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The Biblical View of Economics, No. 3
RV119-02© Berean Memorial Church of Irving, Texas, Inc. (1993)
We are studying Revelation 6:5-6. The third seal has been broken. This is segment number five in that series.
Human Society must be Governed by the Bible
It is a self-evident fact that every
born-again person must accept the fact that human society must be governed by the principles of Scripture. Everything that people do within a
society must be filtered through the frame of reference of the Bible. This is not optional. This is true of us personally, and it is true of us
nationally. Every reasonable, intelligent, thinking, born-again person knows that that is a fact of life. You cannot function outside of the
principles that govern humanity which are laid out in the Word of God.
The unbeliever, of course, is not governed by the Bible, so he confidently operates on human viewpoint. He is therefore blind to the real world, and
is often a biblically ignorant intellectual. He may be the graduate of a prestigious university, and he may have a very high IQ, but because he is
not informed in the doctrines of Scripture, he is an ignorant intellectual, and that's all he is. He cannot function the way God has designed people
to function – the principles revealed in the Bible.
On the other hand, the biblically untaught or carnal believer does not think that the
Bible can be used as a frame of reference for governing human conduct. Therefore, he is inclined to play ball with Satan's evil world system because
the carnal Christian or the untaught Christian has the arrogance of his reason to guide him. He thinks that his reasoning capacity is sufficient to
guide him into the real world. That's not true. Most Americans today confidently live their lives according to some human viewpoint idealism which,
by God's standards, are actually evil and doomed to failure and punishment. The Bible is not exalted by most Americans, and even among those who are
religious, when we press the point that the Bible must be understood and must be obeyed (and this is what church is all about – learning what
God has said in His Word, then even these religious groups say, "You're just making an idol out of the Bible." They scoff at the Scriptures, and
pass it off as something that we are making a god out of. Why do they do that?
Well, an idol has to be proven to be false. An idol to be dismissed must be discredited. What are they doing with the Bible? They are discrediting
the Scriptures. To them, it is not the Word of God; it is not without mistake; but it's a false idol. So, there are groups like the neo-evangelicals
who, while going to heaven, themselves discredit the Bible as being what it claims to be – the inherent Word of God.
So, most Americans live their lives very confidently and very comfortably in a situation where the Bible really does not come into their thinking.
It is not the normative thing for them to consider something that they're going to do in terms of what the Bible says. It is not the normative
thinking of Americans to politically think of what they're going to do in terms of what the Bible says. Then they wonder why it doesn't all work
out.
The spiritual Christian does not feel free to ignore the Bible, but rather he yearns to know its divine viewpoint principles, so that he may guide
mankind to be compatible with God's thinking, and thus to be able to bring people in line in their thinking and in their actions with that which
God can bless.
In the United States, the last decade or so has seen a very great departure from respect for the Bible as containing and being the mind of God, and
thus the absolute standard for human society. The result of this departure has been an enormous moral degeneracy in the country. Americans no longer,
therefore, take pride in being law abiding citizens. This used to be something that Americans were very, very sensitive to – that we are a
nation built upon law, and at the heart of American patriotism was obedience to laws duly constituted.
Citizenship
There was a time when Americans could be counted upon by the police to help catch the lawbreakers. That is no longer true. Today, people have no
compunction in our country about making their living by cheating; by stealing; by lying; by conning; and, even by murder. Each day in the United
States, 50 murders are committed. That's one per state: 365 murders a year in every state, on the average, consequently. Every 21 seconds, a
precious baby's life is snuffed out brutally by the process of abortion in this country. Every hour of the day, 150 violent crimes take place in
America. The single biggest business in the United States is not General Motors, AT&T, or any of the big corporations. The single biggest business
in the United States is crime, and the reason for that is that there is no fear of God or anything He is supposed to have said. Americans have
looked upon the Bible with a tiresome reaction to the pounding away of biblical Christians that we must pay attention to what this book has said.
They have departed, therefore, into the degeneracy where crime is the biggest business in the country.
