 Amen. Okay, keep your place there in Matthew chapter 18. We're going to get to Matthew chapter 18 in just a few minutes But first I want to just say welcome to the making sense sermon series. I've been thinking about putting this sermon series together for the last several months maybe six months or more and I was just kind of just waiting for what I thought was the right time and Maybe now is the right time. Maybe it's not but let me just give you a little bit of an introduction on How we're going to do this so this is a sermon series on Biblical advice for your financial future for your finances in your life the Bible talks about everything that you need to know in your life and Finances are no different. The Bible does talk about how you are supposed to be a steward for your finances So the way I want to run this series is I want to start each sermon with kind of a Bible study on the Topic that we're looking at and then I'm going to give you some actual very practical advice on The topic at hand at the end of each sermon. So with that being said You know, this is meant to be something that actually you can put into practice in your life something that will actually Help you. I don't want to just give you a Bible study and just throw that out at you and just let you figure that out For yourself. I want to give you some very practical advice along with these Cermets and these Bible studies and it just let me say this, you know as when it comes to actual financial advice in your life You know, look, I'm not a financial advisor. I'm not here to be your financial advisor But let me just say this when you are seeking out Financial advice in your life. You should ask people that have had some financial success in their life So you young people, you know, if you're looking at you know advice on on how to run a business You should probably look for a brother and sister in Christ who maybe has a successful business You know things like that Don't just be bantering it amongst yourselves and think you're going to find things out because look there's a lot of very complicated Mechanisms and hoops to jump through with whatever it is that you decide to pursue in your life And people have figured this out people amongst you have figured this out So it's okay to ask questions and ask for that advice from the right people Okay, don't ask somebody who is completely broke and has been a financial failure in their life for financial advice. It makes sense, right? All right now Let's get right into it So this the topic this evening in the very first Sermon of the making sense series is probably the most serious and probably the most dangerous for you Okay So this is a topic that we're going to talk about tonight Especially as young people if you get this wrong it could literally ruin your life You could really you could really ruin and set yourself back for several years if not, you know Decades like many people do if you get this one wrong. So what I want to talk about this evening is the topic of debt I want to talk about the talk topic of debt So first of all the definition of debt is pretty obvious. It's owing something or somebody money Mainly anything really, but it's the state if you're in debt. You're in the state of owing money Okay, you say I'm in debt that means you owe you owe somebody or some entity money So let's look at what the Bible says look at Matthew chapter 18 Which is where you're at and I want to look down at the parable put forth in verse number 23 where it talks about you know this king and I'm not going to get into the doctrine of the parable But I do want to read through this very quickly for you And so you can see just a couple things I want to point out about debt and the consequences of debt look at Matthew chapter 18 In verse number 23 the Bible says therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king Which would take account of his servants and when he had begun to reckon one was brought unto him which owed him 10,000 talents so here was the one of his servants that owed him a good sum of money He owed him money, but for as much as he had not to pay his Lord Commanded him to be sold and his wife and children and all that he had and payment to be made now look I'm going to explain this to you as well And if you want to look up the civil war sermon that will explain to you What the servitude in the Bible is all about but this is very biblical here, okay in verse number 25 This is very biblical that you are to look servitude in the Bible is not the slavery of the 16 and 17 and 1800s in the United States, okay That was man-stealing and I explained all that in that that sermon series on the civil or that sermon on the civil war Please check that out, but servitude to pay off debt in the Bible is very fair It's very biblical. Okay. Now look at verse number 26 So this guy owed money and his Lord said, you know sell him, you know, he needs to be sold He needs to work that off look at verse number 26 He was also, you know to go with his family by the way, which was different than also the man-stealing of the slavery You know, it's you know, these people I don't want to go off on this because this isn't what the sermon is about But slavery of the 16 and 17 and 1800s in the Americas has really ruined the biblical Philosophy of the servitude of the Bible. Okay, so stealing people from you know Wherever and forcing them into labor is not what the Bible says that man-stealing is punished by death Okay, so this is quite different and it will see that it's fair, okay So he's to pay off his debt that is the the origin of this this punishment look at verse 26 The servant therefore fell down and worshipped him saying Lord have patience with me and I will pay thee all But the same servant and so that it basically in the next couple verses He forgives him the debt he has compassion on him and then in verse number 30 The the Bible says and he would look at verse 29 and his fellow servant fell down at his feet and Besought him saying have patience with me and I will pay thee all and he would not but went okay, so let me just read the whole thing I'm