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So if you got your Bibles there in Colossians chapter 3, let's look at verse number 22. Now I'm continuing the series that I started last week, which is the Decently and In Order series. And on Sunday afternoon, I preached on the order of employment, okay? So that was very much just a sermon on, it was just a theory, okay? It was just a sermon on the workplace, on a job, okay? And how God feels about this, and if you remember, you know, work is such an important thing, especially for the man. You know, God has made sure that the man is the provider for his house. You know, I know that's unpopular today in 2020, you know, but no, you know, God has instructed for men to be the worker, he is the breadwinner, he is the one to provide for his wife or his children, to put a roof over the head. It falls upon the man's responsibility, okay? This is clear in the Word of God. And we saw the reason for this is because God worked for six days, and he rested on the seventh. And when he created man, he wanted man to till the ground, so he gave him a job on day number one, to be the gardener of the Garden of Eden. And so Adam, before the curse, was required to work. And we worked our way through the Bible, we had a look at what the Old Testament taught about the workplace, we had a look at what the New Testament talked about the workplace, and we also looked at eternity. And you know, the idea, the false idea that people think that eternity is a time for resting. You know, no, but actually, if you read Revelation 22, the Bible says that God will make us, his servants to serve him. And so, you know, for all eternity, when God creates a new heaven, a new earth, we're back to work brethren, but it's gonna be the best job you've ever had, you're gonna be serving the Lord God, you know, in your righteous body, not your sinful, lazy, selfish bodies, but in your righteous new resurrected bodies, we're going to be serving the Lord God for all eternity. And so that sermon on Sunday afternoon was mainly just theory, you know, what the Bible says about this topic, and now to this afternoon, or this evening, I should say, I want to preach something more practical, more practical. So for those of you that are an employee, and you know, again, I know I am, I am, you know, preaching mainly to the men, and even to my boys, because I want my boys to be hard workers, I don't want them to be lazy, like their generation that they're growing up in, I want them to understand what God requires from an employee. And so this might seem like a sermon targeted to men. But I say for the mothers, for the ladies, you know, you have a job as well, you know, you've got a job to raise a family to look after children to keep the house. And so many of these principles, you'll probably be able to take these anyway, and apply it for your situation. And so once again, this is more of a practical sermon, and the total for the sermon this evening is excelling as an employee, excelling as an employee. And brethren, you know, I've had the pleasure of being an employee for many years, most of us have been employees, but also an employer, you know, where you're hiring staff, and you're looking for certain qualities in people. And so I've been on both ends, I know what it takes to excel as an employee, I also know what the employer wants from an employee, right? When the time comes to promote somebody, when the time comes to give someone a pay rise, you know, the employer is looking for a certain person. And if you look at Colossians chapter three, verse 22, it says, servants, so that's like the employees, servants, obey in all things, your masters according to the flesh. You say, my boss, my workplace is just a man, yeah, what does the Bible say, yeah, his flesh, obey in all things. And I know, I know, brethren, I know this is a weird teaching for our generation, you know, we have a generation of rebellious people, of whiners and complainers, and you know, they want to be, they want, you know, everything for nothing, but the Bible tells us here, hey, if you've got an employer over you, that's your master in the workplace, hey, obey him in all things. Now, of course, this is not telling us to obey him when he tells you to sin. You know, if your manager is telling you, hey, go and commit a sin, go and commit some fraud, go and lie about something, of course, that's a sin, and you ought to obey the higher power, the higher power above your manager, above your workplace is the Lord God. And the Lord God commands us to, you know, not to sin, he doesn't want us to give into those temptations, and so that would be the right time to not obey your employer. But listen, when it comes to the running of business, whether you agree or disagree, obey your masters, obey in all things, your masters according to the flesh, then it says, not with eye service as men pleases, but in singleness of heart, fear in God. Verse number 23, and whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not unto men. So just remember, brethren, the reason you have a job, God has given you, he's blessed you with employment. Brother Tim, you're starting next week, right, full time job, brother, you know, the Lord has given you that job, the Lord has given you that job. You know, yes, he came through the agency he worked for in Queensland, but it's a law that made sure that you've got a job there, and brethren, if you've been given work, hey, it's a law that's given it to you, and so you ought to do it as unto the Lord, right? It says do it heartily, work of your heart, right? Give it the best, not unto men. Verse number 24, knowing that of the Lord you shall receive the reward of the inheritance, for ye serve the Lord Christ. Now I just want you to notice once again, verse number 23, it says whatsoever ye do, do it as heartily, as to the Lord, right, as to the Lord. Verse number 24 ended, for ye serve the Lord Christ, and it's saying, look, don't you know that if you just put your mindset that you're serving God, that the Lord's going to reward you, the Lord's going to give you a blessing, and so just remind yourself, it's not just a paycheck. Listen, the unbelievers, the non-Christian, the person that does not fear God, yeah, they go to work, they put their hours in, they get a paycheck, but you're going to get more than a paycheck. If you do it with the heart, you do it as unto the Lord, the Lord's going to reward you as well, not just the paycheck, but He's going to reward you with His blessings, hey, maybe something wonderful on this earth, otherwise it's the laying up of treasures in heaven which is more important than what we gain on this earth. So we understand that, but I want you to look at verse number 25, and this is serious business, because you might think that God doesn't really care about your workplace. Brethren, if you're a son of God, God cares about whatever place you're in, whatever it is that you do, God cares about, look at verse number 25, but he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done, and there is no respect of persons. You know, you might be a child of God right now, you know what, but if you go to the workplace and you do wrong, you go and you cheat your boss, you go and you don't give your best, and you're lazy, you're slothful, and you waste the resources, you know, you're just a bad employee, you do wrong to them, God's going to make sure that you receive, that you're going to get punished, that you're going to be chastised for being lazy on the job, for being a stubborn, lazy, rebellious worker, God's going to make sure that you get chastised on this earth, you know, for