Amen. All right well I'm not sure if you're able to hear me but I want to
begin of course by saying thank you to Pastor Shelley for his friendship and
for inviting me and he preached a great sermon on the subject of friendship last
night and I can give a testimony to the fact that he is a great friend and I
appreciated his friendship and of course his fellowship and I want to say thank
you to all of you for being here tonight and for taking time under your
schedules of course to come out to an event like this not just to have a good
time and to get some rest but also to be fed spiritually and I think it's
important for men to spend time together so I appreciate all of you being here
tonight and I realize that there are some of you here tonight that are
feeling very mighty after that mighty man's competition and you're feeling
real manly because you can do some very manly things like catch and throw things
so you know good good for you I'm not bitter I'm not bitter and but I know we
had a good time this this morning out at the mighty man's competition it was a
good time and I appreciate of course everyone's just a good spirit out there
and having a good time encouraging each other so tonight I'd like to preach I
was thinking long and hard about the kind of sermon that could be preached
should be preached lots of sermons could be preached should be preached to men
but specifically I thought of this subject I thought it'd be a good subject
for men to hear about to learn about and I'd like to preach tonight on the
subject of ambition ambition and I'd like to begin by just giving you a
definition of ambition and ambition is defined as a strong desire to do or to
achieve something typically requiring determination and hard work a desire and
determination to achieve success and I think it's important for us as men to
have ambition I don't think ambition is a bad thing I do think that it can get
out of control of course but I think that God created men to be men of
ambition and this is what men do this is one of the reasons why men are the
way that they are this is why men go to war this is why men play sports this is
why men go hunting this is why men take their work very seriously because God
has put it in men to have a desire a strong desire to achieve something to do
something to accomplish something to work hard at something I like to speak
this evening on the subject of ambition like to give you four thoughts on the
subject of ambition they are illiterate it for those of you that care but maybe
you can maybe you can jot these things down and I'd like to talk about ambition
number one tonight I'd like to begin with the burden of ambition the burden
of ambition I were there in 1st Chronicles chapter 4 I realized that it's
a long chapter and has a lot of names there's really just two verses and I'm
sure you can pick them out that I want to focus in on in verse 9 the Bible says
this 1st Chronicles chapter 4 verse 9 and Jabez was more honorable than his
brethren and his mother called his name Jabez saying because I bear him with
sorrow notice verse 10 and Jabez called on the God of Israel saying oh that
thou wouldest bless me indeed and enlarge my coast and that thine hand
might be with me and that thou wouldest keep me from evil that it may not grieve
me and God granted him that which he requested I've always loved these two
verses here and this short little synopsis that were given of this man
Jabez I don't know that we preach a lot of sermons about Jabez I'm not sure the
reason for that I think it's because and maybe some of you don't know this
and that's fine but I know that years ago there was a liberal that wrote a
book called the prayer of Jabez and it was like a prosperity gospel type thing
based off these verses and I think maybe that's the reason why conservative
Christians fundamental Baptists have maybe stayed away from emphasizing
Jabez because we don't want people to associate us with that book but the
verses are there and the individual is there and I want you to notice that this
man Jabez the Bible tells us some things about him first of all we're told that
he was an honorable man notice again there verse 9 and Jabez was more
honorable than his brethren and his mother the Bible tells us here's another
thing called his name Jabez saying because I bear him with sorrow the name
Jabez has something to do with the fact that his childbirth had some sorrow
associated with that what that was we don't know but there was something
there at his birth that created sorrow and his name was Jabez but he grew up to
be more honorable the Bible says then his brethren that reminds me of the book
of Acts where it says that the Bereans were more noble than those in Thessalonica
and then we read here in verse 10 that he has a prayer Jabez called on the God
of Israel saying and here's his prayer and I want you to see it it shows you
that this man had a burden it says oh that thou wouldest bless me indeed this
is Jabez speaking to God putting in his prayer request and he says and
enlarged my coats apparently he had an amount of property he had an amount of
influence he had an amount of land that had been given to him that he had the
responsibility over but he's asking the Lord to give him more he's asking the
Lord to enlarge his coast he's asking the Lord to bless him he says oh that
thou wouldest bless me indeed and enlarge my coast and that thine hand
might be with me I want you to notice here that there's nothing wrong with a
man wanting more with a man wanting to do more accomplish more be more and I
would say this that you should want more you should have this burden like Jabez
who had this burden he said he said I'm not happy and we're not talking about
being discontented there is obviously we must learn to be content and
whatsoever state we find ourselves in but there is a such thing as a godly
discontentment where you say I want to do more I want to accomplish more this
man was praying to God and he was saying enlarge my coast I like verses like this
where he's saying enlarge my coast I like Isaiah 54 2 you have to turn there
I'll just read this for you Isaiah 54 2 says enlarge the place of thy
tent and let them stretch forth thine the curtains of thine habitation spare
not lengthen my cords strengthen my stakes and I like this idea of saying we
want more we want to do more and I'm here to tell you tonight that you should
have a burden to do more and I like that word burden I'm using that word very
specific because if if you are a man that has some ambition if you are a man
that wants to do more accomplish more I don't know how else to explain it other
than it being a burden something you carry with you this burden to want to in
in my in my career if you want to call it that or my ministry to reach more
people to get more people saved and baptized and the type old and get more
churches started we should all have a burden something that gets you up in the
morning something that gets you going something that you're working towards
and a reason to get out of bed and I would say this that we need to remind
men in 2024 that it is okay for you to want more because you know today we live
in this society where we've got a lot of weak men we've got a society filled of
filled with beta males we've got a society filled with these soy boys and
they're playing video games into their 30s and they're living in their mother's
basement and they're you know spending their entire day in their underwear in a
basement eating popcorn and playing video games and this is not what God
created a man to be and you know if you ask me if you if you're curious you know
pastor Jimenez what are your thoughts about grown men playing video games you
know my answer to that is this when I was a child I spake as a child I
understood as a child I thought as a child but when I became a man I put away
childish things and I think that a man who gets up every day and has something
he's working towards something he's burdened about some sort of ambition
that he's trying to achieve in his life you're just not gonna have time to play
kid games you should have a burden the Bible says where there is no vision the
people perish and as men we need to get a vision for our lives and there's some
areas in which you can get some vision when I talk to men about these things I
like to simplify things as much as possible and I give them these areas and
and I'll give them to you tonight and maybe you can remember them but you know
you got to have some a vision and you got to have some ambition in the area of
your faith in the area of your family in the area of your finances in the area of
your fitness in the area of your future you got to consider these areas in your
life you know when it comes to your faith there there should be something
you're working towards you should have some sort of godly dissatisfaction with
your walk with God maybe it's you want to develop a deeper understanding of the
Word of God you want to read the Bible more or read the Bible deeper study the
Word of God more deeply maybe memorize scripture but you should have there
should be something in your faith that you're working towards maybe it's your
prayer life I can tell you right now all of us can work on our prayer life and I
don't know about you but I want to be the type of Christian that like the
Bible says about Jacob that he wrestled with God and that he had power with both
God and men and that you can have the power of God upon your life to be able
to pray like this man Jacob and to open your mouth and ask the Lord for requests
at the throne of grace and have the ear of God in your life maybe it's Bible
reading maybe it's prayer maybe it's soul winning I don't know about you but
I want to be a better soul winner I don't just want to see people saved
consistently I want to see my converts come to church I want to see them get
baptized I want to see them be disciples hey I'm happy for all of the soul
winning that the new IFP does and I'm happy for all of the groups of soul
winners that go out and praise the Lord for it but I want to myself be able to
have a convert sitting next to me in church and say here's a Timothy that
I've reached with for the gospel of Christ I'm just saying is there
something in your faith that you're working towards something in your
personal walk with God you just want to be more right with God more genuine more
authentic I'm just saying you ought to have a burden for your faith you ought
to have a burden for your family you're married here tonight you ought to have a
burden to have the best relationship you can with your wife to be the best
husband you can for your wife to be the best leader you can for your wife you
ought to have a burden to have a good relationship with your children maybe
Maybe the hearts of your children have turned away from you, or maybe your heart has turned
away from your children, and you ought to have a burden to say, I want to cultivate
that relationship.