sorry, I skipped a couple verses then the Lord of his servant was moved with compassion and loosed him and forgave him the debt So he was forgiven because his boss his Lord had met had Mercy on him verse 28 but the same servant that was forgiven went out and found one of his fellow servants Which owed him a hundred pence so it was just a tiny fraction of what he owed the the Lord What he was forgiven and he laid hands on him took him by the throat saying pay me that thou Oist and his fellow servant fell down at his feet and besought him saying have patience with me And I will pay thee all and he would not but went and cast him into prison So I want to focus on that part of the verse 30 where it says he cast him into prison And I also want you to focus on verse 25 where he was to be sold with his wife and his children for his debt And then his fellow servants saw what was done They were very sorry and came and told unto their Lord all that was done and then in verse 34 This Lord was Roth so think about it He forgave this huge debt to this man And then he went out and just threw someone in prison that owed him a fraction of that debt to himself He did not show the same mercy. That's the doctrine here We're not going to get into that but look at verse 34 and this Lord was Roth and delivered him to the tormentors I want you to notice that part right there So I just want to show you the extreme Punishment for debt that was laid out in Matthew chapter 18 So he was to be sold into servitude number one He was to be cast into debtor's prison number two and then number three He was to be delivered to the tormentors, you know, that would obviously that the implication is that he would be forced to work Off his debt. Okay, so you say, you know, this sounds harsh, right? Like debtor's prison, but let me just give you an example I mean debtor's prison used to be a real thing, especially in Europe A debtor's prison is a prison for people who are unable to pay debt through the mid 19th century That's up into the middle of the 1800s debtor's prisons Usually similar informed to locked work houses were a common way to deal with unpaid debt in Europe Destitute persons who were unable to pay a court-ordered judgment would be Incarcerated in these prisons until they had worked off their debt via labor or secured outside funds to pay the balance The product of their labor went towards both the cost of their incarceration and their accrued debt So so much for free meals in prison, right? I mean you were literally to pay for your own care and then pay off the debt Increasing access in lenience throughout the history of bankruptcy law made the made prison terms for unaggravated Indigents obsolete over most of the world. So this is kind of what's considered old-fashioned now But look, I just want to point out that debt that unpaid debt used to get you thrown in prison Okay. Now, what does the Bible say turn to numbers chapter 30? What does the Bible say about debt actually you turn to Deuteronomy chapter 15 and I will read for you Numbers chapter 30 in verse number 2 numbers chapter 30 and well first of all, you know numbers chapter 30 verses 1 through 30 has all these rules for vows and Promises made and in numbers chapter 30 in verse number 2 the Bible says this it says if a man vows a vow unto the Lord and then it says or Swear an oath to bind his soul with a bond He shall not break his word He shall do according to all that proceed it out of his mouth So many people look at the first part of this verse and say, okay if you promise something unto God But then it says at the very last part of this verse it says or swear an oath to bind his soul With a bond, you know what that says, you know what that means that means he promises a bond is an IOU a bond is a You know is a is a certificate of debt Okay, he says if you swear an oath, you know just to pay a debt You know you shall not break your word the Bible is saying here in numbers chapter 30 now look down at Deuteronomy chapter 15 Deuteronomy chapter 15 is talking about servitude and how this servitude is to be Executed amongst brothers and sisters in the nation of Israel look God look God is pragmatic Okay, God in his law is pragmatic. What does that mean? That means that God tells people what is good and what is bad But he also gives very detailed instructions on how to go about Prosecuting life because he knows that people are going to do things that get themselves in trouble Okay, look at Deuteronomy chapter 15 in verse number one and the Bible says at the end of Every seven years thou shalt make a release and this is the manner of the release Every creditor that lendeth unto his neighbor shall release it He shall not exact it of his neighbor or of his brother because it is called the Lord's Release of a foreigner thou mayest exact it again But that which is thine with thy brother thine hand shall release save when there shall be no poor among you For the Lord shall greatly bless thee in the land which the God which the Lord thy God had given thee for an inheritance To possess it only if thou carefully harken unto the voice of the Lord thy God to observe to do all these Commandments which I command thee this day for the Lord thy God blessed thee so he's saying he's saying look He's like except in times, you know when you're incredibly blessed He's like because if you follow all the commandments of the Lord What are we learning about in judges if you follow all the commandments of the Lord? You're gonna be greatly blessed as a nation and then he's that he's like you're not even gonna have to worry about You know borrowing anything because people that are blessed, you know don't have to borrow anything look at verse number six for the Lord thy God blesseth thee as he promised thee and thou shalt lend unto many nations But thou shalt not borrow and thou shalt reign over many nations But they shall not reign over thee now verse number six is very interesting Okay, because verse number six basically says that a nation that lends unto other nations is greatly blessed Okay, a nation and then the nation that that borrows to other