[0:00] Well, take your Bibles, if you would, and turn with me to Proverbs chapter 6 and verse 6. Now, you know that this is King Solomon talking to his children, his son, at least one, maybe more, maybe sons, because these guys have lots of them.
[0:20] Now, remember that he's a prince. He lives in a palace. He has servants. He's rich. He was raised or is being raised fairly spoiled, kind of like living in Alpharetta.
[0:36] Say amen. You know, the good life. You don't have to work. Mom and Daddy worked. Don't have to do much. And so because, you know, Mom and Dad, they're very comfortable and they make you comfortable.
[0:50] And then you come across this proverb that Solomon has chosen and the Holy Spirit has chosen to go in the Bible. And he looks at his son and he says, look here, you little sluggard. Look here, you little lazy bum.
[1:03] We need to have a conversation. A sluggard found in verses 6 and 9 is a person who is lazy, idle, careless, sticks to nothing, minds no business, and brings nothing to pass.
[1:17] It's a habit that he has developed. Like working would be a habit for another person. Many of you wake up in the morning and you just wake up. You got to go to work.
[1:27] Go to work. You got to have it. This kid's got a habit. Not doing anything. He gets up in the morning and says, I'm going to do what I did yesterday. Nothing. Hand me my Xbox. Hand me whatever game I play.
[1:38] Whatever it is I do. Let me be lazy. Laziness is an aversion to work. It is being disinclined to work. But God's people are told to be workers.
[1:52] The Bible says in 2 Thessalonians chapter 3 and verse 10, For even when we were with you, we commanded you. Now this is Paul talking to a New Testament church.
[2:04] He said, if any will not work, neither should he eat. I'm sure you know that in early America, there was a time when a lot of the people during the summer went out and went looking for gold.
[2:20] And the others were working and preparing food. And come wintertime, when those that had been bums all summer looking for gold and finding none wanted to eat, they said, you didn't work.
[2:31] You're not eating. That's not the way it is in America anymore. But it was at least there for a day or two. That's a biblical thing. If you won't work, you shouldn't eat. Verse 11. He said, for we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly.
[2:47] They are disorderly. Notice what their disorder is. They don't work. Working not at all. Instead of working, they're busybodies. They're gossips. Flitting about like hummingbirds to find every little juicy piece of gossip and get their nose in it.
[3:04] Verse 12. Now, them that are such, all you disorderly not work in busybodies, we command and exhort by the Lord Jesus Christ that with quietness they work and eat their own bread.
[3:19] But you, brethren, be not weary in well-doing. Now, I thought I'd just read that to you because we're in Proverbs and you're probably like, well, grace means we don't have to work anymore. Yeah, back in the Old Testament, it had to work.
[3:31] But in the New Testament, maybe we don't have to. Paul didn't know that. Amen. Amen. Paul didn't know that. Paul said, y'all need to get to work. And then he said, if you notice the end of that verse, he said, hey, guys, don't get tired of doing good stuff.
[3:45] Get out there and find some. You got enough money to be a prince? Well, then go find something to do with it. Do some good stuff with what you got. We were created by, we were created under good works that God wants us to walk in.
[3:58] Look at Ephesians 2, 8 and 9. Everybody loves 8 and 9. Most people don't like to read 10. Look at verse 8. It says, For by grace are you saved through faith and not of yourselves.
[4:10] It's a gift of God. Thank God for gifts, not of works. Thank God I don't have to work, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, verse 10, we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
[4:29] We were created to do good works. We were saved to do good works. We are to be a busy people. There's a confusion sometimes before I jump into Proverbs chapter 6.
[4:42] There's a confusion. You know, it's like by grace we're saved. And so we ought to build a rest in Jesus. But resting in Jesus has nothing to do with not working. James wanted to clear that up.
[4:54] James is like, Some of you guys are just so eat up without you to say by grace, but I want to see your grace lived out in the way you live. Can I get an amen right there? James is like, Hey, I'm glad to hear Paul telling y'all about grace.
[5:05] But some of y'all going to an extreme. I got another side of that. If you really found grace and faith, let's see you go to work and work out who you are. If you're born again, there ought to be works.
[5:17] And we're not talking about salvation. Salvation. Salvation is a free gift. Amen. God just comes to us and says, You've sinned. And if you would look at yourself and realize you've sinned, you can trust God and when Jesus is on the cross.
