Thank you very much.
Thank you.
All right.
It's good to see everybody this evening.
Welcome to Pure Words Baptist Church.
Go ahead and find your seats.
We'll get started this evening.
And go ahead and pull out your hymnals.
We'll open to our first song.
It'll be song number 56.
Song number 56,
When We All Get To Heaven.
That's song number 56.
We'll sing nice and loud starting there on the first.
Sing the wondrous love of Jesus.
Sing his mercy and his grace.
In the mansions bright and blessed.
He'll prepare for us to play.
When we all get to heaven.
What a day of rejoicing that will be.
When we all see Jesus.
We'll sing and shout the victory.
While we walk the pilgrim pathway.
Clouds will overspread the sky.
But when traveling days are over.
Not a shadow, not a sigh.
When we all get to heaven.
What a day of rejoicing that will be.
When we all see Jesus.
We'll sing and shout the victory.
Let us then be true and faithful.
Trusting, serving every day.
Just one glimpse of him in glory.
Will the tools of life repay.
When we all get to heaven.
What a day of rejoicing that will be.
When we all see Jesus.
We'll sing and shout the victory.
Onward to the prize before us.
Soon his beauty will behold.
Gates will open.
We shall tread the streets of gold.
When we all get to heaven.
What a day of rejoicing that will be.
When we all see Jesus.
We'll sing and shout the victory.
Amen, great singing.
Brother Edward, you want to pray for us this evening?
We ask that you pray for us this evening.
We pray that you pray for us this evening.
Amen.
Go ahead and flip in your hymnals a few pages to the right to song number 64.
Song number 64, Shall We Gather at the River.
Song number 64.
Start there on the first.
Shall we gather at the river.
Where bright angel feet have trod.
With its crystal tide forever.
Blowing by the throne of God.
Yes, we'll gather at the river.
The beautiful, the beautiful river.
Gather with the saints at the river.
That flows by the throne of God.
On the bosom of the river.
Where the Savior King we own.
We shall meet in sorrow never.
Neath the glory of the throne.
Yes, we'll gather at the river.
The beautiful, the beautiful river.
Gather with the saints at the river.
That flows by the throne of God.
Ere we reach the shining river.
Lay we every burden down.
Grace our spirit will deliver.
And provide a robe and crown.
Yes, we'll gather at the river.
The beautiful, the beautiful river.
Gather with the saints at the river.
That flows by the throne of God.
Soon we'll reach the shining river.
Soon our pilgrimage will cease.
Soon our happy hearts will quiver.
With a melody of peace.
Yes, we'll gather at the river.
The beautiful, the beautiful river.
Gather with the saints at the river.
That flows by the throne of God.
Amen. Great singing.
So we're going to go ahead and go over the announcements for the evening.
So go ahead and pull out your bulletins.
If you didn't grab a bulletin this morning,
raise your hand in the air.
We'll have Brother Cameron bring them around to you.
And on the front page of the bulletin,
we do have our Bible memory verse.
We are in verse number 24 of Romans chapter number 8.
We are working on memorizing the entire chapter.
So we are on that latter half.
Alright, so definitely keep working on it.
If you could quote the entire chapter,
word perfect to a non-family member,
you will receive a prize if you could do that.
If you opened up your bulletins,
on the top left we have our service times.
Sunday morning at 1030 a.m.
We have our evening service at 530 p.m.
And our midweek Bible study is on Thursday at 7 p.m.
We have our churchwide soul winning times listed underneath that with our stats.
So right now we have 444 salvations to date.
Did we have any salvations to report, Brother Edward?
I know you had one. Okay.
Did anybody else have anything before today?
No, okay.
So we went out today and we had a total of five.
So good job soul winning today plus the one.
So we'll add six to the list.
So definitely great job soul winning.
Keep up the good work there.
On the next page we do have an expecting lady in the church,
Sarah Gomez.
So be in prayer for her baby and her during her pregnancy and her delivery.
Some upcoming guest preachers.
Today, August 22nd, we have Brother Ben Naim,
otherwise known as Ben the Baptist, with us.
Had a great message for us this morning.
Definitely a blessing having him preach for us.
So whenever you get a chance, shake his hand, give him a big thank you for coming down.
October 3rd, we have Pastor Aaron Thompson from Sure Foundation Baptist Church up in Vancouver.
He'll be preaching both services for us.
And then just some upcoming events.
September 25th through the 26th is our anniversary.
So that 25th is a Saturday.
We are going to have a soul winning marathon that day.
Following the marathon will be our annual false Bible burning.
Definitely a good time of fellowship.
It's always nice huddling around a big fire, especially when you're burning the false Bibles, right?
So definitely collect as many false Bibles as you can.
Make sure to have that fire roaring would be a good time.
And then that following day, the 26th, we'll have Pastor Shelley preaching both services for us on that Sunday.
October 6th through the 10th is the Fire Breathing Baptist Fellowship,
the conference that's taking place up at Steadfast Baptist Church.
I know Pastor Aaron Thompson is going to be preaching.
It'll be another lineup of many other pastors, a lot of good fellowship events.
So definitely mark that on your calendar.
It'll be a great time.
October 6th through the 10th.
And lastly, if you have any prayer requests, email those into the church.
I know some people are still kind of sick with that crud that was going around.
I know some people have some health issues, so keep everybody in prayer that has issues like that.
But that is the announcements for the evening.
So go ahead and pull out your hymnals, and we'll have Brother Brandon come and lead us in our third song.
Song number 212.
Song number 212, Oh Happy Day.
Right on the first.
Oh happy day that fixed my choice on thee my Savior and my God.
Well may this glowing heart rejoice and tell me rapture's all abroad.
Happy day, happy day, when Jesus washed my sins away.
He taught me how to watch and pray, to live rejoicing every day.
Happy day, happy day, when Jesus washed my sins away.
Oh happy bond that steals my vows to Him who merits all my love.
Let cheerful anthems fill this house while to that sacred shine I move.
Happy day, happy day, when Jesus washed my sins away.
He taught me how to watch and pray, and live rejoicing every day.
Happy day, happy day, when Jesus washed my sins away.
His done the great transactions done, I am my Lord and He is mine.
He drew me in, I followed on, charmed to confess the voice divine.
Happy day, happy day, when Jesus washed my sins away.
He taught me how to watch and pray, to live rejoicing every day.
Happy day, happy day, when Jesus washed my sins away.
Now rest my long, divided heart fixed on His blissful centerrest.
Forever from my Lord depart with Him of every God possessed.
Happy day, happy day, when Jesus washed my sins away.
He taught me how to watch and pray, to live rejoicing every day.
Happy day, happy day, when Jesus washed my sins away.
All right Proverbs 28, Proverbs 28 verse 1 the Bible reads,
The wicked flee when no man pursueth, but the righteous are bold as a lion.
For the transgression of the land many are the princes thereof,
but by a man of understanding and knowledge the state thereof shall be prolonged.
Poor man that oppresseth the poor is like a sleeping rain which leaveth no food.
