Debt, Money, and Stewardship

The Christian & Debt - Part 7

Transcript: AI Transcript

Professor: John Weaver

Subject: Economics and Stewardship

Genre: Sermon

Dictation Name:

Date: 2003-06-15

Synopsis: In this seventh study on the Christian and debt, John Weaver continues practical suggestions for avoiding debt. He reviews the importance of biblical contentment and then introduces five additional principles: learn to be careful (avoid wastefulness), learn to be considerate (plan and prepare for future needs), learn to be charitable (give generously but not indiscriminately), learn to use cash (avoid credit and check-writing pitfalls), and learn covenantal faithfulness (tithe faithfully to honor God and receive His blessing).

[John Weaver] We're still on the series, The Christian and Debt, and this is our seventh study. And last week, I began practical suggestions as to how to stay out of debt. Practical suggestions as how to stay out of debt. And I dealt with Hebrews 13 and verse 5, where the Word of God says, Let your conversation be without covetousness and be content with such things as you have, for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee." And I went through the Bible and I showed you what the Word of God taught concerning biblical contentment. And I shared with you that contentment was more inward than external.

[John Weaver] And it was even deeper than what you and I would call satisfaction. And the Apostle Paul himself said that he has learned in whatsoever state he was in to be content. Whether it was hungry or whether he was abounding, he learned the art of contentment. There is a book, if you can find it, I mentioned it last week. Jeremy Burrus has written a book. He's been dead about 400 years. He's an old Puritan. And the name of the book is The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment. And that book is still in print today, by the way. Then as we dealt with Christian contentment, I told you that there were three cautions.

[John Weaver] The first one was this. that there is an unbiblical contentment as well. We cannot be content with sin. We cannot be content with mediocre lives. We cannot be content with anything less than the will and the Word of God. And I showed you in the Bible where some had that type of contentment which was wrong and wicked and ungodly. And then secondly, I told you, you cannot use this contentment as a shield for laziness and indolence and being slothful and sluggardly, because working and preparing and planning certainly is not antithetical to biblical contentment.

[John Weaver] Those two things are friends, they are not enemies. And then thirdly, I pointed out how that contentment and godliness were connected, and as godliness is something that must be worked at and added to the Christian faith, so likewise contentment is something that must be worked at and added to the Christian faith as well. So the very first practical suggestion that I gave you last week as to how to avoid debt was to learn contentment.

[John Weaver] Now we're going to take up from there today. And my second point is this, learn to be careful. Now what in the world do I mean when I say learn to be careful? If you want to turn to Luke chapter 15 and verse 13, you already know the story of the prodigal son, and I'm certainly not going to read that, but I want you to note, if you would please, verse 13, what is said. Luke chapter 15, and notice if you would please there, verse 13. Here the word of God says concerning this prodigal son, and not many days after the younger son gathered all together and took his journey into a far country and there wasted his substance with righteous living. Now, very clearly most of us are not going to waste our substance with righteous living. But the truth of the matter is many of us do indeed waste our substance.

[John Weaver] You see, the average person, including the average Christian, is what you and I would call an impulse buyer. We see it, we want it, and we buy it, and it's just that simple. We're not careful as to how we spend, and what we have forgotten many times is that we're called upon to be stewards of what God has given us. If you would just stop and think, and examine how much money the average person throws away, not only daily, but weekly and monthly, on what you and I would just simply call coffee, Coke, and candy, and other little indulgences, you'd be surprised. I had a pastor friend that took me out one day and he said, I want to buy you a cup of coffee. And I said, well, I'm not really much of a coffee drinker and I don't really like coffee. I occasionally drink it. And he said, but oh, you will like this. And so I said, well, you know, I'm willing to try, try whatever you want to buy me.

[John Weaver] And I got up there and he ordered this some kind of latte with all kind of stuff in it. And the cup of coffee, was three bucks and fifty cents. So he bought two of them, that was seven bucks. And it was delicious, but it was so rich, I could only drink half the cup. And so I saved the rest of it and brought it to Alice and let her taste it, etc.

[John Weaver] But I never will forget what my pastor friend said. He said, I have to have a cup of this every day. I just very quickly multiplied 30 times 350. I said, do you realize you're spending nearly 100 bucks a month just on a cup of coffee a day? I mean, you know, I don't like coffee that much, thankfully.

[John Weaver] Now, let me just point out the fact, just simply because we do happen to have at a certain time a sufficiency of money, does not mean, therefore, that we can be wasteful. I want you to look in your Bibles to the book of Proverbs chapter 19 first. Proverbs chapter 19, and notice if you would verse 26. Proverbs 19 and verse 26. The Word of God says, He that wasted his father and chases the way his mother is a son that causes shame and bringeth reproach. But note that phrase, he that wasteth his father. What is he doing to waste his father? He's foolishly and wickedly throwing away that which his father is accumulating. Look in your Bibles to the book of Proverbs chapter 13 and verse 23. Proverbs 13 and verse 23. Here's an interesting verse. He says, much food is in the tillage of the poor, but there is that that is destroyed for want of judgment. In other words, you're not careful and you end up destroying or throwing away or wasting that which you have.

[John Weaver] So the truth is this, folks, even if there is a sufficiency in the money supply, we're still not to be wasteful and unnecessarily throw things away. And even if the money belongs to others, For instance, the son that wasted his father is throwing away money that actually does not belong to him. It belongs to his father. You see, the Bible says in 1 Corinthians 4 and verse 2, moreover, it is required in stewards that a man be found faithful.

[John Weaver] Now look in your Bibles to the book of Proverbs 18 and verse 9. Proverbs 18 and verse 9. Here the Word of God says, he also that is slothful in his work, his brother to him that is a great waster. So a slothful man and a wasteful man are brothers. Both of them are going to come to want. That's what God is saying. So the man that will not work, and the man that wastes and throws away that which he has, is very closely related to the slothful man, both will come to want.

[John Weaver] Now, I have found it very interesting in my short life to talk to people who came up during the Great Depression. And you'll find that most of those people developed a carefulness about them back then, and that carefulness continues even to this day.

[John Weaver] Now my father, bless his heart, I loved him and I appreciated him, but we had a saying back on the farm, and it was this, almost all things are held together with haywire. And Roy has laughed at me because of the tractor that I have. The tire rods, believe it or not, I have them tied up with wire. Years ago, Years ago, one of the rods came out and I called my dad over there. I said, Dad, I'm going to have to get a new tire rod.

[John Weaver] Oh, no, you're not, son. He reached over, popped it back up on there, tied wire around it, and he said, keep plowing. Do you realize that my dad's been dead for five years? So that has been a minimum 10 years ago. That tractor still goes with wire holding the tire rod in place.

[John Weaver] Now, the point I'm trying to make is this. He learned to be careful. Let me give you two verses before I read something to you. Look in your Bibles to Proverbs 14 and verse 15. Proverbs 14 and verse 15. The Word of God says, The simple believeth every word. Watch now. But the prudent man looketh well to his going. What's that mean? He's careful. Look in your Bibles to Proverbs 16 and verse 21. Proverbs 16 and verse 21. The wise in heart shall be called prudent, and the sweetness of the lips increaseth learning. The wise in heart shall be called prudent, or the wise in heart shall be called careful.

[John Weaver] Now, I mentioned to you about people that I had talked with that grew up during the Great Depression. A year or so ago, I came across a book that was very interesting, and I got the book, and this book is still available today. But the book is entitled, We Had Everything But Money. And it is a book on the lives of the people who came up during the Great Depression, story after story, picture after picture.

[John Weaver] You talk about bread lines and it's just unbelievable. But I'm going to just take a few moments and read just a couple of these. And I think these things are just absolutely amazing. Listen to this one. Most of these are very brief. Dad lost his job early in the Depression, and we turned our backyard into a garden and sold the produce from house to house. My most vivid memory is the day my mother sold a three-cent stamp so that we could buy bread. She only had two cents, so she sold the stamp to our neighbor. Then she was able to send me to the bakery for a nickel loaf of bread. Now, if you had to sell a stamp to buy some bread, to have something to eat, you would probably tend to be just a little bit more careful. And I think this one is very enlightening. But listen to this.

[John Weaver] The difference between today and in the 1930s is the word character. Listen to this. Although I wasn't born until 1936, the Depression taught me a valuable lesson. One of my earliest memories is of delivering an envelope to a woman named Mrs. Combs every Friday night. When I was old enough to ask what the envelope contained, I learned that Mrs. Combs had been my parents' landlord during the years when my father had only odd jobs and couldn't pay the rent. The envelopes contained the back rent payments even though we no longer lived in Mrs. Combs' house. So here's a family that has moved away, and yet the man still has character enough to pay the back debt. Let me give you another one that I thought was very good. This one is about the ingenuity that a lot of people came up with, even children.

[John Weaver] The year was 1930, the depression was rampant and we were having pea soup for supper again. Lord have mercy. Pea soup, that doesn't even sound good. But we were having pea soup for supper again for the fourth day in a row. I wondered where my mother found a steel pot that big. All of us kids were grumbling and griping, and Mother replied that the soup improved with each passing day. I sneezed in disbelief. It's the truth, my mother said firmly.

[John Weaver] My oldest brother, then fourteen, was the breadwinner of the family. And he seemed just as dejected with this meal as the rest of us. He seemed deep in thought as though he was searching for a solution to our food problem. On days when we didn't have pea soup, it was boiled rice with sugar and milk. Suddenly, he produced the 50 cents he had earned shining shoes the day before and asked if he could withhold it.

[John Weaver] He had a plan, he said, that would more than triple that amount. My mother was skeptical, but how could she part with 50 cents? Although my brother didn't explain his scheme, he eased her fears where she allowed him to pocket the five dimes. What was his plan? When my brother left the house later that evening, I sneaked out and followed him. He headed for the candy store and bought 25 copies of the next morning's newspaper at two cents each. Then he scrounged around for a large apple box and headed for the theater a short distance away.

[John Weaver] So he planned to sell newspapers. But what was he going to do with that huge box? I hid near the theater and watched as the audience slowly began filing out. Justin, my brother, stood up on the box, waved his arms, and said in a loud, clear voice, Step right up, ladies and gentlemen, for the greatest show you will see tonight. The large group of theatergoers approached him looking quite jolly. My eyes widened as I saw my brother leap into a tap dance routine he had taught himself.

[John Weaver] I thought he was every bit as good as Fred Astaire. My brother's audience was very receptive and everyone applauded. Before they began to walk away, however, he jumped from the box, grappled with the newspapers he had hidden behind it, and shouted enthusiastically, buy a paper, buy a paper. The happy throng couldn't resist, and in a few moments he had sold every paper, not for two cents each, but for ten cents. And a few generous patrons even rewarded him a quarter.

[John Weaver] The next night it was clear as planted work. Mother fixed us a juicy leg of lamb with all the trimmings. We ate with zest, thankful for our brother's ingenuity, and thankful that the pea soup would be saved for another day." So, you're talking about learning to be careful. Do you realize it may take something as desperate as another depression to teach us how to be careful? Let me just leave you on this point with these words.

[John Weaver] Nothing is a good buy, no matter how cheap it is, if you can't use it. Ladies and Henry, nothing is a good buy, no matter how cheap it is, if you can't use it. So we've got to learn to be careful if we're going to avoid death. Secondly, or thirdly I should say now, we've got to learn to be considerate. By the word considerate I mean thoughtfulness, planning, preparation.

[John Weaver] Let's go to our Bibles to Proverbs chapter 6. I've read this passage before, but in light of this, I think I shall read it again. Proverbs chapter 6, beginning there with verse 6. Look what God says. Talking about being considerate, thoughtful, planning, preparing. He says, Go to the aunt thou sluggard, consider her ways and be wise, which having no guide, overseer or ruler, provided her meat in the summer and gathered her food in the harvest. How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? When wilt thou rise out of thy sleep? Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep, so shall thy poverty come as one that traveleth, and thy want as an armed man." Now he says, go to the aunt, thou sluggard. You consider her ways and be wise. What is she doing? Verse 8, she provides her meat in the summer. and gathers her food in the harvest. Why? So she can have when there is no food. Look in Proverbs 30 and verse 25.

[John Weaver] You'll see the ant commended again. Proverbs 30 and verse 25. God says the ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer. So they are planning for the winter. They're planning for the hard times. Go back to your Bibles to Proverbs 27 and look at verse 12. Proverbs 27 verse 12. A prudent man, that is a careful and a considerate man, foresees the evil and hides himself, but the simple pass on and are punished. And then if you look in Proverbs 22 and verse 3, you'll see exactly the same truth repeated again. Proverbs 22 and verse 3, a prudent man foresees the evil and hides himself, but the simple pass on and are punished.

[John Weaver] Now let me ask you a question. I want you to think about this. How many of you think that you will need another automobile within the next five years? Well, what is the considerate thing to do? Thank you, son. Grandpa, did you see that hand? What is the considered thing to do? The considered thing to do is to begin planning now if we're going to need something a year or two years from now. I could ask you this. How many of you think that you're going to need more clothes? Everyone, just about. What about equipment? What about machinery? What about air conditioners?

[John Weaver] They have a way of breaking down. What we should be doing is planning now. How many of you are thinking that you might live to get a little older? Maybe even live to reach your seventies and some eighties? Have you thought about what you're going to need then? What about dying? Have you thought about what your family is going to need? What about sickness?

[John Weaver] Now, it's true we don't plan on being sick, but the truth is we get sick. We have had family members in our family that have died penniless. And it's been up to the other family members to bury them. Do you realize the minimum, the minimum that you can bury someone for today is better than 5,000 bucks. That's a minimum.

[John Weaver] Now, the point I'm trying to make is this. You and I cannot plan without Christ. That's true. James chapter 4, he said, Go to ye that say, today or tomorrow we're going to go in such and such city and sell and buy and get gain. And he said, you don't know what your life is. Your life is like a vapor. It's here today and gone tomorrow. What you ought to be saying is, Lord willing, We're going to do such a thing. But the fact is, he's still saying, you've got to plan.

[John Weaver] I have no Social Security. I'm not in that program. Haven't been in years. I have no retirement. There's no convention. There's no denomination that's saying, all right, we're putting so much away for you each month. I don't have anything like that. What does that mean? That means if I ever have anything, I've got to prepare and I've got to plan for that now. Let me put it to you very bluntly.

[John Weaver] It's not the government's responsibility to take care of me or my wife. That's my responsibility. That's the responsibility of my family. Do you realize one of the main reasons so many people are in debt right now is because they're trusting the government to take care of them, and they're not making plans, they're not making preparations. And invariably, the government can't take care of them. Let me tell you something, folks. Even if you have Social Security, it's impossible to live on Social Security.

[John Weaver] Three or four hundred bucks a month. There's no way that anyone can live on three or four hundred bucks a month. And may I remind you that if you are depending upon the government to take care of you, with the governmental shackles come the governmental shackles. How in the world can you be a free and independent individual as long as you're hooked on the dole? And the truth is, you can't.

[John Weaver] So if you and I are going to avoid debt, we don't only have to be careful with what God gives us now, we have to be considerate. And we have to plan for the future. We have to think about what our needs will possibly be. So we have to learn contentment. We have to learn carefulness. And we have to learn to be considerate. We have to learn to be charitable.

[John Weaver] Look in your Bibles to Proverbs 13 and verse 7. Proverbs 13 and verse 7. We have to learn to be charitable. Let me just go ahead and tell you before I read this. There is absolutely nothing worse than a selfish, miserly, grudging soul. Proverbs 13, verse 7, look what God says. There is that maketh himself rich and yet have nothing. There is that maketh himself poor, yet have great riches. Now, God says you could make yourself rich, ended up with nothing, and you could make yourself poor, ended up being rich.

[John Weaver] Now, John Bunyan, wrote a couplet on this verse that is just as true today as he wrote it hundreds of years ago. It simply goes like this. There was a man, and many did count him mad, the more he gave away, the more he had. Isn't that interesting? The more he gave away, the more he had.

[John Weaver] Now listen, folks, it is true that when it comes to charity, We cannot give our money away indiscriminately. I say our money because God has entrusted it to us. We are His stewards. And here's what I mean by indiscriminately. There are some people that God forbids us to give to. For instance, if you look in your Bibles to 2 Thessalonians 3, verse 10, here it is very plainly stated, a principle laid down by the Apostle Paul. 2 Thessalonians chapter 3 and verse 10, the Apostle Paul says this, For even when we were with you this week, we commanded you that if any would not work, neither should he eat. Now, am I going to take the hard-earned money that God gives me and turn around and give it to someone who's too lazy and too indolent to work?

[John Weaver] And the answer is no. Nor am I going to take the money which God gives me and use it to subsidize evil and wickedness. I'm not going to do that. And I want to tell you, I'm not going to do that even if it's my own children. I've told my children, I will help you as long as you're willing to do what's right. But I am not going to help you do what's wrong.

[John Weaver] When you sin, you must suffer. I'm not going to try to ease the consequences of sin for anyone, even my own. And the principle of Scripture is, if you sin, you suffer. And I'm not going to try to subsidize your wickedness and ease your suffering because you're unrepentant in your sin. Look in your Bibles, if you would, to 2 Corinthians chapter 9. We've got to learn to be charitable, although we cannot be charitable indiscriminately. In 2 Corinthians 9, beginning there with verse 6, here's the principle that is laid down by our Heavenly Father.