Politics
Certainly the current crop of presidential candidates reflect the anti-biblical bias of American society. You need not pretend that they are not
doing that. Walter Mondale aligns himself with the anti-beliefs expressed in the Humanist Manifesto. He says that he fully subscribes to those
principles. And don't come back to me with that naive statement, "Well, surely he doesn't mean that he believes the manifestos' declaration that
there is no living supernatural Creator God out there. You bet he believes it. He cannot double talk. We must give him the credit of saying that
he's telling us the truth – that he subscribes to the principles of humanism.
Gary Hart has missed 32 out of the last 34 roll call votes in the United States Senate since January 20th. He came back to Washington to vote on
two roll calls. He interrupted his campaign to go back to Washington to vote on two specific roll calls, and he voted negative in both of those.
One was against the amendment to permit voluntary prayer on public school property; and secondly, the law against capital punishment for treason
and similar federal crimes. That tells you a great deal about Mr. Hart.
Jesse Jackson has seen the light. He no longer opposes the abortion of the unborn as he once did.
These public figures are in very close touch with American values, American practices, and American thinking. You may count on that. They would not
be so bold against biblical concepts if Americans did not agree with them. These men can be openly anti-biblical without any compunction, because
they know it's not going to cost them at the polls. They know that Americans are sympathetic with those anti-biblical conditions. How did that come
about? That came about when we began to have a contempt for the Bible, and where we began to let people flaunt their evil publicly, and to dignify
it. We did not rise up and say, "You cannot do that in a country which is based on biblical heritage."
Television
Television entertainment, of course, is the major agent for permeating American society with the evils which are condemned in Scripture. The Bible
code of morality is totally ignored on TV, and immorality is portrayed as the acceptable norm in America. They no longer hide the immorality. They
no longer present it as something abnormal. They present it as something that everybody is doing. It is something that everybody accepts as the
normal conduct. It's just a matter of when you're going to get around to it, and under what conditions you're going to do it.
The rock music stars are listened to on TV. Their records are purchased in spite of their sexual immorality; their drug usage; their demonism;
their vulgarity; their foul language; and, worst of all, they're blasphemy of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is another area of the demented mentality
of people who can reproduce children, but who allow themselves, let alone their children, to listen to rock music, let alone to buy the records of
rock musicians.
There was a rock group on television recently that very boldly and explicitly, as they were performing, were making the sign of Satan with the
index finder and the little finger held out, and the other two curled down, which signifies in the demonic world the sign of Satan. Now we do it on
television, and nobody recoils with horror, let alone to the language that we hear on television. The value system of TV pours like a sewer into
American homes, consequently, and the unguided youth today think that that's where it's at. They imitate it. When a kids see it on television, he
thinks that's where it's at, and that's what he's imitating.
Church Youth Programs
American children are so disoriented by television standards that they cannot enjoy their girlhood or their boyhood. They're obsessed with being
pre-mature adults, and imitating the evil of their peers in order for themselves to be accepted. We in the Christian school movement fight this
kind of prematurity all the time. We find, to our sadness, how, over the years (this year, for example), we can see a very clear reaction against
going to the Berean Youth Club meetings on the part of children who are in the elementary school level. These used to be the clubs that you would
just be busting out the walls, struggling to find enough leaders to handle them.
When we go to parents, and we talk to them about their children
attending the youth club meetings, and now when we talk to them about coming to summer camp, the parents have a very interesting response, which
tells worlds about where American parents have come. They say to us, "Well, I'll ask him and see what he'd like to do." We want your son or your
daughter to come to the Berean Youth Club meetings; get into the achievement programs; and, be a girl, or be a boy. We want them to come to summer
camp and to teach them how to ski; how to ride that horse the way he should; how to make a handcraft that he'll be proud to take home; how to get
out there on the rifle range, and know how to handle a rifle with safety and accuracy; out on the archery range; and, do all of these magnificent
things of sitting there and hearing the wind whipping in the sails as you run your sailboat across the lake.
