Money Matters: Part 2 - The Danger of Depending on Debt

0:07 Last Sunday, I started a series on finances. Today is Part 2. Last week I talked about the benefits of giving. based on 2 Corinthians chapter 9 that God gives us grace. He'll make all grace abound toward you that you will be sufficient in all things. Amen. Thank all five of y'all for reaffirming that. It's very great. But the question is raised, why don't more people be more generous in their giving? And I concluded that the reason is that people are strapped by debt.

0:58 Debt is killing us. Killing our communities, killing our families, killing our marriages, killing our life. Debt. And it is a standard of living that people have accepted it as normal. you don't have to be strapped by debt. Amen. Amen. Amen.

1:29 Thank all 20 of y'all for affirming that point. I have concluded my 67 years of life. I've been in debt, I'm out of debt. I like living out of debt better than being in debt. My research shows that the average person has between $6,000 and $8,000 worth of debt, personal debt, consumer debt.

2:05 The average student college debt is between $20,000 and $25,000. Michelle, let me talk to her for a minute. Come here for a minute. put you on the spot. She don't know I'm going to do this. I talked about her at 8 o'clock. Y'all bring me a mic real quick. Last Sunday, Michelle wrote an article. Some of y'all know she writes for the Washington Post. And her column is syndicated around the country. Do you know how many newspapers carry your... A dozen or so. Okay. She wrote an article last Sunday that was posted that was phenomenal. She talked about ideas of how kids can go to college without accumulating debt.

2:58 Amen. It was amazing. Now how can they get that article? Because I thought about your 8 o'clock this morning. I should have called you and got all this information ahead of time. That's okay. How can they get it?

4:03 You've gone into my survey. So it is a fabulous article, and I want to encourage you to get it, especially if you have kids about to go to college or in college, because the suggestions and ideas that she promoted were phenomenal, and I think people need it, okay? Thank you.

4:26 I might have you come back one Sunday and talk about that, because it's excellent. It's good. See, the problem we have is we're using debt as a way of life. It's how we're living. We're using debt. Matter of fact, some of us pull out our credit card before we pray. Let me say that again. Y'all didn't hear me. Some of us will pull out our credit card and charge it before we even ask God to provide it. Yeah, yeah. That's right.

5:06 The problem is what we borrow for. We borrow for, most of us borrow for depreciating items. We're borrowing for things that are worth nothing in a few days, months, years. We borrow for clothes, borrow for go-to events, we borrow for jewelry, furniture, food We borrow from vehicles that... When you drive off the lot is worth, that car is worth less than what you owe on and what you just borrowed money for. And Lord, don't get in an accident, because if you total the car, the insurance company is only going to give you the blue book value of the car, which is $1,000, $2,000, or more, less than what you just paid for.

6:10 If you buy a car, a brand new car, go to the dealership, and you drive off the lot, onto the highway and right then you get in an accident, you are not going to be able to get enough money to pay off the debt from the insurance company. Hello? Hello? Is this working? Is this on? I know y'all don't want to hear this. It's okay. When you come to First Baptist Church, but not, you're going to get the truth whether you like it or not. You're going for clothes. Some of y'all are still paying on clothes that you no longer fit. If you can't say amen, say ouch.

6:59 In a couple of years, you won't be able to fit it. For some of y'all, a couple of months, you won't be able to fit it. And the interest rates on credit cards is 20, 21%, maybe higher. You'll be paying for years on stuff that you no longer own, no longer can fit. I'm trying to save you the drama of living on debt. That's why you can't get ahead. Look at your neighbors here. That's why you can't get ahead. Tell them on the other side. That's why you can't get ahead.

7:47 God bless you, God bless you. Kids are graduating from college with debt that they'll never pay back in their lifetime. It's tragic, sad.

8:09 I've been in debt before. I'm out of debt now. Praise be to God. I like being out of debt a whole lot better than being in debt. Now, for some of you, this is something that's going to happen to some of you. Some of you are going to get the conviction that you should stop living in debt. I went to a church to preach, teach one time on finances. And I did the teaching to the church. Thank you. and at the end of the teaching series, I did what I did here. I bought out the bottle that I put to tell people to cut up their credit cards. Members of the church all over bought their credit cards and cut it up, except for the pastor and his wife.

9:09 Now, here's later. Here we are now, years later. They kept their credit card. They lived on credit card, and they are in trouble financially. and some of you are going to have an opportunity to cry out to God I'm way ahead of myself y'all excuse me I didn't even give you all my subject.

9:37 The dangers of depending on debt. The dangers of depending on debt. God's going to give you an opportunity. to make a choice and a decision to stop living on debt.

