{"id":6043,"date":"2020-08-30T15:21:22","date_gmt":"2020-08-30T19:21:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/?p=6043"},"modified":"2020-08-30T15:21:22","modified_gmt":"2020-08-30T19:21:22","slug":"selfish-scoundrels","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/?p=6043","title":{"rendered":"SELFISH SCOUNDRELS"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sermon By Rev. Richard Jones<\/strong><\/h3>\n

rec 08-30-20<\/a><\/p>\n

SELFISH SCOUNDRELS<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Nehemiah Chapter 5<\/strong><\/h2>\n

EXPLOITATION OF OTHERS\u00a0 \u00a0Nehemiah 5: 1-5<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

Now there arose\u00a0a great outcry of the people and of their wives\u00a0against their Jewish brothers.\u00a02\u00a0<\/strong>For there were those who said, \u201cWith our sons and our daughters, we are many. So let us get grain, that we may eat and keep alive.\u201d\u00a03\u00a0<\/strong>There were also those who said, \u201cWe are mortgaging our fields, our vineyards, and our houses to get grain because of the famine.\u201d\u00a04\u00a0<\/strong>And there were those who said, \u201cWe have borrowed money for\u00a0the king’s tax on our fields and our vineyards.\u00a05\u00a0<\/strong>Now\u00a0our flesh is as the flesh of our brothers, our children are as their children. Yet\u00a0we are forcing our sons and our daughters to be slaves, and some of our daughters have already been enslaved, but it is not in our power to help it, for other men have our fields and our vineyards.\u201d<\/span><\/h3>\n

Leviticus 25: 35-40<\/span><\/h3>\n

\u201cIf your brother becomes poor and cannot maintain himself with you,\u00a0you shall support him as though he were a stranger and a sojourner, and he shall live with you.\u00a036\u00a0<\/strong>Take no interest from him or profit, but\u00a0fear your God, that your brother may live beside you.\u00a037\u00a0<\/strong>You shall not lend him your money at interest, nor give him your food for profit.\u00a038\u00a0<\/strong>I am the\u00a0Lord\u00a0your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt to give you the land of Canaan, and to be your God. 39\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cIf your brother becomes poor beside you and sells himself to you, you shall not make him serve as a slave:\u00a040\u00a0<\/strong>he shall be with you as a hired worker and as a sojourner. He shall serve with you until the year of the jubilee.<\/span><\/h3>\n

EXAMINATION OF WRONG\u00a0 \u00a0Nehemiah 5: 6-8<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

I was very angry when I heard\u00a0their outcry and these words.\u00a07\u00a0<\/strong>I took counsel with myself, and I brought charges against the nobles and the officials. I said to them,\u00a0\u201cYou are exacting interest, each from his brother.\u201d And I held a great assembly against them\u00a08\u00a0<\/strong>and said to them, \u201cWe, as far as we are able,\u00a0have bought back our Jewish brothers who have been sold to the nations, but you even sell your brothers that they may be sold to us!\u201d They were silent and could not find a word to say.<\/span><\/h3>\n

Micah 2: 1-2<\/span><\/h3>\n

Woe to those who devise wickedness and work evil\u00a0on their beds! When the morning dawns, they perform it, because it is in the power of their hand. 2\u00a0<\/strong>They covet fields and\u00a0seize them, and houses, and take them away;they oppress a man and his house, a man and his inheritance.<\/span><\/h3>\n

EXPLANATION OF CHANGE\u00a0 \u00a0 Nehemiah 5: 9-11<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

So I said, \u201cThe thing that you are doing is not good. Ought you not to walk\u00a0in the fear of our God\u00a0to prevent the taunts of the nations our enemies?\u00a010\u00a0<\/strong>Moreover, I and my brothers and my servants are lending them money and grain. Let us abandon this exacting of interest 11\u00a0<\/strong>Return to them this very day their fields, their vineyards, their olive orchards, and their houses, and the percentage of money, grain, wine, and oil that you have been exacting from them.\u201d<\/span><\/h3>\n