Peer Pressure
We offer all of those wonderful things
of boyhood and girlhood when they have a chance to do those things. The parents go to their children and say, "Do you want to go to summer camp,
little sixth-grade boy, or little eighth-grade girl?" And then the kid is going to give a response. Those parents actually think that that child
is speaking from some sense of values and opinions and judgments within himself. Nothing is farther from the truth. He is responding on the basis
of the influence of his peers. If you, as a parent, abdicate the guidance, his peers will take over. It doesn't take a lot of brains for you to
figure that out if you're a discerning, thoughtful person. If the in-thing among kids is that only the unsophisticated and the childish kid goes to
Berean Youth Clubs or goes to summer camp, then that's the in-thing, and he's not going to want to go to club meetings, and he's not going to want
to go to summer camp. Even if your child is not permitted to be contaminated and immersed in TV-watching, with the rock music and the adulation of
evil entertainers, his peers are, in their homes. Their corrupt values and their ways around your child in all the areas he moves in in life, even
if he doesn't get it in your home. You may count on it that he knows the filth that's out there.
Parents Should Decide for their Children
We are learning all the time at Berean Academy how much filth there is within the Christian home that comes to a child, let alone what he picks up
from society in general. So, when parents abdicate their right and their duty of deciding upon the activities that their children will participate
in, it is not the child who decides, but it is the peer group mentality of evil which is set by TV and its rock star entertainment. That's what's
deciding for your child. You might want to think about that. I can see that I'm going to have to get a few speeches together and a few lectures
together for us to use in Christian education in our school to orient parents to the fact that they are actually the decision-makers for their
children. These parents have never been taught that they are the priests of their children. They treat their kids as if they were their own priests.
Many of them don't even know that the Bible says that until he is 20 years old, you are his priest, and therefore he does not have privacy. She
does not have privacy to make these decisions. They are made under your guidance and under your decisions.
If this kid is 18 years old, and you've been consulting with him all his life about his life, you may find yourself with a real handful. You may
find yourself with a tiger on your hand, and suddenly you decide that now you're going to take over and exercise the responsibility you should
have been exercising from the day he was born, and making the decisions for him from the day he was born. But maybe you can do it, and maybe you
might save him from a few scars.
The child in the public schools is immersed in the current indifference toward the Bible which characterizes our society. The child in the public
school is immersed in the attitude of the acceptance of the evil lifestyles that are portrayed in the public media. And don't you forget. The
Texas Education Commission (the Department of Education) has just recently rescinded a rule that has been standing for ten years, that publishers
of science textbooks that are used in the state of Texas must indicate that there are alternative views to evolution concerning the origins of life.
This past week, they told the publishers, "You don't have to say that anymore. You can just present evolution as the basis of the origin of life.
You don't have to indicate that there's anything else besides that."
Creationism
The human viewpoint and the New Age scientists have been hacking away at the Department of Education in this state for ten years in a frenzy to
get that rule changed, because when you read a science textbook that compares evolution on the one side over the concept of a creator God (and that
the world, like a watch, requires a maker), then they have discovered that even the non-Christian public school kids shakes his head in wonderment
at the credulity required to accept evolution. They have found that they are embarrassed when, in one textbook they match evolution on the one side
and creation on the other side, and say, "Here are two views." The normal kid says, "Boy, evolution is the dumbest thing I've ever heard." Every
instinct within him says, "Creation must be the answer." No matter what the Bible clearly declares about God as being the source of life, the Texas
Department of Public School Education says that you don't have to indicate that that might be the case.
So, only a child of very strong Christian character, who is deeply grounded in the doctrines of the Word of God, will resist the climate of human
viewpoint evil which is to be found in the public schools, which are reflecting indeed the morality level of American society. So, I say thank God
for those of us who struggle to provide Christian schools for parents (and we do struggle). You will probably find that we are not perfect in some
areas, and we can't resolve some of the problems that we have to face because of the limitations under which we have to work. But I'll tell you
that the worst condition that we must suffer under, and that we struggle to correct, is nothing to the vileness and the filth and the degradation
in the system of government schools that has cast off the Word of God and has held in blasphemous contempt the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. If
you think you've got a problem within the Christian school context, you'd better think again before you think it's going to be solved out there
in the school that reflects the thinking of our society.