They that forsake the law praise the wicked, but such as keep the law contend with them.
Evil men understand not judgment, but they that seek the Lord understand all things.
Better is the poor that walketh in his uprightness, than he that is perverse in his ways,
though he be rich.
Whoso keepeth the law is a wise son, but he that is a companion of riotous men,
shameth his father.
He that by usury and unjust gain increases his substance,
he shall gather it for him that will pity the poor.
He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination.
Whoso calleth the righteous to go astray in an evil way, he shall call himself into his own pit,
but the upright shall have good things in his possession.
The rich man is wise in his own conceit, but the poor that have understanding searcheth him out.
When righteous men do rejoice, there is great glory, but when the wicked rise, a man is hidden.
He that covet his sin shall not prosper, but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.
Happy is a man that feareth always, but he that hardeneth his heart shall fall into mischief.
As a roaring lion and a ranging bear, so is a wicked ruler over the poor people.
The prince that wanteth understanding is also a great oppressor, but he that hateth covetousness shall prolong his days.
A man that doeth violence to the blood of any person shall flee to the pit, let no man stay him.
Whoso walketh uprightly shall be saved, but he that is perverse in his ways shall fall at once.
He that tilleth his land shall have plenty of bread, but he that falleth after vain persons shall have poverty enough.
A faithful man shall abound with blessing, but he that maketh haste to be rich shall not be innocent.
To have respect of persons is not good, for for a piece of bread that man will transgress.
He that hasteth to be rich hath an evil eye, and considereth not that poverty shall come upon him.
He that rebuketh a man afterwards shall find more favor than he that flattereth with a tongue.
Whoso robeth his father or his mother, and saith, It is no transgression, the same as the companion of a destroyer.
He that is of a proud heart stirreth up strife, but he that putteth his trust in the Lord shall be made fat.
He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool, but whoso walketh wisely he shall be delivered.
He that giveth unto the poor shall not lack, but he that hideth his eye shall have many a curse.
When a wicked rise, men hide themselves, but when they perish, the righteous increase.
Let's all bow our heads for a quick word of prayer.
Your Father, I pray that you would help others in my youth to be the whole service of Christ in the Lord,
to help them to come before us in the whole of Christ, and help us to pay attention to God,
to fly with us, to take to us in the way of their lives, to help us to be Jesus, to be more attractive,
and to help us to be better treated in Jesus' name. Amen.
Proverbs 28, let's look down at our Bibles and look at verse 8 where the Bible read,
He that by usury and unjust gain increaseth his substance, he shall gather for him that will pity the poor.
So the Bible is basically explaining here that those who would increase their substance by usury,
which is another word for interest, will basically gather enough wealth for the poor to benefit.
I think it's sort of implying that they're going to lose it and the poor are going to end up procuring that anyway.
People have a tendency to cut corners, to elevate themselves, especially from a financial perspective.
They have a tendency to cut corners, to amass as much wealth as possible, and the Bible refers to this behavior as unjust gain.
The title of my sermon tonight is unjust gain, unjust gain.
Now there are so many different ways in which people can engage in this.
There are so many different unjustifiable ways to make money.
So I do want to just narrow the sermon down to a few examples, which I will do momentarily.
Here's how I would define unjust gain.
Basically, enrichment through unjustifiable or unrighteous means.
So getting rich through sin or other unrighteous or unjustifiable means.
Alternatives, other phrases that are used in scripture to describe this would be dishonest gain or even filthy lucre.
Filthy lucre is another way that you could describe what I'll be talking about this evening.
Turn, if you would, to Luke chapter 12.
Luke chapter 12, I'm going to read from Proverbs 21.
If you would turn to Luke chapter 12.
Meanwhile, the Bible says in Proverbs 21,
the getting of treasures by a lying tongue is a vanity tossed to and fro of them that seek death.
Treasures that are amassed by lying are completely vain.
Treasures in and of themselves are vain.
That's not what we live for, especially if you call yourself a Bible-believing Christian.
That shouldn't be our main focus. We all understand that.
But the scriptures are teaching us that amassing this wealth and financial security through lies or through deceit is completely meaningless.
What's the point?
It's not going to give you the fulfillment that you are searching for.
Riches have no eternal value anyway.
And so if your life revolves around procuring as much of that as possible, then you will not be fulfilled.
You will not be satisfied with that.
Jesus Christ offers true fulfillment, living for him offers true satisfaction, not living for materialism.
Mark 8 says, for what shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul?
Selling yourself out to gain things for this world.
It's not going to provide you with any sort of benefit whatsoever.
And I think that's the principle that he's talking about here.
But what is often the driving force behind people who are guilty of unjust gain?
Well, we'll see that in Luke chapter 12 verse 15.
It says, this is Jesus talking, and he said unto them, take heed and beware of covetousness for a man's life consisteth not of the abundance of the things which he possesseth.
If all you care about is the state of your bank account, if you're a covetous person who believes that your life ought to be defined,
by the number of digits that you have in your bank account, then that could potentially, and I believe it will in many cases, lead you down a dark path where you'll start to find corners that you can cut,
ways that you can cheat and lie to gain more wealth, because that's all you care about.
And you become desperate.
Desperate times call for desperate measures, is the saying that people will use a lot of the time.
And if you're a covetous person, it'll lead you down the wrong path, a dark path, sin, in order to amass more wealth and materialism.
You become a covetous person, if you become a greedy person, if you have an attitude that says, I can never have enough, you'd be surprised the length that you would be willing to go to,
to get more money, more finances, to get the fancy car, the fancy house, etc.
That's why covetousness is so dangerous.
And you know, Jesus Christ is right here emphasizing the fact that a man's life consists not in the abundance of the things that he possesses.
See, we don't define ourselves by the wealth that we might have.
And look, if God has blessed some of you with wealth, perhaps you do have a lot of money.
That's great.
That in and of itself is not wrong.
The question is, what are you living for?
What are you living for?
That is what we ought to ask ourselves.
Go to Matthew chapter 28, if you will.
Matthew chapter 28, I want to show you the first example in scripture of unjust gain.
Meanwhile, I'll read from Jeremiah 17 as you're turning to Matthew 28.
Jeremiah 17 says,
As the cartridge sitteth on eggs, and hatcheth them not,
so he that getteth riches, and not by right, shall leave them in the midst of his days, and at his end shall be a fool.
You can't take your riches to heaven anyway.
So they're meaningless in that way.
But also, if you decide to be somebody who procures riches by lying and by deceit, unjust gain, dishonest gain,
that at the end of the day you're going to be known as a fool.
You will be a fool.
That'll be your reputation, a fool, somebody who's stupid.
You know, these people who do this, who get rich by ripping people off,
unjust, dishonest gain, they're crooks, they're liars, they're deceitful,
they're a bunch of corner cutting scumbags.
And my question is, is that who you want to be known as?
Especially as someone who claims the name of Christ.
As a Bible believing Christian, is that the reputation you want to leave behind?
I don't think so.
