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The title for the sermon tonight Brevin is Leave off this usury. Now that word usury is similar to the word interest. You know, if someone takes out a loan, borrows money and you're paying off interest, you're basically paying off the usury that's been charged on that loan. So leave off this usury is a title for the sermon tonight. Okay, let's start there in verse number one. What brings us to this point that people are in debt, you know, that having to pay off this interest, verse number one. And there was a great cry of the people and of their wives against their brethren, the Jews. All right, so you may recall in Nehemiah chapter four, we had some enemies of the Jews, Sanballah and Tobiah. These were conflicts from without, the Samaritans causing problems, causing issues to the Jews that are trying to do the work of God building the walls of Jerusalem. Well, chapter number five, we have another conflict. It's not a conflict without, it's not a conflict with the enemies. It's a conflict that develops between the brethren, between the Jews themselves. And this can happen, you know, we can have enemies outside, we can have conflicts outside. We can sometimes have conflicts within, conflicts within, even within the church. Brothers, sisters and Lord developing conflicts. Now the conflicts obviously is because there are rich people taking advantage of those that are poorer. Those, the rich are charged an usury on the money that is being borrowed by those that are struggling. Why are they struggling? Let's keep going to verse number two. For there were that said, we, our sons and our daughters are many. Hey, praise God that they had many sons and daughters. Praise God for large families. This was of course the way of these days to have the larger families, are many. Hey, the more you have in your family, the more mouths you have to feed. It keeps going here. Therefore we take up corn for them that we may eat and live. Okay, when it says here to eat and live, this is a sign of desperation. Of course, we all have to eat. If we don't eat, we're all gonna die. But the fact is that if we don't just take up this corn, if we don't eat, we will literally die. You see, we get into a point here of a famine or a dearth of food, a lack of food. And the people that are struggling the most are the larger families with many children to feed. And so they're finding themselves in a tough place. You know, they're at a point of desperation. If they don't eat, they're going to starve to death and die. Let's keep going to verse number three. Some also, there were that said, we have mortgaged our lands, vineyards and houses, that we might buy corn because of the dearth, okay? So this is the only time in your Bible that you're gonna get this word mortgage. Now we hear that term all the time. And as you take out a home loan, it says, you know, the idea is that you've taken out a mortgage. This is the only time in the Bible that references the idea here of a mortgage. Now, you know, it's actually the idea of a mortgage is out there in the Bible several times, but it's the only time that word mortgage here appears in the Bible. We have mortgaged our lands. The idea there is in order to buy food, we have had to take some of our land, some of our houses, our vineyards, and given that as security, that we, you know, not only are we gonna borrow money, but here's security that, you know, if we can't afford to pay back our loans, then you can take our houses, you can take our vineyards, you can take our lands. This is what it means to take out a mortgage. At the end of the day, you know, if you take out a home loan, you can't afford it, the banks can force you to sell that house and they hold that mortgage over you. You know, they have security in the title of your house and that's the situation they find themselves. Now, look, they're not taking out mortgages from a bank. They're not borrowing money from a bank, they're borrowing money from their fellow brethren. They're taking money from their fellow Jews, those that are obviously richer. And like the only thing they can give in exchange is obviously the lands, the vineyards, their houses because of the dearth. Now, the word dearth is similar to famine. Dearth just means it's, you know, something is scarce. And what is scarce here? Food is scarce, okay? When we talk about famine, of course we're talking about a lack of food, a scarcity of food, but famine more has to do with the conditions, like maybe environmental conditions, like a drought or other environmental issues that are causing a lack of food on the land. Now, there is a dearth taking place here. That means the idea here is that there is a lack of food, there's a scarcity. It doesn't mean though, that there is a drought or anything like that. I think the reason, the reason I believe anyway, if we just keep within the story of Nehemiah, the reason why I believe that there's a dearth is that there are so many people working to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, that the agriculture, the, you know, the farming of the land is not the priority. The priority right now is the building of the walls of Jerusalem. Let's go back to Nehemiah 4. Let's just remind ourselves of a few things here. Nehemiah 4 and verse number 21, Nehemiah 4 and verse number 21, it says, so we labored in the work and half of them held the spears from the rising of the morning till the stars appeared. So we learn here this urgency that took place because of their enemies, that they're working from the moment the sun comes up to the time the sun goes down. Look, they haven't got time to go back to their homes. They haven't got time to go back to their farms. Their focus, their concentration is on the building of the walls. And he keeps going there, verse number 22, likewise at the same time said I answer the people, let everyone with his servants lodge within Jerusalem that in the night they may be a guard to us and labor on the day. So the people that are working there, the Jews that are working on the wall, they're not able to go back home. They're not able to work on their farmland. They're no longer able to plant their crops. They're busy day and night, day working on the wall, night just as a watchman in case the enemies come, not just the people, but their servants as well. And so Jerusalem has become this hive of activity and all the work has been put toward the building of the walls. And yes, there is a time of urgency here. And we just need to remember a few things that if you do let go of your daily living and you say, look, I'm just going to dedicate my whole life to doing the work of God, furthering God's kingdom. As I said, some illustrations, you