(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

I'm going to come to Psalm 15 in just a moment if you want to stay there, but this morning I want to preach on the subject of character, having character. Now what do I mean by having character? Well being someone who can be relied upon, someone who's a good worker, someone who keeps their word and does what they say they're going to do and so forth. Let me read for you a few verses as I get into this. Proverbs 25 19 says, confidence in an unfaithful man in time of trouble is like a broken tooth and a foot out of joint. And if you think about that, those are some of the most annoying problems you could have. You know if you have a broken tooth, it can be such excruciating pain that it's just debilitating. You can't do anything, you can't even think straight because you're in so much pain. Or a foot out of joint would be another thing that would be very irritating. You know you're hobbling around, you can't walk right, you can't run right. It says in Proverbs 10 26, as vinegar to the teeth and as smoke to the eyes, so is the sluggard to them that send him. Again we're talking about just unreliable people, people who have no character, people who are unfaithful and just what a curse they are to the people that are trying to rely on them to get things done. Now when it says unfaithful, what that means is that you cannot put faith in this person. See the word faithful is used two different ways in the Bible. Sometimes in the Bible when it says faithful, it's referring to a person who has a lot of faith. A person who is full of faith is known as a faithful person. But often the word faithful means someone that you can put your faith in. Like the Bible says, the Lord is faithful, meaning he's going to keep his promises. You can rely on him, you can trust him, he's trustworthy. And so when we talk about having character, we mean that you are someone who is faithful, someone who is trustworthy, someone who is a good worker that can be relied upon to do what you say you will do. The Bible says in Proverbs 20 verse 6, most men will proclaim everyone his own goodness, but a faithful man who can find. This reminds me of people when they're filling out a job application or turning in a resume. They proclaim their own goodness and tell you how great of a worker they're going to be. But then the Bible says, but isn't it hard to find someone who actually is going to be faithful? A faithful man who can find. They're all saying that they're going to be faithful. They all say they're going to be reliable and be on time, but that doesn't mean that it's necessarily reality. Proverbs 25 verse 13 on the other hand says, as the cold of snow in the time of harvest, so is a faithful messenger to them that send him for he refreshest the soul of his masters. He's a blessing to those for whom he works. It says in 1 Corinthians 4, 1, let a man so account of us as the ministers of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover, it is required in stewards that a man be found faithful. God is saying that if we're going to serve him, he wants us to be faithful. He wants us to be trustworthy. He wants us to have character and be reliable. He says in 1 Timothy 1 12, this is the apostle Paul, I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who hath enabled me for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry. You say, you know, I'd love to be in the ministry someday. I want a pastor. I want to preach. I want to teach. Well, God will put you in the ministry when he finds you to be faithful because it's required in stewards that a man be found faithful. Notice he doesn't say, Hey, I'll make you faith. No, he wants to find you faithful. All right. You need to get faithful. You need to get reliable and trustworthy and get some character so that God can use you in a greater capacity. Now let's get specific this morning. What are we talking about when we say, Hey, get some character, be faithful, be trustworthy, be someone who can be relied upon. Well number one, do what you say you will do. Do what you say. Now one way to remember this is D W Y S Y W D. All right, now I know that's not very easy to remember, but that was taught to me a long time ago. D W Y S Y W D just says something to remember and I constantly think about that whenever there's something that I said I was going to do and the temptation is there to not do it. I always just think, do what you say you're going to do. Do what you say you will do. Do what you say you will do. This is such an important point. People so often say they're going to do things and they don't get them done. Now let me give you a scripture on this. In Psalm 15, for example, this talks about someone who maybe commits to do something or swears that they're going to do something or says that they're going to do something and then circumstances change and now all of a sudden they're not going to get it done. Or do they get it done anyway because they said they were going to get it done. Look what the Bible says in Psalm 15 verse 1, Lord, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? Who shall dwell in thy holy hill? He that walketh uprightly and worketh righteousness and speaketh the truth in his heart. He that backbiteth not with his tongue, nor doeth evil to his neighbor, nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbor, and whose eyes a vile person is contempt, but he honoreth them that fear the Lord, watch this, he that sweareth to his own hurt and changeth not. He that putteth not out his money to usury, nor taketh the reward against the innocent, he that doeth these things shall never be moved. But do you see there that one of the great attributes of a godly person is that they swear to their own hurt and yet they change not. What does that mean? Well, often in the business world this will come up. You quote a job, you put a bid in on a job and you say, I'm going to do this job for this much. Well, guess what sometimes happens? You get into the job, it ends up being harder than you thought it was going to be and so you end up losing money, not making any money or making very little money. Now a lot of people will then try to think that they can say, oh, whoops, I'm halfway into it, it's harder than I thought, now I need to charge you more money. Anybody who's worked in business knows that this is what people try to pull all the time and they try to raise the price after they've already agreed and you're like, well, I wouldn't have hired you if I would have known it was going to cost more. You know, that's the whole point of quoting and giving a bid. And the thing about quoting and giving a bid is that sometimes it's easier than you thought and you end up making extra money and you don't complain about that and you don't come to the customer then and say, oh, let me charge you a little less because it ended up being easier. No, you go score and you make the extra money. See, you do what you say you will do. You swear to your own hurt and then you change not. You stick with what you've said you're going to do. Now a great example of this is marriage. When you get married, you are swearing till death do us part. You're saying, you know, I take thee to be my wedded wife, to have and to hold from this day forward for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer and sicknesses and health and poverty isn't wealth and forsaking all others. I'm going to keep myself only unto you so long as we both shall live. I mean, you say, well, that's kind of a mouthful of vows, right? Because we're trying to impress upon people all the different things that could go wrong and yet you're still going to keep true to the vow. You see, when you swear to it, you change not. It's like Jephthah said, I open my mouth unto the Lord and I cannot go back. You know, once you say you're going to do something, you're supposed to follow through and do it. And so many people today, they get married and then, well, I didn't know that she was going to be this way. You know, I didn't know that he was going to be this way, but I didn't know, I didn't know. It doesn't