[5:29] And Jesus said, Hey, religious people have been making you work. But he said, I don't want you to work. I want you to trust me. But that's not about work. That's about salvation. That's about going to heaven.
[5:41] That's about religious people coming. And they would dump on people and say, If you want to go to heaven, you got to do religious services. You got to get baptized. You got to not eat this food. You got to obey this rule.
[5:52] And then you can go to heaven. And Jesus said in Matthew chapter 11 and verse 28, Come unto me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, I am meek and lowly, and you shall find rest under your souls.
[6:09] For my yoke is easy, my burden is light. We are saved by the grace of God. I'm going to try to make it as clear as I can to you as we go through this passage of scripture.
[6:19] But being saved by grace doesn't mean I'll not get up and go to work. Being saved doesn't mean my kids ought not get up and go to work. I lived in, I lived in Adiquipa, Peru.
[6:33] And in Adiquipa, Peru, in Lima, back in our day, if you were high enough on the food chain, you had maids who lived in your house 24-7.
[6:46] We did not, because Betty couldn't stand it. She used to say, we had a lady that helped her, and she said, I'd like to pay her to go home. And so, because Betty wanted to be at her own house, and she wanted to be doing the things.
[6:58] But, you would sit at your table, when they showed you your new house, she'd show you, this is where the husband sits. And right at his foot was a button. And you push that button, and it rings in the kitchen, and the maid jumps up and comes running to find out what you want.
[7:13] And so, my kids would be staying in Lima with some rich kids, and the rich kids had a button on the wall, and they'd push a button on the third floor, and they'd push a button, the button would ring, and down on the first floor, the maid would say, ding, ding, ding, that's in Susie's room.
[7:30] The maid would run three floors up, and then Susie would say, I want a glass of water. So, she'd run three floors down, get a glass of water, run three stories up. When she got through drinking, she'd ding, ding, ding.
[7:41] The girl would come running up, she'd say, I'm throwing my glass, you can take it back now. And, so it's not hard. I was preaching about this, and I had to keep, and one lady came to me and said, I had to work hard to get where I am, and I don't want my kids to have to go through what I went through.
[7:56] Well, Solomon's the king, he's the richest guy in town. He's also the wisest guy in town, so he looks at his kid and says, look you little lazy bum. I didn't mean to be looking, you didn't tell when I said that, boys, but I, that's just the Holy Spirit of God, amen.
[8:12] I really didn't mean to, but it just worked out that way. I got, we can't use grace as an excuse to be lazy, and not accomplish the work that we're responsible for, both spiritually and physically.
[8:33] Look at Proverbs 6, 6, we'll work our way through this passage of scripture. Sean felt like he could take my message and preach it this morning, so when I preach it, I won't do as good as Sean, but I'll bring in some of it, amen.
[8:45] Did a good job, Sean. The Bible says in Proverbs 6, 6, go to the ant, thou sluggard, consider her ways, and be wise. Now, I could stop right there, and we could talk about ants.
[8:57] We could talk about how they live in colonies, how they can have a two-mile-wide march through a place. We could talk about how ants have shown up from South America all the way up here. We could talk a whole lot about ants.
[9:08] But the dad said to his son, now look, you little lazy bum, ants work. And so I want to talk to you about that. By the way, I did a little study on ants this week.
[9:18] Did you know that ant colonies often have soldier ants whose job is to kill lazy ants? I just thought to myself, I better not preach that.
[9:32] That'd be legalistic, amen. Had to get me in a heap of trouble, but they actually had soldier ants. Now, I was reading another guy's article, and he said, I always thought ants were such hard workers. He said, one day I was watching these ants, and this one ant was tugging on his sleeve and pulling it, and he said, there were two ants riding.
[9:49] He said, somebody need to call a soldier ant. Go with me if you would to verse seven now. I want to give you five things right out of these next five verses, if I could, or six verses.
[10:03] Step up. Choose to be your own boss, or follow the one who saved you. Proverbs 6, 7 says, which having no guide, overseer, or ruler.
[10:16] See, when you go to the ants, you don't see anybody sitting over on the sideline with a megaphone saying, all right, pick up that, pick up that, move it, and you don't see that happening. They have no guide, and no overseer, and no ruler.