I want to develop that relationship.
I want to have my children's heart, and have their respect, and have influence upon them.
Maybe it's finances.
Maybe you need to get out of debt.
Maybe you need to make more money.
Maybe you need to get a better job.
Whatever it might be, there's nothing wrong with having a goal that says, hey, I want
to make money, and I want to make good money, not for the sake of money, but to provide
for my family, and to support the work of God.
Maybe it's your fitness.
Maybe you have a goal to lose weight.
Maybe you have a goal to build muscle.
Maybe you have a goal to just live a healthy lifestyle.
One of my goals and things that I want to work on is to live my life in such a way that
I could live into old age, and be active, and be mobile, and be able to continue even
as, Lord willing, a 70, 80, if God would allow it, a 90-year-old man.
I'd love to be able to be 90 years old, and play with some grandchildren, and knock on
some doors, and preach the gospel, and preach the word of God.
I'm just saying, there ought to be something in your life, areas in your life that you're
working on, that you have a burden for, that you say, it's good, it's good, but I want
more.
Jabez wanted more.
Oh, that thou wouldest bless me indeed, he said, and enlarge my coats.
So we see that you should want more, and it's okay to want more, but I'd also like to just
point this out for you, and I'd like to maybe let you in on this little secret, and it is
this, that not only is it okay for you to want more, but God also wants to give you
more.
Notice that again there, 1 Chronicles 4 and verse 10, and Jabez called on the God of Israel,
saying, oh, that thou wouldest bless me indeed, and enlarge my coats, and that thine hand
might be with me, and that thou wouldest keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me.
That's a great prayer.
That's a prayer of burden.
That's a prayer of ambition, but I want you to notice the answer to the prayer, and God
granted him that which he requested.
Here's how we know that Jabez was not out of line by asking for more, and saying I'd
like more, give me a bigger coats, enlarge my coats, enlarge my influence, enlarge my
resources, help me to do more.
Here's how we know he wasn't out of line, because God granted him that which he requested.
So not only do we see that it's okay for you to want more, and you ought to want more,
but God also wants to give you more.
You know the Bible says, now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all
that we ask or think, and God is willing, and ready, and able to give you more, even
more than what you and I can ask or think.
Here Jabez is asking for a lot, and God is exceeding abundantly able, above all able
to give him more than what he can ask or think.
It reminds me of Job 42, you don't have to turn there, but in Job 42 and verse 12 where
the Bible says this, so the Lord blessed the latter end of Job more.
I love that.
God blessed him before, and of course he had a trial there, and he had a testing, and it
was taken away, but the Bible says the Lord blessed the latter end of Job more than his
beginning.
So we see the burden of ambition, you should want more, I'm here to tell you tonight.
You should have a godly dissatisfaction somewhere in your life, and if you're here tonight,
and you're like, I'm satisfied with every area of my life, I mean I'm just firing on
all cylinders, I mean, I'm as fit as a fiddle, and I have as much money as I need, and I'm
the most godly person, hey, then here's an area you need to work on, is pride, because
all of us have somewhere that we can, something we can work on, and we should all have something
we're working on.
Should all have a burden, so we see the burden of ambition, and then I'd like to give you
secondly tonight, not only do we see the burden of ambition, but I'd like you, and if you're
jotting this down, or maybe you're writing this down somewhere, I'd like us to notice
the behavior of ambition, the behavior of ambition, so it's not just enough to want
more, you've got to do something about it, and if you're going to be a man of ambition,
if you and I are going to be men of ambition, then we must have the behavior of ambition,
I'd like you to go with me if you would to the book of Proverbs, Proverbs chapter 21,
of course if you open your Bible just right in the center, you're more than likely following
the book of Psalms after Psalms, you have Proverbs, Proverbs 21, and I would say this,
that we must develop a work ethic, Proverbs 21 and verse 5, there's lots of verses we
go to on the subject of work and work ethic, but I chose this verse, and there's another
verse I'll show you because I think it connects with this idea of ambition, the Bible says
in Proverbs 21 and verse 5, the thoughts of the diligent tend only to plenteousness, and
that word plenteousness has this idea of ambition, plenty, meaning to yield great, to yield more,
to yield in greater quantities, the thoughts of the diligent, the word diligent there is
referring to someone that's a hard worker, the thoughts of a diligent, of the diligent
tend only to plenteousness, but of everyone that is hasty only to want. I think it's interesting
because when the Bible, the Bible sometimes puts these terms together, especially in the
book of Proverbs, and sometimes it might seem like they're disconnected, they're randomly
put together, but nothing in the Bible is incidental, coincidental or accidental, it's
all in there for a reason, and I think it's important for us to notice that here he says
the thoughts of the diligent tend only to ambition, tend only to plenteousness, tend
only to yielding great quantities and qualities, doing more, accomplishing more, but here's
the compare and contrast, but of everyone that is hasty. See, I wouldn't have said hasty,
if I wrote the Bible, and you're God, I didn't write the Bible, because if I wrote the Bible,
there's lots of things to say that you probably wouldn't like, but if I wrote the Bible, I
wouldn't have said, but everyone that is hasty, I would have said, but everyone that is lazy,
right? But here he says, but everyone that is hasty, and obviously the Holy Spirit is
right, I'm wrong, but everyone that is hasty only to want, want is the opposite of plenteousness.