matter. That's what it means for better, for worse. And I was, who was it that, were you the one that was telling me in Africa how they did the vow? They were in Africa and they said, instead for richer, for poorer, they said for rich or for richer, rich or richer, good, better, health, healthier. That's stupid because the whole point of saying the vow, you know, no offense to Africa, but it's stupid because the whole point of the vow is you're saying that if things go wrong, I'm still going to be faithful to you. You can still rely on me. Not just, well, as long as it's rich or richer, count me in. I mean, it's ridiculous. But people today have no character. If they're willing to sit there and say, oh yeah, it's for better, for worse, it's till death do us part. And then, oh, it's too hard, oh, we can't get along, oh, we'd hate for you to do anything hard now, wouldn't we? People who say that everything's too hard are people who lack character. If you say you're going to do something, you do it. Especially when you make an oath like marriage before God, you better do what you've said you will do. Go to Matthew chapter 5. Matthew chapter 5. Do what you say you will do. And you say, well, Pastor Anderson, you know, that's talking about swearing. That's talking about an oath. You know, it's like when you go to somebody and say, well, hey, you promised you were going to do this. And then they say, well, I didn't promise. You know, I said I would do it, but I didn't promise I was going to do it. Like as if that makes a difference. If you say you're going to do it, you're supposed to do it. Now look what the Bible says in Matthew 5.34. But I say unto you, swear not at all. Neither by heaven, for it is God's throne, nor by the earth, for it is his footstool. Neither by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great king. Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black. But let your communication be, yea, yea, nay, nay, for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil. Now flip over to James because there's a connected passage in James that you can look at in light of Matthew chapter 5 that we just looked at where he basically says something very similar. In James chapter 5 verse 12, he reiterates the teaching of Jesus there. He says in verse 12, but above all things my brethren swear not, neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath. And that's what Jesus had also said. But let your yea be yea and your nay, nay, lest ye fall into condemnation. So the Bible says, look, when you say yea, it better be yea. And if you say nay, it better be nay. You need to do what you say you will do. That's part of having character. Now it's amazing to me in the business world how many times people will say they're going to do something and it's almost like 50% of the time that they don't deliver, that they don't get it done. Oh, I'll have this done by Friday. Friday rolls around, not done. Now here's the thing. If a person had character and something really did come up that really did providentially hinder them, then they would contact you and tell you, hey, I'm sorry, x, y, and z has gone wrong. I'm not going to be able to deliver on Friday. I'm going to have to do it on this, you know, let me know if that works for you. Let me know what we can do to fix this. But when you have to go chasing after that person, and that's 50% of the time, where you have to call them up Saturday morning or something and say, hey, what happened on Friday? Oh, this came up. Why didn't you tell me that? Because you don't have character. That's why. People who have character are reliable, they're faithful, and you can just count on them to get done what they've said they will do. And isn't it amazing how the same people are constantly providentially hindered all the time and are constantly having all kinds of things go wrong? I remember I was working with a guy, and he called in that he had to go to his grandma's funeral, and my boss said to me, you know, this is not the first time his grandma has died. I think that his, he said that I think his grandma has died several times, okay? She's like a cat. She has nine lives, you know, she keeps dying, and he has to keep attending the funeral over and over again. So don't be a person who says you're going to do something and then you don't do it. But secondly, don't be lazy. Another sign of a lack of character is those who are lazy. Go to Proverbs, if you would, and we're going to rapid fire through a bunch of these great verses in Proverbs that talk about being lazy. The word that the Bible uses for laziness is usually the word slothful. It talks about being slothful. Let's start in Proverbs chapter 12, verse 24, the Bible reads, the hand of the diligent shall bear rule, but the slothful shall be under tribute. Now tribute is taxes, and he's saying if you're diligent, and a person who's diligent is someone who patiently works hard. They keep plugging away at something, doing a good job, working hard, and patiently getting it done. He says that person is going to bear rule. You say well how do I climb the ladder at my job? How do I become, you know, a management level worker? You need to be diligent, and he says you'll bear rule. But he says the slothful shall be under tribute. You know, as a country gets lazier, the taxes go up. And isn't it amazing how our taxes are so high, and there are other places in the world where the taxes are even higher? And then you look around, and it's hard to find good workers in America anymore because people are so lazy nowadays. And you can say whatever you want, and you can rah rah, chest pounding, America, and red, white, and blue, and you know, American exceptionalism in the best workforce in the world, and blah blah blah. But you know what? The workers these days are getting lazier and lazier. And it's hard, anybody who runs a business can tell you that. It's hard. And people complain that there are no jobs out there. No, it's that people don't want to work. Because you'll offer people work, you'll offer people jobs, and they won't take you up on it because of the fact that they're lazy. And there are so many slothful people in America, that's why we pay so many taxes. And you know, it's funny, if you think about some of the places where the taxes are the highest in the world, would be like the Scandinavian countries, right? And a lot of people are so deluded, they think, oh yeah, America needs to be more like Sweden and Norway. Those places are wicked messed up places, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Whenever you hear something in the news about, oh they're teaching pedophilia to five year olds in school, it'll be like Sweden, Norway, Denmark, where all this perversion is taught. Well it's funny because we've been doing all this translating and everything of our movie marching design, getting it translated into a bunch of different languages. A lot of it's being done by volunteers and a lot of it is hiring people. And let me tell you something, virtually I found one person in Scandinavia who actually did their job right. And literally every other Scandinavian language, I'm like on the third person of like, here you go, here's the job, get it translated, get it done. The money's ready to go, you know, just do the work. Weeks go by, nothing, nothing. And why, do you think it's a coincidence that it's just Scandinavia where I've had like nine people drop the ball and then everywhere else people are getting things done? What in the world? You know, I don't know what Adolf Hitler was talking about, those people being the master race or whatever up in the Nordic man up in Scandinavia, I don't know what he was talking about. All those propaganda posters of a bunch of Scandinavians swinging a pickaxe and everything and they love to work hard. You know, I'm not seeing it. You know, I'm sorry to just slander a whole nation like that, but I'm just telling you that those people pay taxes like 60% or something. I know in Germany they pay like 60% or something. And then you try to get them to work and you can't get them to do any work. They're lazy. He also, that