know, where you might, you know, just, you know, you say, I'm going to just quit my job and just dedicate myself to soil winning. That's great for a while. But at some point there's going to be a dearth. At some point you're going to run out of resources, the general resources. This is why it's so important that we maintain a balanced Christian life. You know, building the walls is great, absolutely. And there is a time of urgency. And I took the parallel here of the time of urgency, like potentially the time of a great tribulation that might come in the end times. If we're that generation, hey, we don't need to return back home because we know that there's going to come an end. There's an urgency to get the kingdom. The gospel of the kingdom out to the nations. That's the urgency. But we must also have balance and understanding if we give ourselves holy just to the work of God, how am I going to provide for myself as I continue doing this work? And you know, this is the situation. There's so many Jews in Jerusalem. They're not going home. They're not working on the lands. And now there's a dearth. There's a scarcity of food. Now, this shouldn't be a major issue. You know, the food is not the issue. They're able to go and buy the food. The issue is that the fellow Jews, you know, those that are lending the money are charging them interest on top of the loan, okay? Instead of just lending, here's $10,000 so you can get through this time while you're building the walls and you buy some food. And then when you're back in your land, you can pay back that $10,000. That's not what they're doing. Hey, they're taking, hey, here's $10,000. Hey, but we're also taking your vineyards and you've got to pay interest on top of all of that. And so these poorer Jews, they're finding themselves difficult. They're struggling with their fellow man. Why, you know, and you know, it's so sad. When they're trying to do a work for God, they're trying to build these walls, just not just for themselves, but for the whole city. They're trying to build these walls for all the Jews. And you can see the weakness, the greed of a man's heart that looks at that situation and instead of saying, hey, how can we come alongside those that are working? How can we, you know, loan out money so they can make sure they're fed, they can feed themselves and their families? No, these richer Jews, these greedy Jews, they say, hey, how can we take advantage of the situation? How can we make ourselves richer? And how can we make our fellow man poorer? It's a sin of greed. It's a sin of greed that we see developing. And this is why we see this conflict. That's why we see this outcry of those with larger families toward Nehemiah. We'll keep going there in verse number four. Because of the dearth, yeah. There were also, sorry, verse number four. There were also that said, we have borrowed money for the king's tribute and that upon our lands and vineyards. So they've also borrowed money, not just to feed themselves, they borrowed money to pay their taxes. You know, when it says the king's tribute, they're paying the taxes to the Persian empire, okay? They're paying the king's tax. And they can't afford to pay their taxes. So what are they doing? They have to borrow money to pay their taxes, you know? And so they're finding themselves just in a bad situation financially, okay? Let's keep going there. Verse number five. Yet now our flesh is as the flesh of our brethren. So when it says, you'll soon see the concept of this, when it says our flesh, they're talking about our children. My children are my flesh, you know? So our flesh, our children, it says here, is as the flesh of our brethren. So it's like our children have become the children of those that are lending us money, okay? It says our children as their children. So instead of me being able to be blessed and enjoy the fruits and labors of my own children, when my children go to work, they're basically benefiting the others. They're benefiting those that have lent this money with interest. And it says, and lo, we bring into bondage our sons and our daughters to be servants. And some of our daughters are brought unto bondage already. Neither is it in our power to redeem them, for other men have our lands and vineyards. So they're saying, look, other men have our lands and vineyards. So they've mortgaged out their vineyards. Those that have lent their money, they're now using the vineyards for their own profit, and those that have to pay back the money, they can't even use their own vineyards to develop an income to pay back the loan. I mean, they're in a horrible situation here, okay? And I think the big lesson that we can take out of this for us today, just from a financial perspective, is be careful about borrowing money. Be careful about getting yourself into debt. If you do decide to take out debt or borrow money, you must also be able to pay back. You must be able to pay and service that loan. Make the repayments as you need to. You don't want to get yourself in a situation that you fall on bad times and you just can't, because it just gets progressively worse. It gets progressively worse. And brethren, our banks, the financial system, are really preaching this on Sunday, right? I mean, it's unbalanced. You know, the banks are greedy. The banks, you know, they lend out money with interest. Of course, they're not interested in you just paying things back. We know why. I told you to explain to you why. Because once you finish paying something back, it's not worth what it was when they first lent it out. You know, they want to make sure they're profiting. You know, they're making sure they're putting people under bondage. You know, and this is a situation that's developing here. Now, as we go through this story, yes, let's look at the historical story, but you also must understand there is a spiritual teaching in this passage, okay? Notice, it says here, because they're paying interest to the banks, or to the lenders, I should say, not so much the banks, because they're paying interest, at the end of verse number five, it says, neither is it in our power to redeem them. Now, when we think about the idea of redemption or being redeemed, you know, we often think about salvation, don't we? We think that Jesus Christ has redeemed us from sin. You know, he's redeemed us from the curse. Now, here's the thing, brethren, if you're trying to be redeemed by paying usury, okay? If you're trying to put your efforts in to be redeemed, it's not going to happen, for it is not in our power to redeem them. You cannot be saved, you cannot be redeemed by works, okay? And as we keep going through this chapter, you're going to start to notice that usury, or interest, is a picture of