Matthew 28, look what it says in verse 11.
Now when they were going, behold, some of the watch came into the city and showed unto the chief priests all the things that were done.
And when they were assembled with the elders and had taken counsel, notice this, they gave large money unto the soldiers saying,
Say ye, his disciples came by night and stole him away while we slept.
And if this come to the governor's ears, we will persuade him and secure you.
So they took the money and did as they were taught, and this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day.
So following the resurrection of Jesus Christ, these soldiers are bribed into lying about it.
You see, they even knew that there was something up here.
But they came up with a lie and bribed the soldiers to disseminate this false accusation, this lie, this made up story, fake news,
this fake news right here that the body of Christ was stolen and these soldiers were bribed into lying.
It was unjust game and an example of unjust game.
This story was fabricated in an attempt to discredit the disciples.
They accepted large money in an example of unjust game and they took that money, that bribe, and then again lied about the resurrection of Christ.
To this day lies persist about the resurrection of Christ.
You ask Jews about it, they'll give you all kinds of weird answers about the resurrection in a failed effort to invalidate it.
When in reality, we all know that it happened.
Jeremiah 22, let's go there next, Jeremiah chapter number 22.
Let's look at a few more verses about this issue before I get into some application.
Jeremiah chapter 22, so what am I talking about?
I'm talking about unjust gain.
I'm talking about amassing wealth or riches in an unrighteous manner.
That's what I'm talking about.
And again, there are many different ways in which this can be applied.
I'm going to narrow it down in moments.
But this is running rampant in our society because people define themselves by their bank account.
They define themselves by the size of their house or how many cars they have or how nice their cars are.
And so they're willing to go to evil lengths in order to pad their stats, if you will, to gain more money and riches and things of that nature.
Jeremiah 22, look what it says in verse 13.
Jeremiah 22 verse 13, it says, woe unto him.
Now, here's a tip for you.
When you're reading your Bible and you see that word woe, it means that's really bad.
All right, God's not happy whatsoever.
His judgment is about to be dulled out here.
It says, woe unto him that buildeth his house by unrighteousness and his chambers by wrong,
that useth his neighbor's service without wages and giveth him not for his work.
So here's another example of unjust gain.
You have people working for you and then you don't pay them.
And God says, woe unto that individual, woe unto these people who build their house by unrighteousness,
woe unto these people that use his neighbor's service without wages, not paying them for the work that they did,
not giving them the wage that they deserve for the work that they have accomplished.
God says, woe unto these people.
They may think they're going to get away with it.
They may think they can get as many riches as possible.
They may drown themselves in materialism and build up their bank account.
But God's watching and God says right here, woe unto these people.
Look at verse 14, that sayeth, I will build me a wide house and large chambers and cutteth them out windows
and it is sealed with cedar and painted with vermilion.
So these people, they want unjust gain for what purpose?
To build a wide house with large chambers.
The ends justify the means for them.
It doesn't matter what sin they have to be guilty of.
It doesn't matter what sin they have to commit in order to get this wide house, in order to get all these riches,
in order to get all of these, you know, the big house, the riches, the wealth, all of it.
It doesn't matter what they have to do to get it.
That's all they care about is the end goal.
That's all they care about is being as rich as possible.
God pronounces judgment on these people who had been committing this in Judah.
He exploits, I should say he rebukes those who would exploit others for labor without paying them
is essentially what we're talking about here.
And it's funny because people think the Bible is pro-slavery.
And what do people think of oftentimes when they are articulating this thing about slavery?
When they talk about slavery, when they're thinking about slavery,
oftentimes what they're picturing in their head is what happened in America
where basically, you know, Africans were stolen and then forced to work
or a situation in which somebody was stolen and then basically forced to work for free,
forced to work without any wages whatsoever.
Well, first of all, the Bible says anybody who's stolen like that ought to be put to death in the book of Exodus.
And second of all, we see here that God's upset with someone who would make another person work
without providing them with a justifiable wage.
So don't give me this crap about the Bible being pro-slavery.
That's just a left-wing talking point designed to try and discredit the Word of God.
Look at Genesis chapter 14, if you would.
Genesis chapter 14.
I want to show you a positive example of someone who had integrity.
Although he had an opportunity to attain filthy lucre, he chose not to take it.
And his name is Abram.
Of course, we know his name eventually became Abraham.
At this point, his name is Abram and he ends up faced with an opportunity to take filthy lucre.
But he decides not to.
Genesis 14.
Look at verse 17.
Genesis 14.
Look at verse 17.
The Bible read,
And the king of Sodom went out to meet him after his return from the slaughter of Cato Leomer,
and of the kings that were with him at the valley of Sheva, which is the king's dale.
And Melchizedek, this is an Old Testament theophany or appearance of Jesus Christ,
and Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine, and he was the priest of the Most High God.
A picture of the Lord's Supper here.
Verse 19.
And he blessed him and said, Blessed be Abram of the Most High God, professor of heaven and earth,
and blessed be the Most High God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand, and he gave them tithes of all.
Now, here's what I like about this.
Abram, first of all, we see tithes before the law had been given,
so I don't want to hear this crap about how tithing is not biblical.
And second of all, in the New Testament, of course,
second of all, Abram is blessed for saving lot from these enemies,
which tells me that it is morally justifiable according to God to use lethal force in some instances to protect your loved ones.
But also, pay attention to this.
Verse number, let's read verse 21.
And the king of Sodom said unto Abram, Give me the persons and take the goods to thyself.
So the king of Sodom wants to reward Abram for what he had done
because he ended up helping that nation who had been involved in a war with other heathens,
and the king of Sodom says, Hey, just give me the persons,
give me the people who had been stolen from me, and you can keep the goods to yourself.
That's how, in his mind, he wanted to reward Abram for what he had done.
But notice what Abram says in verse 22.
And Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have lift up my hand unto the Lord, the Most High God,
the possessor of heaven and earth, that I will not take from a thread even to a shoe latchet,
and that I will not take anything that is thine.
Notice this, lest thou shouldest say, I have made Abram rich,
save only that which the young men have eaten and the portion of the men which went with me,
Einor, Eshcol, and Mamre, let them take their portion.
So Abram says, I don't want to keep the goods that you're offering me to the king of Sodom.
And the reason why he says that is because he doesn't want people to believe
that Abram was made rich from the king of Sodom.
He didn't want to have that reputation.
He didn't want to take that filthy lucre and be known as somebody who was made rich
because of Sodom, the Sodomites, right, the king of Sodom.
He didn't want to be known as someone who had gotten those goods from that wicked nation.
The king of Sodom basically is offering him money here.
And Abram says, no, you take it.
I don't want to be known as someone who was enriched by you.
Now again, he had the opportunity to keep some of that and enrich himself.
But he decided, no, I don't want that filthy lucre.
I don't want to be known as somebody who was enriched by Sodom.
Why? Why? Because how you accumulate wealth matters.
How you accumulate wealth matters.
Listen, if you work hard and you have a big bank account as a result, great.
