So, unfortunately, we couldn't get the morning service live streamed, but we did get it recorded.
So if you guys need to know what we're doing, I basically, just a reminder, on Sunday mornings,
I'm currently going for the book of Jeremiah chapter by chapter, so I preach on chapter
two in the book of Jeremiah this morning, go back and listen to that.
And basically, every other time I preach, I'm going to be focused on this series that
I've started on.
And if you remember, we called this series the decently and in order series, decently
and in order, and so what we see in creation, we see from God is that when he creates things,
he does things in order, right?
We saw, you know, when I preached about this on Thursday, he has set the six days of creation,
he worked hard those six days, and then what we see in this chapter, he creates Adam, he
creates Eve, but everything after his own order, right?
And so what I want you to think about, and a lot of people don't really give attention
to this part of creation, but there is a reason why man was created, okay?
Now the title for the sermon this afternoon is the order of employment, the order of employment.
The sermon that I preached on Thursday was called the order of God's nature.
So when we were looking at the nature of God, we're seeing that there is a proper order
of things, that there is an authority, that there is something where someone is a leader
and there are others that follow after that head.
And so when you look at Genesis chapter two, and verse number one, actually before I read
that passage, I'm going to read some words of Jesus Christ.
And these are words of Jesus when he was 12 years old.
You may remember when his mother and father, they traveled into Jerusalem, as they would
often do, and in the story, Jesus Christ gets lost, I guess, in some extent, like your parents
thought he was lost, but he was left behind in Jerusalem.
And it says in Luke 2 48, and when they saw him, they went back to Jerusalem to see Jesus,
they were amazed, and his mother said unto him, Son, why hast thou dealt with us?
Behold thy father, and I have sought thee sorrowing.
And it's amazing the words of Jesus Christ, because if you were here on Thursday, you
may recall how I explained to you that Jesus Christ came to set us an example, right?
He came to set us an example that we can follow after his steps.
And so, you know, God will never ask us to do something that he hasn't already done.
And Jesus Christ responds to his mother in verse 49, it says, and he said unto them,
How is it that ye sought me?
Wist ye not that I must be about my father's business?
You know, I must be about my father's business.
Again, he was speaking about God the Father.
And he says, Look, God the Father, he has sent me to do a work, he's put me in the family
business.
And he says, Look, I've got to get busy in the family business, right?
And when we talk about what employment is, another word for employment is your job, your
work, your business, the business, what's business, you're busy doing something, that's
where the term business comes from.
And so what we see with Jesus, he's got no problem, you know, he's happy to do the work
that the Father has given him to do.
He's happy to be employed by the Father and get about working, even at 12 years old, you
know, he was ready to work.
So Jesus Christ sets us this example.
And you know, sometimes we think about work, we think about employment, we think about,
you know, struggling to make ends meet, struggling to to pay the bills, sometimes we have the
wrong impression of the workplace, we think of it as as maybe a curse, you know, we think,
you know, as Australians, we can't wait to have a part time job, we can't wait to retire,
sometimes we can relax and enjoy ourselves.
But that's not the intention of man, you know, God has created man to be busy to work, right.
So let's have a look at this.
Look at Genesis chapter two, verse number one, just a reminder here, Genesis chapter
two, verse number one, it says, Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host
of them.
And on the seventh day, God ended his work, which he had made, and he rested on the seventh
day from all his work, which he had made, brethren, what's the first thing that we learn
about God pretty much is the creator of all things.
But then it tells us he's a working God, you know, during those six days, God was at work.
You know, it's not like he was relaxing and resting.
No, the Bible tells us he was working.
You know, the first one of the first things we learn about God in the Bible is that we
serve a working God, we don't have a lazy God, he's a God that gets busy.
He's a God that works, look at verse number three, and God blessed the seventh day and
sanctified it, because that in it, he had rested from all his work, which God created
and made.
So you notice immediately, verse number two says God worked, worked, verse number three,
he worked.
The Bible wants us to know that God wants us to know that he is a working God, we don't
serve a lazy God.
You know, God worked at the time of creation, okay, he was busy getting about doing a job.
And he's also interested in working in our lives today.
It's not like God rested for six days, sorry, rested after creation, and he's continually
resting.
No, we continue to serve a working God.
You know, Philippians chapter one, verse six says, being confident of this very thing,
that he which have begun our good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus
Christ.
Did you know God is working right now, and is working in you, he began a good work in
you, the moment you believe on Jesus Christ, God started our work with you, and is going
to continue working in you until the day that Jesus Christ comes back.
We serve a working God Brethren, you know, we see this as a characteristic of God is
not a lazy God is not retired, right, he is not just, you know, sometimes involved
in your life, God wants to work, he wants to be involved in every aspect of your life.
And so we see that God is a working God from the beginning of creation, we see that God
is working today in the lives of all his believers.
And we know one day, God's going to create a new heaven, and a new earth.
And so he's going to get back to work again, isn't he?
He's creating a new heaven, new earth, God's going to get back to work, listen, we serve
a working God.
And so shouldn't surprise us, then, if our God is a working God, that he would then require
his, his, you know, the creation of man, Adam, to be a worker, right?
If we're created in the image of God, where we're created to be similar to God in that
sense, well, you know what, he's put that into mankind, that mankind is required to
work.