[John Weaver] But this I say, he who soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly. And he who soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully."

[John Weaver] Now, let me just point out that principle. If you sow one grain of corn, it's true, you're going to get a stalk of corn and you're going to have several hundred grains on it. But if you sow 50 grains of corn, you're probably going to get 50 stalks of corn with thousands of grains on it. Now, so here's the principle, if you want to Reap more than you must sow more.

[John Weaver] Now look what he says, to show you, by the way, to show you that God wants us to be charitable and charitable without grudging, look in verse 7. He says, Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give.

[John Weaver] Now he's talking about a special offering that he was taking up. Not grudgingly or of necessity, for God loveth a cheerful giver. So God says when we give, it cannot be grudgingly, and it can't be of necessity. What am I talking about? Well, I can say, well, we need money, and we do. Well, you say, well, Brother Weaver, that's a necessity, I'm willing to give to you. Well, I'm thankful for that, but you ought not to be willing to give just because it's a necessity. You ought to cheerfully give. Now, I'm going to tell you what the word cheerful here is.

[John Weaver] Some of you already know. You've heard the old adage, give until it hurts. That's unbiblical. That's unscriptural. The word cheerful here is the Greek word hilarion. What English word do we get from that? Hilarious. Literally, he says God loves a hilarious giver. So that means if you give and you just smile, then you have to give some more. And then when you start laughing, well, that's alright, give some more. Pretty soon when you're rolling in the floor, God says, that's enough, okay? He loves a cheerful or a hilarious giver.

[John Weaver] You see what I'm trying to make. We don't give grudgingly. Well, bless God, I guess I gotta give. I'm expected to give. No, no, no, that's not it. We give. Hilariously, we give lovingly, we give willingly, not grudgingly, and not out of necessity.

[John Weaver] Now let's read on down. Look what he says in verse 8. If you give the way God tells you to give, look in verse 8. And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work. You know, that's absolutely amazing to me. God said, if you will obey Me, I'm able, in My grace, to always allow you to have a sufficiency that you can abound every good work. So in the truth, the more we give, the more God's grace enables us to have so that we can continue to give. That's why He says in verse 9, As it is written, he hath dispersed abroad, he hath given to the poor, his righteousness remaineth forever.

[John Weaver] Now look back in your Bibles to Luke chapter 6. Luke chapter 6. And let me show you a specific promise. Luke chapter 6, and note if you would please verse 38. Luke 6 verse 38. Watch what Scripture says. Give, and it shall be given unto you. Good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give unto your bosom. For with the same measure that you meet, wiggle it shall be measured to you again. Now let's go back to that verse. Here's the principle. Give, and it shall be given to you. Give, and it shall be given to you. Now, do you give grudgingly? No. Do you give out of necessity? No. Do you give sparingly? No. God says when you give, you give good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, Shall men give into your bosom? That is, you give that way, that's what you're going to get back. Here's the principle. For with the same measure that you meet or that you measure out or that you give withal, it shall be measured to you again.

[John Weaver] So very clearly, you and I have to learn to be charitable. You would think that being contented and being careful and being considerate would be opposite of being charitable, but it's not. God says just in your charitableness, you use carefulness and you use considerateness. Many of the proverbs in general, and the tenor of Scripture in general, encourages us to be generous. Do you remember what our Lord told His disciples as He sent them out?

[John Weaver] Here are His exact words. Freely you have received, freely give. Freely you have received, freely give. How do we avoid that? We've got to learn contentment. We have to learn carefulness. We have to learn considerateness. We have to learn charitableness. And next, are you listening? We need to learn to use cash. We need to learn to use cash. Let me show you something back in Genesis 23. In Genesis 23, Sarah had died and Abraham was going to purchase the cave of Machpelah that he made bury his wife.

[John Weaver] And it's really interesting the way this deal took place. You would have to understand the manners, the customs, and the hospitality of the people of the East to really get the full impact of this procedure. But let's look in Genesis 23, and let's begin reading there with verse 9. He says that He may give me the cave of Machpelah, which He hath, Which is the end of his field for as much money as it is worth he shall give it me for possession of a bearing place among you. And Ephron dwelt among the children of Heth. And Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the audits of the children of Heth. Now all this is taking place with people around. He answered Abraham and the audience of the children of Heth, even of all that went into the gate of the city, saying, May my Lord hear me, the field give I thee, and the cave that is therein I give it thee, and the presence of the sons of my people give I it thee, bury thy dead."

[John Weaver] Boy, you think, man, this guy's generous. He's not only willing to give Abraham the cave, he's willing to give him the field. And Abraham bowed down himself before the people of the land, and he spake unto Ephron and the audience of the people of the land, saying, But if I will give it, I pray thee, hear me. I will give thee money for the field. Take it of me, and I will bury my dead. And Ephron answered Abraham, saying to him, My lord, hearken to me. The land is worth four hundred shekels of silver. What is that betwixt me and thee? Bury thy therefore thy dead. Do you see what Ephron just did? He said, I'm willing to give it. Abraham said, no, I'm willing to pay for it. What he said, it's worth 400 shekels of silver, but what's that between you and me? Bury your dead. And Abraham hearken, verse 16, unto Ephron, Ephron, and Abraham weighed to Ephron the silver which he had named in the audience of the people of the sons of Heth, 400 shekels of silver.

[John Weaver] Watch, current money with the merchant. Now I'm going to tell you something, folks. It is true that we no longer have today in circulation biblical money or constitutional money. Biblical money is silver and gold. Constitutional money is silver and gold. The Constitution of the United States says Congress shall have the power to coin money. Not print. Coin. The Constitution also says, no state shall make anything but silver and gold legal tender. Not print money, but silver and gold. Yet, although we do not have biblical or constitutional money, we do have what is today called cash or Federal Reserve notes. And I'm using this term, cash, right now as opposed to checks.

[John Weaver] Now, it is not my intent today to deal with the Federal Reserve System or the fractional banking system, both of which are totally ungodly, unbiblical, and I might add, unconstitutional. Okay? So it's not my intent right now to deal with that. The fact remains they are here. And the fact remains we do have Federal Reserve notes. And many people have checking accounts.

[John Weaver] Now, I don't want to make it sound like checking accounts are wicked and wrong in and of themselves. Certainly, the Federal Reserve and the Fractional Reserve is wicked and wrong, and checking is related to that. There would be nothing wrong with checking if it was built upon 100% backed money the way it originated and was initially. But the problem with the banking system today or people using checking system today is this. Most people, maybe I should not use the word most, but a lot of people cannot control their check writing.

[John Weaver] And so what they do is they write hot cheques and try to beat them to the bank. In other words, they know they don't have any money in the bank. They write the cheque anyhow. Well, now the government does that. But see, that doesn't make it right either. And what happens is the problem becomes systematic. I have counseled people, I have known people that weekly wrote bad checks. It was not once every now and then, they did it weekly. And then tried to beat it to the bank.

[John Weaver] And the answer is very simple. To avoid writing hot checks, use cash. When you have the money, you may spend it. When you don't have the money, you do without. One thing for sure, if you don't have a checking account, you're not going to be writing hot checks. You're not going to be floating checks. Using cash greatly enhances one's privacy. And the federal government does not like it. But you cannot leave a paper trail when you use cash. It's just that simple. Now, the same thing I'm going to say in reference to credit cards. If you can't control a credit card or credit cards, the answer is very simple. Cut them up. Destroy them. Years ago, I had a phone call and it was from a credit card company.

[John Weaver] And they said, Mr. Weaver, we want you to know that you've already been pre-approved and you have a $20,000 limit, etc. And all I need for you to do is say OK with the phone and we'll send you this credit card. I said, I don't want it. She said, what? You don't understand. You've already been pre-approved. I said, no, ma'am. I understand. You don't understand. I don't want the credit card. And I said, if you send it to me, I'm going to take the scissors and cut it up. Because I'm not going to use it. So if you want to save yourself some money, don't bother sending me the credit card. Now, there is nothing wrong, I suppose, other than a lot of things, when I say that, I don't mean, when I say there's nothing wrong, I'm talking about biblically wrong. There's nothing wrong with using a credit card if You pay the thing off monthly other than the fact that you're leaving a pray for trail and it's part of the system.

[John Weaver] You understand what I'm saying? It's not like there's a scripture that says thou shalt not use a credit card. Okay? But the problem is most people do not pay them off monthly and they end up paying 15 to 25% interest on their balance. For financial counseling And they say, Brother Weaver, I've got this note at the bank that's due, and I've got this credit card that's due, and which one should I try to pay off first? I said, how much does the bank charge you interest? Well, they charge me 10% interest. How much is your credit card charging you? Do they look? Well, I don't know.

[John Weaver] And then they begin reading, 19% or 21%. I said, that's a no-brainer. You better pay that credit card off first. and then cut the thing up. And that way you won't be tempted to use it anymore. You see, our society makes it easy to get into debt and difficult to get out. Especially when you get that credit card and that balance on there, let's say, is 600 bucks one month and they've put down their minimum payment, 10 bucks. Well, it's easier to pay $10,000 than $600,000, isn't it? Well, sure it is.

[John Weaver] Except they're going to charge you 20-21% interest on the other $590. You see, we have forgotten Proverbs 22 and verse 7 that the borrower is the slave to the lender. So the truth of the matter is, use cash whenever you can. And it will help you to avoid debt. And I want to tell you, if I did have a checking account, there's nothing wrong with writing one check and having the cash and then using it. But so many people cannot handle a checking account. They cannot handle credit cards. What's the answer? Use cash.

[John Weaver] And when you don't have it, learn to do without. It's just that simple. You can't write a hot Federal Reserve note. You might can, but you're going to end up in prison a whole lot more quickly. So learn to be content. Learn to be careful. Learn to be considerate. Learn to be charitable. Learn to use cash. I've got one more. Learn covenantal faithfulness. You say, Brother Weaver, what in the world does that mean? And I put covenantal faithfulness so you could have all C's, so this outline would be easy to remember, OK? But covenantal faithfulness is timing. Learn to tie.

[John Weaver] Let me tell you something, folks. One of the greatest failures of modern day Christianity is a failure to tie. I want you to turn in your Bibles to the book of Malachi chapter 3. Malachi chapter 3, the last book in the Old Testament. Malachi chapter 3. And let's begin reading there with verse 8. And look what God says. These charges are extremely horrendous and offensive toward God. Look what he says in Malachi 3 in verse 8. Will a man rob God? That's the question. Will a man rob God? Men will rob men, but will a man rob God? And God answers, yet you have robbed me. But you say wherein have we robbed thee?

[John Weaver] And then he gives the answer in tithes, plural, and offerings. Now look what is the result of failing to tithe. You are cursed with a curse. For you have robbed me, even the whole nation. The whole nation was guilty of it.

[John Weaver] Now look what God says in verse 10, bring me all the tithes into the storehouse that there may be need in my house and prove me now here with Seth Florida Post. If I will not open you the windows of heaven and pour you out a blessing that there shall not be room enough to receive it. That's not all. Look what he says in verse 11. And I will rebuke the destroyer for your sakes.

[John Weaver] And he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground, neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time of the field, saith the Lord of hosts." So what is God saying? God said, if you will honor me, then I'm going to honor you. By the way, that's a principle that's found in 1 Samuel 2, verse 30, where God says, them that honor me will I honor, saith the Lord. So God says, you honor me with your tithes and with your offerings, and I'm going to open the windows of heaven. I'm going to pour you out a blessing and then I'm going to rebuke the destroyer.

[John Weaver] And what does that mean? That means you are going to prosper.

[John Weaver] Now, let me tell you, and it is not my intent to teach on tithing today because it will take numerous sermons to do that. But did you know that there were three tithes in the Bible, not just one? There are three tithes. There was the 10% Levitical time. That went for the support of the Levites. That's the support of the preacher, so to speak. Now, let me just show you.

[John Weaver] You see, in New Testament times, if there were 10 families, they could have a teaching rabbi. Why? Because the 10 families tied. That meant then that that tithe went for the support of that teaching preacher.

[John Weaver] Now, let me just show you. Let's suppose, and I know this is opposition, I mean, this is a supposition, but watch. Let's suppose Doc sitting over here made $100,000 a year. This Doc made $75,000 a year. Chester made $20,000 a year. Russ made $40,000 a year. Don made $30,000. This Don made $60,000.

[John Weaver] Now, here's the point I'm trying to make. If each faithfully tithes, do you realize that my lifestyle would be equivalent to everybody else's lifestyle? What am I talking about? I would not be living above or below anybody. You follow what I'm saying? Because the 10% would be basically the average of what the whole congregation made. Now, the point I'm making is this was a Levitical tithe. It went for the support of the ministry. The second tithe was the tithe of rejoicing. It was 10% also. That tithe went for the benefit and the blessing of the family.

[John Weaver] You'll find that in Deuteronomy 14 and other passages as well. Do you realize there were seven annual feasts at Jerusalem? And those Hebrews had to go up a minimum three times a year. And God allowed them to take that 10% and spend it on themselves and their family. He said that you may learn to fear the Lord by God and that you may rejoice before the Lord by God.

[John Weaver] And let me tell you something, the tithe of rejoicing or the festival tithe, as it's called sometimes, require just as much faith as the Levitical tithe, because it takes just as much faith to decapitalize yourself as it does to give faithfully to the ministry of God and to the needs there. But see, that second 10% was spent totally on the family. That's why you can go on Bible conferences, Bible retreats, cruises where the Bible's being taught, you know, whatever. Just so you learn to fear the Lord and rejoice before Him. That's a separate sermon in itself. But the third tithe, which you'll also find in Deuteronomy chapter 14, was the poor tithe. That was ten percent as well, but it was taken every third year, which meant that it was three and a third percent per year. And that poor tithe went once again for the orphans and the widows and even the Levite got in on that as well. In fact, the Levite even got in on the tithe of rejoicing some. But you see, When those people were tithing faithfully in the Old Testament, they were tithing 23 and a third percent per year in the New Testament as well.

[John Weaver] That's why they were hollering so when the Roman government came down upon them with their excessive taxation. That's what would be so devastating today if our people faithfully tithed, and we tithed the 23 and a third percent. Guess what? The government's taken a 40 and 50 percent. Which leaves us about 25% to live on. You follow me? But now let me tell you something. Tithing is a recognition of God's sovereign ownership.

[John Weaver] You know what the tithe is? I'm going to put it to you in plain, simple language. The tithe is God's tax for using his earth. Unsaved people are required to tithe. Why? Because they breathe God's air and they use his earth as well. This is God's world. This is God's earth. And what he's saying is, I demand that you recognize me. And I demand that you recognize my sovereign ownership.

[John Weaver] Now, I want you to look in your Bibles, Deuteronomy 26. This is a separate sermon in itself in this passage. But I want to just read to you and show you the implication of failing to tithe. You see, when we tithe, we are acknowledging God's sovereignty. We're acknowledging his ownership. We're acknowledging his providence, his control, his blessings. In Deuteronomy chapter 26, let's begin reading there with verse 1.

[John Weaver] And it shall be when thou art come into the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance and possesses it and dwelleth therein. that thou shalt take of the first of all the fruit of the earth, which thou shalt bring of the land that the Lord thy God giveth thee, and shalt put it in a basket, and shalt go into the place which the Lord thy God shall choose to place his name there. And thou shalt go into the priest that shalt be in those days, and say unto him, Watch as they give this first fruit offering. Watch the confession. I profess, or I confess this day, that the Lord thy God, unto the Lord thy God, that I am coming to the country which the Lord swear unto our fathers for to give us." In other words, God has been faithful to me. God brought me out of Egypt and brought me into the promised land. That's the same as saying today, God has brought me out of my sin and brought me into the salvation in Jesus Christ.

[John Weaver] It's a confession. Verse 4, and the priest shall take the basket out of thine hand and set it down before the altar of the Lord thy God, and thou shalt speak And say before the Lord thy God, a Syrian ready to perish was my father. And he went down into Egypt and sojourned there with a few, became there a nation great and mighty and populous. And the Egyptians evil and treated us and afflicted us and laid upon us hard bondage. And when we cried in the Lord God of our fathers, the Lord heard our voice and looked on our affliction and our labor and our oppression. And the Lord brought us forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm with great terribleness and with signs and with wonders.

[John Weaver] You see what they're doing when they're giving this time. They're confessing and acknowledging what God has done. Let's go on verse nine. And he had brought us into this place. and hath given us this land, even a land that floweth with milk and honey. And now, behold, I have brought the firstfruits of the land which thou, O Lord, hast given me, and thou shalt set it before the Lord thy God, and thou shalt worship before the Lord thy God, and thou shalt rejoice." in every good thing which the Lord thy God hath given unto thee, and in the thine house that thou, and the Levite, and the stranger that is among thee." Now, skip down to verse 15. I'm skipping some, but verse 15, here's what they're saying. Here's the prayer. Now, when they bring the tithes and the offerings,"...look down from thy holy habitation in heaven, and bless thy people Israel, and the land which thou hast given us. As thou swearest unto our fathers a land that floweth with milk and honey, this day the Lord God hath commanded thee to do these statutes and judgments.

