Now, come to Psalm 15 in just a moment, if you want to stay there, but this morning I want to preach on the subject of character, having character. Now what do I mean by having character? Well being someone who can be relied upon, someone who is a good worker, someone who keeps their word, and does what they say they're going to do, and so forth. Let me read for you a few verses as I get into this. Proverbs 25:19 says, "Confidence in an unfaithful man in time of trouble, is like a broken foot, or ... " I'm sorry, "A broken tooth, and a foot out of joint." If you think about that, those are some of the most annoying problems you could have. If you have a broken tooth, it can be such excruciating pain that it's just debilitating, you can't do anything, you can't even think straight, because you're in so much pain. Or a foot out of joint, would be another thing that would be very irritating. You know you're hopping around, you can't walk right, you can't run right.
It says in Proverbs 10:26, "As vinegar to the teeth, and as smoke to the eyes, so is the sluggard to them that send him." Again, we're talking about just unreliable people, people who have no character, people who are unfaithful, and just what a curse they are to the people that are trying to rely on them to get things done. Now, when it says unfaithful, what that means is that you cannot put faith in this person. The word faithful is used 2 different ways in the Bible. Sometimes in the Bible when it says faithful, it's referring to a person who has a lot of faith, a person who is full of faith, is known as a faithful person, but often the word faithful means someone that you can put your faith in. Like the Bible says, "The Lord is faithful," meaning he's going to keep his promises. You can rely on him, you can trust him, he's trustworthy.
When we talk about having character we mean that you are someone who is faithful, someone who is trustworthy, someone who is a good worker, that can be relied upon to do what you say you will do. The Bible says in Proverbs 20 verse 6, "Most men will proclaim everyone his own goodness, but a faithful man, who can find?" This reminds me of people when they're filling out a job application, or turning in a resume, they proclaim their own goodness, and tell you how great of a worker they're going to be, but then the Bible says, "But isn't it hard to find someone who actually is going to be faithful? A faithful man, who can find?" They're all saying that they're going to be faithful, they all say they're going to be reliable, and be on time, but that doesn't mean that it's necessarily reality.
Proverbs 25 verse 13, on the other hand, says, "As the cold of snow, in the time of harvest, so is a faithful messenger to him that send him, for he refreshith the soul of his masters." He's a blessing to those for whom he works. It says in 1 Corinthians 4:1, "Let a man so account of us as the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of Go. Moreover, it is required in stewards that a man be found faithful." God is saying that if we're going to serve him, he wants us to be faithful, he wants us to be trustworthy, he wants us to have character, and be reliable. He says in 1 Timothy 1:12, this is the Apostle Paul, "I thank Christ Jesus, our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry." You say, "You know, I'd love to be in the ministry someday, I want to pastor, I want to preach, I want to teach." Well God will put you in the ministry when he finds you to be faithful, because it's required in stewards that a man be found faithful.
Notice he doesn't say, "Hey I'll make you faithful." No, he wants to find you faithful, all right? You need to get faithful, you need to get reliable, and trustworthy, and get some character, so that God can use you in a greater capacity. Now let's get specific this morning. What are we talking about when we say, "Hey get some character, be faithful, be trustworthy, be someone who can be relied upon." Well number 1, do what you say you will do. Do what you say ... Now, 1 way to remember this is D-W-Y-S-Y-W-D, all right? Now I know that's not very easy to remember, but that was taught to me a long time ago. D-W-Y-S-Y-W-D, just as something to remember, and I constantly think about that. Whenever there's something that I said I was going to do, and the temptation is there to not do it, I always just think, "Do what you say you're going to do, do what you say you will do, do what you say you will do."
This is such an important point. People so often say they're going to do things, and they don't get them done. Now, let me give you a scripture on this. In Psalm 15, for example, this talks about someone who maybe commits to do something, or swears that they're going to do something, or says that they're going to do something, and then circumstances change. Now all the sudden they're not going to get it done, or do they get it done any way because they said they were going to get it done. Look what the Bible says in Psalm 15 verse 1, "Lord who shall abide in thy tabernacle? Who shall dwell in thy holy hill? He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh the truth of his heart, he that back biteith now with tongue, nor doeth evil to his neighbor, nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbor, in whose eyes a vile person is condemned, but he honoreth them that fear the Lord." Watch this, "He that sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not. He that puteth not out his money to usury, nor taketh award against the innocent. He that doeth these things shall never be moved."
Do you see there that one of the great attributes of a godly person is that they swear to their own hurt, and yet they change not. What does that mean? Well often in the business world this will come up, you quote a job, you put a bid in on a job, and you say, "I'm going to do this job, for this much." Well guess what sometimes happens, you get into the job, it ends up being harder than you thought it was going to be, and so you end up losing money, not making any money, or making very little money. Now a lot of people will then try to think that they can say, "Oh whoops, I'm halfway into it, it's harder than I thought, now I need to charge you more money." Anybody who has worked in business knows that this is what people try to pull all the time, and they try raise the price after they've already agreed. You're like, "Well I wouldn't have hired you if I would have known it was going to cost more."
That's the whole point of quoting, and giving a bid. The thing about quoting and giving a bid is that sometimes it's easier than you thought, and you end up making extra money, and you don't complain about that, and you don't come to the customer then and say, "Oh let me charge you a little less because it ended up being easier." No, you'd go, "Score," and you make the extra money. See you do what you say you will do, you swear to your own hurt, and then you change not. You stick with what you've said you're going to do. Now a great example of this is marriage. When you get married you are swearing, "Til death do us part." You're saying, "I take thee to be my wedded wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sicknesses and health, and poverty and in wealth, and forsaking all others. I'm going to keep myself only unto you so long as we both shall live." I mean, you say, "Well that's kind of a mouthful of vows." Right, because we're trying to impress upon people all the different things that could go wrong, and yet you're still going to keep true to the vow.
You see when you swear to it, you change not. It's like Jephthah said, "I open my mouth unto the Lord, and I cannot go back." Once you say you're going to do something, you're suppose to follow through and do it. So many people today, they get married, and then, "Well I didn't know that she was going to be this way. I didn't know that he was going to be this way. But I didn't know ... I didn't ... " It doesn't matter. That's what it means, for better for worse.
Congregation: Yes.
Pastor: I was taught, who was it that ... Were you the one that was telling me in Africa how they did the vow? They were in Africa, and they said, "Instead of for richer for poorer," they said, "For rich or for richer." Rich or richer, good better, health healthier, that's stupid, because the whole point of saying the the vow ... No offense to Africa, but it's stupid, because the whole point of the vow is you're saying that if things go wrong, I'm still going to be faithful to you. You could still rely on me. Not just as long as rich or richer, count me in. I mean, it's ridiculous. People today have no character.
