(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

Amen. All right, we're there in Proverbs chapter number 27. And of course, on Sunday mornings we've been going through a sermon series called Happily Ever After, and we've been learning biblical principles for marriage, and we've been learning all sorts of things about marriage, and we're actually about halfway through this sermon series. It's a little bit longer than a normal sermon series, but it might feel different. Hopefully it won't feel too long because we've been studying for the last several weeks the subject of marriage, and specifically the relationship between a husband and a wife. And we're getting ready to kind of transition, and we're going to finish up kind of this idea of marriage, and then we're going to start transitioning into parenting and having children and raising children and dealing with all of those issues. But before we finish up with marriage, I'm going to speak to you this morning on the subject of money and marriage, and we're going to be looking at a lesson on finances, and specifically on finances within marriage. Now let me just say this. There is way too much to cover in the Bible regarding the subject of finances, and we're not going to be able to cover every little thing. In fact, you could preach a whole sermon series. I have preached an entire sermon series on the subject of money, and if you're interested, I would encourage you to check that out on our website or YouTube. I did a series called Money Matters back in 2019, and it was a five-part sermon series we went through and very thoroughly taught what the Bible teaches about this subject. This morning I'm preaching one sermon. I'm not going to be able to cover all of that. So this is going to be a very fast-paced, brief overview, a basic overview of finances. Now let me just say this. For those of you that are here and you say, well, I'm not married, this sermon obviously is geared towards couples. We're talking about money and marriage, but the finance information that we're going to go over today applies to everyone. It applies to anyone and everyone, and if you say, well, I'm single, well, then listen to what the Bible says about these things and get your finances in order so you can get married, all right? So you're going to have your finances in order when you get married and not be a financial mess going into marriage, all right? This applies to everyone. It doesn't matter if you're newlywed or you've been married for a long time. These are things that everyone can learn from, but we're going to be gearing it towards couples, of course, in our sermon series on couples, and having your finances in order can play a huge part in a successful marriage. Just by way of introduction, let me do this. You're there in Proverbs 27. Go with me if you would to the book of Matthew. Keep your place there in Proverbs 27 and go to Matthew 6. The first book in the New Testament should be fairly easy to find. Matthew chapter number 6, and while you go there, let me just read to you a few things here from an article called How Finances Affect Divorce Rates in America. Here's a couple of takeaways. It says, money arguments are the second leading cause of divorce behind infidelity. Money arguments are the second biggest reason why couples end up divorced aside from adultery. High levels of debt and poor communication lead to stress and anxiety when it comes to finances within marriage. Nearly half of couples in debt say money is their top reason for arguing. So finances can have an effect on your marriage, and they have an effect on divorce rates in America. Here's from another article called Biggest Money-Related Reasons People Get Divorced. It gives you a list of reasons. I'll just read a few of them for you. Opposing attitude towards money or mismatched financial priorities when a husband or wife have different views in regards to money and are not on the same page, that will lead to divorce. Oftentimes, financial infidelity, and that is where a spouse hides spending from the other spouse, and that is not a good thing. That often leads to divorce. Inability to agree on spending, where you're just constantly clashing and fighting about how much should be spent on this or that is something that may lead to divorce. Spending too much on the wedding is something that often leads to divorce. Not having pre-marriage financial counseling is something that is not helpful. This is why at our church we require that couples go through weeks of pre-marital counseling, and one of those lessons is a lesson on finances, the things we're going to be learning about today. Now, you're there in Matthew chapter 6. Why don't you notice verse 21? You may say, you know, I don't really want to learn about finances. I don't care about finances. Or maybe you're upset that a pastor would even teach on finances in a church setting. But the truth is that this subject is extremely important because it reveals a lot about your heart. Jesus said in Matthew chapter 6 and verse 21, For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. See, the truth is that finances and how you look at money, spend money, think about money, how you steward your money, says a lot about your heart. It says a lot about your spiritual condition, because where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. So we're going to look at this idea of finances and getting your finances in order. And I've obviously, if you've been part of our church for a while, you know that I preach a sermon like this every several years, and every several years I'll do a whole series like this. And I will tell you this. There are many people in our church who have taken a sermon like this very seriously and applied it in their lives, and it's literally changed their lives. And I want to encourage you. Don't just blow this off and say, this isn't for me. Now let me just real quickly go back to Proverbs. You were in Proverbs 27. Go to Proverbs 23 real quickly. I'll give you the last kind of disclaimer in our introduction, and then we'll jump into the material. Let me just say this, because I've done this a lot, and I preach on these subjects a lot. I've told you before, finance is something that I'm actually passionate about. I think if I was not a pastor, I would probably like to be a financial advisor or something like that. I pretty much am a financial advisor. It means what it ends up being. My wife and I are financial advisors, marriage advisors, everything advisors. But this is something that I care about. I feel like a lot of people struggle with it, and they need help with it. But let me just say this, because you may be sitting here thinking, I don't need this sermon. These are reasons why people say they don't need a sermon like this. People will often say, I'm too broke for a sermon on finances. I don't have enough money for a sermon on finances. And let me just say this. If you feel like you're broke or you're not doing well financially, this is the sermon you need. Because when you have a small amount of money, or what you consider a small amount of money, then you better do a good job at stewarding those finances and making sure you're getting as much bang for your buck, because you don't have a lot of bucks. So if you say, I don't have a lot of money, this sermon is for you. Don't sit there and say, I don't have enough money for this sermon. No, if you don't have a lot of money, you need this sermon. Now here's the other reason why people will say, I don't need a sermon like this. And it's because they have a lot of money. They'll say, well, I'm wealthy, I'm rich, I'm not struggling financially, I don't need this sermon. And here's the problem with people who have a lot of money, is that because they have a lot of money, it hides a lot of their financial issues and problems. And what I would