is slothful in his work, is brother to him that is a great waster. Look at Proverbs 15 verse 19, Proverbs 15 verse 19. Sorry, I just had to get that off my chest about these bunch of Scandinavians. And you know, I'm sure there are a lot of great people over there, but honestly I'm not impressed with the work ethic of some of these people. Proverbs 15 19 says this, the way of the slothful man is as an hedge of thorns, but the way of the righteous is made plain. You know what this is saying? When people are lazy, everything's always hard. There's all these obstacles. You know what I mean? You tell them, hey, get this done. It's like, oh no, there's all these obstacles. These are all the reasons why it can't be done. These are all the difficulties. And then it's funny, you give it to the righteous man to get it done and all of a sudden there's just a plain course of action. Just point A to B to C, we're going to get this done. You see, the righteous man comes to the boss with solutions and then the lazy person comes with problems all the time. Oh, I can't do it. Oh, it's not going to work. Oh, thorns everywhere I turn. Oh, it's a hedge of thorns. Oh, you know, isn't it amazing how some people just get things done and then other people, it's just always problems. It's always obstacles and excuses why they can't get the work done. It says in chapter 19, verse 15, slothfulness casteth into a deep sleep and an idle soul shall suffer hunger. You ever get around people who just say that they're tired all the time? I'm tired. And you'll be at work with these people. Monday they're tired, Tuesday they're tired, Wednesday they're tired, Thursday they're tired. I remember when I was in school, every kid every day at one point in the day said, I'm tired. You remember that? I mean, that's how it was when I was in school, just I'm tired, I'm tired, I'm tired. You know why? Because slothfulness casteth into a deep sleep. Not doing anything, being lazy, makes you tired. Now you'd think like, oh man, if I sit around a lot, then I'll have all kinds of energy because I'm just saving up all the energy. But in reality, the more you do, the more activity you perform, the more energy you get from working. But it's the idle soul that suffers hunger, and it's the idle slothful soul that's just tired all the time. You'd think the people who worked hard would be tired all the time, but they're bouncing off the walls. It's the people that are lazy and sitting around, they're just always tired. And I know this might be a harsh sermon, but you know what, people need to hear this stuff. We need to raise up a generation with some character. And honestly, sometimes times are tough financially, and if you want to make it in this world, you need to listen to what I'm saying so that you can succeed at your job. And when times are tough, you can actually be able to bring home a paycheck. And we need to raise our children to learn how to grow up and work and make things happen and find a way to get things done and not just always have a problem. It says in chapter 19 verse 24, a slothful man hideth his hand in his bosom and will not so much as bring it to his mouth again. I mean he's saying laziness will get you to the point where you're so lazy, you're too lazy to even pick up the food and put it in your own mouth. That's pretty lazy. It says in verse, you're so lazy, you can't even get up off the sofa and walk to the fridge to get the next ice cream bar. I mean imagine being that lazy, but this is a downward spiral where laziness takes you, where slothfulness takes you. Chapter 21 verse 25, the desire of the slothful man killeth him, for his hands refuse to labor. I mean he wants to work, but his hands are just refusing to do the work. Look at chapter 22 verse 13, the slothful man saith, there's a lion without, I shall be slain in the streets. Isn't it amazing how lazy people always find an excuse why they can't work? There's a lion on the loose, I can't go anywhere, or it's too hot outside. It's too cold. I know that there are churches that cancel soul winning for literally half the year because of the weather, because they live in a cold place, so they'll cancel it for like seven months. And then I suppose in a hot place like Arizona, we could just cancel it for the next six months. It's way too hot to be out there. Well, you know what, it's hotter where people are going if they don't get saved, if we don't give them the gospel. You know, hell is hot. But so many people will come up with excuses of, oh, that job is too hard, it's too dangerous. You know, look, a lot of jobs are dangerous, okay? But you know, and if you don't want to work a dangerous job, then you know, you got to find the safest job that you can, but you got to work, you got to do something. You know, you can't just say everything's too dangerous, okay? If you're looking for a really safe job, be a police officer anyway. It's true, it's not, being a police officer is not even in the top ten for being a dangerous job. Everybody talks about, oh man, they risk their life every day, they go out, they don't even know if they're gonna, they're wearing a bulletproof vest. You know what, you know, if you look at how many officers have died in peaks, you know how most of them die? Car accidents. And you know what the most dangerous jobs are? Being a taxi cab driver. Look at a list of the ten most dangerous jobs. Taxi cab driver, truck driver, over the road truck driver is a very dangerous job. Being an electrician is in the top ten. I mean, do their wives wonder if they're coming home every night because they're going to do electrical work, because they're going to drive a cab? You know, even being a fast food worker, you know, is more dangerous than being a police officer. So what I'm saying is, look, every job, you say, why bring that up? Because every job has some danger inherent in it. No matter what you're doing, whether you're driving a cab, you could be held up, you could be, you know, held at gunpoint, but you're probably just more likely to get in a car accident. If you drive a truck, you're very likely to get in a car accident, just the law of averages, the amount of miles that you're driving, very dangerous job. Electricians get electrocuted. I've known of electricians who I actually known who were electrocuted. They fall off of high places that they're working. You know, one who's a plumber could be injured and killed. You know, and any kind of a construction trade where you're working around tools and you're working with scissor lifts and you're working with heavy equipment and machinery, you can be killed. You can be injured. You know, there's a danger that's inherent in pretty much any job. Here's how you could be safe. Just don't get out of bed. You know, just live in a white padded room. That's the safest place for you to be. But obviously, and I'm pointing this out here, the slothful man saying there's a lion in the street. I can't go to work. You know, I can't be a cab driver because it's too dangerous. You know, I can't be a, you know, an electrician because I'm afraid of electricity. Well, you know what? You have to go and get some job and there's going to be some danger inherent in any job. But you need to go and work hard and succeed at something and pray for the Lord to protect you. Okay? That's, and also be as safe as you can. But the Bible says in Proverbs 24 verse 30, it says, I went by the field of the slothful and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding. And it says in verse number 31, and lo it was all grown over with thorns and nettles that covered the face thereof and the stone wall thereof was broken down. Then I saw and considered it well. I looked upon it and received instruction. I had a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep. So shall thy poverty come as one that traveleth and I want as an armed man. So the Bible says you've got to be really vigilant and careful about working hard because it'll sneak up on you and destroy your life if you find yourself falling into this trap of becoming slothful, idle, lazy, et cetera. The Bible says again, well