a works-based gospel, okay? This is the spiritual teaching that we want to draw out of this chapter, not just the historical teaching, which is great, not just the financial teaching that we can get here, which is great, but also the spiritual teaching, okay? You see, they are unable to pay back their mortgages. They are unable to pay back this interest that is being charged on them. And, brethren, anybody that comes preaching that salvation is by cleaning up your life. You've got to redeem yourself. You've got to turn from your sins. You've got to repent from your sins to be saved. Brethren, there is no redemption in that method. It's impossible. You cannot pay the debt that you owe, okay? Your debt of sin that you owe to the Lord God. We know salvation is a redemption, but it's been paid in full by Jesus Christ, okay? So we have to understand why is it that God puts certain rules and commandments in the Bible. And again, everything in the Bible points us back to Christ. It's all a picture, it's all a shadow of our Lord Jesus Christ. Let's keep going there. In verse number five, verse number five. Oh, I've read verse number five, sorry. Verse number six. Now Nehemiah speaks, and I was very angry when I heard their cry and these words. Nehemiah just gets so angry when he hears what the wealthy Jews are doing to the porridges, putting them under this bondage of paying back and interest. Why is that? Why was he so mad? Now what I like about Nehemiah is he gets angry, but he doesn't just lose control. The next, literally in the next verse, look at verse number seven. Then I consulted with myself, okay? Before he says anything that he might regret, before he takes some type of action that might be the wrong action, he just says, all right, I'm so mad, I'm so angry at what's happening here. You know, these workers, they're building the walls of Jerusalem. This is the whole point. This is the whole point of coming out of captivity. And you know, we're returning back to captivity, as it were, under bondage, financial bondage here. But it's his first, I just consulted with myself. He just takes time. He just stops, thinks about everything, calms down, starts thinking, okay, what are we gonna do about this? All right, I love that. He has his anger under control. He consults with himself. And then he says this, and I rebuked the nobles and the rulers and said unto them, ye exact usury, every one of his brother, and I set a great assembly against them. So Nehemiah gets a great assembly, great people around him, those that have suffered by the hands of these wealthier people. And he says, look, you've been charging usury against your brother. Okay, this is the sin of greed. You know, the wealthy, who are not content with their riches. They just want more, okay? And they wanna take advantage of those that are actually working hard to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. I mean, brethren, this is why we need to just learn how to be content. Be content with what we have. You know, if you're not happy with what God has given you in life, then that sin of greed will just develop, eat up in your heart, and you'll never be happy. You know, just be this constant search. How much can I make? How much more can I make? I'm not happy with, yeah, you know what? Start with contentment now. Start with the little that you have. Be content with that. And then God will bless you, okay? And then be content with that. And if God stops blessing you, be content with what He's blessed you. You know, a sin of greed. And, you know, instead of just coming alongside, hey, these guys are working hard. These guys are leaving their farms. These guys are leaving their homes so they can build the walls for our own protection. What do they say? Well, how can we take advantage? How can we make more money from this situation? There's gonna be a scarcity of food. So how do we take advantage of this situation? The weakness of the heart of the rich. You know, if you can just go back to Nehemiah 3, verse five. We're looking at the nobles. The nobles are the ones. The nobles are rulers, those that have more wealth, right? Obviously. And just a reminder here, back in Nehemiah 3, verse five, it says, and next, so we're looking at the bune of the walls and the gates. It says, and next unto them that the Tekoites repaired, but their nobles put not their necks to the work of their Lord. Okay? They'll see how the nobles are behaving with the construction. Ah, it's just beneath us. We don't wanna work hard. Now look, obviously, if they just put the effort in, if they just came alongside their poorer brothers and helped them, hey, the job will get done quicker. Yeah? They'll be able to relate to those that are actually letting go of their unusual income stream so they can come and work on the walls, you know? But no, I'm just too lifted up. We just can't get it. We're not gonna put ourselves under that kind of bondage, going to work on the walls. All right, well, if you're not going to do the work, at least help them out financially because they're doing the work. Oh, no, no, no. We're gonna take advantage of this. You know, that's the heart of the greedy. That's the heart of the rich. Please do not envy the rich. Please do not envy those that are wealthy. Please do not, brethren. You know, they're hard, you know, I'm not saying every wealthy person is a wicked person, but I'm telling you, it's going to drive you down that road if that's where your heart is, you know? And it's just how it is, brethren. Can you please turn to Deuteronomy chapter 23? Deuteronomy chapter 23, verse number 19. So let's just quickly understand why is Nehemiah so angry, okay? Deuteronomy chapter 23, verse number 19. We're going back to the laws of Moses here. And don't forget the book of Deuteronomy is a retelling of the law. The second time of the law has been retold as the next generation of the Israelites are getting themselves ready to cross into the promised land. And we have a very clear commandment here. In Deuteronomy 23, verse 19, it says, Thou shalt not lend upon usury to thy brother. Usury of money, usury of victuals, usury of anything that is lent upon usury. Were the Jews allowed to charge interest on their fellow man, on their own fellow Israelites? Of course not. Clear commandment of God. We can go through various verses in the laws of Moses. They were not allowed to do this, okay? Now were they allowed to lend out money? Of course they were allowed to lend out money, okay? But not to charge interest on top of that, okay? Now let's keep going, verse number 20. Unto a stranger thou mayest lend upon usury. So someone that is not an Israelite, someone that is not a brother in that sense, someone that is a foreigner from