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Amen, so this morning we are going to go into sermon number two of the Up from Slavery sermon series. And this morning's sermon, as we saw in, you know, kind of a main theme in Second Thessalonians chapter three, keep your place there, we're going to be going back and forth there. But the title of the sermon this morning is that hard work always works. That's the title of the sermon this morning. And what I really want to address this morning in, you know, the sermon is that there is just an overall disdain for work today. And that this is nothing new actually. It's interesting that in the book, I don't know how many of you have finished reading it or have gotten, if you've gotten even halfway into it, you understand that this is not an issue that's new to us just today. It's not a new idea to think that physical labor, and what I'm talking about is physical work, things that, you know, that would be laborious to you. But this idea that labor, that actual physical labor is bad. That's a problem that we have today that we see today, but it is not anything new. Or that, you know, physical labor is maybe it's not bad, but it's a lower form. It's only for lower people in society, or whatever. And Robert T. Washington addresses that several times in this book, and it's interesting at the angle that he comes at it for. Remember he was born in slavery, and then when he was a young man, probably, you know, eight or nine years old, he was actually, you know, a free man at that point. But from page 35, let me give you a quote from the book Up From Slavery. He says this about physical labor. He's talking about, you know, this goal of getting to this Hampstead Institute, you know, this goal of getting himself an education, which will be another sermon in the series, by the way. But he's talking about, you know, just some preconceptions that he had about why he wanted an education, what things were going to be like when he finally got to the school. And he quotes in page 35, he says, before going there, this is Hampton, I had a good deal of the then rather prevalent idea, this meant this was a common idea, among our people that to secure an education meant to have a good, easy time, free from all necessity for manual labor. Does that sound familiar today? At Hampton, he continues, at Hampton, I not only learned that it was not a disgrace to labor, but learned to love labor, not alone for its financial value, but for labor's own sake, and for the independence and self-reliance, which the ability to do something which the world wants done, brings. Now look, that was a, that's just, there's so much there, but I mean, he says, he not only learned that labor itself was not a disgrace, and if you finish reading the book, you will find out that that was a main theme of this school, very good school. I mean, in the teaching of the head, the hands, and the heart, if you remember that phrase that he always said, but it's not only a disgrace to labor, but he learned to love it. He learned to love it, why? Because not alone for its financial value, because yes, labor, we will talk about that this morning, labor will bring you financial gain as well, but for what? For labor's own sake. Now how many, I mean, if you are a hardworking man in this room, you know exactly what that phrase means. That you love labor for labor's own sake. This is why you'll hear, you know, men come into the church on Sunday and say, oh man, you know, I worked really hard, and I did this, and I did that. This is why, you know, it feels so good to drive home from work on Friday. Because you love labor for labor's own sake. Because labor, because it's, look, it's designed, you're designed to do it, meaning when you do do what you're supposed to do, there's joy there. It's J-O-Y, it's not happy. Like when I go and I was working construction and I was in 100 degree heat with fiberglass insulation wrapped around my face all day long, look, that was not a happy moment. You're not just happy when that's happening. When you go home from work and it looks like you have like crystal arm hair from the fiberglass, you know, on your arms, but look, there's a joy there. There's a joy that, look, I worked hard today, and I did what I was supposed to do. Now look, he was saying that, look, there was this idea amongst his people. So here, the ex-slaves are now, they're not educated, they're trying to get educated, and there's this idea that if we get educated, we don't have to do manual labor. And I mean, I can understand where that comes from, from their perspective, but he figured out very soon that that's not what the education was for. Now either from the perspective of former slave owners, there was an idea that labor was bad, that physical labor was bad. In page nine of the book, and look, this became a severe advantage to the people that used to own slaves and then slavery was outlawed and now, you know, they had to do their own work or hire people to do work. But look at, in page number nine, he says this, he says, they, meaning the former slave owners, he said they had unconsciously imbibed, look, that means assimilated to, they kind of taught themselves over time to, that the feeling that manual labor was not the thing for them. So look, it's, the former slave owner disadvantaged himself to the point where, you know, he believed that manual labor was not for me. So thus, and we'll talk about this later in another sermon as well on this book, but that led them to many difficulties in the future of their lives. They knew how to do nothing. They knew how to do nothing. And Washington even says that in the book. He says, look, at least we knew how to, he's like, he felt sorry for the previous owners because he's like, at least we knew, we