being a lazy employee, and there is no respect of persons. Just because you're a believer doesn't mean you're going to get away with it. In fact, if you're a child of God, if you're a son of God, you're definitely going to be chastised by God, you know, if you do wrong, and so you can see here that even your workplace is important to God, He wants you to give your best, do it with your heart, and don't do wrong to your employers, you know, God's put you in that job, He wants you to be a blessing to your employer. And so, excelling as an employee, brethren, I've got I think it's nine points that I have for you today, excelling as an employee, and these are things that I've learnt on the workplace, but as well, these are biblical principles, so, you know, we're looking at the Bible, we're seeing what God has to say about these things, please turn to Luke chapter 3 verse 14, turn to Luke chapter 3 and verse number 14, Luke chapter 3 and verse number 14. Point number 1, brethren, point number 1 is honour your employment contract, honour your employment contract, normally when you go and you work a job, normally there's paperwork, isn't there? Normally there's a contract that, you know, the employer will say, hey, you know, we're going to pay you this much to do this job, you know, for this many hours, and this is what you need to accomplish. If you can do that, we'll pay you, and, you know, if you're in Australia, you're going to get 20 days of annual leave, you're going to get 10 days of sick leave, and whatever else that might be with that contract, right? You know, if you're into sales, they might even say, hey, if you achieve these targets, you're going to get these bonuses as well, there's something in your contract, right? And what you need to understand, brethren, is that you need to first honour your employment contract, you're the one that takes that contract, and they'll say to you, can you sign this? Have a read through this, sign it, date it, I'll give you it, they make a copy for you, a copy for yourselves, and listen, this is the commitment that you've made for that workplace. They're committing to pay you X amount of dollars, and you're committing to work those hours, you're committing to get that job done. And so this is not some minor thing, you know? You shouldn't just, you know, rubbish your contract, you must understand what is expected from you, honour your employment contract. Now look at Luke chapter 3, verse number 14. This is when John the Baptist was baptising, and then we have, you know, different people come to John the Baptist asking for advice, what shall we do, et cetera, and it says in Luke 3, 14, and the soldiers, these are the Roman soldiers, likewise demanded of him saying, and what shall we do? And he said unto them, do violence to no man, neither accuse any falsely, and be content with your wages. Breville, let me ask you something, are you content with your wage? You know, you go to work and whatever it is, the hours you do, you get your paycheck, are you content with your wages, or are you whining and complaining, saying, oh, they should be paying me more? Well here's the thing, you signed a contract, you said I agree to be paid this much, and listen, if your employer is paying you that much, be content, right? It's what was agreed. It surprises me how many people, and again, I've been an employer, because I've seen this, right? I've had employees come into my office and say, I want to be paid more, I need to be paid more, this is not fair, and say, what do you mean it's not fair? We're honoring the agreement that we have both agreed with when you came to sign for the job, we told you that you're going to get paid this much, we've not cheated you, you've been paid every paycheck, you know, and you've got a pay rise, whatever it is, you've got, in fact, more than what was probably laid out in the contract, it still surprised me how many people come saying, I'm not happy. Well you know what, there's nothing new under the sun, we see, even in the Bible, you know, that these Roman soldiers were not happy with their pay, but do you think they knew they were going to get paid before they got the job? Of course, you know, they would have had some agreements, they would have had some contracts, and so you can see here that it's bad behavior to complain and whine about how much you earn. Now I'm not saying that there's never a time to go to your manager and say, look, you know, when I started this job, I was doing this many responsibilities, I've taken on all these extra tasks now, you know, would you consider, would you consider giving me a pay rise? You know, I think it's fair because I'm doing X amount more than what was originally agreed. I'm not saying there's ever a wrong time for that, but just going in and just whining and complaining, you know, that is wrong, you ought to honor your employment contract. I'll never forget, you know, one of my first full-time jobs, you know, I was so excited, you know, you're a young guy, you know, I wanted to get married to my wife and I just needed to save up for our wedding. I didn't care what I was going to earn, like I just knew if I could save up, we could buy a wedding dress, you know, we can afford the reception, afford the honeymoon. I was just happy to have a job and I landed the job, you know, I signed the contract, it wasn't much, it was a very low-paying job, it was a minimum wage job and, you know, after a few weeks of being on the job, I had these, you know, my work colleagues come up to me and said, you know what, you really should join the union, okay, join the workers union, I'm like, yeah, I guess so, I know my mom and my dad were part of the union in their workplaces, I'm like, whatever, you know, they'll tell me about all these benefits, it's going to help you in this, if you have any troubles, I think there's like dental insurance, there's all this stuff, right, you know, going, you know, being together on the union, so, okay, yeah, I'll sign up for the union, it was like, I don't know, $12 a week out of my paycheck, I don't know, something minor, you know, it wasn't a big deal and I did that. Well, after doing that, another week passes and they're like, all right, man, we're going to strike, strike, what, it's like, yeah, we're not getting paid enough, it's like, well, hold on, that's not why I joined the union, what, you want me to strike and complain about my wages, I'm so happy, you know, I'm so happy I just landed a job, I'm so happy these guys looked at me and said, hey, we'll take you over these other employees, I agreed, yeah, I signed, I agreed, I'm going to be paid this much and now you want me to strike, now you want me to strike, eventually they actually wanted me to head up the strike, which was strange, right, I'm just a new employee, could you imagine, but, you know, brethren, that is bad, that's horrible, that's you dishonouring the agreement you made with the employer, okay, so that's a horrible attitude to have and so you ought to honour your employment contract. Please turn to the Book of Philemon, Philemon in your New Testament, it's a small book in the Bible, Philemon, and it's only got the one chapter there, Philemon, and what's interesting about the Book of Philemon, it's such a short book, but God sees fit to put this book in the Bible and it is primarily dealing with the employer and the employee relationship, primarily about that, okay, and so what this is basically about is Philemon, he was an employer, he had a servant under him, and so he writes this epistle to Philemon and it's about, so look at Philemon verse number 10, I'll just show you this, Philemon