Micah 6: 6-8<\/span><\/h3>\n

\u201cWith what shall I come before the\u00a0Lord, and bow myself before\u00a0God on high? Shall I come<\/span>
\nbefore him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? 7\u00a0<\/strong>Will the\u00a0Lord\u00a0be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?\u201d 8\u00a0<\/strong>He has told you, O man, what is good; and\u00a0what does the\u00a0Lord\u00a0require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to\u00a0walk humbly with your God?<\/span><\/h3>\n

EXPECTATION OF ACTION\u00a0 \u00a0 Nehemiah 5: 12-13<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

Then they said, \u201cWe will restore these and\u00a0require nothing from them. We will do as you say.\u201d And I called the priests and\u00a0made them swear\u00a0to do as they had promised.\u00a013\u00a0<\/strong>I also shook out the fold of my garment and said, \u201cSo may God shake out every man from his house and from his labor who does not keep this promise. So may he be shaken out and emptied.\u201d\u00a0And all the assembly said \u201cAmen\u201d and praised the\u00a0Lord. And the people did as they had promised.<\/span><\/h3>\n

Ecclesiastes 5: 4-6<\/span><\/h3>\n

When\u00a0you vow a vow to God,\u00a0do not delay paying it, for he has no pleasure in fools.\u00a0Pay what you vow.\u00a05\u00a0<\/strong>It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay.\u00a06\u00a0<\/strong>Let not your mouth lead you into sin, and do not say before\u00a0the messenger that it was\u00a0a mistake. Why should God be angry at your voice and destroy the work of your hands?<\/span><\/h3>\n

1 Peter 4: 17<\/span><\/h3>\n

For it is time for judgment\u00a0to begin at the household of God; and\u00a0if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who\u00a0do not obey the gospel of God?<\/span><\/h3>\n

EXAMPLE OF GOOD\u00a0 \u00a0Nehemiah 5: 14-16<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

Moreover, from the time that I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah, from\u00a0the twentieth year to\u00a0the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes the king, twelve years,\u00a0neither I nor my brothers ate the food allowance of the governor.\u00a015\u00a0<\/strong>The former governors who were before me laid heavy burdens on the people and took from them for their daily ration[a<\/a>]\u00a0forty shekels[b<\/a>]\u00a0of silver. Even their servants lorded it over the people. But I did not do so,\u00a0because of the fear of God.\u00a016\u00a0<\/strong>I also persevered in the work on this wall, and we acquired no land, and all my servants were gathered there for the work.<\/span><\/h3>\n

Philippians 2: 3-4<\/span><\/h3>\n

Do nothing from\u00a0selfish ambition or\u00a0conceit, but in\u00a0humility count others more significant than yourselves.\u00a04\u00a0<\/strong>Let each of you\u00a0look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.<\/span><\/h3>\n

EXTRAVAGANCE OF GENEROSITY\u00a0 \u00a0 Nehemiah 5: 17-19<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

Moreover, there were\u00a0at my table 150 men, Jews and officials, besides those who came to us from the nations that were around us.\u00a018\u00a0<\/strong>Now what was prepared at my expense for each day was one ox and six choice sheep and birds, and every ten days all kinds of wine in abundance. Yet for all this\u00a0I did not demand the food allowance of the governor, because the service was too heavy on this people.\u00a019\u00a0<\/strong>Remember for my good, O my God, all that I have done for this people.<\/span><\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sermon By Rev. Richard Jones rec 08-30-20 SELFISH SCOUNDRELS Nehemiah Chapter 5 EXPLOITATION OF OTHERS\u00a0 \u00a0Nehemiah 5: 1-5 Now there arose\u00a0a great outcry of the people and of their wives\u00a0against their Jewish brothers.\u00a02\u00a0For there were those who said, \u201cWith our … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,24,25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6043","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-messages","category-sermon-series","category-sermons-by-rev-jones"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6043"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6043"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6043\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6044,"href":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6043\/revisions\/6044"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6043"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6043"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6043"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}