Congregation: Right.
Pastor: If they're willing to sit there and say, "Oh yeah, it's for better for worse, it's til death do us part," and then, "Uh it's to hard, oh we can't get along. Oh ... " We'd hate for you to do anything hard, now wouldn't we? People who say that everything is too hard, are people who lack character. If you say you're going to do something, you do it. Especially when you make an oath like marriage before God, you better do what you said you will do.
Go to Matthew chapter 5, Matthew chapter 5. Do what you say you will do. You say, "Well Pastor Anderson that's talking about swearing, that's talking about an oath." It's like when you go to somebody and say, "Hey you promised you were going to do this," and then they say, "Well I didn't promise. I said I would do it, but I didn't promise I was going to do it." Like as if that makes a difference. If you say you're going to do it, you're suppose to do it. Look what the Bible says in Matthew 5:34, "But I say unto you, swear not at all. Neither by Heaven for it is God's throne, nor by the earth for it is his footstool. Neither by Jerusalem for it is the city of the great king. Neither shalt thou swear by thy head because thou can't not make one hair white or black, but let your communication be yea, yea, nay, nay, for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.
Now flip over to James, because there's a connected passage in James that you can look at in light of Matthew chapter 5, that we just looked at, where he basically says something very similar. In James chapter 5 verse 12 he reiterates the teaching of Jesus there. He says in verse 12, "But above all things my brethren swear not, neither by Heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath," and that's what Jesus had also said, "But let your yea be yea, and your nay, nay, lest ye fall into condemnation." The Bible says, look, when you say yea, it better be yea, and if you say nay, it better be nay. You need to do what you say you will do, that's part of having character. It's amazing to me, in the business world, how many times people will say they're going to do something, and it's almost like 50% of the time, that they don't deliver, that they don't get it done. "Oh I'll have this done by Friday." Friday rolls around, not done.
Now here's the thing, if a person had character, and something really did come up, that really did providentially hinder them, then they would contact you and tell you, "Hey I'm sorry, X, Y, and Z, has gone wrong. I'm not going to be able to deliver on Friday. I'm going to have to do it on this ... Let me know if that work for you, let me know what we can do to fix this." When you have to go chasing after that person, and that's 50% of the time, where you have to call them up Saturday morning, or something, and say, "Hey what happened on Friday?" "Oh this came up." "Why didn't you tell me that?" Because you don't have character, that's why. People who have character are reliable, they're faithful, and you can just count on them to get done what they've said they will do. Isn't it amazing how the same people are constantly providentially hindered, all the time? Are constantly having all kinds of things go wrong?
I remember I was working with a guy, and he called in that he had to go to his grandma's funeral. I remember my boss said to me, "You know this is not the first time his grandma has died." He said, "I think his grandma has died several times. She's like a cat, she has 9 lives. She keeps dying, and he has to keep attending the funeral over and over again." Don't be a person who says you're going to do something and then you don't do it. Secondly, don't be lazy. Another sign of a lack of character is those who are lazy. Go to Proverbs, if you would, and we're going to rapid fire through a bunch of these great verses in Proverbs that talk about being lazy. The word that the Bible uses for laziness, is usually the word slothful, it talks about being slothful."
Let's start in Proverbs chapter 12 verse 24, the Bible reads, "The hand of the diligent shall bear rule, but the slothful should be under tribute." Now tribute is taxes, and he's saying if you're diligent ... A person who is diligent is someone who patiently works hard, they keep plugging away at something, doing a good job, working hard, and patiently getting it done. He says, "That person is going to bear rule." You say, "Well how do I climb the ladder at my job? How do I become a management level worker?" You need to be diligent, and he says you'll bear rule. He says, "The slothful shall be under tribute." You know, as a country gets lazier the taxes go up. Isn't it amazing how our taxes are so high, and there are other places in the world where the taxes are even higher? Then you look around and it's hard to find good workers in America any more because people are so lazy nowadays. You can say whatever you want, and you can rah rah, chest pounding, 'Merica, and red, white, and blue, and American exceptionalism, and the best workforce in the world, and blah, blah, blah, but you know what? American workers, these days, are getting lazier and lazier. It's hard ... Anyone who runs a business can tell you that, it's hard. People complain that there are no jobs out there, no, it's that people don't want to work.
Congregation: Yeah.
Pastor: You'll offer people work, you'll offer people jobs, and they won't take you up on it, because of the fact that they're lazy. There are so many slothful people in America, that's why we pay so many taxes. You know it's funny, if you think about some of the places that the taxes are the highest, in the world, would be like the Scandinavian countries, right? A lot of people are so deluded they think, "Oh yeah, America needs to be more Sweden, and Norway." Those places are wicked messed up places, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Whenever you hear something in the news about, "Oh they're teaching pedophilia at a 5 year olds in school," it'll be Sweden, Norway, Denmark, where all this perversion is taught. It's funny because we've been doing all this translating, and everything of our movie marching design, getting it translated into a bunch of different languages. A lot of it's being done by volunteers, and a lot of it is hiring people, and let me tell you something, virtually, I found 1 person in Scandinavia who actually did their job right.
Literally, every other Scandinavian language I'm on the third person, of like, "Here you go, here's the job, get it translated, get it done. The money is ready to go, just do the work." Weeks go by, nothing, nothing. Do you think it's a coincidence that it's just Scandinavia where I've had 9 people drop the ball? Everywhere else people are getting things done. What in the world? I don't know what Adolf Hitler was talking about, those people being the master race, or whatever, up in the Nordic man up in Scandinavia. I don't know what he was talking about, because all those propaganda posters of a bunch of Scandinavians swinging a pickax, and everything, and, "They love to work hard." I'm not seeing it. I'm sorry to to just slander a whole nation like that, but I'm just telling you that those people pay taxes, like 60% or something. I know in Germany they pay like 60% or something. Then you try to get them to work, and you can't get them to do any work. They're lazy.
"He also that is slothful in his work is brother to him that is a great waster," look at Proverbs 15 verse 19. Proverbs 15 verse 19. Sorry, I just had to get that off my chest about these bunch of Scandinavians, and you know I'm sure there are a lot of great people over there, but honestly, I'm not impressed with the work ethic of some of these people. Proverbs 15:19 says this, "The way of the slothful man is as a hedge of thorns, but the way of the righteous is made plain." You know what this is saying? When people are lazy everything's always hard, there's all these obstacles, you know what I mean? You tell them, "Hey get this done," it's like, "No, no, there's all these obstacles. These are all the reasons why it can't be done. These are all the difficulties." Then it's funny, you give it to the righteous man to get it done, and all the sudden it's just ... There's just a plain course of action, just point A to B to C, we're going to get this done.
