a little rough tonight. What do you think? Who is condemning you? It is debt that is condemning you. Are you with me? Our society's love affair with debt is the one that is condemning you. It's like when you had a girlfriend for a little while, and then you found out, whoa, sports fans, this is not the one, and you got out of the relationship, and then you finally got with someone who was a good person for you, and what did that other one do? She cast aspersions on you. She looked narrowly at you, using biblical terms. She couldn't stand your guts, right? Can I say we have a love affair with the wrong thing in America concerning finances? And if you spurn her because she's not worthy of going out with, she will go on an all-out war against you. And that is the war you feel in your heart. That condemnation that you feel, I can't believe he would talk about this. That is a love affair that should never have happened. And if you make the statement, I am not going to be with you anymore. I'm breaking up with you. I'm not going to live in debt. She's not going to be happy. And she's going to come back and she's going to hold it in your face. And she may even post things on Facebook about you. You never know. That's as far as we'll take that metaphor. Now, let's go to Deuteronomy chapter 28. Deuteronomy 28, 24. Here we are when God wants to talk about lending and who lends to whom and who receives credit from whom he uses this this context here look at Deuteronomy 28 44 he shall lend to thee and thou shalt not lend to him he shall be the head and thou shalt be the tail who's he speaking about he's speaking about the enemy of Israel If the people of God turn from the things of God, from the law of God, from following the man of God, and they go and do their own thing, and start living for themselves, worshipping their own gods, one of the things that's going to happen is their enemy will become the creditor, and they will become the borrower. Look at verse 45. Moreover, all these curses shall come upon thee, and shall... Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold, time out. All these what? Curses shall come upon thee. So what does God think of debt? God called being a borrower a curse in Deuteronomy 28. God called being a borrower a curse. Being in a position to lend money is a blessing. Behold, there is treasure to be desired and oil in the dwelling of the wise. But a foolish man doth what? Spendeth it up. Proverbs 21 20. There are reserves in the house of a wise man. But a foolish man, what comes in goes out. What comes in goes out. Number two, go to Proverbs, let's look here, let's look. Go to Nehemiah chapter five. We already looked at Proverbs 22, seven. Nehemiah chapter five, we're gonna look at a story here. Number two, first of all, God called being a borrower a curse. Number two, God says that debt equals bondage. Now, I didn't say that in every case, Every single case borrowing money is wrong. That's not what I'm trying to make. I'm not saying that God didn't allow people to charge usury, but I am saying this, if you are in a position where you cannot lend to people, but you must borrow from people, according to Deuteronomy 28, that is a curse. And God's people are, when you talk about it's okay to charge usury, yes, it's okay to charge usury. Does that mean that God wants everybody to pay usury? Are you with me? So I'm not saying that we're trying to make the case tonight that you cannot, no one can ever be in debt. I'm simply saying that God, it's God's idea that his people are lending, not borrowing. Are you following me? Not very far, I guess. It's okay. We got more to go. Most of the time in the Old Testament, a person was a slave because he was a debtor. He became a slave because he was a debtor financially. He ended up owing someone money, couldn't pay it, and so became their personal slave. Now let me ask you this. What if we still did that in America? There'd be a lot of folks working at the bank. It'd be the nicest lawn you've ever seen. It'd be kept clean. There'd be 15 people washing the windows constantly. They have to rotate in and out. I mean, you couldn't even get in the bank if we did that today. Why? Because if you couldn't pay the money back in the Old Testament, you became that person's slave, their servant. The Lord was kind. He called him a servant. He calls him bondman on other places. Does anyone remember what happened with that certain woman who had, her husband was dead and she had two sons, remember? And how she was trying to get money to pay back the debt, but she had nothing to pay back the debt, so what was going to happen to her two sons? They were going to go into slavery. What? Hey, she should be thankful that they didn't call her into slavery. What am I saying? What if people could come to our house and say, I'll take your oldest son and your daughter? You say, that's not even fair. That's what happened in the Old Testament. Now, up to what age, I don't know. But that's pretty serious