another nation, they were allowed to charge them interest, okay? But unto thy brother thou shalt not lend upon usury, that the Lord thy God may bless thee in all that thou settest thine hand to in the land whither thou goest to possess it. All right, so we learn a couple of things, okay? To the fellow Jews, to the fellow man, no interest, if you're gonna lend out money. To a stranger, to a foreigner, yes you can, yes you can. How do we tie this back into this idea of redemption and the gospel? Well, we know that in order for us to be saved, it's believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. We know that the payment has been paid in full, okay? Jesus Christ did not come and say, all right, look, I'll pay for your sins, but I'm charging you interest, okay? I'll make the payments, I'll make the blood atonement, but then you've gotta keep going. You know, in order, like this is where a lot of your preachers that teach are gonna lose your salvation. They're basically teaching salvation is with usury. It's with interest. Yes, payment's been made, but you've gotta do your part. You gotta start paying back God, because if you don't do enough, then you're going to die in your sins and go to hell. That's what, basically, that's what, those that teach can lose your salvation, that's what they say. Look, they give lip service that Jesus Christ has paid it all, okay? They acknowledge, yeah, Jesus Christ has paid it all, but you've gotta do your part now. You gotta start paying interest back. You gotta put your foot forward. And yes, anybody that teaches any kind of works-based gospel is trying to teach you that you've gotta pay usury on your salvation to be saved or to remain saved. Brethren, that is a false gospel. You see, to their fellow man, to their fellow Jews who are supposed to be believers, there is no usury charged. Brethren, when you're saved, you're not paying back for your salvation. I've heard people say, well, I know Jesus paid it all, but I wanna pay him back. You can't pay it back. If you could pay it back, that means you could've saved yourself in the beginning. It's unpayable. It's paid by the blood of Jesus Christ. You haven't got the blood of God. You cannot pay back Jesus Christ. I've heard someone say to me once, oh, I don't like this idea of getting rewarded to do the work of God. I just owe Jesus. No, no, no, no. It's been paid for. You need to understand, salvation is a one-time payment. You believe in Christ. Your sins have been paid for, brethren. Salvation has been paid for. You know, it's a free gift. Amen, it's a free gift, the Bible says. And then, when you do serve the Lord, when you do work, when you serve Christ, you're not paying usury on the salvation. Now, whatever work you do, the Lord's going to reward you. He's gonna pay you. He's gonna give you great rewards when he comes back. Praise God for that. Jesus does not say, pay me back. No, it's been paid for. Any idea to pay back for your salvation will ultimately come to some type of works-based gospel. Now, this is why I believe the Jews were allowed to charge usury to the foreigners, usury to the heathen, those that are unsaved, because you have the unsaved, they're trying to work their way to heaven. Usury here is a picture, okay, of whether it's been paid for in Christ, okay, or whether you're actually trying to charge interest, you're trying to get people to work for their salvation. Let's keep going. Nehemiah, chapter five, verse number eight. Nehemiah, chapter five, verse number eight. And I said unto them, we, after our ability, have redeemed our brethren, the Jews, which were sowed unto the heathen. And will ye even sell your brethren? Nehemiah says, look, we have redeemed our brethren. They've come out of captivity. They've come out of bondage for 70 years. And now will you sell a brethren? You're gonna put them under bondage, under your bondage, a financial bondage? We've just been redeemed. And now you wanna put us under bondage again, okay? Or shall they be sowed unto us? Then held they their peace and found nothing to answer. Can you please turn to Galatians chapter three? Turn to Galatians chapter three, please. Galatians chapter three. I mean, I think about this idea. Nehemiah says, look, how can you do this? We've just been in captivity. Okay, we've come out of captivity. And you're putting your own brethren back under captivity, under bondage. What is wrong with you people? Yeah, what is wrong? And you know what, when I think about this, immediately I think of Galatians chapter three, the Galatian church was having a problem. You know, the brethren were being instructed to be put back under the law, okay? And one of the issues was the issue of circumcision. There were certain Jews that were saying, hey, you know, it's not just faith alone in Christ. You actually have to be physically circumcised, you know? And they'll preach in this gospel. Okay, let's have a look at Galatians 3 21. Galatians 3 21. Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid, for if there had been a law which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law. Now, could any law, any law of Moses, any commandments ever give us life, ever give us everlasting life? No, because if it could, then that would be the way of salvation. Okay, that's what it's basically saying there. Okay, look at verse number 22. But the scripture have concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe. Brethren, we are all under sin, all right? And the way that we receive life is by faith on Jesus Christ, okay? You believe in Christ and you've been redeemed, you've been saved from your sins. Look at verse number 23. But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. And so brethren, when we look at this story of the Jews being taken out of, they're coming out of Babylon captivity, they're trying to reestablish themselves. This is the picture of someone that has placed their faith on Jesus. You know, we've been redeemed from that burden of sin, we've been redeemed from trying to keep ourselves saved by following the laws and following the commandments. All right? But here's the thing, there are always gonna be false prophets that just aren't satisfied to think that salvation is a free gift paid for in Christ. That they're not happy to see Christians who are rejoicing in their redemption, knowing full well that Jesus has done it all and I don't have to do anything for my salvation. They'll come along and try to put you back on the bondage. They'll try to charge you usury. They'll say, it's not enough, you gotta get circumcised. Oh, it's not enough to just believe, you gotta turn from your sins. It's not enough, you gotta be in church. It's not enough, you gotta get baptized. It's not enough, you've