9:58 Now, when I got exposed to financial freedom, At the time, I had, we had, my wife and I had, let me, oh, Lord. When we got married, we made a choice not to go into debt and buy stuff and furniture. All we had was a bed.

10:23 As far as I'm concerned, nothing else was needed. Do I have any witnesses in the camp? Come on, brothers. Don't leave me hanging out here by myself. What else do you need other than that? We didn't have a dining room set. We didn't have a living room set.

10:51 But we did have debt on a car, a van. Shortly thereafter, we bought a van. And I got exposed to financial freedom. and I told God if he ever made it possible for me to pay off that van, we owed $15,000 on that van, I would do it. And so one day, unexpectedly, I received a check in the mail for like $17,000, enough to pay off the van and tithe on the money. God's going to do that for some of y'all.

11:38 And I have to be honest with you, when that check for $17,000 came in, I had never seen that much money at that point in my life. I had never seen that much money at one time in my life. And I got tempted. Can I be honest with y'all? I thought about a lot of other things I could do with that money. And I got tempted. I got tempted but I said I told God if he put it in my hand see if God can get it through you he'll get it to you If he made it possible for me, I would do it. And that check came in. And sure enough, as much as hard as it was, I went on and paid off that van. That's been 30 years ago. And I ain't been in debt since.

12:32 Amen. I'm praising God. I'm giving God the glory that he helped me to get out of debt. Amen. Now, let me be clear. Y'all might see me go to the store. Y'all might see me in a restaurant. I do have credit cards, and I do use credit cards. but the difference between me and you is when I use the credit card, I know I already have the money to pay for it in the bank. Can I get an amen right there? Yeah. But see, y'all are using the credit cards, and you ain't got the money in the bank.

13:16 You're presuming that in the future you're going to get it, and that's a dangerous place to be. Ooh, I don't know why I'm feeling so much tension in this room. I feel tension. Maybe it's on this side. Let me go over on this side. Yeah, so anyway, I'm running my mouth, and let me give you a verse. Proverbs 22.7. That's the verse for tonight. Proverbs 22.7. and here's the Proverbs 22, 7, it says, the rich rules over the poor and the borrower is servant to the lender.

13:53 Say that, the borrower is servant to the lender. Tell your neighbor, the borrower is servant to the lender. Matter of fact, the word servant means you are a slave. Some of y'all don't worship the Lord, when you worship Master Charge, Discovery, Visa. Who else y'all be worshiping? American Express. You said that with attitude. You love that attitude.

14:25 Yeah, that's what you're bowing down to. You're never going to work, because you owe them. They're calling the shots. They're saying you will go to work today. God doesn't want us to be bowing down to anybody but Him. So my first point, here's my first point, is that debt makes you a slave to the lender. Proverbs 22, 7. Debt makes you a slave to the lender. And I want to challenge you to try to get, I'm going to challenge you, and I'm telling you right now, God's going to help some of y'all. He's going to bring some resources. He's going to help you. You pray about it. You depend upon it. God's going to open up some doors to help you get out of debt. with those astronomical interest rates, 20, 21, 22% of interest that you're paying.

15:23 If you pay the minimum on your credit card, you'll be paying until Jesus comes back. It's not a lifestyle that God wants his children to live. Can I get an amen right here? It is not a lifestyle. He wants your children. and he wants you to live. He doesn't want that. And so he wants you not to be a servant, a slave to the lender. Now, having said that, let me give you some sub points.

16:01 Sub point one. Don't loan money to people and don't borrow money from people. Don't loan money to people or borrow money from people. That's a very important point. Because once you loan somebody some money, the nature of the relationship changes.

16:28 When they needed the money, they was blowing up your phone, waiting for you to call back. And when they saw your name show up, calling them back, they answer. But now when Friday comes, that's when it's due back. They're nowhere to be found. They ghost you. Amen. The nature of the relationship changes. Romans 13, 8. Jot that down. Romans 13, 8. Once, oh, it says in Romans 13, 8, oh, no one anything except to love one another for he who loves another has fulfilled the law. Oh, no one anything.

17:16 Matter of fact, if you can't give it to the person, just tell them that you don't have it. So much tension. It's on this side. I need to go on the other side. This is the Bible. I'm teaching you the truth of the God's word. Oh, no man, anything. Don't loan money to people. Don't borrow money from people. It changes the nature of the relationship. don't loan or borrow money from anybody point two I'm going to finish early today and I'm going to take questions so y'all got questions write them down I had some whale of some questions at 8 o'clock Lord have mercy we have some questions at 8 o'clock so point two don't cosign Do not cosign.

18:15 This section saying it's too late to tell them that. I'm trying to save somebody from trouble.