chapter 10, sorry, verse number 10, this is Paul writing to Philemon and he says, I beseech thee for my son Onesimus whom I have begotten in my bonds, so let's get a picture here, Paul is saying he is in bonds, you know, we know that Paul was arrested and so this is a time that he was under arrest and he still met his son Onesimus, not talking about his physical son because we know Paul was not married with children, this was a son that he begetted through faith, right, this is someone that he came across and he gave him the gospel and Onesimus believed the gospel and so, you know, as it were, you know, he's a child in that sense, a spiritual child, you know, a child that was born again through the preaching of Paul. And then it says in verse number 11, which in time past was to thee, to thee, that's Philemon, to Philemon, unprofitable but now profitable to thee and to me and so what's happened here, we don't know exactly what took place in Onesimus' life but there was a time when he was working and in fact he was still the servant, he was still contracted under Philemon and for some reason he's run away, for some reason he's departed from his employment, he's left his master and he crosses paths with Paul and so Paul says, look, yeah, in the past he was not profitable to you, what is he saying, he's saying in the past he was a slack employee, in the past, you know, he didn't help the company, he did not help your business, okay, but now profitable to thee and to me, verse number 12, whom I have sent again, thou therefore receive him that is mine own bowels and so look I've sent him back to you, can you please receive this runaway employee, this runaway servant, right now he's going to be profitable to you, verse number 13, whom I would have retained with me that in my stead he might have ministered unto me in the bonds of the gospel. So Paul's saying, look, I would have loved to actually keep a hold of him, he's serving me, he's serving me, he's helping me in the gospel but, you know, I see fit to send him back to you and because it says in verse number 14, but without thy mind would I do nothing that thy benefit should not be as it were of necessity but willingly, so he says, look, I don't want to take this guy because he's actually your employee, I don't want to do anything without you knowing, okay, verse number 15, for perhaps he therefore departed for a season that thou shouldest receive him, receive him forever, not now as a servant but above a servant, a brother beloved, specially to me, but how much more unto thee both in the flesh and in the Lord, if thou count me therefore a partner, receive him as myself. And so look, yeah, in the past he was just your servant, in the past he was unprofitable, so much so that Onesimus just runs away, he quits the job, you know, point number two is don't quit and learn from the best, point number two is don't quit and learn from the best, what happened to Onesimus? He was a slack employee, he was unprofitable, he wasn't, you know, serving Philemon at all and, you know, Philemon, it seems like he probably didn't even care about this guy leaving but Onesimus comes across poor, he gets saved, you know, he gets working, working for the Gospel, serving Paul and Paul says, look, you've turned things around now, you're no longer unprofitable, you know, you've learned how to be profitable, go back to your master and he's telling Philemon, hey, take him back and so you can see God's providence here, you know, Paul knows Philemon and happens to come across his runaway servant but he sends the servant back and so, brethren, what do we learn here? That sometimes when you take on a job, it's going to feel like it's too much, in fact, anybody that's taken on any job, you know, the first few days, the first few weeks, maybe even the first few months, it's a bit of a nightmare and you're wondering, I don't know if I can do this job, you know, I don't know, there's so much to learn, you know, and maybe you make mistakes and, you know, at the very beginning, a lot of employees are just not really profitable, you know, they're just trying to find their feet, they're trying to figure out where they fit in the picture and the temptation will come when you decide to quit but what do we learn here? Brethren, if your employment, if where you're working is getting too difficult, maybe you're not producing the way you ought to produce, it's best to learn from the best, you know, Onesimus got himself under Paul, Paul taught him the gospel, yes, but he also taught him how to be a hard worker, he also taught him how to be productive and, you know, one example of this that I would sometimes think on the workplace is if I had an employee who's, you know, not necessarily slack, it's not like they're lazy but they're just not achieving, right, it seems like they're trying to apply themselves, they're trying but they're just not able to achieve the standard that's expected of them and so I would take that employee, I would find my best employee that does a similar job and tell that guy, hey, you go and sit under this person, you go and watch them for a whole day, go and watch them for two days and work out what it is, you know, why is that person so productive? Maybe you can learn from them, you can figure out why is it that you're slow, why are you unproductive, you know, why are you unproperable, you can learn from that person and so it's important, you know, brethren, if you're struggling in the workplace, don't just think I've got to quit, you know what you could do, you could very well just go to your manager and say, you know, sir, I know you expect this productivity out of me, for whatever reason I'm unable to achieve but I can see, you know, my coworker over here is able to achieve, you know, do you mind if I go sit with him, do you mind if I go just spend some time with him and try to gain some, you know, some skills or, you know, gain some knowledge from that person so I can be more profitable. I tell you, you know, instead of quitting and you go and do that, your employer is going to be like, wow, this is a great employee, you know, this is a person of integrity, this is a person that cares, this is a person who's striving to do his best and you know what, you're going to find mercy, you're going to find grace in the eyes of that employer and so, brethren, you know, don't quit, you know, don't be like on SMS at the very beginning where he was unproperable and ran away, you know, understand that if you just get yourself under the right training, under the right person, that you can be productive for your employer as well. Okay, so point number one was honour your employment contract. Point number two was don't quit and learn from the best. All right, let's now turn to the book of Romans now. Let's turn to Romans chapter 12 verse 11. Romans chapter 12 and verse number 11. Romans chapter 12 and verse number 11. Romans 12, 11 reads, not slothful in business, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord. Now, don't forget, when we are working our jobs, we are serving the Lord, right? So we know that bit of it, okay? What's fervent in spirit, fervent, fervent, it's like a passion, right? It's, you know, just being passionate for what you're doing. So that's how we ought to be. We ought to have a passion for the work that we do but then at the beginning it says not slothful in business. You know, point number three is don't waste your employer's time and resources. Don't waste your employer's time and resources. Don't be slothful. What's a sloth? You know, a sloth is the animal that, you know, it's like a half monkey, half bear or something. What is