[10:29] Now, as a Christian, I'd just like to say something to you real quick. We do have a guide, and a ruler, and an overseer. And in all honesty, if you're talking this secularly speaking, everybody in this room, we ought to learn discipline.
[10:44] We ought to get up in the morning without any other thing. We ought to just decide, hey, I don't need a ruler. You know, kids learn, mama will get me up in the morning, and mama has to be nice.
[10:57] You know, Betty and I got married. It was like two cultures clashing. When my dad got up, he started out of the back bedroom. He said, all right, feet on the floor. We're like, yes, sir, we're up.
[11:09] My wife said, when I got up, I made too much noise, and she said, look, at my house, it was sweet in the morning. I'm like, I don't think he's ever sweet at my house, but anyway, so at Betty's house, it was, let's be really nice, but hey, get up.
[11:25] The Bible says in Colossians chapter three, in verse 21, 23, whatsoever you do, do it heartily as to the Lord, and not unto men, knowing that of the Lord, you shall receive the reward of the inheritance, for you serve the Lord Jesus Christ.
[11:41] You serve the Lord Christ. A believer does have a guide, and do you realize what that verse says? If you check out that verse, and that is this, I'm serving Jesus.
[11:53] Do you know I ought to be the best worker anywhere I am? Did you know that we ought to be kind of like a guy named, Joseph in the Old Testament, and wherever he happened to be, it prospered just because he was there.
[12:05] Can I get an amen right there? He got there, he showed up on time, he didn't take extra long breaks at break time, he didn't take extra long lunch times, he didn't leave early, he didn't drag around, he was working hard.
[12:18] We serve the Lord Jesus. And I want you to notice in verse 23, if you have your Bible open, I want you to notice, he said, whatever it is you do, do it with all your heart. Do it heartily.
[12:30] Now we know what heartily means. Heartily means being a fan of the ball game, and how look how you yell heartily. And we may know what heartily means when it comes to eat, and we can eat heartily.
[12:41] But how many of us work heartily? That's what it says though. And you do it as to the Lord. You see, I don't live like a lost man.
[12:53] I don't live like, well the boss won't say anything about it, and I won't get in trouble, and I can do what I want to do. I need to wake up every morning and say, I'm going to live today for you. I'm going to go to work for you.
[13:05] I'm going to pay my bills for you. I'm going to love my wife for you. I'm going to do everything today for you. I'm going to do it for you. And so all of a sudden, when I'm over here making boots at the boot factory, and the guy comes and says, you're working good.
[13:17] I like you. You're one of my best workers. You don't say anything about it, but in your mind you're like, I'm doing it for Jesus. I'm working heartily as unto the Lord. But every believer ought to develop self-discipline.
[13:31] There ought to be no need for a boss. There ought not have to be any force over you. You can't accomplish that with an app or a day planner. I hate to say this to young people, but they're always coming to me and like, what kind of app do I need so I can work?
[13:44] And I'm like, you really don't need an app. You used to have apps. And when Solomon wrote this, there wasn't an app. Hey man, I need an app that wakes me up, and an app tells me when to do everything I do. Discipline will come though when you discover your purpose, have something you desire to see accomplished.
[14:02] You know, one of my favorite verses in the Bible, you know, we had Brother Toss here Thursday night, and I don't know if it's Thursday night or Friday, he was giving his testimony, and he told the story about having to ask his mom if he could get married, and he had to wait months.
[14:15] And I made the comment, so did they seem like a few days to you? And he said, no, it seemed like an eternity. But you'll learn some story about a guy in the Bible, and he goes to get a girl.
[14:26] And when he goes to get the girl, the guy says to him, says, if you want to marry her, you got to work for me seven years. If my father-in-law had said that, you wouldn't know Betty today. We'd be looking at somebody else.
[14:38] I'll just be honest with you. I don't think I'd have had, I don't think I'd have had the character. And I know you're looking at me like, you're such a jerk. I don't think I'm the only one in this room. And you know what?
[14:49] You know what? Oh, Jacob's the way. He said, well, that ain't but a few days. I don't mind working seven years to get her. And then when he got married, he married the wrong woman because the father-in-law kind of hoodooed him and gave him the wrong woman.
[15:01] He woke up the next morning and said, hey, you ripped me off. I worked seven years for the other girl. He said, well, if you want her now, seven more years. Yes, sir, she's worth it. And he got her in a week, but he still had to work another seven years.
