Facing our Finances
Building Together: Facing our Finances
Text: Nehemiah 5:1-19
There was division among the people. Families were turning on one another. There was famine in the land. Inflation was sky high; taxes were sky high, and there was a supply shortage.
a. The Problems of Financial Bondage:
Strife and Divisions: Verse 3—there were “strife, and divisions.” It was over money; it was over finances; it was over wages; it was over property.
Shortage of Necessities: Basic necessities were hard to get and were costly. Verse 2 talks about how difficult it was to get wheat and corn.
People Mortgaged Their Property: They had to sell everything just to get by. Verse 3: “Some also there were that said, ‘We have mortgaged our lands, vineyards, and houses.’” Why? To buy food.
Deep Debt: Verse 4: “There were also that said, ‘We have borrowed money for the king’s tribute.’” They had gone to the finance company to borrow money to pay their taxes. To be under the bondage of deep debt is a terrible thing.
I. The Test of Financial Bondage:
a. Jesus said, “I have come that you might be free”: “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.” (John 8:36) Let’s take a test and see if we’re in financial bondage:
One: When you charge daily expenses because you don’t have enough money.
Two: When you must put off paying a bill until next month.
Three: When you borrow money to pay taxes, insurance, or house payments.
Four: When you can’t keep up with how much you owe.
Five: When you have creditors and debt collectors calling and writing you about past due bills.
Six: When you take from your savings or retirement to pay current bills.
Seven: When you get new larger loans to pay off your old ones.
Eight: When you and your spouse argue over finances.
Nine: When you start thinking about cheating on taxes, fudging the numbers, etc.
Ten: When you can’t walk in obedience to God in tithes and offerings according to Scripture, you are in financial bondage. God doesn’t want any of this for His people.
II. Financial Bondage Can Happen to Anyone:
a. Nehemiah 5:6-8, “And I was very angry when I heard their cry and these words. Then I consulted with myself, 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. And I said unto them, We after our ability have redeemed our brethren the Jews, which were sold unto the heathen; and will ye even sell your brethren? or shall they be sold unto us? Then held they their peace, and found nothing to answer.”
b. The Law of Moses stated no Jew could charge interest to another Jew and they had broken that law.
c. And notice, the wealthy and the poor were both in bondage. Some people who have lots of money are in financial bondage. Let’s find out if you are in financial bondage as a person who’s financially secure:
One: Do You Have More Faith in Your Money and in Your Material Possessions Than You Have in God? If you want to know how rich you truly are, add up everything you have money can’t buy and death can’t take away. That’s your true wealth.
Two: Do You Have Ambitions Contrary to the Will of God? Are there things you want to do with your money—financial ambitions, financial goals—that are not in the will of God?
Three: Do You Have a Burning Desire for Money? Do you have a lust for money and a desire to get rich quick or at any cost to you or someone else?
Four: Do You Compromise Your Christian Ethic? Do you fail to honor your moral obligations? Are you a gambler or a steward? You can’t “love your neighbor as yourself” and profit from their loss at the same time. (Leviticus 19:18)
III. How to have Financial Freedom
a. In Nehemiah 5:14, he’s talking about people who were taking advantage of others, and he begins with the word, “Moreover.” Nehemiah says, “I’m going to tell you the way I live with my finances.”
1. He Prioritized
• Verses 14-15: “Moreover from the time that I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah, from the twentieth year even unto the two and thirtieth year of Artaxerxes the king, that is, twelve years, I and my brethren have not eaten the bread of the governor.” He says, “I was the governor of all of this area, and I had every right to tax the people to have my needs supplied, but I didn’t.”
• Verse 15: “But the former governors that had been before me were chargeable unto the people, and had taken of them bread and wine, beside forty shekels of silver; yea, even their servants bare rule over the people: but so did not I, because of the fear of God.” He said, “I was willing to forego my rights, that God might be glorified.”
• He put God first. He prioritized. Are you willing to? Are you willing to lay aside your (financial) rights and put God first? Jesus said, “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” (Matthew 6:33)
• God will not work in second place. If you put your business, your plans, your desires, your ambitions, your goals first, you will never know true financial freedom regardless of how much money you have. But Jesus promised if we prioritize and, “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, all these things shall be added unto us.”
• If you don’t put God first, no matter how much you pray for financial breakthrough, God won’t do it, because you’re asking God to bless your disobedience.
2. He Worked
• Verse 16, he says, “Yea, also I continued in the work of this wall.” If your goal is to get enough money so you won’t have to work, you don’t understand God’s plan. The Bible says, “Six days thou shalt work.” (Exodus 34:21) The same Bible that tells us to rest also tells us to work. And some don’t have financial freedom because they refuse to work.
3. He had Integrity
• Verse 16, “Yea, also I continued in the work of this wall, neither bought we any land.” It was a time of economic distress, and Nehemiah had money. He could have bought up all the property, but he refused. Just because something is legal doesn’t make it right. He refused to take advantage of someone else’s misfortune.
4. He was Generous
• Verse 17: “Moreover there were at my table an hundred and fifty of the Jews and rulers …”—He had 150 for dinner every night for twelve years and he footed the bill. “Moreover there were at my table an hundred and fifty of the Jews and rulers, beside those that came unto us from among the heathen that are about us.” (Nehemiah 5:17) Besides the 150, people brought their friends and family to dinner as well.
• “Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom.” (Luke 6:38) 2 Corinthians 9:6, “He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly;”—you want a small crop? Plant a few seeds. You want a big crop? —PLANT BIG! “and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.”
• God knows what the need is. God knows what part He wants me to take in meeting that need. God will show me what part He wants me to have in meeting that need. And because of that, God will meet the need. God never asks us to give of our own resources. “Of thine own have we given thee!” (1 Chronicles 29:14)
• Verse 19: “Think upon me, my God, for good, according to all that I have done for this people.” (Nehemiah 5:19) Do you think God forgets it when you’re generous? He doesn’t. Nehemiah depended upon God to reward him. He wasn’t looking to man; he was looking to God, and he was depending upon God to supply his every need.
• And as surely as there’s a God in heaven, He will do it. You put God first, and God will think upon you for good and take care of you. Folks, look. It pleases God when His people are blessed.