that? What is that? Some type of animal, you know, it clings to a branch and it's just super slow, right? And so the sloth is somebody that's slow, that doesn't, you know, doesn't get much done. And the Bible's telling us, look, when you're giving business, whatever it is, whatever job you've got, don't be slothful but be fervent in spirit. Have a passion for the work that you're doing. And listen, the key to overcoming laziness, the key to overcoming being someone that just wastes their time and their employer's resources is to get passionate about the work that you do. You know, I realised this was an important key. You know, when I first went into the workplace, I just thought, well, I'll just get the job done. I'll get a paycheck. I can't wait for the time to finish so I can go and spend my money. I can't wait to, you know, go home and just enjoy and relax. And you know what, I found that when I was in my workplace, I was just not producing. You know, I just wasn't doing my best. You know, normally when we're in our workplace, we're at least there for seven, eight hours a day, just on average, the average Australian, right? And so that's a big chunk of your day. That's a big chunk of your life. You don't want to be someone that for such a huge chunk of your day that you're just lazy and slothful. You're just wasting your life away. What you find Brevin, if you just find passion, you just say, you know what, and here's how you do it. You know, you figure out my position that I've got right now. It's valuable. It's important to this business because whatever, you know, we are doing this service for society. You know, when I was working for a construction company, right, I was just thinking, hey, wait, wait, wait, you know, they were building granny flats and saying, look, you know, people were invested into granny flats. You know, this is something where, you know, somebody in the family could move in the back and as parents get older, we live in a generation where people are just throwing their parents in the nursing home, when God says that we ought to look after our elders. And so there's an opportunity here for this family to look after their elderly, hey, there's an opportunity for this person to just have a nice investment, property, and so it's going to help them in life, you know, help them in the future. If you can just figure out, you know, what it is that your job is doing to serve society, you know, you'll find that you'll love your job even more. You know, when I was working for the electoral company, one of our biggest customers was BHP, you know, was Rio Tinto and all those mines, all the mines in WA, and like that's something, they're major businesses for the economy of Australia. And so I'm just thinking, you know what, we get the job done, we get these parts and pieces that they need for the machinery, you know, yes, I know they're about money, but hey, it's helping the economy of Australia. And so when I can understand where I fit in the picture of society or what this business is trying to achieve, you're going to find yourself being passionate for the work that you're doing. And don't forget, you're serving the Lord, right? If you just put that in your mind, I'm serving the Lord, you should automatically have a passion for that. You know, I have a passion to be a pastor because I know I'm serving the Lord, but you can have the same passion, right, in your workplace when you understand I'm serving the Lord. And so it's about understanding what your place is in the workplace and also in the greater picture, you know, the customers, the people that you're dealing with on a daily basis. So let's go to be passionate. Can you please go to Proverbs 26? Go to Proverbs 26 and verse number 13. Because the opposite of passionate was, again, the slothful man, right? The one that wastes time, the one that wastes resources, right? Being slothful. And so we have a lot of warnings in the Bible about slothfulness. Let's go to Proverbs 26 and verse number 13, Proverbs 26 and verse number 13. The Bible says, the slothful man sayeth, there is a lion in the way. A lion is in the streets. Okay, say what? The slothful man says these things. Yeah, the slothful man says, there's a lion in the way. This is a lazy man. He doesn't go to work. Why? Oh, because there's a lion. I could get eaten today. There's a lion out there. I'm not going to go to work. Well, listen, what's the likelihood of being eaten by a lion? Probably very rare, right? I mean, I have met people like this that literally would not go to work, would not give the best because they've got some crazy idea, some nonsensical excuse for not being productive in their lives. And so the slothful man will make excuses, I can't go to work because of this. I can't go to work because of that. That's not how we ought to be, right? I mean, making up some crazy, maybe there is a lion in the street, but listen, you don't know that, right? I mean, the likelihood of a lion just coming around and just killing you is ridiculous, right? So the lion, verse number 14, as the door turneth upon his hinges, so doth the slothful upon his bed. What's that about? Well, there's a door on the hinges, right? Just like the door can go back there, right? It's on the hinges. It doesn't move from its position, but it tosses and turns, right? And so the slothful man, you know, he's in bed, he's lazy, he doesn't get up for work, he doesn't get up early and makes the most of the day. He gets up, checks the time, alarm's going off, I'll sleep, I'll sleep in. He turns around, he turns on the other side, and then it's like, I'll sleep in, I won't get anything done today. And essentially, how many people am I aware of that literally do not wake up to the afternoon? They just sleep all day, you know, they're up in the afternoon, they're not working, and listen, there are men that are aged like 30s and 40s who are just gamers, who are literally living for video games. So the reason they stay up late at night is so they can compete on some online tournaments, alright? Instead of having a real job, they're online playing video games as adults, and then they sleep in all day, tossing and turning, just like a door and its hinges, right? These are slothful people. Look at verse number 15. It says, the slothful hide of his hand in his bosom, it grieve of him to bring it again to his mouth. So the idea here, hiding his hands in his bosom, is kind of like a cold night, you know, you might put your hands, have you ever been cold and your hands get cold and you put them like underneath your coat or underneath your jumper like that, yeah? So you've got it like that, right? He's cold, he's cold, and because he's like that, he's got his hands in his bosom, and then it grieve of him to bring it again to his mouth. Why would you need to bring your hand to your mouth? Think about it. It's to eat, right? To eat, right? And we all need to eat, right? And so what this is telling us is that this man, and this is of course just an illustration, this man would rather be cold, would rather sort of warm up his hands and not confront the cold than getting his daily provisions, you know, his daily food. And what it's saying is he doesn't want to get outside of his comfort zone. You know, having to work, you might be a laborer, you might be someone that has to work outside where you're literally facing the cold of winter or the heat of summer, but in order for you to get food in your mouth, in order for you to provide for the needs of your family, you've got to get out of your comfort zone, no matter what, and just provide, okay? But the slothful man, I'd rather just be comfortable. No. You