you flip over to chapter 26, while you're turning there, I'll read for you from Ecclesiastes. It says, by much slothfulness the building decayeth and through idleness of the hands the house droppeth through. Here's what this verse is teaching, something a little deeper than what's on the surface. When it talks about by much idleness the house dropping through, what it's saying is, and anybody who owns a home knows this, is that if you do nothing about your home it'll get worse and worse. It'll decay and fall apart because there are constantly things that need to be fixed around the house, right? So the Bible's teaching us a deeper truth here, that just if you just sit there and are passive it's not that you're neutral. You're going into the negative is what it's saying here. You know you have to actively be making something happen in your life. You have to actively be out striving and working hard, not just coasting, because if you coast you're going to move backwards in life. That's what the Bible's teaching here. He's saying if you're idle the house is going to decay and get old and drop through over time. It's like when Jesus said, he that gathereth not with me scattereth. It's not just if you're not gathering with Jesus you're just not affecting the kingdom of God. No, he said you're harming the kingdom of God by not doing anything. You have to do something. Look at Proverbs 26 verse 13, the slothful man saith, there's a lion in the way, a lion is in the streets. We already talked about that one. Verse 14, as the door turneth upon his hinges, so did the slothful upon his bed. I mean just flipping over in the bed. Picture the laziness. He says in verse 15, the slothful hideth his hand in his bosom, it grieveth him to bring it again to his mouth. You don't have to turn there, but Matthew 25, 26 said, his Lord answered and said unto him, thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not and gather where I have not strawed. Notice that he associates slothfulness with wickedness. It's wicked to be slothful. Is it just me or are there a lot of Bible verses about this? This isn't just a few verses. I mean this is the whole book of Proverbs. This is almost every chapter in Proverbs telling you, don't be lazy. Don't be a slugger. Work hard. Get some character and work ethic and get something done. The Bible tells in the New Testament, Romans 12 verse 11, he said, not slothful in business. Fervent in spirit, serving the Lord. What does it mean to be fervent? Fervent comes from the root word fire, fervent, fire, okay. He says you're fervent in spirit, meaning that you are zealous about your job. He says don't be slothful in business but be fervent in spirit and then he says serving the Lord. Why? Because the Bible says that whatsoever you do, you're to do it heartily as unto the Lord and not unto men. So you might sit there and think to yourself, well, you know, I have a crummy job so that's why I'm just not really that fervent about it. I'm not really that fired up about it. Well, you know what? Fervent sin and you need to change because God commands us not to be slothful in business and he commands us to be fervent in spirit and he commands us to serve as unto the Lord. He said, whether therefore you eat or drink or whatsoever you do, do all to the glory of God. Whatsoever you do, do it heartily as to the Lord and not unto men. And in Ephesians 6, he makes it crystal clear, even in the context of serving your masters on this earth, he says you do it as the servants of Christ. You do it as unto the Lord. And you know, you say, well, but my job's just not that glamorous, it's just not that exciting of a job. You don't understand, Pastor Anderson, you know, I'm, you know, I don't want to degrade anybody's job here by throwing out an example. But you know, really, anybody who goes out and works an honest job has my respect. I'm not a respecter but I never would look down on anybody for any blue collar job that they do. I have way more respect for you if you work a blue collar job and work hard and roll up your sleeves, no matter how degrading or dirty of a job it is, I have way more respect for you than I do for people who are usurers, right? Who are bankers, you know, that are stealing money from people, you know, and stuff like that. You know, and honestly, I have way more respect for people who work an honest job and there is no honest blue collar job that I would ever look down upon and I would do just about any blue collar working job, if that's what it took to feed my family, then I would do it and you know what, I would never look down on anyone, and if you do look down on people because of their job, then you're not right with God. You know, if you just praise those who, you know, you look to politicians who are a bunch of crooks and liars and you look at them and have, oh, respect unto them, you know, or even just everybody has so much respect for the police, you know, even though the police do all kinds of crooked and dishonest things all the time and enforce a bunch of wicked laws that have nothing to do with the Bible, they go, they defend a bunch of homos and defend abortion clinics and defend everything else, you know, they, I mean, look, you say, why don't you like the police? Maybe because they came to my house in the middle of the night and threatened to take my kids away because of an anonymous phone call and that's all part of freedom in America? Sorry, not interested in that kind of freedom and somebody needs to speak out about this garbage and you know what, you say, oh, you need to respect them, oh, their job's so dangerous, it's not even in the top 10, it's not even in the top 20, they die of car accidents like everybody else, you know, yeah, yeah, they have all these fallen officers in the line of duty, they're counting the dogs, they count the dog as a fallen officer, literally, the canine, I have way more respect for somebody who does an honest, hardworking job than some cyber policeman who looks at child porn all day or goes to the strip club every night and the gentleman's club and the bar, you know, on the vice squad or whatever, you know, you have way more respect for whatever the menial, you know, I don't care if you're picking up dog dues for a living, you know what, I respect that job, you're working an honest job and you know what, being a trash man or a picking up dog due or digging ditches all day, you know, praise God for people who work hard and are reliable and are out making honest living and have integrity and you know what the Bible says, if a ruler harken to lies, all his servants are wicked, that's what the Bible says, what in the world does that have to do with the sermon, where are we in this passage, oh yeah, being fervent in spirit, you know, get fired up about your job, get zealous about your job, don't be one of these people where every, it's just, oh, thank God it's Friday, right, where you just live for, you know, hey, how you doing, oh, well, it's Monday, you gotta learn to enjoy your job and the Bible tells us to be fervent in spirit about our business and to get excited about our work and not to have a bad attitude where you go into work and you're just dragging through the motions, you know what, it shows in your work if you have that wrong attitude, you know, you need to get zealous about your job and look, yeah, the world's gonna respect you when you have all these crooked jobs, you know, I respect you if you're a plumber, a carpenter, an electrician, a computer programmer, you know, if you're digging ditches, if you're picking up dog do, if you're a janitor, you know what, I have just as much respect for you as anybody else because you're working an honest job and, you know, it's time for you to get excited about digging that ditch, it's time for you to get excited about electrical work or plumbing or carpentry or whatever you do and be fervent about it, look, we as men, we spend half our lives working, we spend half of our time working, I mean, are you just gonna go through half your time just wishing that you were somewhere else? You need to, you know, live in the moment of what