nations also reigns over those nations You see what that says how it ties those two things together Now look, what does that imply about the nation that is borrowing the money? What does that imply about you know the situation where you are borrowing from somebody as a nation? That implies that you are in servitude to the nation that you are borrowing from and that you are not in God's blessing More on that a little bit later Okay, but look the first Bible lesson. I want to tell you want to give you about debt Turn to Deuteronomy chapter third chapter 23 just a few pages over in your Bible The first Bible lesson I want to give you this morning about debt is this debt in the Bible is always bad Okay debt in the Bible is always bad You will never find a verse in the Bible that says debt is good We could get into salvation and talk about it this way as well But even from a monetary standpoint debt in the Bible is bad God even lays forth rules, but like I said God is pragmatic He knew that people were gonna borrow from each other so he even lays forth rules for borrowing Look at Deuteronomy chapter 23 look at verse number 19 The Bible says thou shalt not lend upon usury to thy brother Usury of money usury of victuals usury of anything that is lent upon usury you say what in the world is that? What he's saying is amongst your brothers and sisters in Christ you are never supposed to charge interest to anyone Okay, if if brother George is in I'm sorry brother. You sat in the spot. I'm gonna use you as every example That's the spot. I'm left-handed. So that's just the way it works now if brother George wants to borrow a hundred dollars from me That means that he's my brother in Christ It would be wrong according to the Bible for me to charge him interest on that to say all right Here's a hundred dollars and if you don't pay me back in a month. You owe me a hundred and five dollars It doesn't say that you could even if it's a small amount. It's wrong to do that to a brother. Okay now look Look at the Bible in verse number 20 of Deuteronomy 23 unto a stranger thou may Mayest lend upon usury, but unto thy brother thou shalt not lend upon usury that the Lord thy God may bless thee in all That thou set us thine hand to in the land where it's thou goest to possess it So look it's just giving some some instructions on debt there They knew that they were going to be God knew that they were going to be borrowing from each other He's saying hey amongst each other. Don't be charging interest You know don't be opening up the Bank of Israel and charging interest to all your brothers and sisters. He's like that's wrong That's not how I want you to make money. Okay, but look it's still never considered a good thing debt in itself So the second Bible lesson the first one is debt is bad very simple The second Bible lesson is this turn to Proverbs chapter 22 Proverbs chapter 22 The second Bible lesson is this debt is inversely proportional to freedom You know what that means that means as your debt goes up your freedom goes down They're inversely proportional as your debt goes down your freedom goes up That's what the Bible teaches you say but slavery is illegal today We'll just listen you say I'm free but look servitude in the Bible is based largely on Debt Deuteronomy 15 is talking about people that owe money to other people look at Proverbs 22. They're simply working off their debt Turn to Proverbs 22 Look at verse 7 the Bible says this the Bible says the rich Ruleth over the poor and the borrower is servant to the lender look at Proverbs chapter 22 in verse 26 The Bible says this be not be thou not one of them that strike hands or of them that are sureties for debts This is saying hey don't sign for somebody else's debts either You shouldn't do that don't be a surety that means if you know a brother in the church says hey I want to you know do this but I can't I'm not supposed to go sign You know be a co-signer for debt for anybody because what will happen in verse 27 it says if thou has nothing to pay Why should he take away thy bed from under thee because if he doesn't pay? They're gonna come for me They're gonna come and they're gonna take away my bed from me and my family. Okay, so look look Listen very carefully here if you owe somebody money They have power over you It is that simple you are in servitude Towards that person you want I mean you want to make yourself a modern-day servant Get into debt Turn to Exodus chapter 21 or Exodus chapter 22 Exodus chapter 22 Exodus chapter 22 So first of all in Exodus chapter 21 you're gonna go to Exodus chapter 22 But Exodus chapter 21 is talking about the rules of servitude So the the Bible knew that people would end up in servitude towards each other because they would owe money They would have to pay back that money. Okay, they knew that God knew that people would get in that situation So in Exodus 21 God gives some very specific rules on how you were to be treated as a servant How you were to treat people that were in servitude towards you now Look at verse number Exodus chapter 22 and verse number one in Exodus chapter 22 with all those rules in mind on Servitude because of owing people money look at verse number one of Exodus 22 If a man shall steal an ox or a sheep and kill it or sell it He shall restore five oxen for an ox and four sheep for a sheep If a thief be found breaking up and be smitten that he died there shall be no blood be shed for him If the son be risen on him there shall be blood shed for him for he should make okay now listen to this Because because he should make full Restitution and if he have if he have nothing then he shall be sold for his theft So if I steal something from brother Phil I have to pay him back five times or four times What I stole from him and if I don't have if he doesn't kill me in the dark when I'm stealing from him Then I and I don't have the money to pay The four times restitution or the five times restitution. I'm to be sold For the debt because that's debt that I owe at that point. Okay. I don't owe. Oh, sorry I still I tried to steal your sheep and I failed here's your sheep