God bless you. That's awesome.
I don't think there's anything wrong with that.
Obviously, another individual who isn't necessarily at that level financially,
that's great too, right? We don't measure ourselves by that.
That doesn't matter. That's not important whatsoever. It's vain.
But my point is this.
How we amass wealth, how we procure wealth, that's truly what matters.
And Abram, again, did not want to be known as somebody enriched by Sodom.
Didn't want to be known as someone who took filthy lucre.
And I wish that more people had the integrity of Abram.
I wish more people had the integrity of Abraham and think, you know what,
instead of growing my bank account by any means necessary,
I'm just going to get an honest job and I'm going to work hard.
And if God blesses me, great. But if not, hey, at least I have the word of God.
At least I have my family. I'm going to be content with such things as I have.
This nation would be a much better place if people had this attitude that said,
you know what, I'm not accepting your money. I'm not accepting your filthy lucre.
I don't want to be known as someone who's enriched by Sodom.
But instead what we have in America is a bunch of multinational corporations
who will throw up all over their social media a bunch of woke slogans.
They'll throw up a rainbow flag during the month of June so that they can pander
to some of the worst, sickest, most disgusting elements of our society
in order to enrich themselves by pandering to these people,
by pandering to a bunch of domestic terrorists who go around and blow up buildings,
go around and commit violence and things of that nature by throwing up their woke slogans.
They're pandering to them to enrich themselves from those people
because they're soulless, because they have no integrity,
because they have no standards, moral standards whatsoever.
It's the total opposite of Abram's mentality.
He said, look, I don't want your money.
I don't want to be known as somebody who received goods from you.
He said that to the king of Sodom.
But rather today it's like our world is filled with godless, sycophantic corporations.
They don't care how they get wealthy.
All they care about is getting wealthy.
And that shouldn't be our attitude.
Now here are some examples of unjust gain that we see in our world.
If you would go to Ezekiel 22, Ezekiel chapter 22.
The first one I want to talk about, again, what am I saying?
The unrighteous way of gaining some sort of substance, money, riches.
And I want to look at a few examples that we see in our world.
The first one is crony capitalism, crony capitalism.
Here's what I mean by that term crony capitalism.
It can be defined as, excuse me.
It can be defined as an economic system characterized by close,
mutually advantageous relationships between business leaders and government officials.
Now in layman's terms basically it's legalized bribery.
And essentially it's when corporate interests lobby government in order for them to pass legislation
that would be beneficial for their business interests.
And so they will bribe politicians in order to achieve those goals.
It's legalized bribery.
Amos 5 says, for I know your manifold transgressions and your mighty sins.
They afflict the just, they take a bribe, and they turn aside the poor in the gate from their right.
Israel took bribes, turned aside the poor, exploited people.
And that sounds like our government.
That's exactly what our government does.
Putting people on welfare programs and exploiting them so that they feel beholden to government
and in turn are dependent on them.
And of course that means they can rely on them to vote blue every four years.
Ezekiel 22 says in verse 26, her priests have violated my law and have profaned mine holy things.
They have put no difference between the holy and profane.
And neither have they showed difference between the unclean and the clean
and have hid their rise from my Sabbaths and I have profaned them.
Look at verse 27 talking about now the princes.
Her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves ravening the prey to shed blood
and to destroy souls to get dishonest gain.
The princes of Jerusalem, the Bible says, were wolves, they shed blood, they destroyed souls.
For what? To get dishonest gain?
And that perfectly describes the political establishment in the West.
Not just the United States but the Western world as a whole.
They shed blood for dishonest gain. How?
How about the endless wars?
How about these foreign wars that are designed to endlessly feed the military industrial complex?
It's a strategy that enriches the weapons manufacturers who have this unholy alliance with Congress.
Basically they will end up getting bribed.
A lot of these politicians will get bribed to pass legislation that traps America in endless Middle Eastern conflict.
Foreign military intervention which is designed to destabilize the Middle East
and ensure that we always have a boogeyman that we're supposed to be afraid of
that is then used as justification to go and invade these sovereign nations which did nothing to us.
And right now obviously the Afghanistan situation is in the news today which is why I bring this up.
But folks our country is run by literal corrupt psychopaths who enjoy killing people.
They enjoy bombing schools in the Middle East.
They enjoy bombing hospitals in the Middle East all so they can enrich themselves through the military industrial complex.
Wall Street banks, multinational corporations, they benefit from the legal bribery that we see in our political system today.
This crony capitalism. Think of Hillary Clinton.
When Hillary Clinton was the Secretary of State under the Obama administration,
she negotiated weapons deals with the same countries that donated,
and this is all on record, that donated to her Clinton Foundation slush fund.
It's all on record.
So the same countries, the same governments that donated millions of dollars,
that transferred that wealth over to her slush fund, to her fake charitable organization,
she then negotiated weapons deals with them basically selling political influence to them.
Our current president is a poster child of cronyism, crony capitalism.
Here's an article from the New York Post that says smoking gun email reveals how Hunter Biden introduced Ukrainian businessman to VP dad.
Hunter Biden introduced his father, then Vice President Joe Biden, to a top executive at a Ukrainian energy firm
less than a year before the elder Biden pressured government officials in Ukraine into firing a prosecutor who was investigating the company
according to emails obtained by the Post.
So essentially Joe Biden, because he was vice president, what he did is he got his son, Hunter, who's a crack addicted, you know, pervert, pedophile freak.
He got his son a spot on the board of this natural gas company making $50,000 a month when he has zero background in this area.
And in exchange, basically the idea is that not only would the Ukrainians gain influence from the vice president of the United States,
they also were able to hook the Bidens up in a sense and give Hunter Biden this spot on the natural gas company here in the Ukraine.
But essentially Biden, he used his authority not just to get his son a job, but also that the Ukrainian government would gain access to him,
gain access to the VP, and in turn also favorable policy positions as well.
And the reason why people call him Beijing Biden is because of the fact that he's done this with the Communist Chinese,
basically selling influence to the Communist Chinese, selling, you know, preferential political policy,
you know, basically selling himself out to enrich himself.
Proverbs 22 says, a good name is rather to be chosen than great riches and loving favor rather than silver and gold.
You know what, I'd rather have a good reputation amongst my brothers and sisters in Christ than all the riches in the world.
And, you know, Bible believing Christians have to think this way if we're going to survive.
If we're going to survive in this world, we have to have the attitude that says, you know what, hey, whatever happens with my bank account is God's will.
I just want to have a good reputation amongst my brethren and I want to be a good ambassador of Christ, a good ambassador for the Lord Jesus Christ.
You know, what we ought to say is, hey, I'd rather live an austere life than be like the Clinton crime family or be like the Bush crime family
or the Bidens or all of these horrifying politicians who worship Satan, whose only motive in life is to be rich,
whose only motive in life is to procure as much wealth as possible.
You know, they crave power, they crave influence.
And it's too bad because today what we're seeing, I feel like there's more mentally enslaved morons than ever in our society who pedestalize these people.