had skills. That's not the point of this sermon, but that's just a very interesting point. As a matter of fact, Washington even points out on the subject of physical labor, he even points out how the ministry became the profession that suffered the most during his time. Because anybody that had a slight education, you know, they thought that they could get into this easy life of the ministry, this labor-free life by just claiming that they were called into the ministry, meaning you just ended up with all these unqualified people as ministers. He said the ministry suffered terribly because everybody was looking for this easy, manual, labor-free life. But what does the Bible say? What does the Bible say? I know we're talking about this book and these lessons and there's a lot of wisdom in these lessons, but really, what does the Bible say about a labor-free life? Turn to Genesis chapter 3, Genesis chapter 3. People today are still looking for this labor-free life just like the people in Booker T. Washington's time. As a matter of fact, college today, that's why you see so many kids rushing off to college and just wanting to get a college degree so they don't actually have to work for a living. So they don't have to actually do anything for a living. This is why, and I'll talk about this a little bit later as well, this is why even before the COVID mess, there was like an 80% shortage in the skilled trades. In the trades where you actually go out and work with your hands and do something that takes skill. There's a huge shortage. That shortage is, it's not quite doubled, but it's much higher. It's like 25% higher today than it was a year and a half ago. It's just getting worse. The shortage of labor, remember that. There's a shortage of labor today. We're going to talk about a little, some simple economic theory as well this morning. Turn to Genesis chapter 3. We see what Booker T. Washington has learned, what things were going on then. We see the same things. This disdain for physical labor is still happening today. Look at Genesis chapter 3, look at verse 19. The Bible says, this is what the Lord says to the man. He says, in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread till thou return to the ground for it was out of it was thou taken for dost thou art and unto dust thou shalt return. So God is giving the judgments and what's going to happen to man after they betrayed him in the garden. And the Bible says here, it says you're going to earn your bread. And you'll see this theme just keep popping up over and over. And that's important too, by the way. But he says, thou shalt eat bread. And we see the same theme in 2 Thessalonians chapter 3, thou shalt eat bread by the sweat of your face, by the work that you do. Now let me ask you a question. Is this how things work today? I mean, does the sweat, I mean the sweat of your face, does it get you your food today? Do people literally need to go out and work today? Let me rephrase this. Do people in America today need to go out and work in order to have food? Let me just read you a quote. A nutritional researcher at the University of California at San Francisco found that teen and adult food stamp recipients had larger waste and higher levels of obesity than people that aren't in the program. The people that do not work in this country and receive assistance so they, you know, so they don't starve are literally more obese than the average obese American. So what's happening in America today is the government is actually stepping in front of God's plan. Let's look at jobs today. You say, well, there is a lot of, you know, physical labor. There is a lot of, you know, what about physical labor though? There's a lot of jobs where I can go and I can work hard to be an accountant. And I sit at a desk all day and I just do accounting all day. There's like tech jobs, web development. It's a different time. It's a different time. So this doesn't really apply. Well, guess what? The Bible always applies. And this also applies. Look, there is jobs today that don't require physical labor. You know, there's a lot of tech jobs, banking, accounting, web development. I'm sure I could go on for forever. But the point is this. The point is this. I do not know anyone. In the 44 years that I've been alive on this earth, I do not know anyone that has a strong work ethic that did not get that work ethic through physical labor. Think about it. Do you know anybody? Do you know anybody that just works like a crazy person at their tech job or at their accounting job and they just don't know how to do any physical labor? They just have never done any physical labor? Look, that's where they gained that work ethic. Anybody that I know today that has a strong work ethic has gained it through physical labor, either from, you know, just growing up with chores and their parents to, you know, having a side business of some kind or whatever. I know a lot of people with strong work ethic that do several things. They have a job that's not really a physical job, but then they have maybe a business or two that's very physical, that's very physical. That was a common thing, you know, when I was working in North Dakota. Guys would work, you know, a professional job and then they would have a ranch on the side. That's exactly what I did. You know, they could work for someone and then have a side business or just own their own business, whatever. But to learn hard work, the point I'm trying to make and the point the Bible is making, to learn hard work and to learn work ethic, you need to sweat. You need to learn how to do physical labor. I always said that the best engineers were farm kids. I stick by that today because they know how to work and they know how things work. But look, labor, the point I'm trying to make