[John Weaver] Thou shalt therefore keep and do them with all thine heart and with all thy soul." Watch. Thou hast avouched. Thou hast avouched the Lord this day to be thy God and to walk in his ways. and to keep his statutes and his commandments and his judgments, and to hearken unto his voice, and the Lord hath avowed thee this day to be his peculiar people." And he hath promised thee, that thou shouldest keep all his commandments, and to make thee high above all nations, which he hath made in praise, and in name, and in honor, and that thou mayest be in holy people unto the Lord thy God, as he hath spoken."

[John Weaver] Now, what is he saying? When we tithe, we are saying, God, you are my God. I'm honoring you. I'm recognizing you. I'm obeying you. And then God avouches us to be His people. That's when He opens the windows of heaven and pours out His blessings upon us.

[John Weaver] Now, look in your Bibles to 1 Corinthians 16. 1 Corinthians 16. Look what the Apostle Paul told the Corinthians. 1 Corinthians 16. First one now concerning the election for the Saints, as I have given order to the churches of Galatia, even so, do you? So he's talking about a collection. Now, this would be for the poor Saints. Then he lays down this principle upon the first day of the week. Let every one of you lay by him in store as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come.

[John Weaver] So what is he saying? You should tithe faithfully the first day of the week. That's when we meet.

[John Weaver] Now, let me let me lay a couple things on you today. And the reason I'm saying this is I want you to understand. Why I'm dealing with covenantal faithfulness or tithing at this particular point. You see, we have to avouch God to be our God, not just daily, but weekly. If you're not here one week, that doesn't mean that you missed tithing that week. Okay? You make it up. I'm going to tell you, to be absolutely honest, time I get money, time it comes into my hand, the first thing I do is lay the tithe beside it. I don't touch it, because it belongs to God. And if I'm away from here for a week, I don't cease tithing. I still lay it to the side.

[John Weaver] Now, why did I say if you and I want to avoid debt, we've got only not to learn contentment, but carefulness and considerateness, charitableness, learn to use cash. Learn to be covenantally faithful. Why am I saying that tithing is so important? I could give you testimony after testimony of people that tithe faithfully, had great financial problems before, and how God worked out and God blessed them. I've heard people say, I can't afford to tithe. The answer is, you can't afford not to.

[John Weaver] I'm going to tell you why. Are you listening? Suppose God owns a grocery store, and I go there and buy my groceries. And he's kind enough and gracious enough that when I don't have money, he lets me charge things there. And I don't have money quite often, and so I run up a pretty good bill, and I walk in one day, and Doc says, Preacher, I need to talk to you. I said, OK, Doc, talk to me. He says, do you have cash today? And I said, no, Doc, I don't have cash. I need to charge it. He said, well, I'm here to tell you, you can't charge anymore.

[John Weaver] You owe me so much now. And I've got to have some money to restock this store. If you can't pay me, I just can't charge anymore. And I said, Doc, I understand. And I turn around and walk out of the store. Now, if Doc cuts me off, I might go over to Henry's store and Henry might charge something to me. You follow me? So if God cuts off my credit, I might confine someone else who will lend to me or let me have something on credit. But if God cuts me off, there's no one else I can go to. God is our first creditor. He is the one to whom we owe everything. He is the one that controls every blessing. He is the one that is in charge of every providential act. And if God says, you dishonored me, I'll dishonor you, There is no one else to whom we can appeal.

[John Weaver] But God has promised, if we are faithful, He will open the windows of heaven and pour out blessings that we cannot contain. God has said, I can give you my grace that you always, having all sufficiency in everything, might be able to abound to every good work. There can be no way out of debt without first recognizing and honoring the one to whom we owe the greatest debt.

[John Weaver] Our Heavenly Father, who has brought us salvation through Jesus Christ, our Lord. So we need to learn covenantal faithfulness. Let's pray. Father, we ask today that you would teach us, help us. Lord, may we develop the Christian art of contentment and learn to be careful and considerate Learn to be charitable. Learn to use cash and avoid debt as much as possible. But Lord, may we learn first and foremost to recognize and honor Thee, that Thou art the sovereign God of heaven and earth, that Thou dost own everything, and Thou art the one that does supply our every need. Help us deliver Thee In Christ's name we pray, Amen.

The Christian & Debt - Part 7

John Weaver | SermonAudio

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	SermonAudio
Media ID	750684850
Subject	Economics and Stewardship
Course	Debt, Money, and Stewardship
Genre	Sermon
Date	2003-06-15
Dictation Name
Book	Book 072: The Christian & Debt — Chapter 7
Source Timed Segments	89

Formatted Transcript

Review of Contentment

Weaver reviews last week's teaching on biblical contentment as the first practical suggestion to avoid debt, emphasizing that contentment is inward, learned, and connected to godliness.

We're still on the series, The Christian and Debt, and this is our seventh study. And last week, I began practical suggestions as to how to stay out of debt. Practical suggestions as how to stay out of debt. And I dealt with Hebrews 13 and verse 5, where the Word of God says,

Scripture Reading — Hebrews 13:5

"Let your conversation be without covetousness and be content with such things as you have, for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee."

And I went through the Bible and I showed you what the Word of God taught concerning biblical contentment. And I shared with you that contentment was more inward than external. And it was even deeper than what you and I would call satisfaction. And the Apostle Paul himself said that he has learned in whatsoever state he was in to be content. Whether it was hungry or whether he was abounding, he learned the art of contentment. There is a book, if you can find it, I mentioned it last week. Jeremy Burrus has written a book. He's been dead about 400 years. He's an old Puritan. And the name of the book is The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment. And that book is still in print today, by the way. Then as we dealt with Christian contentment, I told you that there were three cautions.

The first one was this: that there is an unbiblical contentment as well. We cannot be content with sin. We cannot be content with mediocre lives. We cannot be content with anything less than the will and the Word of God. And I showed you in the Bible where some had that type of contentment which was wrong and wicked and ungodly. And then secondly, I told you, you cannot use this contentment as a shield for laziness and indolence and being slothful and sluggardly, because working and preparing and planning certainly is not antithetical to biblical contentment. Those two things are friends, they are not enemies. And then thirdly, I pointed out how that contentment and godliness were connected, and as godliness is something that must be worked at and added to the Christian faith, so likewise contentment is something that must be worked at and added to the Christian faith as well. So the very first practical suggestion that I gave you last week as to how to avoid debt was to learn contentment.

Learn to Be Careful

Using the prodigal son and Proverbs, Weaver warns against wastefulness and impulse buying, urging careful stewardship of God's resources.

Now we're going to take up from there today. And my second point is this, learn to be careful. Now what in the world do I mean when I say learn to be careful? If you want to turn to Luke chapter 15 and verse 13, you already know the story of the prodigal son, and I'm certainly not going to read that, but I want you to note, if you would please, verse 13, what is said. Luke chapter 15, and notice if you would please there, verse 13. Here the word of God says concerning this prodigal son,

Scripture Reading — Luke 15:13

"And not many days after the younger son gathered all together and took his journey into a far country and there wasted his substance with riotous living."

Now, very clearly most of us are not going to waste our substance with riotous living. But the truth of the matter is many of us do indeed waste our substance.

You see, the average person, including the average Christian, is what you and I would call an impulse buyer. We see it, we want it, and we buy it, and it's just that simple. We're not careful as to how we spend, and what we have forgotten many times is that we're called upon to be stewards of what God has given us. If you would just stop and think, and examine how much money the average person throws away, not only daily, but weekly and monthly, on what you and I would just simply call coffee, Coke, and candy, and other little indulgences, you'd be surprised. I had a pastor friend that took me out one day and he said, "I want to buy you a cup of coffee." And I said, "Well, I'm not really much of a coffee drinker and I don't really like coffee. I occasionally drink it." And he said, "But oh, you will like this." And so I said, "Well, you know, I'm willing to try, try whatever you want to buy me."

And I got up there and he ordered this some kind of latte with all kind of stuff in it. And the cup of coffee was three bucks and fifty cents. So he bought two of them, that was seven bucks. And it was delicious, but it was so rich, I could only drink half the cup. And so I saved the rest of it and brought it to Alice and let her taste it, etc.

But I never will forget what my pastor friend said. He said, "I have to have a cup of this every day." I just very quickly multiplied 30 times 350. I said, "Do you realize you're spending nearly 100 bucks a month just on a cup of coffee a day?" I mean, you know, I don't like coffee that much, thankfully. Now, let me just point out the fact, just simply because we do happen to have at a certain time a sufficiency of money, does not mean, therefore, that we can be wasteful. I want you to look in your Bibles to the book of Proverbs chapter 19 first. Proverbs chapter 19, and notice if you would verse 26. Proverbs 19 and verse 26. The Word of God says,

Scripture Reading — Proverbs 19:26

"He that wasteth his father and chaseth away his mother is a son that causeth shame and bringeth reproach."

But note that phrase,

Scripture Reading — Proverbs 19:26

"he that wasteth his father."

What is he doing to waste his father? He's foolishly and wickedly throwing away that which his father is accumulating. Look in your Bibles to the book of Proverbs chapter 13 and verse 23. Proverbs 13 and verse 23. Here's an interesting verse. He says, "Much food is in the tillage of the poor, but there is that that is destroyed for want of judgment." In other words, you're not careful and you end up destroying or throwing away or wasting that which you have.

So the truth is this, folks, even if there is a sufficiency in the money supply, we're still not to be wasteful and unnecessarily throw things away. And even if the money belongs to others—for instance, the son that wasted his father is throwing away money that actually does not belong to him. It belongs to his father. You see, the Bible says in 1 Corinthians 4 and verse 2,

Scripture Reading — 1 Corinthians 4:2

"Moreover, it is required in stewards that a man be found faithful."

Now look in your Bibles to the book of Proverbs 18 and verse 9. Proverbs 18 and verse 9. Here the Word of God says,

Scripture Reading — Proverbs 18:9

"He also that is slothful in his work is brother to him that is a great waster."

So a slothful man and a wasteful man are brothers. Both of them are going to come to want. That's what God is saying. So the man that will not work, and the man that wastes and throws away that which he has, is very closely related to the slothful man, both will come to want.

Now, I have found it very interesting in my short life to talk to people who came up during the Great Depression. And you'll find that most of those people developed a carefulness about them back then, and that carefulness continues even to this day. Now my father, bless his heart, I loved him and I appreciated him, but we had a saying back on the farm, and it was this, "Almost all things are held together with haywire." And Roy has laughed at me because of the tractor that I have. The tie rods, believe it or not, I have them tied up with wire. Years ago, one of the rods came out and I called my dad over there. I said, "Dad, I'm going to have to get a new tie rod." "Oh, no, you're not, son." He reached over, popped it back up on there, tied wire around it, and he said, "Keep plowing." Do you realize that my dad's been dead for five years? So that has been a minimum 10 years ago. That tractor still goes with wire holding the tie rod in place.

Now, the point I'm trying to make is this. He learned to be careful. Let me give you two verses before I read something to you. Look in your Bibles to Proverbs 14 and verse 15. Proverbs 14 and verse 15. The Word of God says,

Scripture Reading — Proverbs 14:15

"The simple believeth every word."

Watch now.

Scripture Reading — Proverbs 14:15

"But the prudent man looketh well to his going."

What's that mean? He's careful. Look in your Bibles to Proverbs 16 and verse 21. Proverbs 16 and verse 21. "The wise in heart shall be called prudent, and the sweetness of the lips increaseth learning." The wise in heart shall be called prudent, or the wise in heart shall be called careful.

Now, I mentioned to you about people that I had talked with that grew up during the Great Depression. A year or so ago, I came across a book that was very interesting, and I got the book, and this book is still available today. But the book is entitled, We Had Everything But Money. And it is a book on the lives of the people who came up during the Great Depression, story after story, picture after picture. You talk about bread lines and it's just unbelievable. But I'm going to just take a few moments and read just a couple of these. And I think these things are just absolutely amazing. Listen to this one. Most of these are very brief. "Dad lost his job early in the Depression, and we turned our backyard into a garden and sold the produce from house to house. My most vivid memory is the day my mother sold a three-cent stamp so that we could buy bread. She only had two cents, so she sold the stamp to our neighbor. Then she was able to send me to the bakery for a nickel loaf of bread." Now, if you had to sell a stamp to buy some bread, to have something to eat, you would probably tend to be just a little bit more careful. And I think this one is very enlightening. But listen to this.

"The difference between today and in the 1930s is the word character." Listen to this. "Although I wasn't born until 1936, the Depression taught me a valuable lesson. One of my earliest memories is of delivering an envelope to a woman named Mrs. Combs every Friday night. When I was old enough to ask what the envelope contained, I learned that Mrs. Combs had been my parents' landlord during the years when my father had only odd jobs and couldn't pay the rent. The envelopes contained the back rent payments even though we no longer lived in Mrs. Combs' house." So here's a family that has moved away, and yet the man still has character enough to pay the back debt. Let me give you another one that I thought was very good. This one is about the ingenuity that a lot of people came up with, even children.

"The year was 1930, the depression was rampant and we were having pea soup for supper again. Lord have mercy. Pea soup, that doesn't even sound good. But we were having pea soup for supper again for the fourth day in a row. I wondered where my mother found a steel pot that big. All of us kids were grumbling and griping, and Mother replied that the soup improved with each passing day. I sneezed in disbelief. 'It's the truth,' my mother said firmly."

"My oldest brother, then fourteen, was the breadwinner of the family. And he seemed just as dejected with this meal as the rest of us. He seemed deep in thought as though he was searching for a solution to our food problem. On days when we didn't have pea soup, it was boiled rice with sugar and milk. Suddenly, he produced the 50 cents he had earned shining shoes the day before and asked if he could withhold it." "He had a plan, he said, that would more than triple that amount. My mother was skeptical, but how could she part with 50 cents? Although my brother didn't explain his scheme, he eased her fears where she allowed him to pocket the five dimes. What was his plan? When my brother left the house later that evening, I sneaked out and followed him. He headed for the candy store and bought 25 copies of the next morning's newspaper at two cents each. Then he scrounged around for a large apple box and headed for the theater a short distance away."

"So he planned to sell newspapers. But what was he going to do with that huge box? I hid near the theater and watched as the audience slowly began filing out. Justin, my brother, stood up on the box, waved his arms, and said in a loud, clear voice, 'Step right up, ladies and gentlemen, for the greatest show you will see tonight.' The large group of theatergoers approached him looking quite jolly. My eyes widened as I saw my brother leap into a tap dance routine he had taught himself." "I thought he was every bit as good as Fred Astaire. My brother's audience was very receptive and everyone applauded. Before they began to walk away, however, he jumped from the box, grappled with the newspapers he had hidden behind it, and shouted enthusiastically, 'Buy a paper, buy a paper.' The happy throng couldn't resist, and in a few moments he had sold every paper, not for two cents each, but for ten cents. And a few generous patrons even rewarded him a quarter."

"The next night it was clear as planned work. Mother fixed us a juicy leg of lamb with all the trimmings. We ate with zest, thankful for our brother's ingenuity, and thankful that the pea soup would be saved for another day." So, you're talking about learning to be careful. Do you realize it may take something as desperate as another depression to teach us how to be careful? Let me just leave you on this point with these words. Nothing is a good buy, no matter how cheap it is, if you can't use it. Ladies and gentlemen, nothing is a good buy, no matter how cheap it is, if you can't use it. So we've got to learn to be careful if we're going to avoid debt. Secondly, or thirdly I should say now, we've got to learn to be considerate. By the word considerate I mean thoughtfulness, planning, preparation.

Learn to Be Considerate

Weaver calls for thoughtful planning and preparation for future needs, using the ant as an example, and warns against trusting the government instead of personal responsibility.

Let's go to our Bibles to Proverbs chapter 6. I've read this passage before, but in light of this, I think I shall read it again. Proverbs chapter 6, beginning there with verse 6. Look what God says. Talking about being considerate, thoughtful, planning, preparing. He says,

Scripture Reading — Proverbs 6:6-11

"Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways and be wise, which having no guide, overseer or ruler, provideth her meat in the summer and gathereth her food in the harvest. How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? When wilt thou arise out of thy sleep? Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep, so shall thy poverty come as one that traveleth, and thy want as an armed man."

Now he says,

Scripture Reading — Proverbs 6:6-11

"Go to the ant, thou sluggard. You consider her ways and be wise."

What is she doing? Verse 8, she provideth her meat in the summer and gathereth her food in the harvest. Why? So she can have when there is no food. Look in Proverbs 30 and verse 25.

You'll see the ant commended again. Proverbs 30 and verse 25. God says,

Scripture Reading — Proverbs 30:25

"The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer."

So they are planning for the winter. They're planning for the hard times. Go back to your Bibles to Proverbs 27 and look at verse 12. Proverbs 27 verse 12. "A prudent man, that is a careful and a considerate man, foreseeth the evil and hideth himself, but the simple pass on and are punished." And then if you look in Proverbs 22 and verse 3, you'll see exactly the same truth repeated again. Proverbs 22 and verse 3, "A prudent man foreseeth the evil and hideth himself, but the simple pass on and are punished."

Now let me ask you a question. I want you to think about this. How many of you think that you will need another automobile within the next five years? Well, what is the considerate thing to do? Thank you, son. Grandpa, did you see that hand? What is the considerate thing to do? The considerate thing to do is to begin planning now if we're going to need something a year or two years from now. I could ask you this. How many of you think that you're going to need more clothes? Everyone, just about. What about equipment? What about machinery? What about air conditioners?