America practically worships politicians.
They either get on Team Republican or Team Democrat and they treat it like it's a religion.
And they get on these teams and that's what their life revolves around and that's all they're concerned about and they pedestalize these politicians.
They practically worship these politicians when they're all a bunch of psychopaths who hate you and hate your family.
Here's another example of unjust gain or unrighteous gain.
How about false prophet prosperity preachers?
False prophet prosperity preachers.
Go to Titus chapter 1, Titus chapter number 1.
These are running rampant.
They're all over television, they're all over the internet.
I'm talking about your Joel Osteens of the world, Kenneth Copeland.
How do they make money?
They make money by lying to gullible people about how if they donate to their church, they themselves will be blessed.
They themselves will get rich as a result of that and then they take that money and they go buy a corporate jet.
They go buy a mansion somewhere and they make a mockery of Jesus Christ.
Titus 1 says in verse 10,
That is all that these prosperity pastors are concerned with, filthy lucre.
Now a righteous pastor who's saved would reject that but these people, no, they're millionaires.
I want to give you a list of some of the richest false prophet pastors that are out there.
We'll start from number 10 and go up to number 1.
Number 10, T.D. Jakes, valued at $18 million.
Oh, that's just the beginning.
Some of these I haven't heard of, you guys might have heard of them.
Jesse Duplantis, $20 million is what this guy is valued at.
Rick Warren, who thinks that Islam and Christianity should work together and merge, Chrislam, $25 million is how much he's worth.
Creflo Dollar, $27 million.
Joel Osteen, you guys know who that is, right?
$40 million according to this website.
This guy Chris Oyakolom, I'm not even sure who it is, I may have pronounced his name, $50 million.
Sounds like he might be from Africa or something, I don't know.
Benny Hinn, $60 million.
Pat Robertson, $100 million.
David Oyedepo, $150 million and the first person on this list that I found online of the richest false prophet pastors.
And that wasn't the title of the article, it's the title I'm giving it.
Number one on this list, Kenneth Copeland valued at, according to this website, $300 million.
Now explain to me why the man of God needs $300 million.
That is disgusting and we know how he gets it.
We know how these people have gotten rich by lying to people about what the Bible says.
By taking advantage of people who are easily deceived, taking their money, depositing it, laughing all the way to the bank, going and buying a private jet.
Kenneth Copeland says he can't fly commercial because he's afraid that there's supposedly demons in the aircraft with him when he goes and flies publicly.
The only demon that I see is Kenneth Copeland himself.
The guy looks like a total psychopath, just look into his eyes, of course there's a devil there.
Look at him.
And you say, why are you so mad?
Because these people take the Bible and they make a mockery of my faith.
They make a mockery of Jesus Christ.
You don't think the world looks at these guys and thinks, man, if that's what Christianity is all about, I want nothing to do with it.
They're doing damage, folks.
And so that's why I hope that a giant sinkhole opens up under every single one of their mansions and they go quickly into hell.
These bunch of false prophet, disgusting pieces of trash, making a mockery of Jesus Christ and gaining all this wealth.
300 million dollars from Kenneth Copeland, flying around in private jets all over the place, probably has a gold-plated garage door.
Well, you know what, there ain't gonna be any gold-plated garage doors in hell where he's going.
The lowest part of hell, by the way, this demon-possessed sack of filth.
You know, the Bible says in 1 Timothy chapter 6, perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness from such withdraw thyself.
These people suppose that gain is godliness.
I messed that up.
These people think that gain is godliness and they teach people that.
It's exactly what 1 Timothy chapter 6 is warning against.
They enrich themselves by convincing people who are easily deceived to send them money and then as a result, they promise them that they'll be rich, that they will receive a blessing.
If they send five bucks in, they might get ten back from God or something like that.
Look at Luke chapter 5, if you would, Luke chapter number 5.
What's another way in which we see unjust gain in this world?
And this one's controversial, it gets you kicked off of YouTube for talking about it.
But, you know what, I don't care because this is the house of God and at the house of God, you're gonna get the truth unfiltered whether it's YouTube safe or not.
And I'm talking about big pharma.
I'm talking about the pharmaceutical giants who line their pockets by selling people drugs and vaccines.
Luke chapter 5, look what it says in verse 31.
And Jesus answering said unto them, they that are whole need not a physician, but they that are sick.
Obviously, Jesus is using a carnal truth here to expound on something that's spiritual.
But what you have to understand is that when he uses carnal truth to expound spiritual truths, the carnal truth is still correct.
It's still right and we can learn from that carnal truth.
What's the carnal truth?
If you're whole, you do not need a physician and yet what we have today are healthy people running to physicians who are,
they have nothing wrong with them in the sense that they're healthy and they're running to physicians to get injected by poison.
They're running to physicians to get injected by vaccinations, which by the way, have a very strong link to autism.
They have a very strong link to other, you know, developmental delays in young children.
And by the way, I love autistic people.
That is not, I'm not trying to put them down or anything like that.
I've met them.
They can be really beautiful people and I really enjoy getting a chance to talk to them and things like that.
But sometimes young babies, when they're injected with vaccination, it can end up stunting their growth and it leads them to eventually being diagnosed with autism.
Here's an article for you.
Who says there's no money in making vaccines?
At least $5.7 billion given to vaccine manufacturers in 2011 by the U.S. government.
Here's one from the Atlantic.
You say, I don't know what the Atlantic is.
The Atlantic is a left-wing magazine.
You could use it for toilet paper.
I would recommend if you run out of toilet paper and you see the Atlantic magazine.
You know, there was a toilet paper shortage earlier this year, but there were plenty of Atlantic magazines on the newsstands and supermarkets across the country.
I would recommend if there's another toilet paper shortage, go ahead and buy a copy of the Atlantic and use that.
Here's what they said.
Vaccines are profitable.
So what?
Yes, big pharma is making money from immunizations, but that doesn't mean anyone should skip the shots.
So here's what they're saying.
Yeah, we know that the medical establishment is lining its pockets by selling these vaccinations that doctors get kickbacks for promoting them to all their patients and things of that nature.
But who cares?
That doesn't mean you should skip the shots.
You ought to go take it.
Go get injected today.
And look, it's your choice if you want to do that.
It shouldn't be forced on people, first of all.
And second of all, you ought to know the truth about what's going on with these vaccines, especially the COVID vaccine, this experimental mRNA shot that is being promoted everywhere that you're not allowed to speak.
It's like blasphemy of the Holy Ghost if you say that these shots are hurting people, which they are.
There's documentable proof.
There have been more reports, you can look this up if you don't believe me, more reports to vaccine injury organizations that collect reports of people getting hurt from injections, more reports concerning the mRNA vaccine, which is designed supposedly to fight COVID than every other one that has come out so far.
This thing is dangerous.
It's hurting people.
And you know what?
It's unjust gain when the medical industry pushes us on unsuspecting people who trust their doctor, who trust the so-called experts because, of course, they're following the science, right?
They're following the science.
So, yeah, they're going to follow what they say.