gotta, whatever, fill in the gaps. You know, it drives me nuts that there are Baptist pastors teaching that in order for a drunkard to get saved, that he's gotta give up on his alcohol. That if someone's living with their girlfriend, committing fornication, they've gotta give up on that fornication. To be saved, they teach. Brethren, these are false prophets. False prophets, I don't care if they came out of Bible college. I don't care if they were going to a Baptist church that you know all about and maybe it is a good church. If they're preaching another gospel, if they're teaching that Jesus Christ, faith in Christ alone is not enough, but you've gotta do more. There are false prophets. There are false prophets. Let's keep going to Galatians five, please. Galatians chapter five. Look what salvation does. Look what faith in Christ does in Galatians five verse one. Stand fast. The idea is like stand strongly. Be firm. Stand fast. Therefore, in the liberty, that word liberty is freedom, all right? Wherewith Christ have made us free and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. Christ has made us free. Don't get entangled in the yoke of bondage. Brethren, if I come teaching you that you just believe in Christ, well, where's your fruits? Where's, oh, you know, I just don't see you dedicated to church enough. I don't think you're saved. And if I start teaching nonsense like this, brethren, you kick me out as the pastor, please. All right, I'm never gonna teach that rubbish anyway. I'm just telling you. You know, you hear anyone teaching this nonsense, they say, no, Christ has given me liberty. Christ has made me free. Christ has redeemed me from the burden of the law. I don't have to pay anything to be saved. All right, let's keep going there. It says in verse number two, behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing. And if you're circumcised as the law commands of you, and you think you need to do that for salvation, it's gonna profit you nothing. For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, look at this, that he is a debtor to do the whole law. Brethren, if you say the drunk needs to give up on his alcohol to be saved, he is now a debtor to the whole law. You're putting him under bondage. Instead of giving him the freedom that is in salvation through Christ Jesus, by faith alone, a free gift completely paid for by Christ. Gotta charge me a bit of hoozery. No. Okay, these false prophets, they disgust me. They disgust me. God has given us something free. And they say, well, you gotta pay up to it. It's rubbish. Salvation is free, brethren. Look at verse number four. Christ is become of no effect unto you. So if you say you gotta be circumcised, or you say you gotta do this part of the law, and this part of the law, and you gotta give up on alcohol, and you've got a community fornication to be saved, it says Christ is become of no effect unto you. Brethren, preachers that preach this nonsense, that you have to keep parts of the law, you gotta clean up your life to be saved. Christ profits them nothing. They're not saved. Okay, they're false prophets. It says, whosoever of you are justified by the law, if you're trying to prove your salvation or claim your salvation by being justified by the law, ye are fallen from grace. Okay, you cannot be saved by grace and by the law. Once you introduce the law as a method of salvation, you have fallen out of grace. You were never saved to begin with. You were never saved by grace through faith. The Bible says it is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not by works less, it's a gift of, let's go again, for I grace that ye are saved through faith, and that not of yourselves it is the gift of God, not of works lest any man should boast. Okay, so you can see how, you know, this picture, you can see why God was so against a fellow brother, a fellow Jew, a fellow Israelite, charging usury on another Israelite. Because it's a picture of a false gospel. It's a picture of being delivered and then being brought under bondage again. Salvation's not enough. You know, faith alone in Christ is not enough. You've got to put your work, you've got to put your effort in to be saved. That's like charging usury, saying, well, it's, you know, the payment's not enough. You've got to charge, you've got to pay back more. You've got to do more than that, okay? Let's keep going back to Nehemiah chapter five, verse number nine. Actually, sorry, if you've got a still finger in Galatians, stay in Galatians. Nehemiah chapter five, please, verse number nine. Nehemiah chapter five, verse number nine. Nehemiah says to the nobles, those that are lending this money on usury. Also, I said, it is not good that you do, or you not to walk in the fear of our God because of the reproach of the heathen, our enemies. He says, look, you haven't even got the fear of God. How can you do this to your fellow man? All right, verse number 10. I likewise and my brethren and my servants might exact of them money and corn. I pray you, let us leave off this usury. Nehemiah says, look, I could do the same. You know, me and my servants, we could do the same thing. We could be lending money out and charging people with usury, okay? But he's not doing this, right? I mean, Nehemiah's trying to set an example that he's got such a fear of God that he would never go to his fellow Jew and charge him usury for borrowing money, okay? And brethren, I've got such a fear of God that I want to make sure when we preach the gospel, it's clear that it's by faith alone and Christ finished work, okay? Not of works. I want that to be clearly taught in this church, okay? No gray areas. It's a free gift paid by the blood of Jesus Christ. It's a fear of God that'll keep you right on this very fundamental truth, the most important doctrine of the Bible, salvation. He goes, look, I could do it. I'm a noble, I've got servants, I've got riches. I mean, maybe Nehemiah has lent out money, but he's not charged him usury. He's not charged him interest. I pray you, let us leave off this usury. And brethren, you know, for those Baptist pastors that are saved and you get mixed up on terminology if you're listening to this sermon, I pray you, let us leave off this usury. Please don't put up Baptist pastors, you know, those that are saved by grace for faith, please don't put up with some other man standing behind your pulpit and telling people they have to repent of their sins to be saved. Let us off this usury. Get rid of it. It's a false gospel that leads people to hell. Verse number 11, restore, I pray you, to them even this day, their lands, their vineyards, their olive yards, and their houses. Because look, just return it back to them. Give it back to them. They