You see, the righteous man comes to the boss with solutions, and then the lazy person comes with problems all the time. "Oh, I can't do it. Oh, it's not going to work. Oh, thorns everywhere I turn. Oh, it's a hedge of thorns." Isn't it amazing how some people just get things done, and then other people it's just always problems. It's always obstacles and excuses why they can't get the work done. It says in chapter 19 verse 15, "Slothfulness casteth into a deep sleep, and an idle soul shall suffer hunger." You ever get around people who just say that they're tired all the time? "I'm tired," and you'll be at work with these people. Monday they're tired, Tuesday they're tired, Wednesday they're tired, Thursday they're tired. I remember when I was in school every kid, every day, at one point in the day said, "I'm tired." You remember that? I mean that's how it was when I was in school, it's just, "I'm tired. I'm tired. I'm tired."
You know why? Because slothfulness casteth into a deep sleep. Not doing anything, being lazy, makes you tired. Now you'd think like, "Oh man if I sit around a lot, then I'll have all kinds of energy because I'm just saving up all the energy." In reality the more you do, the more activity you preform, the more energy you get, from working. It's the idle soul that suffers hunger, and it's the idle, slothful, soul that's just tired all the time. You'd think the people who worked hard would be tired all the time, but they're bouncing off the walls. It's the people that are lazy and sitting around that are just always tired. I know this might be a harsh sermon, but you know what? People need to hear this stuff.
Congregation: Amen.
Pastor: We need to raise up a generation with some character.
Congregation: Amen.
Pastor: Honestly, sometimes times are tough, financially, and if you want to make it in this world, you need to listen to what I'm saying so that you can succeed at your job. When times are tough you can actually be able to bring home a paycheck, okay? We need to raise our children to learn how to grow up, and work, and make things happen, and find a way to get things done, and not just always have a problem. It says in chapter 19 verse 24, "A slothful man hideth his hand in his bosom, and will not so much as bring it to his mouth again." He's saying laziness will get you to the point where you're so lazy, you're too lazy to even pick up the food and put it in your own mouth. That's pretty lazy. It says in verse ... You're so lazy you can't even get up off the sofa and walk to the fridge to get the next ice cream bar. Imagine being that lazy, but this is a downward spiral where laziness takes you, where slothfulness takes you.
Chapter 21 verse 25, "The desire of the slothful man killeth him, for his hands refuse to labor." He wants to work, but his hands are just refusing to do the work. Look at chapter 22 verse 13, "The slothful man sayeth, there's a lion without. I shall be shall be slain in the streets." Isn't it amazing how lazy people always find an excuse why they can't work? "There's a lion out, there's a lion on the lose, I can't go anywhere." Or, "It's too hot outside. It's too cold." I know that there are churches that cancel soul winning for literally half the year because of the weather, because they live in a cold place, so they'll cancel it for 7 months. Then I suppose in a hot place like Arizona we could just cancel it for the next 6 months, it's way too hot to be out there. Well you know, it's hotter where people are going if they don't get saved, if we don't give them the gospel.
Congregation: Amen. Amen. Amen.
Pastor: Hell is hot, but so many people will come up with excuses of, "Oh, that job is too hard, it's too dangerous." Look, a lot of jobs are dangerous, okay? If you don't want to work a dangerous job then, you know, you've got to find the safest job that you can, but you got to work. You got to do something, you can't just say everything's too dangerous. If you're looking for a really safe job be a police officer anyway.
It's true. Being a police officer is not even in the top 10 for being a dangerous job. Everybody talks about, "Oh man they risk their life everyday. They go out they don't even know if they're ... " they're wearing a bullet proof vest. You know what? You know what? If you look at how many officers have died [inaudible 00:21:19], you know how most of them die? Car accidents. You know what the most dangerous jobs are? Being a taxi cab driver, these are the number ... Look at a list of the 10 most dangerous jobs. Taxi cab driver, truck driver, over the road truck driver is a very dangerous job, being an electrician is in the top 10. Do their wives wonder if they're coming home every night because they're going to do electrical work, because they're going to drive a cab? Even being a fast food worker is more dangerous than being a police ... What I'm saying is, look, every job ... You say, "Why bring that up?" Because every job has some danger inherent in it.
No matter what you're doing. Whether you're driving a cab, you could be held up, you could be held at gunpoint, but you're probably just more likely to get into a car accident. If you drive a truck you're very likely to get into a car accident, it's just the law of averages, the amount of miles that you're driving, very dangerous job. Electricians get electrocuted, I've know of electricians who ... I actually known who were electrocuted. They fall off of high places that they're working, you know 1 who is a plumber could be injured and killed. Any kind of a construction trade where you're working around tools, and you're working with scissor lifts, and you're working with heavy equipment, and machinery, you can be killed, you can be injured. There's a danger that's inherent in pretty much any job. Here's how you can be safe, just don't get out of bed. Just live in a white padded room, that's the safest place for you to be.
I'm pointing this out here, the slothful man saying there's a lion in the street, I can't go to work. I can't be a cab driver because it's too dangerous, I can't be an electrician because I'm afraid of electricity. You know what? You have to go and get some job, and there's going to be some danger inherent in any job, but you need to go and work hard, and succeed at something, and pray for the Lord to protect you. Okay? And also be as safe as you can. The Bible says in Proverbs 24 verse 30, it says, "I went by the field of the slothful, and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding." It says in verse number 31, "And lo it was all grown over with thorns, and nettles, that covered the face thereof, and the stone wall thereof was broken down. Then I saw and considered it well. I looked upon it and received instruction, yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep, so shall thy poverty come as one that traveleth and thy want as an armed man."
The Bible says you got to be really vigilant and careful about working hard, because it'll sneak up on you, and destroy your life. If you find yourself falling into this trap of becoming slothful, idle, lazy, etc. the Bible says again ... Well you flip over to chapter 26, while you're turning there I'll read for you from Ecclesiastes, it says, "By much slothfulness the building decayeth, and through idleness of the hands, the house dropeth through." Here's what this verse is teaching, something a little deeper than what's on the surface. When it talks about, "By much idleness the house dropping through," what it's saying is ... Anybody who owns a home knows this, is that if you do nothing about your home, it'll get worse and worse. It'll decay and fall apart, because there are constantly things that need to be fixed around the house, right? The Bible is teaching us a deeper truth here, that just if you just sit there and are passive, it's not that you're neutral, you're going into the negative is what it's saying here.