stuff. All right, look at it as you go further. Who else sold themselves to slavery in order to buy food? The Egyptians did. They sold themselves into slavery to whom? To Pharaoh and to Joseph. Joseph set that all up and they mortgaged themselves. They had already sold their lands and they finally sold themselves into slavery as a result. And Joseph bought them, bought the Egyptians. That is an amazing thing. You say, I'd never let anyone buy me. How much again do you have in credit? Satan answered the Lord and said, skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life. Interesting twist on that verse. Now let's look at Nehemiah chapter 5. Nehemiah 5, and there was a great cry of the people and of their wives against their brother and the Jews. This is in the destroyed area of Jerusalem as Nehemiah came back to set things back up. For there were that said, we, our sons and our daughters, are many. Therefore, we take up corn for them that we may eat and live. Some also there were that said, we have mortgaged our lands, vineyards, and houses that we might buy corn because of the dearth." Here's a point to make. In a time of famine, the ultimate act of despair was to mortgage your fields, your vineyards, and your homes. In a time of great famine And the whole country is destroyed. It was a very difficult thing that they did. It was an act of despair, but they did it because they were hopeless. They mortgaged their lands in order to live. So what they did was they said this, I'm going to the bank or whoever the usurers were. I will sell you my home. You can have my home if you will give me money so I can buy my, I can buy food to live, and I want to live here too. I want to still live in my home. So give me, uh, I'll sell you my home. If you will give me money, um, basically not selling your home, but I will, I will allow you to, uh, I, let me rephrase here. When we get lost in the shuffle, they go to the usurer and they say, I don't have any money to live. So I will pay you for the privilege of living in my house. If you will give me money. That's what they did. I will pay you, the usurer, for the privilege of living in my own home so that I can live." They had to do it because they had no way of getting money any other way. Look at this in verse number... So in other words, this is the type of thing that would never be done under normal circumstances. Only under great distress. Mortgaging. Look at verse 4. There were also that said, we have borrowed money for the king's tribute. What's the king's tribute? Taxes. People were borrowing money to pay their taxes. Hey, people do it in America all the time. Poor people don't pay taxes unless they play the lottery. Amen. Which they do. But the rich people borrow money all the time to pay their taxes. Verse number five. Yet now our flesh is as the flesh of our brethren, our children as their children, and lo, we bring into bondage our sons and our daughters to be servants, and some of our daughters are brought into bondage already. Neither is it in our power to redeem them, for other men have our lands and vineyards. So those who appear to be powerful are actually powerless. Now, I want you to go to 1 Corinthians chapter 7. You say, man, this is depressing. It is depressing because debt is depressing. But we look at debt as, it's that Rottweiler that we bought and we know it's crazy and it's getting older and bigger and it drools a lot and it makes all kinds of wild, crazy actions and movements, but it's It's chained up, right? I mean, it's still chained. It's still chained up. 1 Corinthians 7, verse 20. 7, 20. Let every man abide in the same calling wherewith he was called. Art thou called, being a servant? Care not for it. But if thou mayest be made free, use it rather. Look down at verse 23. Ye are bought with a price. Be not ye the servants of men. Be not ye the servants of men. Look at verse 21 again. art thou called being a servant care not for it but if thou mayest be made free use it rather did God call you to be in debt we haven't even thought about it most of us we haven't even thought about the fact that maybe God doesn't want us to be in debt I've had good good Bible preaching pastors tell me men that I respect have told me It's not really debt if you pay back the money, if you honor the contract. Now, I do understand what they mean. I have not broken a contract if I pay back my mortgage every month. That is true. I've not broken a contract. But I must say, I am indeed in debt. You say, well, I can always sell my house and make a profit. Boy, that's a lie that doesn't even get told anymore. Nobody even believes it. We all know that's a falsehood. There are so many more people that are renting houses in Toledo today than there ever have been. Why? Because people got into a home they couldn't afford. And why did they do it? Because debt was a little playful puppy. And now it's chained up and it's about to kill somebody and we throw food out to it because we don't even want to go out there. And we throw out the minimum payment to it every month. But one of these days, if it still is living, it's going to wear that chain out, pull that stake out of the ground, and we're going to be in trouble. 