They have a way of breaking down. What we should be doing is planning now. How many of you are thinking that you might live to get a little older? Maybe even live to reach your seventies and some eighties? Have you thought about what you're going to need then? What about dying? Have you thought about what your family is going to need? What about sickness?

Now, it's true we don't plan on being sick, but the truth is we get sick. We have had family members in our family that have died penniless. And it's been up to the other family members to bury them. Do you realize the minimum, the minimum that you can bury someone for today is better than 5,000 bucks. That's a minimum.

Now, the point I'm trying to make is this. You and I cannot plan without Christ. That's true. James chapter 4, he said, "Go to ye that say, Today or tomorrow we're going to go into such and such city and sell and buy and get gain." And he said, "You don't know what your life is. Your life is like a vapor. It's here today and gone tomorrow. What you ought to be saying is, Lord willing, we're going to do such a thing." But the fact is, he's still saying, you've got to plan.

I have no Social Security. I'm not in that program. Haven't been in years. I have no retirement. There's no convention. There's no denomination that's saying, "All right, we're putting so much away for you each month." I don't have anything like that. What does that mean? That means if I ever have anything, I've got to prepare and I've got to plan for that now. Let me put it to you very bluntly.

It's not the government's responsibility to take care of me or my wife. That's my responsibility. That's the responsibility of my family. Do you realize one of the main reasons so many people are in debt right now is because they're trusting the government to take care of them, and they're not making plans, they're not making preparations. And invariably, the government can't take care of them. Let me tell you something, folks. Even if you have Social Security, it's impossible to live on Social Security.

Three or four hundred bucks a month. There's no way that anyone can live on three or four hundred bucks a month. And may I remind you that if you are depending upon the government to take care of you, with the governmental shackles come the governmental shackles. How in the world can you be a free and independent individual as long as you're hooked on the dole? And the truth is, you can't.

So if you and I are going to avoid debt, we don't only have to be careful with what God gives us now, we have to be considerate. And we have to plan for the future. We have to think about what our needs will possibly be. So we have to learn contentment. We have to learn carefulness. And we have to learn to be considerate. We have to learn to be charitable.

Learn to Be Charitable

Weaver teaches that generosity is essential but must be guided by biblical principles, not given to the lazy or to subsidize sin, and that God blesses cheerful giving.

Look in your Bibles to Proverbs 13 and verse 7. Proverbs 13 and verse 7. We have to learn to be charitable. Let me just go ahead and tell you before I read this. There is absolutely nothing worse than a selfish, miserly, grudging soul. Proverbs 13, verse 7, look what God says.

Scripture Reading — Proverbs 13:7

"There is that maketh himself rich and yet hath nothing. There is that maketh himself poor, yet hath great riches."

Now, God says you could make yourself rich, ended up with nothing, and you could make yourself poor, ended up being rich.

Now, John Bunyan wrote a couplet on this verse that is just as true today as he wrote it hundreds of years ago. It simply goes like this: "There was a man, and many did count him mad, the more he gave away, the more he had." Isn't that interesting? The more he gave away, the more he had. Now listen, folks, it is true that when it comes to charity, we cannot give our money away indiscriminately. I say our money because God has entrusted it to us. We are His stewards. And here's what I mean by indiscriminately. There are some people that God forbids us to give to. For instance, if you look in your Bibles to 2 Thessalonians 3, verse 10, here it is very plainly stated, a principle laid down by the Apostle Paul. 2 Thessalonians chapter 3 and verse 10, the Apostle Paul says this, "For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat." Now, am I going to take the hard-earned money that God gives me and turn around and give it to someone who's too lazy and too indolent to work?

And the answer is no. Nor am I going to take the money which God gives me and use it to subsidize evil and wickedness. I'm not going to do that. And I want to tell you, I'm not going to do that even if it's my own children. I've told my children, I will help you as long as you're willing to do what's right. But I am not going to help you do what's wrong.

When you sin, you must suffer. I'm not going to try to ease the consequences of sin for anyone, even my own. And the principle of Scripture is, if you sin, you suffer. And I'm not going to try to subsidize your wickedness and ease your suffering because you're unrepentant in your sin. Look in your Bibles, if you would, to 2 Corinthians chapter 9. We've got to learn to be charitable, although we cannot be charitable indiscriminately. In 2 Corinthians 9, beginning there with verse 6, here's the principle that is laid down by our Heavenly Father.

"But this I say, he which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly. And he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully." Now, let me just point out that principle. If you sow one grain of corn, it's true, you're going to get a stalk of corn and you're going to have several hundred grains on it. But if you sow 50 grains of corn, you're probably going to get 50 stalks of corn with thousands of grains on it. Now, so here's the principle, if you want to reap more than you must sow more.

Now look what he says, to show you, by the way, to show you that God wants us to be charitable and charitable without grudging, look in verse 7. He says, "Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give." Now he's talking about a special offering that he was taking up. "Not grudgingly or of necessity, for God loveth a cheerful giver." So God says when we give, it cannot be grudgingly, and it can't be of necessity. What am I talking about? Well, I can say, "Well, we need money," and we do. Well, you say, "Well, Brother Weaver, that's a necessity, I'm willing to give to you." Well, I'm thankful for that, but you ought not to be willing to give just because it's a necessity. You ought to cheerfully give. Now, I'm going to tell you what the word cheerful here is.

Some of you already know. You've heard the old adage, "Give until it hurts." That's unbiblical. That's unscriptural. The word cheerful here is the Greek word hilarion. What English word do we get from that? Hilarious. Literally, he says God loves a hilarious giver. So that means if you give and you just smile, then you have to give some more. And then when you start laughing, well, that's alright, give some more. Pretty soon when you're rolling in the floor, God says, "That's enough," okay? He loves a cheerful or a hilarious giver.

You see what I'm trying to make. We don't give grudgingly. "Well, bless God, I guess I gotta give. I'm expected to give." No, no, no, that's not it. We give hilariously, we give lovingly, we give willingly, not grudgingly, and not out of necessity.

Now let's read on down. Look what he says in verse 8. If you give the way God tells you to give, look in verse 8. "And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work." You know, that's absolutely amazing to me. God said, if you will obey Me, I'm able, in My grace, to always allow you to have a sufficiency that you can abound every good work. So in the truth, the more we give, the more God's grace enables us to have so that we can continue to give. That's why He says in verse 9, "As it is written, he hath dispersed abroad, he hath given to the poor, his righteousness remaineth forever."

Now look back in your Bibles to Luke chapter 6. Luke chapter 6. And let me show you a specific promise. Luke chapter 6, and note if you would please verse 38. Luke 6 verse 38. Watch what Scripture says.

Scripture Reading — Luke 6:38

"Give, and it shall be given unto you. Good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again."

Now let's go back to that verse. Here's the principle. Give, and it shall be given to you. Give, and it shall be given to you. Now, do you give grudgingly? No. Do you give out of necessity? No. Do you give sparingly? No. God says when you give, you give good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom? That is, you give that way, that's what you're going to get back. Here's the principle.

Scripture Reading — Luke 6:38

"For with the same measure that ye mete or that you measure out or that you give withal, it shall be measured to you again."

So very clearly, you and I have to learn to be charitable. You would think that being contented and being careful and being considerate would be opposite of being charitable, but it's not. God says just in your charitableness, you use carefulness and you use considerateness. Many of the proverbs in general, and the tenor of Scripture in general, encourages us to be generous. Do you remember what our Lord told His disciples as He sent them out? Here are His exact words. "Freely you have received, freely give." Freely you have received, freely give. How do we avoid debt? We've got to learn contentment. We have to learn carefulness. We have to learn considerateness. We have to learn charitableness. And next, are you listening? We need to learn to use cash. We need to learn to use cash. Let me show you something back in Genesis 23. In Genesis 23, Sarah had died and Abraham was going to purchase the cave of Machpelah that he might bury his wife.

And it's really interesting the way this deal took place. You would have to understand the manners, the customs, and the hospitality of the people of the East to really get the full impact of this procedure. But let's look in Genesis 23, and let's begin reading there with verse 9. He says,

Scripture Reading — Genesis 23:9-16

"That he may give me the cave of Machpelah, which he hath, which is in the end of his field. For as much money as it is worth he shall give it me for a possession of a burying place among you."

And Ephron dwelt among the children of Heth. And Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the audience of the children of Heth. Now all this is taking place with people around. He answered Abraham in the audience of the children of Heth, even of all that went in at the gate of the city, saying,

Scripture Reading — Genesis 23:9-16

"Nay, my lord, hear me: the field give I thee, and the cave that is therein I give it thee; in the presence of the sons of my people give I it thee: bury thy dead."

Learn to Use Cash

Weaver advises using cash instead of checks or credit cards to avoid debt, citing Abraham's cash purchase and the dangers of uncontrolled credit.

Here are His exact words. "Freely you have received, freely give." Freely you have received, freely give. How do we avoid debt? We've got to learn contentment. We have to learn carefulness. We have to learn considerateness. We have to learn charitableness. And next, are you listening? We need to learn to use cash. We need to learn to use cash. Let me show you something back in Genesis 23. In Genesis 23, Sarah had died and Abraham was going to purchase the cave of Machpelah that he might bury his wife.

Scripture Reading — Genesis 23:9-16

"That he may give me the cave of Machpelah, which he hath, which is in the end of his field. For as much money as it is worth he shall give it me for a possession of a burying place among you."

Scripture Reading — Genesis 23:9-16

"Nay, my lord, hear me: the field give I thee, and the cave that is therein I give it thee; in the presence of the sons of my people give I it thee: bury thy dead."

Boy, you think, man, this guy's generous. He's not only willing to give Abraham the cave, he's willing to give him the field. And Abraham bowed down himself before the people of the land, and he spake unto Ephron in the audience of the people of the land, saying, "But if thou wilt give it, I pray thee, hear me: I will give thee money for the field; take it of me, and I will bury my dead." And Ephron answered Abraham, saying unto him, "My lord, hearken unto me: the land is worth four hundred shekels of silver; what is that betwixt me and thee? Bury therefore thy dead." Do you see what Ephron just did? He said, "I'm willing to give it." Abraham said, "No, I'm willing to pay for it." What he said, "It's worth 400 shekels of silver, but what's that between you and me? Bury your dead." And Abraham hearkened, verse 16, unto Ephron; and Abraham weighed to Ephron the silver which he had named in the audience of the sons of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver.

Watch, "current money with the merchant." Now I'm going to tell you something, folks. It is true that we no longer have today in circulation biblical money or constitutional money. Biblical money is silver and gold. Constitutional money is silver and gold. The Constitution of the United States says Congress shall have the power to coin money. Not print. Coin. The Constitution also says, no state shall make anything but silver and gold legal tender. Not print money, but silver and gold. Yet, although we do not have biblical or constitutional money, we do have what is today called cash or Federal Reserve notes. And I'm using this term, cash, right now as opposed to checks.

Now, it is not my intent today to deal with the Federal Reserve System or the fractional banking system, both of which are totally ungodly, unbiblical, and I might add, unconstitutional. Okay? So it's not my intent right now to deal with that. The fact remains they are here. And the fact remains we do have Federal Reserve notes. And many people have checking accounts.

Now, I don't want to make it sound like checking accounts are wicked and wrong in and of themselves. Certainly, the Federal Reserve and the Fractional Reserve is wicked and wrong, and checking is related to that. There would be nothing wrong with checking if it was built upon 100% backed money the way it originated and was initially. But the problem with the banking system today or people using checking system today is this. Most people, maybe I should not use the word most, but a lot of people cannot control their check writing. And so what they do is they write hot checks and try to beat them to the bank. In other words, they know they don't have any money in the bank. They write the check anyhow. Well, now the government does that. But see, that doesn't make it right either. And what happens is the problem becomes systematic. I have counseled people, I have known people that weekly wrote bad checks. It was not once every now and then, they did it weekly. And then tried to beat it to the bank.

And the answer is very simple. To avoid writing hot checks, use cash. When you have the money, you may spend it. When you don't have the money, you do without. One thing for sure, if you don't have a checking account, you're not going to be writing hot checks. You're not going to be floating checks. Using cash greatly enhances one's privacy. And the federal government does not like it. But you cannot leave a paper trail when you use cash. It's just that simple. Now, the same thing I'm going to say in reference to credit cards. If you can't control a credit card or credit cards, the answer is very simple. Cut them up. Destroy them. Years ago, I had a phone call and it was from a credit card company.

And they said, "Mr. Weaver, we want you to know that you've already been pre-approved and you have a $20,000 limit, etc. And all I need for you to do is say OK with the phone and we'll send you this credit card." I said, "I don't want it." She said, "What? You don't understand. You've already been pre-approved." I said, "No, ma'am. I understand. You don't understand. I don't want the credit card." And I said, "If you send it to me, I'm going to take the scissors and cut it up. Because I'm not going to use it. So if you want to save yourself some money, don't bother sending me the credit card." Now, there is nothing wrong, I suppose, other than a lot of things, when I say that, I don't mean, when I say there's nothing wrong, I'm talking about biblically wrong. There's nothing wrong with using a credit card if you pay the thing off monthly other than the fact that you're leaving a paper trail and it's part of the system.

You understand what I'm saying? It's not like there's a scripture that says thou shalt not use a credit card. Okay? But the problem is most people do not pay them off monthly and they end up paying 15 to 25% interest on their balance. For financial counseling, they say, "Brother Weaver, I've got this note at the bank that's due, and I've got this credit card that's due, and which one should I try to pay off first?" I said, "How much does the bank charge you interest?" "Well, they charge me 10% interest." "How much is your credit card charging you?" They look, "Well, I don't know." And then they begin reading, 19% or 21%. I said, "That's a no-brainer. You better pay that credit card off first, and then cut the thing up. And that way you won't be tempted to use it anymore." You see, our society makes it easy to get into debt and difficult to get out. Especially when you get that credit card and that balance on there, let's say, is 600 bucks one month and they've put down their minimum payment, 10 bucks. Well, it's easier to pay $10 than $600, isn't it? Well, sure it is.

Except they're going to charge you 20-21% interest on the other $590. You see, we have forgotten Proverbs 22 and verse 7 that the borrower is the slave to the lender. So the truth of the matter is, use cash whenever you can. And it will help you to avoid debt. And I want to tell you, if I did have a checking account, there's nothing wrong with writing one check and having the cash and then using it. But so many people cannot handle a checking account. They cannot handle credit cards. What's the answer? Use cash.

And when you don't have it, learn to do without. It's just that simple. You can't write a hot Federal Reserve note. You might can, but you're going to end up in prison a whole lot more quickly. So learn to be content. Learn to be careful. Learn to be considerate. Learn to be charitable. Learn to use cash. I've got one more. Learn covenantal faithfulness. You say, "Brother Weaver, what in the world does that mean?" And I put covenantal faithfulness so you could have all C's, so this outline would be easy to remember, OK? But covenantal faithfulness is tithing. Learn to tithe.

Learn Covenantal Faithfulness (Tithing)

Weaver explains tithing as a recognition of God's ownership, outlines the three Old Testament tithes, and promises God's blessing for faithful tithing.

Let me tell you something, folks. One of the greatest failures of modern day Christianity is a failure to tithe. I want you to turn in your Bibles to the book of Malachi chapter 3. Malachi chapter 3, the last book in the Old Testament. Malachi chapter 3. And let's begin reading there with verse 8. And look what God says. These charges are extremely horrendous and offensive toward God. Look what he says in Malachi 3 in verse 8. "Will a man rob God?

Scripture Reading — Malachi 3:8-11

" That's the question. Will a man rob God? Men will rob men, but will a man rob God? And God answers, "

Yet you have robbed me. But you say, Wherein have we robbed thee?"

And then he gives the answer, "In tithes, plural, and offerings." Now look what is the result of failing to tithe. "You are cursed with a curse. For you have robbed me, even the whole nation." The whole nation was guilty of it. Now look what God says in verse 10, "Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven and pour you out a blessing that there shall not be room enough to receive it." That's not all. Look what he says in verse 11. "And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes." "And he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground, neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the Lord of hosts." So what is God saying? God said, "If you will honor me, then I'm going to honor you." By the way, that's a principle that's found in 1 Samuel 2, verse 30, where God says, "Them that honor me will I honor, saith the Lord." So God says, "You honor me with your tithes and with your offerings, and I'm going to open the windows of heaven. I'm going to pour you out a blessing and then I'm going to rebuke the devourer."

And what does that mean? That means you are going to prosper. Now, let me tell you, and it is not my intent to teach on tithing today because it will take numerous sermons to do that. But did you know that there were three tithes in the Bible, not just one? There are three tithes. There was the 10% Levitical tithe. That went for the support of the Levites. That's the support of the preacher, so to speak. Now, let me just show you.

You see, in New Testament times, if there were 10 families, they could have a teaching rabbi. Why? Because the 10 families tithed. That meant then that that tithe went for the support of that teaching preacher.

Now, let me just show you. Let's suppose, and I know this is a supposition, but watch. Let's suppose Doc sitting over here made $100,000 a year. This Doc made $75,000 a year. Chester made $20,000 a year. Russ made $40,000 a year. Don made $30,000. This Don made $60,000.

