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

you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you Alright, church, let's second Samuel 19 Second Samuel 19 Oh, my son, Absalom Oh, Absalom, my son, my son And Joab came into the house to the king and said, Thou hast shamed this day the faces of all thy servants which this day have saved thy life and the lives of thy sons and of thy daughters and the lives of thy wives and the lives of thy concubines and that Thou lovest thine enemies and hatest thy friends for Thou hast declared this day that Thou regardest neither princes nor servants for this day I perceive that if Absalom had lived and all we had died this day then it had pleased Thee well now therefore arise, go forth and speak comfortably unto Thy servants for I swear by the Lord if Thou go not forth there will not tarry one with Thee this night and that will be worse unto Thee than all the evil that befell Thee from Thy youth until now then the king arose and sat in the gate and all the people saying, Behold the king doth sit in the gate and all the people came before the king for Israel had fled every man to his tent and all the people were at strife throughout all the tribes of Israel saying, The king saved us out of the hand of our enemies and he delivered us out of the hand of the Philistines and now he has fled out of the land for Absalom and Absalom who we anointed over us is dead in battle now therefore why speak ye not a word of bringing the king back and King David sent to Zadok and to Abiathar the priest saying, Speak unto the elders of Judah saying, Why are ye the last to bring the king back to his house seeing the speech of all Israel is come to the king even to his house ye are my brethren, ye are my bones and my flesh wherefore then are ye the last to bring back the king and say ye to Amasa art thou not of my bone and of my flesh God do so to me and more also if thou be not captain of the host before me continually in the room of Joab and he bowed the heart of all the men of Judah even as the heart of one man so that they sent this word unto the king return thou and all thy servants so the king returned and came to Jordan and Judah came to Gilgal to go to meet the king to conduct the king over Jordan and Shimei the son of Gerah a Benjaminite which was of Baharram hasted and came down with the men of Judah to meet king David and there were a thousand men of Benjamin with him and Ziba the servant of the house of Saul and his fifteen sons and his twenty servants with him and they went over Jordan before the king and there went over a ferryboat to carry over the king's household and to do what he thought good and Shimei the son of Gerah fell down before the king as he was come over Jordan and said unto the king let not my lord impute iniquity unto me neither do thou remember that which thy servant did perversely the day that my lord the king went out of Jerusalem that the king should take it to his heart for thy servant doth know that I have sinned therefore behold I am come the first this day of all the house of Joseph to go down to meet my lord the king but Abishai the son of Zeruiah answered and said shall not Shimei be put to death for this because he cursed the lord's anointed and David said what have I to do with you you sons of Zeruiah that you should this day be adversaries unto me shall there any man be put to death this day in Israel for do not I know that I am this day king over Israel therefore the king said unto Shimei thou shalt not die and the king swear unto him and Mephibosheth the son of Saul came down to meet the king and had neither dressed his feet nor trimmed his beard nor washed his clothes from the day the king departed until the day he came again in peace and it came to pass when he was come to Jerusalem to meet the king that the king said unto him wherefore wentest thou not thou with me Mephibosheth and he answered my lord oh king my servant deceived me for thy servant said I will saddle me and ask that I may ride thereon and go to the king because thy servant is lame for he hath slandered thy servant unto my lord the king but my lord the king is an angel of God do therefore what is good in thine eyes for all of my father's house were but dead men before my lord the king yet didst thou set thy servant among them that did eat at thine own table what right therefore have I yet to cry any more unto the king and the king said unto him why speakest thou any more of thy matters I have said thou and Ziba divide the land and Mephibosheth said unto the king yea let him take all for as much as my lord the king is come again in peace unto his own house and Beresilai the Gileadite came down from Jerusalem and went over Jordan with the king to conduct him over Jordan now Beresilai was a very aged man even four score years old and he had provided the king of sustenance while while he lay at Mahinaim for he was a very great man and the king said unto Beresilai come thou over with me and I will feed thee with me in Jerusalem and Beresilai said unto the king how long have I to live that I should go up with the king unto Jerusalem I am this day four score years old and can I discern between good and evil can I serve and taste what I eat or what I drink can I hear any more the voice of singing men and singing women wherefore then should thy servant be yet a burden unto my lord the king thy servant will go a little way over Jordan with the king and why should the king recompense it me with such a reward let thy servant I pray thee back again that I may die in my own country and be buried by the grave of my father and my mother but behold thy servant Chimham let him go over with my lord the king and do to him what shall seem good unto thee and the king answered Chimham shall go over with me and I will do to him that which shall seem good unto thee and whatsoever thou shalt require of me that will I do for thee and all the people went over Jordan and when the king was come over the king kissed Beresilai and blessed him and returned unto his own place then the king went unto Gilgal and Chimham went on on with him and all the people of Judah conducted the king and also half the people of Israel and behold all the men of Israel came to the king and said unto the king why have our brethren the men of Judah stolen thee away and have brought the king and his household and all David's men with him over Jordan and all the men of Judah answered the men of Israel because the king is near of kin to us wherefore then be ye angry for this matter have we eaten at all of the king's costs or hath he given us any gift and the men of Israel answered the men of Judah and said we have ten parts in the king and we have also more right in David than ye why then did ye despise us that our advice should not be first had in bringing back our king and the words of the men of Judah were fiercer than the words of the men of Israel. Let's pray Dear Heavenly Father I pray that you fill pastor with your spirit and you just give us ears to hear his message in Jesus name I pray. Amen Amen Alright this evening I want to preach a sermon it's had a really interesting conversation with brother Dominique we went soloing together and then on the way back you know of course in conversations you talk about things and it's funny because it was separate from what I was preaching tonight until I started just meditating and thinking about the things I wanted to say this evening and how they related perfectly with what we were talking about and you know we're our conversation was talking