know, work is not getting comfortable, right? Work is not resting. Work is you having to get out of your comfort zone and do something productive so you can feed yourself and feed those that are under you so you can see what happens to these lazy people. Look at verse number 16. Verse number 16, the sluggard, now the sluggard is just another way of saying slothful, but the sluggard, I'm not just referring to the sloth now, it's referring to a slug, right? The sluggard is wiser in his own conceit than seven men that can render a reason. So if you have seven men that can render a reason, you know, they can articulate and they can reason, you know, they've got common sense, they've got wisdom, they've got knowledge, where the sluggard, the guy that's unproductive, that does nothing, thinks he's wiser than them. Yeah, that's what happens. Lazy men become the wiser, so called, in their own eyes, you know, I'm too smart to work. I mean, and so you can see the detriment of being a sluggard, the detriment of being slothful. God does not want this in his people. He does not want this in men. He requires men to just work hard, have a passion and just serve God in whatever capacity they can. And so point number three was don't waste your employer's time and resources. Can you please turn to Philippians chapter two, Philippians chapter two and verse number four. Philippians chapter two and verse number four. Philippians chapter two and verse number four. This is a really great passage and I know it's got to do with the church, okay, but we'll take the principle and just apply it to the workplace and I'll show you how this works out. Philippians chapter two and verse number four. It says, look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Point number four is be a blessing to your work colleagues. Be a blessing to your work colleagues. You know what the quickest way to promotion is that I found anyway, is when people in the workplace like you, when they realize, wow, he not only gets his work done, but he cares about others. Even if they're not in your department, I worked for a company, we had a lot of employees where we had, you've got some companies that are large like this, you've got your customer service department and you've got your sales department and you've got your marketing department, you've got your, what else is there? Your financial, your finance departments and you've got your warehouse and your supply departments and you've got all these different departments and over every department you've got a manager and within those departments you have employees and sometimes within those departments there are further breaking downs, right? And so what I found in the workplace and what I found for people that don't profit, who don't achieve, who don't do, who never really seem to get much in life, they have what we call in the workplace the silo mentality. The silo, what's a silo? It's normally like, it's like a big container and you've got this silo mentality that all that matters in my life is just me getting my job done. Like I don't care about what that person is doing in that department, in that other area, I don't care what they're doing, all I care about is getting my job done. Hey, that's the silo mentality and you're just focused upon yourself. What did the pastor say? Look not every man on his own things but every man also on the things of others. And so what we ought to be people, if we're believers, if we believe the Bible, we ought to also help others achieve what they're trying to achieve. You know, I'm not boasting of myself, I'm not, I'm just taking what I've learnt in my life and I can see that the scriptures are true. I realise when I just think about others and the way I did this was when I first got one of my jobs, I don't know if you've ever heard the word induction, they'll take you around and you can sort of visit other departments and learn how the business operates from end to end and then when you understand the other bits and pieces you kind of understand where you fit in in the company, you know, what's important for you. And one thing I learnt very quickly is that when you go department to department, everyone thinks their job is the most important job in the business. Like everyone thinks that if I don't get the job done, this business fails. But it's true, like every, in fact, like they think it's just themselves. But what I learnt was every department, every employee, if they don't do their part, the business fails. And so everybody is equally important as everybody else. So people have this mentality, I'm so important because of my workplace. Anyway, so I'm going department to department, I realise, okay, yep, I realise what you're trying to achieve, I realise what your targets are, I realise what you're trying to do and they've got that mentality, right, of silo. And then I would look at that and I would say, okay, this is my job. And then I'd start thinking, right, and again, I'm not trying to boast at myself, I'm just telling you how this is so true, right. I kept thinking, okay, I realise because of my job, because I know what I'm doing, I know that if I did X, Y and Z, yeah, I'm adding work to my, for myself, if I added this work here, they would be free or they would have the opportunity to achieve what they're trying to achieve. If I took on this responsibility, or if I change this about the way I work, I would actually benefit that other department, okay. And they'll be able to hit their targets, they'll be able to achieve what they're trying to achieve, and they're going to get the bonuses, they're going to get the praises and I'm not going to achieve anything. But I can help them, now that the question becomes, do I help them or do I not? And so I'd think about that, and then I would say, well, here's the thing, I'm willing to help them, and before I go to them, I say, well, if I did that, it would add more work to me, and of course I've got enough work for the day, so what can they do in return to help me? And then I think about this situation, I think about the other way around, right. If I did this for you, it's going to save you time, you're going to achieve this, and I'll do that as long as you also agree to do this for me, okay. And so I would often go to my workplace and just work out what it was, I look at the things of others, and they like me, because they're like, wow, you're actually trying to help us, you've got nothing to do with our department, how we profit, the bonuses that we achieve has nothing to do, you're not going to achieve them. And before you know it, people like you, you know, and you're helping them and they're helping you. You know, you're looking at the needs of others and you are being a blessing to your work colleagues. You say, why do you do that, Pastor Kevin, you know, if you're not getting anything out of it? Because we're serving the Lord. That's why, because we put God as our boss. And if this, you know, if this workplace succeeds, then God succeeds. And I'm a part of this program, if it works, and it's successful, and there's work, and there's work next week, and there's work next month, and there's work next year, I'm going to have a job. I'm not going to have to worry about whether, you know, I'm going to have employment within a month or so, right. So being a blessing to your workplace is important. Don't just have a solo mentality where I'll just do what I have to do, who cares about everybody else, okay. That's not going to help the big picture. Now if you can please turn to Luke chapter 14, I know we're turning to a lot of passages, but let's go to Luke 14. So point number four was be a