Look at verse number four there in Genesis chapter two, verse number four.
These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth, when they were created in the
day of the Lord, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens.
But notice verse number five, and every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and
every herb of the field before it grew, for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon
the earth.
But notice the next phrase, a lot of people forget this in creation.
It says, and there was not a man to till the ground.
So what do we learn there?
Why did God create man?
We learned that the ground needed to be worked on.
We know that the land, the ground needed to be tilled.
And so this is why he creates man.
Okay, he says, Look, there's a creation, I need somebody to get to work.
And so, you know, you can see here, there's a need, the ground needs a man to get work.
And so, you know, we often sometimes think of creation, we think of day number six, God
create Adam, he creates Eve, they get married, we have the family.
Yeah.
God puts the man to work.
Let's drop down.
Well, let's keep going to verse number six, verse number six.
And there went up a mist from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground.
And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils
the breath of life, and man became a living soul.
And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there he put the man whom he
had formed.
So you see that God creates a garden east of Eden, we know it as the Garden of Eden,
don't we?
And then he takes man whom created and he puts him into that garden, he places him into
that garden.
Now, I want you to notice this, drop down to verse number 15.
This is before the creation of Eve.
This is before the family units, okay, before the institutional family, verse number 15.
And the Lord God took the man and put him into the Garden of Eden to dress it and to
keep it.
Hey, listen, before Adam was given a wife and a family, day number one, you're created,
God says, Adam, I need you to work, you're under my employment, you've been given business
to do, you're required to labor, this garden requires work, this garden requires keeping.
So he takes the man and puts him to work.
Now, brethren, it's so important that we teach our boys this truth, okay?
We are living in a generation that feels self entitled, they believe everything is deserving
to them.
You know, they believe they don't have to lift a finger and everybody needs to give
them what they want.
No, at the very beginning, when God creates man, he puts them to work, we need to teach
our boys, especially our boys, that listen, the reason they're here is to get to work.
You know, before they can have a family, before they can find a wife, they ought to be working,
they ought to be laboring, this is why God created man, okay?
And so when you labor and you work, you're doing the task that God put man on this earth
to do.
And God's going to bless you, God's going to bless your hands, God's going to provide
your needs.
And listen, at the right time, when you're providing for your needs, when you're in the
position to look after a wife, when you're in the position to look after a family, then
God will bring someone into your life.
We see the process that God had before Eve came into the picture, before the family you
know was created, God put Adam to work.
And so brethren, this is before the curse, right?
This is before the fall of mankind.
And so even when things are good, this is day number six, you know, God says that all
things were good.
You know what else was good in day number six?
A working man, okay?
So if you're a man and you've got a job, that is good in the eyes of God, right?
He wants you to labor, and he's a laboring God, he's a working God, he wants us to reflect
that in himself.
And so it's so important that we teach our boys, you need to get your education, you
need to get your skills, you need to find employment, and you need to apply yourself,
because that's why you were created.
You know, one thing I've learned as a man, and I think most men can relate to this, is
that you're most happy and satisfied when you are working a job.
You know, when you're out there and you're busy and you're laboring, you know, my mom
sometimes says to me, oh, Kevin, you travel back and forth from Sunshine Coast to Sydney,
you look tired, you know, yeah, good.
You know, getting tired, I mean, when you work, you're going to get tired.
You know, when Adam was tilling the ground, he was going to get tired.
In fact, God will put Adam to a deep sleep later on and take his reap.
You know, you have your best night's sleep when you're tired, when you've used your body,
when you've used your ability to serve and work hard, you know, you have a satisfaction
when you provide for the needs of your family, when you provide and you labor hard, you can
go to sleep and have a restful sleep, you know, you put your head on the pillow and
you're out.
You know, have you ever had nights where you just can't sleep, you toss and turn?
You probably didn't get a lot done that day.
You know, there are other nights where you just labor hard, you're so tired, literally,
I just know sometimes I just put my head on the pillow and I don't even remember what
happened.
I must have just zoned out immediately.
And usually those days, because you worked hard, right, you've labored hard.
When we came down to Sydney, when we left, Christina and I were talking about how good
our nights were, you know, every night, we just fall asleep like that, the kids be out
immediately.
Why?
Because we work so hard to get down here, we'll pack in, move in, you know, we're laboring
hard, we got here and it's like, oh, good, we can just rest and go to sleep.
And every night for the first few nights were beautiful and sweet.
You'd go to sleep immediately because you've been laboring hard.
You know, and what gives men great joy and satisfaction is working hard.
You know, we've been conditioned to think that, you know, you have the most joy in life
when you're retired.
You know, when you can step back from work, no, God wants us to work till the day we die,
brethren.
We'll have a look at this soon.
Let's go to verse number, actually, no, we won't turn there just yet.
Keep your finger there in Genesis and please turn to Exodus.
You're not far away from Exodus.
So keep your finger in Genesis and let's go to Exodus now, Exodus.
And again, this is the decently and in order series, okay, it is decent and it is orderly
for men to go to work.
It is decent and in order for men to get tired and to labor and for them to have the opportunity
to provide for their family, okay.