about the last person we talked to give the gospel to was someone who only spoke Spanish so it was kind of giving the gospel in Spanish and of course they, Lilliana and Dominique speak Spanish well much better than I do so we were kind of talking about all these different things and I said how it would be a great thing to have a Spanish ministry here at our church it's a vision I have I'd really love to have one day to be able to hold services where we could be preaching in Spanish and be able to reach this Spanish-only community and you know so we're talking about that and we kind of brought up culture and he was saying that it's too bad that a lot of times there's this mindset where people don't want to he said there's you know certain cultures don't really want to assimilate here in America and they just expect everything to be given to them and I said well look you know I agree with you on that and politically speaking I would say yeah absolutely I mean come to this country you should be able to language and everything like that I think that's the right thing to do but when it comes to the word of God I think we should try to cater the people because I mean that's the most important thing so if people are going to have a hang up culturally speaking you know for whatever reason say well no I think you should well let's let's become all things all men that we might by all means save some so you can say well they shouldn't have that mindset well okay I could agree with you maybe they shouldn't being here in this country but hey we got the word of God let's reach those people and get to them right because what do we want to do in church and what should we be doing in church and through the church is not promoting an American culture or not promoting a Mexican culture or not promoting any national culture but we're promoting a Christian culture right so it transcends all other cultures out there and we want to be able to help people to get the right mindset to be able to unify as a people as believers among good core values so if it takes us to maybe have a ministry or have a service that's geared for just people who like no I'm not going to learn language or whatever fine but you know what maybe we could teach them along the way and help them to grow right and grow into what the Bible teaches is the right attitude and the right mindset to have that they can then steer away from things that maybe aren't you know exactly right but we could still reach them that way and I bring that up because what I'm teaching on this evening is basically it's a character trait and it's how we ought to be according to principles that we find in Scripture and there's multiple sermons I'll preach throughout the years just kind of going over things it's like hey we ought to be doing this because it's right and this is the right mindset we ought to have and this is the right attitude that we ought to have and if we're a believer if we're a Christian we ought to be living our lives the way that God is defining and how we ought to be valuing things a certain way and how we ought to be living our life okay and it's just that conversation has kind of kicked off something that I've mentioned in the past as well that sometimes we think of certain things as being common sense and it's not common sense to everyone because it's all based on how you were brought up it's based on the culture that you were brought up it's based on your family even just individually and so many other factors on what you deem to be important and how you ought to live and kind of the morals and the values that you subscribe to and often times even within a culture we have influence by media, by movies by all these other things that kind of help mold and fashion what you think is important and sometimes the more godly a nation is the more those values will line up with Scripture right but then of course as you veer away from the Lord and from the things of God those values get screwed up and I'm talking just in a broad sense, in a worldly sense so there's a lot of really good values and really good traits that were endorsed and people taught in their families you know say like a hundred years ago when the country was a little bit more in line with Scripture and Scriptural values and some of those things just right off the bat are things like working real hard, having a good work ethic and look that exists still today in many people with maybe many families but it's important to see these things taught in Scripture and in the Bible and be able to say I don't just subscribe to this thing just because it was something that was strong in my family but because it's something that the Bible teaches we ought to have and it's something that we ought to strive for and I'm probably going to go through it's not necessarily a series but coming up with these character traits of what we ought to be doing with our lives and things we ought to hold in high regard and how we ought to view things we're going to look this evening specifically I titled my sermon Giving and Taking I didn't call it giving and receiving I call it giving and taking on purpose okay because it's part of your mindset we all ought to be able to receive but we ought not to have a taking mindset and as we get into this hopefully it'll become more clear what I'm trying to express what I'm talking about because you have often times you have givers and you have takers right and hopefully what you'll see here is we're commanded to be givers and to be ministers and to be servants in Scripture that we ought to be giving of ourselves and be very giving in just in general in a broad sense but then there's a lot of people who don't have that mindset they have one oh you're giving I'm taking right and there's a lot of other aspects that kind of push people into this mindset of taking taking taking taking and kind of an entitlement mindset and this is owed to me in having that that type of view and look people are like that in the world for sure but we want to have a biblical mindset and exalt biblical characteristic traits that we ought to have and ought to strive for so that we can be the best Christians that we can be and not be influenced by this changing culture that's around us and start having you know just the wrong attitude and the wrong mind I mean and often times when people are looking for churches the number one thing they're looking for is what can you do for me right and as I stated before with having another ministry we do want to offer what we can for people that are looking like hey I need help with something okay we're here to help you we do want to help but here's the thing that is going to be a very very immature mindset for someone to have coming into church of well hey what can you do for I need I need this I need this I need this I need this you want to be able to grow we want to help everybody be able to grow in maturity to no longer be the hey I need this I need this I need this and then turn that into I can help with this I can help with this I can help with this let me be the one to help you and not to be the one that's needy right that's going to be take take take take take and look I say all of this with just keep this in mind people from time to time will find themselves in position where they might be in a need okay and this isn't to shame somebody that does end up in a situation where they have a need and I do think we ought to be able to not be so proud where you can't accept assistance from people okay because that's what it's for right like we're here as