1 Corinthians 7.20, 7.23, got that. Now, let's go to another one. And don't worry, we've got good news coming. Good things are on the way. Hang on. Matthew chapter 4. Matthew chapter 4. So what is God's perspective on debt? Number one, God called being a borrower a curse. In Deuteronomy 28, God said that debt equals bondage. Debt equals bondage, number two. And number three, Christ said not to tempt the Lord by presuming on the future. Matthew 6, 33. Don't go there. I'll read it to you. What does it say? But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be what? Added unto you. It's one thing to trust God to provide for our present needs. Seek ye first. Seek ye first. What tense is that verb? Past, present, or future? Seek. Past, present, or future. It's present. It's one thing to trust God for my present needs by seeking Him first and all these things will be added unto me. It's another thing to presume upon God by dictating to Him what He is going to have to do in the future. Now look at this, Matthew 4, verse 5, Then the devil taketh them up into the holy city, and setteth them on a pinnacle of the temple, saith unto him if thou be the Son of God cast thyself down for it is written he shall give his angels charge concerning thee and in their hands they shall bear thee up lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone the devil takes Jesus up here and he says your God prove your God prove that you can you can tell the future prove that God will take care of you in the future prove it Now, I don't know about you, if I was Jesus Christ, I would have taken the bait. No problem at all. That's easy. Because do you think that God would have protected Jesus Christ if he jumped off the temple? I do. I have no problem believing that. But why didn't he do it? Here's why he didn't do it. Verse number 7, Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. What do you mean? If Jesus could tempt God, in Jesus' earthly human body, it was possible for Him to tempt God by presuming on the future. Presuming on the future. How is that even possible? I don't know how it's possible. But Jesus Christ was a full human, and He was a full God. Fully human, fully divine, and yet He told the devil, I'm not going to do something that would cause God to have to protect me in the future because of something that I did that was stupid today. Are you with me? For me to do something stupid today, knowing that there are going to be consequences in the future, is presuming on the future and it is tempting God. Tempting God. Now I understand, we get insurance for insurance. We do that. But I will say this, there are always ways to get around trusting the pure, simplistic Word of God. Man has... I remember one time having this thought, I don't know how old I was, maybe 15, 16, and I remember having this momentary blast of fear, thinking about, well, what if the car was completely destroyed? What if we got into a wreck, and I wasn't worried about myself, I was thinking about the car, and the car was wrecked! How would we pay for it? And I had a secondary thought right off the bat. Insurance. And my mind was calmed. Now, I am not preaching to you that you should not have insurance on your car. What I'm saying was my trust was immediately satisfied by realizing that man had come up with a system that was going to take care of me. Some people have realized, though, that those insurance benefits that you have only go so far. And then it's going to end up costing you some money. What am I saying? I'm not preaching against insurance. Don't get the wrong idea here. What I'm saying was as a teenager, I had an opportunity where I could have trusted in God, but I just as quickly trusted in what man could do for me and take care of me. So the trust in God was supplanted and replaced by trust in man. So when we talk about debt, what we're saying is I trust myself. I can go into debt because in the future I will be able to take care of all of my debts. No problems. The Bible says in Romans chapter 13, let's look at that one more reference. Romans chapter 13, and if I could get some person to bring a watch for me. I did not bring my watch up here and this is unreliable. I want to make sure that we don't prolong the debt talk. Thank you Brother Gary. Oh, we're out of time. Let's pray. We still got more to go. Romans 13, verse 6. For this cause pay ye tribute also. What would we say? We wouldn't call it tribute. We'd call it what? Taxes. It is taxes. It's tribute. You are paying fealty. For they are God's ministers attending continually upon this very thing. Who are God's ministers? The powers that be. The powers that be that are ordained of God. People in government. The king. Look at the early part of Romans 13. So it says, verse 7, render