18:36 It's a mistake. Can I tell you what a cosign is? When the person said they need a cosigner, they've gone to the bank, tried to get a loan, and the bank said, Thank you. Listen carefully. We don't think you're going to pay this back. Go and find some fool. Who's going to pay it? Because we don't think you're going to pay it back. Now, y'all get this in your head. Get this. Understand this. The bank is in the business of loan and money. And they check out the person's history, income, expenses. And when they say, when the banks say you need a cosigner, they don't think you can afford this loan.

19:45 And here you come along because you want them to think, well, are you going to be your friend? you're gonna cosign on something for something that the bank said they don't think they can do. excuse me you fool okay let me let me read this to you proverb i'm gonna give you proverbs 11 15 we're gonna read this in a minute but there's a ton of verses in the bible about this there's a ton of verses i'm just giving you one matter of fact all i need to do is have to give you one but there's several times in the Bible it says over and over again don't cosign. Proverbs 11 15. He who is surety. That's what cosigning is. Assuring alone. Surety for a stranger will suffer. But one who hates being surety is secure.

20:43 You're making a mistake to cosign for somebody. Don't do it. Don't do it. Tell your neighbor don't do it. Look at them eyeball or eyeball. Tell them don't do it. Don't do it. you picking up debt that somebody else got, you can barely pay back your own debt,

21:08 let alone agreeing to pay for somebody else's debt. It's a trouble. It's a challenge. It's a problem. So the scripture's clear on that. So let us see, I think, on this outline. outline. So I said, don't borrow money, don't loan money, don't cosign. Number three, when you borrow and don't pay back, it's a sin. When you borrow from somebody, you don't pay it back. The Bible says it's a sin. Psalms 37 and verse 21. The wicked borrows and does not pay. does not repay. It's a problem.

21:58 You are beckoning for the judgment of God on you. Will you do that? Now, here's my, I'm only giving you two points today. I got you some points, but here's my second point because I want to give you plenty of time to ask questions or a few minutes to ask questions. Here's my second point, final point for today. Seek God for your needs instead of borrowing.

22:29 Before you go and borrow, before you charge it, before you put it on your card, pray and ask God to make it possible for you to get it. And I remember early in our marriage, my wife wanted a china cabinet. And she had it all designed what kind of china cabinet she wanted. She wanted one with glass in the front with a light in it. I didn't understand why you need a light in it. And I don't ever remember somebody coming to my house saying, hey, can I look at your china and your china cap? Never happened. Never happened. Never. And not at night. Definitely not at night. So I said to her, let's go to the store and see what it's going to cost.

23:31 So we went to the store. $3,000. I said, you got to pray about that one. And she actually prayed about it. and not soon after that, one of our neighbors,

23:58 I'm sorry, one of our members, one of our members called us up and said, I'm downsizing, and I have this china cabinet with everything that my wife wanted on it. Do we want it for free? Come on, somebody. Let me tell you all something. God is a miracle worker. God will work out it for you. God will make a way out of no way. He will open up the door for you. That's what God will do for you.

24:46 Philippians chapter 4, verse 6. I should give you these verses instead of just rushing. I get so excited about what God has done. Philippians 4 and 6 says, be anxious for nothing but in everything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God before you charge it, before you, see our problem is we got to have it now. We're unwilling to wait. We're unwilling to let God have an opportunity to provide it for you. And one of the reasons my faith is so strong in God, and one of the reasons my wife's faith is so strong in God is she's prayed about some things and she saw God open up the door and make a way. And when God does that for you, when you pray and God opens up the door and God makes a way and God puts it at the table, when God does it, it gives you faith. This is my son, Jimmy. This young boy, he was the, y'all know, I just love this young man, but he was a challenge when he was a young kid.

25:47 But now that he's grown and working on his own, God is making, opening up doors for him. He's working on, you know, he's working on a new movie, God With Us. Is that the name of it? God With Us. It's a modern day version of Jesus coming today. Somebody gave him a million dollars to do that movie. A million dollars. I feel led to go into the movie business. All I'm trying to tell you is before you go out and charge something, because you got to have it right now, give God an opportunity to prove to you that he's able to provide for you. Proverbs 4, I'm sorry, Philippians 419.

26:52 419, let's put that up. It says, and my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. He can make a way. He can open the door. He can make provisions for you. I'm trying to tell you to live a life of faith. Believe that God can do it for you. before you go out and charge it and get in debt and get yourself in trouble financially and have more debt than you have money to pay back. I'm just simply trying to tell you, give God an opportunity to prove himself strong to you. Now I got eight minutes.