Plenteousness is having plenty, having more than you need, want is having a lot. Now why
does he say, why does he compare and contrast the diligent versus the hasty? And again,
I might have said the diligent versus the lazy, but the hasty here is the lazy. I think
the hasty is the right word, because you know what hasty means is someone trying to do something
quick. You know what it reminds me of is the get quick rich schemes. Look, I'm just
here to tell you, you're not going to get rich off of investing on crypto currencies,
no offense. You're not going to buy a book on Amazon and have a four hour work week and
be wealthy and rich. Look, the hasty, that only leads you to want. Anything that's worth
doing is worth being patient for, anything that's worth doing. See, diligent doesn't
just speak of work, it speaks of determination, staying with it, sticking with it. Say I want
to have a good career, then you ought to find a job that it's not hasty. The training doesn't
happen in two days. You understand what I'm saying to you? The more hasty the training
is, the less valuable the job is. You understand what I'm saying? But you're going to buy some
pill and buy some equipment that you just got to do for 10 minutes a day for two weeks
and you're going to have ripped abs or whatever. That's not how it works. And you and I, if
we're going to be men of ambition, are going to have to develop a behavior of ambition
and the behavior of ambition is this, a work ethic. We must develop a work ethic. The thoughts
of the diligent tend only to plenteousness. Let me give you another verse, go to Proverbs
13 if you would. Look at verse 4, Proverbs chapter 13 and verse 4. Proverbs 13 and verse
4, the Bible says this, the soul of the sluggard. The soul of the sluggard. And the word sluggard
here is talking about a person that's lazy. God often uses animals and uses the names
of animals to depict things. So in the book of Proverbs, when you see sluggard and when
you see sloth, these are not good things. He's not calling you a lion, he's not calling
you a cheetah. He's calling you a sluggard. Why? Because a sluggard goes slow. He's calling
you a sloth because a sloth sleeps a lot. The soul of the sluggard, look at it, desireth
and hath nothing. It's not that they don't want, it's not that they don't desire, but
they don't have anything. Why? Because yes, we should have a burden for ambition, but
it takes more than just a burden. It requires behavior. It requires a work ethic. The soul
of the sluggard desireth and hath nothing, but the soul of the diligent shall be made
fat. And I know that we don't use the word fat in a positive way in our society, but
here it's being used in a positive way. Okay, just think of it this way. Do you want to
have a fat bank account? That's what it's talking about. The soul of the diligent shall
be made fat. So we must develop a work ethic, and we must develop this idea of working hard.
Keep your place there in Proverbs if you would. We're going to come back to Proverbs, so please
stick something there, a bulletin or whatever, and go with me to the book of Genesis, Genesis
31. Genesis 31. And I would say this, that we need to develop a work ethic, and we need
to develop a work philosophy. I want to give you an example here from Genesis 31. I love
this story about Jacob, because Jacob is someone that in our modern vernacular we would say
that he came from money. Jacob had a very wealthy and successful father by the name
of Isaac. Jacob also had a very wealthy and successful grandfather by the name of Abraham.
What I like about Jacob is though he came from quote unquote money, he actually had
to start over financially. Due to his own sin and his own deception, he had to run away
from home, and he left home, and he left with nothing. So though he came from money, he
started with nothing, and he wasn't necessarily given money from his family when he built
his empire, when he built his wealth, but what he was given was even greater than money.
He was given an inheritance of being a hard worker. And in Genesis 31 we see his own testimony
to regards to his work ethic. Genesis 31, look at verse 38. This is Jacob speaking.
This 20 years, he's speaking to Laban, his boss. This 20 years have I been with thee.
The ewes and the she-goats have not cast their young, and the rams of thy flock have
I not eaten. He's talking to his boss, and he's saying, look, first of all, I've been
with you for 20 years. That's diligence. Look, there's something wrong with the guy who is
just jumping from job to job to job. Your resume has 20 jobs on it, and it accounts
for three years. And look, if that's you, I'm not mad at you. I'm not picking on you,
and I'm trying to be a friend, like Pastor Shelley preached about, and tell you that's
not a good testimony. He said, these 20 years have I been with thee. And he says, and I
didn't cost you anything. Thy ewes and thy she-goats have not cast their young, and the
rams of thy flock have I not eaten. He said, I didn't eat on your dime. That which was
torn of beasts I brought not unto thee. I bear the loss of it. And by the way, let me
say this. You want your boss to like you, quit breaking his stuff. Take care of his
equipment. And if you do break it, I'm not saying, you know, obviously all companies
and cultures are different, but Jacob is saying, I bear the loss of it. Of my hand, it's I'll
require it, whether stolen by day or stolen by night. Thus I was. Look at the work ethic.
Thus I was. In the day the drought consumed me, and the frost by night, and my sleep departed
from mine eyes. What is it? The twerk. Hard work. Thus have I been 20 years in thy house.
I served thee 14 years for thy two daughters and six years for thy cattle, and thou hast
changed my wages 10 times. And what we see here is a philosophy of work. And the philosophy
of work is this, that work is hard. Work is not enjoyable. Work is something that you
and I as men need to just decide to be hard workers and need to decide to develop a work
ethic. Now listen, maybe you're here and you would say, Pastor, I hear you. I get it.
I think it's good to be a hard worker, but naturally I'm just lazy. Okay? Let me let
you in on a little secret, all right? There's no ladies here, so I'll go ahead and just
let you in on this little secret that maybe nobody's let you in on. We all are. Human
beings, by nature, are lazy. By nature, we all want to take the path of least resistance.
By nature, none of us want to work hard. You look at the hardest working person you know
and they're lazy. You say, well, what's the difference between them and you? Well, the
difference between them and you is that they pretend to be hard workers. You ever heard
this term before? Fake it till you make it. And look, here's what I'm saying to you. You
say, well, I struggle with laziness and I don't think that I'm a great worker. Here's
all I would say to you. Figure out the characteristics of a hard worker and then just pretend to
have those. And here's the thing. Maybe I'm wrong and if I am, the Lord will have to correct
me or chastise me, but I'm giving you permission to be a hypocrite in this area of your life.
Just pretend to be. Just figure out what does it mean to be a hard worker. Now, this afternoon,
I just jot down some things that I think characterize a hard worker. Obviously, there's probably
more that I didn't think of, but here's some things that characterize a hard worker. They
get up early. Here's what I'm saying. You got to get up early. You say, but when I get
up early, I don't want to get up early. Okay, I get that, but just get up anyway. You don't
like it. You don't want to. You want to stay in bed until noon. I get that. I'm not mad
at you, but just get up anyway and just pretend. When you get to work, be focused on work.
Don't get distracted. Don't be distracted. Don't spend time on social media when you're
getting paid by your boss to work. You say, but I want to be on social media. I want to
check out. I'm just really interested what my friends and family, all 3,000 of them that
I've never met, are having for lunch. They're all taking pictures of their lunch and I'm
missing it. I know you really want to see it, but just pretend like you don't. Just
pretend like you don't care. Just pretend like you actually are honest and you have
character and you have integrity and you're going to work while you're being paid to work.
Work with a steady pace. Don't be a sloth. Don't be a slugger. Don't be like a Jehovah's
Witness out soul winning. You ever seen a Jehovah's Witness out soul winning? They move
like a sloth. Why? Why? Because they're just putting in their 59 minutes, 59 seconds hoping
that if they can just put in their 59 minutes, 59 seconds and if they can just move as slowly
as possible so they can talk to the least amount of people, which by the way, I'm thankful
for. I'm thankful that they're lazy. They're hoping they make it to the 144,000 or whatever,
but don't be that. Be focused at work. Have a steady pace. Hey, how about this? Produce
high quality. That means that you pay attention to detail. That means that you care about
excellence. That means that you're not sloppy. I often tell my staff this. We need to go
as quickly as possible and as slow as needed. As quickly as possible and as slow as needed.
No boss wants you to be so attention to detail oriented that you get nothing done, but no
boss wants you to go so fast and you're getting so much done, but it all has to get redone
because you didn't do it right. You know how to make your boss happy? Move as quickly as
possible and as slow as needed. That's a steady pace, steady pace, high quality, attention
to detail. How about this one? I think Pastor Shelley mentioned this one last night. Be
a problem solver. Don't be the guy that's constantly going to your boss with every problem.