you're doing and learn to like your job and learn to enjoy hard work and, you know what, part of having character is applying yourself to work and taking pride in your work and get, you know, building something or fixing something or doing something and then taking pride in doing a good job. Part of the reason why some people are not very fired up about their job is because they don't put a lot of effort into it, they don't try that hard, so they can't really be proud of the output of their labors. So having character is about working hard and taking pride in what you do which leads me to my next point which is that we should not do a hasty job when we do our part of having character is not to just quickly get the job done because we're lazy and we wanna take a break, we wanna relax, so we'll just kinda quickly crank it out and just kinda be done with it and move on to the next thing. Well, what does the Bible say about that? Proverbs 21 verse 5 says, the thoughts of the diligent tend only to plenteousness but of everyone that is hasty only to want. So the Bible is contrasting two types of people in Proverbs 21 5, the hasty person and the diligent person, okay? And the hasty person is the person who's just in a hurry to get the job done. And sometimes you'll give your kids a job and they'll do it hastily and they won't do it diligently. Like for example, you might say, you know, vacuum the carpet and they'll miss a whole bunch of stuff, miss a bunch of spots and then you have to go back and tell them, hey look, you know, you need to go back. But they were just in a hurry to get it done because it's like, do your job and then you can go play. You know, hey, pick up the trash in the front yard and then you can go play. And then they just pick up a few things and then they go, alright, I'm done, can I go play? You know, but that's how a lot of adults are in their job. Just quickly throw something together, you know, maybe they're in construction, they're not using a level, they're not getting things right, they're doing things in a sloppy way, just to try to do the minimum to get it done and get out of there and get paid and that is a lack of character. We need to be diligent with our work and not hasty just to get the job done. The Bible says, a faithful man shall abound with blessings but he that maketh haste to be rich shall not be innocent. Go to Proverbs chapter six, Proverbs chapter six. Not only do we need to do what we say we will do, very important, yes, we need a big amen on that one. Do what you say you will do, D-W-Y-S-Y-W-D. Number two, don't be lazy, don't be slothful. And remember, if you just sit back and coast, that's where your life's headed, towards slothfulness. You have to take initiative and work hard and make things happen. Not only that, don't do a hasty job but be fervent and zealous about doing a good job and taking pride in accomplishing good work and not just throwing something together, do the minimum and you know, you'd probably find yourself enjoying your job more if you started doing a better job and started taking pride in your work a little bit, then it might mean something more to you now that you're giving it a little more value. And also, we talked about the fact that, you know, some people, they're not fired up about their job or not doing a good job because they think, well, my job is a crummy job. Or some people have an attitude that says, well, you know, if you don't pay much you don't get much. And since I'm not getting paid that much, I'm not gonna do much. But you know why you're not getting paid much? Because you don't do much. And you've got it backwards. You've got, you think, well, I'm not gonna work that hard because I'm not really getting paid that well. No, you're not getting paid well because you're not working hard. Well, no, because you don't understand the job I work at, they're never gonna pay you well no matter what you do. Yeah, but you know what? God can give you a new job. If God looks down from heaven and sees you working hard, he can give you a good new job. Or he can look down from heaven and see you slacking and lazy and making excuses and not fervent about your work. And he can look down and say, well, you know what? That's where they belong in that minimum paying job because that's what kind of work they're doing. That's what they deserve is a minimum rate. So don't ever get this attitude that says, well, you know, if you don't pay much then don't expect much. And I'm just gonna, no, whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might, the Bible says. And so get fervent and zealous about your job. There is no job that is not honorable unto the Lord that is an honest job. Okay? God will respect you if you work hard at your job. And honestly, you know, there's this big distinction sometimes in people's minds of, you know, being in full-time Christian service or being in the ministry and almost a looking down on pastors who work a side job. You know, like they're not in the ministry full-time or something like that. But you know what? It's just as spiritual for you to go out and mow lawns all day and do it heartily unto the Lord. God is just as pleased with that as a pastor doing his job heartily unto the Lord all day and all night. It's not just a thing of, well, you're in the ministry now. No, every job is unto the Lord. Every job is unto Christ. And you know what? We're all in the ministry full-time in a sense because we should all, whatsoever we do, whether we eat or drink, we should all be doing it unto the Lord. So we're all serving God on a daily basis. And you know what? Going to your job. These aren't just words that I'm saying. This isn't me just, you know, trying to sound dramatic or something. I believe this. I am serious right now that if you go to your job and you work hard and are fervent about that job and you do it with zeal and you put your heart into it and you pray and say, Lord, I'm doing this because I want to honor you, Lord, and I want to be a good testimony of a Christian and I'm going to serve these people like I'm serving Jesus. You know what? God will look down and be pleased with that. And you know what? You're just, you're every bit as good of a Christian as the guy who's in the ministry full-time quote unquote because you know what? Honestly, it's not everybody's cut out to be a pastor. Not everybody's cut out to be a missionary. You know, people have different talents and gifts and abilities that they've been given. And you know what? If you're a housewife or if you are a stay-at-home mom, do it heartily unto the Lord and be zealous and you are every bit as spiritual as someone who has a more glamorous job or a more spiritual job or a more important job. No, every job is important. You know, every job doesn't seem important until someone stops doing it. You know, the garbage man is going to seem pretty important in about three weeks of nobody picking up the trash. All of a sudden, he's going to be a real important guy. Any job, you know, changing diapers, such a menial job, you know, not important. Well, let's wait a couple days and see if it's important. Let's not do it for a couple days and see how important. Yeah, it's real important. Every job is important. You know, and honestly, it's amazing how our country denigrates and looks down upon people who do honest work and acts like, oh, but you know, if you don't go to this school and get this degree, then you're going to do one of these menial jobs. So what? Have integrity. Do a menial job. Work blue-collar jobs. So what? Who cares what people think? You know, sometimes you make more money being a garbage man than doing some things that people have more respect for. I'd rather come home and take a real hot shower after being a garbage man than to work a job where I don't have integrity. I'd rather be a garbage man than a bartender. I'd rather be a garbage man than, you know, than a lot of things that are dishonest. That's a whole sermon of itself. Did I have you go to Proverbs 6? Here's the next point. Having character is when you can work without someone standing over you and cracking the whip to make you work. Look what the Bible says in Proverbs chapter 6 verse 6. Go to the ant thou sluggard, consider her ways and be wise, which having no guide, watch this, no guide overseer or ruler provideth her meat in the summer and gathereth her food in the harvest. How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? When wilt thou arise out of thy sleep? Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep, so shall thy poverty come as one that travelth and thy want as an armed man. So the Bible is saying here that we need to be a worker that doesn't always need a guide, an overseer, a ruler. Now you have to be self-motivated and there are two kinds of workers. There are the kind of workers where you can just give them a day's worth of work or even a week's worth of work and literally never talk to that person again. I mean I've given workers here's a week of work, I've laid out their whole week and then just sit back and just let it happen. There are people you can trust to do that because you know that at the end of the week it's all going to be done. And then there are other people where you have to be on them literally every five to ten minutes. Where you have to just stand over them, hey get back to work, hey you're not doing that right, hey quit talking, you know work, get serious about getting your job done. And this is how it's going to affect your paycheck. You can either be a person who manages yourself and actually gets things done on your own or you can be a person that needs a ruler, guide or overseer and then guess who's going to make all the money? The overseer. They're going to make all the money that you could have been making. They're going to make it for babysitting you while you do the work. They're going to babysit you and a couple other people and make you guys work and they're going to make the big money and you're going to make very little money because you're as replaceable as a washing machine part. You can just be swapped out for another drone because you don't even have character anyway. They can find people with no character whenever they want to replace you because you need someone to stand over you and tell you get back to work, you're doing it wrong, I just told you how to do it, pay attention, wake up, get up, quit sitting around. You have to be the kind of person who, and look what does he say? Did he say in verse 6, go to the ant if you want? Go to the ant! He's not saying this is optional. Look, these are the commandments of God. This is God's word. God didn't say, hey being fervent in spirit is great if that's how you are. No, he said it's a commandment to be fervent in spirit. It's a commandment that you not be slothful in business. It's a commandment that you go to the ant and learn her ways and you learn how to work without a guide, without an overseer, and without a ruler. That's how you're going to succeed and it's also going to be pleasing in the eyes of God when you can actually work and get things done without somebody having to stand over you. Now another thing about this, go to 2 Thessalonians chapter 3, is that some people, all they do is just talk when they're supposed to be working. Now there's a time to talk and then there's a time to shut up. Okay? Now look, part of my job is talking. I'm a preacher. I'm constantly talking to people because here's a big part of my job, getting up and talking for an hour. Preaching right? And then another big part of my job is going out sowing and talking to people. And another part of my job is talking to my church members. I'm constantly, people are calling me and I'm talking to them and helping them and whatever. You know, I'm constantly talking to this person. So I talk a lot for my job. But there are parts of my job that are talking and parts of my job that are not talking. But some people, they just chit chat on the job instead of getting their work done. And what does the Bible say about it? 2 Thessalonians chapter 3 verse 10. For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat. And by the way, tell that to these welfare states up in Scandinavia. If anyone won't work, they shouldn't eat. You can't just have this system where the people who go out and work hard get taxed at 50, 60, 70% of their income and then other people sit around lazy, doing nothing, and sucking up all the money. And then they're all under tribute because they're slothful. If anyone doesn't work, they shouldn't eat. That's what the Bible says. Look at verse 11. For we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly, working not at all but are busybodies. Now them that are such we command and exhort by our Lord Jesus Christ that with quietness they work and eat their own bread. Now why did God say with quietness? Why did he say with quietness they work and eat their own bread? He's saying shut up and get your work done. Isn't that what he's saying? He's saying be quiet. Because people sometimes that don't work, they just talk and gossip and chit chat. And this is what the Bible says. In all labor there is profit but the talk of the lips tendeth only to penury. The talk of the lips is going to make you poor. And he says that if you work hard you're going to be blessed. So he says with quietness work and eat your own bread. Another thing, you don't have to turn there. Another thing that the lazy person or a person who lacks character will do is that they'll always make excuses. Why they don't do what they say they're going to do. Why they can't work hard. You know, why they don't have a job or can't get a job. Now let me tell you this, when it comes to getting a job this is the motto. If you don't have a job then looking for a job is your job. Does everybody understand that? If you're a man and you don't have a job then looking for a job is your job. And if you treat that as a full time job meaning that if you get up in the morning, get dressed, right, like you're going to work. Get dressed, put on your clothes, leave the door at a set time and go out and let's say you want to spend 40 hours a week at your new job that you want to find. Okay, then you spend 40 hours looking for a job that week. And here's how everybody wants to look for a job now. They want to roll out of bed at 10 am and then they want to go down to McDonald's and hop on the Wi-Fi and they got Facebook on one tab and they got YouTube on another tab and they're going to look for a job online for 90 minutes. Online. And then it's like I can't find a job. Or they'll get one job that's like a pie in the sky, will call you, whatever. And then it's like well I'm just waiting to hear back from these people that might hire me. Or I've got an interview a week and a half from now. So I'm just going to wait for that and see what happens with that. You know, no, you need to be out looking for every day between now and then. Looking for other stuff and have other irons in the fire. You know, not just this, oh well this thing might come through so I'm just going to sit around and do nothing until then. No, looking for a job is your job. And look, everybody I've known who followed this, where they went by this philosophy of looking for a job is my job so I'm going to go there for eight hours a day, five days a week, whatever. And look, I'm not saying that you can't find a job on the internet. I'm not saying not to use the internet. But you know what, you also should go physically and show up at places and say well it's all online now. You know what, that's what people tell me but it seems like the people who tell me that it's all, all of it, it's all online now, the people who tell me that are the people who seem like they don't find a job for weeks and weeks. And then the people who actually physically knock doors, they end up getting jobs. How about this, do both. How about this, find three ways to look for a job because a three fold cord is not quickly broken. Why don't you find it on the internet and make phone calls and go physically and show up. Because you know what, there's something about showing up, dress nice, firm handshake, look them in the eye, presentable, that gets you the job. And