Now, here's the point I'm trying to make. If each faithfully tithes, do you realize that my lifestyle would be equivalent to everybody else's lifestyle? What am I talking about? I would not be living above or below anybody. You follow what I'm saying? Because the 10% would be basically the average of what the whole congregation made. Now, the point I'm making is this was a Levitical tithe. It went for the support of the ministry. The second tithe was the tithe of rejoicing. It was 10% also. That tithe went for the benefit and the blessing of the family.

You'll find that in Deuteronomy 14 and other passages as well. Do you realize there were seven annual feasts at Jerusalem? And those Hebrews had to go up a minimum three times a year. And God allowed them to take that 10% and spend it on themselves and their family. He said that you may learn to fear the Lord thy God and that you may rejoice before the Lord thy God. And let me tell you something, the tithe of rejoicing or the festival tithe, as it's called sometimes, require just as much faith as the Levitical tithe, because it takes just as much faith to decapitalize yourself as it does to give faithfully to the ministry of God and to the needs there. But see, that second 10% was spent totally on the family. That's why you can go on Bible conferences, Bible retreats, cruises where the Bible's being taught, you know, whatever. Just so you learn to fear the Lord and rejoice before Him. That's a separate sermon in itself. But the third tithe, which you'll also find in Deuteronomy chapter 14, was the poor tithe. That was ten percent as well, but it was taken every third year, which meant that it was three and a third percent per year. And that poor tithe went once again for the orphans and the widows and even the Levite got in on that as well. In fact, the Levite even got in on the tithe of rejoicing some. But you see, when those people were tithing faithfully in the Old Testament, they were tithing 23 and a third percent per year in the New Testament as well.

That's why they were hollering so when the Roman government came down upon them with their excessive taxation. That's what would be so devastating today if our people faithfully tithed, and we tithed the 23 and a third percent. Guess what? The government's taken a 40 and 50 percent. Which leaves us about 25% to live on. You follow me? But now let me tell you something. Tithing is a recognition of God's sovereign ownership.

You know what the tithe is? I'm going to put it to you in plain, simple language. The tithe is God's tax for using his earth. Unsaved people are required to tithe. Why? Because they breathe God's air and they use his earth as well. This is God's world. This is God's earth. And what he's saying is, "I demand that you recognize me. And I demand that you recognize my sovereign ownership."

Now, I want you to look in your Bibles, Deuteronomy 26. This is a separate sermon in itself in this passage. But I want to just read to you and show you the implication of failing to tithe. You see, when we tithe, we are acknowledging God's sovereignty. We're acknowledging his ownership. We're acknowledging his providence, his control, his blessings. In Deuteronomy chapter 26, let's begin reading there with verse 1.

"And it shall be when thou art come into the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance and possessest it and dwellest therein, that thou shalt take of the first of all the fruit of the earth, which thou shalt bring of the land that the Lord thy God giveth thee, and shalt put it in a basket, and shalt go into the place which the Lord thy God shall choose to place his name there. And thou shalt go unto the priest that shall be in those days, and say unto him," Watch as they give this first fruit offering. Watch the confession. "I profess, or I confess this day, that the Lord thy God, unto the Lord thy God, that I am come unto the country which the Lord sware unto our fathers for to give us." In other words, God has been faithful to me. God brought me out of Egypt and brought me into the promised land. That's the same as saying today, God has brought me out of my sin and brought me into the salvation in Jesus Christ.

It's a confession. Verse 4, "And the priest shall take the basket out of thine hand and set it down before the altar of the Lord thy God, and thou shalt speak and say before the Lord thy God, A Syrian ready to perish was my father. And he went down into Egypt and sojourned there with a few, and became there a nation great and mighty and populous. And the Egyptians evil entreated us and afflicted us and laid upon us hard bondage. And when we cried unto the Lord God of our fathers, the Lord heard our voice and looked on our affliction and our labor and our oppression. And the Lord brought us forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm with great terribleness and with signs and with wonders."

You see what they're doing when they're giving this tithe. They're confessing and acknowledging what God has done. Let's go on verse 9. "And he hath brought us into this place and hath given us this land, even a land that floweth with milk and honey. And now, behold, I have brought the firstfruits of the land which thou, O Lord, hast given me, and thou shalt set it before the Lord thy God, and thou shalt worship before the Lord thy God, and thou shalt rejoice in every good thing which the Lord thy God hath given unto thee, and unto thine house, thou, and the Levite, and the stranger that is among thee." Now, skip down to verse 15. I'm skipping some, but verse 15, here's what they're saying. Here's the prayer. Now, when they bring the tithes and the offerings, "Look down from thy holy habitation in heaven, and bless thy people Israel, and the land which thou hast given us. As thou swarest unto our fathers a land that floweth with milk and honey, this day the Lord thy God hath commanded thee to do these statutes and judgments."

"Thou shalt therefore keep and do them with all thine heart and with all thy soul." Watch. "Thou hast avouched the Lord this day to be thy God and to walk in his ways, and to keep his statutes and his commandments and his judgments, and to hearken unto his voice, and the Lord hath avouched thee this day to be his peculiar people." And he hath promised thee, that thou shouldest keep all his commandments, and to make thee high above all nations, which he hath made in praise, and in name, and in honor, and that thou mayest be an holy people unto the Lord thy God, as he hath spoken. Now, what is he saying? When we tithe, we are saying, "God, you are my God. I'm honoring you. I'm recognizing you. I'm obeying you." And then God avouches us to be His people. That's when He opens the windows of heaven and pours out His blessings upon us.

Now, look in your Bibles to 1 Corinthians 16. 1 Corinthians 16. Look what the Apostle Paul told the Corinthians. 1 Corinthians 16. "Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given order to the churches of Galatia, even so do ye." So he's talking about a collection. Now, this would be for the poor saints. Then he lays down this principle: "Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come."

So what is he saying? You should tithe faithfully the first day of the week. That's when we meet. Now, let me let me lay a couple things on you today. And the reason I'm saying this is I want you to understand why I'm dealing with covenantal faithfulness or tithing at this particular point. You see, we have to avouch God to be our God, not just daily, but weekly. If you're not here one week, that doesn't mean that you missed tithing that week. Okay? You make it up. I'm going to tell you, to be absolutely honest, time I get money, time it comes into my hand, the first thing I do is lay the tithe beside it. I don't touch it, because it belongs to God. And if I'm away from here for a week, I don't cease tithing. I still lay it to the side.

Now, why did I say if you and I want to avoid debt, we've got not only to learn contentment, but carefulness and considerateness, charitableness, learn to use cash. Learn to be covenantally faithful. Why am I saying that tithing is so important? I could give you testimony after testimony of people that tithe faithfully, had great financial problems before, and how God worked out and God blessed them. I've heard people say, "I can't afford to tithe." The answer is, you can't afford not to. I'm going to tell you why. Are you listening? Suppose God owns a grocery store, and I go there and buy my groceries. And he's kind enough and gracious enough that when I don't have money, he lets me charge things there. And I don't have money quite often, and so I run up a pretty good bill, and I walk in one day, and Doc says, "Preacher, I need to talk to you." I said, "OK, Doc, talk to me." He says, "Do you have cash today?" And I said, "No, Doc, I don't have cash. I need to charge it." He said, "Well, I'm here to tell you, you can't charge anymore."

"You owe me so much now. And I've got to have some money to restock this store. If you can't pay me, I just can't charge anymore." And I said, "Doc, I understand." And I turn around and walk out of the store. Now, if Doc cuts me off, I might go over to Henry's store and Henry might charge something to me. You follow me? So if God cuts off my credit, I might find someone else who will lend to me or let me have something on credit. But if God cuts me off, there's no one else I can go to. God is our first creditor. He is the one to whom we owe everything. He is the one that controls every blessing. He is the one that is in charge of every providential act. And if God says, "You dishonored me, I'll dishonor you," there is no one else to whom we can appeal.

But God has promised, if we are faithful, He will open the windows of heaven and pour out blessings that we cannot contain. God has said, "I can give you my grace that you always, having all sufficiency in everything, might be able to abound to every good work." There can be no way out of debt without first recognizing and honoring the one to whom we owe the greatest debt. Our Heavenly Father, who has brought us salvation through Jesus Christ, our Lord. So we need to learn covenantal faithfulness. Let's pray. Father, we ask today that you would teach us, help us. Lord, may we develop the Christian art of contentment and learn to be careful and considerate. Learn to be charitable. Learn to use cash and avoid debt as much as possible. But Lord, may we learn first and foremost to recognize and honor Thee, that Thou art the sovereign God of heaven and earth, that Thou dost own everything, and Thou art the one that does supply our every need. Help us deliver Thee. In Christ's name we pray, Amen.

Study Guide

Major Themes

Biblical Contentment

Summary: Contentment is an inward, learned discipline that is essential to avoiding debt and is connected to godliness.

Evidence: Weaver reviews last week's teaching on Hebrews 13:5 and Paul's learning to be content in all circumstances.

Careful Stewardship

Summary: Christians must avoid wastefulness and impulse buying, recognizing they are stewards of God's resources.

Evidence: Weaver cites the prodigal son (Luke 15:13) and Proverbs 18:9, and shares stories from the Great Depression.

Considerate Planning

Summary: Believers should plan and prepare for future needs like the ant, rather than relying on government or chance.

Evidence: Weaver references Proverbs 6:6-11 and Proverbs 27:12, and discusses planning for cars, clothes, and retirement.

Charitable Giving

Summary: Generosity is commanded, but must be cheerful and not given to the lazy or to support sin; God blesses the giver.

Evidence: Weaver cites 2 Corinthians 9:6-7, Luke 6:38, and 2 Thessalonians 3:10.

Use of Cash

Summary: Using cash helps avoid debt and the pitfalls of checks and credit cards; Abraham paid cash for Machpelah.

Evidence: Weaver references Genesis 23 and warns against writing bad checks and credit card interest.

Covenantal Faithfulness (Tithing)

Summary: Tithing honors God as owner of all, and He promises to bless those who tithe faithfully.

Evidence: Weaver expounds Malachi 3:8-11, Deuteronomy 26, and 1 Corinthians 16:2.

Key Arguments

Contentment is learned and inward

Summary: Contentment is not natural but must be cultivated; it is deeper than satisfaction and is tied to godliness.

Evidence: Weaver says Paul 'learned the art of contentment' and that contentment 'must be worked at and added to the Christian faith.'

Wastefulness leads to poverty

Summary: The prodigal son and Proverbs show that wasting resources, even when money is sufficient, is foolish and leads to want.

Evidence: Weaver quotes Proverbs 18:9: 'He also that is slothful in his work is brother to him that is a great waster.'

Planning is biblical, not antithetical to trust in God

Summary: While we must say 'Lord willing,' Scripture commands planning like the ant; failure to plan leads to poverty.

Evidence: Weaver references James 4 and Proverbs 6:6-8, and says 'you've got to plan.'

Charity must be discriminating

Summary: We are not to give to those who refuse to work or to subsidize sin; giving should be cheerful and bountiful.

Evidence: Weaver cites 2 Thessalonians 3:10 and 2 Corinthians 9:6-7.

Cash prevents debt and loss of privacy

Summary: Using cash avoids the temptation to write bad checks or accumulate credit card debt; it also leaves no paper trail.

Evidence: Weaver says 'if you don't have a checking account, you're not going to be writing hot checks' and advises cutting up credit cards.

Tithing is God's tax for using His earth

Summary: Tithing acknowledges God's ownership and sovereignty; failure to tithe is robbing God and brings a curse.

Evidence: Weaver says 'the tithe is God's tax for using his earth' and quotes Malachi 3:8-9.

God blesses faithful tithing

Summary: When we tithe, God promises to open the windows of heaven, rebuke the devourer, and supply all sufficiency.

Evidence: Weaver quotes Malachi 3:10-11 and 2 Corinthians 9:8.

Tithing is a weekly act of worship

Summary: The New Testament pattern is to set aside tithes on the first day of the week as a regular discipline.

Evidence: Weaver references 1 Corinthians 16:2 and says 'you should tithe faithfully the first day of the week.'

Scripture References

Hebrews 13:5

Context: Weaver cites this verse as the foundation for biblical contentment, emphasizing God's promise never to leave or forsake us.

Luke 15:13

Context: The prodigal son wasted his substance with riotous living, illustrating the danger of wastefulness.

Proverbs 19:26

Context: He that wasteth his father brings shame; used to show that wasting another's resources is wicked.

Proverbs 13:23

Context: Much food is destroyed for want of judgment; lack of carefulness leads to waste.

1 Corinthians 4:2

Context: Stewards are required to be faithful; we are stewards of God's resources.

Proverbs 18:9

Context: The slothful man is brother to the great waster; both come to poverty.

Proverbs 14:15

Context: The prudent man looketh well to his going; he is careful.

Proverbs 16:21

Context: The wise in heart shall be called prudent; prudence means carefulness.

Proverbs 6:6-11

Context: Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways and be wise. The ant prepares food in summer, teaching planning and preparation.

Proverbs 30:25

Context: The ants are not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer; another commendation of planning.

Proverbs 27:12

Context: A prudent man foreseeth the evil and hideth himself; the simple pass on and are punished.

Proverbs 22:3

Context: Repeats the truth of Proverbs 27:12 about the prudent foreseeing evil.

James 4:13-14

Context: We must say 'Lord willing' when we plan, but planning itself is not condemned.

Proverbs 13:7

Context: There is that maketh himself rich yet hath nothing; used to introduce the paradox of generosity.

2 Thessalonians 3:10

Context: If any would not work, neither should he eat; we are not to give to the lazy.

2 Corinthians 9:6-9

Context: He which soweth sparingly shall reap sparingly; God loves a cheerful giver; God is able to make all grace abound.

Luke 6:38

Context: Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over.

Genesis 23:9-16

Context: Abraham paid cash (silver) for the cave of Machpelah, illustrating the use of current money.

Malachi 3:8-11

Context: Will a man rob God? In tithes and offerings. Bring all tithes into the storehouse; God will open windows of heaven and rebuke the devourer.

Deuteronomy 26:1-19

Context: The confession and prayer when bringing firstfruits and tithes, acknowledging God's faithfulness and avouching Him as God.

Historical References

Jeremy Burrus (Jeremiah Burroughs) and 'The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment'

Context: Weaver mentions this Puritan author and his book on contentment, still in print after 400 years.

Great Depression

Context: Weaver shares stories from the book 'We Had Everything But Money' to illustrate carefulness and ingenuity during hard times.

John Bunyan's couplet on Proverbs 13:7

Context: Weaver quotes Bunyan: 'There was a man, and many did count him mad, the more he gave away, the more he had.'

Important Quotes

Let your conversation be without covetousness and be content with such things as you have, for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.

Significance: This is the foundational verse for the entire series on contentment and avoiding debt.

Nothing is a good buy, no matter how cheap it is, if you can't use it.

Significance: A practical maxim summarizing the principle of carefulness in spending.

Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways and be wise, which having no guide, overseer or ruler, provideth her meat in the summer and gathereth her food in the harvest.

Significance: Key Scripture commanding planning and preparation.

There was a man, and many did count him mad, the more he gave away, the more he had.

Significance: John Bunyan's couplet illustrating the paradox of generosity.

Give, and it shall be given unto you. Good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom.

Significance: Jesus' promise of abundant return for generous giving.

Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven and pour you out a blessing that there shall not be room enough to receive it.

Significance: God's challenge and promise to bless faithful tithers.

Freely you have received, freely give.

Significance: Jesus' command to His disciples, cited as a principle for charitable giving.

Discussion Questions

How does biblical contentment differ from mere satisfaction, and why is it essential for avoiding debt?

Context: Weaver taught that contentment is inward, learned, and connected to godliness.

In what areas of your life are you most tempted to be wasteful or an impulse buyer, and how can you apply the principle of carefulness?

Context: Weaver warned against wasting money on small indulgences and impulse purchases.

What future needs should you be planning for now, and how does the ant's example challenge your current preparation?

Context: Weaver used Proverbs 6 to urge planning for cars, clothes, retirement, and even death expenses.

How do you balance the call to be charitable with the biblical restrictions on giving to the lazy or to subsidize sin?

Context: Weaver cited 2 Thessalonians 3:10 and warned against easing consequences of sin.

What practical steps can you take to use cash more and reduce reliance on credit cards or checks?

Context: Weaver advised cutting up credit cards and using cash to avoid debt and maintain privacy.

Why is tithing described as 'God's tax for using His earth,' and how does this perspective affect your view of giving?

Context: Weaver explained that tithing acknowledges God's sovereign ownership over all creation.

How have you experienced God's blessing or discipline in relation to tithing, and what does Malachi 3:10-11 promise?

Context: Weaver shared testimonies of God's provision for faithful tithers and the curse for robbing God.

What does it mean to 'avouch' the Lord as your God through tithing, and how does this weekly act shape your relationship with Him?

Context: Weaver connected tithing to the confession in Deuteronomy 26 and the New Testament pattern of first-day giving.

Applications

Cultivate Contentment

Summary: Work at learning contentment in every circumstance, recognizing it as a discipline that must be added to faith.