[15:14] You know, if you have purpose enough, time seems to fly. If you got a reason to do it. Do you ever notice how slow vacation comes and how fast vacation goes?
[15:26] You know, if you go on vacation, you're like, man, we only got a week. We got to do everything. If we sleep doesn't matter, we just got to get her done. We're here to have fun and fun gets going quick because we got a purpose. It ought to be more about what you want than what you're told to do.
[15:41] Make small discipline changes that'll bring about the result you so desperately desire. Real quickly, we need to learn to make decisions. But listen to this.
[15:54] If you're not born again, then you are on your own. And you will have to be your own personal motivation and your own self-discipline because you're not saved.
[16:08] Now, you listen to what I'm going to tell you. Go to the aunt, thou sluggard. She has no ruler. She has no captain. She has no overseer. And she does, she, but she does all these things.
[16:20] But as a born again believer, I have somebody. I am serving Jesus. I am here this morning, not because I had a Sunday school class, not because I'm going to preach to you, but I'm doing this for Jesus.
[16:32] That's why you're here this morning. You didn't come here this morning for me or for the other people in this room or for church. You came this morning because you love Jesus. If that's true, say amen. See, you're born again.
[16:42] You know Jesus. So you have a guide, you have a ruler, you have an overseer. And he doesn't just work on Sunday. He works on Monday. Amen. So on Monday, I'll do my job because I serve Jesus.
[16:54] But if you came this morning and you do not yet know him as your personal Lord and Savior, baby, you're all you got. You're all you got. And you really need a ruler because you're not that good at it.
[17:09] And the ruler you need is the Lord Jesus. Go with me if you would to chapter six and verse eight. The second thing I want to say to you is you need to seize the moment. You need to commit to work.
[17:22] In Proverbs chapter six and verse eight, see, he said, go to the ant, thou sucker, consider her ways and be wise. She has no guide, no ruler, no overseer, but she provides her meat in the summer and gathers her food in the harvest.
[17:38] Now, never really had this problem. I did grow up on a farm watching my dad and it'd be the middle of the winter time and he'd sit down with a sheet of paper at the table, at the kitchen table, a dining room table, which the same thing at our house, but he sat there and he would sit there and he'd say, now we're going to need this many bales of hay to get through next winter.
[17:56] We're going to need this much corn. There was all kind of planning because you got to grab it while you can. And now, while I was in college, I have to be honest, I didn't have a, I did not honor my guide, my ruler and my overseer.
[18:10] And so on the first day of school, the professor handed everybody a sheet of paper and said, all your homework's on there. I won't be mentioning it again. You just show up and bring it in on the day you're supposed to. I remember the first time I walked in, everybody was laying a piece of paper, laying a few sheets of paper, tight paper stapled together on the desk.
[18:26] And I turned to my buddy, I said, what's that? He said, that's that first homework. I said, well, he didn't tell me nothing about it. I needed a guide, amen? And so I spent several, I spent a semester or two having no idea what I was doing.
[18:42] Do it when it needs to be done. Stop making excuses. In Proverbs 22, 13, the slothful man, that's the sluggard, said, there's a lion without, I should be slain in the streets.
[18:56] You see, he's making an excuse. Number one, there's probably not a lion in the street. That probably people stayed home this morning because that snowstorm we had last night. There's a lion in the street.
[19:09] He thinks that things are really harder than they are. The Bible says in Proverbs chapter 15 and verse 19, the way of the slothful man is a hedge of thorns. If you're lazy, everything you do is hard.
[19:22] Everything you do blocks you. There's a reason you can't do what you ought to do. But he said, but the way of the righteous, the way of the born again, the way of the men of God, that's plain.
[19:33] It's simple. It's straight. It's smooth. Just go do it. I'm not making any excuses. Seize the moment. Commit to work. Get the food ready in the summertime.
[19:45] Gather the food in the harvest. Finish what you start. In Proverbs chapter 12 and verse 27. The lazy man, the slothful man, roast not what he took in hunting.
[19:58] You know what he did? He went out and he killed a deer. And he brought it home. It was fun killing the deer. But when he got the deer home, he was not willing to clean the deer. Not willing to skin the deer.