I can't stand it when people, they just want, here's a problem. Now here's the thing. Maybe
your boss wants to be made aware of the problems and I get that. No problem with that, but
if you go to your boss with a problem, bring a solution. Say, hey, here's the problem and
I don't know if you want me to do this or not, but I brainstormed three solutions and
I can do it. That's going to impress your boss. That's what a hard worker would do.
It's easier to just text your boss, you know, you're supposed to go pick something up. The
store is closed. Is there another store? Can you buy it somewhere else? Like, why do I
have to explain this to you? Just what I'm saying to you is just figure out what it means
to be a hard worker and if you're not that, then just do it. Just pretend. Just pretend
to be that person. Just practice those characteristics and here's what I'll tell you. You do that
long enough, you do that hard enough, you do that week after week, month after month,
year after year, people will start thinking you're a hard worker. And you and I can keep
your secret that you're not. You're just faking it. But people will think you're a hard worker.
You know, the truth is you'll become a hard worker. You've got to develop a work ethic.
Especially young men, you've got to learn how to work. You know, the Bible says it is
good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth. And it's important. Now if you're not
a young man and you don't have a good work ethic, then you develop a good work ethic.
But if you're a young man, you've got to develop a good work ethic. You've got to learn how
to work. Learn how to work hard. I have a brother-in-law who owns a landscaping business.
Yes, he is a Mexican. And he has a very successful landscaping business. I mean, I won't give
his details, but I'll just tell you he's a very successful businessman. And he's one
of the hardest workers I know. I mean, I know a lot of good workers, but my brother-in-law
is one of the hardest working men I know. He has a very successful landscaping business,
lots of employees. And every once in a while he'll have a big job and he needs a few more
hands and he'll ask my sons to come work. And I've got two teen boys. I've got my oldest
son with me here tonight. He's 16. And I've got my second born who's 15, 14. He'll be
15 in September. Josh will be 17 in September. And they'll go work for my brother-in-law,
for Jose. And when they first started going to work, you know, I would tell, I would drive
them there. This is before my son had a license. I would drive them to the job site and then
I would coach them on like how to work. And I'm telling you this because you might think
like, oh, well, that's just your thoughts. That's just your opinion. But I will say this.
After a few days of working, when I would go pick up my sons and I'm thankful for this,
I would have grown men. Look, not church members of mine. These are just employees
of my brother-in-law. Grown men. I wasn't their pastor. They didn't know me from Adam
who would walk up to me and say, you know, I got to tell you, your sons work harder than
most men I know. And so what I'm telling you is I gave them this advice. They followed
it. And then I have non bias because it'd be one thing if I was dropping them off with
a bunch of church guys and the church guys were complimenting because it's like, well,
they're the pastors. But these are all church members. These are just random guys that work
in a landscaping company and they are saying to me like, your sons are some of the hardest
working people I've ever seen. Like they work harder than most men. So let me just tell
you what I told them. If you're a young man especially. And of course this isn't the context
of landscaping, so you might have to switch it to whatever context you work in. But this
is what I told my sons. I told them always be busy. Always be busy. And never, ever,
ever be standing around with your hands in your pockets. Never. Always be busy. I told
them do whatever the boss tells you to do, which in this case is their uncle. But I know
how business owners are. Sometimes they get busy. He's taking phone calls. So I told them,
when he tells you to do, you do that. And when you're done with that, find out what
he'd like you to do next. But let's say he's busy. Let's say he's on the phone. He's a
busy businessman and he's taking phone calls. Let's say he's on the phone talking to some
client and you don't know what to do next. Just do whatever he's doing. Because I've
seen him, he'll be on the phone talking, but he's still working. So if he can't give you
direction, just start doing what he's doing. Or let's say he's not there, then there's
always something to clean up. There's always something to pick up. There's always something
to put away. Just stay busy and don't take a break until it's time to take a break. And
always have your hands moving. And look, I'm just telling you, it's not rocket science.
I understand that. But this is having a good work ethic. So we need to have a good work
ethic. Young men need to develop a good work ethic. Older men need to develop a good work
ethic. You need to develop whatever it means in your context, in your job, in your sphere,
get a good work ethic. Let me say this. You ought to also develop a work philosophy. A
work philosophy. And again, this is maybe more for young men, but it's good for all
of us to be reminded of these things. And when it comes to a work philosophy, we read
it here. Look at it again. Genesis 31.40. Thus I was, in the day the drought consumed
me and the frost by night and my sleep departed from my night. I mean that, you just need
to realize that that's work. So let me just give you three thoughts real quickly on the
subject of work philosophy. And maybe this will help you. Number one, let's talk about
work and fun. Okay. And I'm talking to 2024 America, American men. Work and fun. You say,
what about work and fun? Exactly. These two words, they are not associated with each other.
Okay. Work is not supposed to be fun. If it was fun, they wouldn't pay you to do it. Do
you understand what I'm saying to you? Now look, I understand somebody's going to send
me some email and I get it that there are some jobs out there where somebody's getting
paid to eat cotton candy all day or getting paid to play video games or whatever. But
here's the truth. Those are few and far between. There's a thousand people trying to get that
job. And they're probably not paying that great because so many people just want to
do it. So look, work is not fun. They're not going to pay you to do something fun. And
here's what men need to remember about work. Work, other than being in ministry, which
being in ministry, maybe you can make the argument that it's a little different. But
I'm talking about if you're just working a secular job out in the secular world, you
need to remember that there's only one reason why you're working. It's to make money. And
the only reason you're making money is not because we love money or want money, but because
money is a tool that we use to be able to provide, to be able to protect, to be able
to do the responsibilities that we have as men. And here's what we need to remember.
You don't need to find a job that's fun. You need to remember that work, we do work
so that then we could invest in those things that we actually enjoy and the things that
are fun. Because spending time with your wife is fun. Spending time with your children is
fun. Spending time in church is fun. Going on events like this is fun. Going on mission
trips is fun. Doing these things are fun. So we work so that we can do these other things
that are enjoyable. But get this out of your head because look, today you can search on
Google and you'll find all sorts of articles out there about like millennials and people
alive today. And they're just jumping from job to job because they're just trying to
find that perfect job that's just fun and fulfilling. It doesn't exist. Work isn't fun.
You're not going to be able to get a job working at some unicorn farm and the unicorns
fart Skittles and it's just the greatest job I've ever had. It doesn't exist. It's work.
And by the way, let me let you in on a little secret because I said maybe ministry is a
little different. And here's the thing. I'm in the ministry. Pastor Charles is in the ministry.
I love the ministry. I'm doing what I believe I'm supposed to be doing with my life and
I think it's the greatest job in the world. But I'm here to tell you this job isn't fun
all the time. Sometimes it's not fun at all. And oftentimes it's a lot of work. If a man
desires the office of a bishop, he desires the good work. It's work. I enjoy it. I like
it. It's fulfilling. But you do something enough and you'll just realize it's work.