Evidence: Weaver said contentment 'must be worked at and added to the Christian faith' and is essential to avoid debt.

Practice Careful Spending

Summary: Avoid impulse buying and evaluate whether purchases are truly needed; remember that nothing is a good buy if you can't use it.

Evidence: Weaver warned against wasting money on coffee, candy, and indulgences, and gave the maxim about good buys.

Plan for Future Needs

Summary: Begin now to set aside resources for anticipated expenses like vehicles, home repairs, and retirement, rather than relying on debt or government.

Evidence: Weaver asked about needing a car in five years and said 'the considerate thing to do is to begin planning now.'

Give Generously but Wisely

Summary: Give cheerfully and bountifully to God's work and the needy, but do not give to those who refuse to work or to support sinful behavior.

Evidence: Weaver cited 2 Corinthians 9:7 and 2 Thessalonians 3:10, and said 'I am not going to help you do what's wrong.'

Use Cash Instead of Credit

Summary: Whenever possible, use cash for purchases to avoid debt and the temptation to overspend; cut up credit cards if you cannot control them.

Evidence: Weaver said 'use cash whenever you can' and advised destroying credit cards that lead to debt.

Tithe Faithfully

Summary: Set aside the first tenth of all income as belonging to God, honoring Him as owner and trusting His promise to bless and provide.

Evidence: Weaver said 'the first thing I do is lay the tithe beside it' and quoted Malachi 3:10-11.

Acknowledge God's Ownership Weekly

Summary: Make tithing a regular, first-day-of-the-week discipline that confesses God's sovereignty and faithfulness.

Evidence: Weaver referenced 1 Corinthians 16:2 and the confession in Deuteronomy 26.

Trust God as First Creditor

Summary: Recognize that if God cuts off His blessing due to unfaithfulness, there is no other source; honor Him first to keep His provision flowing.

Evidence: Weaver used the grocery store analogy to show that God is our ultimate creditor.

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-06T00:52:33Z

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | weaver_study | 2026-06-06T15:09:41Z

Clean Transcript

The Christian & Debt - Part 7

Clean readable transcript. This view follows the Commentary.net cleaned segment text while preserving timestamps for audio follow-along.