It's going to give you joy, you know, and I say to my kids here and to other kids, you
know, boys, you work hard, I promise you, you're going to find a satisfaction in that
where you're productive, where you're accomplishing a job and you know, this is what God has put
you on the earth to do.
Let's go to Exodus chapter 20 and verse number 8.
We're turning to the chapter of the Ten Commandments, okay.
Now when we think about the Ten Commandments, how many times do you think about the need
to work when you think of the Ten Commandments?
Probably not very often, okay.
But one of the commandments is about the Sabbath day and of course, Jesus Christ, the
Sabbath day represents the Saturday, right, and God when He rested, He rested on the Saturday,
He rested on the Sabbath day.
It says in Exodus 20 verse 8, it says, remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.
And normally when we think about the Ten Commandments and we think about this commandment, that's
where it ends, you know, remember the Sabbath day, keep it holy.
But there's more to it.
Look at verse number 9.
Six days shalt thou labour and do all thy work.
Listen, this is a command of God.
He says, six days shalt thou labour.
This is a command, shalt thou labour, six days.
Now, listen, we're in Australia, okay.
Most people, do they work six days, most people?
No.
Most people work Monday to Friday, five days, right?
And so listen, generally speaking, you know, our nation, look, I like the two day weekend.
I must admit, I do kind of like it, right?
But you can see here, you know, really, God created a man to work for six days.
Now, I know some people do work six days.
I know one man up there on the Sunshine Coast, he even works on a Saturday, and his only
day of rest really is on a Sunday.
And so we often focus about, you know, we also have the Sabbath day or you know, a day
of rest.
And I think that is wise.
It is wise to get your rest.
You know, it's not wise to just work seven days a week, constantly, constantly.
It's going to take a toll on your body.
And if you don't get your rest, you're not going to be able to be as productive as if
you were if you got your rest, okay.
But don't, don't miss a point here.
God says that you should, you shall work six days, and I'll keep going.
It says, verse number 10, but the seventh day is the Sabbath day of the Lord thy God.
And that's thou shalt not do any work, thou nor thy son nor thy daughter, thy manservant
nor thy maidservant nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates, for, this
is why, he says, for in six days, the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea and all that
in them is and rested the seventh day, wherefore the Lord blessed the seventh day, and hallowed
it.
And so you can see why man is commanded to work six days, because God works six days.
And we're, you know, every time we work six days, you know, every time a week is completed,
it should bring you to remembrance that our Lord God created everything in six days.
And you work six days, guys, hey, I'm going to have the seventh day rest.
I'm going to have a rest.
I'm going to take a break.
Right.
Now you say well, Pastor Kevin, you know, my employment, they only make me work six
days, five days.
I, you know, I only work, well, you know what, that's true that most men, but like, you know,
usually you still have work to do on a Saturday, right?
I mean, most men still have projects around the house, you know, things are falling apart,
and you need to get there busy, you know, for me, my family, I do the grocery because
our groceries is massive.
That's part of working, you know, going and making sure you're providing.
It's not just laboring in a job, but any kind of work, you know, you should be looking at
that sixth day that you have, not as a day of rest, but a day of labor, because that's
what God has created you to do.
And so listen, if you work Monday to Friday, great, you know, that's what you work in your
employment.
Hey, but maybe the Saturday because you have church on Sunday, usually, I'm kind of working
on Sunday, because I'm preaching, right?
It is, it is, it is, you preach twice back to back, how tired is that?
You're tired, and you're working hard, right?
And so sometimes even the Sunday, I'm working hard, sometimes I go soul winning as well.
And it's just, it just takes me out.
So sometimes the Saturday, I decide to rest.
But you know, it's wise to choose a day of the week where you can rest.
But you can see here that, you know, even though you might only work five days, it's
still important as a man to keep yourself busy.
It's not good to be idle.
We'll have a look later on why or what the dangers are of being idle.
Now you're still in Genesis, please go back to Genesis, Genesis now.
And let's go to Genesis chapter three, Genesis chapter three.
So one chapter over, and we're fast forwarding to Adam and Eve sinning against the Lord,
taking that fruit of the tree of knowledge and good and evil, you know the story.
And they disobeyed the Lord, right?
And the Lord brought a curse upon man and woman.
But we're going to be looking at the curse upon man.
And the misconception that somehow work is a curse, no, before the curse, okay, when
everything was good, during God's creation, he already set man to work.
That is the proper order of things.
That is the goal of a man to labor, okay?
Genesis chapter three verse 17.
And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten
of the tree of which I command thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it, cursed is the ground
for thy sake, in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life.
So now working for your food is going to require sorrow, it's going to be more laborious, it's
going to be more difficult.
Verse number 18, Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee, and thou shalt
eat the herb of the field.
It says here, In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread.
So before, when Adam worked in the garden, he didn't have to sweat, you know, hard.
You know, yeah, he worked, but he wasn't, you know, extremely difficult.
But now you've got to sweat, brethren.
You know, if you go to work and you sweat, hey, that should remind you that the curse
is fallen upon man.
You know, things would have been easier if not for sin.
But because of sin, now you've got to sweat and get your job done.
In the sweat of thy face, shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground.
For out of it was thou taken, for thus thou art, and unto thus shalt thou return.
This is the curse now.
So is working the curse?
No, because we saw that working was in chapter two, the proper order things was in chapter
two, before the curse, but the curse will cause man to work harder, to labor by the
sweat of his brow, right?
The thorns and the thistles, there's going to be more challenges when he goes and he
labors.
But how long should he labor?
Verse number 19, In the sweat of thy face, shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto
the ground.
God is saying, I need you to work, you're going to be working till the day you die.
And so listen, retirement was never on the agenda of God.
I mean, how old was Moses, when God finally put him to lead the Israelites out of Egypt?
How old was Moses?
Anyone know?
80.
80 years old.
You know, when you see an 80 year old man now, don't you think, oh man, you must retire.
You know, you've worked hard.
You know, God says, look, you're just starting, 80 years old, you're just starting out to
do the best work that you're going to be doing, right?
And so, you know, Moses for the next 40 years after he was 80, you know, up to 120, he was
laboring hard.
He was leading the people of Israel in his old age.
And so, you know, we see that God wants men to work till they die.
That's what the Bible says.
I know that's unpopular teaching.
I know that's not the Australian way or the Western way.
But listen, most other countries, you know, we're blessed to be in a Western country.
Most other countries, you do have to labor till the day you die.
You know, I used to work in a company, electrical company, there was a man there, he was, I'm
sure he was in his 70s, maybe even close to his 80s.
And he would still come to work Monday to Friday, and I go to him and say, why are you
here?
He says, I just love working.
Hey, you know, he found great joy in just doing a job.
You know, for him being at home, you know, I think in his mind, if he thought, if I retire
and I go home, I'm probably gonna die.
Listen, that happens to a lot of people.
A lot of people that leave their jobs and retire, they're no longer exercising their
minds, they're no longer exercising their bodies, and their bodies deteriorate.
You know, and as you get older, you learn how people start to get dementia, you know,
they start to, because they're not exercising their minds anymore, right?
I mean, they just become a vegetable.
And you know, the brain is a muscle, you know, your muscles, the way you keep, you know,
you get muscles in you, and you keep your muscles there, you continue to work at it.
Like you've got to keep working, you know, to grow your muscles.
And if you stop working, your muscles are going to deteriorate.
You know, your brain is the same way, your brain is a muscle.
You know, you use your brain as you're laboring, as you're working hard, but the time you just
switch it off, and you stop worrying about it, you know, you just waste your time on
television and entertainment, you know, your brain is going to deteriorate.
You know, that wasn't God's intention for man.
And so what are you saying Pastor Kevin, are you saying I'm 80 years old, 90 years old,
you're telling me to go back to work?
Listen, you're probably not going to get employed anyway.
I'm not saying that.
But what I'm saying is if you are in a position where you have, you know, been able to retire,
exercise your mind, you know, continue just just thinking, continue learning.
You know, you got all you still got many years to the day you drop, you don't know how long
you go, you know, people live up to 100 and more, you might still see up to 100, you know,
keep learning, keep exercising that brain, you know, don't just waste and rot your brain
on television, you're going to suffer.
Listen, our bodies deteriorate, our bodies deteriorate, but the more you exercise, the
more you practice, the more you energize the mind, you know, the more you learn new things,
your mind will continue to develop and grow and learn and you can become wiser.
And you can you can you can you can continue working your body to the day you die.
You know, you don't have to necessarily go and get an employment job.
And I say this because I don't like seeing, you know, dementia.
That's a sad, that's a sad state for a lot of people, when they see their mother and
their father completely lose their minds.
You know, they don't even know who they are anymore.
They don't even know who their family is anymore.
And you know, they're still alive.
That's that's a really sad state.
You know, I've never seen anybody.
I know a few people who have parents that have dementia, and it's always sad.
It's always sad for them.
It's always like that.
It's like their parent has passed away, but they're still alive.
You know, and so the way you overcome that is by continuing to exercise your mind, continue
to learn, continue to study, continue to put your your your body doing something, laboring
something, you know, grow a garden, do something, do something of your mind if you're in retirement.
Now let's go to First Timothy.
Let's take our Bibles.
Let's go to First Timothy.
Actually now you go to Second Thessalonians for me, if you got your Bibles, please go
to Second Thessalonians chapter three, you go to Second Thessalonians chapter three.
Because you know, the topic of employment is not some minor topic in the Bible.
This is important.
This is why man was created, right?
And so you'll notice that employment or working, you see that from creation, we see God eventually
creating a new heaven, new earth, you know, this is a major topic in our Bibles.
And while you turn to Second Thessalonians chapter three, I'm going to read to you from
First Timothy chapter five, and verse number eight, First Timothy chapter five, and verse
number eight.
And these are some really stinging words.
It says, But if any, provide not for his own, and especially of those of his own household
of his own house, he have denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.
Man, the Bible is saying if you just if you're a lazy, sluggard of a man, you know, you're
a lay, you're 20 years old, you're still not working, you know, you're just you're still
playing video games, you're still being a child, you know, and especially if you're
married, you got you're married, you got your own family, and you don't care about
these people.
You know, what I can't believe that there's this man, if you guys know the name of John
Nelson Darby, you know, he's the father of dispensationalism.
You know, he's not, I'm not thinking of Darby Ryan, I'm thinking of Schofield, I'm thinking
of C.I.
Schofield, you know, and he's someone who really made the doctrine of dispensationalism
popular through the Schofield reference Bible.
And so, you know, this man Schofield is lifted up by man is lifted up in churches, but you
know what, he neglected his wife and his children, you know, he walked away from the family,
you know, in the in the in the late 1800s, early 1900s, listen, this was a time where
women literally were not in the workplace, they could not look after themselves.
And the husband and the father C.I.
Schofield, you know, rejects his family and leaves them to be, you know, he rejects them.
The Bible says that person is worse than infidel, he's worse than an unbeliever, the
Bible says.
And yet churches take this man C.I.
Schofield and elevate him.
And they think, Oh, what a great man, what a great biblical man of knowledge.
Listen, he's worse than an infidel.
You know, you wouldn't get your doctrine from an unbeliever, would you?
Well, he's worse than an unbeliever.
And churches take his doctrines, and they teach it behind the pulpits.
Unbelievable to me.
Okay, that's C.I.
Schofield.
And it says here, he have denied the faith.
That's not saying that if you're saved, somehow you're unsaved.
You know, obviously, when you're saved, we're commanded to walk by faith, I preached about
this not too long ago, we're commanded to live by faith.
And part of being a man of faith is working hard and providing for your family.
And when you don't do that, you're denying the faith, you're denying God's Word, you're
not living in accordance to the faith that God has given you, you know, your faith in
His Word.
And so you notice here that God does not like it when men are lazy.
He does not, especially does not like it when men do not look after their own household.
Now you're in 2 Thessalonians chapter 3 and verse number 10.
Second Thessalonians chapter 3 and verse number 10.
And boy, I wish we had this law in the land of Australia.
Verse number 10.
It says, for even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work,
neither should he eat.
Wow.
Okay?
That if any would not work, neither should he eat.
Listen, our nation, how much money is spent on single, on the dole, what do you call it
now?
It's not called a dole, it's called something else.
I forget what it's called.
Anyway, you know what I'm talking about, right?
Unemployment benefits, right?
I mean, how much money is taken by the taxpayer, the guy that does work, and is given to people
that are not willing to work.
Listen, the law that we ought to have, the law of God, is if you're not going to work,
well you're not going to eat.
I mean, that will fix lazy people in Italy, right?
I mean, everyone's got to eat.
Every man's got to eat, every man's got to provide for his family.
And so what's required for that man is to go and work.
That's what God expects from you, right?
That's how things are done decently, and remember, decently and in order.
Now look at verse number 11 there, for we hear that there are some which walk among
you this orderly.
No, no, God wants us to walk orderly, but there are some that walk this orderly, working
not at all, but our busy bodies.
Now this is about men, it's about men not providing for their own families.
And you know what?
We often think about, like one of the great sins of ladies, one of the things that ladies
struggle with the most, and we see this multiple times in the Bible, is being the gossiper,
is being the busybody, getting themselves involved in other family matters, you know,
talking behind backs, you know, going to one friend, oh, did you know she did that, going
to that friend, did you know she did that.
Hey, that's one major problem that a lot of ladies struggle with, right?
The busybody.
But listen, even the man, if he stops working, he's going to take on effeminate characteristics.
He's going to become a busybody, right?
Because he ought to be laboring, he ought to be working.
And when you're working, you're laboring, it's because your mind is on your family.
I need to make sure there's a roof over the head of my family.
I've got to make sure their bellies are met, you know, that they're fed, I've got to make
sure I'm providing.
Hey, when you're working, you're focused on where God wants you to focus on, your family.
But when you're not working, you're going to start looking at everybody else, and you're
going to go around gossiping, being busybody, getting involved in other people's matters
when you shouldn't, okay?
And so lazy men can take on these effeminate qualities.
What's the solution?
Well, let's keep reading.
The solution in verse number 12, now them that are such we command and exhorts by our
Lord Jesus Christ, that with quietness, they work and eat their own bread.
He says, listen, this is the solution, go and work, and just be quiet about it.
Don't go, I'm working now, I'm a working man.
Just do it quietly.
It's what you're expected to do.
It's what God created you to do.
Just go and work, do it quietly and eat your own bread.
So we should not be men that are trying, that are just living on handouts, that are trying
to live off other people.
We should be people that work hard and eat our own bread.
All men should labor, should find a job to do, get himself busy.
It's going to be good for the ability to provide, it's going to be good for his body, it's going
to be good for his mind.
These things are important and it's good because he won't be tempted to become a busybody
in other people's matter.
So look, we've seen passages in the Old Testament, we see passages in the New Testament.
Does God want a man to work?
Absolutely.
Okay.
Unfortunately, we live in a society where men are like, wife, can you go to work?
Can you go and provide?
We've got a bunch of kids, but hey, we'll just take, we'll just find a daycare system.
We'll find someone else to take care of the kids.
We need to pay for the bills.
We need to pay for this.
Listen, if a man needs two jobs, listen, I don't know how, since I've been married, listen,
my wife was working before we got married, but before we got married, she quit a job.
And look, we have 11 kids.
Pretty much our whole life, I've been the single income earner.
You know that there's been jobs where I've earned a lot of money?
You know what?
I earn very little as a pastor.
This is probably my lowest paying job that I've ever had as a pastor.
I earn very little.
But somehow, you know, one man going to work, large family, God provides.
You do what God says, listen, we grew up, here in Sydney, I know we're in the Sunshine
Coast now, things are a little bit cheaper there, living over there is a little bit cheaper,
but we did it mostly in Sydney.
You know, I'm glad that I did not become a pastor in my early 20s.
I'm glad I became a pastor.
I was 36 when I became a pastor, because guess what I was doing most of my 20s?
I was working a job.
Guess what I did for most of my 30s?
I was working a job.
I was making sure things were provided for.
So when I preach these things, you know, don't think, oh, yeah, but you know, you've been
a pastor, you've been provided by, you know, you're looked after by the tithes and the
offerings and people supporting you.
No, you know, when I became a pastor for the first 15 months, I went without pay.
Okay, how do you support yourself?
The house, you know, my savings, you know, working hard and making sure I was provided
for before we took on some other tasks.
So I know what I'm talking about here.
I'm not just preaching this.
You know, we as men are commanded to work.
And when you work hard and you're provided for your family, God will take care of you.
God will take care of you.
You know, we live in a great country.
I was talking to Michael Jr. about this, right?
And how, you know, in the Philippines, you have to get your education and you, Chile
is like this.
You know, if you want to make money, if you want to, you know, live a comfortable life,
you know, you got to get your education, you got to get a high paying job, but in Australia,
guess what?
You can have a low pay.
In fact, you could take on a low job and you've got a high wage.
Most people, you know, most Australians only need one job and even, you know, a minimum
wage job can get you through the day.
You know, you may not live like a king, you may not have the huge mansion, but you live
quite comfortably.
You know, you are considered rich compared to most of the world.
We live in a, you know, some, you know, I don't know how, you know, we're driving past
here, you know, and Christina said, oh, there's homeless people.
How can there be homeless people in Australia?
I mean, you know, even if you don't want to work, you get your handouts, which is not
what God wants.
But you see, you know, we live in a country that is very rich.
And so what we see here, Reverend, in the Bible is that God requires men to work.
This is how he keeps things decently and in order.
You know, men, one day you work hard, you take our wife, you have your family, and the
wife is there to look after the family, to be a help to the husband, so the husband can
be productive in his workplace.
Now let's go to, if we can please turn to, let's go to Exodus 21.
Exodus 21, I will try to speed up now.
Exodus 21.
Let's have a look at employment under the Old Testament.
So when we look at the, you know, the topic of business and employment, employers and
employee, we saw that God was the very first employer.
He employed Adam and put him to work, okay, before he had his family.
Now we're going to Exodus 21.
And there is a great misconception by many that what we're about to read is about slavery.
Okay, some, have you ever heard people say, well, God, you know, condones slavery in the
Bible.
God's in favor of slavery.
No, he's not.
Okay, God was never, in fact, we do have examples of slavery.
And God is against that in the Word of God, okay.
What we're about to read is not slavery, but it is servitude.
Okay, when you're an employee, you take on a job, you become a servant to that workplace.
All right.
So let's have a look at this.
Exodus 21, verse number 1, Exodus 21, verse 1, Now these are the judgments which thou
shall set before them, if thou buy an Hebrew servant, six years he shall serve, and in
the seventh he shall go out free for nothing.
You say, oh, see, he's buying a slave.
No, no, no, no.
You know, if you get the context of all this and understand what's happening, this is a
time where, you know, you will sell yourself to serve somebody else.
You know, a situation could be where someone's in debt and they can't pay.
And so they will sell themselves to servitude to a fellow Hebrew person so they can pay
off the debts.
Or they might not be able to, for some reason, provide for their own family, so they decide
to go to servitude under somebody else that has more so they can provide for themselves
and for those that they're looking after, okay.
And look, if this was slavery, when people took slavery over the years, was it just for
six years and they let them free?
Slavery, you'd have that slave until basically that entire life.
That person will never be set free.
This person, the most you can have this servant for, the longest contract you can have him
for is for six years.
And then on the seventh year, you've got to let them go.
Okay, so this is not slavery.
You know, and we have this, you know, Brother David, you know football, you know, you know,
this happens even today, right?
I mean, if one football club, one soccer club, wants a player in another club, doesn't
he buy that player from that club?
Yeah, he does, right?
He buys that player, he says, we want that player.
And so that player is bought, you know, some, you know, millions of dollars these days,
right, millions of euros to buy a good player, he's brought into the club, and when he comes
to the club, what happens?
Don't they sign a contract and say, you know, we've bought you and the contract is for six
years.
The contract is for three years.
That's, you know, we don't say that's slavery.
We don't say that's slavery, but that's exactly the same process.
You go and you buy, you know, the person sells himself to pay, maybe pay off his debts or
pay whatever he has to, you know, whatever that needs to go to.
And the contract is, I'm selling myself for six years, I'm your servant, and then seventh
year I can go free.
We do it, we see these things even today, you know, you know, well, we don't have so
much, well, some, yeah, there are some employment that it's like that, there are some some jobs
that you go to, and you might sign a 12 month contract.
This job's only for 12 months, this job's only for two years, you know, I once signed
a 12 month contract, oh man, you put yourself in slavery for 12 months, no, this is just
what's going on here.
There's a contract, there's a purchase, right?
You know, even a lot of companies, instead of going through the recruitment process themselves,
instead of interviewing people, they will go to an agency, right, they will go to the
agency's done all the work, the agency's, you know, done the interviews, and they think
this person will suit this company.
And so the company, instead of doing all the work, the agency's already done it, they will
then go and basically pay the agency for that employee, okay, and so they buy that employee
in that sense from the agency.
We don't turn around and say, well, that's slavery, and so people that want to mock the
Bible, they'll find something to mock the Bible, but you can see, we have this practice
even today.
Let's keep going, verse number three, Exodus 21 verse three, and if he came in by himself,
he shall go out by himself, if he were married, then his wife shall go out with him, if his
master have given him a wife, and she have borne him sons or daughters, the wife and
her children shall be her masters, and he shall go out by himself, and if the servant
shall plainly say, now, I'm not going to go through this, you know, verse by verse, but
I just want you to notice verse number five, and if the servant shall plainly say, I love
my master, my wife and my children, I will not go out free, then his master shall bring
him unto the judges, he shall also bring him to the door and unto the doorpost, and his
master shall bore his ear through an ale, and he shall serve him forever.
So this servant, if he loves working for his master, that, you know, he's like, you know,
before he was free, before he sold himself, he was living a life, but then he sells himself
in servitude to someone else, and like, maybe his quality of life is better, now he's got
married, he's got kids, you know, he's doing well, he says, you know what, I don't want
to go back to that life that I had before, I'm really enjoying working for this guy,
you know, he says, you know what, I'm willing to serve you for the rest of my life, and
then they go through this process where he gets his ear put through a door, right, but
that's a sign that he's committed his life under that master, that's not slavery, this
guy has the option, whether he wants to be free, or if he wants to serve that master
for the rest of his life.
And so, Reverend, you know, this, you know, that, how long did you work for Qantas?
How many years?
32 years, has anyone else worked longer in their employment than that, in a job, one
job?
32, what, slavery, 32 years!
The most God will put was six years, okay, so, you know, like I said, if people want
to find something to go against the Bible, you know, they'll turn to Exodus 21 and think
that God is in favour of slavery, but this is not slavery, you know, this servant has
the option whether to go free, or to continue serving that master for 32 years or more,
you know, who knows.
And so we see employment in the Old Testament, there's a servant, and there's a master, okay,
now let's have a look at employment in the New Testament, let's go to Ephesians chapter
six, let's go to Ephesians chapter six, Ephesians chapter six, and verse number five, Ephesians
chapter six, and verse number five.
Now this is so important, you know, I've got the question today, you know, what kind of
job should a Christian do, you know, what is an ideal job for a Christian?
And you know what, I think some pastors might say, well, get into full-time ministry at
church, you know, become a deacon, become a pastor, you know, get involved, you know,
if that's in your heart, I would encourage you, you know, but that's not the only job
a Christian can do, you know, have a look at this, in Ephesians 6, 5, it says, servant,
so that's like the employees, be obedient to them that are your masters according to
the flesh.
Oh man, the Bible's telling me I've got to obey the boss at work, yeah, be obedient to
them, your masters according to the flesh, look at this, we fear and trembling in singleness
of heart as unto Christ, you know what singleness of heart, what's single?
It means one, you know, you know, the number one is a single unit, right, and so you ought
to have all your hearts, right, singleness of heart to serve, it's not like half your
heart is like does the job, but the other half is like, I hate my job, no, it says look,
with singleness of heart, give everything you've got to serve that master according
to flesh as unto Christ, hey, what kind of job should a Christian do, pretty much any
job that's not sinful, but when you have, it's not what job you do, it's what mindset
you have when you do the job, when you do the job, you do it as unto Christ, no matter
what job you have, just set it in your heart, I'm going to serve Jesus Christ in this job,
that's how you ought to behave in your workplace, verse number six, not with eye service as
men pleasers, I'll only work when they're looking at me, is the boss gone, all right,
we can muck around, I know employees are like this, because I had employees like this, boss
is not around, all right, we can muck around, in fact, maybe I did that sometimes, if I'm
honest with you, just confessing my faults to you, man, sometimes, you know, you do that,
you know, boss is not around, let's muck around, no, that's not the right way, right, not with
eye service as men pleasers, but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the
heart, listen, if you're employed, just give the best, do it out of your heart, be a servant
of Christ, serve like you're serving Jesus Christ, verse number seven, with good will
doing service as to the Lord and not to men, have you missed this, verse number five, as
unto Christ, verse number six, as servants of Christ, verse number seven, as to the Lord,
God wants you to remember whatever job you're doing, brethren, do it as unto God, verse
number eight, knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive
of the Lord, whether he be bond or free, you know, whether you're a servant or you're maybe
an employer, you know, whatever you do, if you do it as unto the Lord, he says the same
shall he receive of the Lord, this is so important, because a lot of, you know, the
reasons a lot of people don't work hard is because it's like, well, what am I getting
out of it, you know, I can do my job, I'm getting my paycheck, if I work extra hard,
then, you know, I'm not going to get a pay rise, that's what I think, you know, no one's