say to you, who maybe you say, well, I have a lot of money. Well, that's actually a detriment for you, because having a lot of money sometimes hides how bad you are at money. And you may find that if you apply some of these things the Bible teaches, that you may have a lot more resources that you could steward for the glory of God, and that you're literally squandering because you're not organized and you're not serious about your finances. So here's what I'm trying to say. Anytime the Bible's open, it's good for you. Anytime the Word of God is preached, it's good for you. Don't have this attitude, I don't need this. Look, if you ever sit in church and you think to yourself, I don't need this, just realize this. You're the one who probably needs it the most. And it's your pride that wants to hide things from us, and it's our pride that wants to put our head in the sand and pretend like everything's okay. So let me give you some thoughts here in regards to finance. Like I said, we can spend a lot of time on this, and I'm just going to give you a quick overview this morning in regards to getting your finances in order. This morning we're talking about money and marriage, how to get your finances in order. Number one, if you're taking notes, and I'd encourage you to take notes on the back of your course of the week. There's a place for you to write some things down. Number one, to get your finances in order, married couples need to budget. You must budget. You say, why do I need to budget? Notice there Proverbs 23 and verse 5. Here's why. Because money, and you know this, has a tendency to disappear. Proverbs 23 and verse 5, notice what the Bible says. The Bible says, Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? Now notice that phrase there, that which is not. That phrase, which is not, means which is not there, or which is gone. That which you go to spend, and all of a sudden it's not there. He says, look, here's how money works. You get money in your account, and you start spending your money without budgeting it, without organizing it, without having a plan for it, and you think you've got, you know, in your mind you should have X amount of dollars. Then you go to spend it, and they're like, oh, I'm sorry. Your card has been declined, you know. Or it's like you look at your bank account, and it's like, what are all these minus signs? What are all these red colors here, you know? And here's the thing about money, Proverbs 23 and 5, Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? Notice, for riches certainly make themselves wings. They fly away as an eagle toward heaven. The Bible says that money has a tendency to sprout wings and fly away. Money has a tendency to disappear. If you do not control it, it will disappear. Money has a tendency to disappear. Go to Proverbs 27, where we read this morning. Proverbs 27, look at verse 24. Proverbs 27, verse 24. Here's the truth about money. Here's what you need to know about money. For riches are not forever. And look, that's not only true about the money that you get on a regular basis and your paycheck or whatever, but that's just true in general about life. Don't make your life about money. You say, why? Because riches are not forever. Money is simply a tool that we can use to accomplish our God-given task and our God-given goals. Be careful about making money the goal of your life. You will ruin your life. You say, why? Here's why. For riches are not forever. And that the crown endure to every generation. See, money has a tendency to disappear. And because of that, because money has a tendency to disappear, you're there in Proverbs 27. We read verse 24. Notice verse 23. Because money has a tendency to disappear, money needs to be brought under control. It needs to be brought under control. Proverbs 27, verse 23. Notice what it says. Be thou diligent. Notice that word diligent. The word diligent means to work hard, to work hard, to put effort into something. Be thou diligent. He says you need to be diligent. You need to work hard. You need to put effort into what? He says, notice, to know the state of thy flocks and to look well to thy herds. Now, here in Proverbs, Solomon is writing to us and he is speaking to an agricultural society. When he says flocks and herds, you need to be diligent to know the state of thy flocks and to look well to thy herds. What he's referring to is in an agricultural society, that's their measure of wealth. That would be equivalent to their money. When they looked out at their flocks and they looked out at their herds and they were diligent to know how the state of their flocks and the state of their herds, it's like the equivalent of looking into your bank account and looking at your budget and seeing where you are financially. You say, why? Here's why you need to budget. You must budget because money has a tendency to disappear and money as a result needs to be brought under control. Someone said this. Budgeting is telling your money where to go, not wondering where it went. So when it comes to finances, you've got to budget. I realize people, I may be a little odd. I enjoy this topic. Most of the time, people come into my office and they're like, we need financial help, and I'm like, budget, and their eyes are glazed over and they're like, good night. Look, you just have to realize that God has given you a certain amount of resources and you've got to steward those resources appropriately and the way you do that is to budget. You don't like the word budget. Use another word, plan, financial plan, whatever you want to call it, but you've got to figure out a way to control your finances. So you say, how do we do that? Because most people have never budgeted and never been taught to budget. It's interesting to me that adults can grow up and have never had somebody sit down and teach them, here's how you budget. So for those of you that are financially responsible, forgive me, but let me just take a few moments to kind of explain some of these things for those of you that maybe never been taught. When it comes to budgeting, you should assign a place to every dollar in your budget. When it comes to budgeting, you need to figure out the money that you have and you need to assign a place to every dollar. You need to assign a category to every dollar. Now, different people are going to have different categories and you're in different places of life and maybe you have different goals. Let me give you some examples of categories. Of course, you have giving and then you've got bills, you've got spending, maybe you have savings or maybe you have debt, but you've got all these different categories or places where you should be assigning the money that you are being entrusted with by God and you should assign a place to every dollar in your budget. You cannot allow money to flow around without a purpose or it will disappear. You've got to give it a purpose. So let me just very quickly and as basic as possible help explain a budget to you. A budget is this, your income, that is what you make, minus your outgo, that's what you spend and that equals a balance, that's what you have. Now I realize that's very basic, but if it's so basic then why are you always balancing checks is the question I have for you. It's your income minus your outgo equals your balance. What you make minus what you spend equals your balance. Now when you figure that out and oftentimes people don't even know, it's like how much do you spend a month on groceries? I don't know. How much do you spend on your bill? I don't know. How much do you spend on eating? I don't know. Well look, you've got to be diligent to know the state of thy flocks. You've got to figure these things out. Sometimes you ask people how much do you make and they're like I don't know. It's like that's a problem. What you make minus what you spend equals what you