We have a sense of care. We have a sense of discernment. We know the difference between human viewpoints and divine viewpoint, and after all is
said and done, the kids who come out of our school are worlds ahead of those who are at the same level who come out of the public school. I say
let our children enjoy their youth. Let them do the things that they will never be their age to enjoy doing again. I would take that to heart,
parents. Never deny your son or your daughter the opportunity to enjoy the age that he is at his point in life, in the days of his youth, by putting
upon him (strapping on his back), the responsibilities; the duties; and, the burdens of adulthood.
Starting Families
Yesterday, I told our band kids yesterday, "Someday, some of you are going to get married. You want to remember that when you do, you don't want
to make the mistake of immediately having children come into your life. You want to plan your life so that for three or four years, you're two
free young adults to enjoy each other, and to enjoy your young manhood and your young womanhood, and to be out there making memories that you look
back upon all of your life, instead of finding yourself strapped down with the burdens and responsibilities of families."
I have people who come
to me and say, "Boy, I wish I could go to summer camp. I smell it in the air. The air feels like it. It's beginning to look a lot like camp time."
However, they can't go because they're bound to jobs that they can't get away from; they have responsibilities of earning a living for themselves
and a family; and, they have all the other tie-downs that they have come to at a certain stage of life, and they don't have the freedoms that they
once had and that they once enjoyed. Many of them look back with great satisfaction, if they had the good sense, when they had the freedoms, to
enjoy participating and immersing themselves in God's service, and in the work of the Lord. It has enriched their lives, and it is built the
structure that they will go on for the rest of their lives. Then, when children come into their lives, they're going to have some parents with some
background; some association; some traditions; and, some frame of reference to ennoble and to enrich their lives.
Economics
Nowhere is the rebellion against the Bible seen more clearly than in the realm of economics. I've just described a few of the more sensitive ones
to hope to alert you to the fact that even you Christian parents have to be on your guard relative to your children, and take on yourself the
responsibility of running your kids' lives the way you're supposed to. Just because they become teenagers and they have big bodies, don't let that
scare you off. They have big bodies, but little inside. It takes time to develop something on the inside so that they have the maturity to cope
with life. Where do you get off turning them loose and letting them get chopped up in the meat grinder of a disoriented society? Nowhere is the
rebellion against the Word of God clearer than on the subject of economics.
The World of the End Times
The black horse writer that we see in Revelation 6 symbolizes inflation, shortages, and famine in the antichrist world, which has been built on the
liberal tenet of socialism. The Lord Jesus Christ taught us in Luke 11:3 that a person's daily food, and thus his money to buy his food, comes
directly from God. Therefore, we are to look to God for our physical survival. We secure our daily food and we secure the money to get that food
from God.
Biblical Economic Principles
The Bible, however, makes it clear that God only supplies us with financial resources for our daily food according to certain economic
principles which He has built into the universe. These principles apply to nations as well as to individuals. Be sure you understand that. While
you must subscribe to these principles if you want to make economic progress, a nation has to do the same thing. We have looked at several of them
already. We will summarize:
We Work to Earn Money
The Bible says that able-bodied people are to secure their money by working to earn it.
Put God's Plan First
The Bible says that the top concern of a person is to be given to God's plans for one's life while working for financial resources.
We Control our own Spending
Each person is to retain control over the spending of what he has earned.
Money Should not be your God
More money itself is not to become one's god, governing all that he does.
Don't Steal
Food is not to be secured by stealing it from others.
The Family Builds Financial Reserves
The family unit is to build a financial reserve rather than spending it all.
Make Investments
Money possessed is to be invested for the gaining of interest and dividends.
Set Aside Financial Reserves for Hard Times and for Old Age
Financial reserves are to be set aside for hard times and for old age.
The Husband is the Primary Earner
The husband is to earn the family income and the mother is to be the homemaker and child-rearer.