blessing to your work colleagues. Luke chapter 14, please, verse 28. Luke chapter 14 and verse number 28. This is a passage that I've read a few times, but there's so many great truths that we can pull out of this passage. Luke 14, 28 says, For which of you, intending to build a tower, sit if not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he hath sufficient to finish it? Lest happily, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it began to mock him, saying, This man began to build, but was not able to finish. Now the next point that I have here, and you'll soon see why I'm saying this, point number five is keep upskilling. Keep upskilling. You say, what is upskilling? Upskilling is learning additional skills. Keep educating yourself. Keep learning on the job. You know, there are always changes. We live in a society with technological advances. We have the internet. You know, you're going to find that your workplace just keeps changing, and Brevin, it's important that you keep up with the change. Because if your job is trying to build the tower, you need to make sure that you have the resources, you have the know-how, you know, you have the ability to get the job done. And it's so important, Brevin, that some people think that, you know, yes, I got my education, I've landed my job, and I'm going to be doing this for the rest of my life. Not if you don't get upskilled. Not if you keep learning, okay? In fact, the person that keeps learning, the person that keeps, you know, understanding the changes that are coming around, they're going to be the people that take on the higher paying positions. They're going to be the people that get the promotions because they continued to learn. And Brevin, listen, don't be lazy. You know, keep learning. Keep upskilling. Whatever opportunities you get, just take it. You know, I'll never forget when I was, you know, when I took my first position, my first position as a manager of people, where I was supervisor, I wasn't a manager so much, but I was more of a supervisor, it just came out of the blue. Because there was, in our workplace, we had a database. And we had some IT, I wasn't working in IT, but we had some IT guys go to this course. And for some reason, one of their guys got sick, and they couldn't go to the course. And so the company already paid for the course. And my manager came up to me and said, Kevin, this person's meant to go, but do you want to go instead? You know, it might be good for our department for somebody to kind of know the database and the background, the internal workings of this. And it might be good for you to go, you know, it wasn't some, you know, they didn't force me to. I could have said yes or no. I just said, okay, I'll go. I don't know how it's going to benefit me. I have no idea, but I'll go. You know, and I went there, I did the course, it was a two day course, got it done. And then I came to my workplace, and I just started to muck around in the database, started to work out, you know, play around all the things I learned there, you know, just mucking things around. And before you knew it, I became the expert. I mean, the IT guys, they would come to me asking questions about it, right? I obscured myself, I got the knowledge, I understood how, you know, and you know, if you know a database with a lot of customers and information, it's important that it stay, you know, it doesn't become corrupt. It's important that, you know, you don't lose that it sorry, yeah, that doesn't have errors in it. Otherwise, you can mess up the business. And I had all this knowledge, and I wasn't in my intention. And because of that, I was eventually made a supervisor, because I could oversee those things, I could monitor those things, I could pull reports and find errors. And so, you know, this was just not even intentionally, right? I just went and I obscured, I gained some knowledge, the opportunity came, and I found myself getting the promotion. I find myself getting the position where I was hitting, you know, overseeing people. And so I really appreciate, you know, I got to understand. And so what you need to appreciate from this brethren, is be opportunistic with further training. Never deny the further training. If you get offered by your job to get some training, just go and do it. You never know what might be around the corner, you know, you get the training, God can use that to your advantage in the future. Let's go to Luke 22 now, let's go to Luke 22, you're already in the book of Luke. Go to Luke 22 and verse 24. Luke 22 and verse 24. Point number six is be a servant to those under your authority. That seems very unusual, right? Be a servant to those under your authority. You say no, no, no, Pastor Kevin, those under my authority, they're my servants. That's not how Jesus operates, okay? You know, I have authority in this church, but that makes me the servant, okay? I'm here to serve, in fact, the preaching is to serve you. It's not to serve me, it's not about making a name for myself, it's to encourage the brethren, it's to give you knowledge, to give you wisdom, it's to help you be the best employee that you can be in the workplace, according to, you know, God's Word. So look at Luke 22 verse 24, Luke 22, 24. It says, And there was also a strife among them, among those of the disciples. Which of them should be accounted the greatest? That's pretty cool, they want to be the greatest. And he said unto them, The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and they that exercise authority upon them are called benefactors. But ye shall not be so. But he that is greatest among you, let him be as the younger. And he that is chief, as he that doth serve. For whether is greater, he that sitteth and meeteth, or he that serveth, is not he that sitteth and meeteth, but I am among you as he that serveth. Now listen, this is our Lord God speaking, our Lord Jesus Christ. You know there's no greater authority and power above him, right? I mean he is the Lord of Lords, and he is the King of Kings. And he says, you know what, even though that's my position, I still loathe myself, I'm still going to be your servant. You know Jesus Christ came to be our servant. He came and he offered himself up as our sacrifice. He took on our iniquities, our sins. You know the rightful judgment and punishment that should have come upon us was put upon Jesus Christ. He became the ultimate servant for sinners, for sinners. And he came and he set this example, he said, listen, if you want to be the greatest, then you better be a servant, okay? And this is so true, this is so true. I realized as I was, you know, in my workplace and I started to get positions of authority, positions of authority, you know, I thought, Brevin, look, I'm just a man, I confess my faults to you. I thought, this is going to be wonderful, because I'll be able to tell everybody what to do. Now that comes with it, right? That kind of comes with it, but I started to realize, wow, now I'm responsible for all these people. You know, I'm responsible to make sure all these people get the job done and they do it effectively and they do it well. And so I started to realize, in order to help my employees perform well, I realized I became their servant. Because I would go to them and say, hey, what do you need to get the job done? You know, what is it that you need from me so you can be an effective servant? And so you lower yourself, right? You don't lift yourself up, that's not how Christ operates. You know, he came and he became our servant, that's how you become the greatest. And Brevin, if you ever decide to take on a position as a pastor or some church