have. Now when you do that, when you figure that out, if it equals a positive then you're in good shape. But let me just say this. If it equals a positive you're in good shape but you're not where you need to be. Because remember if you have a net positive, a net plus in your budget, then if you don't assign that a task, a place, a purpose, it's going to sprout wings and disappear. So you say I make X amount of, let's just use some round numbers. I make $5,000 a month and I spend all my bills and everything is $4,000 a month. Great. You have a net plus of $1,000 or it's $4,500 a month. Great. You have a net plus of $500. But if you don't place that somewhere or have a purpose for that, it's going to disappear. You're going to spend it and you're going to be squandering $500 a month every month, $1,000 a month every month. So if you have a positive good, you're in good shape, but you should still not want to just have this net plus of money that's just kind of floating around because you will figure out a way to spend it. It will figure out a way to disappear. So you want to give it somewhere to go. And I'll come back to that here in a minute. Let me just say this. If you figure out your income minus your outgo and it's zero, then that's good because at least you're not in the negative, but you need to quickly figure out a way to increase your income or cut your expenses to create a buffer. Because look, if you're just like, I make $5,000 a month and I spend $4,998 every month, here's what that's called. You're literally living paycheck to paycheck. And you say, what's wrong with that? What's wrong with that is when you get laid off or when you get injured and you don't get a paycheck, if you go on a weeks-long vacation and then you're like, oh man, I didn't work and I didn't get paid, now I'm in trouble, that's a problem. You need to be spending less than you make. So if what you make is exactly what you need and it equals a zero, okay, well good, just don't get it sick. Good, just don't ever miss work. Good, just don't ever take a day off or you could learn to budget and create a buffer and you need to create a buffer. You need to increase your income or you need to cut your expenses to create a buffer to protect yourself. And then of course, if your income minus your outgo equals a negative, then look, you must cut spending immediately or increase your income immediately to not fall in the red. Falling in the red is the idea of spending or owing more money than is being earned. And listen to me, unless you're the United States government, you don't get to just spend more than you make, all right? And they only do it because they print fake money. All right, but you don't get to do that. They don't get thrown in jail for printing bills that have no value, but you would, okay? So you can't just spend more than you make. So this is the starting line. This is where you have to start to, in hospitals, if somebody came in injured or on a field hospital out in a war zone somewhere, the first thing they would do when they bring somebody is, is they would triage. They would just kind of figure out, okay, what's wrong? Where are the holes? Where are the problems here? Where's this person bleeding? And look, when it comes to your finances, creating a budget and getting your budget in order is really just figuring out like, where are you? How much do you make? How much do you spend? Are you making more? Are you spending? Are you living off your credit cards? And listen, budgeting is going to help you get a control on your finances and get your finances under control. I often advise people with this. It's wise to create a new budget every time you get paid. Every time you get paid, every time you get money, create a new budget. Maybe if your situation is a little different or whatever, I always advise at least create a budget, a new budget every month. At the very least, create a budget every month, but if you get paid multiple times a month, you should really be creating a budget every time that you get paid. Now, let me go ahead and answer this question. Go to Proverbs 22, if you would. Proverbs 22. You can tell I've been doing this for a long time because I end up answering all these questions. Everybody always wants to tell me why it doesn't apply to them, why I can't do it or why it doesn't apply. So let me go ahead and answer this question for those of you that are business owners or if you get paid on commission, because oftentimes I'll preach this and business owners, and God bless them, our church has somewhere around 15 different business owners, and I'm thankful for that. That number is very high in comparison to other churches of our size. I don't know why we have so many business owners, but I'm thankful for it. I think it's great. If guys are broke and not doing well, I'm always advising them, start a business. You live in the United States of America. You can start a business and make money. If you work hard, you can make money. But business owners will often say, well, I can't do that, or people that get paid on commission, they'll say, well, I can't do that, because I don't know how much is going to come in every month. I don't know how much is going to come in. I don't have just the set payment. Obviously, when you're not a business owner, you're an employee, you get the security of being told you're going to get paid this much every week or every month or every two weeks or whatever. But let me just say this to the business owners. You should get an idea of how much your business or how much your sales are bringing in on average on a regular month. And then what you need to figure out is what you need to do, instead of having this excuse that says I can't budget, you have to create two budgets. You have a basic budget, which is your absolute needs. This is what needs to come in for you to get paid, for you to be able to live. This is your rent, your groceries, your basic bills, whatever. And you just got to figure out, okay, this is how much we need to live. I mean, in an emergency, just to pay the bills and to buy groceries, this is how much we need, here's my budget, here's how much I need to make. Now you say, well, we had a great month and more came in from that. Well, first you have a basic budget of what you just need to live off of and then you have an advanced budget of what you will do if more money comes in that exceeds your basic budget. So if you ended up having great sales for the month or great whatever for the month and you had X amount of dollars more come in than your basic budget, then again, don't just let that money float around. You need to have a plan. If more money comes in than the basic needs we have, what are we going to do with it? We're going to put it here. We're going to do this with it. We're going to pay down debt or we're going to purchase this equipment or whatever it is. You need to have a plan for the finances. And here's what I've learned. When you plan for God's blessing, God blesses. When you plan for God to bless you and for God to provide, oftentimes He does. So number one, to get your finances in order, you need to budget. You need to create a plan because your money will disappear. Number two, go to Proverbs 22, look at verse three. Proverbs 22 and verse three. A prudent man, the word prudent means acting or showing care or thought for the future. The word prudent means someone that looks ahead, someone that thinks ahead, someone that looks to the future. A prudent man foreseeeth the evil and hideth himself. A prudent person or a wise person looks into the future and they see evil. They see things that might hurt them. They see things that might not go well for them and they prepare as a result. A prudent man foreseeeth the evil and hideth himself. But the simple, what does simple mean? Simple means someone who's dumb. Excuse