back. No I owe for sheep I owe for sheep Because I tried to steal his sheep. So you say you say what it's like no one, you know No one should be in servitude to anyone You know justice for all You know, no one should ever serve anyone in the new modern world. Well, look folks. This is This is natural law Is what I want to get across to you this evening this idea that if you owe somebody something That you will be in servitude to them no matter what the laws are. Is there debtors prison today? There is not debtors prison today But look you will serve until you've paid the debt in Israel or until that seven years is up and then you're free That was the law in Israel, whichever comes first, you know, you say so look look Here's the thing. What if we had a society where nobody had to repay anything? What if we had this society where? Everybody just got to not pay their rent not pay their debts everything's just free What would happen now? Look follow me with linear thought here for a minute. Let's connect linear thought with like two dots Who in the world this is why it's natural law. This is why it doesn't matter if you think it's fair This is just the way it will always work Okay, let's say that that nobody ever had to repay anything Let's say that if you could just go and you could take out a loan and if you just decided not to pay just whatever Whatever man It's it's cool. Sorry, bro. I Didn't mean to take the two hundred thousand dollars. I'm just gonna everything was fine There was no consequences who in the world would borrow money to anybody Let's say that you just never really had to pay rent That you know it was more of a suggestion That we suggest that you pay eight hundred dollars a month and there's no Consequences for not paying your rent who in the world would rent to people What kind of crazy person would go into that kind of business? So guess what you would have like nobody renting and the few idiots that did rent would be charging Massive prices for rent is what would happen Okay, so your rent wouldn't be eight hundred dollars a month. It'd be eight thousand dollars a month and The same thing would happen with loans Nobody would want to give loans and the people that did would charge 100% interest and they would just it would be a loan shark type stuff Because nobody in their right mind. Look the more honest people there are that pay debt according to what the Bible says the the cheaper rent will be the cheaper interest rates will be It's just the more available those types of things will be it's that simple and that's that's natural law Okay, that's natural law and you know if nobody's giving loans have fun saving up two hundred thousand dollars in cash for a house Good luck, or have fun, you know saving up thirty thousand dollars for a car and Going in and writing a check for that as it comes out of your checking account. Look, it simply doesn't work It simply would never work The Bible but back to debt and servitude. This is just the way it works debt and servitude They go together. Okay, it's not it's not because society is mean It's not because society is mean. It's because that it's natural law. It's the natural It's one of the natural laws of economics. It's just the way things work. So look meaning like gravity You're like what's that's another law. It just works that way. It's very simple It can't be changed no matter what you think Okay, so debt and servitude go together. That is the second lesson from the Bible The third lesson turned to Psalm chapter 37 Psalm chapter 37 the third lesson is this Not repaying and it's perfect that you know This would be a lesson in the Bible because it keeps things in balance the third lesson is this not repaying debt is wicked Not repaying debt is wicked going and you know signing a bond and then not keeping your word and not doing that is wicked The Bible says look at Psalm 31 in verse number 21 I can't tell if the stage is cracking or if someone's shooting at us, but either way There's something popping up here. So I think it's I think it's up up here But anyway, Psalm 37 verse number 21 look what the Bible says it says the wicked borroweth and Payeth not again. I mean that's pretty straightforward right there if you borrow from people and don't pay back that is wicked I mean you're actually a wicked person. It doesn't say hey, you're acting wicked. It says that's what the wicked do No, let me ask you a question. Can save people do wicked things? absolutely Absolutely, so don't be a wicked person the Bible says that borrowing and paying not again is wicked people today say I'll just borrow and I'll just not repay But look, here's what and well, here's the thing if you go out and you do that first of all, you'll lose those items There will be consequences to you. We'll talk about a little bit later, but here's the thing No, I mean and there's no debtor's prison here But no one's gonna no one's gonna borrow to you in America for a long long time if you operate that way So you may be able to do that, you know once I've often made the joke with my wife. We used to get all kinds of credit card applications in the mail I was like, let's just take them all out. We'll just take out like a hundred thousand dollars in credit cards And then we'll just move to a different country You know, we'll have a really good time for like, you know I don't know how long would it take to spend that kind of money a week and then we'll move to another country I'm joking of course, but look that may work one time But look at I'm gonna read for you again numbers chapter 30 and verse number 2 where the Bible says of a man vow a vow unto the Lord or Swear an oath to bind his soul with a bond He shall not break his word, but look some people still operate this way Some people still operate this way, but here's the thing Christians you forget the God factor You forget the God factor because honestly, I mean If I borrow a hundred dollars from brother George and I don't pay that back That's kind of like I mean, what have I done to him? It's kind of like stealing As a matter of fact, it's no different than stealing It's not kind