leader, understand, it's not about the greatness, it's about the service. It's about loving the people of God, it's about loving the church. And it's about being sacrificial. It's not, oh, everyone's got to, you know, everyone in this church, you guys have to, you know, work around me. No, actually, I'm the servant, I've got to work around you guys. I've got to see what does the church need and preach accordingly to what the church needs, not what I want to preach, but what the church needs to hear so they can be more Christ-like. Okay? And that's what it is, Brevin. In order for us, when we become servants, when we serve others, we become like Christ. You know, I would lower myself on purpose when I started to understand this principle and I started to see the service of Christ, where I would sometimes, you know, as a manager of some, I don't know, 60 people or so, you know, I could easily, you know, I'd see like the carpet dirty, I'd see things out of place, I could easily just get one of my supervisors, I could get any employee and say, guys, can you please clean that up? You know what I would do when I see that? I'd go to the cupboard, get the vacuum cleaner and start vacuuming and start cleaning things up. I'd start putting things neat and tidy. People would be staring at me. It's like, what are you doing? Why doesn't he get one of these guys to do it? You know why? Because I became the servant. And I realized when I became the servant, people started to appreciate you. People started to realize, wow, this person's sacrificial, this person cares about the business, this person cares about his employees, hey, this person doesn't care about lowering himself, that's what's needed to make sure that this workplace becomes effective. And so, Brevin, you need to understand that in order for you to be the greatest, you must be the servant. Be a servant to those under your authority. You're in the book of Luke. Let's go to Luke 16. I'll try to hurry up now. Luke 16 and verse number 10. Luke 16 and verse number 10. Luke 16 and verse number 10. Point number seven is understand God's long-term plan. Understand that God has a long-term plan for you. You may not see it, okay? You may not see it. And you may be a little bit lacking patience. You might be like, Lord, I just want this promotion now. I need a pay rise now. Lord, I've been working. I've been doing more than what's required of me, Lord, but it's just not happening. Why? Well, understand that God's timing is not your timing. Understand that God has a long-term plan and you've got a very short-term plan. You know, Brevin, there were times when I was managing people and for many years I managed people. I would go to my wife and say, oh, man, I wish I was doing any job but looking after these people. But eventually it dawned on me because I knew I wanted to become a pastor one day. And this was what I needed. This was what I needed. I needed this experience. I needed the challenges so that way I don't make so many mistakes as a pastor. Am I going to make mistakes as a pastor sometimes? But at least I've learned some things. I've learned some truths. I've learned some things in the workplace. And they're non-believers. So non-believers can get up to some pretty crazy things. And so I realized now long-term, well, that's because God wanted me to become a pastor. Listen, I had teams in New Zealand. I had to travel to different cities in Australia. I hated it because I didn't want to leave my wife and the kids. And then I had to travel to Thailand and Japan and Singapore for different things for work. And I was like, why, God, why do you get me to travel this far? I don't like it, Lord. I need to find that later. Well, maybe you need to plan to church in Sydney and you need to travel back and forth between Sydney and the Sunshine Coast on a regular basis. Now I get it. Now I get it. You know, learning to manage two different groups in two different areas or multiple areas, now I get it because that was the experience that I needed in order for Blessed Hope Baptist Church to exist, okay? So we may not notice it. We may not understand it now, but when the time comes and you understand how God moves and directs your paths, then you can look back and understand how God has used your past experiences even though you may not have enjoyed it all that much. So understand God's long-term plan. Look at Luke 16 verse 10. He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much, and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much. What is this telling us? God's going to entrust you with a little bit, okay? And God wants you to be faithful with that little that you have, okay? And if you're faithful with the little that you have, then God knows that you're going to be faithful with much. But if you're unjust, you know, if you're not faithful with the little that God gives you, how can you expect him to give you much, okay? And so you need to understand, whatever your job is, you might think it's a dead-end job, you know, I'm nobody, we're just not doing much here. Listen, maybe it's just God giving you a little bit, and he just wants to see whether you're going to be faithful with the little that you have. And maybe God's long-term plan is to give you so much more, and maybe you're just, you know, hurting yourself by being unfaithful with the little that he's given you. Hey, be faithful with the little that God has given you. Look at verse number 11. He says, look, whatever little money you may get in your workplace, hey, be faithful with that. You know, honour God with what you have, be thankful for the wages that you have, and then God might commit you true riches. Hopefully those true riches will ultimately obviously be eternal riches, because we're not living for the riches of this earth. Look at verse number 12. Who shall give you that which is your own? Have you ever thought about that in the workplace? Oh, I'm working so hard, and I'm not getting the credit, but by working hard, you know, my manager's getting the credit. That's not fair. Well, what did it say? If you have not been faithful in that which is another man's. Listen, that's what work is. You know, if you work hard, just understand and accept that other people are going to get credit for your hard work. Hey, but if that happens, you know, who shall give you that which is your own? You know, if you can be faithful in something that belongs to another man, then God will give you something where others can be faithful toward you, alright? Psalm 75 verse 6 says, For promotion cometh neither from the east nor from the west nor from the south, but God is the judge. He put down one and set up another. Listen, if you want promotion, if you want a pay increase, you want a higher position, you want to keep learning and growing your workplace, you need to understand that promotion does not come from the east, west or south, it comes from the north, it comes from the Lord God, okay? If you're just faithful in what God has given you, you know, He's going to help you, He's going to provide for you, He's going to make sure that you always have the provisions that you need to look after your family and He may give you so much more. You know, He may very well put down one to elevate you, you know, but you need to be faithful in the least brethren, you need to be faithful in what God has given you. And I'm up to, I'll get through this very quickly. I do want you to turn to Psalm 90, please go to Psalm 90 verse 16. I do love this passage here, Psalm 90 verse number 16, we'll read the passage first and then I'll tell you what the point is, Psalm 90 verse 16. Don't forget that the reason you