We're still on the series, The Christian and Debt, and this is our seventh study. And last week, I began practical suggestions as to how to stay out of debt. Practical suggestions as how to stay out of debt. And I dealt with Hebrews 13 and verse 5, where the Word of God says, "Let your conversation be without covetousness and be content with such things as you have, for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee." And I went through the Bible and I showed you what the Word of God taught concerning biblical contentment. And I shared with you that contentment was more inward than external.
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And it was even deeper than what you and I would call satisfaction. And the Apostle Paul himself said that he has learned in whatsoever state he was in to be content. Whether it was hungry or whether he was abounding, he learned the art of contentment. There is a book, if you can find it, I mentioned it last week. Jeremy Burrus has written a book. He's been dead about 400 years. He's an old Puritan. And the name of the book is The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment. And that book is still in print today, by the way. Then as we dealt with Christian contentment, I told you that there were three cautions.
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The first one was this: that there is an unbiblical contentment as well. We cannot be content with sin. We cannot be content with mediocre lives. We cannot be content with anything less than the will and the Word of God. And I showed you in the Bible where some had that type of contentment which was wrong and wicked and ungodly. And then secondly, I told you, you cannot use this contentment as a shield for laziness and indolence and being slothful and sluggardly, because working and preparing and planning certainly is not antithetical to biblical contentment.
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Those two things are friends, they are not enemies. And then thirdly, I pointed out how that contentment and godliness were connected, and as godliness is something that must be worked at and added to the Christian faith, so likewise contentment is something that must be worked at and added to the Christian faith as well. So the very first practical suggestion that I gave you last week as to how to avoid debt was to learn contentment.
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Now we're going to take up from there today. And my second point is this, learn to be careful. Now what in the world do I mean when I say learn to be careful? If you want to turn to Luke chapter 15 and verse 13, you already know the story of the prodigal son, and I'm certainly not going to read that, but I want you to note, if you would please, verse 13, what is said. Luke chapter 15, and notice if you would please there, verse 13. Here the word of God says concerning this prodigal son, "And not many days after the younger son gathered all together and took his journey into a far country and there wasted his substance with riotous living." Now, very clearly most of us are not going to waste our substance with riotous living. But the truth of the matter is many of us do indeed waste our substance.
#5 | 2:42 to 3:36 | cleaned
You see, the average person, including the average Christian, is what you and I would call an impulse buyer. We see it, we want it, and we buy it, and it's just that simple. We're not careful as to how we spend, and what we have forgotten many times is that we're called upon to be stewards of what God has given us. If you would just stop and think, and examine how much money the average person throws away, not only daily, but weekly and monthly, on what you and I would just simply call coffee, Coke, and candy, and other little indulgences, you'd be surprised. I had a pastor friend that took me out one day and he said, "I want to buy you a cup of coffee." And I said, "Well, I'm not really much of a coffee drinker and I don't really like coffee. I occasionally drink it." And he said, "But oh, you will like this." And so I said, "Well, you know, I'm willing to try, try whatever you want to buy me."
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And I got up there and he ordered this some kind of latte with all kind of stuff in it. And the cup of coffee was three bucks and fifty cents. So he bought two of them, that was seven bucks. And it was delicious, but it was so rich, I could only drink half the cup. And so I saved the rest of it and brought it to Alice and let her taste it, etc.
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But I never will forget what my pastor friend said. He said, "I have to have a cup of this every day." I just very quickly multiplied 30 times 350. I said, "Do you realize you're spending nearly 100 bucks a month just on a cup of coffee a day?" I mean, you know, I don't like coffee that much, thankfully.
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Now, let me just point out the fact, just simply because we do happen to have at a certain time a sufficiency of money, does not mean, therefore, that we can be wasteful. I want you to look in your Bibles to the book of Proverbs chapter 19 first. Proverbs chapter 19, and notice if you would verse 26. Proverbs 19 and verse 26. The Word of God says, "He that wasteth his father and chaseth away his mother is a son that causeth shame and bringeth reproach." But note that phrase, "he that wasteth his father." What is he doing to waste his father? He's foolishly and wickedly throwing away that which his father is accumulating. Look in your Bibles to the book of Proverbs chapter 13 and verse 23. Proverbs 13 and verse 23. Here's an interesting verse. He says, "Much food is in the tillage of the poor, but there is that that is destroyed for want of judgment." In other words, you're not careful and you end up destroying or throwing away or wasting that which you have.
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So the truth is this, folks, even if there is a sufficiency in the money supply, we're still not to be wasteful and unnecessarily throw things away. And even if the money belongs to others—for instance, the son that wasted his father is throwing away money that actually does not belong to him. It belongs to his father. You see, the Bible says in 1 Corinthians 4 and verse 2, "Moreover, it is required in stewards that a man be found faithful."
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Now look in your Bibles to the book of Proverbs 18 and verse 9. Proverbs 18 and verse 9. Here the Word of God says, "He also that is slothful in his work is brother to him that is a great waster." So a slothful man and a wasteful man are brothers. Both of them are going to come to want. That's what God is saying. So the man that will not work, and the man that wastes and throws away that which he has, is very closely related to the slothful man, both will come to want.
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Now, I have found it very interesting in my short life to talk to people who came up during the Great Depression. And you'll find that most of those people developed a carefulness about them back then, and that carefulness continues even to this day.
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Now my father, bless his heart, I loved him and I appreciated him, but we had a saying back on the farm, and it was this, "Almost all things are held together with haywire." And Roy has laughed at me because of the tractor that I have. The tie rods, believe it or not, I have them tied up with wire. Years ago, one of the rods came out and I called my dad over there. I said, "Dad, I'm going to have to get a new tie rod."
#13 | 8:35 to 9:09 | cleaned
"Oh, no, you're not, son." He reached over, popped it back up on there, tied wire around it, and he said, "Keep plowing." Do you realize that my dad's been dead for five years? So that has been a minimum 10 years ago. That tractor still goes with wire holding the tie rod in place.
#14 | 9:09 to 9:27 | cleaned
Now, the point I'm trying to make is this. He learned to be careful. Let me give you two verses before I read something to you. Look in your Bibles to Proverbs 14 and verse 15. Proverbs 14 and verse 15. The Word of God says, "The simple believeth every word." Watch now. "But the prudent man looketh well to his going." What's that mean? He's careful. Look in your Bibles to Proverbs 16 and verse 21. Proverbs 16 and verse 21. "The wise in heart shall be called prudent, and the sweetness of the lips increaseth learning." The wise in heart shall be called prudent, or the wise in heart shall be called careful.
#15 | 9:28 to 10:20 | cleaned
Now, I mentioned to you about people that I had talked with that grew up during the Great Depression. A year or so ago, I came across a book that was very interesting, and I got the book, and this book is still available today. But the book is entitled, We Had Everything But Money. And it is a book on the lives of the people who came up during the Great Depression, story after story, picture after picture.
#16 | 10:21 to 10:52 | cleaned
You talk about bread lines and it's just unbelievable. But I'm going to just take a few moments and read just a couple of these. And I think these things are just absolutely amazing. Listen to this one. Most of these are very brief. "Dad lost his job early in the Depression, and we turned our backyard into a garden and sold the produce from house to house. My most vivid memory is the day my mother sold a three-cent stamp so that we could buy bread. She only had two cents, so she sold the stamp to our neighbor. Then she was able to send me to the bakery for a nickel loaf of bread." Now, if you had to sell a stamp to buy some bread, to have something to eat, you would probably tend to be just a little bit more careful. And I think this one is very enlightening. But listen to this.
#17 | 10:52 to 11:50 | cleaned
"The difference between today and in the 1930s is the word character." Listen to this. "Although I wasn't born until 1936, the Depression taught me a valuable lesson. One of my earliest memories is of delivering an envelope to a woman named Mrs. Combs every Friday night. When I was old enough to ask what the envelope contained, I learned that Mrs. Combs had been my parents' landlord during the years when my father had only odd jobs and couldn't pay the rent. The envelopes contained the back rent payments even though we no longer lived in Mrs. Combs' house." So here's a family that has moved away, and yet the man still has character enough to pay the back debt. Let me give you another one that I thought was very good. This one is about the ingenuity that a lot of people came up with, even children.
#18 | 11:50 to 13:03 | cleaned
"The year was 1930, the depression was rampant and we were having pea soup for supper again. Lord have mercy. Pea soup, that doesn't even sound good. But we were having pea soup for supper again for the fourth day in a row. I wondered where my mother found a steel pot that big. All of us kids were grumbling and griping, and Mother replied that the soup improved with each passing day. I sneezed in disbelief. 'It's the truth,' my mother said firmly."
#19 | 13:07 to 13:35 | cleaned
"My oldest brother, then fourteen, was the breadwinner of the family. And he seemed just as dejected with this meal as the rest of us. He seemed deep in thought as though he was searching for a solution to our food problem. On days when we didn't have pea soup, it was boiled rice with sugar and milk. Suddenly, he produced the 50 cents he had earned shining shoes the day before and asked if he could withhold it."
#20 | 13:35 to 14:00 | cleaned
"He had a plan, he said, that would more than triple that amount. My mother was skeptical, but how could she part with 50 cents? Although my brother didn't explain his scheme, he eased her fears where she allowed him to pocket the five dimes. What was his plan? When my brother left the house later that evening, I sneaked out and followed him. He headed for the candy store and bought 25 copies of the next morning's newspaper at two cents each. Then he scrounged around for a large apple box and headed for the theater a short distance away."
#21 | 14:01 to 14:33 | cleaned
"So he planned to sell newspapers. But what was he going to do with that huge box? I hid near the theater and watched as the audience slowly began filing out. Justin, my brother, stood up on the box, waved his arms, and said in a loud, clear voice, 'Step right up, ladies and gentlemen, for the greatest show you will see tonight.' The large group of theatergoers approached him looking quite jolly. My eyes widened as I saw my brother leap into a tap dance routine he had taught himself."
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"I thought he was every bit as good as Fred Astaire. My brother's audience was very receptive and everyone applauded. Before they began to walk away, however, he jumped from the box, grappled with the newspapers he had hidden behind it, and shouted enthusiastically, 'Buy a paper, buy a paper.' The happy throng couldn't resist, and in a few moments he had sold every paper, not for two cents each, but for ten cents. And a few generous patrons even rewarded him a quarter."
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"The next night it was clear as planned work. Mother fixed us a juicy leg of lamb with all the trimmings. We ate with zest, thankful for our brother's ingenuity, and thankful that the pea soup would be saved for another day." So, you're talking about learning to be careful. Do you realize it may take something as desperate as another depression to teach us how to be careful? Let me just leave you on this point with these words.
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Nothing is a good buy, no matter how cheap it is, if you can't use it. Ladies and gentlemen, nothing is a good buy, no matter how cheap it is, if you can't use it. So we've got to learn to be careful if we're going to avoid debt. Secondly, or thirdly I should say now, we've got to learn to be considerate. By the word considerate I mean thoughtfulness, planning, preparation.
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Let's go to our Bibles to Proverbs chapter 6. I've read this passage before, but in light of this, I think I shall read it again. Proverbs chapter 6, beginning there with verse 6. Look what God says. Talking about being considerate, thoughtful, planning, preparing. He says, "Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways and be wise, which having no guide, overseer or ruler, provideth her meat in the summer and gathereth her food in the harvest. How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? When wilt thou arise out of thy sleep? Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep, so shall thy poverty come as one that traveleth, and thy want as an armed man." Now he says, "Go to the ant, thou sluggard. You consider her ways and be wise." What is she doing? Verse 8, she provideth her meat in the summer and gathereth her food in the harvest. Why? So she can have when there is no food. Look in Proverbs 30 and verse 25.
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You'll see the ant commended again. Proverbs 30 and verse 25. God says, "The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer." So they are planning for the winter. They're planning for the hard times. Go back to your Bibles to Proverbs 27 and look at verse 12. Proverbs 27 verse 12. "A prudent man, that is a careful and a considerate man, foreseeth the evil and hideth himself, but the simple pass on and are punished." And then if you look in Proverbs 22 and verse 3, you'll see exactly the same truth repeated again. Proverbs 22 and verse 3, "A prudent man foreseeth the evil and hideth himself, but the simple pass on and are punished."
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Now let me ask you a question. I want you to think about this. How many of you think that you will need another automobile within the next five years? Well, what is the considerate thing to do? Thank you, son. Grandpa, did you see that hand? What is the considerate thing to do? The considerate thing to do is to begin planning now if we're going to need something a year or two years from now. I could ask you this. How many of you think that you're going to need more clothes? Everyone, just about. What about equipment? What about machinery? What about air conditioners?
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They have a way of breaking down. What we should be doing is planning now. How many of you are thinking that you might live to get a little older? Maybe even live to reach your seventies and some eighties? Have you thought about what you're going to need then? What about dying? Have you thought about what your family is going to need? What about sickness?
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Now, it's true we don't plan on being sick, but the truth is we get sick. We have had family members in our family that have died penniless. And it's been up to the other family members to bury them. Do you realize the minimum, the minimum that you can bury someone for today is better than 5,000 bucks. That's a minimum.
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Now, the point I'm trying to make is this. You and I cannot plan without Christ. That's true. James chapter 4, he said, "Go to ye that say, Today or tomorrow we're going to go into such and such city and sell and buy and get gain." And he said, "You don't know what your life is. Your life is like a vapor. It's here today and gone tomorrow. What you ought to be saying is, Lord willing, we're going to do such a thing." But the fact is, he's still saying, you've got to plan.
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I have no Social Security. I'm not in that program. Haven't been in years. I have no retirement. There's no convention. There's no denomination that's saying, "All right, we're putting so much away for you each month." I don't have anything like that. What does that mean? That means if I ever have anything, I've got to prepare and I've got to plan for that now. Let me put it to you very bluntly.
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It's not the government's responsibility to take care of me or my wife. That's my responsibility. That's the responsibility of my family. Do you realize one of the main reasons so many people are in debt right now is because they're trusting the government to take care of them, and they're not making plans, they're not making preparations. And invariably, the government can't take care of them. Let me tell you something, folks. Even if you have Social Security, it's impossible to live on Social Security.
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Three or four hundred bucks a month. There's no way that anyone can live on three or four hundred bucks a month. And may I remind you that if you are depending upon the government to take care of you, with the governmental shackles come the governmental shackles. How in the world can you be a free and independent individual as long as you're hooked on the dole? And the truth is, you can't.
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So if you and I are going to avoid debt, we don't only have to be careful with what God gives us now, we have to be considerate. And we have to plan for the future. We have to think about what our needs will possibly be. So we have to learn contentment. We have to learn carefulness. And we have to learn to be considerate. We have to learn to be charitable.
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Look in your Bibles to Proverbs 13 and verse 7. Proverbs 13 and verse 7. We have to learn to be charitable. Let me just go ahead and tell you before I read this. There is absolutely nothing worse than a selfish, miserly, grudging soul. Proverbs 13, verse 7, look what God says. "There is that maketh himself rich and yet hath nothing. There is that maketh himself poor, yet hath great riches." Now, God says you could make yourself rich, ended up with nothing, and you could make yourself poor, ended up being rich.
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Now, John Bunyan wrote a couplet on this verse that is just as true today as he wrote it hundreds of years ago. It simply goes like this: "There was a man, and many did count him mad, the more he gave away, the more he had." Isn't that interesting? The more he gave away, the more he had.
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Now listen, folks, it is true that when it comes to charity, we cannot give our money away indiscriminately. I say our money because God has entrusted it to us. We are His stewards. And here's what I mean by indiscriminately. There are some people that God forbids us to give to. For instance, if you look in your Bibles to 2 Thessalonians 3, verse 10, here it is very plainly stated, a principle laid down by the Apostle Paul. 2 Thessalonians chapter 3 and verse 10, the Apostle Paul says this, "For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat." Now, am I going to take the hard-earned money that God gives me and turn around and give it to someone who's too lazy and too indolent to work?
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And the answer is no. Nor am I going to take the money which God gives me and use it to subsidize evil and wickedness. I'm not going to do that. And I want to tell you, I'm not going to do that even if it's my own children. I've told my children, I will help you as long as you're willing to do what's right. But I am not going to help you do what's wrong.
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When you sin, you must suffer. I'm not going to try to ease the consequences of sin for anyone, even my own. And the principle of Scripture is, if you sin, you suffer. And I'm not going to try to subsidize your wickedness and ease your suffering because you're unrepentant in your sin. Look in your Bibles, if you would, to 2 Corinthians chapter 9. We've got to learn to be charitable, although we cannot be charitable indiscriminately. In 2 Corinthians 9, beginning there with verse 6, here's the principle that is laid down by our Heavenly Father.
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"But this I say, he which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly. And he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully."
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Now, let me just point out that principle. If you sow one grain of corn, it's true, you're going to get a stalk of corn and you're going to have several hundred grains on it. But if you sow 50 grains of corn, you're probably going to get 50 stalks of corn with thousands of grains on it. Now, so here's the principle, if you want to reap more than you must sow more.
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Now look what he says, to show you, by the way, to show you that God wants us to be charitable and charitable without grudging, look in verse 7. He says, "Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give."
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Now he's talking about a special offering that he was taking up. "Not grudgingly or of necessity, for God loveth a cheerful giver." So God says when we give, it cannot be grudgingly, and it can't be of necessity. What am I talking about? Well, I can say, "Well, we need money," and we do. Well, you say, "Well, Brother Weaver, that's a necessity, I'm willing to give to you." Well, I'm thankful for that, but you ought not to be willing to give just because it's a necessity. You ought to cheerfully give. Now, I'm going to tell you what the word cheerful here is.
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Some of you already know. You've heard the old adage, "Give until it hurts." That's unbiblical. That's unscriptural. The word cheerful here is the Greek word hilarion. What English word do we get from that? Hilarious. Literally, he says God loves a hilarious giver. So that means if you give and you just smile, then you have to give some more. And then when you start laughing, well, that's alright, give some more. Pretty soon when you're rolling in the floor, God says, "That's enough," okay? He loves a cheerful or a hilarious giver.
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You see what I'm trying to make. We don't give grudgingly. "Well, bless God, I guess I gotta give. I'm expected to give." No, no, no, that's not it. We give hilariously, we give lovingly, we give willingly, not grudgingly, and not out of necessity.
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Now let's read on down. Look what he says in verse 8. If you give the way God tells you to give, look in verse 8. "And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work." You know, that's absolutely amazing to me. God said, if you will obey Me, I'm able, in My grace, to always allow you to have a sufficiency that you can abound every good work. So in the truth, the more we give, the more God's grace enables us to have so that we can continue to give. That's why He says in verse 9, "As it is written, he hath dispersed abroad, he hath given to the poor, his righteousness remaineth forever."
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Now look back in your Bibles to Luke chapter 6. Luke chapter 6. And let me show you a specific promise. Luke chapter 6, and note if you would please verse 38. Luke 6 verse 38. Watch what Scripture says. "Give, and it shall be given unto you. Good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again." Now let's go back to that verse. Here's the principle. Give, and it shall be given to you. Give, and it shall be given to you. Now, do you give grudgingly? No. Do you give out of necessity? No. Do you give sparingly? No. God says when you give, you give good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom? That is, you give that way, that's what you're going to get back. Here's the principle. "For with the same measure that ye mete or that you measure out or that you give withal, it shall be measured to you again."
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So very clearly, you and I have to learn to be charitable. You would think that being contented and being careful and being considerate would be opposite of being charitable, but it's not. God says just in your charitableness, you use carefulness and you use considerateness. Many of the proverbs in general, and the tenor of Scripture in general, encourages us to be generous. Do you remember what our Lord told His disciples as He sent them out?
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Here are His exact words. "Freely you have received, freely give." Freely you have received, freely give. How do we avoid debt? We've got to learn contentment. We have to learn carefulness. We have to learn considerateness. We have to learn charitableness. And next, are you listening? We need to learn to use cash. We need to learn to use cash. Let me show you something back in Genesis 23. In Genesis 23, Sarah had died and Abraham was going to purchase the cave of Machpelah that he might bury his wife.
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And it's really interesting the way this deal took place. You would have to understand the manners, the customs, and the hospitality of the people of the East to really get the full impact of this procedure. But let's look in Genesis 23, and let's begin reading there with verse 9. He says, "That he may give me the cave of Machpelah, which he hath, which is in the end of his field. For as much money as it is worth he shall give it me for a possession of a burying place among you." And Ephron dwelt among the children of Heth. And Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the audience of the children of Heth. Now all this is taking place with people around. He answered Abraham in the audience of the children of Heth, even of all that went in at the gate of the city, saying, "Nay, my lord, hear me: the field give I thee, and the cave that is therein I give it thee; in the presence of the sons of my people give I it thee: bury thy dead."
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Boy, you think, man, this guy's generous. He's not only willing to give Abraham the cave, he's willing to give him the field. And Abraham bowed down himself before the people of the land, and he spake unto Ephron in the audience of the people of the land, saying, "But if thou wilt give it, I pray thee, hear me: I will give thee money for the field; take it of me, and I will bury my dead." And Ephron answered Abraham, saying unto him, "My lord, hearken unto me: the land is worth four hundred shekels of silver; what is that betwixt me and thee? Bury therefore thy dead." Do you see what Ephron just did? He said, "I'm willing to give it." Abraham said, "No, I'm willing to pay for it." What he said, "It's worth 400 shekels of silver, but what's that between you and me? Bury your dead." And Abraham hearkened, verse 16, unto Ephron; and Abraham weighed to Ephron the silver which he had named in the audience of the sons of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver.
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Watch, "current money with the merchant." Now I'm going to tell you something, folks. It is true that we no longer have today in circulation biblical money or constitutional money. Biblical money is silver and gold. Constitutional money is silver and gold. The Constitution of the United States says Congress shall have the power to coin money. Not print. Coin. The Constitution also says, no state shall make anything but silver and gold legal tender. Not print money, but silver and gold. Yet, although we do not have biblical or constitutional money, we do have what is today called cash or Federal Reserve notes. And I'm using this term, cash, right now as opposed to checks.
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Now, it is not my intent today to deal with the Federal Reserve System or the fractional banking system, both of which are totally ungodly, unbiblical, and I might add, unconstitutional. Okay? So it's not my intent right now to deal with that. The fact remains they are here. And the fact remains we do have Federal Reserve notes. And many people have checking accounts.
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Now, I don't want to make it sound like checking accounts are wicked and wrong in and of themselves. Certainly, the Federal Reserve and the Fractional Reserve is wicked and wrong, and checking is related to that. There would be nothing wrong with checking if it was built upon 100% backed money the way it originated and was initially. But the problem with the banking system today or people using checking system today is this. Most people, maybe I should not use the word most, but a lot of people cannot control their check writing.
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And so what they do is they write hot checks and try to beat them to the bank. In other words, they know they don't have any money in the bank. They write the check anyhow. Well, now the government does that. But see, that doesn't make it right either. And what happens is the problem becomes systematic. I have counseled people, I have known people that weekly wrote bad checks. It was not once every now and then, they did it weekly. And then tried to beat it to the bank.
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And the answer is very simple. To avoid writing hot checks, use cash. When you have the money, you may spend it. When you don't have the money, you do without. One thing for sure, if you don't have a checking account, you're not going to be writing hot checks. You're not going to be floating checks. Using cash greatly enhances one's privacy. And the federal government does not like it. But you cannot leave a paper trail when you use cash. It's just that simple. Now, the same thing I'm going to say in reference to credit cards. If you can't control a credit card or credit cards, the answer is very simple. Cut them up. Destroy them. Years ago, I had a phone call and it was from a credit card company.
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And they said, "Mr. Weaver, we want you to know that you've already been pre-approved and you have a $20,000 limit, etc. And all I need for you to do is say OK with the phone and we'll send you this credit card." I said, "I don't want it." She said, "What? You don't understand. You've already been pre-approved." I said, "No, ma'am. I understand. You don't understand. I don't want the credit card." And I said, "If you send it to me, I'm going to take the scissors and cut it up. Because I'm not going to use it. So if you want to save yourself some money, don't bother sending me the credit card." Now, there is nothing wrong, I suppose, other than a lot of things, when I say that, I don't mean, when I say there's nothing wrong, I'm talking about biblically wrong. There's nothing wrong with using a credit card if you pay the thing off monthly other than the fact that you're leaving a paper trail and it's part of the system.
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You understand what I'm saying? It's not like there's a scripture that says thou shalt not use a credit card. Okay? But the problem is most people do not pay them off monthly and they end up paying 15 to 25% interest on their balance. For financial counseling, they say, "Brother Weaver, I've got this note at the bank that's due, and I've got this credit card that's due, and which one should I try to pay off first?" I said, "How much does the bank charge you interest?" "Well, they charge me 10% interest." "How much is your credit card charging you?" They look, "Well, I don't know."
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And then they begin reading, 19% or 21%. I said, "That's a no-brainer. You better pay that credit card off first, and then cut the thing up. And that way you won't be tempted to use it anymore." You see, our society makes it easy to get into debt and difficult to get out. Especially when you get that credit card and that balance on there, let's say, is 600 bucks one month and they've put down their minimum payment, 10 bucks. Well, it's easier to pay $10 than $600, isn't it? Well, sure it is.
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Except they're going to charge you 20-21% interest on the other $590. You see, we have forgotten Proverbs 22 and verse 7 that the borrower is the slave to the lender. So the truth of the matter is, use cash whenever you can. And it will help you to avoid debt. And I want to tell you, if I did have a checking account, there's nothing wrong with writing one check and having the cash and then using it. But so many people cannot handle a checking account. They cannot handle credit cards. What's the answer? Use cash.
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And when you don't have it, learn to do without. It's just that simple. You can't write a hot Federal Reserve note. You might can, but you're going to end up in prison a whole lot more quickly. So learn to be content. Learn to be careful. Learn to be considerate. Learn to be charitable. Learn to use cash. I've got one more. Learn covenantal faithfulness. You say, "Brother Weaver, what in the world does that mean?" And I put covenantal faithfulness so you could have all C's, so this outline would be easy to remember, OK? But covenantal faithfulness is tithing. Learn to tithe.
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Let me tell you something, folks. One of the greatest failures of modern day Christianity is a failure to tithe. I want you to turn in your Bibles to the book of Malachi chapter 3. Malachi chapter 3, the last book in the Old Testament. Malachi chapter 3. And let's begin reading there with verse 8. And look what God says. These charges are extremely horrendous and offensive toward God. Look what he says in Malachi 3 in verse 8. "Will a man rob God?" That's the question. Will a man rob God? Men will rob men, but will a man rob God? And God answers, "Yet you have robbed me. But you say, Wherein have we robbed thee?"
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And then he gives the answer, "In tithes, plural, and offerings." Now look what is the result of failing to tithe. "You are cursed with a curse. For you have robbed me, even the whole nation." The whole nation was guilty of it.
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Now look what God says in verse 10, "Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven and pour you out a blessing that there shall not be room enough to receive it." That's not all. Look what he says in verse 11. "And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes."
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"And he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground, neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the Lord of hosts." So what is God saying? God said, "If you will honor me, then I'm going to honor you." By the way, that's a principle that's found in 1 Samuel 2, verse 30, where God says, "Them that honor me will I honor, saith the Lord." So God says, "You honor me with your tithes and with your offerings, and I'm going to open the windows of heaven. I'm going to pour you out a blessing and then I'm going to rebuke the devourer."
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And what does that mean? That means you are going to prosper.
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Now, let me tell you, and it is not my intent to teach on tithing today because it will take numerous sermons to do that. But did you know that there were three tithes in the Bible, not just one? There are three tithes. There was the 10% Levitical tithe. That went for the support of the Levites. That's the support of the preacher, so to speak. Now, let me just show you.
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You see, in New Testament times, if there were 10 families, they could have a teaching rabbi. Why? Because the 10 families tithed. That meant then that that tithe went for the support of that teaching preacher.
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Now, let me just show you. Let's suppose, and I know this is a supposition, but watch. Let's suppose Doc sitting over here made $100,000 a year. This Doc made $75,000 a year. Chester made $20,000 a year. Russ made $40,000 a year. Don made $30,000. This Don made $60,000.
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Now, here's the point I'm trying to make. If each faithfully tithes, do you realize that my lifestyle would be equivalent to everybody else's lifestyle? What am I talking about? I would not be living above or below anybody. You follow what I'm saying? Because the 10% would be basically the average of what the whole congregation made. Now, the point I'm making is this was a Levitical tithe. It went for the support of the ministry. The second tithe was the tithe of rejoicing. It was 10% also. That tithe went for the benefit and the blessing of the family.
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You'll find that in Deuteronomy 14 and other passages as well. Do you realize there were seven annual feasts at Jerusalem? And those Hebrews had to go up a minimum three times a year. And God allowed them to take that 10% and spend it on themselves and their family. He said that you may learn to fear the Lord thy God and that you may rejoice before the Lord thy God.
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And let me tell you something, the tithe of rejoicing or the festival tithe, as it's called sometimes, require just as much faith as the Levitical tithe, because it takes just as much faith to decapitalize yourself as it does to give faithfully to the ministry of God and to the needs there. But see, that second 10% was spent totally on the family. That's why you can go on Bible conferences, Bible retreats, cruises where the Bible's being taught, you know, whatever. Just so you learn to fear the Lord and rejoice before Him. That's a separate sermon in itself. But the third tithe, which you'll also find in Deuteronomy chapter 14, was the poor tithe. That was ten percent as well, but it was taken every third year, which meant that it was three and a third percent per year. And that poor tithe went once again for the orphans and the widows and even the Levite got in on that as well. In fact, the Levite even got in on the tithe of rejoicing some. But you see, when those people were tithing faithfully in the Old Testament, they were tithing 23 and a third percent per year in the New Testament as well.
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That's why they were hollering so when the Roman government came down upon them with their excessive taxation. That's what would be so devastating today if our people faithfully tithed, and we tithed the 23 and a third percent. Guess what? The government's taken a 40 and 50 percent. Which leaves us about 25% to live on. You follow me? But now let me tell you something. Tithing is a recognition of God's sovereign ownership.
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You know what the tithe is? I'm going to put it to you in plain, simple language. The tithe is God's tax for using his earth. Unsaved people are required to tithe. Why? Because they breathe God's air and they use his earth as well. This is God's world. This is God's earth. And what he's saying is, "I demand that you recognize me. And I demand that you recognize my sovereign ownership."
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Now, I want you to look in your Bibles, Deuteronomy 26. This is a separate sermon in itself in this passage. But I want to just read to you and show you the implication of failing to tithe. You see, when we tithe, we are acknowledging God's sovereignty. We're acknowledging his ownership. We're acknowledging his providence, his control, his blessings. In Deuteronomy chapter 26, let's begin reading there with verse 1.
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"And it shall be when thou art come into the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance and possessest it and dwellest therein, that thou shalt take of the first of all the fruit of the earth, which thou shalt bring of the land that the Lord thy God giveth thee, and shalt put it in a basket, and shalt go into the place which the Lord thy God shall choose to place his name there. And thou shalt go unto the priest that shall be in those days, and say unto him," Watch as they give this first fruit offering. Watch the confession. "I profess, or I confess this day, that the Lord thy God, unto the Lord thy God, that I am come unto the country which the Lord sware unto our fathers for to give us." In other words, God has been faithful to me. God brought me out of Egypt and brought me into the promised land. That's the same as saying today, God has brought me out of my sin and brought me into the salvation in Jesus Christ.
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It's a confession. Verse 4, "And the priest shall take the basket out of thine hand and set it down before the altar of the Lord thy God, and thou shalt speak and say before the Lord thy God, A Syrian ready to perish was my father. And he went down into Egypt and sojourned there with a few, and became there a nation great and mighty and populous. And the Egyptians evil entreated us and afflicted us and laid upon us hard bondage. And when we cried unto the Lord God of our fathers, the Lord heard our voice and looked on our affliction and our labor and our oppression. And the Lord brought us forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm with great terribleness and with signs and with wonders."
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You see what they're doing when they're giving this tithe. They're confessing and acknowledging what God has done. Let's go on verse 9. "And he hath brought us into this place and hath given us this land, even a land that floweth with milk and honey. And now, behold, I have brought the firstfruits of the land which thou, O Lord, hast given me, and thou shalt set it before the Lord thy God, and thou shalt worship before the Lord thy God, and thou shalt rejoice in every good thing which the Lord thy God hath given unto thee, and unto thine house, thou, and the Levite, and the stranger that is among thee." Now, skip down to verse 15. I'm skipping some, but verse 15, here's what they're saying. Here's the prayer. Now, when they bring the tithes and the offerings, "Look down from thy holy habitation in heaven, and bless thy people Israel, and the land which thou hast given us. As thou swarest unto our fathers a land that floweth with milk and honey, this day the Lord thy God hath commanded thee to do these statutes and judgments."
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"Thou shalt therefore keep and do them with all thine heart and with all thy soul." Watch. "Thou hast avouched the Lord this day to be thy God and to walk in his ways, and to keep his statutes and his commandments and his judgments, and to hearken unto his voice, and the Lord hath avouched thee this day to be his peculiar people." And he hath promised thee, that thou shouldest keep all his commandments, and to make thee high above all nations, which he hath made in praise, and in name, and in honor, and that thou mayest be an holy people unto the Lord thy God, as he hath spoken.
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Now, what is he saying? When we tithe, we are saying, "God, you are my God. I'm honoring you. I'm recognizing you. I'm obeying you." And then God avouches us to be His people. That's when He opens the windows of heaven and pours out His blessings upon us.
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Now, look in your Bibles to 1 Corinthians 16. 1 Corinthians 16. Look what the Apostle Paul told the Corinthians. 1 Corinthians 16. "Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given order to the churches of Galatia, even so do ye." So he's talking about a collection. Now, this would be for the poor saints. Then he lays down this principle: "Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come."
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So what is he saying? You should tithe faithfully the first day of the week. That's when we meet.
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Now, let me let me lay a couple things on you today. And the reason I'm saying this is I want you to understand why I'm dealing with covenantal faithfulness or tithing at this particular point. You see, we have to avouch God to be our God, not just daily, but weekly. If you're not here one week, that doesn't mean that you missed tithing that week. Okay? You make it up. I'm going to tell you, to be absolutely honest, time I get money, time it comes into my hand, the first thing I do is lay the tithe beside it. I don't touch it, because it belongs to God. And if I'm away from here for a week, I don't cease tithing. I still lay it to the side.
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Now, why did I say if you and I want to avoid debt, we've got not only to learn contentment, but carefulness and considerateness, charitableness, learn to use cash. Learn to be covenantally faithful. Why am I saying that tithing is so important? I could give you testimony after testimony of people that tithe faithfully, had great financial problems before, and how God worked out and God blessed them. I've heard people say, "I can't afford to tithe." The answer is, you can't afford not to.
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I'm going to tell you why. Are you listening? Suppose God owns a grocery store, and I go there and buy my groceries. And he's kind enough and gracious enough that when I don't have money, he lets me charge things there. And I don't have money quite often, and so I run up a pretty good bill, and I walk in one day, and Doc says, "Preacher, I need to talk to you." I said, "OK, Doc, talk to me." He says, "Do you have cash today?" And I said, "No, Doc, I don't have cash. I need to charge it." He said, "Well, I'm here to tell you, you can't charge anymore."
#86 | 58:30 to 59:18 | cleaned
"You owe me so much now. And I've got to have some money to restock this store. If you can't pay me, I just can't charge anymore." And I said, "Doc, I understand." And I turn around and walk out of the store. Now, if Doc cuts me off, I might go over to Henry's store and Henry might charge something to me. You follow me? So if God cuts off my credit, I might find someone else who will lend to me or let me have something on credit. But if God cuts me off, there's no one else I can go to. God is our first creditor. He is the one to whom we owe everything. He is the one that controls every blessing. He is the one that is in charge of every providential act. And if God says, "You dishonored me, I'll dishonor you," there is no one else to whom we can appeal.
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But God has promised, if we are faithful, He will open the windows of heaven and pour out blessings that we cannot contain. God has said, "I can give you my grace that you always, having all sufficiency in everything, might be able to abound to every good work." There can be no way out of debt without first recognizing and honoring the one to whom we owe the greatest debt.
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Our Heavenly Father, who has brought us salvation through Jesus Christ, our Lord. So we need to learn covenantal faithfulness. Let's pray. Father, we ask today that you would teach us, help us. Lord, may we develop the Christian art of contentment and learn to be careful and considerate. Learn to be charitable. Learn to use cash and avoid debt as much as possible. But Lord, may we learn first and foremost to recognize and honor Thee, that Thou art the sovereign God of heaven and earth, that Thou dost own everything, and Thou art the one that does supply our every need. Help us deliver Thee. In Christ's name we pray, Amen.
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deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-06T00:52:33Z