You have to actively be making something happen in your life. You have to actively be out striving and working hard, not just coasting, because if you coast you're going to move backwards in life. That's what the Bible is teaching here. He's saying, "If you're idle the house is going to decay, and get old, and drop through, over time." It's like when Jesus said, "He that gathereth not with me, scattereth." It's not just if you're not gathering with Jesus, you're just not affecting the Kingdom of God, no, he said you're harming the Kingdom of God by not doing anything. You have to do something. Look at Proverbs 26 verse 13, "The slothful man sayeth there's a lion in the way, a lion is in the streets." We already talked about that one.
Verse 14, "As the door turneth upon his hinges, so do the slothful upon his bed." I mean just flipping over in the bed, picture the laziness. He says in verse 15, "The slothful hideth his hand in his bosom, it greiveth him to bring it again to his mouth." You don't have to turn there, but Matthew 25:26 said, "His Lord answered and said unto him, thou wicked and slothful servant. Thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I've not straught." Notice that he associates slothfulness with wickedness. It's wicked to be slothful. Is it just me or are there a lot of Bible verses about this?
Congregation: Yeah.
Pastor: This isn't just a few verses, I mean this is the whole book of Proverbs. This is almost every chapter in Proverbs, tell in you, "Don't be lazy. Don't be a sluggard. Work hard. Get some character, and work ethic, and get something done." The Bible tells us in the New Testament, Romans 12 verse 11, he said, "Not slothful in business, fervent in spirit serving the Lord." What does it mean to be fervent? Fervent comes from the root word fire, fervent, fire, okay? He says, "You're fervent in spirit," meaning that you are zealous about your job. He says, "Don't be slothful in business, but be fervent in spirit," and then he says, "Serving the Lord." Why? Because the Bible says that, "Whatsoever you do, you're to do it heartily as unto the Lord, and not unto men." You might sit there and think to yourself, "Well, I have a crummy job, so that's why I'm just not really that fervent about it. I'm not really that fired up about it." Well you know what? Then you're in sin, and you need change, because God commands us not to be slothful in business, and he commands us to be fervent in spirit, and he commands us to serve as unto the Lord.
He said, "Whether therefore you eat or drink, or whatsoever you do, do all to the glory of God. Whatsoever you do, do it heartily as to the Lord, and not unto men." In Ephesians 6 he makes it crystal clear, even in the context of serving your masters on this earth, he says, "You do it as the servants of Christ. You do it as unto the Lord." You say, "Well but my job is just not that glamorous, it's just not that exciting of a job. You don't understand Pastor Andersen." I don't want to degrade anybody's job here by throwing out an example. You know, really, anybody who goes out and works an honest job has my respect.
Congregation: Amen.
I'm not a respecter, but I never would look down on anybody, for any blue collar job that they do. I've way more respect for you if you work a blue collar job, and work hard, and roll up your sleeves, no matter how degrading, or dirty of a job it is. I have way more respect for you then I do for people who are usurers.
Congregation: Yeah.
Pastor: Right? Who are bankers, you know, that are stealing money from people, you know, and stuff like that. Honestly I've way more respect for people who work an honest job, and there is no honest, blue collar, job that I would ever look down upon. I would do just about any blue collar working job, if that's what it took to feed my family, then I would do it. You know what? I would never look down on any ... If you do look down on people because of their job, then you're not right with God.
Congregation: You're right. Amen.
Pastor: You know, if you just praise those who ... You look to politicians who are a bunch of crooks, and liars, and you look at them and have respect unto them. Or even just ... Everybody has so much respect for the police, even though the police do all kinds of crooked, and dishonest, things all the time.
Congregation: Amen.
Pastor: And enforce a bunch of wicked laws that have nothing to do with the Bible. They defend a bunch of homos, and defend abortion clinics, and defend everything else. I mean look, you say, "Why don't you like the police?" Oh maybe because they came to my house in the middle of the night, and threatened to take my kids away, because of an anonymous phone call.
Congregation: Yeah.
Pastor: That's all part of freedom in America? Sorry not interested in that kind of freedom.
Congregation: Amen.
Pastor: Somebody needs to speak out about this garbage.
Congregation: Yep.
Pastor: You know what? You say, "Oh you need to respect them. Oh, their job is so dangerous." It's not even in the top 10, it's not even in the top 20. They die of car accidents like everybody else. Yeah, yeah, they have all these fallen officers in the line of duty, they're counting the dogs. They count the dog as a fallen officer, literally the K9. I've way more respect for somebody who does an honest, hard working job, then some cyber policeman who looks at child porn all day, or goes to the strip club every night, and the gentleman's club, and the bar, on the vice squad or whatever. I have way more respect for whatever the menial ... I don't care if you're picking up dog doos for a living, you know what? I respect that job.
Congregation: Amen.
Pastor: You're working an honest job, and you know what? Being a trash man, or picking up dog doo, or digging ditches all day, you know, praise God for people who work hard, and are reliable, and are out making honest living, and have integrity.
Congregation: Amen.
Pastor: You know what the Bible says? "If a ruler harken to lies, all his servants are wicked." That's what the Bible says. What in the world does that have to do with the sermon? Where are we in this passage? Oh yeah, "Being fervent in spirit." Get fired up about your job, get zealous about your job. Don't be one of these people where every ... "Oh thank God it's Friday."
Congregation: Right.
Pastor: Right? Where you just live for ... "Hey how you doing?" "Oh well it's Monday." You got to learn to enjoy your job.
Pastor: The Bible tells us to be fervent in spirit about our business, and to get excited about our work, and not to have a bad attitude. Where you go into work, and you're just dragging through the motions. You know what? It shows in your work if you have that wrong attitude. You need to get zealous about your job. Look, yeah, the world is going to respect you when you have all these crooked jobs. I respect you if you're a plumber, a carpenter, an electrician, a computer programmer, you know. If you're digging ditches, if you're picking up dog doo, if you're a janitor, you know what? I have just as much respect for you as any body else, because you're working an honest job. You know what? It's time for you to get excited about digging that ditch, it's time for you to get excited about electrical work, or plumbing, or carpentry, or whatever you do, and be fervent about it. Look, we as men, we spend half our lives working, we spend half our time working. I mean, are you just going to go through half your time just wishing that you were somewhere else? You need to live in the moment of what you're doing, and learn to like your job, and learn to enjoy hard work.
You know what? Part of having character is applying yourself to work, and taking pride in your work, and building something, or fixing something, or doing something, and then taking pride in doing a good job. Part of the reason why some people are not very fired up about their job is because they don't put a lot of effort into it, they don't try that hard, so they can't really be proud of the output of their labors. Having character is about working hard, and taking pride in what you do, which leads me to my next point which is that we should not do a hasty job when we do our ... Part of having character is not to just quickly get the job done because we're lazy and we want to take a break, and we want to relax, so we'll just kind of quickly crank it out, and just kind of be done with it, and move on to the next thing.