me, it means someone who's stupid. Someone who's ignorant or lacking in knowledge. The simple, notice, pass on and are punished. Here's what the Bible says. A prudent man, you got a prudent man and a simple man walking down the road. The prudent man looks up and sees danger, sees a big ditch in the road, sees a big bear in the road, and he hides himself. But the simple pass on. The simple just continue on because they're not prudent, because they're not thinking ahead, because they're not looking ahead at what may be coming. So when it comes to your finances, how do we apply this to your finances? Number one, to get your finances in order, you must budget. But number two, to get your finances in order, and especially you married couples, you need to save. You need to save. Now let me just say this. Everything I'm going to teach to you this morning, you already know. There's nothing new. There is nothing I'm going to teach you this morning, just some secret to you becoming a millionaire through God by investing $1,000 in Verity Baptist Church. God's going to give you back $10,000. Look, there is no secret to getting rich quick. It's just being responsible with your finances and working hard. So you need to save. Now let me just say this. The reason people don't save is because they're not thinking ahead. It's because they're not looking up and realizing that they're not foreseeing the evil, and they're not preparing as a result. They're simple and they're just passing on. Notice again there in Proverbs 22, verse 3, a prudent man foreseeeth evil and hide himself, but the simple pass on and are punished. Now I want you to notice the context of verse number four. Proverbs 22 and verse four is in the same context of verse number three. Just in case you're saying, well that verse isn't about finances. Well it's a proverb that you can apply in many ways, but I want you to notice the context in which it is, verse four, by humility and the fear of the Lord, notice the context, are riches and honor and life. So this principle of being prudent to foresee evil in the context of Proverbs applies to riches, applies to honor, and applies to life. Riches there tells us that prudence should be applied to your money. The reason people don't save is because they are not thinking ahead. Now you may be saying, well I can't save. Well look, you can't save if you don't budget. If you don't budget and even know what's coming in, what's going out, how can I cut expenses, how can I make more money or whatever, you've got to first have that buffer where you're not just spending every penny that comes in. Once you've got that buffer, then you need to plan to save. Why? Because a prudent man foreseeeth evil and hide himself. You say, what are areas to save for? Well, first of all, you can save for what our culture might call a rainy day fund. I say our culture calls it a rainy day fund because biblically this would be more appropriately called a famine fund. And in the Bible you'll often see that when people are going through financial troubles, it's because they're going through a famine. Remember the children of Israel were in Egypt and for seven years they went through a very harsh famine. And as a result, many people died and there was a lot of heartache and a lot of death. But Joseph, if you remember the story, had the wisdom to put away during the seven years of increase, during the seven years of blessings, during the seven years where money was flowing in and there was more money than they needed to spend instead of just going on trips and going out to eat and spending it on whatever. He had the foreknowledge because he was a wise man and of course God revealed this wisdom to him. He was prudent to foresee evil and he realized that the days of famine were coming. So while the days of blessing were upon him, he saved for the days of famine. So look, a wise person would save what biblically should be called a famine fund or our world calls it a rainy day fund. It's funny because the world uses the exact opposite terminology as the Bible. God calls it a famine, they call it a rainy day. Rain is a good thing. But anyway, a famine fund or an emergency fund. You got to save four times when things are not going well. When Russia decides to invade Ukraine and the stock market crashes or when COVID, whatever, when all these things happen that we're not aware of, you got to prepare for the days of evil because the prudent man foresees the evil. And you say, oh, is that why I need to watch all the conspiracy theories and know all the things that are coming? Look, you don't need to do all that. You just need to realize evil is coming. Okay? Evil is coming, period. The world is waxing worse and worse. Bad things are going to happen. Economies rise and fall. They rise and fall. It's happened through history. Just realize you'll have times of feast and you'll have times of famine, and a wise person during the times of feast will save for the times of famine. So save for a famine fund. You ought to save for big or major purchases. You've got some big purchase you want to make? Save for it. Save towards it. And you ought to save. Let me say this. Keep your place in progress. We're going to come back to it. But go with me if you would to the book of 2 Corinthians. In the New Testament, 2 Corinthians chapter 12, you've got Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians chapter 12. Let me just say this. You ought to save for retirement. You ought to save for retirement. Now, the Bible teaches, and sometimes I've noticed Christians might, they get confused sometimes with certain things. Let me just be clear about something. The Bible teaches that children should care for their adult parents when their adult parents are no longer able to care for themselves. The Bible teaches that very clearly. You find that taught throughout the Bible, specifically in 1 Timothy. The Bible says that children should care for their adult parents, and I believe that. But let me just say this. Parent, don't plan to be a financial burden on your adult children. In 2 Corinthians chapter 12 and verse 14, the Bible says, Behold, the third time I am ready to come to you, and I will not be burdensome to you. This is the apostle Paul speaking to the church of Corinth. The context is about him not being a financial burden on them. Now, the context is about a preacher not being a financial burden on the church. He says, I will not be burdensome to you, for I seek not yours, but you. He says, look, I'm trying to be a blessing to you. And then he uses this illustration. He says, here's why I'm not going to be a financial burden to you, because Paul is the pastor, or not the pastor. He wasn't a pastor, excuse me. He was a church planter that started that church, that got them saved. He was their spiritual father. He calls himself that in the book. And here's what he says. He says, here's why I'm not going to be a burden to you. He uses an illustration. Notice the last part of verse 14. He says, for the children ought not to lay up for the parents, but the parents for the children. The term lay up means to save. Here's what he's saying. The children should not save for the parents, but the parents should save for the children. So the Bible here teaches that, look, you as a parent, your job is to save for the children, not vice versa. Now you say, well, how do you line that up with what the Bible teaches about adult children taking care of their parents? Now, go to Proverbs chapter 19, if you would. Go to Proverbs. Here's how you line it up, and I'll give you a personal illustration. Years ago, my family, and when I say my family, I specifically say my wife. We took in my wife's grandmother, and she was 90 years old. I should have asked my wife. I always do this. How old was your grandmother when you started living with us? I'm sorry? 