And people are running to the medical establishment today looking for a solution to their health ailment and they're being given what?
Pharmaceutical drugs when they don't necessarily need it.
They're given what?
Vaccination.
And you know what?
It's been linked to, like I said, stunted social and emotional development, infertility, vaccine injuries, you name it.
And by the way, it contains aborted baby parts, aborted baby cells.
That's mainstream news.
You can find a PBS article which admits these vaccines have aborted baby parts in them.
Why in the world would a Bible-believing Christian willingly go get that?
It's disgusting.
They admit it.
But of course, they'll justify it by saying, well, we need that.
We need to include baby cells in the injections because it aids in giving people immunity somehow.
It's a necessary ingredient.
What kind of garbage?
What is wrong with people?
And they accept that as an explanation.
Now, nobody in here is a vaccine manufacturer to my knowledge.
Nobody in here is a U.S. senator or president or anything like that.
So obviously, this wouldn't necessarily apply to you.
What I want to do now is transition to application that would apply to your life.
Basically, how you know that what you just did was unjust gain.
You say, how am I supposed to know if I have committed this, if I have engaged in unjust gain or unrighteous gain?
Go to Proverbs 28, if you would, Proverbs 28.
There are a lot of ways in which we see in the world that people are profiting in an unrighteous manner.
But how can we fall into this as Christians?
How can we as Christians end up being guilty of unjust gain?
Well, my first point is, if you've gained from gambling, that is unrighteous gain.
That is dishonest gain.
While you're turning to Proverbs 28, I'm going to read from 1 Timothy 6 which says,
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.
For the love of money is the root of all evil, which while some covet it after,
they have erred from the faith and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
Pursuing riches will lead you to piercing yourself through with many sorrows,
because the love of money is the root of all evil.
It's the root of all evil. It's going to lead you down the wrong path, a dark path.
Instead of trying to earn your wealth, instead of earning wealth the right way,
oftentimes people will search desperately for a get-rich-quick scheme.
And gambling is a get-rich-quick scheme in the sense that people think,
Oh, I'll just press a button here, gamble some money there, and walk out rich.
But most of the time what happens is they go to the casino and walk out broke.
And I'll have more on that in a second.
It ruins lives. Proverbs 28 says in verse 20,
A faithful man shall abound with blessings,
but he that maketh haste to be rich shall not be innocent.
If you make haste to be rich, you're not going to be innocent.
Attempting to get rich quick is what it's talking about here.
It means you're not going to be innocent.
Why? Because it inevitably leads down an unethical path.
It leads to unjust gain.
Look at verse 22.
He that hasteth to be rich hath an evil eye,
and considerth not that poverty shall come upon him.
Now, isn't that irony?
What are they doing this for? What's the point?
Well, they're being quick.
They want to get riches quickly, but instead they receive poverty.
Instead they end up poor.
Instead they end up destitute.
If you're motivated by getting rich quick, poverty will come upon you,
is what the Bible is telling us here.
Dishonest gain through the casino, through gambling.
It invariably leads to loss.
I have a few examples for you from someone who worked at a casino
and has witnessed the following.
He said this.
This is what he witnessed at a casino.
Elderly people who would spend their entire Social Security checks in one night
and be forced to use food banks for the remainder of the month.
So they're relying on their Social Security checks to put food on the table.
These older people, they walk into casinos, gamble it all away,
and then have to resort to using a food bank to feed themselves
because they lost it all.
Here's another thing that this individual noticed while working at a casino.
Many couples getting into fights, sometimes physical,
over the other, quote, giving them bad luck.
So we notice married couples or just couples in general
at each other's throats because they accuse the other person
of giving them bad luck supposedly.
That's incredible.
I've gotten in some stupid fights in my life,
but this one would be the top of the list.
Getting upset with somebody because you're worried they're giving you bad luck.
I mean, that's infantile logic.
You would expect that coming from toddlers, not grown adults.
Here's something else that this person noticed while working at a casino.
Anyone who would win a lot in the first 20 minutes, they were there,
then chasing losses after they gave it back to the house,
often emptying their entire savings account.
Now think of how long it took you to build up your savings account.
Whatever it is, think of how long it may have taken you
to build that up.
I know for me it's taken a long time to build up the money that I have
in my savings account.
Now imagine whatever it is that you've built up in your savings account
vanishing just like that at a casino
because you lost a game of cards or the slot machine or whatever.
Imagine the feeling that you must be feeling inside
knowing you just lost your entire life savings
because of foolishness.
Here's another one.
Lots every month losing their entire paycheck, then savings,
then taking out cash advances that of course could be done in-house,
attempting to win back their lost paycheck.
So these people lose everything.
So here's the thing.
They walk into the casino thinking, I'm going to strike it rich.
Then they lose everything and they have to stay in the casino
like a mentally enslaved moron and lose more money
to try and win back what they lost.
That's the downward spiral that gambling addicts put themselves through.
Does that sound appealing to you?
But of course they try and make it appealing with the flashy lights
and the big colors and the fancy building and everything like that.
Here's my advice for you as you're driving by, keep driving.
Don't get tempted by that.
Another article, I'm just going to read the headline,
I found it says seven gamblers who won it all then lost it all.
Now what did the Bible say that they would eventually come to poverty, right?
So we see example after example of that in the real world,
these gamblers who won it all.
And what happens is when they win some money they think,
oh man, if I keep playing I'll win even more.
Because in their mind it's never enough.
And so they keep playing and keep playing and then they lose it all.
So they have to keep playing to try and win back what they lost.
It's a vicious cycle.
Casinos will socially engineer people to chase big wins.
And here's what you have to understand.
If you're successful, even if you win lots of money through the card game
or the slot machine, it's still unrighteous gain.
You think God's will for your life is for you to slip on a banana peel
and by chance get rich?
Is that God's will for your life?
Is it God's will for your life to sit down like a bozo, like a loser,
like a pathetic scumbag, sit down at one of those slot machines
and sit there mindlessly yanking it, yanking the thing down?
Oh, I won. Let's do it again.
People sit there for hours playing that game.
They're losers.
That's a pathetic life to live and that's not God's will for your life.
How about you go get an honest job?
You own a paycheck so badly, earn it.
Not by hitting a button and hoping by chance you strike it rich.
Go to Ephesians 4 if you would, Ephesians chapter 4.
Here's another way in which you can know that you're guilty of unjust
or unrighteous or dishonest gain if you've gained, this is sort of obvious,
but hey, we've got to preach everything right in the Bible,
if you've gained from theft, fraud, or deceit.
Again, it's obvious.
Exodus 20 says, Thou shalt not steal.
Stealing's wrong.
And you know what? It's wicked.
And it's another sin running rampant in our society.
The Bible says if you're guilty of stealing, you should give back double
or fourfold even depending on the situation.
Now what would motivate someone to steal?
Well, the Bible tells us in Proverbs 30,
Remove far from me vanity and lies.
Give me neither poverty nor riches.