Well what does the Bible say about that? Proverbs 21 verse 5 says, "The thoughts of the diligent tend only to plentyousness, but of everyone that is hasty only to want." The Bible is contrasting 2 types of people in Proverbs 21:5, the hasty person, and the diligent person. Okay? The hasty person is the person is the person who is just in a hurry to get the job done. Sometimes you'll give your kids a job, and they'll do it hastily, and they won't do it diligently. For example, you might say, "Vacuum the carpet." They'll miss a whole bunch of stuff, miss a bunch of spots, and then you have to go back and tell them, "Hey look, you need to go back." They were just in a hurry to get it done, because it's like, do your job, and then you can go play. "Hey pick up the trash in the front yard, and then you can go play," and they just pick up a few things, and then, "All right I'm done, can I go play?" That's how a lot of adults are in their job, just quickly throw something together.
Maybe they're in construction, they're not using a level, they're not getting things right, they're doing things in a sloppy way, just to try to do the minimum to get it done, and get out of there, and get paid, and that is a lack of character. We need to be diligent with our work and not hasty just to get the job done. The Bible says, "A faithful man should abound with blessings, but he that maketh haste to be rich, shall not be innocent." Go to Proverbs chapter 6, Proverbs chapter 6, no only do we need to do what we say we will do, very important.
Congregation: Amen.
Pastor: Yes, we need a big amen on that one. Do what you say you will do, D-W-Y-S-Y-W-D. Number 2, don't be lazy, don't be slothful, and remember if you just sit back and coast, that's where your life is headed, towards slothfulness. You have to take initiate, and work hard, and make things happen. Not only that, don't do a hasty job, but be fervent, and zealous, about doing a good job, and taking pride in accomplishing good work, and not just throwing something together, do the minimum. You know you'd probably find yourself enjoying your job more if you started doing a better job, and started taking pride in your work a little bit, then it might mean something more to you now that you're giving it a little more value. Also, we talked about the fact that some people, they're not fired up about their job, or not doing a good job, because they think, "Well my job is a crummy job." Or some people have an attitude that says, "Well you know, if you don't pay much, you don't get much. Since I'm not getting paid that much, I'm not going to do much."
You know why you're not getting paid much? Because you don't do much. You've got it backwards, you've got ... You think, "Well I'm not going to work that hard because I'm not really getting paid that well." No, you're not getting paid well because you're not working hard. "Well no, because you don't understand the job I work at, they're never going to pay you well, no matter what you do." Yeah, but you know what? God can give you a new job.
Congregation: Amen. Amen.
Pastor: If God looks down from Heaven, and sees you working hard, he can give you a good, new, job. Or he can look down from Heaven and see you slacking, and lazy, and making excuses, and not fervent about your work, and he can look down and say, "Well you know what? That's where they belong, in that minimum paying job, because that's what kind of work they're doing, that's what they deserve is a minimum rate." Don't ever get this attitude that says, "Well if you don't pay much, then don't expect much, and I'm just going to do ... " No, whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might," the Bible says. Get fervent, and zealous, about your job. There is no job that is not honorable unto the Lord, that is an honest job. Okay?
God will respect you if you work hard at your job. Honestly, there's this big distinction sometimes in people's minds of being in full time Christian service, or being in the ministry, and almost a looking down on pastors who work a side job. Like they're not in the ministry full time, or something like that. You know what? It's just as spiritual for you to go out and mow lawns all day, and do it heartily unto the Lord. God is just as pleased with that as a pastor doing his job heartily unto the Lord.
Congregation: Amen.
Pastor: All day, and all night. It's not just a thing of, "Well you're in the ministry now." No, every job is unto the Lord, every job is unto Christ. You know what? We're all in the ministry full time in a sense, because we should all, whatsoever we do, whether we eat or drink, we should all be doing it unto the Lord.
Congregation: Amen.
Pastor: We're all serving God on a daily basis. You know what? Going to your job ... These aren't just words that I'm saying, this isn't me just trying to sound dramatic or something. I'm serious, I believe this, I am serious right now that if you go to your job, and you work hard, and are fervent about that job, and you do with zeal, and you put your heart into it, and you pray and say, "Lord I'm doing this because I want to honor you, Lord, and I want to be a good testimony of a Christian. I'm going to serve these people like I'm serving Jesus." You know what? God will look down and be pleased with that.
Congregation: Amen.
Pastor: You know what? You're just ... You're every bit as good of a Christian as the guy who is in the ministry full time, quote, unquote. Honestly, it's not everybody is cut out to be a pastor. Not everybody is cut out to be a missionary. People have different talents, and gifts, and abilities, that they've been given. You know what? If you're a housewife, or if you are a stay at home mom, do it heartily unto the Lord, and be zealous, and you are every bit as spiritual as someone who has a more glamorous job, or a more spiritual job, or a more important job. No, every job is important. Every job doesn't seem important until someone stops doing it. The garbage man is going to seem pretty important in about 3 weeks of nobody picking up the trash.
Congregation: Yeah right.
Pastor: All the sudden he's going to be a real important guy. Any job ... "Oh changing diapers, such a menial job, not important." Well let's wait a couple of days and see if it's important. Let's not do it for a couple days and see how important ... Yeah it's real important. Every job is important. Honestly, it's amazing how our country denigrates, and looks down upon people who do honest work, and acts like, "Oh, but if you don't go to this school, and get this degree then you're going to do one of these menial jobs." So what? Have integrity, do a menial job, work blue collar jobs, so what? Who cares what people think? Sometimes you make more money being a garbage man then doing somethings that people have more respect for.
Congregation: Yeah.
Pastor: I'd rather come home and take a real hot shower after being a garbage man then to work a job where I don't have integrity. I'd rather be a garbage man then a bar tender. I'd rather be a garbage man then a lot of things that are dishonest, that's a whole sermon of itself. Did I have you go to Proverbs 6? Here's the next point, having character is when you can work without someone standing over you, and cracking the whip to make you work. Look what the Bible says in Proverbs chapter 6 verse 6, "Go to the ant thou sluggard, consider her ways and be wise, which having no guide," watch this, "No guide, overseer, or ruler, provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest. How long will thou sleep o sluggard? When wilt thou arise out of thy sleep? Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep, so shall I poverty come as one that traveleth, and thy want as an armed man."