brothers and sisters of Christ we're here to try to help one another but there's a difference between being able to accept assistance and being a taker okay and that's I'm trying to draw a distinction between the two the takers just looking out for themselves any chance they can oh I need I want this this this you know and having this mindset of just being more of a burden on people than it is one of going okay well I'm in need and someone's offering okay I'll accept your assistance do you see the dip like hopefully it's being kind of clear let's get into to scripture right I'm kind of just opening up with with the the broad sense the the high level what I'm trying to get across here but when we get into the scripture we get into scriptural examples we'll see specifically how this plays out and uh we started off here in second Samuel 19 it's kind of a long story but I want to focus in on Barzillai here Barzillai was a very good friend of David and was there to help David when Absalom came and tried to to pull his coup and try to to usurp that authority and take the kingdom and come into power when David was fleeing Barzillai the Gileadite helped David in in in all of that and now we're coming into the story where David's going back right Absalom was killed David's going back to to to resume his his place on the throne and restore order and everything and as he's returning he he's met by Barzillai here and David wants to bless him for just being his friend and helping him out and he invites him to basically just hey come to Jerusalem with me you'll come and live in my house I'll feed you you could sit at my table every day and and basically all of his needs would just be met I mean living in the king's house I mean the king's got the most wealth right let's face it and he would have everything all of his needs everything cared for and he's just invited him said hey just come and you know we think about that for a second from just from your own perspective it might be kind of nice someone's inviting you and be like cool hey just come and stay with me man I've got plenty of room got plenty of food you don't got to do anything just just come and come and live with me it's a good deal I mean it's a nice it's a generous offer it's really nice but let's see how Barzillai deals with this right so let's let's read this passage real quickly in verse number 32 the Bible says now Barzillai was a very aged man even four score years old so he's 80 years old okay he's an older man and he provided the king of sustenance while he lay at Mahanaim for he was a very great man meaning he was very great he was wealthy so he had he had the means to support and supply David while he's like on the run and away from all of his wealth and everything else so he's there and he's giving and he's helping and he's being a good friend to David so David in return when he comes back that verse 33 says and the king said unto Barzillai come now over with me and I will feed thee with me in Jerusalem and Barzillai said unto the king how long have I to live that I should go up with the king unto Jerusalem I am this day four score years old and can I discern between good and evil can I servant taste what I eat or what I drink can I hear anymore the voice of singing men and singing women wherefore then should thy servant be yet a burden unto my lord the king so we see here he's like look I'm an old man like can I even discern good for me he's being a little humble here but he's like can I discern good from evil he's like I can't really hear things anymore I can't really taste the food and stuff so like you've got men servants and men you've got people singing I'm not gonna be able to appreciate that and enjoy that I'm an old man you know but the statement that he makes there at the end of that verse 35 he's like basically why should I be a burden unto you and this is the mindset that you'll find and as we continue to look at scriptures that we ought to have as a mature Christian is to not want to be a burden to someone else to live your life to where you can be self sufficient and take care of yourself and not want to have to put other people out and be considerate and thoughtful that look I'm gonna do everything I can in my own power so that I'm not gonna be a burden to somebody else and as I mentioned before hey these are character traits that in this country have been generally been promoted by and large but it's not always and it's increasingly I think more and more not becoming the case that that's being taught as a virtue as something that you ought to how you ought to be living as being considerate of not being a burden to other people as we continue to have a mindset of an entitlement attitude more and more government programs and all this other stuff and people just being taught and told no no you go get this and you get that and they owe this to you and everything else look you're burdening somebody you're burdening a tax payer when you just go and take take take take take okay a godly attitude is gonna be like Barzillai who says look I don't want to be a burden to you and look this is and this is after he gave who knows how much to support David right of anybody he could say like well I mean it's only fair right I gave you all of this and now I'm old anyways think about the attitude he could have had he could have been like well you know what yeah I gave you for however long he was gone and oh yeah I spent this much money and this much food I gave to him and I'm 80 so I'm not gonna be around that much longer anyway so sure it'll balance out it'll even out that makes sense why don't I just go with him now he could have done that and it wouldn't have been wicked of him to do that right but notice that like just the difference of a mindset it's not one where I'm gonna count every penny and then just we'll just make it all equal and even no you know it's better to say here I've helped you good God bless you I'm not even I'm not even keeping track of what you know great if I could help you I'm glad I could help you and I don't want to be a burden to you and look David was in need he found himself in a situation where he needed some help and praise God Barzillai I was there to help him out but he's not gonna gonna then take that and use that and use that as leverage or something you know he's just like no I'm good I don't want to burden you if I could help you I'll help you but I don't want to burden you and this is the attitude that you will see in scripture quite a bit and this is something that we ought to strive for and teach unto our children to have this mindset as a Christian let's keep reading here verse number 36 thy servant will go a little way over Jordan with the king and why should the king recompense at me with such a reward so he's saying look I'll go with you a little bit but I'm not gonna stay and he's just still saying like why should I get such a great reward why should I be the one so he's humble right but then look at this verse 37 let thy servant I pray thee turn back again that I may die in mine own city and be buried by the grave of my father and my of my mother so saying so just let me be able to return I'm not gonna go with you let me go back to my home town but behold thy servant Jim him let him go over with my lord the king and due to him what shall seem good unto thee so David's offering to help here and now instead of Barzillai saying oh wow that's good I'm gonna take that he's willing to just say well hey if you really want to be a blessing and help don't you know I don't need anything