Feed me with food convenient for me, lest I be full and deny thee
and say, Who is the Lord?
Or lest I be poor and steal and take the name of my God in vain.
Poverty, those who are destitute, they're often more likely to commit this sin
and they use their financial situation as justification for doing so.
Well, it's not.
You can get back up, pull yourself up, dust yourself off,
and go get an honest job in America.
Plenty of people are hiring.
You don't need to resort to stealing.
But that's what these homeless bozos will do.
People think, oh, they're just harmless and begging for money,
but when the sun goes down, you know, Skid Row and these tent cities
are some of the most crime-infested places in the country.
People stealing one from another and committing all kinds of horrible sin.
The Bible says, feed me with food convenient for me.
There's a happy medium that we should all strive for,
which then prevents you from being tempted to sin
or, on the other side of the spectrum,
prevents you from being a covetous person whose life revolves around riches.
Ephesians 4 is where I had you turn.
Look at verse 28 where the Bible read,
let him that stole steal no more, but rather let him labor,
working with his hands the thing which is good
that he may have to give to him that needeth.
The Bible says instead of stealing, how about this, you work.
How about this, you labor.
Thieves are lazy.
They're lazy.
They don't want to work.
They don't want to go get a job like everyone else and earn their money.
They'd rather take it from someone else who worked for it.
And it makes me upset.
It makes me angry to see this sin running rampant in our society.
The Bible says work with your hands that which is good rather than stealing,
rather than ripping people off.
How about that?
Think of identity theft, how easy it is for people to steal others' identity,
perhaps through their social security or their bank account, credit card theft.
Every once in a while I get a text message on my phone and it's like,
did you purchase this item for $750 at Walmart and Timbuktu?
And I'm like, no, what's going on?
And it's like, I hate having to do this.
Call the credit card company, have them help me get a new card,
then it takes forever to get in the mail and all the rest of it.
I'd rather people just have a job and make their own money
and buy whatever they want to buy instead of stealing others' people.
How about this, hacking into personal accounts,
taking their personal information?
I had a friend of mine in Jacksonville one time
answer a phone call from someone who was pretending to be a representative from his bank.
And after that phone call, the guy got his information somehow
and all of a sudden my friend noticed large transactions coming out of his bank account,
large sums of money spent by this guy who had stolen his identity, stolen his money.
How about this one, phone scammers who will call you,
pretend to be the U.S. government or something like that,
so that they can steal your information and steal your money.
You have to be aware of this type of thing.
There are people who will call you and a lot of the time
the phone call starts with some sort of computer voice,
but then if you get redirected to an operator,
a lot of times someone from overseas and they're trying to rip you off,
they're trying to steal your money, you work hard for your money
and then they want to take it away from you.
And the worst part about it is how they blatantly lie.
Obviously someone from India and they're sitting there saying,
my name is Peter Smith. Your name's not Peter Smith.
Why would you lie to me like that? It's clearly not Peter Smith, first of all.
And second of all, you're not with the U.S. Social Security Company.
You can't even talk or you can't even put a sentence together in English.
And I'm not down on Indian people. I love Indian people.
I want them to get the gospel and all that stuff.
But here's the thing, if you're going to call me and tell me your name is Peter Smith
when it's clearly Rajan or something like that, well, you know what?
You're dishonest. You're a liar.
And clearly what they're doing is trying to steal your money.
And you know what? If you, as a Christian, see an ad for some sort of shady business
that's ripping people off, that's clearly stealing from people
and you decide, you know what? I need a job.
I haven't had one in a while. I've been looking. I'm desperate for one.
And you go ahead and work for that company, that's wrong.
We shouldn't be stealing from people. We should make an honest living.
Picture this. You say, I would never do that. All right, well, picture this.
Your boss isn't looking. You're at work. Nobody's paying attention.
An opportunity arises for you to take something, even if it's small,
to steal an item from your job. Would you do it?
How about this? Maybe you're working a cashier job.
And you're dealing with money all day.
And when no one's looking, you could just take a few bills and kind of pocket them.
You know, make sure no one's looking and pocket a few bills
to earn a little bit of extra cash for the weekend.
Now, if you're in that situation, if you have the opportunity to do that,
would you do it? And if the answer is yes, that's wicked.
That's ungodly. And it embarrasses the cause of Christ.
It's embarrassing for the cause of Christ.
That's dishonest gain. It's unrighteous. It's unjust.
Look at Amos Chapter 8. Amos Chapter 8.
If you would, Amos Chapter 8.
The Bible says in Proverbs 30,
Bread of deceit is sweet to a man, but afterward his mouth shall be filled with gravel.
You might pocket a few dollars at your job, at your cashier job,
to line your pockets a little bit, get a little extra cash for the weekend.
But at the end of the day, that's going to taste like gravel.
It might taste sweet in the moment, but it eventually will taste like gravel
because you have a conscience. And guess what?
That's not going to let you get away with it.
You're going to know that you did something wrong
and it's not even going to feel good anyway because of that conscience tugging at your heart.
Momentary sweetness, again, will lead to
just it feeling like it just tastes like gravel is what the Bible is saying in Proverbs Chapter 20.
Amos 8 verse 4, it says,
Hear this, O ye that swallow up the needy, even to make the poor of the land to fail,
saying, When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell corn,
and the Sabbath, that we may set forth wheat,
making the ephah small and the shekel great, and falsifying the balances by, notice this, deceit.
So Israel basically is being rebuked here for exploiting the poor and needy, ripping people off.
Notice it says the ephah was small, but the shekel was great,
meaning that what they were selling, which was wheat,
they were intentionally lowering the purchasing power or decreasing the purchasing power of the shekel.
That's why it says that the ephah was small and the shekel was great.
But look at verse 6.
Then we may buy the poor for silver and the needy for a pair of shoes,
yea, and sell the refuse of the wheat.
So they're ripping people off by selling the refuse of the wheat,
meaning the portion of the wheat that was useless that should have been rejected,
they're actually selling it to people to rip people off and commit unrighteous or deceitful or unjust gain.
Now, how would I apply this? Well, how about this? Business owners.
We have some business owners in the room this evening.
And you have a choice as a business owner.
You can choose to cut corners.
You can choose to rip off your customers.
You can choose not to pay your employees correctly.
You can choose unjust gain.
You can choose to try and cheat and lie your way to success.
Or you can do it the right way.
You can do it the way that Jesus Christ would expect you to do it.
That's the choice that you have.
And you ought to do it the right way.
How about we lead the cheating and the lying to the world?
How about we lead the cheating and the lying to the unsaved?
Head over to Ezekiel 22 again.
Ezekiel chapter 22.
My final point is this.
Ezekiel chapter 22.
My final point is this.
If you've gained from interest.
The Bible says interest is a form of unjust gain.
It is a form of unjust gain.
Now what do I mean by interest?
I mean charging extra to someone who's paying you back.
Paying back a debt.
Charging extra on top of what they owe.
Wikipedia defines it as interest in finance and economics is payment from a borrower or deposit taking financial institution to a lender or depositor of an amount above repayment of the principal sum at a particular rate.