The Bible is saying here that we need to be a worker that doesn't always need a guide, an overseer, a ruler. Now, you have to be self motivated, and there are 2 kinds of workers, there are the kind of workers where you can just give them a day's worth of work, or even a week's worth of work, and literally never talk to that person again. I've given worker, "Here's a week of work," I've laid out their whole week, and then just sit back, and just let it happen. There are people who you can trust to do that, because you know that at the end of the week, it's all going to be done. Then there are other people where you have to be on them, literally, every 5 to 10 minutes, where you have to just stand them. "Hey get back to work. Hey, you're not doing that right. Hey, quit talking. Work, get serious about getting your job done." This is how it's going to affect your paycheck, you can either be a person who manages yourself, and actually gets things done on your own, or you could be a person who needs a ruler, guide, or overseer.
Guess who is going to make all the money? The overseer, they're going to make all the money that you could have been making, they're going to make it for babysitting you while you do the work, they're going to babysit you, and a couple other people, and make you guys work, and they're going to make the big money, and you're going to make very little money, because you're as replaceable as a washing machine part. You can just be swapped out for another drone, because you don't even have character anyway. They can find people with no character whenever they want to replace you, because you need someone to stand over you, and tell you, "Get back to work, you're doing it wrong, I just told you how to do it. Pay attention. Wake up. Get up, quit sitting around." You have to be the kind of person ... And look, what does he say? Did he say in verse 6, "Go to the ant if you want? Go to the ant." He's not saying this is optional, these are the commandments of God, this is God's word.
Congregation: That's right.
Pastor: God didn't say, "Hey being fervent in spirit is great if that's how you are." No, he said, "It's a commandment to be fervent in spirit. It's a commandment that you not be slothful in business. It's a commandment that you go to the ant and learn her ways, and you learn how to work without a guide, without an overseer, and without a ruler, that's how you're going to succeed." It's also going to be pleasing in the eyes of God when you can actually work and get things done without somebody having to stand over you. Now another thing about this, go to 2 Thessalonians chapter 3, is that some people, all they do is just talk when they're suppose to be working. Now, there's a time to talk, and then there's a time to shut up.
Congregation: Yeah. You're right.
Pastor: No look, part of my job is talking, I'm a preacher. I'm constantly talking to people, because here's a big part of my job, getting up and talking for an hour, preaching, right? Then another big part of my job is going out soul hunting and talking to people. Another part of my job is talking to my church members, I'm constantly ... People are calling me, and I'm talking to them, and helping them, and whatever. I'm constantly talking to this person, talking ... I talk a lot for my job, but there are parts of my job that are talking, and parts of my job that are not talking. Some people, they just chit chat on the job instead of getting their work done. What does the Bible say about it? 2 Thessalonians chapter 3 verse 10, "For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat." By the way, tell that to these welfare states up in Scandinavia. If anyone won't work, they shouldn't eat. You can't just have this system where the people who go out and work hard get taxed at 50, 60, 70% of their income, and then other people sit around, lazy, doing nothing, and sucking up all the money, and then they're all under tribute, because they're slothful.
"If anyone doesn't work, they shouldn't eat," that's what the Bible says. Look at verse 11, "For we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly, working not at all, but are busybodies. Now them that are such we command and exhort by our Lord Jesus Christ that with quietness they work, and eat their own bread." Now why did God say with quietness? Why did he say with quietness they work and eat their own bread? He's saying, "Shut up and get your work done."
Congregation: Amen. Yeah.
Pastor: Isn't that what he's saying?
Congregation: Amen.
Pastor: He's say be quiet, because people, sometimes, that don't work, they just talk, and gossip, and chit chat, and this is what the Bible says, "In all labor there is profit, but the talk of the lips tendeth only to penury." The talk of the lips is going to make you poor, and he says that if you work hard you're going to be blessed. He says, "With quietness, work and eat your bread." Another thing, you don't have to turn there, another thing that the lazy person, or a person who lacks character will do, is that they'll always make excuses why they don't do what they say they're going to do, why they can't work hard, why they don't have a job, or can't get a job. Let me tell you this, when it comes to getting a job, this is the motto, "If you don't have a job then looking for a job is your job."
Congregation: Yeah right. Yeah.
Pastor: Does everybody understand that? If you're man, and you don't have a job, then looking for a job is your job. If you treat that as a full time job, meaning that if you get up in morning, get dressed, right? Like you're going to work, get dressed, put on your clothes, leave the door at a set time, and go out and let's say you want to spend 40 hours a week at your new job that you want to find. Okay, then you spend 40 hours looking for a job that week. Here's how everybody wants to look for a job now, they want to roll out of bed at 10 am, and then they want to go down to McDonalds and hop on the wifi, and they got Facebook on one tab, and they got YouTube on another tab, and they're going to look for a job online, for 90 minutes, online. Then it's like, "I can't find a job." Or they'll get 1 job that's like a pie in the sky, well call you, whatever, and then it's like, "Well I'm just waiting to hear back from these people that might hire me." Or, "I've got an interview a week and a half from now, so I'm just going to wait for that and see what happens with that."
No, you need to be out looking for a ... Every day between now and then, looking for other stuff, and have other irons in the fire, not just this, "Oh well this thing might come through, so I'm just going to sit around and do nothing until then." No, looking for a job is your job. Look, everybody I've known who followed this, where they went by this philosophy of looking for a job is my job, so I'm going to go there for 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, whatever. Look, I'm not saying that you can't find a job on the internet, I'm not saying not to use the internet, but you know what? You also should go physically and show up at places. I don't use, "Well it's all online now." You know what? That's what people tell me, but it seems like the people who tell me that, "It's all, all of it, it's all online now," the people who tell me that, are the people who seem like they don't find a job for weeks and weeks. The people who actually physically knock doors, they end up getting jobs.
Congregation: Yeah.
Pastor: How about this? Do both. How about this? Find 3 ways to look for a job, because a 3 fold cord is not quickly broken.
Congregation: Amen.
Pastor: Why don't you find it on the internet, and make phone calls, and go physically and show up? Because you know what? There's something about showing up, dressed nice, firm handshake, look them in the eye, presentable, that gets you the job. You know what? Whenever I've looked for a job, I always wore a suit and tie, when I went looking for a job, and every time I've gone out looking for a job ... It's not because I'm a high roller, because all my suits are from the thrift store, this is from the goodwill on Bayside and 48th, okay? Or Savers on Priest and Elliot, or whatever. This message has been brought to you by Savers by the way. Anyway, this wardrobe provided by Savers. You know what? This is what happens every time I go out looking for a job, I wear a suit, or I wear a nice shirt and tie, and every single place makes fun of you for wearing a shirt and tie, and then they hire you. Okay? It's true. First they make fun of you for being overdressed, and then you get the job.