[20:08] Not willing to quarter the deer. Not willing to gut it, quarter it, skin it, and all the stuff that went with it. He's like, it was fun hunting, but I'm not finished. I'm not finishing what I started. But look what the righteous, the diligent man does.
[20:21] Whatever he has is precious to him. Boy, this is good stuff. It's valuable to me. I will take care of what is mine. Take care of what you have now.
[20:33] Most of us have been blessed with lots of stuff. The Bible says in Proverbs 24, 30, I went by the field of the softball and by the vineyard of the man who was a dingbat, a void of understanding, the Bible says, and lo, it was grown over with thorns and nettles that covered the face.
[20:54] He had briars and kudzu growing all over it. And the stone wall was broken down. And he said, then I thought about it. I considered it well, and I received a little bit of instruction.
[21:05] You see, when you walk by this guy's house, it's all grown over with junk. It looks like the Adams house from the old TV show where the old family lived in the, and it were like bats in the belfry, and it was a scary place.
[21:17] He said, I considered it well, and I said, a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, to sleep, and so shall your poverty come as a guy that's on a trip coming at you.
[21:31] It'll come like an armed man. Why do we let our house fall apart? The Bible says in Ecclesiastes 10, 18, by much slothfulness, by being so lazy, the building falls apart.
[21:44] Though idleness of the hand, the house drops. So it's, the job that we have is to respect time. We need to respect time. You have got to harvest while it's harvest time.
[21:57] You've got to sow while it's sowing time. In Proverbs chapter 20, verse 4, this lazy guy says, I'm not going to plow. It's cold outside. And therefore, he'll beg in the harvest.
[22:12] So here's verse 8, if you would. She provides her meat in the summer, and she gathers her food in the harvest. That means you've got to plan ahead.
[22:25] Know that you are not promised tomorrow. Can I really get a hold of something with you? The Bible says she has no guide and no overseer, no ruler, and yet she provides her meat in the summer and gathers her food in the harvest.
[22:39] Now you listen to this, if you would. That means you know the value of time. That means you seize the moment. And anybody that's listening to my voice or anybody that's in this room and you're not saved, almost every one of you fully intend to get right with God tomorrow or the next day.
[22:56] But you are not promised tomorrow or the next day. You need to make your decision to trust God today. Make hay while the sun shines.
[23:08] You need to do it while you can. You don't know about tomorrow. As a believer, you should know this. Provide your meat in the summer and gather your food in the harvest.
[23:20] The Bible says in Matthew 6, 19, lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth where moth and rust doth corrupt where thieves break through and steal but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven where none of that junk happens.
[23:34] But most of us born again people in this room, we're not making hay while the sun shines. Most of us are living for this world. Most of us are enjoying the summertime.
[23:47] Most of us are enjoying the summertime. Hey, life is good and I'm enjoying it but one day we're going to die and so you've got to seize the moment and do for Jesus whatever you're going to do for him.
[23:58] Do it for now. Prepare. Work. Work for an unseen reward. Work for a coming judgment. In 1 Corinthians 9, verse 24, the Bible says, Know you not that they which run in a race run all to receive a prize?
[24:15] So run that you may obtain. But they're running for a rotting crown. They won a wreath made out of plants. They cut a plant in the morning and when you won you got this little vine around your head and he said, that thing will be ruined in no time.
[24:32] But I'm doing it to get one that doesn't ruin. So I fight. I run not as uncertainly, not as a guy that doesn't know what he's doing. I fight as one that not beats the air.
[24:43] I keep my body under subjection. Boy, I don't want to mess up. Seize. The moment. If you're not saved, today's your day to get saved. If you're not born again, you have no idea if when you leave here you'll live or die.
[24:58] You have no idea if you'll be there tomorrow. You have no idea if you'll even have a desire to get saved tomorrow. But right now you're at least thinking about it. Trust Jesus. But born again believer, you know, you got to prepare your meat in the summer.
[25:13] You got to get your food in the harvest because you don't know what a day brings forth. just a few months ago, seven months or so, my life was going along normal and I woke up one day in a hospital and I couldn't figure out what was going on.
[25:27] I didn't even know why I was in there. But my life came so close to ending. You better seize the moment because it could happen to you today just like it happened to me.
[25:37] Number three, you need to strengthen yourself. Force yourself to get up. Look at Proverbs chapter 6 and verse 9. How long will you sleep, old sluggard?
