October 4, 2008. City Harvest Church. Sermon by Rev. Kong Hee
| LOAN | DEBT |
| Loan is borrowed money that’s serviceable | Unserviceable |
| Invest in assets that appreciate | Invest in things that depreciate |
Luke 16:13 (KJ21)
13No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.”
Mammon is syrian God of Debt. The above verse means you can’t serve God until the power of Debt is broken down.
Deut 15:6 (NLT)
6 The Lord your God will bless you as he has promised. You will lend money to many nations but will never need to borrow. You will rule many nations, but they will not rule over you.
Deut 28:12 (NLT)
12 The Lord will send rain at the proper time from his rich treasury in the heavens and will bless all the work you do. You will lend to many nations, but you will never need to borrow from them.
Psalm 37:21 (NLT)
21 The wicked borrow and never repay,
but the godly are generous givers.
Deut 15:6; Deut 28:12; Psalm 37:21 have one message: IT’S BEST NOT TO BORROW.
Proverbs 22: 6, 7 (NLT)
6 Direct your children onto the right path,
and when they are older, they will not leave it.
7 Just as the rich rule the poor,
so the borrower is servant to the lender.
This passage also taught us about debt. Average child nowadays, live under the blanket of debt. For example: a child lives under a house which is under 25 years mortgage; driven around by a car, which is under 7 years loan.
2 King 6: 4 – 6 (NLT)
4 So he went with them. When they arrived at the Jordan, they began cutting down trees. 5 But as one of them was cutting a tree, his ax head fell into the river. “Oh, sir!” he cried. “It was a borrowed ax!”
6 “Where did it fall?” the man of God asked. When he showed him the place, Elisha cut a stick and threw it into the water at that spot. Then the ax head floated to the surface. 7 “Grab it,” Elisha said. And the man reached out and grabbed it.
What is “a borrowed ax”? It is a debt.
- Debt will weight you down;
- Debt is heavy;
- Debt break up family, marriages;
- Debt is a habit lifestyle, it can makes you addicted;
- Debt will take control your personal life.
Notice the miracle in verse 6. How to cut a stick when the ax already fell into the river?…Also how can throwing stick into the water can make a heavy ax float?…This means that God will use little to deliver abundance. The important thing is to GIVE to the Lord – similar to the parable of Elisha threw a stick into the river. Eventhough we are in desperate situation , we still need to TITHE.
Neh 5: 3 – 6, 11 – 12. God use Nehemia to cancel their debt. Our God is a debt-canceling God.
Also read: Proverbs 13
God is not against us borrowing money, or taking loan. Sometimes we need to take loan to buy house, or to pay for our education. But He is against the habit of borrowing. Don’t make it a habit.
So how to break the curse of debt?
1. Keep a good records. Know what you OWN + OWE. Know what you EARN + SPEND.
Proverbs 27: 23 – 24 (NLT)
23 Know the state of your flocks,
and put your heart into caring for your herds,
24 for riches don’t last forever,
and the crown might not be passed to the next generation.
IGNORANCE + Easy Borrowing = Disaster!
2. Plan your spending. Have a budget.
Proverbs 21:5 (NLT)
5 Good planning and hard work lead to prosperity,
but hasty shortcuts lead to poverty.
Proverbs 21:20 (NLT)
20 The wise have wealth and luxury,
but fools spend whatever they get.
Download free “family budget template”: chc.org.sg/eng/downloads/downloads.php
3. Reduce your debts rapidly.
Proverbs 3: 27 – 28 (NLT)
27 Do not withhold good from those who deserve it
when it’s in your power to help them.
28 If you can help your neighbor now, don’t say,
“Come back tomorrow, and then I’ll help you.”
4. Pay your tithes faithfully to the house of God. Nehemia 13: 10 – 12 (NLT)
Five things going to happen to you if you begin to tithe faithfully. (Malachi 3: 10 – 12)
- Church will be a blessing to all
- Heaven will be open
- Devourer will be rebuked away
- Hard work will bear fruit
- Spirit-led investments will prosper
5. Give your best offerings to God. 2 Kings 4: 1- 7 –> You may give little, but that’s enough.
5 Comments
October 6, 2008 at 12:34 am
Friend, May I offer an alternative interpretation of Malachi for your study.
From: Tithing is not a Christian Doctrine
http://www.shouldthechurchteachtithing.com
Russell Earl Kelly, PHD
Malachi 3 is the Most Abused Tithing Text in the Bible. The “whole” tithe never was supposed to go to the Temple!
A. Malachi is Old Covenant and is never quoted in the New Covenant to validate tithing (Lev. 27:34; Neh. 10:28-29; Mal. 3:7; 4:4).
B. In Malachi 3:10-11 tithes are still only food 1000 years after Leviticus 27:30-34 and Numbers 18:21-28.
C. Malachi’s audience had willingly reaffirmed the Old Covenant (Neh.10:28-29). The blessings and curses of tithing are identical to and inseparable from those of the entire Mosaic Law. The rain in Deuteronomy 28:12, 23-24 and Leviticus 26:1-4 is only obtained by obedience to all 613 commandments. Galatians 3:10 (quoting Deu 27:26) “For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continues not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.” Trying to earn God’s blessings through tithing only brings curses for failure to keep all of the law. See also Galatians 3:19.