Would you rather go around looking cool, and not getting the job, or do you want to show up in the shirt and tie, they laugh at you, "You don't have to ... You're over dressed, what are you wearing a shirt and tie for?" Then you get the job. What's your goal? Too look cool or to get the job? I'm telling you, and especially, you go to a job where everybody is wearing shirt and tie, and then you show up for the interview in a shirt and tie, then they can picture it. They can picture you in this job, and then you're hired. Look, I've known people who follow this advice, and they get hired on the spot. They start work that day, because they're already in the outfit. It's like, "Fill this out, go clock in." Literally.
I went to a job interview when I lived in Chicago, and I showed up in a suit and tie, I walked in, and the guy hired me, and I started working that very hour. That hour. He handed me, "Here are the materials, here are the jobs," and he sent me out the door into work. Straight to work, and when I talked to him later, he said it was because I walked, and I had a suit and tie on, and I looked sharp, and I gave him a firm handshake, and looked him in the eye, and I just seemed like I had it together. That's what he said, why he hired me. Okay? That's why just this method of finding a job, don't put all your eggs in that internet basket my friend. Get out there, dress nice, firm handshake, big smile, look them in the eye, and go get a job for crying out loud.
See, the slothful person, the sluggard, will always make excuses for why they don't have a job, why they can't work, all these ... Sometimes even just phantom aches and pains will come into the picture, seriously. Now look, I understand that people have aches and pains, and people are injured, I'm going after people, obviously, that have legitimate handicaps, that's not what I'm talking about. You know a lot of people, they just have pain. Where is it? It's everywhere, you know. Fibromyalgia, what is it? It's just pain, it just hurts ...
Congregation: That's so great.
Pastor: ... to sit around a lot, and start hurting. Well first of all your body is not designed to sit around a lot, and you'll feel a lot better if you move around.
Congregation: Right. Yeah.
Pastor: You say, "Well, you know, I'm not into exercise." Well you need to get out and move around, go walk or something. Walk around for a few hours, so soul winning for a few hours, that's a good way to walk around. It's kind of like urban hiking when you go soul winning. Go to the apartment complex, it's like Stair Master, go up and down the stairs, invite people to church, give them the gospel. A lot of people just have excuses. The Bible says in Proverbs 20 verse 4, "The sluggard will not plow by reason of the cold, therefore shall he beg in harvest and have nothing." Listen to this verse, "The sluggard is wiser in his own conceit than 7 men that can render a reason." In their own mind the lazy person has it all justified. They are wiser in their own conceit then 7 men that can render a reason. Seven men who actually have legitimate, bona fide, reasoning skills. He said, "No, no, this guy is smarter than all of them." Lazy people have all the answers when you ask them about their lack of job, or lack of ability to work, they've got it all figured out, and they don't need you to give them advice.
They don't need you to help them, or give them tips on finding a job, or succeeding at their current job, because they're already so wise in their own conceit, they've got it all figured out, and they can tell you exactly why your plan is not going to work. Of going door to door looking for a job, it's just not going to work, and here's all the reasons why, and meet me at McDonalds, you know, so I can eat garbage food, and use their free wifi to look for a job for 90 minutes, while I'm surfing YouTube, and while I'm surfing Facebook, and then walk away and say, "There's a lion in the streets. I can't get it done." You know what? We need to get some character, and I want to raise my ... Look raise your children with character. The Bible says this, "Even a child is known by his doings, whether his work be pure, and whether it be right." Even in our culture today it's become faux paus to make your kids work too much.
Congregation: Yeah.
Pastor: They'll be like, "Oh man you make your kids work. Don't make your older kids help with the younger kids, they shouldn't have to do that. They should get to enjoy their childhood. Blah, blah." Yeah but what you're not understanding is that righteous people enjoy work.
Congregation: Amen.
Pastor: If you go to little kids that haven't been corrupted by video games, and by our lazy sedentary society, little kids are actually signing up to go to work. Think about little kids, "Oh can I help? Can I help?" Right? They want to help, they want to work. There's that innate desire to work that gets corrupted as they grow up in our culture. Even a child is known by his doings, whether his work be pure, whether be right. One of the best things you can do to raise your kids right, is to make them work. Make them help with the ... Plus, you know, some mothers are so frazzled and beating their head against the wall, that you need to delegate some of that work. Then you could relax a little bit. They need to be doing the ... Once they get to a certain age they need to be doing the laundry, they need to be doing the dishes, they need to be doing the landscaping around the house, and pulling weeds, and mowing lawns, and cleaning, and cooking, and doing these things, and help out, and pull their weight around the house. Even a child is known by his doings, whether his work be pure and whether it be right.
Who is he known unto? The Lord, number 1. How does God know us? By our works. You say, "Oh well but salvation is by faith." Yeah but guess what? You only get saved once, and then you're a Christian for decades.
Congregation: Amen.
Pastor: Okay? Good works are a part of the Christian life. The Bible says, "For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works lest any man shall boast." Yeah, salvation is not of works at all, but it says, "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God of before ordained that we should walk in them." What must we do to be saved? Believe.
Congregation: Amen.
Pastor: But what should we do? Good works.
Congregation: Amen.
Pastor: We should do good works. Jesus said, "Behold I come quickly, and my reward is with me to give every man according as his faith shall be." Is that what it says?
Congregation: No.
Pastor: No, he said, "I come quickly, to give every man according as his work shall be." At the judgement seat Christ we're going to receive for the works done in our body, whether it be good or bad. How is your work? God looks down from Heaven at you, as a Christian, and your being judged by your works when it comes to your Christian life. A child of God is known by his doings, whether his work be pure, and whether it be right. Again, nothing to do with salvation, every body ... Who here thinks that works will get you to Heaven? Nobody. Who here thinks it's salvation by faith alone? Put up your hand.
Congregation: Amen.
Pastor: Yeah, see, so we're all clear on that. Done, move on to the next subject. Get to work.
Congregation: Amen.
Pastor: You can't just sit there and just, "Oh it's all by faith, it's all by faith," then sit around and do nothing. Yeah it is all by faith, you're going to go to Heaven no matter what, but let's go to work.
Congregation: Amen.
Pastor: We want to have character, and because we want God to be pleased with us. The Bible says, "Wherefore we labor that whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him."
Congregation: Amen. Amen.
Pastor: What's the Bible saying? How are you acceptable before the Lord? When you're working. What's unacceptable? Sitting around and doing nothing, is unacceptable. What is the Bible saying? Is everybody seeing the same verses that I'm seeing? Slothful sluggards, lazy, idle, these are the things that God warns us over and over again, not to let us creep in. You know what? You don't want to just only go out and do our secular job, and I do believe that our secular job is honorable before the Lord as long as it's not banking, or being a policeman, or something like that. If you actually have an .... Or a gangster, or a drug dealer, or something like that, those are bad things to do, right? There are jobs out there that are bad. Being a bartender, I don't respect that. Mixing drinks, and everything, it's wrong.