Divine Viewpoint Understanding
Christians who prove to be trustworthy with money will be entrusted with the riches of divine viewpoint understanding also. Solomon is the great
classic example of that. Solomon wanted divine viewpoint understanding beyond what anybody had ever possessed before. God said, "I'll give that to
you, and because you have divine viewpoint understanding, I can also give you money." And he had money galore.
The Gift of Giving
Believers with the spiritual gifts of giving are entrusted by God with far more money than they need to live well on, so that they can invest
liberally in God's work.
Don't Base your Future Security on Material Wealth
Personal wealth accumulated should never be the basis upon which one bases his future security.
We are God's Stewards
Now we conclude with a few more principles of biblical economics: Since our daily needs are all supplied by God, we are accountable to Him as His
stewards, not as independent owners of our wealth. It is very important to realize that we are the stewards of God's. What He has enabled you to
earn, He has given you as one who is to hold that money in trust. Psalm 8:309 says, "When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the
moon and the stars which You have ordained, what is man that You are mindful of him, and the Son of Man that You visit him? For You have made him
a little lower than the Angels, and have crowned him with glory and honor. You made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands. You have
put all things under his feet; all sheep and oxen; yea, and the beasts of the field, the fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatever
passes through the path of the seas. Oh Lord. Oh Lord, how excellent is You name in all the earth."
It is God who has given us dominion over his creation. When you get a paycheck, don't you forget that you've gotten it from God, and you have
received it as His steward. You are accountable, not as an independent owner, but as His banker.
The Rich Young Ruler
In Luke 18:18, we read, concerning the rich young ruler: "And a certain ruler asked him saying, 'Good master, what shall I do to inherit eternal
life?' Jesus said to him, 'Why do you call me good? None is good except one that is God.'" So, Jesus was saying to him, "You're really calling
me God, aren't you? Do you really believe that?" "'You know the commandments: do not commit adultery; do not murder; do not steal; do not bear false
witness; honor your father and your mother.' He said, 'I have done all of these. I have kept all of these have from my youth up.' When Jesus heard
these things, he said unto him, 'Yet, you lack one thing. Sell all that you have, and distribute to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven,
and come follow me.' When he heard this, he was very sorrowful, for he was very rich."
The Lord Jesus recognized that the rich young ruler had made a god of his money. So, while he was keeping the moral code, as most people who are in
hell at this moment had also done, Jesus said, "You've got a god; you've called Me good; and, you've called Me God, but you really have another god,
and it's your money. So, let's get rid of that God. Take your funds, give it to the poor. Come on My payroll; become one of My disciples; and, I'll
take care of you." He was too rich to be able to do it because he looked upon the money that he had as something that belonged to him rather than
something that God had merely entrusted to him for a period of time.
Proverbs 3:9-10 says, "Honor the Lord with your substance and with the firstfruits of all your increase." Hot dog, there's the passage that kills
all those who say, "Oh, I want to put something in that offering box, and I'm going to do it just as soon as I finish paying for that TV set, and
that new refrigerator we got, and that linoleum we just put into the kitchen, and this, and that. I am going to give to the Lord soon as I get up
there, I can." Forget it. The Bible says, "Honor the Lord with your substance and with the firstfruits of your increase." Do you know what that
means? That means when you go out in the field, the first grain you take in goes to God. You might say, "Well, but I'll starve." So, what? You'll
go to heaven, so what difference does it make? The Bible says, "The firstfruits" – not the leftovers later on down the line.
In verse 10, God says, "If you do this, so your barns shall be filled with plenty, and your presses shall burst out with new wine." So, dummy, if
you really want to be prosperous, play square with God. He's not going to fail you.
God Teaches us about His Love for us
Another principal is that God teaches us about his love for us as he supplies our daily food and funds. One of the great expressions of the love
of God is that you're going to be able to go out of this service and go home and have lunch. Matthew 7:11 says, "If you then, being evil, know how
to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father, who is in heaven, give good things to them that ask him." Indeed, how much
more? God is not going to fail you, and His love for you is going to be demonstrated that He will provide you with the necessities of life,
providing that you secure those necessities according to biblical economic principles which include looking to the needs of the Kingdom of God,
and fulfilling your spiritual gifts first of all.