therefore to all their dues, tribute to whom tribute is due, custom to whom custom, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor, owe no man anything but to love one another. You say, well, that's, it's talking about love. Just got done talking about taxes. But to love one another. You know, Hudson Taylor and Charles Spurgeon believe that Romans 13, 8 prohibited a Christian from being in debt. Now, I don't take that an extreme of a position, but I can tell you this, Hudson Taylor lived it. He lived it. When he was in college, Hudson Taylor would pray his food in. Hudson Taylor prayed his tuition to Bible college in. He prayed his room and board in. That was the kind of man he was, and it bore fruit in his later life in China. Amazing ministry God gives him. He said, Christians are not allowed to go into debt, period. I'll tell you this, even if we preached that extreme position, how bad would that be for our lives? How horrible and terrible would it be to live under a debt free life? I can't even imagine it. Wouldn't be that bad, would it? It'd be decent to not have any debts. Every single dollar that came in, you could decide where it went. Somebody else wasn't deciding for you. That'd be pretty amazing. Now let's ask some questions. Here's some questions to ask before going into debt. Number one, is the money I will be obligated to repay and the bondage it will create worth the value I'll receive by getting it now? Number two, when it comes time for me to repay my debt, what new needs will I have that my debt will keep me from meeting? I'm just presuming that we're going to, all of us are going to go into debt at some point. So ask this question, is not having enough resources to pay immediately for what I want God's way of telling me it isn't His will for me to buy it right now. Is it possible that because I don't have the money for it, it may be God's sign, let's call it, that I shouldn't buy it right now? Is it possible that this thing that may have been God's will, but I don't have the resources to buy it because of past, past unwise decisions? It just really feels like it's God's will. Maybe it was supposed to be God's will before you went out and bought a water softener. Amen? That's why it seems like it should have been God's will. Because maybe it was. If a lack of wisdom put me in a position where I can't afford to buy something, wouldn't I do better to learn God's lesson by forgoing it until I have saved enough money? Wouldn't it be better for me just to learn the lesson until I can actually afford it. Is debt our way of getting around the need of depending on God? When I go to buy something with credit card or with debt, is this a way of getting around my need for dependence on God? Think about the next time you go out and you have to buy something on credit. Is this my way of getting around God providing for me what I need? He said he would provide for me. My God shall supply all your needs all your need according to his riches and glory. But he didn't promise to provide all your greeds, your needs. Is debt our means of short-circuiting the command of God? Short-circuiting what command? For instance, the command of God to work. If any doesn't work, he shouldn't what? Shouldn't eat. So is my going into debt a way of getting around this? Yeah, I know God said I shouldn't eat if I don't work, but I'm going to be able to use this credit card. They'll give a credit card to a dead person, and they have. So all kinds of commands that we sometimes try to get around. Now let's look at six assumptions that we have when we go into debt. Here's an assumption. Number one, we need more than God has given us. That's why we're going to buy this. I need more than what God has given to me. Number two, God doesn't know best what my needs are. These are assumptions we make when we go into debt. Now you got to go with this is surgery because there's cancer in our minds and hearts. and it has to be removed surgically, and it's going to hurt, and it's going to cause some pain. But it's cancer! You don't want cancer in your life. You don't want that. It's going to kill you. It's going to ruin your future. It's going to ruin your children's future. That cancer of debt is going to hurt you in the future. You say, well, it's not going to, it hasn't hurt me so far. Yeah. Yeah. You're struggling through, aren't you? You ever hear about the people who have cancer removed and they say, wow, I can stand up straight. I never knew what this huge tumor in my side was doing to me. I can actually climb the steps without breathing hard. You know what? They had gotten used to living with that huge tumor, not realizing that they didn't have to live that way. And when they finally got rid of that tumor, what they got was a life they didn't even think was possible anymore. In fact, they just considered it getting old. It's just the way things are. But there were forces that were doing more than just natural forces. Hey, we're all going to die of