Look, I love preaching and I try to do a good job with preaching, but I'll be honest with
you. There are some Monday mornings where I think to myself, if I've got to sit down
and write another stinking sermon, I mean, how long am I going to do three sermons a
week for the rest of my life? And they better be funny and they better be entertaining and
they better be alliterated. You know what I mean? Sometimes I'm just like, I don't want
to do this. You say, what do you do? I think I just pretend. I just sit there and I think
to myself, okay, what would a good pastor do right now? A good pastor would just sit
down right now and start typing. What are we at? Psalm 3. Okay. It's not always fun.
So work and fun. How about this? We've already talked about it a little bit. Work and finances.
Let's remember the purpose of work is money. Not money for the sake of money, but money
as a tool. And look, I'm here to tell you, the Bible says that we should want neither
poverty nor riches. And I think the goal of every Christian man, and I think that this
is a godly goal, should be to provide for your family, to provide for the needs of your
family, and to invest in the work and kingdom of God. And that should be your goal. You
say, when I'm looking for a job, what am I looking? I'm looking for a job that will provide
for my needs, provide for my family, allow me to be able to deal with the responsibilities
that God has given me, and I want to have money so that I could invest in the work of
God, so that I could invest in the things of the Lord. So that, look, I think that you
should have a goal of one day having enough money to go on these, go on this Jamaica mission
strips and Fiji mission strips and Philippines mission strips, but all that requires money.
Work and fun and work and finances. And then how about this one? Work and future. Work
and future. Pastor Shelly was actually, after the zip line, we were sitting talking and
he was kind of talking about this, this idea that, look, you need to make sure that you
are getting yourself into some sort of a career that has a future. And look, again, I'm here
to tell you, if you need to make yourself valuable, if you are a man here tonight and
you're like, Pastor, you know, I'm in the new IP, I've got six kids, and I feel like
I'm in this dead end job or whatever, hey, I feel for you, but you say, how do I get
paid more? Become more valuable. You got to learn a skill, you got to develop some skill,
a trade, you got to have some sort of a marketable skill that people pay you for. And you young
men, you need to be looking into careers that are going to have some sort of a future that
you can grow. And I honestly, I feel for young men in the new IP, and I'm not saying that
there's anything wrong, but I look at these young men, 18, 19, 20 years old, they're getting
married to these young ladies in the new IP, praise Lord, God bless them. But there's already,
I mean, you're 19 years old and within nine months, you now have two people depending
on you to feed. So look, young man, you need to start thinking right now. Start thinking
about the future. What kind of work can I do? Look, Lord willing, one day you'll have
a nice wife and you'll have a beautiful family and you'll have all these things that every
man wants. But you know, oftentimes men are burdened. They have the wife, they have the
kids, and then they feel this pressure. And I get it, we all feel the pressure. But you've
got to set yourself up. You've got to develop, here's a skill that'll make you marketable,
just be a hard worker, develop a good work ethic. But learn something, get into some
sort of, I remember several months ago, I had a man, a young man in our church and he
was one of these, you know, he's young and he recently married, had a baby already. And
he was, he came to my office, I'd like some counsel, go to Matthew chapter four if you
would, in the New Testament, Matthew chapter four. And he was asking for some counsel and
he said, I've got these two job opportunities. And they were in a certain industry, HVAC.
And he said, one company is offering me X amount of dollars, which was like a good amount
for him. He's like, this will really help me and this will be good, like we're struggling
financially. And then he said, I have this other job offer, which is not starting me
as high, but they offer training, they offer certification, there's a progression and a
ladder, there's a big future there. And I just said to him, I said, look, I understand
that you need to feed your wife today, need to feed your baby today. And if you can't
handle this, if you can't do this and you take this job, you know, I get it and God
bless you. But if you can struggle, if you can struggle and take this job, I would take
the job with the future. I would take the job that's offering to train you, the job
that's offering to give you skills, the job that's offering to make you more valuable
because you can take that value with you anywhere you go. And he chose, he said, you know,
we prayed and I told him, make sure you can afford it and whatever. They crunched the
numbers. They said, we think we can do it. He took this job. And you know, it wasn't
very long after that he got a raise and he was making what they were offering over here
already. And now he's even surpassed that. And in fact, right now we, our church bought
a $3.5 million building. We need an HVAC system for, and we hired his company to do it.
And he made that connection and got us a great deal and whatever. And I'm just, I'm
just saying to you, develop a work ethic, become valuable, get a skill and get the right
philosophy about work. So we set number one, the burden of ambition. Number two, the behavior
of ambition. Let me give you a third one tonight. And that is the boundaries of ambition. Because
though I think that ambition is good, I do think that ambition can get out of control.
In Matthew chapter four and verse eight, we have a story of the Lord Jesus Christ, of
course, being tempted. And I want you to notice this specific temptation. Matthew chapter
four and verse eight, the Bible says, And again, the devil taketh him, referring to
Jesus, up into an exceeding high mountain, and showed them all the kingdoms of the world
and the glory of them, and saith unto them, All these things will I give thee if thou
will fall down and worship me. Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence Satan, for
it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. I
want you to notice that though we should be ambitious, and though we should have big dreams,
and though we should be working to do more, to accomplish more, to achieve more, we need
to make sure that our ambition has boundaries. Because here Jesus was being offered all the
kingdoms of the world and the glory of them. But he had a boundary. He said, No, thou shalt
worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. And we need to make sure that
we've got some boundaries in regards to money. And again, man, I think you need to work hard
and I think you should make money. But I don't think you should miss church to make money.
I don't think you should quit soul winning to make money. I think you need to have some
boundaries with money and you need to realize that you're trying to make money and provide
for your family and invest in the things of the Lord. But you're not. Look, I think you
ought to be driven. I think you ought to be sold out. But I don't think you should be a sellout.
You understand what I'm saying to you? You go to work and you be sold out. And by the way,
it doesn't matter where you work. Maybe you are working at some fast food shop or whatever.
And here's the thing, I think you ought to try to get a better job. But while you're working there,
make sure you work hard. Be sold out for the work that you're doing. But don't be a sellout.
Don't be a sellout. I mean, how much does the devil have to offer you for you to quit church?
Your boss says, well, I'll pay you time and a half if you work through the midweek service.
Are you going to be a sellout or are you going to say, no, thou shalt worship the Lord thy God
and him only shalt thou serve? Are you going to be a sellout or are you going to say, hey,
you know, here's the thing, I want to seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness
and all these things shall be added unto thee. So make sure you've got some boundaries with
regards to money. Don't let this desire for money overtake you. The Bible says,
but godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world and
it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment, let us be there with
content for they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare and into many foolish
and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition for the love of money is the
root of all evil. So make sure you don't allow your heart to begin to love money. Make sure
you have the right concept of money. It is a tool that God gives us to accomplish the
responsibilities of our life. And by the way, the less you love money, the more God will
give you if he can trust you with it. So we should have boundaries when it comes to
money and the ambition for money. Let me say this, we should have boundaries when it comes
to time. The Bible says this, see then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools, but
as wise, redeeming the time for the days are evil. What does it mean to walk circumspectly?