I'm good I'm glad I could help you I don't want to be a burden to you but you know if you want to be a blessing to anyone be a blessing to this guy and it's and it's a servant right this is just someone who is just you know this employee this servant I mean maybe maybe he wasn't even a Freeman I don't know but he's saying you know bless this guy let this guy go over and and due to him like you would have done to me which is another self sacrificial mindset to have of saying you know what it's it's this I want him to succeed over me if you're gonna help anyone help this guy out right I don't want to be the one that's on the receiving end of all your blessing just just like oh here this guy you can help him this is the mindset this is what the Bible teaches turn if you would to Galatians chapter 6 Galatians chapter 6 this is the Christian culture that needs to be taught and it needs to be received because every time I bring up stuff like this I get amens from over here like nonstop because we have very specific dealings with the employee pool in Georgia and I don't know if it's like this everywhere or not but when we have to deal with this here it's a problem and there's a mindset problem there's a culture problem where people are not willing to work hard and people don't have the character traits that they ought to have as a godly Christian and look not all of them are godly Christians and we know that I mean it's it is what it is but churches ought to be teaching this to help out those that didn't have the right upbringing to help out those because we've had this pandemic of people children being raised without dads or without moms you know in these single family homes it's just not having the right structure at home and not being taught the right values and just kind of being left to the world look it has an impact it has a significant impact so people need to hear this teaching and if you can't hear it from church then god help us the church needs to be filling in and doing this job of teaching the word of god and these values look at verse number 1 of Galatians chapter 6 brethren if a man be overtaken in a fault ye which are spiritual restore such in one in the spirit of meekness considering thyself lest thou also be tempted so if someone is overtaken in a fault don't error their own sin we're supposed to be helping people giving of yourself to help that person out and do it in the spirit of meekness be humble about it don't be a jerk about it right help people have a problem and help them help them don't talk down to people that have their own problems be meek if you're going to help someone to overcome their problem or someone's in error right and it's clear they're in error but you know you're going to point out their error to them do it with meekness right there's no reason to be a jerk when you're trying to help them but look at verse number 2 bear ye one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ so we're there to help others for sure bear other people's burdens but then let's continue reading verse 3 for if a man think himself to be something when he is nothing he deceiveth himself but let every man prove his own work and then shall have rejoicing in himself alone and not in another so while you're bearing other people's burdens hey you do your own work right prove your own work and then you can rejoice in what you do without having to require the help from other people bear other people's burdens help them out but don't be the burden to other people for every man shall bear his own burden and that's ultimately what's taught hey you bear your own burden and also help other people bear other people's burdens too so the godly thing is be strong be there to help work for yourself and work for other people and help them help out as many people as you can but nowhere are you going to see being like oh yeah and by the way just hey if they're willing to give then why don't you just go and take receive help as you need it like I said this isn't a slam on people who are in a position that's extremely difficult and you need some help okay it's not a slam on that at all so don't take it as such but we need to have the right mindset of a hard working I'm going to be content with what I have and I'm going to bear my burden and I'm not going to try to burden anyone else turn if you would turn if you would to I'll just read this for you turn if you would to 1 Corinthians 4 because this is taught all throughout scripture I'll read for you from Psalm 128 the first two verses of Psalm 128 says blessed is everyone that feareth the Lord that walketh in his ways so this is talking about a godly person, a person who fears the Lord and walks in his ways in God's ways for thou shalt eat the labor of thine hands you follow God's ways? you're going to eat the labor of your hands happy shalt thou be and it shall be well with thee you're doing upright and you're walking in God's ways guess what? you're going to be eating of your own labor not other people's labors your own 1 Corinthians 4 verse number 10 we are fools for Christ's sake but ye are wise in Christ we are weak but ye are strong ye are honorable but we are despised even unto this present hour we build hunger and thirst and are naked and are buffeted and have no certain dwelling place and labor working with our own hands being reviled we bless being persecuted we suffer it being defamed we entreat we are made as the filth of the world and are the off scouring of all things unto this day and we see this workman's attitude in the apostle Paul's epistles a lot 1 Corinthians 4 of course here where we're just reading being an example saying hey look you're wise we're not you're strong you're honorable we're not why? because they're sacrificing themselves for the betterment of the church and they're saying you know even now we're hungry but you know what he's not doing? he's not asking the Corinthians for food he said we're hungry we're thirsty we're naked we're buffeted we're going through all this and he's teaching them character say look this is happening to us I'm not telling you this because I want you to give me anything but I'm telling you this so you understand look we are suffering and we're going through this and we're laboring with our own hands we're working with our own hands we're working for you hey but being reviled we bless being persecuted we suffer so you know what you know what else they're doing besides working and struggling through this they're not complaining about it not complaining about it and you know this could also be a problem you could be working hard and bearing other people's burdens right and you're going to mess up all that good you're doing if you just keep complaining about it I mean think about it like you're doing the right thing and you're suffering and you're helping and you're allowing yourself to go in need to help other people but then as soon as you just start complaining about all of that you're flushing down your good works down the toilet because it's kind of like think about and why are you saying that why am I saying that because God hears you're complaining God hears it God hears it and he hates it just like any parent hates not even just a parent I mean who just is there anyone here that likes complaining likes hearing about it you may like complaining but when you're around the complaining it brings everybody down and spoils moods you could be in a good mood and then you got someone around you and then it's just like oh man like really come on let's not ok look you suffered