something, but we're not all going to die when we should have died. Because some of us smoked a lot and some of us drank a lot. And even if you haven't done that, there may be things in your body you have no idea. And because of that, you're going to die earlier than you probably should have. And you don't want to, and I don't want that, and I pray for God's grace in your lives and in my life, that God does not visit upon me the iniquity of my youth. But at the same time, if I could find out what is killing me or keeping me from that full life, why wouldn't I want to attack that and get rid of it so I could live my life to the fullest? It just makes sense, doesn't it? But it's hard, and you have to schedule yourself to go in for surgery, and they're going to cut you open. and they're going to go through and they're going to find a bunch of junk, and you're going to be laid up for a long time, not able to do what you normally did because you had to have cancer taken out. I don't know about you. To me, it's worth it. I say it's worth it. Now, I'm not like Steve Jobs, who was such an arrogant person, that he said, he was holistic. He was organic. In fact, he was so organic, things were growing in him that killed him. Because he would not allow a surgeon to cut him open and take care of this problem. And so he died. Because he was so arrogant. That his body was so perfect, apparently, that he could not allow a surgeon's knife to cut it open. I like my life the way it is. Don't bother me. Let me do my thing. We're happy where we are. Yes, we can't even survive. Yes, we can't do anything without fear because we're so in debt over our heads. But let me, you know, just back off. I have liberty in Christ to have cancer. I can do what I want with my family. We can be miserable. I don't know guys. I don't want to be miserable. I don't want to live in fear. I want to live in victory. And if God says, Hey, Hey, Mr. So-and-so, I want you to go across the world and be a missionary over there. Oh God, I'd love to, but we're underwater right now. Amen. Amen. This is where the road meets the road right here. This is where we live as Americans, but let me just say it's not where God wants us to live as Americans. And I'm sorry, you cannot come to me and tell me with this little manuscript right here about how God has honored you through debt and how God is honored in your life through debt. I know he's not honored in my life. I know there's more embarrassment and there's more fear and concern about the future because of debt and less joy and less ability to give at the drop of a hat, and less confidence knowing that I'm being taken care of by my God. Key assumptions. God has failed to provide for our needs, so it forces me to take matters into my own hands. That's an assumption that you're making. If God doesn't come through the way we think he should, we can find another way. And that, my friends, is the great blessing of credit cards. If God doesn't come through the way I think He should, in the time frame that He should, I've always got plastic. I can take care of it. You remember Abraham tried that in Genesis? I know God promised to provide a son, but, you know, look at the time. I mean, I'm gonna die. So, why don't we just do this other thing? And it'll work out great. Anybody hear about Israel today on the news? That's a common thing, isn't it? They're in the news all the time. Why? Because Abraham used a credit card to pay for things that he should have waited for God to allow him to pay cash for. That's a pretty harsh analogy, isn't it? But it is no less true. Abraham used a credit card when he should have paid cash for it. The problem was he didn't have the cash for it, and so he went ahead and bought it on a credit card, and now his people are paying for it every day of their lives. They're launching rockets into civilized areas. Why? Because he couldn't live within his means. Number five, I'm making this assumption. Because today's income is sufficient to make my debt payments, tomorrow's income will be sufficient as well. In fact, I'm probably going to make more money than I do now as I go into the future. Now the Great Recession has taught us differently than that, hasn't it? you're probably going to make less money. Number six, assumption that you make. Our circumstances will not change. Our circumstances are not going to change. I mean, look at us. Look at our married pictures, our wedding pictures. We're better than that today. We're healthier than that. Nothing's going to change. Right? We make this assumption. It's like what? Our health is going to be good. We're going to keep our present job. Our salary is going to keep up with inflation. And God would never direct us to a different job with a lower salary. God doesn't lead people to where there's less money. That would never be God's will, right? A little sarcasm there. God would never lead me to increase my giving. Because God knows where I live. And He knows that I need money for