going to notice, yeah, but God noticed, you know, God's going to, you're going to receive
of the Lord, this is the best thing about being a Christian, you go to work, you earn
a paycheck, and then Jesus gives you a paycheck on top of that, you work double time, you
know, you got two bosses, if you work in that manner, look at verse number nine, and ye
masters, now it's talking about the one in authority, and ye masters, do the same things
unto them, forbearing, threatening, knowing that your master also is in heaven, neither
is there respect of persons with him, so maybe you're not the employee, maybe you're
the employer, okay, well, you ought to treat your employees without threatenings, you ought
to not make them feel like, oh, if I step out of line, I lose my job, you know, make
them feel uncomfortable, you should encourage your employees, you know, make them feel valuable
in the job, right, knowing that your master also is in heaven, now brethren, this is important
for you to remember, because yes, you have your master in the flesh, your employer, but
don't forget that above that employer is Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ is above every
institution, we saw this on Thursday, Jesus Christ has power and authority over all principalities,
over all powers, he's the King of kings, he's the Lord of lords, okay, so in your workplace,
I know sometimes the job gets mundane, you get tired, you know, you feel like just, you
know, not giving your best, just remind yourself, you are serving Jesus Christ, if I serve Jesus
in my workplace, I'm going to receive of him, he's going to give me blessings, he might
give you blessings on this earth, but it will definitely give you blessings in heaven if
you do it as unto the Lord, okay, so you see employment in the workplace in the Old Testament
and also important in the New Testament, now let's go to Revelation 22, we're almost done,
so end on Revelation 22 and verse number 1, Revelation 22 and verse number 1, now Brethren,
I don't know what your idea is of heaven, you know, we think, you know, some people
have this, I don't know, you know, if you watch those old cartoons, right, you see someone
go to heaven and all of a sudden they have wings like an angel, they have a halo on their
head and they're playing the harp and like they're just resting on a cloud, you know,
they're just relaxing and taking it easy, is that the impression you get of heaven?
You know, when you think of heaven, you just think of like a holiday, you know, maybe,
you know, people, holidays are good, I encourage you, you know, we see that God rested, I think
going on holidays and resting is a good thing, but you know, for me, my family, if we go
on holidays, we're not really resting, it's still a lot of work, it's still a lot of work
with all the kids, so we don't really get to rest on a holiday, but you know, some people
have that impression, they think, you know, going to heaven, eternity with God, I'm just
going to be resting, taking it easy, you know, in mansions and you know, we'll have
a pool party, we'll just hang out and just enjoy, it's basically, you know, the thought
that a lot of people have of heaven is just retirement, you know, for all eternity, you
know, retired with all the pleasures that, you know, you could possibly want, but look
at the reality of the Bible, Revelation 22, we're at the end of the Bible, we're at the
point where, you know, Christ has already come back, he's established his millennial
kingdom, then at the end of a thousand years, God creates a new heaven and a new earth,
yeah?
So this is the state of eternity future, Revelation 22 verse 1, and he showed me a pure river
of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb,
in the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life,
which bear twelve manna of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month, and the leaves of the
tree were for the healing of the nations, now look at verse number 3 at the beginning
of it, it says, and there shall be no more curse, hey, when did God curse the earth?
When Adam and Eve sinned, remember he cursed the ground, and the thorns and thistles came
for Adam, so you're thinking, oh no more curse, yes, no more work, well hold on, that's not
where work started, you know, even before the curse, Adam was working, was he not?
He was a gardener, that was his job, right, he was employed by God.
And there shall be no more curse, let's keep going, but the throne of God and of the Lamb
shall be in it, and his servants shall serve him.
What are we going to be doing for all eternity, brethren, in the new heavens and the new earth?
You're going to serve God, you're going to keep working, okay?
Because work was not the curse, you're going to keep serving, you'll still have employment,
okay?
Our job there will be servants to God, and we're going to be serving God for all eternity,
now we're going to enjoy that, you should enjoy even your service today, you know, the
best place to be is when you just realize, you know, God's put me to work, God's given
me this employer, God's provided my needs, and I'm just going to find joy in my employment,
you know, if you can find that, that's wonderful, I'm providing for my family, I'm providing
for my needs, hey, as men that should give you joy, okay?
And so, in eternity, we're going to have greater joy serving God, instead of serving a man
of flesh, we're going to be serving the God created of all things, verse number four,
and they shall see his face, and his name shall be in their foreheads.
And so brethren, the title for the sermon this afternoon was the order of employment,
guess what, you're never going to retire, just get used to it, you're never going to
retire, even in eternity, God's going to put you to work, and you're going to serve the
Lord God, but here's the thing, you're going to love it, it's going to be the best job
you've ever had in your life, but what I want you to notice here, brethren, is that, you
know, working is not some curse, you know, getting tired is not some negative thing,
you know, I love getting tired, I love being busy, you know, I love making sure my family's
being taken care of, and men, this is the responsibility that God's put on us, this
is how he's made us, to work, to labour, and when we don't do it, brethren, we can become
the busybodies, you know, we can be people that God will say you're worse than an infidel,
you know, you've denied the faith, we don't want to obviously become that kind of person,
so we'll continue this series on Thursday as well, let's pray.