[25:49] When will you arise out of your sleep? This guy just can't get up in the morning. In Spanish, they have a phrase that says this, the sheets stick to you.
[26:02] You ever had that problem? You know, you was laying in the bed and you couldn't get the sheets off of you. They just stick to you. They just stick to you. I mean, you try to get them off and you can't get them off. That is actually a real saying in Spanish.
[26:15] The sheets stuck to me. How long will you sleep? Except that you have a problem with laziness.
[26:26] If we want to beat laziness, we're about to admit we are lazy. The Bible says in Proverbs chapter 26 and verse 16, the sluggard is wiser in his own conceit than seven men that can render a reason.
[26:38] Do you know when you're a lazy, when you got a problem, you know, you can say, I've got 28 reasons that playing Xbox is good for me. And I don't care, I don't care what anybody says.
[26:50] I know what I'm talking about. I didn't look at y'all. I was looking at these girls right here. There's three of them right there. Two of them. Watch, would you, watch, would you please? Watch, would you please?
[27:04] He says, I know and nobody can tell me. Go to bed on time. Time, because we don't go to bed on time. Could I get an amen in there? Isn't it amazing how, it doesn't matter how late it is, it'll be okay, but getting up late's a problem.
[27:19] The Bible says in Proverbs 26, 14, as the door turns on the hinges, so does the slothful on his bed. He's lazy. He gets to bed. You know what he does? He's not tired because he doesn't work.
[27:31] So he lays down, go boop, boop, boop, boop, boop, all night long. Next morning, he says, boy, I got tired last night. You got tired because you weren't sleepy enough to go to sleep. If you would notice there, you need to strengthen yourself and get up.
[27:45] Be accountable. Develop routines. You know what will get you up in the morning is a purpose in life. A purpose in life. You know what your purpose ought to be?
[27:57] Number one, it ought to be to please him. The Bible says in 2 Timothy 2, 4, no man that woreth and tangles himself with the affairs of this life that he may please him who had chosen him to be a soldier.
[28:10] He's not talking about a soldier in the regular army that has a sergeant coming in yelling at him to get up. He's saying, you are saved and belong to Jesus. He has a plan for your life and he's your ruler and your guide and your overseer and you ought to live.
[28:24] Say, boy, I just want him to be proud of me. And some of you are going to say, well, he already is proud of me so I don't have to get up. That's two different sides of the same coin. You got to twist that one. Your laziness twisted that bad.
[28:39] In Hebrews chapter 11 and verse 6, it says, without faith, it's impossible to please him. For he that comes to God must believe that he is and he's a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
[28:50] I think we put a lot of emphasis on impossible to please him and a lot of assistance on faith. But did you catch the last part? You got to work looking for him. You got to diligently seek him.
[29:03] Do you know, when you read your Bible, you say, I find it a little bit boring so I don't read Ezekiel anymore. Then you're not diligently seeking him. Amen. You can get mad all you want. You say, I find it a little bit hard to come to church on Thursday night.
[29:15] Then you're not diligently seeking him. You ought to wake up and say, boy, he's so important. I want to please him and I will seek for him. You ought to want to glorify him.
[29:27] The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 10, 11, whether therefore you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. God, I'm going to go in late to work tomorrow to your glory.
[29:41] Hallelujah. Just love you. Just want you to be glorified. I won't glorify him. I want to get fired for being a lazy bum. I won't glorify him. I won't pay my bills. I won't glorify him.
[29:52] I won't teach my children to work. That won't glorify him. 1 Corinthians 6, in verse 20, the Bible says, for you are bought with a price. Therefore, glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's.
[30:06] Glorify God. Stop wasting time. Jesus knew there was a limitation to his time. In John chapter four, he said, I must work the works of him that sent me while it's day.
[30:22] Night comes and nobody can work. If anybody, he got to control the time. If Jesus wanted a longer day, he just said, stand still, son. Don't turn earth.
[30:33] But he knew the limitation of time. In Romans chapter 13, verse 12, the night is far spent. The day is at hand.
[30:45] Time's about up. Time is about up. Today is the day of salvation. In 2 Corinthians chapter six, in verse two, the Bible says, I have heard thee in a time accepted in the day of salvation.
[31:00] Now is the accepted time. Behold, now is the day of salvation. You need to, you need to grab a hold of it and do what you're supposed to do. Now, today, is the day of salvation.