so have I but you don't hear me going this is what the attitude is right when you start hearing and complaining I don't want to talk and think about all the sufferings that I had and I don't you know if you're suffering hey I feel for you and I'll help you but don't be complaining about it and the apostle Paul isn't complaining in 1 Corinthians 4 he's just telling him that this is the way it is and it's important for people to understand that hey look it is important to see you know in general you're not going to be exposing your own sufferings to people right you're going to play it off as like yeah no big deal right no problem but when you're teaching people you need to understand when people are helping you out you know don't get so comfortable because I think some people do that too you know it's like oh wow yeah this person oh they could do it it's no problem it's no big deal and then you just keep on taking and taking and taking and it's kind of like no stop and take a step back and think like no they're actually sacrificing for you and respect that and don't just be standing there for the quick handout every time be uh be willing to see the example of oh okay they're sacrificing and they're laboring for me maybe I should be willing to do that for other people turn to 1 Thessalonians chapter 2 Ephesians chapter 4 I'll read for you one verse out of Ephesians 4 you're turning to 1 Thessalonians chapter number 2 Ephesians 4 verse 28 says let him that stole steal no more but rather let him labor working with his hands the thing which is good that he may have to give to him that needeth so hey you might have been a thief before right he's talking about people people get saved people are thieves people that steal and what does a thief think about just themselves right the thief is just they just want to take whatever for themselves they don't care that the person that they're stealing from had to work or whatever to get whatever it is that they have and you just see that you want it and you just take it and there's plenty of people that live that way and they don't think it's a big deal at all I mean again you read the report I'm sure it's probably even happening downtown here in Atlanta I know what's happening in California where now it's just become this thing where a lot of people are going in and just shoplifting and they just go in literally with carts and they just load up and they just walk out and they just think like well no I mean this store's got all this money they don't you know like they can afford it and whatever and they just justify it somehow in their own mind and be like well I don't have anything and I want that so I'm going to have that and I'm going to take that and you're not going to stop me and they just walk in and walk out like all brazen and bold but people weren't raised right I mean it's a serious problem there you're going to go in and steal from someone and I don't care if they don't do anything about it it's still wrong even if it's legalized in our country you don't steal from other people we have enough theft that's legalized in this country we don't need any more it's still wrong and look just to highlight this the culture in the time from all accounts that I've heard back in the days of like the great depression in this country there is a lot of people that didn't even want to take any type of government assistance because they were raised with the core values of going I'm not going to be a burden on other people and I will be content with what I have and I'm going to work and I'm going to do whatever I have to do to get to be okay and to work and to let the Lord provide for me I'm not going to be a burden on other people things have changed so much that it's just like all this dependency on all the handouts to where people are revolving their entire lives around government handouts and we ought to work and labor and figure out how we can get these things done to to survive and to support without being chargeable to anybody now I transition to that not exactly in the best way it's just what popped into my mind Ephesians 4.28 the red few is talking about people who are stealing and I'm not associating getting assistance as stealing right those are two completely different things but look at 1 Thessalonians chapter 2 verse 9 because this is a little bit more in line with that verse number 9 says for you remember brethren our labor and travail for laboring night and day because we would not be chargeable unto any of you we preached unto you the gospel of God ye are witnesses in God also how holy and justly and unblameably we behaved ourselves among you that believe as ye know how we exhorted and comforted and charged every one of you as a father doth his children that ye would walk worthy of God who hath called you unto his kingdom and glory and in that that verse number 9 he says look we've labored night and day because we didn't want to burden you and be chargeable to you so not only did they labor in the gospel and in the preaching and in the ministry but they labored in being able to supply their own needs too so they did all this labor to show them like hey look we don't want to be a burden to you at all and it's showing you how to live now it's not easy to labor night and day is it? but this is what's being taught is whatever it takes I'm gonna do so that I'm not a burden to other people and as I said before again I'm gonna reiterate I'm not trying to shame those in need because if you're in need you're in need and especially with like this whole nation is becoming all messed up with the economy and with all these there's so many aspects of the government it's a really complicated big mess that we're in right now okay so to unpack every little bit I'm not trying to shame someone and be like oh well I get this assistance or something like don't take this sermon the wrong way okay don't because it's not about that it's about your mindset right and trying to do as much as possible on your own and working as hard as you need to to get yourself established so that not only can you meet your own needs but you could also help meet other people's needs okay and be a help to others that is the goal so when people are in need of things it's okay to be in need and to require some assistance like that's okay but we ought to be striving for and working as hard as possible to get to the independence and not just independence for yourself but then be able to help others and that should be a very high priority in your life and looking and saying wow and here's the thing laboring night and day that's not 40 hours a week okay America is cush when it comes to this idea of a work week this is that's that is not what the Bible is teaching as far as laboring you know laboring like we see in scripture is like sun up to sundown that's a day a day is labor and hey praise God if you are able to support everything on not working as many hours if you've been blessed great but don't have this mindset that just says oh well I mean it's an 8 hour work week and I get a 30 minute lunch and you know like and oh but I mean I'm not getting enough so now I just need to go and take from someone else to support no you know what how about you labor night and day and you work because you need to work to get the support so you don't have to rely on someone else this is what we see in scripture he's not being chargeable and they had the right to and this is expressed in scripture and I don't have specifically that those verses on my notes right now but the apostle Paul it's not a