27:34 I'm going to take some questions. If somebody got some, just stand up where you are, where you is. They got the microphone. They're going to come to you if y'all have some questions. There's somebody with courage right there standing there. Good morning. Does the commandment to not borrow apply to opening a business? I think it applies to everything.

28:09 If I wanted to start, if I would tell you if you want to start a business, save up the money and start small instead of creating all this debt. and earn money from it and save up money to expand a business. That would be my advice. When you buy your sins, God will make us the lender and not the borrower. How does this apply? That's a great question. I want y'all to hear, I'm going to say something here. I hope y'all can understand what I'm getting ready to say. I'm not telling y'all it's wrong to send, to borrow. Because there's some things you will need to borrow for. I don't think there's anybody in here who got enough money to buy a house.

28:58 If you can, I need to see you right after service. Most of us would have to borrow for, our promise is what we borrow for. We borrow for depreciating items. We borrow for stuff we don't need.

29:22 A car is a depreciating item. Most of us borrow for cars. my last van I had that I told y'all that I owed $15,000 on once I paid it off I've never bought for a car since well pastor how do you afford a car? all that time I put money away and saved money so when I needed a car again I had the cash to buy y'all see how the claps are going lower don't play a hate don't get mad don't play a hate on a person learn the learn the game that the player is playing don't play a hate learn the game that the player is playing so the Bible God will make you a lender so in answer to his question that's a great question yeah it's it's plenty places in the Bible where lending was done. Plenty places in the scripture. So I'm not trying to tell y'all that it's wrong to borrow. It's what we borrow for. That's a problem, okay? So that's what I'm trying to get you to be cautious of. Yes, sir, I see you over there. Thank you. My question is, it's actually a two-part question. Earlier in the message... We don't allow two-part questions.

30:43 It's just about, it's one. Okay. You said earlier in the message, and I don't remember the exact words. I don't want to try to quote you wrong. But it was something to the effect of when you ask God, if he gave you the $15,000, you would do something or you would do something for God. and so I'm wondering like when you pray and you ask God for something it's almost like if you do this then I will do this for you God almost I don't know if I heard you correctly or misunderstood let me give it to you correct here's what I said when I learned and got exposed to financial freedom principles at the time I had I owed $15,000 on a car and I said if God gave me the money for the pay off the car I would pay it off.

31:37 So I got a check in the mail, unexpected, for $17,000. It was enough for me to pay off the car and give an offering to God. Go ahead with your second part. Go ahead with your, I'll let you ask the second part. Because maybe the second part, you didn't listen carefully enough to that point either. So let me get it straight. Go ahead. The second part of my question is, I'm a little bit cautious when I ask God for certain things because I want to make sure, and it's kind of interesting on the last verse you said in Philippians, you said need. And so I'll just give you an example. if I have a car and it services all my needs, but I see this other car that looks really nice and it has all the bling and all that stuff, and I desire it, is it okay to ask God for it or should I just be content with what I have? All these carnal people in the First Baptist Church of Glen Arden who want to cosign on his question. Listen, there's a distinction between what you need and what you want.

32:54 we need to learn to be grateful for what God gives us that we need. Now, I have to be honest. God has given me some things that I wanted that I didn't need. But here's what the scripture says. Delight yourself in the Lord. When you delight in God. See, your problem is you get delighted in stuff that you don't need. But when you get delighted in the Lord. See, here's my deal. Here's what I'm excited about. I can get excited about God making a way for me. I'm not going to be upset if God doesn't do it. If I ask God for something, if he don't do it, I ain't going to be bent out of shape. I ain't going to be mad. I ain't going to be ungrateful. I'm grateful for what God has done. I hope that answers your question. Yes, yes, sir.

33:49 Yes, good morning. I believe you want to know what you're talking about, but I need you to just kind of break it down a little more clear. When Jesus told Peter, I believe, to go down, and he would find that coin in the fish's mouth. Okay, but in the context, it was making reference to the king's son not having to have to pay taxes. Now, Jesus knew he's the king's son, okay? But just for the sake of being obedient, he told Peter to go, Peter found the coin, and Jesus was able to pay his taxes. My question is, we are the king's son. How do we go about paying the least amount of taxes legal as possible? Thank you.

35:11 the cut the service is all in. Here's the answer to the question. You have to learn the system. You have to learn the environment and the system where you're functioning in. When you learn the laws, when you learn what the tax laws are, you make decisions that will be to your advantage. Texas is a debt. Amen. And if you don't pay it.

36:03 you will have a jail ministry. Say something faster. Yeah. And if you don't, the reality is we have a debt that we owe to God because of our sin. And if you don't get that debt paid, you're going to have a hell ministry. but the way you get that debt paid is believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and die on the cross for yourself.