93 years old, and she was pretty much in a place. Her husband had died. Obviously, my wife's grandfather had died, and she had adult children, but for whatever reasons, they weren't able to care for her, and she did not want to go to a home, and obviously, we believe that the Bible teaches that adult children should care for their parents. This is a grandmother. She was not our parent, but we extended that to even her grandmother, and we brought her in, and she lived with us for a long time, and her mind was sharp, but her body was just falling apart as a result of old age, and my wife had to make breakfast, lunch, and dinner. She needed to be bathed. She needed to be changed. She wasn't able to go to the restroom on her own. There was a lot of work that went into that, and we were happy to do it, and again, my wife's 99.9% of the work was my wife. We were happy to do it because we believe that that's what the Bible teaches, and we believe that God would bless us as a result, and we loved her, of course, but let me just say this. As a result of her state, she had a lot of medical attention that she needed. She had a lot of medicines and medications that she was on. She had to have a nurse come in and do certain things for her that we were unable to do every once in a while, and she had all these things, and here's what I will tell you. How old were we when we were in our mid-20s? We were in our mid-20s. We had how many kids did we have? We had three kids at the time. We were in our mid-20s. We had three little kids. We were happy to bring in my wife's grandmother and love her and take care of her, but I'm just telling you this. If we would have had to pay for her medical bills, it would have ruined us financially. I mean, it would have just completely destroyed us if we had to pay for just the expense of her medications and her bills and all that, so we were very happy about the fact that they had been very prudent, and they had put aside money for the future, so she was able to cover all her costs. What we did was we took care of the work, the physical labor of taking her to the bathroom and changing her and bathing her and feeding her, but she was able to deal with those financial needs. Now, look, we would have done it either way, but what I'm telling you is the Bible teaches that the children are not layup for the parents but the parents for the children. Now, let me just say this. If you're an adult child here and you're like, my parents have just wasted all their money, they never budgeted, they should have listened to the sermon, you know, they whatever, then look, you need to just take care of them physically, financially, you need to just make the effort to do it, and God will bless you for it, okay? This is not an attack on people that did not prepare adequately, but what I'm saying to you, young person, is prepare. You say, well, no, my retirement plan is my children are going to take care of me. Okay, great, let them take care of you physically, but don't be a financial burden on your adult children in their mid-twenties, their early thirties when they're just starting out in life and getting their family in order, and then you're just going to, because you're not disciplined enough to budget, you're just going to put your burden on them. Here's what the Bible says, Proverbs 19, 14. House and riches are the inheritance of fathers, and a prudent wife is from the Lord. Look, I understand the main inheritance that we leave to our children is a spiritual heritage. I'm thankful for the spiritual heritage that I have received. I hope my children will one day say that they were given a legacy of Christianity from their father and their mother, that they would say the lines are falling upon me in pleasant places, I have a goodly heritage, like David said, but you know what? It's not only a spiritual inheritance that we should be attempting to leave our children. House and riches are the inheritance of fathers. So I'm just telling you, you ought to save, and you ought to prepare for famine funds, you ought to prepare for major purchases, but you ought to prepare for retirement. And let me just answer this, because I preach this and then people email me or call me or whatever, they always want to get me. What about this? Pastor, I plan on working till the day I die. Well, praise God for that, and so do I. I plan on working till the day I die. I plan on not retiring. I may not be the pastor of this church till the day I die. Obviously, as you get older, sometimes you're not able to perform the task that needs to be performed, but I plan on working till the day I die, and I think that's a good idea. Praise God for it. But let me tell you something. A prudent man foreseeeth evil and hiding himself, and there's a big assumption that's being made when you say, I plan on working till the day I die, so I don't need to put away for retirement. Here's a big assumption that you're making that you're going to have the health to work until the day you die. The Bible says that you don't know what a day will bring forth. I plan on working till the day I die, but I can't tell you that I'm going to be able to work until the day I die. So a prudent man, they look ahead and they foresee evil, and they say, I plan on working till the day I die, but just in case I can't work till the day I die, I'm going to put aside money so I'm not a financial burden on my children. You say, well, what if you work till the day you die and you don't use that money? Great, then house and riches are the inheritance of fathers. Then I die, and we give it to the church, and we give it to the children, and praise God for it. Because you know what? Riches are not forever. And one thing you can't take with you is money. But you ought to save for these things because a prudent man foreseeeth evil and hides himself. So how do you get your finances in order? And look, you say, how do I save? You've got to discipline yourself to live below your means, to live on less than you make so that you can use some of that to save. So how do you get your finances in order? Number one, you need to budget. Number two, you need to save. Number three, go to Proverbs 22, Proverbs 22. Number three, get your finances in order. Get your finances in order, married couples should become debt-free. Become debt-free. In the Bible, debt is a negative thing. Debt is never spoken of as a positive thing in the Bible. Proverbs 22, look at verse 7. The rich ruleth over the poor. Notice, how does the rich get to rule over the poor? Here's why. Because the Bible says, and the borrower is servant to the lender. Debt makes you a servant to the person you owe money to. Debt is a negative thing. Keep your finger right there in Proverbs. Go back to Deuteronomy 28. If you just start at the beginning of the Bible, the first book, you've got the book of Genesis. You've got Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy, chapter number 28. Debt makes you a servant to the lender, and debt keeps you from getting ahead in life. I like the terminology that Moses uses here in Deuteronomy 28 because the Bible says, uses these terms. Now, debt keeps you from getting ahead. When I say it keeps you from getting ahead, it means it keeps you from going forward financially, gaining ground financially. But notice the terminology used by Moses in Deuteronomy 28, 44. The Bible says, he shall lend to thee. This is Moses giving blessings and cursings to the children of Israel, and he's telling them how to know when you're blessed and how to know when you're cursed. He says, you'll know that you're cursed when he, the foreigner, shall lend to thee and thou shall not lend to him. He shall be, notice, the head and thou shall be the tail. The Bible says, within a relationship of a lender and a borrower, the lender is the head and you're the tail. You're the backside. You're