big deal if he's giving them spiritual food for him to receive their carnal things right he's providing spiritual things to them he is 100 percent in the right to be able to be supported by those to whom he's ministering right the people who are in the ministry and people who you're working for if you receive financial uh pay if you're being supported by them there's nothing wrong with that and it's just fine it's great but he's proving a point and he's saying look I don't want to be chargeable to you I want to show you that you can work and do this and get it all done you just have to work hard you just have to labor day and night and this is apparently what especially the church of Thessalonica needed to know because you read the first and second epistle to Thessalonians and you'll see this kind of reiterated in both of those this this concept of being which we're going to turn to both of these two actually turn if you would to chapter four in first Thessalonians this is a character trait that he's trying to impart under the church of Thessalonica specifically on how to work and how to work hard and not be a burden and not be chargeable to anyone else verse number nine but as touching brotherly love you need not that I write unto you for ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another and indeed ye do it toward all the brethren which are in all Macedonia but we beseech you brethren that ye increase more and more verse eleven and that ye study to be quiet and to do your own business and to work with your own hands as we commanded you look be quiet be about your business do your own business quietly and work with your own hands support yourself we commanded you that ye may walk honestly toward them that are without and that ye may have lack of nothing he says if you do this if you work hard if you just sit down shut up do your work do it quietly and just work with your own hands he says you're not going to lack anything you'll have what you need and and you're going to be walking honestly toward them that are without so you know what you gain a good report of those that are without you have a good report of people out in the world of people who are looking at you oh you're a Christian cause look it always leaves a bad taste in people's mouth when you've got the I'm Jimmy and and Gimme Gimme Gimme and they're always coming to you looking for things it's like man like can you just and sorry if there's anyone Jimmy in here but but no one wants to you know it's it's a lack of character and as a Christian we ought to be doing more and have a good report and be able to to do our own work and do our business and work with our hands flip over to 2 Thessalonians chapter 3 as I mentioned this is brought up in 1 and 2 Thessalonians and quite a bit too there's significant portions that he's really expressing to them the need to work and to labor verse number 6 now we command you brethren in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ that you withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly and not after the tradition which he received of us so this is getting pretty serious if he's saying I want you to withdraw yourself like that means separate yourself from these guys that are walking disorderly I say well what does disorderly mean I'm glad you asked because he's gonna tell us as we keep reading verse 7 for yourselves know how ye ought to follow us for we behave not ourselves disorderly among you so now he's talking about this is this is how he's defining disorder like well we weren't disorderly you need to you need to get away from those that are walking disorderly and we weren't verse 8 neither did we eat any man's bread for naught we didn't take anyone's food for nothing but wrought with labor and travail look at this again night and day that we might not be chargeable to any of you not because we have not power but to make ourselves an ensemble unto you to follow us and that's one of the places where it talks about them having the power like they they fully well could have been had their needs supplied by those they were ministering to like great all authority in scripture for them to be able to do that but he says no no no we didn't do it here's why because we wanted to be an example we wanted to show you that you can do this that you can work hard and this is how you ought to work and this is this is when you know when you're looking at the work week going why I already worked my 40 hours yeah that was your first job you might need to work another job and put in another 40 hours and even that I mean 80 hours in a week that's really not that crazy either some of you know what I'm talking about some of you are going like 80 hours look get used to working 100 hours a week I'm not joking this is if you really want to be in a situation to be able to provide for yourself and to be able to help others I mean you're going to have to be working you have to it's not you know it's not this cakewalk you work hard verse 10 for even when we were with you this week commanded you remember he was in the context he was talking about those that walk disorderly and then he's saying but we weren't disorderly you remember that we worked and labored day and night and now he's going to get to this in verse 10 for even when we were with you this week commanded you that if any would not work neither should he eat hey the lazy bum that's not going out and working don't give him any food and we say separate yourself from the person who's disorderly you know who's disorderly the person that can work and doesn't and then says oh can you help me I need some help can you give me some food I'm hungry why aren't you working you're being disorderly in fact I don't even want to be around you you're disorderly I'm going to withdraw myself from you that's not right this is the command you ought to have look if you're not going to work then you're not going to eat that'll teach you soon enough maybe I better get my rear end out there and start working and stop being a burden on other people and actually do something provide for myself verse 11 for we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly what is disorderly working not at all that's disorderly 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 but look at this but ye brethren be not weary in well doing and if any man obey not all word by this epistle note that man and have no company with him that he may be ashamed so just like in 1 Corinthians 5 the whole point of withdrawing from people is so that they can realize that's a shame people aren't even going to talk to me now that's how serious not working is when you can work and provide for yourself and you're just going out and asking everyone else for a handout when you could be working this is what the scripture teaches and this ought to be our Christian culture and this is why if someone is able-bodied I don't want to give them a handout and help them out and get food or anything because you ought to be ashamed of yourself and you ought to work now if you can't work for some reason that's a different story you know people who are disabled people have other problems that just is preventing them from being able to work okay if you're capable of working you ought to be ashamed of yourself if you're not but look at verse 15 yet count him not as an enemy you're not enemies but admonish him as a brother and that would be people guilty also of 1 Corinthians 5 okay look they're not our enemies but we have to do this so that you realize this isn't acceptable okay we're going