of like it. It's the same It's the same in the eyes of God. That's why in Exodus 22. It's the same rules for the thief You see where I'm going with this But the Bible would say that I should work that off You know why because if I borrow a hundred dollars from brother George and I just don't have a hundred dollars I don't have anything that's worth a hundred dollars. Guess what? I still have something that's worth a hundred dollars and this is forgotten in America today. You know what I have? I have my labor. I have my arms and my legs I can go and I can mow his lawn for 15 dollars a shot until it's all paid off. I Mean, that's the Bible way. Look the Bible makes more sense Than anything that we're doing today. However, the US today Would just let people get away with it. It just lets people get away with it Okay, you'll suffer with your credit score and but look you still stole You still stole Christian You still stole Bible believing Christian, you know, you forget and so many times We we just go by what the rules of our society say and we forget the God factor in our life So look, what do we see? I mean the Bible is pretty clear on debt. I mean, this is not complicated stuff, right? debt is bad Debt is servitude whether you like it or not Whether you think it's fair or not whether or not there's debtors prison or not debt is servitude. That's it It's natural law and not repaying is wicked Those are the three things that I need you to understand now. What is the practical application here? What is the practical application? How do we take these three things and operate in our lives and function in our lives? So here's the practical application. All right. I mean look this could be the sermon right here never go in debt. Let's pray That could be it Right, that could be the practical application. Look, there's several problems with this, okay? We live you and I and all of us in this room. We live unfortunately in a debt-based society We live in a debt-based society It would actually be very difficult for most people running a business Most people doing things in their everyday life wherever they're living to not be in some sort of debt The way our society operates today Look money that is literally created today is debt Did you know that did you know that your money is debt? You're saying you mean money gets me into debt or money could know your money your money Your money here's a dollar bill Your money This is not money This is debt. He's like what? This is a bond This is Money that the US government owns go out go ahead and look at the next time you have a dollar What does it say at the top? Does it say gold certificate? Does it say this represents one ounce of gold? This is a they used to say silver certificate on on the dollars, but it says federal reserve Note is what it says. This is a note Representing one dollar of debt that the US government owns Oats Okay, our money is debt our country Deuteronomy 15 6 I'll read it again for you For the Lord thy God blesseth thee as he promised thee and thou shalt lend unto many nations But thou shalt not borrow he's saying look he's like you are going to be greatly blessed Which means you will lend unto nations and you will not borrow But look our country is run on debt is run on borrowing Okay, so look here's how it works. I'm just going to break it down real quick for you Look the government needs money. Okay, why does I'm you say why does the government need money? Well, the government needs money because they spend more money than they bring in Okay, so when you spend more than you Bring in as income which we're going to talk about in coming weeks. You will be in debt You will have a misbalance there and you'll be in debt. So the government needs money Our government operates different than you should They need money so the government outsources their creation of money to what's called the Federal Reserve Which is basically a conglomeration of private banks Okay, the Federal Reserve is not a government agency Okay, the government creates an IOU in the form of a government bond Somebody buys this government bond Many different people buy this government bond including foreign nations by the way and The Federal Reserve credits the money to usually banks in the US that you know As the government as the Treasury Department sells the bond that's how it works And then through I mean we're not going to get into this but through fraction I mean so the government has just created a dollar of debt and then we put it into this banking system and it magically Creates ten dollars into the economy and that's a whole thing that you got to look into Okay, but basically by the government selling one dollar in debt and by this fancy fractional reserve banking system that we have One dollar of debt created by the government magically turns into ten dollars out in the in the world Out in the economy of the United States. Okay, it's basically it's money out of thin air But it's in the form of debt. Okay. Now. Look, there's two problems with this There's two problems with this first of all the US government now owes the money our national debt in the United States is owned by the public pensions insurance companies and Foreign countries who thinks this is a good idea to be in servitude to a foreign country and Many more look at Proverbs 22 7 again. I mean the rich rule us rule with over the poor And the borrower is servants to the lender and the second thing is this Increasing the money supply in this fashion creating ten times more You know creating a trillion more dollars out into the economy. It literally robs you The United States government by doing this is stealing from you So you say you know so all you young people out there that are waiting for the next stimulus bill Let me just tell you you should be against it. You're like why because you're literally robbing yourself You're like, oh government give me twelve hundred dollars. They're they're devaluing everything that you own They're devaluing all your savings because as they dump all that extra money into the market it devalues, you know The money it devalues How