need this, all right? Also, the hundredth part of the money, the hundredth part of the money is 1%, okay? So the interest rates on the usury they're charging is 1%. It's funny, because like, it's too much. Even 1% is too much. But you know what, in Australia, if you're being charged 1% interest rate, we're like, woo-hoo! You know, but you know, it's just how warped, you know, our financial system is that, you know, it's warped, okay? But even 1% was too much. Even 1%, you're putting your brethren underburden, underburdens. And you know, if we wanna apply this a little bit further to our church environment, you know, if you're ever going to, if someone ever is in a financial need and you want to lend money, but you wanna pay back, okay, let's take the same principle that we see here, okay? Let's not charge our brethren interest, all right? If, you know, a brother-in-the-Lord is struggling financially, all right, he's saved, he's a brother, he's a fellow brother, you know, and he's having a hard time. Are we gonna look at, how can I take advantage of the situation? How can I turn $1,000 into $1,200, hmm? Well, I can help them make it look like I'm a great person and charge you $200 back in interest. No, we don't do that, brethren. You know, well, I would rather, if you're gonna give people some money in a tough situation, I'd rather you just give it to them freely and not expect anything in return. That'd be better. Okay, I'm not saying it's wrong to lend money and get it paid, but I'm not saying it's wrong. That's fine, okay? But you know what? I just, instead of potentially putting my fellow brother in a tougher situation financially, and if I'm in that position to do it, I'd rather just give it to them and not expect anything back, you know? Now, here's the thing. If you do lend out money and they repay it, and they say, look, I'm so thankful for what you've given me here's a little bit extra for you, fine. You haven't charged them usually. You haven't charged them interest. It's just they're doing it out of the thankfulness of the heart to give you something back, maybe a gift or something, who knows what it is. Fine, praise God for such a thing. Okay, but please don't put any expectations on your fellow man here, your fellow brother or sister in the Lord. You know, charge them interest on what you lend them. Let's keep going to verse number 11. No, I've read verse number 11, verse number 12. Then said they, we will restore them and we'll require nothing of them. So will we do as thou sayest. Then I called the priests and took an oath of them. They should do according to this promise. So them saying, yeah, we'll return that all back to them. It wasn't enough for Nehemiah. He goes, all right, one by one, I want you to make an oath. I want you to make a vow right now that that's exactly what you're going to do. You're going to release them from their mortgages. You're not gonna charge them interest anymore. You're gonna give them back their vineyards so they can at least have some service work in that land and being able to pay back what they borrowed or whatever it is that they, whatever the agreement was, all right. They should do according to this promise. And I look at verse number 13. And I shook my lap and said, so God shake out every man from his house and from his labor that performeth not this promise. Even thus be he shaken out and emptied. And all the congregation said, amen and praise the Lord. And the people did according to this promise. Now, brethren, I want the same. I want the very same thing that we just read there in verse number 13, all right. The nobles, those that lent out money, they've agreed, all right, we're gonna pay it back. Nehemiah says, look, if someone is not going to keep this vow, if there's someone that's not returning back the land, the vineyards and freeing these people up from that mortgage he says, we're gonna shake them off. And he gives this illustration. He shakes his lap, you know. And even thus be he shaken out and emptied. And all the congregation said, amen and praise the Lord. Brethren, I want all these congregations to say, amen. If we have a false prophet come into this church and try to preach another gospel, okay. Hey, we need to shake that person out. We need to grab that, hey, get out of this church. You're a false prophet. You're trying to bring in a false method of salvation. Hey, you're blaspheming the finished work of Christ and we shake them out of this church. And all the congregation said, amen and praise the Lord. And the people did according to this promise. Hey, how about we do this? How about we just promise that now? If this church ever has a man come behind this pulpit, all right, or trying to actively try to preach another gospel, why don't we just keep this promise and say, you know what? We're gonna get that person out of this church. We're not just talking about someone that is misguided. We're not just talking about someone that is believing a false gospel and is just trying to seek the Lord. We're talking about someone that is trying to actively preach another gospel in this church. We will not allow that. This pastor will not allow that. I know there are several men here that will not allow that. And children, you don't allow that either, okay? If you're still in Galatians, turn to Galatians one, verse number six. Galatians chapter one, verse number six. You see, the Galatian church, they allow these false prophets to creep into their church. They allow this other gospel to become being preached because sometimes it just sounds so similar. Yeah, Christ has done it all, his death, burn, resurrection, but you gotta repent of your sins. Sounds so similar, you know? That's like repenting, what do you mean by that? Sounds so similar. Galatians chapter one, verse six. Paul says to the Galatian church, I marvel, he goes, I'm surprised that you're so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel. He goes, Galatians church, how is it that you've got another gospel in your church? I marvel at this, how is it? It's unbelievable. Verse number seven, which is not another, but there are some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ. When it says which is not another, you know, we teach that salvation, the gospel, is the death, burn, resurrection of Jesus Christ. Yeah, they're teaching the same thing. It's not another, they're teaching it's the death, burn, resurrection, but the same, but you've gotta be circumcised. But you've gotta clean up your life. But you've gotta follow the law of Moses. But you gotta turn from your sins. You see, they take what we know, they take what is the same, okay? And then when they speak of Christ, you think they're a fellow brother, you think they're a great