to we're going to note and say okay look but now you're working great and when people are moving in the right direction hey we all ought to be able to bear their burdens and help them out and help them along the way right someone's in need maybe they had this wrong before but now they're doing good hey you know what like I'll help you great amen and if that happens to be a case where you know someone finds themselves in a really bad position but now they're working well you know what I'm going to help you I will help you and I won't just make you have to just do everything on your own I'll help you out but you've got to be going the right way you've got to be going the right direction you've got to have the right path the right focus turn if you would to Psalm 37 Psalm 37 I'm going to read for you from Proverbs 25 verse 17 Proverbs 25 to 17 reads Withdraw thy foot from thy neighbor's house lest he be weary of thee and so hate thee overstaying your welcome and this applies and goes hand in hand when people are still always going and looking to receive and it's kind of like look okay but now obviously you can apply this in other ways too right of just sort of becoming a fixture in someone else's house maybe you're just hanging out and having a good time but you got to use some discretion on when it's time to go but also in the way I'm applying it here would be look when you have problems try to work it for yourself but don't be a burden if you need help okay but then just know when to withdraw your foot from your neighbor's house because you keep on going to the same person asking and asking and asking and asking over again they may be a good mature Christian they may be willing to help and they may give and sacrifice but man you don't want to be putting yourself in the position where they're getting weary of you and then starting to hate you like don't put yourself there don't kind of provoke that situation Psalm 37 verse 18 the Lord knoweth the days of the upright and their inheritance shall be forever they shall not be ashamed in the evil time look at this and this is the days of the upright and in the days of famine they shall be satisfied when you're doing right as a Christian and you're walking uprightly even in a famine the Bible says you're going to be satisfied why? Because God's going to take care of you but you know what you have to be upright not walking disorderly let's keep reading because this Psalm continues to flesh this out some more verse 20 says but the wicked shall perish and the enemies of the Lord shall be as the fat of lambs they shall consume into smoke shall they consume away the wicked borroweth and payeth not again oh I just need a little help can I just borrow something you know and then never pays it back and look if you're borrowing something that means you're going to pay it back okay if someone gives you something it's not a loan they're not lending it to you then you don't have to pay back something that someone just gives you as a gift right someone gives you a gift you don't have to pay it back but if you're asking to borrow something hey can I borrow some money I don't get paid yet I need to get you know okay well if you're borrowing it then pay it back and if you don't pay it back you're wicked the bottom line because the Bible says the wicked borroweth and payeth not again but look at how it contrasts that with the righteous but the righteous showeth mercy and giveth it doesn't say but the righteous borrow and pay it says the righteous gives why because the righteous is bearing their own burdens and the burdens of others also which we ought to by the way my story is give and take right giving and taking so we're going to get more to the biblical side of how Christians should be giving in just a minute but I want to I want to make sure that this the mindset is right on being on the taking side of things verse 22 let's keep reading for such as be blessed of him shall inherit the earth and they that curse be cursed of him shall be cut off the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord and he delighteth in his way though he fall he shall not be utterly cast down for the Lord upholdeth him with his hand and what a great psalm but understand this and take this to heart the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord and God delights in your way so if you're doing good if you're walking uprightly if you're looking to the word of God and walking away hey God is pleased by that and even if you fall though he fall right some things come across your path and you didn't expect it whatever you fall he shall not be utterly like completely just cast down you're not just going to be like down and out for the Lord the Lord upholdeth him with his hand cause God's there to pick you right back up oh you stumbled oh wait here let me help pick you back up cause he sees the way you're walking he sees you're being righteous he sees you're being upright so God's going to be there for you I'm there for you look at verse 25 I have been young and now I'm old this is the psalmist I've been young now I'm old so I've lived this lifetime I'm old now yet have I not seen the righteous or the forsaken nor his seed begging bread and what this tells me is that if you got someone who's born again that ends up begging bread you're not living uprightly if you're reduced to begging bread you're not right in God's eyes people fall on needs and people have hard times I get it and God's going to be right there though to help you up but as we see the psalmist saying look I still haven't seen it I haven't seen God just forsake someone who's righteous verse 26 he is ever merciful and lendeth and his seed is blessed God lends and God is merciful and so should the righteous man be too though so we don't again we don't want to be on the wrong side of things turn if you would to turn if you would to Romans 13 almost done here the character traits that we're reading out of the Bible I'll read for you from Acts chapter 20 Acts 20 verse 33 says I have coveted no man's silver or gold or apparel your righteous man doesn't care about that stuff which is also going to help you to be able to give you don't care that much about this world it's good you're going to be able to support yourself and supply for your own needs but then you'll also be able to help other people because you don't really care about it anyways it's kind of like oh yeah here here you go it's not a big deal here you go let me help you out and you can't do that if you're covetous because covetous people just want more and more and more I have coveted no man's silver or gold or apparel yet ye yourselves know that these hands have ministered unto my necessities and to them that were with me I didn't just support myself I supported everyone else with me I have showed you all things how that's so laboring you ought to support the weak and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus how he said it is more blessed to give than to receive if you're always looking to receive like wow this is great oh I need to receive you know get on the other side of that because it's more blessed to give as much of a blessing as it is to be able to receive something which it is of course it's a blessing right you end up receiving something someone gives you something good someone cares about you someone's helping you out that's a blessing amen but what he's saying here is for however much you see that as being a blessing which it is even more blessed to give so we don't want to have to be on that receiving side and