God will Supply our Daily Food
God can be trusted to come through for us in supplying our daily food. Philippians 4:19 sets forth this principle for us: "But my God shall supply
all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. He is a rich God, and He will supply all your needs according to His immense wealth.
Psalm 37:25: "I have been young, and now I'm old. Yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seen begging bread. He is ever merciful, and
lends, and his seed is blessed." So, here the Psalmist said, "I used to be a young man, and God took care of me; now I'm an old man, and God is
still taking care of me; and, I have never seen him fail anybody who is trusting in him." God can be depended upon to come through.
Our Surplus Provides for the Needy
Here's an important principle. A man's surplus wealth is God's means for providing the daily food for those who are unable to labor for their
necessities. This is God's welfare program. If only we would function on this as Christians. Our surplus is provided to cover the needs of those
who lack. 2 Corinthians 8:13: "For I do not mean that other men be eased, and you burdened." Paul has been commending these people for their
Christian giving to the saints in Jerusalem who were starving: "But by an equality, that now at this time your abundance may be a supply for their
want; that their abundance also may be a supply for your want; that there may be equality. As it is written, 'He that had gathered much, had
nothing over, and he that gathered little had no lack." Within the context of the family of God, Paul says, "You people who have more are to be
sensitive to those who need the help; who need the food; and, who need the assistance. And God blesses you for doing that.
In Leviticus 19:9-10, we have the provision under the Old Testament system of Judaism for poor people; that is, when a farmer went through his field,
he made one cut. He didn't go back and gather what had been missed the first time: "When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly
reap the corners of your field; neither shall you gather the gleanings of the harvest. And you shall not glean your vineyard; neither shall you
gather every grape of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the poor and sojourner. I am the Lord your God."
You will notice that the poor were to be allowed to go into the field and pick up what the harvesters had missed, but they were not to be allowed
to go into the field before the harvest crew had been through. First the owner goes through, and then people are to be allowed to go and work for
themselves, and collect what is left.
If you read through the second chapter of Ruth, you'll see an interesting illustration of this condition where the owner had first choice, and
then those who were in need were permitted to come through the field and help themselves, and they were encouraged to do it. They were not to be
restricted from that provision.
In Ephesians 4:28, we have this same concept. Those who have more are in a position to those who are in need: "Let him that stole steal no more,
but rather let him labor working with his hands; the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needs." You're not only working
for your own supply, but to help the one who is in genuine need.
Then James 2:15-16: "If a brother or sister be naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you saying to them, 'Depart in peace. Be warmed and
filled,' notwithstanding, you don't give them those things which are needful to the body, what does it profit?" James says, "Come on. Let's get
with it. Let's be realistic. What good is it for you to say, 'God bless you, brother,' when he's got an empty stomach, and he's shivering in the
cold, instead of giving him something to eat and something to cover his body with?'"
1 John 3:17-18 say, "But whoever has this world's good, and see that his brother has need, and shield up his confessions from him, how does the
love of God dwell in him. My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue, but in deed and in truth." We are satiated with this
love concepts in churches today. Everybody is mouthing about love, and everybody's talking about love. When you look into the Word of God, you
find that you can't have love unless you know the doctrines of Scripture. Jesus says, "If you love Me, keep My commandments." Ipso facto, you must
have a knowledge of His commandments before you can love. Then the Bible says that love is demonstrated not by what babbles out of your emotional
mouth, but by what people see you doing in the sacrificial investment of your lives for their eternal good, and to meet their current material
necessities to survive. That's love. It's in action, not in words.