The word circumspect means to walk cautiously, to walk in a way that is concerning that you're
thinking about what you're doing. And then the context is this, redeeming the time, redeeming
the time. So don't let the ambition get the best of your time. Don't give up that which
is eternal, for that which is temporal. Don't give up. You understand that you can make
money anytime. And we've been talking a lot about money and making money. I think men
need to go out and you need to bring home the bacon. You need to go out, hunt something,
kill something, and bring it home. But we got to keep that within its context. You can
make money later, you can make a lot of money later, and I think you should try to do the
best you can right now, but listen to me. If you've got children, you only have those
children for 20 years or however long you're going to happen in your home. Don't realize
the trade-offs. I'd like to read to you just a little excerpt from a book I was reading
recently. I think it put it well. It said this, we have ridiculous and unrealistic expectations
of who we can and should become and what we can and must accomplish. We believe it's possible
to be it all, do it all, and have it all, all at the same time and with no trade-offs.
This irrational confidence in our own ability combined with unrealistic expectations has
horrible consequences for our total health and well-being. The truth about life is that
we can and must make choices. We need to do the hard work of deciding what we actually
want and what trades we are willing to make to get there. We must be willing to let go
of the idea that we can have it all. And look, in life, you and I are just going to have
to, I want you to be ambitious, but I also want you to walk circumspectly. Not as fools,
but as wise. I want you to realize that you need to be investing in that relationship
with your wife. You need to be investing in that relationship with your children. You
need to be investing in the house of God, the work of God, the things of God. And if
you can work hard and do those things and praise the Lord for it, and I don't think
that God ever gives us conflicting responsibilities. I don't think, people say, well, I can't
go to church because I have to provide. No, no, no. God doesn't give you things that
conflict with each other. You should be able to have a good relationship with your wife,
have a good relationship with your children, have a good relationship with your God, be
in church, be a soul winner, be volunteering and serving. You should be able to do all
those things. Now, you may need to quit video games. You may need to quit social media.
You may need to quit surfing YouTube for hours on end. You need to realize that there's
some trade-offs that need to be made in life, and you need to start walking circumspectly,
not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time. And you've got to ask yourself, yes, maybe
for some weird reason you really want to watch 23 cat videos, but do I really need to watch
the cat video or the bear video of attacking a lion? Or maybe I should read my Bible right
now, and maybe I should go have dinner with my family, and maybe we should get ready and
go soul winning. See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time
for the days of evil. We need to have boundaries with regards to money. We need to have boundaries
with regards to time. And then lastly tonight, I'd like to give you the fourth thought. If you would,
go back to Proverbs, Proverbs chapter 3. We've talked about the burden of ambition. What is the
burden of ambition? The burden of ambition is this, that you should want more. There should be a
burden in you that says, I want to do more, accomplish more, be more. And you should realize
that God wants to give you more. We talked about the behavior of ambition. What's the behavior
of ambition? It's developing a work ethic and a work philosophy. It's putting work in its proper
place and making sure that you're a hard worker. And if you're not a hard worker, fake it. We talked
about the boundaries of ambition, boundaries with regards to money, boundaries with regards to time.
Be driven, be sold out, but don't be a sellout. And then lastly tonight, I'd like to talk about
the blessing of ambition. The blessing of ambition. See, what's interesting to me is that
in that passage where we started, you don't have to go back there, but in 1 Chronicles 4 and verse 10,
the Bible says, and Jabez called on the Lord God of Israel saying, oh, that thou wouldest bless me
indeed. And Jabez understood that in order for us to accomplish more and do more, yes, it requires,
yes, it requires hard work and discipline and diligence and a seriousness of delight, but it also requires
the blessing of God. In Proverbs chapter 3 and verse 4, the Bible says this, so shall thou find favor
and good understanding in the sight of God and man. The Bible says that God can give us favor
both in the sight of God and man. Before I was in the ministry, when I was in the Air Force, this was
a verse that I would pray every day, every day as I was driving into the base and driving through the gate,
I would pray in my mind, Lord, give me favor with God and man. God and man. I think when you go to work,
you ought to have this attitude. I want favor with God and I want favor with man. The Bible says about
Jesus in Luke 2 52, you don't have to turn there, and Jesus increased in wisdom and stature and in favor
with God and man. Favor is defined as approval, support, or liking for someone or something.
And you ought to want this, and especially in the workplace, you ought to want and desire favor with both
God and man. Now, you're there in Proverbs 3, go to Proverbs chapter 12 real quickly. Proverbs chapter 12.
And look at verse 2, just quickly, let's talk about favor with God, and then I want to just spend a little bit of time
on favor with man. Proverbs 12 and verse 2 says this, a good man obtaineth favor of the Lord, but a man of wicked
devices will he condemn. So here, very succinctly and simply, God tells you, you want favor with God, you can have it.
God wants to give it to you. What do you need to be? A good man. A good man. A good man obtaineth favor of the Lord.
What's the opposite of a good man? But a man of wicked devices will he condemn. And the word good has this root
word in it and this connotation of godliness. And when we are trying to be, because there's only one good, and that's God.
And when we endeavor to live godly lives, that's when we are a good man. So if you want favor with the Lord,
you need to ask yourself this, would God consider me a good man? A good man. That's favor with man.
Excuse me, favor with God. Let me just give you favor with man. And I'm going to ask you to just turn to a lot of passages
because I want to really highlight this for you. Go to Genesis 39 if you would. In Genesis 39, we're going to flip through
a lot of passages here, and I apologize, I'm definitely going to preach more than an hour tonight.
And I'm going to be diligent about this thing, right? But I want you, we're going to be here until midnight.
We're going to be here until one of you falls over dead. And he was in the house of his master, the Egyptian.
And his master saw that the Lord was with him. You know that when you walk with the Lord and the Lord is with you,
other people will identify it? You don't have to go around telling people, I'm a good Christian. If you're a good Christian, no, no.
And his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord made all that he did to prosper in his hand.
And Joseph, look at these words, found grace. That's favor with God and man. Joseph found grace in his sight.
In whose sight? In Potiphar's sight. In his boss's sight. Joseph found grace in his sight.
And he served him and he made him overseer over his house and all that he had he put into his hand.
And it came to pass from that time that he had made him overseer in the house and over all that he had,
that the Lord blessed the Egyptians house for Joseph's sake. And the blessing of the Lord was upon all that he had
in the house and in the field and he left all that he had in Joseph's hands and he knew not ought he had
save the bread which he did eat and Joseph was a goodly person. He was a good man. Look at it and well favored.
This should be the testimony of every Christian. You know the testimony at your job should be this?
Your boss says, I don't understand it. I don't get it. But it sure seems as we hired you,
you have the blessing of God in your life and it's been blessing our business. You have the favor.
Look, you know what your boss should say? Your boss should say, I don't like your pastor.
I don't like your church. I don't like your stand. I don't like your beliefs.
But I want to hire you and I want to hire as many people that are just like you.
Because though you want sodomites put to death, you're the hardest worker I've got.
You're the most honest worker I've got. And for some reason, the blessing of God has been upon our business since you showed up.
That should be the testimony you want. By the way, that's what Laban said to Jacob.
He said, I don't want you to leave. Name your price. I want you to stay because God favors on your life.
This is what we read about Joseph, Genesis 39. Flip over to Genesis. Oh, you're there in Genesis 39.
Look down at verse number 21. Now we find Joseph in prison.