[31:13] Till you value time, you will not have victory over laziness in earthly or heavenly work. And I'll give you one more verse before I go to the next one.
[31:25] Next point. You don't know what's going to happen tomorrow. The Bible says in Proverbs 27, one, don't you brag about what you're going to do tomorrow because you don't know what a day may bring forth.
[31:38] Boast not thyself of tomorrow, for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth. Seize the moment. Four, stop making choices, soft choices that will destroy you.
[31:54] Stop making soft choices that will destroy you. Beautiful thing is that Solomon's a wise man. The more beautiful thing is that the Holy Spirit of God said, I'll make him wise.
[32:06] I'll give him what to write. And that's what I want you to hear. You know what he said? He said the problem with the lazy man is not that he's just really lazy. He just makes soft little choices.
[32:17] He just makes soft little choices. Look if you would at Proverbs chapter six and verse 10. It's a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep.
[32:32] You ever notice that your clock has a sloth button on the top of it? Your phone has a sloth button. What it says is if you're a lazy bum and can't get up on time, push this button, we'll give you five more minutes or 10 more minutes.
[32:46] It's just a little. It's not that much. I don't know how many times I took a little and it turned out to be a lot. Come on, say amen, get mad. Stop procrastinating.
[32:59] Do you know what it is? It's you're making little choices. Whatever you do, do it heartily as the Lord. The reason you make these soft choices is because you're worried.
[33:12] Well, I'm afraid it won't work out right. I'm afraid you got a good excuse. Like seven, you're smarter than seven people. But the Bible says in Matthew chapter six and verse 34, take no thought for the morrow, for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself.
[33:27] Sufficient to the day is the evil thereof. I'm going to give you a wild and crazy and a radical thought. This is all you got today. I won't give you an even wilder one.
[33:39] You don't have six o'clock today. You don't have it. You're like in your head. I'm watching the Super Bowl tonight and you might be dead. We might be picking up your body later on.
[33:51] You have no, you have, you don't know that to be true. All you got is right now. Whatever I'm going to do for Jesus, I need to do it right now. You need to rest at the right time and in the right amount.
[34:06] Rest at the right time and in the right amount. The Bible says that he gives his beloved sleep. He's not against sleep. He made up sleep. It's a good thing. We all enjoy sleep. It's a great thing.
[34:17] You get to rest, you get sleep. But the Bible says in Proverbs 20, 13, love not sleep lest you get poorer and poorer and poorer till you're poverty stricken.
[34:28] Open your eyes. Get up and open your eyes and you'll have something to eat today. Make new habits. Ecclesiastes 9, 10 says, whatsoever thy hand finds to do, do it with thy might because it's soon that you'll be in a grave and you can't do anything about it.
[34:48] Stop living in a dream world. Proverbs 21, 25 says, the desire of the slothful kills him. His hands refuse to labor.
[34:59] The guy won't stop but he's too lazy to work for it. In verse 26, he covets, he desires greedily all day. Realize your laziness is what's making you so tired.
[35:13] You want to hear a wild one? According to what I'm about to read you, your laziness is what's making you so tired. I'll bet you didn't know that. Watch this. Proverbs 19, 15. I didn't write any of this.
[35:25] I just know how to read. Proverbs 19, 15 says, slothfulness, laziness cast into a deep sleep. Look at that. Laziness makes you go to sleep and sleep a lot.
[35:38] An idle soul shall suffer hunger. Now listen, I'm going to tell you, I'm almost through. But you need to know that it's the small choices and it's the little decisions that will determine everything else.
[35:51] You know, it's a small decision that determines whether you go to heaven or hell. All the truth is is you got to realize you're a sinner and trust Christ. Ain't a whole big decision there. It's pretty easy to make it.
[36:02] A small decision. A small decision will choose whether or not you'll be used of God or not. It's a small decision. It's whether you'll be successful in life or not.
[36:13] It's a small decision. Go with me to Proverbs 6, in verse 11. Switch futures. Do you know you can change your future? That's really what Solomon has in mind when he talks to his lazy son.
[36:28] He says, son, I've been noticing you. You're in the palace and you got the maid running grapes into you every day and orange juice and they make up your bed and they do all the things for you and they're doing everything for you and so you let them do it and you sluggard, get up and go to work.