So essentially if you owe either a company or an individual some money and they charge you above what you owe.
That would be interest.
Ezekiel 22 references this.
It says in verse 12.
In thee have they taken gifts to shed blood.
That thou hast taken usury.
Which means interest.
And increase.
And thou hast greedily gained of thy neighbors by extortion.
And hast forgotten me sayeth the Lord God.
Behold therefore I have smitten mine hand at thy dishonest gain which thou hast made.
And at thy blood which hath been in the midst of thee.
So the Bible equates interest to dishonest gain or unjust gain.
It's the same thing and God's very angry with Israel for committing this sin.
And what do we have in our world that is similar to this?
So how about credit card companies charging interest to people and essentially enslaving them.
And of course the credit card companies laugh all the way to the bank.
They make lots of money through interest turning people into debt slaves.
And these people it's almost like they don't care.
Every Black Friday they'll go and they'll gain more debt.
They'll go and spend even more money that they don't have.
There's two prominent methods that we see from the world of gaining interest.
One of the credit card companies I talked about and another one would be loans.
Whenever you take out a loan.
I found this article here.
It says whenever you take out a loan the lender will charge you interest as a way to manage risk.
A loan that is secured by property may have a lower interest rate than an unsecured loan such as a personal loan.
So when I think of interest I think of our banking system that requires people to pay them an interest rate.
And essentially they make more money off of what you owe them.
The Federal Reserve could be an example of this.
I know I kicked that dog in the morning.
The secret cabal of bankers who print money out of thin air and then they loan it to the government for a profit.
That's not a biblical model for finances.
So my question is this.
If you lend somebody some money, why in the world would you model that transaction after the world?
Why would you model it after the ungodly who expect people to pay them back what they owe plus interest?
If you lend somebody money, if you lend somebody anything, don't expect gain from that.
Don't expect to make money from that.
Because to me what that says is you're not actually interested in helping people.
You're interested in putting yourself in a situation to benefit from supposedly helping people.
Look at Leviticus 25 if you would. Leviticus chapter 25.
It's not merciful if somebody comes to you looking for help.
Let's say you allow somebody to borrow money from you.
Well it would be wrong for you to then charge interest on them and make them pay you above what they owe.
Luke 25 says in Leviticus 25 verse 35, the Bible read,
And if thy brother be waxen, poor, and fallen, and decay with thee, that thou shalt relieve him,
yea, though he be a stranger or a sojourner, that he may live with thee, take thou no usury of him or increase.
But fear thy God that thy brother may live with thee, thou shalt not give thy money upon usury,
Give him thy money, it says, upon usury, nor lend him thy vittles for increase.
So don't lend him vittles, don't lend him money for the purpose of increase, for the purpose of usury, for the purpose of interest.
Take no usury, the Bible says. Don't lend for the express purpose of gaining from that.
It's illegitimate. It's dishonest. It is unjust gain.
If we lend money to the brethren, we shouldn't expect them to pay us back with interest.
We should leave that method of profit for the ungodly, for the wicked, for the world.
Charging interest also, by the way, especially in your interpersonal relationships,
that's antithetical to being a genuinely loving child of God and loving the brethren.
Let's look at Proverbs 19 and we'll be done.
Again, it comes from a heart that wants to help people for their own benefit,
rather than genuinely wanting to lend a helping hand to a brother or a sister in Christ.
We're going to end at Proverbs 19 where the Bible says in verse number 1,
it says, better is the poor that walketh in his integrity than he that is perverse in his lips and is a fool.
Austerity with integrity, being quote-unquote poor on this earth,
but having integrity is better than an individual who is perverse in his lips,
somebody who is a fool, and we know that those who are hasty to be rich are fools.
It's better for you rather to have your integrity.
You may be poor from a materialistic perspective, but you know what?
You can be spiritually rich. You can gain riches in heaven.
You can gain rewards in heaven, the likes of which we can't even imagine how wonderful it's going to be,
the rewards that are waiting for us in heaven.
So make a commitment tonight.
Make a commitment this evening here at the evening service at Pure Words Baptist Church
that look, if the opportunity presents itself for you to cut corners,
if the opportunity presents itself for you to cheat, for you to lie,
if the opportunity presents itself for you to rip somebody off, for you to steal from another person,
if the opportunity presents itself for you to gain unrighteously, to gain in a dishonest fashion,
then make a commitment that says, you know what? I'm not going to take that opportunity.
I'm going to do that which is right. I'm going to retain my integrity and decide, you know what?
Hey, I'm going to make money the right way. I'm going to provide for my family the right way.
I'm going to put food on the table for my wife and for my children the right way.
When you come home with a paycheck from work after a hard day's work, that's the way it ought to be.
Doing it the right way with integrity. Decide today you're going to provide for your family
the way God would want you to do it, that you're going to earn your wage.
And look, make peace with the fact that it might not lead you to getting rich.
You may never get rich, but you will have your integrity. You will be right with God.
Most importantly, you'll have the blessing of God on your life.
These gambling addicts, these people who are ripping people off, these thieves,
they don't have the blessing of God in their lives, which is why they end up on a downward spiral
that oftentimes leads them to begging for money on the street.
I don't want to see that happen to any one of you.
So not only will you have the blessing of God if you decide to have some integrity
and make money the right way, earn your wage, earn your paycheck to feed your family,
but also you'll be living according to a standard that the Lord Jesus Christ would expect
from someone who calls himself a child of God. Remember what's at stake here.
We're representing Christianity, the word of God, on this earth.
So run away as fast as you possibly can from unjust gain and just make an honest living
so that you can reflect what it really means to be a Bible-believing Christian
so people can look at you and they can see a positive example
of what it means to be an independent fundamental Baptist,
a positive example of what it means to believe every word of this Bible today.
Be someone who earns your wage, earns your money, earns your financial situation the right way,
even if it doesn't mean that you end up getting rich because that's not what we live for anyway.
That's not what this life is all about.
Flee as far away as you can from unjust gain. Let's pray.
Father, we thank you so much for the opportunity that we have to come together
and worship you and to hear your word being preached.
I pray, Lord, that you would help us not to take opportunities to cut corners and cheat
and commit this sin, Lord, that you would help us to avoid unrighteous or dishonest gain,
but rather that we would do things with integrity, do things the right way, take home a paycheck,
work with our hands, and provide for our family the way that you would want us to do it.
And in Jesus' name I pray, amen.
All right, go ahead and pull out your handle and turn to song number 244.
244, Amazing Grace.
On the third.
Amazing grace, how sweet the sound
that saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost, but now am found.
Was blind, but now I see.
Was grace that taught my heart to fear
and grace my fears relieved.
How precious did that grace appear
the hour I first believed.
Through many dangers, toils, and snares
I have already come.
Disgrace hath brought me safe thus far
and grace will lead me home.
When we've been there ten thousand years
bright shining as the sun
we've no less days to sing God's praise
than when we first begun.