Trust God, and Live Accordingly
The next principal is that man is to trust God for the amount of wealth that God will entrust to him, and then He is to live accordingly. You
look to God for how much he's going to give you, and then you live within the confines of what He has given you. In Philippians 4:11, Paul says,
"Not that I speak in respect of want, for I have learned, in whatever state I am, in this to be content. I know both how to be abased, and I know
how to abound. Everywhere and in all things, I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry; both to abound, and to suffer need. I can do all
things through Him who strengthens me." There is nothing so loathsome like some nincompoop who does not have spiritual maturity substance in his
soul, who suddenly comes into money, and he doesn't know how to handle prosperity. He becomes cheap and uncouth. He takes an ego trip because he
suddenly has come into funds, and he doesn't have the character to handle it. Paul says, "I have the spiritual character to handle prosperity,
and I have the character to handle poverty as well. I know how to live within what God is pleased to place at my disposal, and I don't sit around
whining about why somebody else has so much more than I have.
Don't Envy the Wealth of an Unbeliever
The next principle is that the Christian therefore is not to envy the wealth of the unbeliever. Christians are not to envy the unbelievers. Oh,
that's such an easy thing to do. It is easy to say, "Oh God, you make things so hard on me financially, but there's that bum out there, and You
give everything You want to him. He's foul-mouthed; he steals; he cheats; and, he's a conniver. Why do you prosper him and not me?" Psalm 73:2-3
say, "But as for me, my feet were almost gone. My steps had almost slipped, for I was envious of the foolish when I saw the prosperity of the
wicked." The psalmist said, "I almost slipped away from the path of God's blessing by being envious of the evil people who prosper." The Word of
God says, "Don't do that."
Christians are to Avoid Debts that They Can't Pay
Christians are to avoid debt obligations which they are not equipped to pay. Proverbs 22:7: "The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is
servant to the lender." We cannot sometimes invest our lives in Christian service because we're strapped with having to work to survive, or
because we have squandered our money. We cannot help those in need because we have squandered our money. We have gone into debt. So, the television
ads say, "What do you need? A new refrigerator? Just call us. We have it, baby. We'll bring it right down. Do you need a new television set?" Some
might say, "Well, sometime, yes, as soon as we have the money." They say, "No. Just get on the phone," and they'll deliver it right down there.
You know the ads. You can just keep calling until you're strapped right up to your eyeballs. The Word of God says, "You are the slave of the person
that you responded to."
Don't Use God's Financial Provisions for an Ego Trip
The final point is that God's financial provisions are not to be used for an ego trip. God does not call upon a believer, on the one hand to live
in poverty; but God does not prosperous, on the other hand, so that we can equate the lifestyle of the world in its squandering indulgence. There
are Christians who just don't know how to handle prosperity, because as soon as they get it, they have to indulge themselves. They have to live
the way the rest of the world is.
Here are two young people. They decide to get married, so they begin planning their lives. Unless they've been taught by the Word of God, and have
a spiritual biblical frame of reference, do you know what they're going to do? They're going to look at their parents, and they're going to want a
house like their parents have; they going to want all the stuff that their parents have in their houses; they're going to want a nice car that their
parents have; and, they're going to want to be able to do all the things that parents are doing. It's never going to occur to them that they have to
start down here on the lower level where God has placed them, and start accumulating their resources according to biblical economic principles.
The Word of God says you are not to equate yourself with someone else's lifestyle, but that you are to begin where God places you. You're not to
go on the ego trip that says, "Well, people won't think very much of me if I live in this kind of a house, or if I live in this kind of simplicity."
Philippians 2:3-4 say, "Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory, but in the lowliness of mine, let each esteem others better than themselves.
Look, not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others." We are to live on the scale, therefore, which is guided by God
the Holy Spirit, so that we are in clear conscience on the scale that we're living before God the Holy Spirit.
1 Timothy 6:6-7 say, "But godliness with contentment, that is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry
nothing out." Solomon, when he was in the depths of the throes of his human viewpoint rebellion against God, as reported in Ecclesiastes, one of
the things that was an agony to him was that while God had prospered him with enormous wealth, he looked at his sons, and he said, "I've got a
couple of jerks here." He looked at his family (his progeny), and he said, "These weirdos – they're all disoriented." And Solomon had his hand
in doing that.