[36:44] We were living in Arequipa and my wife was a pretty harsh taskmaster. So our kids were outside in the neighborhood playing with the other kids and Betty called them to come in and they said, the other kids said to my children, they said, where are y'all going?
[37:00] They said, we got to go make up our bed, clean our room up. And the other kids said, y'all don't have a maid? And my kids said, yeah, we got one. But mama makes us do her work.
[37:13] See, you don't want your poverty coming, do you? So shall thy poverty come like an armed man, like a guy on a trip coming to you. Do you know what the future of a lazy person is?
[37:25] You will be hungry. The Bible says in Proverbs 12, seven, you won't roast what you take when you hunt. You will waste what you have. The Bible says in Proverbs 18, nine, you are slothful and you're a brother to a great waster.
[37:41] You know what the future of a person is that's a lazy person? You'll never learn. You can't learn because you're wiser than seven men that could render reason.
[37:52] You will live your life in poverty. He that becomes poor deals with a slack end. You know why he's poor? Because he's a lazy hand. He's a lazy hand.
[38:02] But the guy who has a diligent hand gets rich. You'll always have to be told what to do. Every lazy person wished they could be their own boss. But you never will be.
[38:15] The Bible says in Proverbs 12, in verse 24, it's the diligent that rule over you and you will always be saying yes sir and paying taxes. but you can change your future eternally too.
[38:35] I need you to know that if you've not already trusted Jesus Christ as your Savior, it will soon be too late if you wait. The Bible says in Hebrews chapter 9 in verse 27, it's appointed unto a man once to die and after this a judgment.
[38:52] Now you listen and I will tell you nobody's praying you out of purgatory. You die, you're judged. You die, you're judged. You die, you're judged. It's not like, by the way, when you die, you don't go to some temporary waiting place.
[39:06] You don't hang around in the grave. You don't run around with your friends in nebulous land. You wake up in heaven or you wake up in hell. The rich man died and in hell he lift up his eyes being in torment.
[39:20] If you haven't trusted Christ, it's going to be too late real soon. Trust Jesus now. Change your future.
[39:33] Now let me say to the Christians, you can live in victory over sin if you decide today trust Jesus and honor him. Stop making more excuses than seven wise men can render a reason.
[39:45] Stop excusing your sin. Stop saying, I look at porn because there's a lion in the street. to stop it and make your mind up.
[39:57] You can live in victory. You can change your future. But to do that, you got to do it right now. Here's a saying I often use with young men I train. Tomorrow, you'll only be more of whatever it is you are today.
[40:11] Tomorrow, you'll only be more of whatever it is you are today. You're lazy today, you'll just be lazier tomorrow. Tomorrow, you're hard working today, you'll probably be harder working tomorrow. You're late today, you're not going to change tomorrow.
[40:25] You got to change right now. Right now. Go to the aunt, thou sluggard. Consider her ways and be wise.
[40:37] She has no guide, no ruler, no overseer, but she prepares her food in the summer and gets her harvest at harvest time. You know what?
[40:47] Wake up. Wake up. Quit making excuses. Wake up. Quit making soft choices. Quit doing the little things that are ruining your life.
[40:59] You're making small decisions that are ruining your life. If you don't make a change, poverty is coming. But I'll give you another one. If you don't change, hell is coming.
[41:13] You need to hear me. There's no way out of this. You will die eventually. And you'll either go to heaven or hell. No one will pray you out of purgatory. No one will give you a newer life, a nicer life.
[41:26] When you die, it's over. Heaven or hell for eternity. Everybody lives somewhere forever. If you're not saved, get saved.
[41:37] Let's serve Jesus. Father in heaven, I lift your name high. I love you. I praise you. And I magnify you. I pray you'd work today. I pray you'd give honor and glory to your name.
[41:51] God, there's some people here this morning that need to be saved. I'm asking you to save them. I want to ask you to touch them today and let them see the need of salvation and be ready to trust you. And dear God, there's Christians here that have been playing with sin, need to make a decision today that totally changes their life.
[42:08] Stop making excuses. Stop coming up with ways that cover their sin. There's Christians in here, Lord, that aren't investing in you and aren't investing in your ministry. And I pray, God, you deal with our hearts.
[42:19] God, help us to live out this passage and I'll give you praise.