The Christian & Debt - Part 7

John Weaver | Freedom Ministries

In this seventh study on the Christian and debt, John Weaver continues practical suggestions for avoiding debt. He reviews the importance of biblical contentment and then introduces five additional principles: learn to be careful (avoid wastefulness), learn to be considerate (plan and prepare for future needs), learn to be charitable (give generously but not indiscriminately), learn to use cash (avoid credit and check-writing pitfalls), and learn covenantal faithfulness (tithe faithfully to honor God and receive His blessing).

Review of Contentment

Weaver reviews last week's teaching on biblical contentment as the first practical suggestion to avoid debt, emphasizing that contentment is inward, learned, and connected to godliness.

Scripture Reading — Hebrews 13:5

"Let your conversation be without covetousness and be content with such things as you have, for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee."

Learn to Be Careful

Using the prodigal son and Proverbs, Weaver warns against wastefulness and impulse buying, urging careful stewardship of God's resources.

Scripture Reading — Luke 15:13

"And not many days after the younger son gathered all together and took his journey into a far country and there wasted his substance with riotous living."

Now, very clearly most of us are not going to waste our substance with riotous living. But the truth of the matter is many of us do indeed waste our substance.

Scripture Reading — Proverbs 19:26

"He that wasteth his father and chaseth away his mother is a son that causeth shame and bringeth reproach."

But note that phrase,

Scripture Reading — Proverbs 19:26

"he that wasteth his father."

Scripture Reading — 1 Corinthians 4:2

"Moreover, it is required in stewards that a man be found faithful."

Now look in your Bibles to the book of Proverbs 18 and verse 9. Proverbs 18 and verse 9. Here the Word of God says,

Scripture Reading — Proverbs 18:9

"He also that is slothful in his work is brother to him that is a great waster."

Scripture Reading — Proverbs 14:15

"The simple believeth every word."

Watch now.

Scripture Reading — Proverbs 14:15

"But the prudent man looketh well to his going."

Learn to Be Considerate

Weaver calls for thoughtful planning and preparation for future needs, using the ant as an example, and warns against trusting the government instead of personal responsibility.

Scripture Reading — Proverbs 6:6-11

"Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways and be wise, which having no guide, overseer or ruler, provideth her meat in the summer and gathereth her food in the harvest. How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? When wilt thou arise out of thy sleep? Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep, so shall thy poverty come as one that traveleth, and thy want as an armed man."

Now he says,

Scripture Reading — Proverbs 6:6-11

"Go to the ant, thou sluggard. You consider her ways and be wise."

What is she doing? Verse 8, she provideth her meat in the summer and gathereth her food in the harvest. Why? So she can have when there is no food. Look in Proverbs 30 and verse 25.

You'll see the ant commended again. Proverbs 30 and verse 25. God says,

Scripture Reading — Proverbs 30:25

"The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer."

Learn to Be Charitable

Weaver teaches that generosity is essential but must be guided by biblical principles, not given to the lazy or to subsidize sin, and that God blesses cheerful giving.

Scripture Reading — Proverbs 13:7

"There is that maketh himself rich and yet hath nothing. There is that maketh himself poor, yet hath great riches."

Now, God says you could make yourself rich, ended up with nothing, and you could make yourself poor, ended up being rich.

Scripture Reading — Luke 6:38

"Give, and it shall be given unto you. Good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again."

Scripture Reading — Luke 6:38

"For with the same measure that ye mete or that you measure out or that you give withal, it shall be measured to you again."

Scripture Reading — Genesis 23:9-16

"That he may give me the cave of Machpelah, which he hath, which is in the end of his field. For as much money as it is worth he shall give it me for a possession of a burying place among you."

Scripture Reading — Genesis 23:9-16

"Nay, my lord, hear me: the field give I thee, and the cave that is therein I give it thee; in the presence of the sons of my people give I it thee: bury thy dead."

Learn to Use Cash

Weaver advises using cash instead of checks or credit cards to avoid debt, citing Abraham's cash purchase and the dangers of uncontrolled credit.

Scripture Reading — Genesis 23:9-16

"That he may give me the cave of Machpelah, which he hath, which is in the end of his field. For as much money as it is worth he shall give it me for a possession of a burying place among you."

Scripture Reading — Genesis 23:9-16

"Nay, my lord, hear me: the field give I thee, and the cave that is therein I give it thee; in the presence of the sons of my people give I it thee: bury thy dead."

Learn Covenantal Faithfulness (Tithing)

Weaver explains tithing as a recognition of God's ownership, outlines the three Old Testament tithes, and promises God's blessing for faithful tithing.

Scripture Reading — Malachi 3:8-11

" That's the question. Will a man rob God? Men will rob men, but will a man rob God? And God answers, "

Yet you have robbed me. But you say, Wherein have we robbed thee?"

The Christian & Debt - Part 7

John Weaver | SermonAudio

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	SermonAudio
Media ID	750684850
Subject	Economics and Stewardship
Course	Debt, Money, and Stewardship
Genre	Sermon
Date	2003-06-15
Dictation Name
Book	Book 072: The Christian & Debt — Chapter 7
Source Timed Segments	89

Lecture Guide

Outline

Review of Contentment: Weaver reviews last week's teaching on biblical contentment as the first practical suggestion to avoid debt, emphasizing that contentment is inward, learned, and connected to godliness.
Learn to Be Careful: Using the prodigal son and Proverbs, Weaver warns against wastefulness and impulse buying, urging careful stewardship of God's resources.
Learn to Be Considerate: Weaver calls for thoughtful planning and preparation for future needs, using the ant as an example, and warns against trusting the government instead of personal responsibility.
Learn to Be Charitable: Weaver teaches that generosity is essential but must be guided by biblical principles, not given to the lazy or to subsidize sin, and that God blesses cheerful giving.
Learn to Use Cash: Weaver advises using cash instead of checks or credit cards to avoid debt, citing Abraham's cash purchase and the dangers of uncontrolled credit.
Learn Covenantal Faithfulness (Tithing): Weaver explains tithing as a recognition of God's ownership, outlines the three Old Testament tithes, and promises God's blessing for faithful tithing.

Major Themes

Key Arguments

Contentment is learned and inward

Contentment is not natural but must be cultivated; it is deeper than satisfaction and is tied to godliness.

Weaver says Paul 'learned the art of contentment' and that contentment 'must be worked at and added to the Christian faith.'

Wastefulness leads to poverty

The prodigal son and Proverbs show that wasting resources, even when money is sufficient, is foolish and leads to want.

Weaver quotes Proverbs 18:9: 'He also that is slothful in his work is brother to him that is a great waster.'

Planning is biblical, not antithetical to trust in God

While we must say 'Lord willing,' Scripture commands planning like the ant; failure to plan leads to poverty.

Weaver references James 4 and Proverbs 6:6-8, and says 'you've got to plan.'

Charity must be discriminating

We are not to give to those who refuse to work or to subsidize sin; giving should be cheerful and bountiful.

Weaver cites 2 Thessalonians 3:10 and 2 Corinthians 9:6-7.

Cash prevents debt and loss of privacy

Using cash avoids the temptation to write bad checks or accumulate credit card debt; it also leaves no paper trail.

Weaver says 'if you don't have a checking account, you're not going to be writing hot checks' and advises cutting up credit cards.

Tithing is God's tax for using His earth

Tithing acknowledges God's ownership and sovereignty; failure to tithe is robbing God and brings a curse.

Weaver says 'the tithe is God's tax for using his earth' and quotes Malachi 3:8-9.

God blesses faithful tithing

When we tithe, God promises to open the windows of heaven, rebuke the devourer, and supply all sufficiency.

Weaver quotes Malachi 3:10-11 and 2 Corinthians 9:8.

Tithing is a weekly act of worship

The New Testament pattern is to set aside tithes on the first day of the week as a regular discipline.

Weaver references 1 Corinthians 16:2 and says 'you should tithe faithfully the first day of the week.'

Scripture References

Hebrews 13:5: Weaver cites this verse as the foundation for biblical contentment, emphasizing God's promise never to leave or forsake us.
Luke 15:13: The prodigal son wasted his substance with riotous living, illustrating the danger of wastefulness.
Proverbs 19:26: He that wasteth his father brings shame; used to show that wasting another's resources is wicked.
Proverbs 13:23: Much food is destroyed for want of judgment; lack of carefulness leads to waste.
1 Corinthians 4:2: Stewards are required to be faithful; we are stewards of God's resources.
Proverbs 18:9: The slothful man is brother to the great waster; both come to poverty.
Proverbs 14:15: The prudent man looketh well to his going; he is careful.
Proverbs 16:21: The wise in heart shall be called prudent; prudence means carefulness.
Proverbs 6:6-11: Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways and be wise. The ant prepares food in summer, teaching planning and preparation.
Proverbs 30:25: The ants are not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer; another commendation of planning.
Proverbs 27:12: A prudent man foreseeth the evil and hideth himself; the simple pass on and are punished.
Proverbs 22:3: Repeats the truth of Proverbs 27:12 about the prudent foreseeing evil.
James 4:13-14: We must say 'Lord willing' when we plan, but planning itself is not condemned.
Proverbs 13:7: There is that maketh himself rich yet hath nothing; used to introduce the paradox of generosity.
2 Thessalonians 3:10: If any would not work, neither should he eat; we are not to give to the lazy.
2 Corinthians 9:6-9: He which soweth sparingly shall reap sparingly; God loves a cheerful giver; God is able to make all grace abound.
Luke 6:38: Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over.
Genesis 23:9-16: Abraham paid cash (silver) for the cave of Machpelah, illustrating the use of current money.
Malachi 3:8-11: Will a man rob God? In tithes and offerings. Bring all tithes into the storehouse; God will open windows of heaven and rebuke the devourer.
Deuteronomy 26:1-19: The confession and prayer when bringing firstfruits and tithes, acknowledging God's faithfulness and avouching Him as God.

Historical References

Jeremy Burrus (Jeremiah Burroughs) and 'The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment': Weaver mentions this Puritan author and his book on contentment, still in print after 400 years.
Great Depression: Weaver shares stories from the book 'We Had Everything But Money' to illustrate carefulness and ingenuity during hard times.
John Bunyan's couplet on Proverbs 13:7: Weaver quotes Bunyan: 'There was a man, and many did count him mad, the more he gave away, the more he had.'

Important Quotes

Let your conversation be without covetousness and be content with such things as you have, for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.

This is the foundational verse for the entire series on contentment and avoiding debt.

Nothing is a good buy, no matter how cheap it is, if you can't use it.

A practical maxim summarizing the principle of carefulness in spending.

Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways and be wise, which having no guide, overseer or ruler, provideth her meat in the summer and gathereth her food in the harvest.

Key Scripture commanding planning and preparation.

There was a man, and many did count him mad, the more he gave away, the more he had.

John Bunyan's couplet illustrating the paradox of generosity.

Give, and it shall be given unto you. Good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom.

Jesus' promise of abundant return for generous giving.

Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven and pour you out a blessing that there shall not be room enough to receive it.

God's challenge and promise to bless faithful tithers.

Freely you have received, freely give.

Jesus' command to His disciples, cited as a principle for charitable giving.

Discussion Questions

[Question]

How does biblical contentment differ from mere satisfaction, and why is it essential for avoiding debt?

[Context]

Weaver taught that contentment is inward, learned, and connected to godliness.

[Question]

In what areas of your life are you most tempted to be wasteful or an impulse buyer, and how can you apply the principle of carefulness?

[Context]

Weaver warned against wasting money on small indulgences and impulse purchases.

[Question]

What future needs should you be planning for now, and how does the ant's example challenge your current preparation?

[Context]

Weaver used Proverbs 6 to urge planning for cars, clothes, retirement, and even death expenses.

[Question]

How do you balance the call to be charitable with the biblical restrictions on giving to the lazy or to subsidize sin?

[Context]

Weaver cited 2 Thessalonians 3:10 and warned against easing consequences of sin.

[Question]

What practical steps can you take to use cash more and reduce reliance on credit cards or checks?

[Context]

Weaver advised cutting up credit cards and using cash to avoid debt and maintain privacy.

[Question]

Why is tithing described as 'God's tax for using His earth,' and how does this perspective affect your view of giving?

[Context]

Weaver explained that tithing acknowledges God's sovereign ownership over all creation.

[Question]

How have you experienced God's blessing or discipline in relation to tithing, and what does Malachi 3:10-11 promise?

[Context]

Weaver shared testimonies of God's provision for faithful tithers and the curse for robbing God.

[Question]

What does it mean to 'avouch' the Lord as your God through tithing, and how does this weekly act shape your relationship with Him?

[Context]

Weaver connected tithing to the confession in Deuteronomy 26 and the New Testament pattern of first-day giving.

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