Congregation: Amen. Amen.
Pastor: There are a lot of jobs that are dishonest jobs that I don't approve of for myself. You say, "Well I disagree with you." Okay well it's between you and the Lord, but I'm just telling you, I'll respect any honest job. Look, we don't want to go through our lives just trimming the grass, and just wiring the outlets, and just bending the pipes. We also want to do service unto the Lord.
Congregation: Amen.
Pastor: God also wants us to go work in his vineyard.
Congregation: Amen.
Pastor: Not to just work in our own vineyard, and it's important that we work in our own vineyard, but God said go, son, go work in my vineyard. He wants us to go out and win people to Christ. He wants us to get involved in the battle, he wants us to roll up sleeves and do work for the Kingdom of God, and to receive wages unto eternal life. The wages of sin is death, right? The gift of God is eternal life, so the gift is eternal life, but he said this, "You can receive wages unto eternal life," meaning you can earn wages that you will enjoy throughout eternity. That's what the Bible says. Don't get this communist mentality, like we're going to get up there and we're all going to be equal, it's a lie.
Congregation: Yeah.
Pastor: God's going to reward everyone according as his work shall be.
Congregation: Amen.
Pastor: God clearly said that he's going to say to one, "Be thou over 10 cities," and, "Be thou over 5 cities," and, "Be thou over 2 cities," it's going to matter what you've done. You will be rewarded according to your works, and he says that, "He that laboreth receiveth ... " This is in John chapter 4, if you want to look it up later, he said, "We receive wages unto eternal life." Listen, when it comes to money, and the things that we earn in this life, you can't take it with you, can you?
Congregation: That's right.
Pastor: You can send it on ahead. You cannot take it with you, but you can send it on ahead, because if you work for the Lord, what's the Bible say that you're doing? Laying up treasures in Heaven. Why is it that then people will turn around and act like, "Oh we're all going to be the same up there. Nobody is going to care." Then why did he say lay up treasures in Heaven? Then he's like psych, there's nothing up there for you, we're all the same." No we're not, because you're laying up treasures in Heaven. That means some people have more treasure up there then others.
Congregation: Amen.
Pastor: You say, "Oh that's so carnal to desire treasure in Heaven." What?
Congregation: That's right.
Pastor: He said, "Set your effects on things above, not on things on the earth."
Congregation: Right.
Pastor: He said, "Don't lay up treasures on the earth, lay up treasures in Heaven, for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."
Congregation: Amen.
Pastor: It's nothing carnal about desiring rewards from the Lord.
Congregation: Right.
Pastor: That's so bazaar, but I've heard that so many times. "Oh well you shouldn't be in it for the rewards." So what? Why you're in it, while you're serving Jesus, and loving him and obey him. "Oh I don't want to ... " Yeah, wouldn't you just hate it if you offered your children rewards, and then they did things and earned the reward? Why are you doing it for the ... You offered the reward. That's like saying, "What you guy, you just memorize Psalm 92 just because you wanted that prize." So what? Okay, look, do we have to peer into the soul of every child who memorized the chapter to see was it because they wanted the Lego watch, or was it just because they just love the Lord, and they love his word? Either way they're learning the scripture.
Congregation: Amen.
Pastor: It's okay to reward people for things folks. It's okay to go to work and get paid.
Congregation: Yeah.
Pastor: The laborer is worthy of his reward.
Congregation: Amen.
Pastor: We get these weird communist ideas, like, "We shouldn't want to earn stuff, or lay up treasure in Heaven," or, "We shouldn't want to be ... We should all want to be the same up there." We're not going to be the same.
Congregation: No.
Pastor: There's going to be a reward, and let me tell you this. This is the last point, is that if you volunteer to do a job, you should treat it like a job where you're getting paid, because of the fact that sometimes you can be more of a burden by volunteering to do something and then doing a bad job, as if you had just not volunteered at all. A lot of people have this mentality, it's sort of like if you don't pay much, you don't get much mentality. Of saying, "Oh, well I'm a volunteer, so I can show up late, do a bad job, slack off," right? "Do it hastily, do it half way," you know what? Here's the thing, if you're going to volunteer to do something, you give it your best.
Congregation: Amen.
Pastor: Otherwise don't volunteer to do stuff, because you can actually be like that foot out of joint, you can be that broken tooth, that smoke in the eyes, that vinegar to the teeth, of people when you ... Say you're going to do something, and then you do it real sloppy, and do a real poor job at it, it's like, I might as well have done it myself, because it would be easier than to redo that which you've done wrong. Whatever we do it needs to be heartily, and you say, "Well okay, I better just never volunteer for anything then." Well okay, it's your loss of wages unto the Kingdom of God. You know what? Soul winning is the most ... You say, "Well what do people volunteer around here?" The biggest thing around here to do is the soul winning.
Congregation: Right.
Pastor: The evangelism. I think everybody should be out soul winning, everybody.
Congregation: Amen. That's right.
Pastor: I think it's something that everybody should have some part in, man, woman, boy, and girl. It's something that all of God's people can be used greatly, to win souls to Christ. You know what? When it comes to soul winning, we need to do a good job.
Congregation: Right. Yeah. Amen.
Pastor: Not hasty, right? Can people sometimes be hasty with that?
Congregation: Right. Amen.
Pastor: Just, "Oh you know, couple verses, oh pray this prayer," and not really doing a good job ...
Congregation: Yeah.
Pastor: ... of actually explaining it, being thorough, they're just in a hurry to get to the next. Why are you in such a hurry to get to the next door? Just do a good job at the door that you're at. I'm not saying to beat a dead horse.
Congregation: Right.
Pastor: But do a good job where you're at. Take it seriously
, and don't just, "Well I'm a volunteer, so anything is better than nothing." No, anything is not always better than nothing.
Congregation: Right.
Pastor: Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Father we thank you so much Lord for all this teaching, and you gave us some practical things Lord. Today's sermon is more of a practical thing on especially for the men going out to work, but even the ladies Lord, there's a great work for them to be done in the home. I pray, Lord, that these things would sink down into our ears, and that people would walk away from the sermon with a few of these points, even if it's just doing what they say they're going to do Lord. It's so important. Help us to just become that kind of a person that's reliable, and that does what we say we're going to do Lord. Please just help us to be diligent workers, to work hard, not to be lazy Lord, in a culture where people are getting lazy, help us to be different Lord, help us to be a peculiar people that actually are fervent about our work. In Jesus name we pray, amen.