being dependent on someone being able to give to you you want to be on the giving side because that's even more blessed Romans 13 look at verse number 7 the Bible reads render therefore to all their dues tribute to whom tribute is due custom to whom custom fear to whom fear honor to whom honor oh no man anything but to love one another for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law we ought to strive to not be in debt to people for anything and again if you're meeting your needs then you won't be in debt and you'll be able to continue okay last place I'll have you turn is Matthew chapter 5 Matthew chapter 5 Matthew chapter 5 Now we already read where you know people just aren't working and they're able to work and they're not providing for themselves then that's where you withdraw yourself okay but there's plenty of other situations where people are in need and we ought to give and we ought to help and we ought to support okay and those that are strong support the weak and you know and if God's blessed you with this world's good as 1 John chapter 3 says but whoso have this world's good and seeeth his brother have need and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him how dwelleth the love of God in him right I mean look if God's blessed you and you can help someone else and they need help and they're in need you'll look great and we also see throughout scripture there's saints in Jerusalem and saints here and there's collections being made and look we're gonna help these brethren here and we're gonna help them right and and they need the help so they're gonna get the help and that's not to slam or shame the saints that ended up being in need but we want to strive to be the ones that can give to be the ones that are called on like hey this brother let's help him out amen right I mean here's a perfect example of that that's something that's happened recently there was a church at steadfast right in Texas that were in need why because they were being persecuted and prosecuted right I mean they were having this big I mean they had their funds stolen from them so all these bad things happen because they're serving God okay so they're going through a hard time and look they were doing everything they could to support themselves and do what they need to do and just keep working through and everything but you know what we had the means to be able to help so it's like hey you know what God bless you we're gonna help you and it's great to be in a position to be able to help people they're doing right they're doing good they came on need there's nothing shameful nothing wrong about what they were doing it had nothing to do with them being wicked or anything like that but they came on need and they had a need nothing wrong with that so you know what we're gonna do we're gonna supply and help try to supply that need and help them out and we ought to be very happy and very willing to be like yep here you go we got it you don't here you go I'll help you out Matthew 5 look at verse number 40 the Bible reads and if any man will sue thee at the law and take away thy coat let him have thy cloak also and this speaks a lot to again not being wrapped up in the things of this world so being willing to just be able to part with the stuff that you have and not be so you know clinging to it and say okay it's fine I can give verse 41 and whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile go with him twain give to him that asketh thee and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away you have heard that has been said thou shalt love thy neighbor and hate thy enemy but I say unto you love your enemies bless them that curse you and do good to them that hate you and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you that ye may be the children of your father which is in heaven for he maketh his son to rise on the evil and on the good and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust and that just speaks to the mindset that we ought to have have one where oh people need anything people ask me out great I'll help you God bless you and try not to be on the other side and again I hope it's clear in your minds that it's not a shame to have need okay but if you get to the point where you're literally begging bread we can see that there's something not right with you and God because you shouldn't be in that condition because God has promised to feed you and clothe you you seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness those things are going to be added unto you and God doesn't fail from his promises so all that tells me is that you're not seeking the kingdom of God because I know that God's not lying about that so if you find yourself in that situation you're the problem not God but apart from that kind of I would call that an extreme right people it's not working and things like that look let's be generous and let's give and let's work and labor hard so that not only can we provide for ourselves but provide for those that need help around us and don't let our any culture American culture any culture whatever you've grown up warp your mind from what the Bible's teaching on how we ought to and how we ought to be and especially our American culture as we've been blessed tremendously tremendous blessings with riches and the things that are available to us and the ability to be able to still live off of a lot less working hours like I said before hey if you could only work 40 hours a week and be fine providing for yourself I think that's wonderful I think that's great but don't turn that on its head and say oh well I can't support myself I'm working 40 hours a week so I just need to receive handouts hold on a second though because you're not really working as much as you ought to then if you need to work more then you need to work more bottom line as far as I've ordered prayer thank you so much for providing for us we thank you for caring about us we thank you for the great truths that are in scripture I pray that you would please help us to form a good solid Christian culture within our church and that we could also just teach others and especially as we bring more people to Christ dear Lord that we can have an impact on raising up people who love your word that care about doing right help us to be righteous in your eyes help us to be able to lead by example as the Apostle Paul was able to and the other disciples that went with him to be able to work real hard and to be able to supply their own needs as well as be able to minister and serve to those they were trying to reach God help us to be able to show a similar example in being able to work very hard and not have to require the being chargeable by the people we serve Lord and we love you and thank you so much for providing for us it's in Jesus name we pray Amen Alright we're going to sing one last song before we're dismissed Brother Peter will you please lead us Song number 13 Must Jesus bear the cross alone Song number 13 Right church let's sing the song the first Was Jesus bear the cross alone Let all the world go free Oh there's a cross for everyone And there's a cross for me The cross of pain and loss of care Till death shall set me free And then I'll hold my ground to where there's a ground for me The cross of pain with you And Jesus bears with me Joyful I'll cast my golden crown And give the last Oh precious cross of all is ground Oh resurrection day The angels from the stars come and bear my soul away Amen church great singing thank you so much for coming you guys are dismissed Thank you