much this can buy? And you say how you but look the last 20 years that the value of the dollar has lost 50% You can literally you could literally buy you can literally buy half of what you can You could 20 years ago today with this And you can see it in prices if you're paying attention in your old That's why prices by the way seem to always keep going up because they are Okay, it's not that the items are getting more expensive It's that your dollar is getting less valuable. That's what it is. Okay, and it's against savings I mean think about this gold 20 years ago was $260 an ounce today. It's $1,900 an ounce. It's the same piece of gold. It's just that a dollar is worth a lot less Today, okay. Look, that's a 700% increase. Think of this a new Chevy pickup 10 years ago was 10 years ago Was $27,000 today, it's $44,000 10 years ago That's a 61% increase. That means 6% a year your savings is just losing losing losing losing. Okay, so look Of course, you know the government the Federal Reserve will play this number down all the time But the value of your money is being destroyed and you say who cares? Well, when you can no longer afford anything you will care And you say I'm already there. Well, that's why it happened That's why you can no longer afford anything. It's not because minimum wage is too low It's because the value of the dollar has been destroyed. That's why Okay, so look debt. Let's go back to the individual debt is bad Debt is bad. You cannot operate like our country does Okay, you cannot personally operate like our country does I just had to go off on a little bit of rabbit trail there, but let's get back to the Individual let's get back to how you can operate and a lot of this look We're going to go into Jared's opinion land a little bit here. Okay, but look let's talk about debt within the bounds of the Bible Okay Since we live in a debt-based economy It would be very difficult to survive without having any debt in this country Okay, so let me just explain to you what a liability is and what an asset is Okay, so an asset an asset is something that you own Liability is something that you owe Okay, so an asset could be things like you know An asset could be like a house or even a car is an asset, you know, there's appreciating assets So assets I'm going to divide it into two categories Appreciating assets are things like land stocks bank accounts real estate things like that Those are things that appreciate the value of those things tends to go up over time and then there's Depreciating assets you own those things, but the value of them goes down over time furniture Cars don't get me started on cars Cars it's a dip. It's an asset. It's something you own, but it depreciates eventually it will be worth zero Okay, now liabilities are things that you owe like bills like loans debt and Mainly look unsecured debt is debt that you just owe and you have nothing to show for debt backed by nothing Okay, secured debt is something that is called, you know is backed by assets that you have Okay, so if you take out a loan for a car your loan is backed by that car Okay, now look I'm going to give you some advice on debt You should avoid and debt that if you have to get into is is West risky and not going to lead you into servitude Okay appreciating assets Assets that you can own that appreciate and value typically These are the things that are generally okay to have debt on that will not drive you into servitude Meaning if you want to go and take out a mortgage on a house That's not going to be something that drives you into servitude look Because of dual incomes the way the monetary system works in this country It would be nearly impossible for someone to buy a home without taking a loan today Okay, but as long as you operate within the bounds of the Bible look Psalm 37 still applies Meaning the wicked borrow it and pay it not again As long as you so I go out and I take out a mortgage on a house for two hundred thousand dollars or whatever it is I mean, I have to understand that I am promising to pay that back As a Christian that is the rules that I am under I'm under legal rules in the United States But a higher rule for me is that I have I have promised to pay that back Now look debt for appreciating assets Will generally not take you into slavery into servitude, okay? I mean think about it think about housing in California in general it increases by five percent a year So in general especially if you make a good down payment You have very low risk there by taking out debt for that asset if you can make the payment and you know You're obligated and you're willing to accept that risk Then that's generally not going to drive you into servitude and it will probably Generally end up Making your net worth more in the in the long term. Okay, so look This whole idea. Let me just talk about this idea like in 2008 and 2009 when the market crashed And everyone's like they took out a loan for a two hundred thousand dollar house and suddenly it was worth a hundred and fifty thousand dollars The market went down and everyone just took the keys and threw them to the bank and said ah I'm not paying this anymore. That is not right You Promise to pay two hundred thousand dollars for that house and the and the Bible says that the wicked Borrow with and not pay it not again So I mean for the Christian that doesn't work and look you say well You know I lost my job and I just couldn't pay Well, then you accept the risks and you accept the consequences of what happens with the credit and you know People not being able to give you a loan for several years Many many years. It's just it comes with the territory. Look at Psalm chapter 15 You are making a promise so even if you do decide to go into debt on an appreciating asset You can never forget that you are still making a promise to pay that back You are making a promise and Psalm 15 look at verse number four Look what the Bible says it says in whose eyes a vile person is condemned But he honor them that fear the Lord he that sweareth to his own hurt and change is not You know what the Bible is saying there? It's saying look