go to work, men, men, I'm talking to men right now, the reason you go to work is because God is a working God and you're created in the image of God, okay? Look at Psalm 90 verse 16, it says, let thy work, that's God's work, appear unto thy servants and thy glory unto their children. You know what it's saying here? That He wants, you know, the Psalm is saying, look, let your work be known to your servants, to your people and it says, and thy glory. You know when God works, it's glorious, you know, God's work is glory, you know? And so you need to understand what God's perspective is on productivity but then it says this in verse number 17, and let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us. Now this beauty, he's talking about God's work ethic because keep going, it says, and establish thou the work of our hands upon us, yea the work of our hands establish thou it. What is it saying? It's saying, God, your work is beautiful, your work is glorious, God, can you please establish my hands to work like you? Can I have a little bit, you know, when I work, can I have some of that glory, some of that beauty of your work? What is it telling us? Number eight, that you are God's representative in the workplace. You are God's representative in the workplace. You know, your output, your work ought to reflect the Heavenly Father. You know, you work hard, you're passionate, you get the job done, you don't whine and complain, hey, this will turn people, hey, this guy's weird, there's something about this person, you know? And what it is, is you're reflecting the nature of God. You know, God's put you in that workplace to represent him. You know, that his work will be shown for the work of your hands, that your work will be established by the Lord God. Don't forget that you are God's representative even in the workplace. You know, people will have an opinion about your church, about who God is, about the Bible depending upon you. You know, people generally know if you're a Christian. People know that you stand out from the crowd if you're following the word of God and that could cause somebody to just wonder about who this God is and hopefully set them on the path to want to know Jesus Christ as their Saviour. Now the last one, please go to Ecclesiastes chapter 3 verse 13. Ecclesiastes chapter 3 verse 13. While you're turning to the book of Ecclesiastes, let me just read those points to you one more time. Point number one was honour your employment contract. Point number two was don't quit and learn from the best. Point number three was don't waste your employer's time and resources. Four, be a blessing to your work colleagues. Five, keep upskilling, keep gaining knowledge, wisdom, right? Verse number six, be a servant to those under your authority. Point number seven, understand God's long-term plan. Number eight, you are God's representative in the workplace. But number nine is so important as well. Number nine, enjoy the labour of your hands, okay? Enjoy the labour of your hands. Ecclesiastes chapter 3 verse 13. Ecclesiastes chapter 3 verse 13. The Bible reads, and also that every man should eat and drink and enjoy the good of all his labour. It is the gift of God. You know what God wants? He wants you to labour hard, all right, and then to enjoy. Eat something nice, drink something nice, enjoy. Enjoy yourself. God also just wants us to enjoy life. Yes, we're here to serve the Lord, but he wants us to do it with a happy face. He wants us to do it with a happy life. When God provides for you, don't be so restrictive on yourself where you're like, you know what, I can't enjoy life. I can't enjoy myself. I've got to make sure that everything goes to some expense. Listen, there is a time, and we see this in the book of Ecclesiastes, there is a time to just enjoy the work of your labour. You should always, when it comes to your finances, just set aside in your budget, just set aside a little bit for your enjoyment. You know, men, set aside some money to take your wives out on a date. Set some money aside to take your children out for a fun day somewhere. Learn to enjoy what God has given you. Please go to chapter 5, Ecclesiastes chapter 5 verse 18. Ecclesiastes chapter 5 and verse number 18. Ecclesiastes 5, 18 reads, Behold that which I have seen. It is good and comely for one to eat and to drink, and to enjoy the good of all his labour that he taketh under the sun all the days of his life, which God giveth of him, for it is his portion. So what do we learn there? Enjoy the good of all his labour. Listen, we shouldn't be people that are relying just on Centrelink, you know, just relying on government handouts. It says no, enjoy the good of all his labour. You know, you ought to be the one that works and provides and takes care of the needs of your family and then set something aside where it says here that God's given you that provision and enjoy life. Enjoy your life. Look at verse number 19. Every man also to him God hath given riches and wealth, and hath given him power to eat thereof, and to take his portion, and to rejoice in his labour. This is the gift of God. So what's God's gift? In the works of your hands, the labour, you know, the paycheck, you know, nothing sinful, nothing wicked, but go and enjoy, you know, company, you know, be hospitable, have people over, you know, maybe, you know, like I said, take your wife out on a day, go on a holiday from time to time if you need to take a break, you know, God's given you those resources so you can enjoy your life. And so this is going to help you be a good employee. When you know, hey, when that paycheck comes, yes, I have the bills and you know, your bills should be the first thing you take care of, you know, make sure that all, you know, that you have no debts, that you owe no man nothing, you know, you just pay those off, then you say, okay, now we got groceries to do, right, we got to pay for, you know, maybe clothing, new clothing or whatever, some repairs around the house, but I'm always going to set aside just a small portion, whatever it is, brethren, you know, give to the church, whatever, but then a small portion just for me, my family, so we can just enjoy life, because this is the gift of God. And brethren, that is the truth of God's word, you know, point number nine is enjoy the labour of your hands. And so I hope this sermon was helpful to you. I do understand the mindset of an employer, okay, and the employer wants nothing more than the employee to be a hard worker, to be an honest worker, you know, to get the job done, because brethren, we live in a society where there are so many lazy people, so many lazy people, you can't, I can't believe how many people I've employed, you know, straight out of high school, and they can't read or write. You know, just reading and writing, you have an advantage, like over so many people, right, because you know, because, you know, teenagers these days, instead of, you know, typing, you know, instead of learning how to write a letter, it's like LOL, you know, what else do people write? BRB, be right back, what other short, you know, instead of, instead of saying, hey, that's good, let's put an emoji, a smiley face emoji, and people don't know how to write, they don't know how to communicate. I mean, we live in a crazy generation where people don't know even know how to write the English language, you know, just being that, you know, you have an advantage, but you know what, God wants so much more from you, God wants you to stand out in the workplace for you to be a representative of Him, for your work to reflect, you know, the glory and the beauty of God's work. Okay, let's pray.