THE BIBLE & OUR ECONOMY

‘The government is my shepherd:
I need not work,
It alloweth me to lie down on a good job;
It leadeth me beside still factories;
It destroyeth my initiative.
It leadeth me in the path of a parasite for politics sake;
Yea, though I walk through the valley of laziness and deficit spending,
I will fear no evil, for the government is with me.
It prepareth an economic utopia for me,
By appropriating the earning of my own grandchildren.
It filleth my head with false security;
My efficiency runneth over.
Surely the government should care for me all the days of my life,
And I will dwell in the fool’s paradise forever.’

National Debt = $10.1 Trillion (October 4, 2008)

U.S. Population = 304,860,036
Each Persons Share = $33,329.76
Increasing at An Average of $3.8 Billion Daily

HOW MUCH IS A TRILLION DOLLARS?

$10,160,913,192,312.85

$1,000 Bills Stacked 252 Miles High = $1 Trillion

October 29, 1929 – The Famous ‘Crash of ‘29’
Entitlement Programs…. 1932
Grover Cleveland: ‘I will not be a party to stealing money from a group of citizens; no matter what the need or apparent justification. Once the coffers of the government are open to the public, there will be no shutting them down.’
- National Debt Growth: $22 Billion – 1932
$400 Billion – 1970
$800 Billion – Billion
$4 Trillion – 1993
$10.1 Trillion Today

‘The budget should be balanced, the treasury should be refilled, and the public debt should be reduced. The arrogance of officialdom should be tempered and controlled’
Cicero (63 B.C.)

THE BASIC PROBLEMS

Unparalleled/Unbridled Debt!

1. We Are A Nation of Debt…

2. We Are A Nation of Debtors…

The Consequences:

1. Bible Warnings Are Clear…
‘Owe no man anything, but to love one another’ Romans 13:8

2. Bondage
‘The borrower is servant to the lender’ Proverbs 22:7

3. Presumption of the Future
‘Boast not thyself of tomorrow, for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.’ Proverbs 22:7

‘Go to now, ye that say, today or tomorrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow, for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.’ James 4:13-14

4. Removal of Barriers That Protect From Harmful Spending
‘But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and
into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in
destruction and perdition.’

5. Poor Stewardship… Allowing Resources To Be Devoured By High
Interest Payment

6. Overspending…
‘He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he that
loveth abundance with increase..’

B. Disregard For The Work Ethic

‘No republican form of government can survive longer than 200 years.
As soon as the people learn that they can vote themselves funds out of
the public kitty, they always vote for the politician who offers them the
most for the least, which leads inevitably to a breakdown of fiscal
stability with the resultant economic chaos demanding a dictatorship.’
Professor Tytler.. Economist at University of Edinberg

‘The things that will destroy America are prosperity-at-any-price, peace
-at-any-price, safety-first instead of duty first, the love-of-soft-living and
the get-rich-quick theory of life.’
Theodore Roosevelt

‘America will last until the populace discovers that it can vote for itself largesse out of the public treasury.’ (‘Benefit for Themselves’)
Alexis de Tocqueville (1820)

Work Allows Us To…
a. Provide for Personal Needs I Thessalonians 4:11-12
b. Provide for Our Family I Timothy 5:8
c. Keep Busy & Out Of Trouble 2 Thessalonians 3:11-12
d. Help Others Ephesians 4:28
e. Have A Part In God’s Work

C. Misdirected Financial Expenditures & Hearts Filled With Rebellion
Towards God….

Deuteronomy 28:1-3, 12-14

Deuteronomy 28:15, 43-53

III. THE ANSWER…

Know Christ… And Share Him With Others…

‘Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature..’
2 Corinthians 5:17

‘The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want..’ Psalm 23:1

Learn To Live For Him And By His Principles

‘For I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content…’
Philippians 4:11

Demand That Our Leaders Stop Borrowing Against The Future Of Our
Children

‘Thou shalt not steal…’

Pray…

‘If my people, which are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray, and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and heal their land.’ 2 Chronicles 7:14