when you swear it and it's something that's bad for you Like I took out. Oh, I mean I bought my house and it was two hundred thousand dollars And then next year it was the whole thing crashed and it was worth a hundred thousand dollars The Bible says that you know the Lord honors those who swear to their own hurt and just just pay that back anyway And look that though that that is what should be done. That is what is correct and right and changing change it not Okay, I mean it's just so the whole idea of it really irritates me this idea of the evil banker You know this evil banker out there, you know these evil bankers and all this kind of stuff Look, it's a bunch of garbage. No one's forcing you to take out a loan You know no one is forcing you to sign a bond No one is forcing you to do these things. You're making a promise and you need to honor that promise Housing drops you lose your job. Then you accept those Consequences that's the bottom line. So look be appreciative of your country by the way because there's no debtor's prison here Okay, the worst case you can sell the asset and repay the debt or at least most of it worst case All but listen listen very carefully now all other debt will lead you to servitude The only debt that will not is debt incurred for appreciating Assets and there's still risk there that you must accept. Okay. Now. What are these types of debt that I'm talking about? Unsecured debt you say what's unsecured debt a credit card is unsecured debt Here's when you should get a credit card young people listen to me write this down. Here's when I should get a credit card never ever You should never get a credit card ever Young people you should have a debit card You should have a debit card and because guess what when I got zero dollars in my checking account And I go to buy a hot dog and some Cheetos It doesn't work If you get credit cards look I know I've heard many of you say I need to get a credit card so I can get my credit score up That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard Don't ever get a credit card You will hurt your credit Because you will end up with a bunch of debt For hot dogs and Cheetos that don't exist anymore Don't do it it will be and look it will be nothing, but pain and suffering for you for years Servitude servitude You will not you will not increase your credit score you will increase your debt to income ratio is what you will do That's what you will do And you're like I don't know what that is go get a bunch of credit card debt and then go sit down with a banker To try to get a loan for the house, and he'll tell you all about what that is You want to get a loan you want to have a credit score you want to do these things so you can buy a house one day Here's what you do you save up money you have some cash Saved up we're gonna talk about that in future future sermons here And then you work at the same place for a long time like years not days or hours or whatever Years They always ask you that how long you work there. I don't know like seven minutes. Oh See you later And I got this credit card because you know I want a good credit score, and they will look up your credit history They laugh you out of the bank. They're all pointing at you laughing Like give me a break Student loans If you end up with a worthless degree or no degree, you know what that is unsecured debt And that's worse because you can't get away from that. I mean student loans. I mean you I mean it's terrible It's terrible to even think about I know some people that are some serious trouble with student loan debt Here's another thing debt so debt back by nothing unsecured debt Avoid at all costs never Don't get a credit card young people Stay away from it and here's another thing. Oh, it's zero interest Yeah, I can go you can buy anything unlike zero interest right now and then in a year and a half It's gonna be 18% interest you will be buried in debt. You can take out debt for TVs Let's talk about depreciating assets. You can you can take out loans for TVs You can take out loans for furniture no payment for 18 months Sounds good nice furniture everything right now. It will lead you to slavery Let's talk about cars. It will lead you to servitude. It's natural law. You will be in servitude You say I don't believe you then go get all the nicest stuff. You don't do this Go get all the nicest stuff you possibly want and then call me in five years and let me know cars Depreciating asset I have never had a new car I could go I could go to the Chevy dealership and go out and drive out with the nicest pickup truck That they have on the lot tomorrow. I would never ever do something so stupid ever Ever I will never have a new car I'm so proud to drive my piece of garbage that rattles and one door doesn't open There's a constant list of things I have to fix on that car all the time But it's like free for me. I own it Young people here's what you need to do. Look. I'm telling you young people a car can financially ruin you I'm telling you a car can financially ruin you you say how here's how you go out And let's say I'm a young person and I make 14 or $15 an hour or whatever I make and I want to get a nice car And I go out and I buy a $15,000 car and I get a $300 a month payment that seems pretty good And then something happens to that car. Maybe I you know, maybe I don't even lose my job But say I it's a used car and then say something happens to that car and I can't afford to fix it Guess what just can I call the bank up and say hey, could you stop my payment because my car is broken nope You're gonna pay until that thing is paid for whether it's a pile of garbage sitting in your driveway or It's still working. They don't care you promised You promised to pay for it pay for that car a certain amount of money young people you need to go find a thousand dollar car That's what you need to do and then you need to save a thousand bucks and put it into when my car breaks fund Because it's gonna break because mechanical things break and when you fix it, it's gonna break again So if you just have like you just stretch to the max and you have