you know what, whenever I've looked for a job, I always wore a suit and tie when I went looking for a job. And every time I've gone out looking for a job, and it's not because I'm a high roller because all my suits are from the thrift store, this is from, this is from the Goodwill on Baseline and 48th. Okay, or Savers on Priest and Elliott or whatever. This message has been brought to you by Savers by the way. But anyway, this wardrobe provided by Savers. But you know what, this is what happens every time I go out looking for a job, I wear a suit or I wear a nice shirt and tie, and every single place makes fun of you for wearing a shirt and tie and then they hire you. Okay, it's true. First they make fun of you for being overdressed and then you get the job. So would you rather go around looking cool and not getting the job, or do you want to show up in the shirt and tie, they laugh at you, you don't have to, you're overdressed, what are you wearing a shirt and tie for? And then you get the job. What's your goal? To look cool or to get the job. I'm telling you. And especially you go to a job where everybody's wearing shirt and tie, and then you show up for the interview in a shirt and tie, then they can picture it. They can picture you in this job. And then you're hired. And look, I've known people who follow this advice and they get hired on the spot. They start work that day because they're already in the outfit. It's like, fill this out, go clock in, literally. I went to a job interview when I was in Chicago and I showed up in a suit and tie, I walked in and the guy hired me and I started working that very hour. That hour, I mean he handed me here are the materials, here are the jobs, and he sent me out the door and to work. Straight to work. And when I talked to him later, he said, well you know, he said it was because I walked in and I had a suit and tie on and I looked sharp and I gave him a firm handshake and looked him in the eye. I just seemed like I had it together. That's what he said why he hired me. Okay? So that's why just this method of finding a job, don't put all your eggs in that internet basket, my friend. Get out there, dress nice, firm handshake, big smile, look him in the eye, and go get a job for crying out loud. But see the slothful person, the sluggard, will always make excuses for why they don't have a job, why they can't work. You know, all these, sometimes even just phantom aches and pains will come into the picture. Seriously. Now look, I understand that people have aches and pains and people are injured. I'm not going after people obviously that have legitimate handicaps. That's not what I'm talking about. But you know, a lot of people, they just have pain. Where is it? It's everywhere. Fibromyalgia. What is it? It's just pain. It just hurts. Just sit around a lot and start hurting. Well first of all, your body's not designed to sit around a lot and you'll feel a lot better if you move around. You know, and you say, well, you know, I'm not into exercise. Well, you know, you need to get out and move around. Go walk or something. Walk around for a few hours. You know, go soul-winding for a few hours. That's a good way to walk around. It's kind of like urban hiking. You go soul-winding. Go to the apartment complex like Stairmaster. Go up and down the stairs, invite people to church, give them the gospel. But a lot of people just have excuses. The Bible says in Proverbs 20 verse 4, the sluggard will not plow by reason of the cold. Therefore, shall he beg and harvest and have nothing. But listen to this verse. The sluggard is wiser in his own conceit than seven men that can render a reason. So in their own mind, the lazy person has it all justified. They are wiser in their own conceit than seven men that can render a reason. Seven men who actually have legitimate bonafide reasoning skills, he said, no, no, this guy is smarter than all of them. You know, lazy people have all the answers when you ask them about their lack of, you know, job or lack of ability to work. They could tell, they've got it all figured out. They don't need you to give them advice. They don't need you to help them or give them tips on finding a job or succeeding at their current job because they're already so wise in their own conceit. They've got it all figured out and they can tell you exactly why your plan is not going to work of going door to door looking for a job. It's just not going to work. And here's all the reasons why, you know, and meet me at McDonald's, you know, so I can eat garbage food and use their free Wi-Fi to look for a job for 90 minutes while I'm surfing YouTube and while I'm surfing Facebook and then walk away and say, there's a lion in the streets, you know, I can't go to, I can't get it done. You know what, we need to get some character and I want to raise my children. Look, raise your children with character. The Bible says this, even a child is known by his doings, whether his work be pure and whether it be right. And you know, even in our culture today, it's become, it's become faux pas to make your kids work too much. They'll be like, oh man, you make your kids work. Don't make your older kids help with the younger kids. They shouldn't have to do that. They should get to enjoy their childhood, blah, blah. Yeah, but what you're not understanding is that righteous people enjoy work. And you know, if you go to little kids that haven't been corrupted by video games and by our lazy, sedentary society, little kids actually are signing up to go to work. Think about little kids. Oh, can I help? Can I help? Right? They want to help. They want to work. There's that innate desire to work that gets corrupted as they grow up in our culture. So, you know, even a child is known by his doings, whether his work be pure, whether it be right. One of the best things you can do to raise your kids right is to make them work, make them help with the, and plus, you know, some mothers are so frazzled and beating their head against the wall. You need to delegate some of that work and then you could relax a little bit. You know, they need to be doing the laundry. Once they get to a certain age, they need to be doing the laundry. They need to be doing the dishes. They need to be doing the landscaping around the house and pulling weeds and mowing lawns and cleaning and cooking and doing these things and help out and pull their weight around the house. And even a child is known by his doings, whether his work be pure and whether it be right. Who is he known unto? The Lord, number one. How does God know us? By our works. And you say, oh, well, you know, but salvation is by faith. Yeah, but guess what? You only get saved once and then you're a Christian for decades. Okay? And good works are a part of the Christian life. The Bible says, for by grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works that any man should boast. So yeah, salvation is not of works at all. But it says, for we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God has before ordained that we should walk in them. So what must we do to be saved? Believe. But what should we do? Good works. We should do good works. And Jesus said, behold, I come quickly and my reward is with me to give every man according as his faith shall be. Is that what it says? No. He said, I come quickly to give every man according as his work shall be. At the judgment seat of Christ, we're going to receive for the works done in our body, whether it be good or bad. How is your work? God looks down from heaven at you as a Christian and you're being judged by your works when it comes to your Christian life. And a child of God is known by his doings, whether his work be pure and whether it be right. Again, nothing to do with salvation. Everybody, who here thinks that works will get you to heaven? Nobody. Who here thinks it's salvation by faith alone? Put up your hand. Yeah, see, so we're all clear on that. Done. Move on to the next subject. Get to work. You can't just sit there and just, oh, it's all by faith. It's all by faith. Just sit around and do nothing. Yeah, it is all by faith. You're going