D. Beginning in 1:6 “you” in Malachi always refers to the dishonest priests and not the people (also 2:1-10; 2:13 to 3:1-5): “Even this whole nation of you –priests” (3:9). In 1:13-14 the priests had stolen tithed animals vowed to God. In Nehemiah 13:5-10 priests had stolen the Levites’ portion of the tithe. God’s curses on the priests are ignored by most tithe-teachers (1:14; 2:2 and 3:2-4).
E. Point #12 of the essay. The Levitical cities must be included in a correct interpretation of Malachi 3:10. Most tithe-recipients lived outside of Jerusalem.
F. The 24 courses of Levites and priests must be included in a correct interpretation of Malachi 3. Normally only 2% of the total Levite and priest work force served at the temple one week at a time. Subtract wives, males under the age of 30 and daughters. Therefore 2% did not require all of the tithe. See 1 Chron 23-26; 28:13, 21; 2 Chron. 8:14; 23:8; 31:2, 15-19; 35:4, 5, 10; Ezra 6:18; Neh. 11:19, 30; 12:24; 13:9, 10; Luke 1:5.
G. Nehemiah 10:37-39 is the key to understanding Malachi 3:10, The people were commanded to bring their tithes, not to the temple, but to the nearby Levitical cities. Verse 38 says that the priests were with the Levites in the Levitical cities when they received the tithes.
H. According to Nehemiah 13:5, 9 the “storehouse” in the Temple was only several rooms. The real “storehouses” were in the Levitical cites per Nehemiah 10:37b-38. Only the Levites and priests normally brought tithes to the Temple (10:38). Two rooms in the Temple were far too small to contain the tithe from the entire nation and 98% of the Levites and priests lived too far away to eat from them.
Therefore, Malachi 3:10’s “Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse” only makes contextual sense if it is only commanding dishonest priests to replace the tithes they had removed from it or had failed to bring to it.
While the 3:10 of the Law in Malachi is so important to tithe-teachers they ignore the 3:10 of the Gospel in Galatians and 2nd Corinthians. Perhaps those wanting to enforce the 3:10 Law of Malachi should also enforce the 3:10 Law of Numbers. They share the same context.
Christian giving is freewill, sacrificial, generous, joyful, regular and motivated by love. That is enough to provide the needs of the Church.
October 6, 2008 at 9:11 pm
Wow, this is the first time I heard about “freewill” tithing. You should tell your finding to the whole world. Although some pastors will be dead against it.
March 7, 2009 at 1:28 pm
I agree with this view of tithing. The tithe was a part of the law, not the SPIRIT, to which we are now married and empowered. If we are subject to one law…to keep it…then, we are only justified by keeping every law _always! Think of Adam and Eve…in the Garden with more seed than need. I believe it is God’s plan to reveal to us the “more seed” that He has already provided for us all. See 2 Peter 1:3 (NIV) “His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.” What we need is the spirit of revelation concerning what seed God has given us and how it is to be sown. Elijah did NOT sow into the widow, but he (a type of the Holy Spirit) revealed to her the seed she was holding and how and where to sow it. The result was extraordinary gain and multiplicity. The Church is awakening to this idea…but, my heart is also glad about the Spirit that I see in your teaching. You are finding and teaching revelation. Stick to that which the HS reveals and you will find a straight path and pure water for your flock. God bless you, friend.
March 7, 2009 at 1:52 pm
Carefully read over this story and listen to what the prophet says. The widow’s need is not oil. Her need is “revelation” of the seed that she already possesses. As she acts on the rhema word of God (revealed will of God), her faith ACT triggers the miraculous abundance. If you will search the scriptures with an open mind, you will see many more examples of this same principle. Not the tithe (which was the task master), but the revelation of giving. I hope this helps you both as it is helping our little family, here in Texas. God bless you both.
2 Kings 4:1-7
The Widow’s Oil
The wife of a man from the company of the prophets cried out to Elisha, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that he revered the LORD. But now his creditor is coming to take my two boys as his slaves.” Elisha replied to her, “How can I help you? Tell me, what do you have in your house?” “Your servant has nothing there at all,” she said, “except a little oil.” Elisha said, “Go around and ask all your neighbors for empty jars. Don’t ask for just a few. Then go inside and shut the door behind you and your sons. Pour oil into all the jars, and as each is filled, put it to one side.”
She left him and afterward shut the door behind her and her sons. They brought the jars to her and she kept pouring. When all the jars were full, she said to her son, “Bring me another one.” But he replied, “There is not a jar left.” Then the oil stopped flowing. She went and told the man of God, and he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debts. You and your sons can live on what is left.”
December 11, 2009 at 12:35 am
Fantastic, I did not know about this topic till now. Thanks!