the behind. Because debt keeps you from getting ahead in life and it keeps you behind. And God says, the lender is the head and you're the behind. You're the tail. Now, let me just say this about debt. I don't believe that debt is a sin. Some people teach that debt is a sin. The Bible says that sin is a transgression of the law. Sin is when we specifically break one of God's law. And as far as they can tell in the Bible, there is no verse in the Bible that forbids people going into debt. So I don't believe that debt is a sin, but I do believe that debt is unwise. It's not good. And that's what the Bible teaches. It's not good to go into debt. It's an unwise thing. I like to say it this way. It's not in your best interest to pay interest. And it would be better for you to save and to put aside. Now look, I'm not one of these people who just, I understand, you might say, Pastor Jimenez, this is not Arkansas. We live in California. How are you going to save up to pay for your house cash? I'm not telling you how to pay for your house cash. I'm not against you getting mortgages. I realize sometimes it's what you have to do. I get that. But if you're going to get a mortgage, save up some money and put a good down payment, get a good interest, get a fixed loan rate, I'm just saying be wise and try to pay that thing off as soon as possible. What I'm saying is debt is a negative thing in the Bible. I don't think that debt is a sin, but I do think it's dumb. Now you say, well, I have to buy a house or, you know, whatever. This is a major purchase and we have to do it. Look, I'm not against you. Budget, pay that thing off and move on with your life. But let me just say this. If you're going out to eat and you're putting it on credit cards, you're an idiot. And I'm not, you say, Pastor, I don't think you should say, I'm trying to help you. It's not smart. If you're going to Hawaii and putting it on credit cards, you're not smart. That's not smart. At least the house appreciates in value and you can sell the thing if you need it to. Be very careful about debt. And in fact, you ought to have a goal of being debt-free. You say, well, how do we do that? Well, let me give you some thoughts in regards to how to get out of debt as soon as possible. How to get out of debt as soon as possible. Now, many years ago, there was a man by the name of Larry Burkett. When I was a kid, Larry Burkett was this financial advisor, a conservative Christian. And he taught this method of getting out of debt called the snowball system for getting out of debt. I like to call it the compounding system because it's something that's a financial term you know about compounding interest. Well, you can also compound debt. But he taught this, the snowball system for getting out of debt. You probably, if you've heard of the snowball system, you probably associate it with a guy named Dave Ramsey, who's the one who kind of popularized that term. But Larry Burkett was actually Dave Ramsey's mentor. And Larry Burkett's the one, as far as I can tell, that really began teaching this method of the snowball or compounding systems to get out of debt. So let me just real quickly kind of explain this to you, and I don't want to spend too much time on it. But what you do, if you're trying to get out of debt and you have multiple debts, is that you, the first step is you need to pay the minimum on all your debts, all your debt bills. Pay the minimum every month so that you stay current so that you don't get behind. Alright? Now look, the Bible says, the wicked borroweth and payeth not again. So having debt that you don't pay or filing for bankruptcy should not be an option for you. Now look, you say, I filed for bankruptcy, you know. Look, I'm not against you. If that's what you did or if that happened, you know, just move on with life. I'm not against you. I'm just telling you, that should not be your financial plan. I'm saying for those of you that have not, you know, if you're like, how are you going to pay off these bills? I'm going to file for bankruptcy. No, the wicked borroweth and payeth not again. Not paying your bills should not be an option. So pay the minimum on all your debt bills every month to stay current on your debts. If you're already behind, then get caught up on your bills. But look, only pay the minimum. Only pay the least amount that you have to pay to stay ahead. You say, that's not going to get it paid off. We realize that. We're triaged here. We're just trying to stop the bleeding. Then you need to prioritize your debts from highest to lowest interest or highest to lowest amounts, depending on who you're listening to that's giving you the advice. Some people teach to do the highest to lowest amounts because you do the lowest amount and you get some quick wins and it helps you with momentum. I don't necessarily disagree with that. But if you're not an emotional person and you're very, you know, just logical, then obviously paying off your highest interest is the best thing to do. That's where you're wasting your most money. But it doesn't matter. Just figure out how you want to do it. Lowest to highest interest or highest to lowest amounts and get a list. Here are all my debts and they're listed in an order of priority. Either the lowest amount to the highest amount or the highest interest to the lowest interest. Then you take the debt with the highest interest or the debt with the smallest balance, whatever you choose, however you choose to do it, and you, while paying the minimum on all your bills, you pay any extra money that you find towards that bill. You say, how do I find that? Reverse to step one by budgeting. You budget and you figure out, wow, I had an extra X amount of those. Okay, well, take that and throw it towards that bill and work at paying off that bill as soon as possible. You say, what do I do once that bill is paid off? Well, once that bill has been paid off, the highest interest or the smallest balance, whatever you decide to do, then take that extra money that you're paying to that first bill, throw it to the second bill, but take the money that you're paying as the minimum payment on that first bill and also throw it to the second bill and try to get that bill paid off as soon as possible. Say, what do I do when that's done? Then you take that extra money that you had found that you were paying to the first bill and then you started applying to the second bill, and you take that and put it on the third bill. And then you take the money that you were paying for the first bill and started sending to the second bill and you put that on the third bill. And then you take the money that you were putting for the second bill and you start putting that on the third bill. And then you take that raise that you got and instead of going to Disneyland or whatever, you take that money and put it towards the next bill. This is the compounding effect or the snowball effect, the momentum that'll help you to start paying off debt. It'll start off slow, but it'll start getting a lot faster. And you just repeat this process bill after bill after bill until it's paid off. This causes a compounding effect or snowball effect and it'll help you to pay off debt. So, number three, get out of debt. Say, how do I get my finances in order? Number one, budget. Number two, save. Number three, get out of debt. Number four, go to Leviticus. I'm not sure if you kept your place in numbers, but we weren't just in numbers. Right before numbers, you have the book of Leviticus, Leviticus 27. Let me say this. This is where I should have started. I didn't start here because I know how people are about finances, and if you start here, people are just going to stop listening. This is really number one priority, but I left it at the end because some people just can't handle it. But I'm going to teach it because it's what the Bible