to go to heaven no matter what, but let's go to work because we want to have character and because we want God to be pleased with us. The Bible says, wherefore we labor that whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him. What's the Bible saying? How are you acceptable before the Lord when you're working and what's unacceptable? Sitting around and doing nothing is unacceptable. I mean, what is the Bible saying? I mean, is everybody saying the same verses that I'm saying? Slothful, sluggards, lazy, idle, these are the things that God warns us over and over again not to let us creep in. And you know what? We don't want to just only go out and do our secular job, you know, and I do believe that our secular job is honorable before the Lord as long as it's not banking or being a policeman or something like that. You know, if you actually are a gangster or a drug dealer or something like that, those are bad things to do, right? I mean, there are jobs out there that are bad. Being a bartender, I don't respect that. Mixing drinks and everything, that's wrong. There are a lot of jobs that are dishonest jobs that I don't approve of for myself. You know, you say, well, I disagree with you. Okay, well, it's between you and the Lord, but I'm just telling you, I'll respect any honest job. But look, we don't want to go through our lives just trimming the grass and just wiring the outlets and just bending the pipes. You know, we also want to do service under the Lord. God also wants us to go work in his vineyard, not to just work in our own vineyard. It's important that we work in our own vineyard. But God said, go, son, go work in my vineyard. He wants us to go out and win people to Christ. You know, he wants us to get involved in the battle. He wants us to roll up our sleeves and do work for the kingdom of God and to receive wages unto eternal life. Okay, see, the wages of sin is death, right? But the gift of God is eternal life. So the gift is eternal life. But he said this, you can receive wages unto eternal life, meaning you can earn wages that you will enjoy throughout eternity. That's what the Bible says. Don't get this communist mentality like we're going to get up there and we're all going to be equal. It's a lie. God's going to reward everyone according as his work shall be. And God clearly said that he's going to say to one, be thou over ten cities and be thou over five cities and be thou over two cities. You know, it's going to matter what you've done. And you will be rewarded according to your works. And he says that he that laboreth receiveth, this is in John chapter four, if you want to look it up later, he said, you know, we receive wages unto eternal life. And so listen, when it comes to money and the things that we earn in this life, you can't take it with you, can you? But you can send it on ahead. You know, you cannot take it with you, but you can send it on ahead. Because if you work for the Lord, what's the Bible say you're doing? Laying up treasures in heaven. But why is it that then people turn around and act like, oh, well, you know, we're all going to be the same up there. Nobody's going to care. Then why did he say lay up treasures in heaven? And he's like, psych, there's nothing up there for you. We're all the same. No, we're not. Because you're laying up treasures in heaven. That means some people have more treasure up there than others. And you say, oh, that's so carnal to desire treasure in heaven. What? He said, set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. He said, don't lay up treasure on the earth. Lay up treasure in heaven for where your treasure is. There will your heart be also. There's nothing carnal about desiring rewards from the Lord. That's so bizarre. But I've heard that so many times. Oh, well, you shouldn't be in it for the rewards. So what why you're in it if you're serving Jesus and love him and obey him. Oh, I don't want it. Yeah. I wouldn't you just hate it if you offered your children's if you offer your children rewards. And then they did things and earned the reward. Why are you doing it for you offered the reward? So what you know, that's like saying what you guys you just memorize some, you know, Psalm 92 just because you wanted that prize. So what? Okay, look, do we have to peer into the soul of every child who memorized the chapter to see was it because they wanted the Lego watch or was it just because they just love the Lord and they love his word? Either way, they're learning the scripture. It's okay to reward people for things, folks. It's okay to go to work and get paid. The labor is worthy of his reward. And we get these weird communist ideas like we shouldn't want to earn stuff or lay up, you know, treasure in heaven or we shouldn't want to be that we should all want to be the same up there and we're not going to be the same. There's going to be a reward. And let me tell you this. This is the last point is that if you volunteer to do a job, you should treat it like a job where you're getting paid because of the fact that sometimes you can be more of a burden by volunteering to do something and then doing a bad job as if you had just not volunteered at all. But a lot of people have this mentality. It's sort of like that. If you don't pay much, you don't get much mentality of saying like, Oh, well, I'm a volunteer so I can show up late, do a bad job, slack off, right? Do it hastily. Do it halfway. You know what? Here's the thing. If you're going to volunteer to do something, you give it your best. Otherwise don't volunteer to do stuff because you can actually be like that foot out of joint. You can be that broken tooth, that smoke in the eyes, that vinegar to the teeth of people when you say you're going to do something and then you do it real sloppy and do a real poor job at it. It's like, well, I might as well have done it myself because it would be easier than to redo that which you've done wrong. So whatever we do, it needs to be heartily. And you say, well, okay, well, I better just never volunteer for anything then. Well, okay. It's your loss of wages under the kingdom of God. And you know what? Soul winning is the most, if you say, well, what do people volunteer around here? The biggest thing around here to volunteer to do is the soul winning, the evangelism. And I think everybody should be out soul winning. Everybody. I think it's something that everybody should have some part in man, woman, boy and girl. You know, it's something that all of God's people can be used greatly to win souls to Christ. And you know what? When it comes to soul winning, we need to do a good job. Not hasty, right? Can people sometimes be hasty with that? Just, oh, you know, couple verses, I'll pray this prayer, you know, and not really doing a good job of actually explaining it, being thorough. They're just in a hurry to get to the next, why are you in such a hurry to get to the next door? Just do a good job at the door that you're at. You know, I'm not saying to beat a dead horse, but do a good job where you're at. Take it seriously. And don't just, well I'm a volunteer, so anything's better than nothing. No, anything's not always better than nothing. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Father, we thank you so much, Lord, for all this teaching. And you gave us some practical things, Lord. It was, today's sermon is more of a practical thing on, especially, you know, for the man going out to work. But even the ladies, Lord, there's a great work for them to be done in the home. And so I pray, Lord, that these things would sink down into our ears, and that people would walk away from the sermon with a few of these points, even if it's just doing what they say they're going to do, Lord. It's so important. Help us to just become that kind of a person that's reliable, and that does what we say we're going to do, Lord. And please just help us to be diligent workers, to work hard, not to be lazy, Lord. In a culture where people are getting lazy, help us to be different, Lord. Help us to be a peculiar people that actually are fervent about our work. And in Jesus' name we pray, Amen.