He said, "Can you imagine that they are going to take all that I've accumulated?" And this ate at Solomon as he looked upon who was
going to inherit his fortune, and it gave him great agonies because of the kind of people he was leaving it to. Later on down the line, Solomon
realized, "You know, I ought to invest it for God's work, such that I take it with me, and I don't give it to my son. His Son, who took over, was
such an idiot that he was no sooner on the throne than he issued a decree that caused the kingdom to be split in two, and it never was united again.
Can you imagine what he did with Solomon's financial resources? Financial surpluses are God's grace to us to enable us to fight more vigorously the
forces of Satan – not to go on an ego trip to show how we are equal to someone else.
1 Timothy 6:9-12 say, "But they that will be rich shall fall into temptations and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts which drown
men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil, which while some have coveted after, they have erred from the faith,
and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. But you, O man of God, flea these things, and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love,
patience, and meekness. Fight the good fight of faith. Lay hold on eternal life unto which you are called, and have professed a good profession
before many witnesses." Paul says, "Timothy, there are a lot of people out there who are hustling and bustling and struggling to get a lot of wealth,
but Timothy, don't you do that. God's going to provide for you. You get out there and, as a man of God, you invest your life in spiritual things.
You take hold on that eternal life that God has given you, and you enrich it, so that when you get to it, you'll enjoy it for all eternity like you
would not had you lived so prosperously on this side."
So, as I say, people who like the spiritual capacity to handle prosperity are uncouth. They lack couth. They're just lacking in couth. They're
uncouth. They become some of the cheapest kind of people. They attempt to secure the esteem of others by putting on airs. They promote themselves
publicly in the kind of giving they do, just like the Pharisees did. The man on an ego trip will pass into eternity like everyone else. Then all
that he will have left after he passes into eternity will be his cheap pride. So, James 1:10-11 say, "But the rich, in that he is made low, because,
as the flower of the grass, he shall pass away. For the sun is no sooner risen with a burning heat, but it withers grass, and its flower fails, and
the grace of the fashion of it perishes. So also shall the rich man fade away in his way." You can play an ego trip, but you're going to be gone,
and that'll be the end of it. Nobody will remember you, but God will remember what you have done in His service.
Socialism
These are the biblical principles that I came up with. You can come up with others. Once you're alerted, you'll be amazed at how much the Bible
talks about money; how to use it; how to treat it; and, so on. Here are some basic guidelines for us to start with. Violations of these biblical
principles is going to be widespread in the tribulation because they don't operate on socialism, and that's the core violation of all of this.
It's going to bring judgment and suffering on that society. The result will be the antichrist trying to operate on pragmatism (what works), instead
of operating on what the Scripture says: "This is the way that finances work." God makes food plentiful or scarce; God makes food cheap or expensive;
and, you cannot create out of nothing. So, God is the ultimate price control agent in the universe.
This nation may be coming back to learning the lesson we should have learned in the Revolutionary War, when our Continental Congress printed money
so that the continental dollar finally took 1,000 dollars to buy what one dollar bought at the beginning of the war: a 1,000-to-1 inflation. What
What is God's attitude toward all this sophisticated human thinking on pragmatism and financing? I'll tell you what He does. The psalmist has
already informed us. God is sitting up in heaven; He's watching the American scene; He's listening to the presidential candidates; He's listening
to the guff that comes out of the governments of the world; He's watching their arrogant treatment of money in contrast to His laws; and, God
laughs at the.
We close with Psalm 2:4-5, where the psalmist says, "He (that is, Almighty God) who sits in the heavens shall laugh, for the Lord shall have them
in derision. Then shall He speak unto them in His wrath, and vex them in His great displeasure." That's what's ahead for the tribulation. God is
sitting up there laughing at what we are doing, and holding our little leaders in derision. And in the antichrist world, He will do the same thing.
And the result will be the destruction of that world in great agony and great turmoil, just like it will be the destruction of ours today. Build
your life on biblical economics, and you will find prosperity to be the natural lifestyle that God has for you.
Dr. John E. Danish, 1984
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