these things. Like going out to eat and the mall. The Lord knows we're in great distress. I wish I could give, honest Lord, you know, you know I do." The Lord knows a whole lot more than you think he knows, amen? The Lord knows where we are. And the idea that possibly God gave you a raise so you could give more to God. Mind equals blown. Right? Why? We don't think that way. Any windfall, any income comes in. It's got a pastor in my hands. I'm the gatekeeper. I'm the toll booth operator. And if the Lord wants some, he's going to have to go through the toll booth. That's how we roll. I'll give him a little bit here and there. I'll keep him happy. Who do we think we are? Who do we think we are? I don't know about you. This is the way I think. If I get a windfall, oh, this is awesome. Why? Because we weren't even planning on having this much fun. But it's going to be great. It doesn't cross my mind. Well, what does God want out of this? What if the Lord wanted more money? They have enough money down there. What? They? God's plural now? What? Who's they? Are you with me tonight? If it's God's money, then it doesn't matter to me that I give Him back more of His money. Because guess what? The more I give back to Him, the more God says, Hey, Mark, this guy, you can trust this one. It's been proven time and time again in this room right here, that the more you give to God, the more God can give through you. And oh, by the way, now God's grease in your palm. Now God's given you a little extra percentage than what you had, but it's not for you. And it's not for Disney world. Amen. And it's not for spinners on your car. Amen. God's taking care of you, and He's going to let you keep some of it. But instead of turning that around, amen, and I get most of it and God keeps some, let's turn that thing around and say, what if I were someday, you know, R. G. Letourneau style, giving 90% of my millionaire income to God and keeping 10% and living very nicely on 10%? You say it's not possible. Talk to R. G. Letourneau's family, who is still living off the trust fund that he set up. living on 10% so it is possible guys we can do it but sometimes we don't think and I'm I'm hitting you hard tonight because Americans we've got to be we've got to be hit hard on debt because every day somebody's telling you easy money right here every day when you go to your mailbox and look they're telling you easy money you can live a life that you've never dreamed and there is it is true now let's look at verse let's look at this I'm going to give you several ways to get out of debt. Because I don't want to leave you with just, Oh, I'm in debt. I'm a horrible person. Yes. If you're in debt, you are a percentage of horrible. Okay. I'm just telling you the truth. We are. Oh no, man. Anything. Now let me just say this. There is no way for you to get rid of that percentage of horrible, but there is a way for you. I'm talking about on your life. you're gonna be a percentage of horrible. So let's say you're on your high horse about debt. We don't have debt or anything. Yeah, when's the last time you gave to God, Skinflint? Amen. Sometimes we go to one extreme to the other, right? We're not gonna give anybody. Our kids can use the pencils they used last year, okay? There's still a nub. And as long as there's a nub, right? We have a way of going from one extreme to the next. But let me say this. If God has given you and understanding from the book of what debt means to God. I challenge you, go through and find good uses for debt. And it's always on the lending side, not on the borrowing side. All right? If you have that, then you need to go back through and do some, and I need to go back through and do an inventory of my financial house and say, all right, guys, what are we going to do? And explain that to your kids. So we're not going out to eat for the fifth time this week because of this. Well, we're just poor, aren't we? No. Those people that you think are rich are not rich. They have huge bills. They eat fried foods every day out at those big, nice, fancy restaurants. Right? And they're paying for it with interest. So we have to explain these things to our kids because it's hard, man. When you got kids in the back going, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, How to get out of debt. We'll go through this quickly. Number one, repent. Acknowledge that you have taken your cues from the world. But we're not supposed to be conformed to this world. We're supposed to be what? Transformed. That includes money. And more of us are probably financially conformed to this world than we are in any other area of our lives. Because we don't know any better. Your mom and dad probably didn't sit you down and go, all right, sound financial principles. I got nothing. That's probably what most of our parents would have done if they sat us down. But how many of us had parents that sat down and told us? No, very few of us did. That's why we're in debt. So repent. I've been conformed to