By the way, just because you have the favor of God in your life doesn't mean you're not going to go through trials.
But now we find Joseph, we catch up to him in prison. He's been lied about, been falsely accused.
And notice what the Bible says about him in prison. Genesis 39 verse 21.
But the Lord was with Joseph and he showed him mercy and gave him favor.
He had favor with God and man. Gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison.
The keeper of the prison committed to Joseph's hand all the prisoners that were in the prison.
And whatsoever they did there, he was the doer of it. That's ambition. That's a good work ethic.
The keeper of the prison looked not to anything that was under his hand because the Lord was with him.
And that which he did, the Lord made it to prosper.
I mean, have you ever noticed this? Go to Genesis 41. Genesis 41.
Look at verse 38. Now we find Joseph in the palace. He goes from Potiphar's house to prison.
Now he's in the palace. Genesis 41 verse 38.
And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Forasmuch as God hath showed thee all this, there is none so discreet and wise as thou art.
Thou shalt be over my house, and according unto thy word shall all my people be ruled.
Only in the throne will I be greater than thou.
And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, See, I have set thee over all the land of Egypt.
And Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand, and put it upon Joseph's hands, and arrayed him investors of fine linen, and put gold chains about his neck.
And he made him to ride in the second chariot which he had, and they cried before him, bow the knee, and he made him ruler over all the land of Egypt.
I just think it's interesting. You find Joseph in Potiphar's house, and he's going up the corporate ladder.
You find him in prison, and he's going up the corporate ladder.
You find him in the palace, and he's going up the corporate ladder.
And everywhere he goes, they identify this.
This is a hard-working man. This is a godly man. This is a goodly man.
And for some reason, he seems to have favor with God, and people tend to like him.
He has favor with man.
You say, oh, well, that's just Joseph. Okay, go to the book of Esther.
Esther chapter number two.
Here's a young lady, but let's see it here.
Esther chapter two. Look at verse 15.
Esther chapter number two in verse 15. The Bible says this.
Now when the turn of Esther, the daughter of Abbahel, the uncle of Mordecai, who had taken her for his daughter, was come to go in unto the king,
she required nothing but what Haggai, the king's chamberlain, the keeper of the women appointed, and Esther, don't miss this, look at it,
and Esther obtained favor in the sight of all them that looked upon her.
You think this is a coincidence?
Now look, everywhere Joseph went, he obtained favor.
Now what was that? Part of it, yes, part of it was that he was a hard worker.
Part of it was that he was intelligent.
Part of it was that he was disciplined and diligent.
Yes, all of that is true, but part of it was just the favor of God, the blessing of God upon his life.
Look, I don't know what you do for a living,
but if I was in business and I had to go and give quotes to people and have them approve those quotes in order for me to make money,
I'd sure want the favor of God and man.
If I worked somewhere where I had a boss and I had to make the boss happy and I had to do certain things and they needed to approve the work that I did,
I'd sure want favor with God and man.
I think every worker, every man should desire to have favor with both God and with man.
Was Esther beautiful? The Bible tells us she was.
Was Esther wise? We know she was. Was she discreet? We know she was.
But she also obtained favor in the sight of all them that looked upon her,
and it wasn't just her beauty and it wasn't just her wisdom, it was the blessing of God.
Look at verse 16.
So Esther was taken unto king Ahasuerus into his house royal in the tenth month,
which is the month Tebeth in the seventh year of his reign.
And the king loved Esther above all the women and she obtained grace, that's favor,
and favor in his sight more than all the virgins so that he sent the royal crown upon her head and made her queen instead of ashti.
You say, well that's Esther, she's a young lady.
Alright, go to the book of Esther chapter number nine.
Chapter number nine.
Look at verse four.
Esther chapter nine and verse four.
For Mordecai was great in the king's house, and his fame went out throughout all the provinces.
For this man Mordecai waxed greater and greater.
I'm just telling you, maybe you haven't noticed it, but it seems to me that the Bible highlights
that whenever God's people are put into a secular workplace, it just seems like they prosper.
It seems like they're blessed.
Obviously they walk with God, they work hard, they're smart, they're intelligent, they're talented.
But then they also have this secret weapon, which is the favor of God on their lives.
I mean, let me give you more examples. Go to Daniel chapter number one.
Daniel chapter number one.
Look at verse eight.
Daniel chapter number one and verse eight.
Look at verse eight.
Daniel chapter one and verse eight, the Bible says,
But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with a portion of the king's meat,
nor with the wine which he drank.
Therefore he requested of the princes of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.
Look at verse nine.
Now God had brought Daniel into favor and tender love with the princes of the eunuchs.
I mean, am I making this up?
God gives favor to Joseph and God gives favor to Esther and God gives favor to Mordecai.
And here we see that God had brought Daniel into favor and tender love with the princes of the eunuchs.
And it wasn't, obviously I don't think this would have happened if Daniel was sloppy and not doing what he was supposed to do.
But it's not just being talented and smart and skilled, it's having the blessing of God on your life.
Look at the same chapter, verse 19, Daniel chapter one, verse 19.
And the king communed with them and among them all, this is the king communion,
he's talking to Daniel and Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
And the king communed with them and among them all was found none like Daniel,
Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.
Therefore stood they before the king and in all matters of wisdom and understanding that the king inquired of them.
He found them ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers that were in all his realm.
And Daniel continued even unto the first year of King Cyrus.
See they were smart, they were talented, they were hard workers.
But it's also the favor of God.
Let me give you another example.
Go to Daniel chapter number two.
Daniel chapter number two.
And look at verse 48.
Daniel chapter two and verse 48.
Look what the Bible says.
Then the king made Daniel a great man and gave him many great gifts and made him ruler over the whole providence of Babylon.
And the chief of the governors over all the wise men of Babylon.
And Daniel requested of the king and he sent Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego over the affairs of all the providences of Babylon.
But Daniel sat in the gate of the king.
Am I making this up?
I mean it just, it seems, let me give you another example.
Let me give you another example.
Go to Daniel chapter three.
Look at verse 29.
Daniel chapter three verse 29.
Daniel 3, 29.
Therefore I make a decree, this is Nebuchadnezzar speaking,
that every people, nations, and languages which speak anything amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego
shall be cut in pieces and their houses shall be made a dunghill
because there is no other God that can deliver after this sword.
Look at verse 30.
Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the providence of Babylon.
And I'm just saying to you
that it seems to me
like every time you see God's people in a secular environment, work environment,
they're being promoted.
They're goodly.
They're godly.
They're hard workers.
They're skilled.
They're intelligent.
They're doing their part.
But they also have the favor of God upon them.
God is opening those doors for them.
God is making their bosses and God is making their overseers to have favor on them.
And you and I need that.
Go to Genesis 47.
Genesis 47.
While you turn there, let me just read a couple of verses for you.
Look, we need to remember
that what we need desperately more than anything on the list,
then they would be examined to be given a rank, their rank early, their next rank early.
And your boss had to put you into, he had to recommend you to do it.
But once you were recommended and you had to put this whole folder together with all your accomplishments and all these things,
then you would have to go and have this interview in front of all these commanders.
You'd have like 10 commanders all sitting at a table and you would walk in and do your salutes and all these things
and sit down and they would ask you questions and you'd interact.