says, and I don't apologize for the Bible. Now, if you come to our church and you came for any length of time, you will go weeks and months without us ever hearing talk about money or finances or giving or anything like that. We've got scheduled times when we preach on these subjects, and I announce it in advance. I've never known of a church that says, hey, in three weeks I'm preaching on this subject. In case you're cheap, you may not want to show up. But here's the thing. When it comes up naturally in a sermon, I deal with it, and that's what we're doing today. But let me just say this. If you're a Christian and you want to get your financing order, you need to tithe. Now, let me just give you some thoughts in regards to tithing. First of all, the tithe, the Bible says, is the Lord's, which means that it belongs to God, Leviticus 27, 30. And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the tree, notice, is the Lord's. It is holy unto the Lord. The tithe belongs to the Lord. Go to Matthew 23. Matthew 23, first book in the New Testament. You may say, well, I don't even know what the tithe is. The concept of the tithe is what the Bible teaches, where we take 10% of our increase. Notice, not income. The Bible doesn't say income. It says increase. It means every time, so every time you increase financially, you get some, you know, your rich uncle dies and he leaves you an inheritance. You ought to tithe on that. Because you just increased financially. So, you know, we were gifted. Tonight we're going to show you the video. We were gifted a remodel of our bathroom. We're very thankful for that. But, you know, my wife and I took time to kind of figure out, like, okay, if we would have paid for this, what would it have cost us? And then we tithed that. You say, why would you do that? Because I want God's blessing on my life. Because you say, you don't have to do that. Well, if there's one thing I want God to bless me with and help me with is finances. When you're the sole provider of a wife and six children, you just need God's help. So I don't want to cross God when it comes to money. Because the tithe is the Lord's. So the tithe is the Lord's and it belongs to God, number one. Number two, let me just help you with this. We don't give God the tithe. We pay God the tithe. When you look at the biblical teaching on tithing, you always find that the Bible refers to it as something you pay. Matthew 23, verse 23. Woe unto you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites. Notice, for ye pay tithe, Jesus says. It doesn't say you give tithe. It says you pay tithe. Now, you go to Malachi, which is the last book in the Old Testament, right before the book of Matthew. You go to Malachi chapter 3. While you go there, let me read to you from Hebrews chapter 7 in verse 9. It says, and as I may so say to Levi also, listen to this, who receiveth tithes, paid tithes in Abraham. The Bible teaches that we pay tithes. Why? Because we owe it to God. You say, I want to give to God. Okay, well then you better pay your tithe and then you give a free will offering above your tithe. But you don't give anything to God when you give your tithe because you owe God your tithe. Now the free will offering, you don't owe that to God. You just give that if you want to because you love the Lord and you love the work of God. But you don't give the tithe, you pay the tithe. You don't send your rent check and then tell your landlord, I'm giving you this gift. You didn't give him anything. You owe him that. And the tithe is the same way. The Bible says ye pay tithe. The Bible says that Levi paid tithes in Abraham. This is why the Bible says in Malachi 3a, notice Malachi 3a, will a man rob God? Notice the term is robbing God. Yet ye have robbed me, but ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee in tithes and offerings? See, when we don't tithe, we're robbing God because we owe it to God. And by the way, let me just say this. He says you robbed him in tithes and offerings because he also expects an offering. He just doesn't tell you how much to give in the offering. And you say, well, I don't like that. Well, then you don't like the Bible. I'm just preaching the Bible to you. So the tithe is the Lord. It belongs to God. We don't give God the tithe. We pay God the tithe. And not tithing is not paying the bill you owe God and that's stealing because he says, well, a man robbed God. And then let me just say this. If you want God's blessing, you cannot expect God's blessing when you're stealing from him. Malachi 3a, notice what the Bible says. Ye are cursed with a curse, for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation. God says, I'm going to curse you. I'm going to curse you because you're robbing me. And listen to me. Listen to me very carefully. Look, I could not care less what you do financially for God. Obviously, I care what you do as an individual and whether you're growing in the Lord. So don't misunderstand that. But as far as what you give to this church, I don't look at that. I don't know. If you think that you give a lot and you should get some special treatment from me, let me just help you with something. I don't know who gives what around here. I don't know what people drive in this church. Some people say, oh, did you see what so-and-so was driving? I'm like, if you got here the time I got here and you left the time I left, you wouldn't see anybody's vehicles. So look, that's between you and God. It doesn't make a difference to me. I'm just God, you're here and I'm trying to help you out. But let me just tell you something. God is going to get his tithe out of you whether you like it or not. When we steal from God, that's dirty money. That's wrong money. And look, you're either going to give it to God and the work of God and be blessed as a result, or God's going to get it out of you in medical bills and mechanical bills. And all sorts of other bills. But God's going to get it out of you either way. So if I were you, I'd rather just give it to God and have him bless me. He says you are cursed with a curse for you have robbed me. Notice Malachi 3, look at verse 10. Let me just kind of end with this on the subject of tithe. Tithing is the one thing that God says. The only thing that I can tell in the Bible where God says, try me, I dare you. Because he says not only does he say I'm going to curse you, he also says I'm going to bless you. Malachi 3 is saying, bring you all the tithes into the storehouse that there may be meat in my house and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord. He says prove me now. I mean he's saying, I dare you. I double dog dare you. He says prove me now herewith, saith the Lord, if I will not open you the windows of heaven and pour you out a blessing that shall not be room enough to receive it and I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes and he shall not destroy the fruit of your ground, neither shall your vine cast your fruit before the time in the field, saith the Lord of hosts. God says he's going to bless you if you tithe. And please look, I'm not a prosperity preacher up here. I'm not telling you if you tithe, God's going to bless you financially. God may bless you financially, but you know there's other types of blessings that are not just financial? And there's other types of blessings that I'd rather have than financial blessing. If God said, hey, I can keep your children healthy or I can give you a lot of extra cash, what do you want? I say keep my children healthy, please. And I'm not saying if your children are not healthy that you're under God's curse. That's not what I'm saying. What I'm saying is this, that God promises to bless you. He may bless you financially, but even if he doesn't bless you financially, God promises to bless you and I'd rather live with God's blessing. So tithe, the tithe is