man of God, a great pastor, a great preacher, but what are they doing? They're corrupting God's word. They're corrupting the gospel. They're troubling you. They're trying to bring you back under bondage. Praise God that we've been freed in Christ. Praise God that we don't ever, I never doubt that salvation has been offered. I've got it. I have no doubt that I have everlasting life. I have no doubt that if I have a car accident on my way home and I pass away, that I'm gonna be in heaven, I've got no doubts for everyone. Why do you have no doubts? Because I know Jesus did it all. If I had to just do 1% of usury, that's what they were charging. It's impossible to pay back. It's impossible. Just 1%, it's unaffordable. You can't be saved trying to work your way. Just 1%. Oh, Jesus did 99%, I've gotta do my 1%. No, Jesus paid it all 100%. It's all done. It's just our faith. It's just trust in Christ. That's it. Praise God, salvation is so easy. So simple. So simple. Praise God. Sorry, Galatians chapter one. Where am I up to? Verse number eight. But though we are an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you, that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. What does it mean to be accursed? To be under the curse. Brethren, those that are saved, we're not under the curse. Christ became the curse for us the moment you believed on him. If the curse has been lifted off you, these people are still accursed. These people that preach under the gospel, they're still under the curse. They're not saved is what Paul is saying. All right, they're not saved. Verse number nine. And we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you, then that ye have received, let him be accursed. Brethren, we cannot put up with people that come into this church wanting to preach some other gospel. And you know, I fear for, you know, the independent fundamental Baptist movement of churches. There are so many pastors. Pastors, there are so many false prophets behind pulpits putting their people under bondage, telling them they have to do X, Y, and Z, besides just believing in Christ, to be saved. And brethren, it's another gospel that's been crept into church. Those pastors are accursed. Let them be accursed. Let them stay under that curse. They're damned and they're on the way to hell. We cannot have these people creep into our church. You know what, Nehemiah did not want these nobles, these lenders, taking advantage, putting people under bondage. You see the heart of Nehemiah. He loves the people, all right? He loves the people. He doesn't want them under bondage. Any pastor trying to put you under bondage, okay? They don't love you. They don't love you, okay? They're trying to take advantage of you. Okay, back to Nehemiah chapter five, verse 14. Nehemiah chapter five, verse number 14. Nehemiah continues, Moreover, from the time that I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah, from the 20th year, even unto the two and 30th year of Artaxerxes the king, that is 12 years, I and my brethren have not eaten the bread of the governor. So he goes, I've been a governor for these 12 years, and during these 12 years, I've not eaten the bread of the governor, meaning that the idea of the bread of the governor is that the taxes that get paid for the governor to make a living for himself, okay? So Nehemiah says, look, I've not earned, I'm not trying to take advantage of my fellow Jews here. I'm not trying to make them pay these excessive taxes so I can get paid the salary of another governor, okay? He's being careful about how he treats his fellow man. Let's keep going there. So he's basically not just releasing these guys from their mortgages, but he's also lowering the tax rate, the taxes that get paid to the Persian Empire. He's going without, he's not earning what a normal governor would earn because he doesn't wanna take advantage of his people, okay? And when you hear about taxes going up, it's because our government's taking advantage of us. There's nothing new under the sun, okay? There's nothing new under the sun. Anyway, let's keep going, verse 15. He goes, but the former governors, and the former governors were also Jews, you know, but the former governors that had been before me were chargeable unto the people, and had taken of them bread and wine beside 40 shekels of silver, yea, even their servants bear rule over the people, but so did not I, look at this, because of the fear of God. He goes, look, the fear of God is just too much in my life. I cannot take advantage of my fellow man. He goes, the former governors, they did. The former governors, this was basically a daily, they were daily receiving 40 shekels of silver. You'll see later on why it's daily, because he mentions it later, but he's saying, look, I did not need that much to live on. I'm not earning what the average governor earns, all right? I've got a fear of God, he says. He's doing this for God, he's doing it for the people of God, he's not doing it for himself. You know, if anyone has a desire to be a pastor one day, has a desire to get into the office, start a church one day, you do it for God, have a fear of God, start with a fear of God, and you'll be careful. You know, you gotta have that fear. You don't wanna take advantage of God's people. Why would I wanna take advantage of God's children? Could you imagine making your life hell, putting you guys under bondage, making you guys pay for all of my expenses, right? Trying to live this life, you know, whatever, and just not thinking about the wellbeing of others. You know, if any pastor's like that, brethren, they haven't got a fear of God. You know, these people, these excessively rich pastors, they're private jets, they're fancy mansions, they haven't got a fear of God. They're not even saved, they're preaching the false gospel anyway. Why do they become so wealthy? Because they put unnecessary burdens on the people. Okay, you wanna get into ministry, you have to love God's people. You know, you don't wanna put unnecessary, why? We preach the Bible and the words of God and the Holy Spirit of God do a work in the hearts and the minds of God's people. He's got a fear of God. Let's keep going there. And by the way, it's the fear of God that keeps me going as a pastor. I have a fear of God. I have a fear of God every time I get up to preach. I'm like, God, please don't let me make a mistake. You know, I hate it when I make a little mistake, like I misspeak, I say the wrong thing sometimes. You know, I just thought, man, you know, it eats me up. You know, you make the effort, midweek service to be here in the house of God, you make the effort to be fed God's word. You wanna come to church and know what God's word says. You know, you gotta have a fear