Socialism or Capitalism - God's Answer

Socialism or Capitalism - God's Answer

 Introduction: I just returned from ministering in a country which has a socialist government system. Life is controlled from birth to the grave. There is no poverty and there is no wealth. Now, lest I be accused of being political I will remind you that the elections in America are past for now. In the country I was in they have a government health system. (My wife and I just lost our health provider as of January 1 because the insurance company cannot comply with new government health requirements at our age of 78 and 76.) While property in the country we were visiting is privately owned, it cannot be passed onto their heirs because of government regulations. While socialism looks good on the surface and there was a movement in Christianity before our WWII called "The Social Gospel," is Socialism or Free Enterprise God's program of economics?

       I.      Government Control

Revelation 13:11-18(NKJV) – ¹¹Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb and spoke like a dragon. ¹²And he exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence, and causes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. ¹³He performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men. ¹⁴And he deceives those who dwell on the earth by those signs which he was granted to do in the sight of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who was wounded by the sword and lived. 

¹⁵He was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed. ¹⁶He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, ¹⁷and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. ¹⁸Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: His number is 666.

A.     This is a socialistic dictatorship

All socialistic systems ultimately lead to control over the individual - that is dictatorship

B.     Socialistic systems always move to equality

Revelation 13:16(NKJV) – ¹⁶He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads... - That's is equality!

C.     Government control leads to slavery of all

Exodus 1:8-18(NKJV) – ⁸Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. ⁹And he said to his people, “Look, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we; ¹⁰come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and it happen, in the event of war, that they also join our enemies and fight against us, and so go up out of the land.” ¹¹Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh supply cities, Pithom and Raamses. ¹²But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. And they were in dread of the children of Israel.

 ¹³So the Egyptians made the children of Israel serve with rigor. ¹⁴And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage—in mortar, in brick, and in all manner of service in the field. All their service in which they made them serve was with rigor. ¹⁵Then the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, of whom the name of one was Shiphrah and the name of the other Puah; ¹⁶and he said, “When you do the duties of a midwife for the Hebrew women, and see them on the birthstools, if it is a son, then you shall kill him; but if it is a daughter, then she shall live.” ¹⁷But the midwives feared God, and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the male children alive. ¹⁸So the king of Egypt called for the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this thing, and saved the male children alive?”

ILL: Joseph instituted a governmental social system under Egypt. It created slavery and abortion as birth control. (In China the government, communist, created social economic control and population control.) Socialism has never worked wherever it has been tried!

    II.      God's order for economics

Exodus 20:1-17(NKJV) – ¹And God spoke all these words, saying: ²“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. ³“You shall have no other gods before Me. ⁴“You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; ⁵you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, ⁶but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments. ⁷“You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.

⁸“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. ⁹Six days you shall labor and do all your work, ¹⁰but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. ¹¹For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.  ¹² “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you. ¹³“You shall not murder. ¹⁴“You shall not commit adultery. ¹⁵“You shall not steal. ¹⁶“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. ¹⁷“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.”

 III.      The Ten Commandments and Free Enterprise

Exodus 20:3(NKJV) – ³“You shall have no other gods before Me."

• You cannot serve God and Government

Exodus 20:15(NKJV) – ¹⁵“You shall not steal.

• Something must belong to someone else

Exodus 20:1-17(NKJV) – ¹⁷“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.”

• Your neighbor must own his house, be able to have servants, own animals and other things. Private ownership does not belong with socialism.

  IV.      Men have a God-given right to become rich

Genesis 13:1-7(NKJV) – ¹Then Abram went up from Egypt, he and his wife and all that he had, and Lot with him, to the South. ²Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold. 
³And he went on his journey from the South as far as Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai, ⁴to the place of the altar which he had made there at first. And there Abram called on the name of the Lord.⁵Lot also, who went with Abram, had flocks and herds and tents. ⁶Now the land was not able to support them, that they might dwell together, for their possessions were so great that they could not dwell together. ⁷And there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram’s livestock and the herdsmen of Lot’s livestock. The Canaanites and the Perizzites then dwelt in the land.

ILL: He raised livestock, sold for both silver and gold and had employees (herdsman).

A.     Those who will not use it will lose it!

Matthew 25:14-29(NKJV) – ¹⁴“For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them. ¹⁵And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey. ¹⁶Then he who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and made another five talents. ¹⁷And likewise he who had received two gained two more also.¹⁸But he who had received one went and dug in the ground, and hid his lord’s money. ¹⁹After a long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them.

²⁰“So he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, ‘Lord, you delivered to me five talents; look, I have gained five more talents besides them.’ ²¹His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’ ²²He also who had received two talents came and said, ‘Lord, you delivered to me two talents; look, I have gained two more talents besides them.’ ²³His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’

²⁴“Then he who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed. ²⁵And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.’ ²⁶“But his lord answered and said to him, ‘You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed. ²⁷So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest. ²⁸So take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents. ²⁹‘For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. 

B.     Poverty is slavery - including welfare

Proverbs 10:4-5(NKJV) – ⁴He who has a slack hand becomes poor, But the hand of the diligent makes rich. ⁵He who gathers in summer is a wise son;  He who sleeps in harvest is a son who causes shame.

Proverbs 10:26(NKJV) – ²⁶As vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes, So is the lazy man to those who send him.

Proverbs 12:24(NKJV) – ²⁴The hand of the diligent will rule, But the lazy man will be put to forced labor.

Proverbs 26:13-16(NKJV) – ¹³The lazy man says, “There is a lion in the road! A fierce lion is in the streets!” ¹⁴As a door turns on its hinges,  So does the lazy man on his bed. ¹⁵The lazy man buries his hand in the bowl;  It wearies him to bring it back to his mouth. ¹⁶The lazy man is wiser in his own eyes  Than seven men who can answer sensibly.

2 Thessalonians 3:10-12(NKJV) – ¹⁰For even when we were with you, we commanded you this: If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat. ¹¹For we hear that there are some who walk among you in a disorderly manner, not working at all, but are busybodies. ¹²Now those who are such we command and exhort through our Lord Jesus Christ that they work in quietness and eat their own bread.

     V.      The Government's role in a Capitalist society

What about unemployment?

Productivity is the key to employment!

ILL: I can tell you how to get everyone in the world employed. GET RID OF THE WHEEL! If everything in the world had to be moved by manual labor, everyone would have a job! Of course you understand that I am not serious. But nothing is too "big to fail" The harpoon industry failed because of kerosene lamps. Studebaker, Packard, Nash, Kiser-Frazer, were all car companies that no longer exist but were replaced by others that created product the customer wanted. In a free enterprise system it is the customer who has the power!

A.     The Government makes sure that the playing field is equal

Amos 2:6(NKJV) – ⁶Thus says the Lord: “For three transgressions of Israel, and for four,  I will not turn away its punishment,  Because they sell the righteous for silver,  And the poor for a pair of sandals.

ILL:  This applies to unscrupulous government from receiving bribes.

Deuteronomy 25:13-16(NKJV) – ¹³“You shall not have in your bag differing weights, a heavy and a light. ¹⁴You shall not have in your house differing measures, a large and a small. ¹⁵You shall have a perfect and just weight, a perfect and just measure, that your days may be lengthened in the land which the Lord your God is giving you. ¹⁶For all who do such things, all who behave unrighteously, are an abomination to the Lord your God.

ILL: Only two kinds of people can take what belongs to me - the robber and the government!

B.     The Government protects

2 Chronicles 17:10-13(NKJV) – ¹⁰And the fear of the Lord fell on all the kingdoms of the lands that were around Judah, so that they did not make war against Jehoshaphat. ¹¹Also some of the Philistines brought Jehoshaphat presents and silver as tribute; and the Arabians brought him flocks, seven thousand seven hundred rams and seven thousand seven hundred male goats. ¹²So Jehoshaphat became increasingly powerful, and he built fortresses and storage cities in Judah. ¹³He had much property in the cities of Judah; and the men of war, mighty men of valor, were in Jerusalem.

C.     The Government has a right to tax for its services

Luke 20:21-25(NKJV) – ²¹Then they asked Him, saying, “Teacher, we know that You say and teach rightly, and You do not show personal favoritism, but teach the way of God in truth: ²²Is it lawful for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?” ²³But He perceived their craftiness, and said to them, “Why do you test Me? ²⁴Show Me a denarius. Whose image and inscription does it have?” They answered and said, “Caesar’s.” ²⁵And He said to them, “Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”

D.     Inflation is a tax that devalues the currency

Isaiah 1:21-25(NKJV) – ²¹How the faithful city has become a harlot! It was full of justice;  Righteousness lodged in it,  But now murderers. ²²Your silver has become dross,  Your wine mixed with water. ²³Your princes are rebellious,  And companions of thieves;  Everyone loves bribes,  And follows after rewards.  They do not defend the fatherless,  Nor does the cause of the widow come before them. ²⁴Therefore the Lord says, The Lord of hosts, the Mighty One of Israel,  “Ah, I will rid Myself of My adversaries,  And take vengeance on My enemies. ²⁵I will turn My hand against you,  And thoroughly purge away your dross,  And take away all your alloy.

• God says to Israel, “Your money is counterfeit, government leaders are rebels. They are all thieves and take bribes.”
• The United States is printing counterfeit money - today it takes $1,300. to purchase a $50 gold coin. My dollars were worthless in Europe - they did not even want to take them!

  VI.      Capitalism grows on faith, Socialism grows on fear

Deuteronomy 15:6-8(NKJV) – ⁶For the Lord your God will bless you just as He promised you; you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow; you shall reign over many nations, but they shall not reign over you. ⁷“If there is among you a poor man of your brethren, within any of the gates in your land which the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart nor shut your hand from your poor brother, ⁸but you shall open your hand wide to him and willingly lend him sufficient for his need, whatever he needs.

• The nation is not to become a debtor nation - the United States has become one.
• Charity is to be personal not institutional

Luke 6:38(NKJV) – ³⁸Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.”

ILL: This does not say "Let the government take it from you to redistribute the wealth.”

CONCLUSION: Giving is to be voluntary, by faith - not by government decree!

Malachi 3:10-12(NKJV) – ¹⁰Bring all the tithes into the storehouse,  That there may be food in My house, And try Me now in this,”  Says the Lord of hosts,  “If I will not open for you the windows of heaven  And pour out for you such blessing  That there will not be room enough to receive it. ¹¹“And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, So that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground,  Nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field,”  Says the Lord of hosts; ¹²And all nations will call you blessed,  For you will be a delightful land,”  Says the Lord of hosts.