this world, but God, I want to be transformed. Now, here's the thing, folks. I'm not saying that everybody isn't doing it. Everybody is doing it. The question is, does God want everybody to do it? And if he doesn't, then we need to repent and say, God, I'm sorry. Number two, immediately give God the first fruits. When you give God the first and best of your income, you are acknowledging His ownership of His money that He gave you. So give God your tithe right off the bat. Number three, incur no new debts. Incur no new debts. Operate on this principle. If I can't afford it now, it isn't God's will now. This is the hard one. If I can't afford it now, it isn't God's will now. You say, what would you do if you had an emergency? I'd spend the fire out of my credit cards. But, I don't think I would have when I first got a credit card. Because I was kind of afraid of it. And before I ever had a credit card, I used to pray about things a lot. When I was younger, before I even had a salary or any kind of income, I used to pray for the things that I got. It's sad to say, I don't know when the last time I got a big financial answer to prayer. God's been there. He's protected me from my stupidity. He's helped me. He's moved me along. But I don't pray about financial things like I used to. Why? Because I don't have to. It's just not worth the stress, worrying about it. What you're doing is you're trading stress for stress. Operate on that principle. If I can't afford it now, it isn't God's will now. Number four, systematically eliminate existing debts. Systematically. Get a system. If you ask me, I'll tell you what to do. Give me your email address. If you want something like this email address, or just give me your phone number, hand it to me. I'll give you a list of financial resources that can help you get out of debt. And by the way, this is one of the reasons why we are having this Financial Peace University that happens in September, the first Monday in September, for nine weeks. The reason we're doing this is to help people like us who have problems in finances. And we've got to make some changes. Now, we're not all dirt poor, living out of a dumpster somewhere. But that's one of the biggest things we've got to get to, is knowing where we are. And that's why we're having this class. Before we can ever really address the debt of Hope Baptist Church, and we've got quite a bit of debt. over $2 million for the debt. Before we can get to the point of addressing the debt of our church corporately, we've got to get to the point of addressing our families' and individuals' debts. This is a very important thing. Because if it's not right for us individually to do it, then maybe we shouldn't be carrying a mortgage as a church. Silence froze the bewildered throng. It's a different way of looking at it. Now I'm not standing here and tell you that we'll never ever take out a loan for anything ever again. I'm not going to say that. Because there are situations in which you need to get a loan. But there's a lot fewer than we think as Americans. A whole lot fewer. So that's number four, systematically eliminate existing debts. Number five, perform plastic surgery on your credit cards. If the card is a temptation, destroy it. There are a couple of exceptions. If you always make full payment when due, every month you always make full payment for everything you put on the credit card. You can avoid interest. And it is no easier for you to buy using a credit card than it is cash. In other words, it's not easier to spend with a credit card. In other words, it doesn't bother you as much to spend it with a credit card. If it bothers you less with a credit card than it does with cash, then you shouldn't be doing it anyhow. Because studies have shown, I told you, studies have shown that people who use credit cards, even if they pay them off every month, usually spend more than if they only have cash. What would you do with that money if you didn't spend it? You would put it in savings, wouldn't you? You would ostensibly be in savings. Number six, stop rationalizing your debt. Stop rationalizing it. We'll be done soon. Hang in there. Hey guys, this beats going home and watching an infomercial about a piece of junk that you're never going to buy. Stop rationalizing your debt habit. Recognize that you have a weakness somewhere and don't let it master you. House, car, furniture, clothing, gadgets, food, books for me. You've got a weakness somewhere and you just recognize that and don't let it master you. So stop rationalizing your debt habit. If debt seems the best or necessary choice, go slowly and prayerfully. If it seems the best choice, go slowly and prayerfully. Don't go slowly and prayerfully after you make the decision. Do that before you make the decision. All right, get good counsel, multitude of counselors. Number eight, and there's 10 of these, number eight, learn the difference between saving and spending. I got to give this to you because it's