nothing it's gonna break You're like you're you're you're it's a ticking time bomb your life at that point these cars break They're depreciating assets and guess what if you don't take care of me You don't fix them. You don't have money to fix them then It's gonna go to zero even faster You got to take care of them. It's like the guy in the vineyard today. Look you got to take care of the vineyard Okay, if you buy a home, you don't take care of it. It literally can lose value You take care of it and it will lose value less It's the same thing with the car furniture perishable items. This is why credit cards are so stupid pretty soon You guys you go out and you get credit cards pretty soon You will have $1,200 in debt and there won't even be any Cheetos and hot dogs left. You ate it all You ate $1,200 like how's that possible $1,200 you can eat it with Cheetos and hot dogs in like less than a year No problem. You go out to eat. You're just like, I just got this money The thing just keeps working and it's it's great Until you have nothing to show for it, but you still owe the money all these debts these Unsecured debt should be avoided like the prep the plague. I mean look it will drive you into slavery You say how because with the car loans? With the credit card debt with the furniture debt with the TV debt Well, you shouldn't have a TV anyway. Were you listening this morning? What are you doing buying a TV? Car repair debt you can take out loans on break jobs. I didn't even know this until like three months ago You can finance a break job on your car. Look someone will run your credit and they will see all these debts and When it comes to you wanting to buy a home or something that's actually smart For you to buy You will not be able to You will literally be in a hole that you can't get out of And all you will be doing is making payments imagine going to work Imagine this imagine going to work and working 40 50 60 hours a week For something that doesn't even exist anymore You're literally making payment. I mean you're literally going somewhere for 60 hours a week and you have to go there Because you have to make these payments on things that don't exist in the world anymore You've eaten them You've driven them until they're not worth anything You've furniture is not worth anything anymore. You know what that sounds like to me that sounds like servitude to me Where you're forced to go there and it's not it's not to pay off all the the gold in your silo It's to pay off things that don't exist. You're just making payments of things that you promised And then rent is gonna rise and You're gonna end up paying rent for the rest of your life and And you will just never be able to get a loan for an appreciating asset like a home Are you listening young people? Debt is weakness and servitude It may feel good at first. Oh I can have and this is another problem with young people Listen you look around the church You look around the church and you look at the guys that can take I had a conversation with one of the young man a few Weeks ago and some of the guys were getting together on a Saturday. He's like I got to work and it's like you go to work Why because the guys that are getting together on Saturday. They don't have to work Saturdays. Why because I'm 43 You know, I mean you got to understand that you just can't have everything right now You're like, oh brother so-and-so. He's got a nice house, and he's got this and he doesn't have to work weekends Well, hey go work 80 hours a week for 10 years and call me in the morning Then you can not work Saturday, but right now you got to pay your dues or dig yourself a hole Pick one Pick one. Look you can ruin yourself You can ruin yourself young people Look our country our country should pay as it goes But it doesn't so should we You need to avoid debt like the plague. I mean it's I mean honestly It's the real pandemic in our country today You know in coronavirus is just making it worse by the way I think average debt looking through things in this sermon average credit card debt in California was like $10,000 average per household So be careful This servitude this servitude that i'm talking to you about tonight. It is not it's not policy It's not something that trump or biden is going to make go away. It's not policy It's natural law meaning it's something that if you do things this way if you operate your finances this way It's going to happen to you Like if I jump up in the air I'm going to come back down It's natural law It's going to happen. So you just can't have everything right now You just have to work Hard right now and look it's more than just that you have to make the right decisions right now Because you can make decisions. That's why That's why for the you know for the 60 year old This type of preaching is a little bit less valuable than for the 18 year old because 18 year old 19 year old 20 year old 21 year old the decisions that you make right now will echo echo through your entire life You could go out and just have a really good time spending and being stupid Right now and you could pay for that for the next 10 years It's crazy. I mean it's crazy the amount of damage that debt could do to you And that's why the bible talks about it the way it does. I mean the borrower is servant to the lender. Hello It's not complicated Just take it seriously decisions that you make now will affect you look it will affect you It will affect your family. It will affect your future Of a family or not. I mean, how would you like to be a young man? With 180 thousand dollars in debt. I know a young man like this with 180 thousand dollars in debt Nothing to show for it and go around being like hey, would you like to get married? Hey Hit your hit your wagon to this mess Let's go Like um, no, thanks. He's not even that good looking He's got no chance I'm just joking But the point is that I mean the point is is that you could make a lot of decisions right now That destroy a lot of things for a lot of people for many many years So listen to what the bible says about debt. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer