Amen, so in Genesis chapter 3, the part of the chapter I want to focus in on is
there a beginning of verse 17 where the Bible reads, and unto Adam he said,
Because thou was hearken of the voice of thy wife, and has eaten of the tree which
I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it. Cursed is the ground for
thy sake, and sorrow thou shalt eat of it all the days of thy life. Thorns also and
thistles shall bring forth thee, and thou shalt eat the herb of the field, and the
sweat of thy face shall thou eat bread. Till thou return unto the ground, for out of
it was thou taken, for dost thou art, and unto dost shalt thou return. Of course,
very familiar chapter, and what we see here is that God is cursing man, and part
of that curse is that he is telling Adam, look, you're going to work for your food.
Basically, that's what he's saying. He's saying, you are going to work for your
food, and he says, you know, it's going to be laboursome. He says, there are thorns
and thistles shall bring forth thee. He said, in sorrow thou shalt eat of it of
all the days of thy life. He said, you're going to eat by the sweat of thy face
shall thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground. He's saying, look, you're
going to work every day of your life. You're going to work for the rest of your
life if you want to eat. That's what he's saying, and this shows us that God made
man to work for his food, and this curse still applies today, that we are to work.
We are to labour for our food. Now, if you would, keep something in Genesis
throughout the sermon tonight, but turn back to Genesis chapter 2. You say, well,
that doesn't sound very fun. Well, that's just the way it is that we are to work
for our food, and it was not always burdensome. It wasn't always burdensome to
work. You know, man was always made to work, but it always wasn't a curse, but
God made man to work, and you see that in Genesis chapter 2 verse 15, and the Lord
took the man and put him into the Garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. So,
even before the fall, even before God cursed man, God had already created man
with the purpose that man would work, that he would be in the garden, and that he
would be keeping it, that he would be dressing it, and of course, then the fall
comes, and he says, hey, you're still going to work, only now it's going to be
harder. So, it wasn't like before the fall, you know, the man never worked. The man
just sat around, didn't do anything. Man has been designed to work. We as men are
designed to work, and we are commanded by scripture to work, and we're going to get
into that tonight as well, and we even see throughout all of scripture, you
know, you see every godly example that you can think of in scripture, you see
that they are hard workers. Every godly man in scripture has been employed, you
know, often in hard labor, and, you know, we could think of several examples, but
one that comes to mind for me is Moses. I mean, one of the, you know, the greatest
prophets ever would be Moses, and how did Moses start out? You know, he
started out, he kept the flock of Jethro, his father, his father-in-law, the priest
of Midian, and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to the
mountain of God, even to Orph. So, we see that he was one that went out and worked
hard. Now, being a shepherd, that's not easy work. I mean, that's staying
out in the elements, being exposed to all that, following these animals around, you
know, having to to shear them, and care for them, and nurture them, and protect
them. I mean, that is hard work. Anyone, anytime you get involved in working with
livestock, you know, I spent a few winters in northern Michigan working on
a dairy farm, and let me tell you something, those guys are hard workers.
When you start working with animals and things of that nature, where they just
constantly, I mean, you can't just, I mean, as a dairy farmer, you're married to that
job. I mean, those cows have to be milked every single day, sometimes twice a
day. So, we see that, you know, when you're working with livestock, that's very
difficult work, but that's what Moses did. Moses was a hard worker. We could think
of other men, you know, the prophet Amos is one who came to mind for me. He said,
I was no prophet, neither was I a prophet's son, but I was in Herdman, and I
gathered, and a gatherer of sycamore fruit. He said, look, when I wasn't, you know,
taking care of a flock of animals, I was gathering sycamore fruit. You know, maybe
he did both at the same time. Whenever the sycamore fruit came in, whenever it
was time and season, he had to take his flock over there, and he was working two
jobs, you know, in certain times in his life. And he, so he's another one. Jacob,
if you would, turn over to Genesis chapter 31. You know, Jacob is a great
example of somebody who was a very hard worker, and he labored very difficult, very
hard. Look at Genesis chapter 31 verse 8. This 20, of course, this is him, you know,
kind of rebuking his father-in-law Laban after he had tried to go back to his, his
homeland, and Laban had caught up to him, and he says to him in verse 8, these 20
years have I been with thee. Thy ewes and thy she-goats have not cast
their young, and thy rams of thy flocks have I not eaten. That which was torn of
the beast I brought not unto thee, I bear the loss of it. Of my hand didst thou
require it, whether stolen by day or stolen by night, thus I was in the, in the
day the drought consumed me, and the frost by night, and my sleep departed
from mine eyes. I mean, here's a guy saying, look, I was out in every kind of
weather, you know, whether it was the heat, whether it was the drought, whether it
was frost, whether it was day, whether it was night, I didn't sleep, I stayed up, I
worked hard. Thus have I been 20 years in thy house. I have served thee 14 years
for thy two daughters, and six years for thy cattle, and thou hast changed my
wages ten times. So he worked even when he had a bad boss. He even had a boss who was
always changing his wages, changing the deal, he continued to labor hard. He's an
example of a very hard worker in the Bible. As any man of God is in the Bible,
they are hard workers. And we see that God designed man to work, and God demands
men that they work. It's not just an option, it's not just like, oh, I know I
was made to work, but you know, that's kind of up to me with whether or not I
want to work. God demands work for men. He demands that they work. Why? Why is it so
important that a man works, as God has designed him to do? Well, one big reason
is because of the fact that if you work, you will not become idle, you will not
become slothful, and you will not become disorderly. And that's what people fall
into when they stop working. They become slothful, they become idle, and they
become disorderly. And, you know, in today's world, working hard is discouraged. I
mean, the American dream is to not to work as little as possible, you know, to
work as little as you as you can, and retire early with a big bank account, and
get out of the work field as fast as you can. And that's what
everyone wants to do. I mean, I know that. I worked for the City of Phoenix for, I
don't know, did I make it two years? I don't know. Maybe it was only a year, a year
or two years. I can't remember now. But, you know, I worked there, and I've said
this before, I've never seen a group of people work so hard at not working.
I mean, they wanted every single day, 17 paid holidays, two weeks paid vacation,
a curing sick time, pension plans, retirement, and those things are great.
You know, and if our jobs afford us those things, fine. But there's just the
mentality, we can't let this mentality sink in on us, where we just say, well, you
know, I don't want to work hard. You know, I just want a job that's gonna let me
take it easy. And that's why I left that place. Here's why I left the City of
Phoenix. I didn't get fired. I left. I went there, I went to my boss and said,
hey, they were way behind on their preventative maintenance, and they wanted
me to find a subcontractor to bring in to help me get caught up. And then a
night, so I got some bids, and I said, look, you know, it's gonna cost you over
$60,000 to get somebody in here to pay them for a year to help you get
caught up. Why don't you pay me 10, you know, 10 hours of overtime a week that
I'll just dedicate to get caught up. You're getting caught up. I'll make some
money. I'll work at overtime. It'll be great. You'll save money. I'll make money.
What's, you know, most people would say, that's a great idea, Corbin. Thanks for
looking out for the company and trying to save us money. Thanks for being
somebody who's willing to work a little harder to get things done around here.
But you know what they said? No, we're not gonna do that. Because you say you want
to work overtime now, but we don't know what'll happen down the road. And if we
set this money aside for you to work overtime and then you change your mind
down the road, and I'm thinking to myself, if I change my mind, just fire me. You know,
just get rid of me. Get somebody else who keeps their word or something, you know.
But then I realized that they, you know, they would rather spend more money to
pay somebody else to do the job that I could do. And I said, well, you know,
forget it. I went and found a job out in the private sector where they put me to
work, you know, where they would be fine with me working extra hours. In
fact, they'd be grateful for it. So that's the world we're living in today. And in
today's world, you know, working long hours, working long weeks is discouraged.
You know, it's a poor quality of life, you know. But that's not the
examples that we see in Bible. If we were to go to the Bible, we would see
that, you know, working 12-hour days, six days a week is not uncommon. That that's
kind of a standard working ten. I'm not saying we have to do that to be right
with God, but I'm just saying that's what's in the Bible. God doesn't say
that's a poor quality of life. That God looks at that and says, oh yeah, that's
what I made you to do. And here's the thing, you know, that that is a quality of
life. I mean, some of the most depressing times of my life have been when I've
been in between jobs. You know, when we moved out here to Phoenix and I didn't
have a job lined up when I moved out here, we just stepped out by faith with
a few thousand dollars in the bank and we had a one-bedroom apartment waiting
for us. And I got here and I started, but I mean, I didn't just wait around to find
a job, come knocking on my door. No, I made finding a job my job, hitting the
pavement, you know, looking on Craigslist, looking on all the job, you know, boards
and things like that, trying to find a job, going to the day labor, things like
that. And I, and but there was a season there where it was hard to find work,
where it was just, there was a few, and I'm not saying like weeks, folks, I'm
saying like a few days, some of the most depressing days of my life. Just, just, I
mean, it was one, because there was a lot of pressure on me to find a job. When your
wife's six months pregnant, she's kind of like, so how's that job search going? You
know, women like, you know, go figure, women like stability and security in a
man. They like them to actually provide for them. So, you know, but I remember just
being depressed about it and I, there's been times where I haven't been able to,
you know, seasons where I've been in between jobs, my body literally begins to
ache. Like I get pains in my back and my, and my wife gets a pain in her neck
because I'm around so much, right? But I mean, it's depressing. I literally, it's,
it's, I got to get out of the house. I got to do something. I'm telling you, man
was made to work. And that's what we ought to do. And God commands men to
work. And we're living in a world today that discourage us, men from working
hard, from doing too much, they'll say, you know, and they're all about their
overtime, their paid vacations and their 40 hour work week, the pensions and the
disability benefits. And here's a big one, welfare. You know, they'll say, hey,
you don't have to work at all. We'll just give you money. All you have to do
is just go down to some welfare office and sign up and you can just sit back
and get an EBT card or a bridge card or whatever we're using in this state and
go out and just not work at all and just live off the government. And that, a lot
of people are doing that. And, you know, that, and that's the world we're living
in, where people can just not work and that, and they can still survive. But, you
know, there was a time when not working would cost you dearly. Where not
working would probably mean you went hungry, literally. You know, where not
working was severely frowned upon, where there was no government safety net to
just hold your hand and say, it's okay, you poor little baby, you don't have to
work. Men are designed to work and there was a time when not working would
cost you dearly. The Bible says, if you would turn over to Exodus chapter 20,
Exodus chapter 20. The Bible says in Proverbs 20 verse four, the sluggard will
not plow by reason of the cold. Therefore, shall he beg and harvest and
have nothing. Doesn't say he will not plow by reason of the cold and therefore
will go and pick his neighbor's pocket via, you know, the welfare system and go
and therefore the government will step in and help him. No, it says he will not
plow by reason of the cold, and therefore he shall beg and harvest and
have nothing. Now he's begging, and he has nothing. Because people don't want to
just give money to people who are perfectly capable of working and won't
do it. Well, why, you know, we should consider the cause of the poor. Yeah,
he's out there begging, but why is he begging? Oh, because of this or that?
Because of some tragedy in his life? Or is it just because he's a lazy bum who
doesn't want to work? And people who are just lazy bums who don't want to work,
they should have nothing. You know, like these guys that are on the side of the
road, these able-bodied young men that they've got a cell phone, they've
got a dog, they're smoking cigarettes, and they got a sign, you know, anything
helps. You know, you know, need money, whatever. And as frustrating as
they are, you know who really makes you mad is the people I see roll down their
window and give them money. Now, have I ever given money to a guy on the side of
the road? Yes, I have. Right down here before you get on the 10, there's a guy
that stands there. You know what, though? You know why I give him money? Because he's
missing a leg. So I'm saying, well, you know, but even then I'm kind of like, I
don't do it every time. Because I go, you know, he could probably find a job.
That's the world we're living in. Even today, even not having a leg, you could
probably go find a job. In fact, there's government policies, and correct me if
I'm wrong, where, you know, they can't discriminate you for having a
disability. Well, they probably even would get a tax break if you walked in and had
a disability. They'd say, oh, you got a disability? They could put that under
taxes. Hey, we hired somebody with, that's missing a leg, you know, and there's jobs
out there they could do. You know, they could, if you could stand there
holding a sign, you could probably stand behind a cash register somewhere. Just
guessing. So maybe I should go back and ask for my money. It only happened one
time. I was feeling bad, right? I kind of felt sorry for the guy. I've got to re-examine
my motives now. But these guys that have both legs, both arms, you know, and they're,
they had the initiative to stand there and draw a sign. They could
obviously read and write. You know, what, what's their excuse? They don't have one.
Now, God commands men work. God made men to work, and God commands that men work.
Look there in Exodus chapter 20. Now, just to remind us, Exodus chapter 20 is where
we find the Ten Commandments, right? So this is part of the Ten Commandments. He
says, remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days shout thou labor. Not, not,
you know, if you feel like it, you shall labor. He says, no, you shout labor. Six
days shout thou labor, and do all thy work. It's not optional, folks. We are
commanded to work, and this isn't the only place. The Bible talks a lot about
it, and we're gonna get in the New Testament, too, where the Bible talks
about the fact that men are designed to work, and men must work. And the Bible has
a lot to say on the subject. Go ahead and turn over to Proverbs chapter 19. We'll
spend some time there. I mean, Proverbs just goes on and on about being a sloth,
slothful, being idle, being lazy, not working. It says there in Proverbs chapter 19
verse 15, slothfulness casteth into a deep sleep, and an idle soul shall suffer
hunger. You know, we should not be idle. We should not be slothful. We should not be
disorderly. Why? Because you shall suffer hunger. And what do slothful people do?
They are cast into a deep sleep. Now, I had to kind of think about this one,
because it seems like a person who isn't working, who's slothful, should have a lot
more energy. Don't you? I mean, why are they being cast into a deep sleep? We're
gonna look at another verse. I'll just read it to you. In Ecclesiastes 5, it says,
the sleep of a laboring man is sweet, whether he eat little or much, but the
abundance of the rich will not suffer him to sleep. So a laboring man
gets sweet sleep, too. He's the one that gets probably good, deep rest, because
he's worked, you know, he's exhausted his muscles and his mind, and he's gone,
you know, and he's tired when his head hits the pillow, and he's out quick,
because he's been working all day, and it's sweet, you know, even if he gets a
few hours, and it's probably better quality sleep than the guy who has all
day to just lay around and do nothing. But why is it that the slothful guy is
cast into a deep sleep? Well, maybe it's just to do with the fact that it's
speaking more to the term, along the lines of him just being depressed, you
know, and he's just in a rut. He's in a deep sleep. He's just somebody who's just,
it's like they're always sleeping. It's like they've never really gotten out of
it. They're just so slow and slothful and lazy. It's like they're just in this
deep sleep, and what lazy people end up doing, what slothful people end up
doing, is just sleeping away their life. And here's the thing, when you're not
working as a man, it's depressing, you know, because, one, and it should be more
shameful than it is in our society. I mean, it should be something that
you're not proud of. It should be something that you would want to remedy
in your life and get right, but lazy people end up sleeping their life away,
and it just, it's probably because they're depressed, you know, and when
you're depressed, sometimes the only way, the best way to escape your problems is
just to go to sleep, you know, just, well, if I just sleep enough, maybe my
problems will go away. Maybe just go live in a dream world, you know, and go
ahead and turn over to Proverbs chapter 26. So they just sleep away their life, and you know
what else lazy people are like? They're full of excuses. Let's say, I know I'm
designed to work, I know God made me to work, I know it's my duty to go out and
work, I know I'm insane if I don't work, I know that's what the Bible says, but
you don't understand my circumstance. And every person who has some, you know, every
guy who has, you don't understand his circumstances, you don't understand
what's going on with him, he's a unique snowflake, and his circumstances
aren't like anybody else's. No, they're not. They're just like anybody else's.
There's the same sob story everybody's got, and there's no excuse for not
working. You know, unless you are seriously handicapped, unless you are,
really are physically, and let me tell you something, I've seen some videos on
Facebook and things of these guys that are missing limbs, that are doing
extremely difficultly, they find a way to do it. I mean, I've seen a guy laying
brick with one arm. I've seen guys mixing concrete mud with, like, on crutches with
no leg. I mean, it's crazy, and you know where it is? It's in these countries
where there is no welfare system, when there's nobody to just say, oh it's okay,
we got you, you don't have to work. Because they understand that if they
don't work, they're probably gonna go hungry. You know, and so unless you're
like seriously physically handicapped, like a, I don't know, maybe paraplegic
or something, I don't know how paralyzed you have to be to be excused from this.
But I'm just saying, I think a lot of people, they come, they, you know, they get
a sliver, you know, or they have a mental problem, or whatever it is. They're, they
have emotional instability, and they can't work. It's a bunch of hogwash,
friend. There's something that you can do out there. You don't have to be that
emotionally stable to go work in fast food, trust me. I've met emotionally
unstable people in fast food. And by the way, pro tip, don't ever mess with people
in fast food, in the drive-thru especially. If someone's alone with your
food behind them, don't give them attitude. These people are unstable, you
don't know what they could do, you know, you don't know who's on the other side
of the microphone. Yeah, they're saying, welcome to Taco Bell, what can I get you?
But on the inside, they're just waiting for somebody to cross them, you know what
I mean? That's not necessarily to do the sermon, I just wanted to warn you, you
know. I don't know what you're doing at Taco Bell's drive-thru anyway,
especially in Tucson, right? If you're eating Taco Bell in Tucson, you know, you
need to, you need to get right, because there's so much better Mexican food. So
anyway, I'm going off now, but, but lazy people, you know, they sleep away their
life, and they're full of excuses. Look at Proverbs 26 verse 13. The slothful man
says, so there's this problem right there, it says that he's slothful, but he's got
an excuse. There is a lion in the way, a lion in the streets. As the door turneth
upon his hinges, so does the slothful upon his bed. So he's, here he is, he's got
this, why is he in his bed all day? Why is he just flopping around in his bed, can't
get up, can't get, go out and get a job, can't work a job like everybody else?
Because there's a lion in the streets. Do you really think that there's a lion
running up and down the streets? I mean, I lived in northern Michigan where, where
when there was a black bear that came into town, and everybody knew about it,
and that thing was tranqed within hours. You know, wild, man-killing beasts just
don't get to roam freely in civilized society, right? This is a stupid excuse
that this guy has. Oh, I would go to work, but I'm pretty sure there's a lion out
there. I'm just gonna stay inside today. You know, it was actually the neighbor's
cat, you know, and you just hadn't rubbed the sleep out of your eyes yet. You know,
you were still dreaming, you were still in your deep sleep when you went to the
window and said, is that a lion? I was gonna look for a job, but then I saw this
wild beast out there, and it was, you know, it was, it was the putty tat from next
door. So, but it's excuses. They have excuses why they can't work, and you ask
every guy who doesn't have a job and will never get a job why he doesn't have
a job, he'll have an excuse, and it will never be, I'm slothful. It'd be almost
better if they just had to just tell the truth. At least I have some shred, just a
tiny little shred of respect for the guy on the corner who just says, I'm lazy. I
don't want to work. I mean, some guys are a little bit more blunt with their
science, and I guess that must work for them. You know, they have just like, you
know, no one will hire me because I'm a bum, you know, but most people, they're
gonna have an excuse, and it's not gonna be the truth. They're not gonna just tell
you, I'm a lazy slothful bum, and I don't want to get a job. And why are, why, but
how, here's the thing, how do they even turn out like that? How do you raise
somebody, or how does somebody end up being, growing up into being a lazy,
slothful, idle person? They're probably because of their, the lack of parenting
in their life. It was, they were raised to be that way. They were never taught to
work as children. They were never taught these principles that you need to grow
up and be responsible for yourself and provide for yourself. Maybe they didn't
have, you know, a father figure in their life or a mother in their life that
taught, that showed them what work looked like and what it took to make it in the
world. And they just were always taught that don't worry, someone's always
gonna catch you, you know, no matter what, someone's gonna take care of you, you
don't, you know, and, and just grew up into a system. I mean, you think about the
people in the ghettos. Why is it just this generational welfare? Every
generation that comes up, they just, they just continue to repeat the same things,
and they never get out of that rut that they're in, because that's all they've
ever known. They just grew up knowing that. Yeah, mom just sat around and had
babies and collected, you know, $1,500 a week for every baby, or $1,500 a month for
every baby. That happens. I've been in ghettos like that. Gary, Indiana, I've met
my, I went around with a guy out on his bus route, and he said, we're
gonna go to this lady's house. Every one of those kids is a different dad. Every
single one of them. And you know what it was? If she was just, she would
just get pregnant and have kids so she could collect more money. That's what she
did. I mean, that's out there. So, you know, they, they, but why do they do that?
Because that's what they've been taught to do. Her mother probably did that. You
know what her kids are gonna grow up and do? The same thing, because no one's
teaching them that they have to work. No one's gonna say, hey, the Bible says you
should work, you know, and there's a system in place in our country,
unfortunately, that's just gonna, you know, just spoonfeed them everything they
need and just help them. And, but it's not, doesn't make it right. So we should
teach our children to work. I mean, I'm not saying you have to take your kids to
work with you every day and show them what a, you know, 12-hour day looks like,
but I mean kids, you know, and there's this philosophy today that you're
robbing them of their childhood if you ask them to do anything besides play
video games and Legos and everything else that kids do today. You know, they
should have chores. I mean, I had chores growing up pretty much my whole life. As
soon as I was old enough to understand how to do something, I was told to do
something. I mean, I was, I remember mowing the lawn when the bar was above my head.
I mean, my dad, he didn't get to give me the whole lawn, but even at that age, I
actually wanted to mow the lawn. As soon as I could run a vacuum, I was running a
vacuum. And you know what, it was pretty, pretty early on, my mom had me. Every
Saturday, you know, she'd go and turn on the, her just terrible 80s music. I mean,
whenever I hear, you know, James Taylor or the Eurythmics or something like that,
come on, all of a sudden I'm five years old, I've got newspaper in my hand and
vinegar water, and I'm like wiping down a window somewhere. But that's what she did.
She woke us up Saturday morning, you're gonna dust, you're gonna do windows,
you're gonna vacuum, and then we got a little older, you're gonna, you're gonna
go out and you're gonna clean up after the dog in the yard. That was a fun one.
We had a big dog, let me tell you something. That was not fun. And then
you're gonna mow the lawn, and there was always chores. Even in junior high, my
mom would be at work, we'd come home from after school, there would be a list
that she hand wrote every day. Who's doing the dishes? Who's doing the
vacuuming? Who's gonna feed the pets? Who's gonna do this? And we were taught
to work, you know. And I can't say that that made me the best worker. There were
still some serious character flaws that I had to work on. But I remember even
when I went to live with my dad, you know, and down in the islands there when I was
like 18. And I, and I, you know, I wasn't saved, I wasn't living for the Lord, but I
started to, I was living there, you know, and I started turning to that slothful
guy that who was always in the deep sleep, you know, sleeping in till 11, 12.
You know, I had a job that kept me up until about midnight the night before,
but I would be sleeping in in the mornings. And it just drove my dad nuts,
and he could never get me back. So now that he started this thing, where if I
slept in past a certain hour, he would just open up the door and just have this
sopping wet washcloth that he would just throw right in my face, you know. And that
usually, I mean, it's hard to sleep after you have a, just, right in your face. And
then it soaks your pillow instantly, and your face is all wet, you got to dry it on,
you're like, well, it's 11 30 a.m. I guess I should get out of bed eventually, you
know. But my dad was trying, at least, to get this lazy bum of a kid out of his
bed, you know. But we should do things, we should not let our kids turn into these
slothful, lazy, idle people, because it'll cost them dearly in life. They're gonna be
depressed, they're not gonna have, they're not gonna be able to do certain things. I
mean, here's the thing about working, you get paid, you get paid money, and when you
have money, you can do things, you know. You can, you can buy things that you like,
you can go places you want to go, you can raise a family, you know. You can have nice
things, you can put a roof over your head. And as men, you develop a sense of
self-worth when someone starts paying you, and they say, hey, you're actually
worth something. We'll even pay you to do it. You know, it's not just mom giving you,
you know, a to-do list. It's somebody saying, hey, you want to develop a skill,
we'll pay you to do it. That gives you a sense of self-worth as a man. And saying,
I'm worth something to somebody, somewhere, you know. They're willing to
pay, and I'm able to do things with it. We should teach our kids to work. And, you
know, because being slothful, being lazy, it's just gonna make life harder. I mean,
it sounds nice, doesn't it? Never having to work, just doing whatever I want, and
just never having to answer to anybody. That's, that's what, that's what they
think it is, but it makes life harder than it actually has to be. It makes
harder that if you would just get up and go to work. Life, you know, the slothful
people, they make life harder than it has to be. Look at Proverbs chapter 15,
Proverbs chapter 15. And keep something in Proverbs. Proverbs chapter 15, the
Bible says in verse 19, the way of the slothful man is as an hedge of
thorns, but the way of the righteous is made plain. So it says there that the way of a
slothful man is as an hedge of thorns. You know why it's so hard for him to go
anywhere? Because he's just, everything's overgrown. You know, he hasn't been keeping
the garden. He's just been laying around, and just everything's overgrown. The
thorns are just getting out of control, and everywhere he turns, he's running
into obstacles. And you know why, you know why they're always there? Because he's
slothful, and he'll never take the time to put on the leather gloves, get the
shears out, and start to clear away the thorns, and do the work that needs to be
done to make your way through life. His way is full of thorns, and it'll always
be that way, because he's too slothful to do anything about it. And look at the way
of the righteous man. It says it is made plain. Now let me tell you something, the
way the righteous man isn't made plain because somebody else just steps in and
moves the thorns out of the way. It's because the righteous man, he's actually
willing to get the thorns out of there. He's willing to put in the work and make
his way plain. So people who are slothful and lazy, they think they got the answer,
but they're making life way harder than it has to be. And diligent people, they
overcome obstacles. And how do they do it? By hard work. It's a lot easier to just,
you know, sit back and say, well forget it, it's not worth it. It's too hard to do.
You know, take the easy way out. That's what it's called, the easy way out, right?
But here's the irony is, is that the easy way is actually the hard way. The
hard way is actually, what they would say, the hard work is the easier way. The
diligent person actually puts in the effort that's needed to get something
done. They're gonna make their way plain. It's gonna be easier for them. There's
not gonna be surrounded by a hedge of thorns, because they're getting those
things out of the way. I'll read to you from Genesis chapter 49, where it says,
Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well, whose branches
run over the wall. So you get this picture, of course, this is Joseph in his,
excuse me, Jacob in his latter days. He's just, you know, giving his blessings upon
his sons, and he comes to Joseph, he says, you're a fruitful bough by a well, whose
branches run over the wall. I mean, you can just see it in your mind. You can see
like a picture one of those old-fashioned wells, you know, where
they had a little roof over it, and they'd lower down the bucket, and it's got
the cobblestone wall around it, or something like that. That's how I
envision it, and he's like a fruitful bough, and that bough goes over the wall,
and what's it trying to do? It's trying to get down to the source. It's trying to
get to that nourishment, that water that's in that well, but there's a wall in
the way. Does he just give up and say, oh there's a wall in the way, there's a
hedge of thorns, there's a line in the streets, I can't do it, you know, I'll just
sit back, and hopefully somebody will just come along and take care of me. No, he
grows over the wall. He gets down where he needs to go. He overcomes things.
That's what righteous people do. They clear the thorns out. They don't make up
excuses, and they actually, they're the ones whose life is not as difficult. They
say, well that guy's working really hard. He must have a hard life. No,
actually has a real easy life, because he's doing what he's supposed to do,
because he's a hard worker, because he's able to provide for himself, and he has a
sense of self-worth. So Joseph overcame obstacles to get to the nourishment he
needed, you know, and here's the thing, well people, people sometimes, you know,
they'll say, I'd work, you know, but I can't find a job that can pay me what
I'm worth, you know, or they'll think that it's just, you know, I can make more
money just collecting a check from the government, you know, but here's the thing,
you know, if even low-paying jobs, like, you know, working in a drive-thru, even
low-paying jobs are profitable, even if they don't pay you that much. Go over to
Proverbs chapter 14. Proverbs chapter 14. I'll even say this, if you were to go
work for somebody and they didn't pay you anything, there's still profit in it,
because you're learning something. You're learning something, you're
getting a sense worth, a sense of self-worth. I mean, that's what the
Bible says. It says here, look at verse 23, Proverbs 14, in all labor there is
profit, but the talk of the lips lendeth only to penury. Even if, I'm not
saying you should do this, of course, but even if someone were to say, you know
what, you can come work for me, but I'm not gonna pay you, you would probably
still get some profit from it. Not monetarily, but you'd still get to, at
the end of the day, and say, hey, at least I worked hard, I did something today. You
still profit from that, you have a sense of having accomplished something, you've
learned a skill, you learn a trade. I mean, a lot of times that's how it starts out
in apprenticeships. When I started out in locksmithing, I got paid eight bucks an
hour, you know, as a 30-something year old man with the family. You think that was
easy? To go out and start out on a new career, making eight something an
hour? You're crazy. You know, I had to go work a second job, you know, I had to work
day and night, you know, I had to work, I was like Jacob of old, you know, you know,
by the the drought of the day and the frost by night, and asleep departed for
mine eyes. It was about that for about nine months. But you know what, there was
a lot of profit in that low-paying job, because that job, eventually I got
promoted, I learned the craft, I learned the skill, I learned the trade, and
eventually I was able to barter with that, those people, and I was managing
that shop in nine months. They said, well the shop's yours now, you run it. But what
if I said, well you guys don't pay me enough? I don't, you know, if you start me
out at this wage, then I'll come learn. That's not how it works. And in that
labor, when it was difficult, when it was hard, when we were working 70 plus hour
weeks, and sleep was departed for my eyes, and you're eating crappy food, you're
not sleeping well, and you're gaining weight, and nobody sees you at home, and
you're depressed, and you're angry, and everything else, there's still profit
there. It's just you don't always see that profit right away. So even low-paying
jobs are a profit. People need to start somewhere. And if there's somebody who
doesn't have a job, they need to start somewhere. Every one of these bummed
derelict guys out there need to just go get a bath, get a shower, go to Goodwill,
you know, take, make one last-ditch effort begging it. Instead of spending that
money on booze and whatever else they spend it on, take it down to the Goodwill
and buy a new pair of clothes, and then hit the streets. Go down to Taco Bell,
even in Tucson. Go down to McDonald's. Go down to Burger King. Go down to Jack in
the Box. Go to any one of these places and find a low-paying job and start
somewhere. Because there's, in all labor, there is profit, but the talk of the lips
tendeth only to penury. Oh, I'll get a job one day. You're gonna be poor just
talking like that. Oh, you don't understand, I have this problem, you know,
my circumstances are different. Penury. And it's just excuses. You know,
whenever I read that verse, it reminds me when I first, you know, I came back
from living with my dad, I was in Michigan again, I'd just gotten back, and I'd
gotten saved, and I'm like, I'm trying to work hard to find a good job, you know, I
wanted to succeed, and I got a job working for, it doesn't matter the name,
but we did Pored Walls. And anyone who's ever worked in concrete knows how much
fun that is. And it was Pored Walls, I mean, that's tough work. And I remember I,
they were always just bringing guys in. I mean, guys, it was just like a, just a
revolving door. Guys just, they were just throwing guys on job sites, they'd show
up for a day, and then they'd be gone. Because they just couldn't hack it, or
they didn't want to do it, or whatever. Because, I mean, you're setting up eight
foot panel, eight by four foot panels, and you're pouring concrete, and you're,
then you got to strip them all off, and you got to lift these things up out of
the wall, and, you know, because in Michigan they had these things called
basements. You guys know what those are? Anyway, but, and so when they poured the wall, you
have to pull that panel, you have to stand on top of a four inch wall, and
pull like a 80 or 90 pound aluminum panel up, oh that's eight feet long, up
over this thing, out of the basement, and then over into the, into the ditch that
they dug on the other, you know, the other side of the wall. And then you had to go
and peel the outside ones, you had to bang all the concrete off of it, and I
remember, all right, I'm already going off, I'll just tell a story. So when I first
showed up, I, they're like, you got to have a hammer. So I went into my mom's
kitchen, and I went under her sink, and in one of my, you know how moms always had
that little toolbox under their sink or whatever, it's like the pink, a little
tool case, you know, and I got her little plastic hammer, like, it was like bright
orange, and I showed up, and all the guys like, where'd you get, is that your Betty
Crocker hammer? You know, so that became the joke, I had a Betty Crocker hammer,
because I told them, I got it from my mom's kitchen, they're like, oh you got a
Betty Crocker hammer, right? That, I let that go on for one day. I mean, I left
that job, then I went down to Sears, and I got the biggest, I got like a 21 ounce or
whatever, just the biggest hammer that they made, like steel, and then I learned
that that's, you know, and it had that flat shaft on it, you know, and that's the
wrong hammer to use for that kind of work, because every time you hit those
panels, it vibrates just a little bit. You can't see it, but it shakes in your hand,
and I remember that I swung that thing so much when I worked there, and hit
those panels so many times, I would wake up in the morning and have to peel my
hands open, and to this day I still have a knuckle that pops from it, but I should
have gotten one like a wooden round one that would have been better for my hand.
I don't know where that came from, but it's a funny story anyway, but I remember I was on
that job working, and there was this one guy there, he just wanted to talk
everything, no matter what we were doing, all he wanted to do, if we were
moving panels or pouring or whatever, just he's always wanting to say
something. I remember just one day I just looked at him, I said, less talk, more work.
I don't know where that came from, out of some 19 year old punk kid, I was just
like, less talk, more work, and he just kind of looked at me, and he kind of
walked away, but I didn't know, but my foreman was standing behind me, and he
goes, I like that, and I got a 25 cent raise. He's like, and I also ran, one
time he saw me running on the job site. Anyway, so, but here's what I'm trying to
say, is that there is, in all labor, there is profit. You'd say, well,
pouring walls, that doesn't sound like you're gonna go very far. Well, until you
make foreman, you know, until you, until you're, you know, until you're the one
going out and bidding jobs, but I tell you what, every guy that did that more
likely started out being the grunt who was lifting panels and setting them up
and hitting them with his Betty Crocker hammer. So, here's the thing, we should
teach our kids to work, and we as men should desire to work, because refusing
to work comes with severe consequences. You say, well, I don't know about all this
this sermon, you know, I disagree. Go ahead and disagree, but there comes severe
consequences for not working, and, you know, that, I mean, there's just natural
outcomes of not working. Men that don't work are depressed. They're sick more
often. They, they, and they, they're just, they're just lazy, and they're, they have
more health problems, and so on and so forth. You know, that people, how many, how
many wives have left their husband because he doesn't work? Because he sits
around, smokes pot, and plays Xbox all day. I mean, it's not right, but at the end of
the day, can you, I mean, can you blame her? I mean, humanly speaking, and it's not
right. She shouldn't, but how often does it happen? Well, he was just a lazy bum. He
wouldn't take care of me. You know, that happens all the time. There's natural
outcomes of being lazy, but there's also punishments that are imposed upon idle
people in Scripture. You know, in Old Testament and New, you go ahead, turn
over to 2 Thessalonians chapter 3. I'll remind us of Deuteronomy chapter 21. Go
to 2 Thessalonians 3. There are punishments that are imposed upon idle
people in Scripture, and Deuteronomy 21, it says, if a man have a stubborn and
rebellious son, which will not obey the voice of his father or the voice of his
mother, and then when they have chastened him, he will not hearken unto them. Then
his father and his mother will lay hold on him and bring him to the elders of
the city and of the gate of his place, and they shall say unto the elders of
the city, this our son is stubborn and rebellious and will not obey our
voice. He is a glutton and a drunkard. So here's a guy, he's just a glutton, he's
just a drunkard, and he just sounds like one of these lazy, derelict
guys. He's just too busy just getting drunk and just, you know.
I'll tell you what, these guys that are standing on the side of the road, they're
making money. They're making money. You think they're doing that? They'd be
doing that if it didn't work. I guarantee you it works. I mean, I thought about
doing part-time. I mean, not saying quit my job, and I'm saying keep working and
hey, just make a little extra on the side. You know, just hold up a sign, I don't need
it, and then just hold my hand out. I'm fine, but I'll take it anyway, you know.
Saving up for a vacation, you know. Want to go see, I want to go see a Sequoia
National Forest. Anyone? And just hold my hat out, you know. Saving up for a trip to
Yellowstone. Just some dumb sign. I bet it would work, right? But would it be right?
I don't know. We'll talk about that later. But here's the guy, just one of these
glutton, these drunkards, these guys that don't want to do anything. The parents
take them, and what do they do? And all the men of the city shall stone him with
stones that he die. It was the death penalty imposed on that. God said, kill
him. That's what it says, folks. I mean, there are serious consequences if you
just want to lay around and be a glutton and a drunkard and not clean up your
life and get to work and just be a slothful, lazy person. And you say, well
that sounds like a pretty severe example. Yeah, and there's a purpose behind it so
that other people would take heed. Other people would read that and go, whoa, let
me sober up and get my act together. You know, that's one, there's one example of
somebody else imposing a punishment upon a lazy, gluttonous drunkard. Well, here's
another one. You say, well that's Old Testament. Okay, let's go to the
New Testament. 2 Thessalonians, where you are, chapter 3, verse 10. Paul says,
For when we were with you, this we commanded you, not a suggestion, a command,
that if any would not work, neither should he eat. You don't want to work?
That's fine, but don't let me catch you putting food in your mouth. You don't want
to work? Okay, but you know what? No food. See, you watch how quickly these guys go
out and get a job if you quit feeding them. You know, and that's, that's
the bumper sticker that we need to have. Don't feed the bums. You know, you go up
to Bearizona. Do they let you feed bears there? I don't know, but some places they
have, you know, don't feed the animals. Don't feed the bears. Keep your windows
up. You know, you're in Yellowstone. It's the rut. Stay away from the buffalo. Keep
your windows up. You know, don't feed them. You go out camping. You got to put that
food away. You got to put them in the bear box. How about a sign that says, don't feed the
bums? That's what I want. That's the bumper sticker. Somebody make that for me,
right? Maybe I'll make it. Don't feed the bums. And watch how quickly they stop
being bums. They'll go out and get a job. They'll, they'll get that last bit of
money that they can, they'll beg for enough, for enough money to go clean
themselves up and go out and get clothes and go down a Taco Bell and apply. And
they'll have a job by the week's end if they were go hungry. And some people, they
just need to go hungry. And that's what Paul's saying here. This week commanded you,
if any would not work, neither should he eat. You know, there's a big difference
between helping the helpless and then just enabling idle, slothful people. And
people think that they're, you know, helping these guys out by giving them
money and everything else. But you're not. You're enabling them. You're not helping
the helpless. You're enabling a lazy, slothful bum, is what you're doing. Well,
you know, that's just one scripture. Okay, well I'll read to you from 1 Timothy 5.
If any provide not for his own, that's talking about financially, taking care
of his own, and even if you read the context of 1 Timothy 5, that's talking
about even beyond your immediate family into your extended family. Aunts,
uncles, you know, the widows are there to go to their nephews in some instances. If
any provide not for his own, especially for those of his own house, he hath
denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel. I mean, there's been people I've
known in Baptist churches that come in and they don't work, and they beg, and
they start borrowing money from everybody else in the church. And they're,
you know what they are? They're worse than an infidel. I don't care if you're
in church. If you're not working, if you're not providing for your own, you've
denied the faith. You know, well I got all this time off to watch all the
sermons online, and you know, read my Bible, and whatever spiritual thing you
want to say you're doing with your time. But you need to be providing for your
own, even if it's for yourself. So you say, well that seems pretty severe. Well how
about this? Refusing to work is a sin that will get you kicked out of church.
Have we ever heard that one before? Go over, you're still in 2 Thessalonians,
look at chapter 3 verse 6. Now we command you brethren, in the
name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you withdraw yourselves from every brother
that walketh disorderly, and not after the direct tradition which he received
of us. So he says, look, if there's a guy that's walking disorderly in the
church, withdraw yourself. And by that way, that doesn't mean you stay home from
church. That means you withdraw yourself in that he is not welcome. You know, he is
not welcome in the assembly. And it's a command, by the way. We command you. This
is not optional. All right? And you say, okay, well it says disorderly. Well what
does that mean? You know, the conduct of being disorderly, right? Look, what is
it contrasted with? It's contrasted with Paul's example. Not after the tradition
which he received of us. If he walks disorderly, and not after the tradition
you've received of us, withdraw yourself. If he doesn't do like we have done, if we
as the tradition that you've seen in us, what we've taught you, what we've
commanded you, withdraw yourself. Right? Look at verse 7. For ye yourselves know
how you ought to follow us. For we behaved ourselves, we behaved not ourselves
disorderly. Okay? This is the disorderly among you. Neither did we eat any man's
bread for naught, but wrought with labor, and travail night and day, that we might
not be chargeable to any of you. Not because we have not power, but to make
ourselves and its sample unto you. So the disorderly is being somebody who's
not working. That is disorderly. Paul was not disorderly among them because he
labored. He's saying, I labored night and day. He said, we behaved not ourselves
disorderly, but we labored night and day. They labored them to make themselves an
example to follow. I mean, he had the power, he had the right to receive wages
of the church because, you know, the laborer is worthy of his reward. They
that preach the gospel shall live of the gospel. Thou shalt not muzzle the
mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn. So on and so forth. He could have
done that, but he labored night and day. Why? To make himself an example to others
that they should do the same, that they should go out and labor. And if it's
necessary, to labor night and day if it's needed. And, you know, there's probably
seasons in our life where we have to labor night and day. You know, if you're
raising a family and the bills are getting tight, you know, I'm not
gonna send my wife out to work. I'm not gonna say, I'm home from work now. No, you
go out. No, I'm gonna go out. I'm gonna go out and labor night and day. And
that's the example that they're given. Now look at verse 10. For even we were
commanded you, this we could, even when we were with you, this we commanded you,
that if any would not work, neither should he eat. For we hear that our son
which walk among you disorderly, and what is it that makes them disorderly? Working
not at all. That's what's being defined as disorderly. Refusing to work, not
working, not laboring. And those are people that are to be withdrawn from. And
this is, this is Bible, friend. This is sound doctrine. That if somebody is not
working, that if they are not laboring, if they are not providing for their own, if
they are walking disorderly, they are to be withdrawn from. Now to them that are
such we command and exhort by the Lord Jesus Christ that with a quietness they
work and eat their own bread. He's saying, look, the disorderly guy, you know what he
needs to do? He needs to start working. He needs to get a job, and he needs to be
quiet about it, and start eating his own bread. He needs to quit running his mouth
with the penny of his mouth, and all his dumb excuses, and go get a job, and start
working. So we see here from this passage, I mean, does everybody see that? Is that
not clear? That working not at all is considered being disorderly. That's the
context of the script, of this passage. And we are to withdraw from every
brother that is disorderly. No fellowship is what is meant, and it's kind of hard
to go to church with somebody and withdraw from them at the same time. So
the Bible deals very harshly with being idle, and being slothful, and being
disorderly. It deals with it very harshly. I mean, we read that passage of
Deuteronomy. They stoned people for it. We are reading these passages here. They're
saying, don't have no fellowship with them. Withdraw yourself. You know, and why?
Why is the Bible so harsh about this? Because being idle, being slothful, being
disorderly, leads to other sins, and it's a poor example. The idle mind is the
devil's workshop, and when you're not working, when you're not preoccupied with
work, and trying to achieve something, you know, in your career, and trying to
provide, you start to get bored, and you start trying to find ways to entertain
yourself. And next thing you know, you're watching things you shouldn't watch,
you're drinking things you shouldn't be drinking, you're smoking things you
shouldn't be smoking, you're hanging out with people you shouldn't be hanging out
with, and you're just trying to entertain yourself. Why? Because you're lazy, and you
have nothing else to do but to sit around and get involved in sin. And
that's why the Bible deals with it so harshly. And you know what? Let me just
come out and say this, working not at all, they call them busybodies. And let me
just be perfectly frank, it's a feminine attribute. You know, I'm not saying women
are not lazy or anything like that. I mean, my wife's a hard worker, I know lots
of mothers who are hard workers, but being a busybody is a sin
that's often attributed to women. It's a sin that women can
fall into. But here it's being applied to a man, and when does he do it? When he's
not working. When he's not willing to go out and do the work that a man is
supposed to do. He's acting like a woman. I just want to stay home. I just want to
keep the house. You know, that's feminine, friend. Well, my house is really
clean and my laundry's done. And I cook all my own meals, and it's great.
Well, bravo. But you know what? It'd be a lot better if you went out and got a job
and found a woman to marry and had her do that for you. In 1 Timothy 5, but the
younger widows refused, for when they had begun to wax one against Christ, they
will marry, having damnation. Talking about women here. Because they have cast off
their first faith, and with all they learn to be idle. This is a feminine type
of thing that can happen. Women can fall into the sin. When they've got a man
who's actually acting like a man, going out and working, actually trying to
provide for his house, and they're not busy doing what they're
supposed to be doing. You know, keeping house, raising children. That happens
today. You know, especially with the, you know, the advent of birth control, where
women can just stay at home, and just not have kids, and just twiddle their thumbs,
and just get involved in all kinds of sin. And they just be busybodies, just be
on the internet, gossiping. You know, or going house to house, going to cocktail
parties, getting involved, and who knows what. And they learn to be idle, wandering
about from house to house, and not idle only, but tattlers also, and busybodies.
It's a feminine sin. It's a sin that women fall into. And when a man doesn't
work, he falls into that type of a sin, and it's becoming of a
woman who's in sin. It's feminine. You know, I see guys coming to this church in
their work clothes, and that's respectable. I see guys come in with dusty boots, and
uniforms, and dirty pants, and paint all over their Bibles in some
instances, right? You know, because why? Because they've been out working. That's
respectable. But when guys are coming in, and they don't have that excuse, and
they're disheveled, and they've had all day to put on something
nice, and they don't do it, that's not respectable. That's slothful. That's idle.
That's lazy. You know, and there's severe consequences. You know, people around you
can see it. They can say, that guy is a bum. And there's consequences that
come with it. You get kicked out of church. You know, you suffer the
consequences physically, emotionally, in your own life, of being depressed, not
being able to provide, not being able to do things you want to do, being, you know,
having to live off of the government. So if you don't want to suffer the
consequences of being disorderly, there's a real simple solution. It's called get a
job. If you don't want to get, you know, put out from the brethren, if you don't
want to be, you know, withdrawn from, you know, if you don't want to be the
derelict, you know, if you don't want to be the one who's gonna have to be
depressed, and cast into a deep sleep, and have a wave of thorns, and just be
nothing but just a bunch of talk, and just a bunch of excuses, real simple
solution. It's called get a job. Any job that doesn't involve you having to do
something sinful. You know, I wouldn't go down to 7-Eleven and sell cigarettes and
liquor. I wouldn't do that. Woe to him that giveth his neighbor to drink. I
wouldn't do that. You know, but there's plenty of jobs you can go get. You know,
go bag groceries, and go work, go work hard labor, you know. If you're out of
shape, go find a job inside somewhere. Go work in a meat locker. Go drive a
truck. I don't know, there's so many jobs out there, you know. I mean, you could
probably find a hundred of them right now on this phone. We could probably sit
down and just stop, and we could probably just go on Craigslist, look under
general labor, and people could have a job tomorrow if they wanted one. So
that's the solution, and really it's one of probably the easiest sinful habit
there is to resolve, right. It doesn't, you know, you're not having to get over
some, you know, physical craving. You know, you give up some of these other sinful
habits like smoking, or drinking, or whatever. There's like neurochemical
reactions that you have to overcome. There's pathways in your mind that have
been developed neurologically. You know, you hear that crack of a can, and your
head snaps, oh it's just a soda. You know, so you know, you thought, oh someone
drinking a beer? You know, you smell someone light up a fresh cigarette. I
still deal with this. I first smell that first, you know, when I first light a
cigarette, and just the paper burns, there's that first, that first hits your
nose. Man, that smells good. I'm not gonna lie. After that, it smells terrible, and you spend one
two seconds in a smoker's car, and you're like, ugh, disgusting. I remember when I quit smoking, I
started working in an oil change. You know, one of the two jobs that I had at a
time, kind of goes with the sermon, and I had to clean the inside of cars out, and
smokers would come in. Oh man, I'd go, why did I ever do that? Did I smell like that?
Mm-hmm. Did my car smell like that? It did. It's disgusting. But here's the thing,
with getting a job, with stop being idle, stop being lazy, stop being a bum, all you
have to do is go get a job. How hard is that, in this day and age, to go get a job?
There's people hiring everywhere. You know what, and it's not like you're gonna
have to give up some sinful addiction to do it. That's easy, to just go get a job.
And you know what, then you don't have to deal with all these consequences that
come. So that's my sermon for tonight. Let's not be slothful, let's not be idle,
let's not be disorderly. Let's go ahead and pray.