hilarious. Saving is when you have more money than when you started. Spending is when you have less. Think about this. Saving is when you have more money than when you started. Spending is when you have less. You say, that's everybody knows that. Oh yeah? Watch this. If you go to the store and you see an $80 sweater on sale for $30, how much money did you save? If you go to the store, I'm going to say it again. And you see an $80 sweater. It's on sale for $30. How much money have you saved? What's the proper response? Hold up your hands. Show me. What is it? You have saved $0. Most people say $50. You didn't save anything. You spent how much? You spent $30. You didn't save any money. Well, I could have been in much worse financial difficulty. Well, let's all sit around and imagine how much worse it could be. What a wonderful way to live your life. No, that's the difference. We have to learn it. That's why, to me, it was just hilarious to realize. They tell you, act now and what? And save and pay less. Well, you may pay less, but you're certainly not saving anything. Because if you have to give them money before you leave the store with the item, then you have spent money. Now, I hate to tell you that there's a large contingent of this congregation that needs to go over these notes several times. A lot of folks in here, this applies to. Amen? Don't expect you to say amen like Brother Garris used to say, just nod your pointed head. I don't expect you to say amen. All right, number nine, list your debts and if necessary, contact your creditors. There are ways to deal with creditors. If you are over your head and you're drowning in credit card debt or other debt, there are ways to deal with them and there are people that can help you. And creditors can be a particularly nasty lot because for some reason people don't like paying back their debts. And so they can be nasty on the phone. And there are people who can help you with that. There are ways to do that. But I don't encourage people to do that. I'm simply saying that sometimes we get over our heads and we can do nothing, nothing at all. Number 10, if you've done everything else and it still seems insufficient, consider increasing your income to eliminate your debts, not to spend more, but to eliminate your debts. So, there we go, that's debt. And we've hit it hard, we've been hard, and I know some of you are going to go out going, man, it was really rough, it was really rough. Keep in mind, who has been mean to you tonight? Debt. Not me. I'm the good guy. Alright? And keep this in mind too, I'm going through this with you. And by God's grace, our family is going to be debt free. I cannot stand here and tell you we'll never take out another loan or we'll never put something on a credit card again and not be able to pay it back. I'm not telling you that, but I am telling you I have identified the enemy. I know who the enemy is. And by God's grace, I'm going to fight that enemy until it's dead. And if someone else crops up in his place, by God's grace, I'm going to fight that enemy until it's dead. When I look at this church mortgage, our 2020 vision, five years from next spring, paying off the debt, I've identified an enemy. And it's called the church mortgage. And by God's grace, I'm going to do everything I can and our family's going to do everything we can to fight that debt and get out of debt. So that that money that we're spending and paying somebody's, uh, for somebody's Rolls Royce or somebody's, uh, nice, beautiful house in the Bahamas. We can start spending it on people who are winning people to Christ on the mission field. We can start spending it on, on, on other ministries here in our church. We can put that, we can bank that and have a buffer against difficult times when half of our congregation may lose their job. We can keep the lights on. That's my desire. That's my heart. And I know it's your heart as well. Let's pray together, band together and say, God, we want to do your will. Would you give us the power and strength to do it? All right, let's stand together tonight. And again, thank you for dealing with it and bearing with it. It's been a long message. I appreciate your patience, but I think it was important. I know it's been challenging to me and helpful. Let me give you one thing. This book right here is a very helpful resource. It's called Money, Possessions, and Eternity by Randy Alcorn. He's the guy that wrote about Heaven is Real. You remember that? This is a previous book that he wrote. Money, Possessions, and Eternity. It's very ponderous. It's thick, and it's got all kinds of stuff. But it will be a huge help to you. I don't believe everything that he says in here. I only believe everything that he says in here. But I don't believe everything, but it will be a very helpful book to you. It's not You know, this is what you do today, do this, but it is a thinking book, and it will help you get on the right track, I believe. All right, let's close in prayer tonight.