the one thing that God says, prove me, I dare you. Prove me now herewith. Go to Proverbs chapter 3. Proverbs chapter 3. And we're going to finish up here. We've got to be done. And I apologize, I realize I'm moving quickly, but look, every one of these subjects I preach entire sermons on. And I'm just kind of giving you a quick overview, just trying to give you something to think about, something to consider. But let me just, in conclusion, we're going to end here in Proverbs 3, but in conclusion, let me just give you some money tips for married couples. Remember, we're talking about money and marriage and married couples. And by the way, let me just say this, if you're interested in learning more about finances, obviously you can always talk to me. I'm happy to sit down and talk with you and help you. But let me say this, you can go on our website, go on our YouTube channel. There's a sermon series. It's in a playlist. It's all together called Money Matters. It's a five-part sermon series. It started in September 15th of 2019, ended on October 13th, 2019. Go back and listen to those five sermons. We go into a lot of detail about all these different subjects, and it can help you if you apply. But like everything else in the Bible, it only helps you if you actually apply it. So apply it. But let me just give you some thoughts in regards to specific financial tips in regards to marriages, all right? And I'll try to move through this as quickly as I can. Number one, if you're married, and specifically if you're a husband, I'm talking to you, and if you are the sole provider, if you have a single income family, which I think that's great. The Bible teaches that wives should stay home and raise their children. But let me just say this, if you are married and you are in that situation, you need to get life insurance. Men, get life insurance. You say, why? Here's why. Because if you're the sole provider for your wife and your children and then you die, that money goes away, and a prudent man foreseeeth evil and hideth himself. And they don't just foresee evil for themselves, they foresee evil for their wife and their children. And you ought to prepare for that. Now look, I can't get into all the details, but let me just say this. Get a whole term life insurance, not a, excuse me, a term life insurance, not a whole life insurance. And you can ask me about that later if you have questions about that. But you should get life insurance. And to protect your wife and your children in the unfortunate event that you were to pass away. And you should probably get a small amount of life insurance on your wife as well, if she were to pass, so that you could give her a proper funeral, so that you could, you know, if you're homeschooling your children or whatever, you have to pay for that or make plans for that, you've got something to take care of that. But you definitely need to make sure that you have enough life insurance on yourself, men, so that if you were to die, your wife and your children would be taken care of. Now don't get so much life insurance that it becomes tempting for your wife, you know, to get rid of you. But, you know, just get enough to make sure she's taken care of, all right? Let me say this. When it comes to money and marriage, there should be no concept of his or her money. It's only our money, okay? There's no, that's his money, that's her money. No, it's our money, period. I'm just telling you, if you want to succeed in marriage, there should be no concept of his or her debt. It's our debt. It's not his debt, it's not her debt, it's our debt. You say, well, she didn't tell me about it when we got married. Well, it's our debt now, and if you were smart, you'd run credit checks for your marriage, somebody, just saying. People act like I'm joking, you know, I'm talking to you dads. When some guy walks up to me and says, I'd like to marry your daughter, I'd be like, I need your W-2s, credit check, give me a fingerprint, or run some record. You think I'm joking? I wouldn't let some 17-year-old punk drive my car. Why would I let him take my daughter out, anyway? No such thing as his or her debt, only our debt. There should be no separate bank accounts. Join account, husband and wife, join account, don't have separate bank accounts, not a good idea. You should keep purchases out in the open, no keeping or spending. You know, you've got your little extra stash here, or you've got your expenses that your husband doesn't know about, or your wife doesn't, that's bad. Join accounts, you know, keep everything in the open. Let me say this, this is a big one. When it comes to your budgeting, give allowances for categories. It's always funny to me, like, couples will fight over just the silliest things. You say, how do you solve that? Here's how you solve that. When you budget, give allowances for categories, and then there's no need to ever argue about money. You say, what do you mean? Here's what I mean. When we do our budget, my wife gets a certain amount of allowance for groceries, just for an example. She gets X amount of dollars she can spend on groceries, and you know what? I could not care less how she spends that money on groceries. As long as there's breakfast, lunch, and dinner being served, I don't care how she spends it. I don't care what she does with it. She wants to buy all this organic and whatever, free range, whatever. Hey, if she makes it work with the budget she's got, God bless her. We don't fight about it. And we've got other budgets for other things, and we just stay within our budgets, and it's fine. So just budget your money, create allowances, give your husband an allowance for whatever stupid thing he wants to do, and give your wife allowances for groceries or going to the mall, whatever, and then just leave it alone. And you don't have to argue about it, and there's only a problem when you cross those lines. And then lastly, make sure everyone is aware and on board with your financial plans, your budget, your priority. And look, you guys that are not married, you need to, when you're dating, you need to stop having these stupid conversations about how pretty your eyes are and start having real conversations about money and how you see money and what you think about money and raising children, and do you want to have children, do you want to homeschool children, because then you get married and you want to argue, and you realize like, she just wants to spend everything, and she doesn't want to. Well, you should have figured that out before you got married. You need to have serious conversations before you get married. But look, just get on the same page financially, see eye to eye, and everything will be great. Go to Proverbs chapter 3, we'll finish up Proverbs chapter 3. When it comes to money, here's some great verses. Proverbs 3 verse 5. We've got to be done with this. Proverbs 3 verse 5. Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding. Look, what you've been doing has not been working, so why don't you just trust God. And all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths. Be not wise in thine own eyes, fear the Lord, and depart from evil. It shall be held to thy navel and marrow to thy bones. And then notice the context, verse 9. Honor the Lord with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine entries. That's a tithe, by the way. Verse 10. So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, thank you, Lord, for these people, Lord, and I pray that you'd help us to learn these lessons, Lord, wherever they landed. Maybe somebody here needs to learn about, or be challenged about, budgeting, or savings, or retirement, or debt, or tithing, Lord. I pray that you'd help us to learn what we need to learn, and help us, Lord, to be good stewards of the resources you've given us. In the matchless name of Christ, we pray. Amen.