And everyone on the base, all the new airmen, would do this and they would all compete.
This is something that everybody wanted because of the fact that number one, if you got your rank early,
number one, you were making more money.
But number two, you immediately outranked all your friends.
So this was obviously a good thing.
And I remember there was a young man that I worked with and when we were in Texas in our tech school training,
he was in the class ahead of me.
But we were both going to Travis Air Force Base and we talked a little bit.
And when we got to Travis, of course he was there.
He got there before I did.
But we became real good friends, real close friends.
And he was a Christian and I asked him about his salvation and he gave a clear testimony of salvation.
And he actually started coming to church with me, the independent fundamental Baptist church that we went to.
And he kind of adopted it all.
He became King James only and he became a Baptist and all those things while we worked together.
And his wife got saved and she got baptized and I believe that he even came out soul winning with us.
And we just became very good friends and people would kind of make fun of us in our shop where we worked.
And they would act like, oh you two are just these little goody two shoes or whatever.
And my friend, he got put up for BTZ because he was stellar.
He was a good worker and all those things.
He was sharp and smart and he had the favor of God in his life.
And he went up for this award.
And I remember we had a sergeant who came to us and I remember he said to us, he said,
Look, I like you both and I'm going to put both of you up for this thing.
And fortunately we're not going against each other because we were separated to where we weren't competing against each other.
But I was going to go up right after him.
And I remember my sergeant, he said to us, he looked at me and he said,
If he gets it, I just want you to know that there's a good chance that you won't get it.
Because this is supposed to be something for the whole base to kind of really encourage the airmen.
And he said, I've never seen them award it back to back to airmen from the same squadron, much less the same flight.
Because they purposely try to pick from different places.
So he's like, if he gets it, I don't know that you're going to get it.
And I was like, yeah, well, I mean, good luck to him.
And I remember I was in church on Wednesday night and I was in my uniform.
I came straight from church and he walked in, he was in his uniform and he had a big smile on his face.
I knew that he was going up for BTZ and I walked up to him and I shook his hand and he said, I got it.
And in my heart I'm just kind of like, ah, that means that I'm probably not going to get it.
But of course I'm a good Christian so I didn't say that because I just faked it.
And I'm like, God bless you. Praise the Lord. Hallelujah. Whatever. I don't remember what I said.
I was happy for him. I was happy for him. I mean, I generally was happy for him.
But in my heart I'm just kind of like, ah. Because the sergeant, I put this thing in my head like, I've never seen the same flight get it.
So then it was my turn and they put my name in and I put my file together and put it all in.
And the whole time I think to myself, I don't even know why I'm doing this. I mean, he just got it. It's from the same flight.
They're probably not going to give it to somebody from the same flight. Whatever.
But I'm going through the motions, you know, and I get called and I go in and do my salutes and sit down.
They ask me questions and I interact and I talk with them.
And even in that scenario they're like, oh, you're from flight so and so.
He's like, somebody from that flight just got BTZ last time. And I'm like, yeah, I know.
But you know what I thought to myself? I thought to myself, this is what I thought to myself.
I thought, the king's heart is in the hands of the Lord. As the rivers of water, he turneth it whether so ever he will.
And I just thought, you know, I'm praying for favor with God and man. If God wants me to get it, God wants me to get it.
If he doesn't want me to get it, that's fine too. I can be content.
The day came when the announcement came and I remember our sergeant came to me and he said, you two.
Because he would kind of make fun of us because we were both these baptists and Christians and whatever.
And I remember he walked up to me and he said, I don't know how you two did it. I've never seen this before.
But you got it awarded. You were awarded BTZ. There's never been a time where two airmen from the same flight got it back to back.
And I remember just thinking to myself, glory to God, I think it's just favor with God and man.
It's just the favor of the Lord.
And I'm here to tell you that you need to have a burden for ambition. You need to have the behavior of ambition. You need to have the boundaries of ambition.
But don't forget the blessing of ambition. Make sure that God's happy with you. Make sure that you're pleasing the Lord.
Make sure that you have the favor of God on your life and ask for the favor with man.
Because that's what God can do for you. God can open doors for you. God can give you promotions. God can do all those things.
So let's make sure we're putting God first. In Genesis 47, this is the last place I'll have you look at.
I want you to see this little story here. Genesis 47. I'll be done here in a few minutes.
You remember Joseph has now brought his family into Egypt during the famine. Genesis 47 verse 5.
And Pharaoh spoke unto Joseph saying, Thy father and thy brethren are come unto thee, and the land of Egypt is before thee.
In the best of the land make thy father and brethren to dwell. In the land of Goshen let them dwell.
And if thou knowest any, I just want you to see this because this is Pharaoh speaking to his employee Joseph.
And he says, hey, if thou knowest, I love this little phrase, any men of activity. Men of activity.
What's he talking about? Men of ambition. Hard working men. Men that are busy doing something, accomplishing something.
He says, and if thou knowest any men of activity among them, notice what he says, then make them rulers over my cattle.
You know what the world's looking for? They're looking for men of activity. Men of honor, men of honesty, men of integrity, men of character, men that go to work.
They don't badmouth the boss. They don't complain. They don't criticize. They don't whine. They put their heads down. They work hard.
They're honest. They love their wives. They love their children. They honor the Lord.
All these people we looked at in the Bible, all of them had trials and troubles. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego had to tell Nebuchadnezzar we're not going to bow.
Daniel had to say that he would not purpose himself. He had to purpose himself not to foul himself with the king's meat.
Joseph had to run from Potiphar's wife and be falsely accused. They all had to take stands for God.
But yet, God blessed them. As a result, they received favor from God, and they received favor from men, men of activity.
If you don't mind, I'd like to just read this quote for you. It's a little lengthy, but I like it, and it's by the 26th President of the United States of America, Theodore Roosevelt.
He said this, it is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better.
The credit belongs to the man who's actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs, who comes short again and again because there is no effort without error and shortcomings, who does actually strive to do the deeds,
who knows great enthusiasm and great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly,
so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.
You know what America needs? It needs men of activity. You know what Christianity needs? Men of activity.
You know what the independent fundamental Baptist movement needs? Men of activity. You know what the new IFB movement needs? Men of activity.
You know what steadfast Baptist church needs? You know what first works Baptist church needs and pure works Baptist church needs? You know what Verity Baptist church needs? You know what OKC needs?
All these churches, they need men of activity. You know what your family needs? Men of activity. Men of activity. Men of ambition. Men that have a burden to do something, to accomplish something, to make their lives count for something.
They get up every day and work hard. They honor the Lord and they get favor with God and favor with man. That's why our heads on our board of prayer.
Heavenly Father, Lord we do love you and Lord I thank you for these men. These men are unique. They're men that would give time, energy, and effort to be at an event like this, to be with other godly men.
And I know that they're already the cream of the crop. But Lord I pray you'd help us to have a godly discontentment. Help us not to be satisfied with the status quo.
Help us to develop a vision and a burden for our faith and our families, our finances, our fitness, our future. Help us to be men of work and of work ethic.
Lord help us to have boundaries to our ambition, to always work hard to have favor both with God and with men. In the matchless name of the Lord Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.