of God to love God's people, to love the work of God, to do the best you can, to deliver the food, the nourishing food, the spiritual food that feeds the soul. It's the fear of God that keeps me going as a pastor. You know, it's nothing else. You know, and you know, it causes me to preach carefully. I wanna make sure that I'm not saying more than what God's word is speaking. Verse number 16, Nehemiah 5, 16. Yea, also I continued in the work of this wall. Neither bought we any land, and all my servants were gathered thither unto the work. Look, Nehemiah says, not only did I not earn as much as other governors in the past. He goes, my focus was on the wall. We were busy working on the wall, even my servants. I'm not trying to make a profit here. Even my servants are busy working on the wall. We didn't even buy any land. He goes, look, I don't wanna be distracted with lands and houses and vineyards. My focus is on the building of the walls. He's trying to set a good example because we're here to do God's work. You say, well, Nehemiah, how did you provide for yourself then? You haven't got your own vineyards. You haven't got your own farms. You haven't got your own agriculture. You know, you're not pushing taxes on your people either. How did you provide for yourself? Well, let's keep going there. It says verse number 17. Moreover, there were at my table, when it says at my table, these are people that Nehemiah has authority over. These are people that work under Nehemiah's authority. Moreover, they were at my table and 150 of the Jews and rulers. So Nehemiah, man, he's got a prominent position. He's got 150 prominent Jews and rulers besides those that came unto us from among the heathen that are about us. So I'm assuming the heathen here is talking about the Persian empire because he's a governor. There's probably other people that are traveling through and maybe collecting tax. I don't know what they're trying to do, whatever it is. Reporting back to the king and he's making sure their needs are being met. They're under his table, as it were. Okay, they're at his table. So he's looking after all the, he's not just looking after his own needs and his family needs. He's looking after this mass sum of people as well. Okay, making sure they're provided for. And this is how he's provided for, verse number 18. Now that which was prepared for me daily. So this is now, this is his daily earnings as the governor of Judah. Daily was one ox and six choice sheep. Say, man, that's a lot of food. One ox and six choice. Yeah, don't forget how many people we had under him though. Okay, this is what, this is what he's making basically. This is, these are the taxes that are being paid to him and for the people that are under his authority. One ox and six choice of sheep. Also fowls were prepared for me. And once in 10 days, store of all sorts of wine. So all kinds of juices as well. Yet for all this, look at this, he makes it very clear, because it seems like a lot, like to us. If someone just kept giving you one ox and six sheep every single day, you'd be like, man, this is way too much. I wouldn't have enough freezers and freezers to keep all this, you know, not from rotting. But he goes, he makes it very clear. Yet for all this required not I the bread of the governor. Because even though this is how much we're actually earning, this is how many people to take care of, I'm still not making as much as other governors are, as the average rate of a governor. I'm not even asking for that. He's just asking for what he needs to take care of himself, his family, his servants, okay, that's all he's seeking for. Because the bondage was heavy upon this people, okay. So again, he doesn't want to take advantage of the people that he's got there working for the work of God. And then he says this, and he's talking about himself, he's kind of defending himself financially. And then he says in the verse number 19, he kind of turns to God and says, think upon me, my God, for good, according to all that I have done for these people. He says, God, I'm not trying to take advantage of them. God, I'm not trying to be this wealthy person on this land. I just want to get busy and do your work. Lord, I just want to be paid what I need to get paid to take care of my needs and the people that are under me. And he turns to God, he kind of just checks with God, God, can you see my heart, you know? Because obviously he's rich, I mean, he's a wealthy man, he's got authority, right? But he's trying to tell God, look, this is not what I'm after, this is not what I'm chasing for. I'm here to do your work, God. You know, think upon me, my God, for good, according to all that I have done for these people. You know, this basically goes hand in hand once again with the sermon that I preached on Sunday, okay? What is he looking for? Is he seeking riches? Is he greedy for a lot? Hey, he's a rich man, he's a governor, he's got authority. One ox, six sheep, and plus all the other things that we read about every day. You know, that's a wealthy man, definitely. But listen, he sought for the Lord's blessings. That's what he was after. He just sought to make the Lord proud, to make the Lord happy, to do the work of God. That's his goal, that's the goal of his life, to be a servant unto God. Think upon me, my God, for good. He goes, God, please do good to me, please bless me. I'm not trying to take advantage of your people. When you get busy in your work, I'm not chasing the riches and the greed. Brethren, as I said to you, the title for the sermon was Leave Off This Ussery, Leave Off This Ussery. Now, I know by the testimonies that I've heard from you that nobody believes here as far as I know. That salvation is by any kind of work. You know, and if you're confused on this topic, brethren, leave off this usury. Get rid of it. If you're listening to preachers that are questionable, preachers that make the gospel cloudy, confusing, preachers that say, well, you still have to do besides what Christ has done. Leave off this usury, get rid of them. Brethren, if we have any false prophets try to come into this church, leave off this usury. Let it go, shake them out of this church. We get rid of them. If any of you have lent money to a fellow brother in the Lord and you're charging them interest, you're charging them usury, leave off this usury. Okay, give it back to them. I'm not saying there is anyone like that, I don't know. But do not charge your own brothers and sisters in the Lord. Don't charge them interest. Okay, please, I hope I can have demonstrated that this is not just a financial transaction. These things have spiritual connotations to the salvation, the redemption that comes through Jesus Christ. Okay, brethren, let's pray.