is labor is the best way. So parents, you need to listen up. Labor, actual physical things to do is the best way to instill work ethic in your children. And guess what? It matches God's plan. And look, as you learn how to work physically hard, it will lead to bigger and less strenuous things. You become the supervisor, you become the foreman, but it starts with sweating. Look the lazy office worker is still not good at their office job. I mean, they're still not good at it, they're still lazy. And here's the thing, parents, like if you don't get this right, this is a unique thing. This slothfulness, this laziness, this is a unique thing in the sense that if this happens to your children, I don't know how to fix the 30-year-old lazy man. If I figure out, look if I figure it out, if I figure out that there's a process or there's a method or something, I'll be a multi-millionaire because I'll write a book and everyone will buy it and it will just fix the whole country. Look, you could literally, if you don't teach your children work ethic, you could literally have a ruined person on your hands. Turn to 2 Thessalonians chapter 3. I mean, the Bible could fix it. You say, well, what about the Bible? The Bible could fix it, but we won't let the Bible work in this country is the problem. Turn to 2 Thessalonians chapter 3, 2 Thessalonians chapter 3, look at verse number 7. The Bible says, for you yourselves know how you ought to follow us for we behaved ourselves, for we behaved not ourselves disorderly among you. Verse 8, neither did we eat any man's bread for naught, but wrought with labor and travail night and day that we might not be chargeable to any of you. Look, he's not talking about the ministry here. He's saying, look, when we came to minister unto you, when we came to be evangelists to you, he's like, we worked and we fed ourselves so we would not be chargeable to any. Not because we have not power, but to make ourselves an example unto you to follow us. He's trying to be a good example to show them how, you know, we're going to work for our food. You should work for your food. Verse number 10, for even when we were with you, this we commanded you that if any would not work, neither should he eat. But again, our society will not allow the Bible to work. This is the problem. If you don't work, you should go hungry. And hunger is like one of the, there's a reason that hunger is one of the strongest desires you will ever have. Like it's one of the things that you just can't shut off. You can't, if you're just, you haven't eaten anything for three or four days, you can't just tell yourself, I'm not hungry. It's a super strong desire. Instead, here's the situation in this country. Let me just read you some stats here. Here's where we're at in this country. The Bible says you don't work, you shouldn't eat. I mean, it's pretty simple, right? Occam's razor, the simplest solution is usually the right one. So if you don't work, you shouldn't eat. CNBC on August 7th, 2021 reported this. There are more than 1 million more open jobs in the US than people looking for work. There are 10 million open jobs, and there are 8.6 million unemployed people. Now you're just like, 41%, now here's where things get really stupid, especially after the news on Friday. If you listen to the president and his new mandate, 41% of employers are now offering enhanced benefits. Employers are trying to beg employees. It is an employee's market. Does that make sense? Let's talk a little bit about supply and demand for five minutes. You have 10 million jobs, you have 8.6 million people on unemployment. We'll address that one in a second. But the point is, there's way more open jobs. Companies can't find enough people. Companies need people, they can't find people. So this is how stupid vaccine mandates are for the private industry. And I'm going to give you a little bit of a positive thing to walk out the door with this morning on these vaccine mandates. Because look, it's an employer's market. It's an employer's market. There are more open jobs than there are people to fill those jobs. Now let me explain to you how the private sector works. I know that the president works for the federal government, which makes no sense. They do not operate in a free market. They do not operate like a private industry. But the point is this. When you put more tyrannical rules on people today, and there's open jobs everywhere. Let me give you an example. A housing market in Fresno is crazy. It's definitely a seller's market. I heard that a house with one or two days on the market will have 15 offers. This is the equivalent of going into a house that's for sale in Fresno, knowing that there's 15 offers on that house, and saying, I'll offer you half price, and I want everything changed in the kitchen. I want the bathrooms remodeled. I want the backyard re-landscaped, and I want you to put in a pool. Then I'll offer you half price for this. That's what's happening. It is a seller. They'll laugh you out the door. Companies can't find people. They can't find enough people. They're trying to offer more benefits, signing bonuses, pay to get people to encourage to come to their company. Not get rid of people. A business, a private business. The point I'm trying to get at is a private business operating in a free market would have to be suicidal to follow these rules. And don't you quit. You make them fire you. Because guess what? It's illegal. Why, are you some constitutional expert? No, but I can read the First Amendment, the first sentence of it, that Congress should not prohibit the free exercise of religion. Oh, you're some rocket scientist. No, I can read a sentence. But the point I'm trying to make is, hey, go get a raise. Everybody's looking for employees. The business would have to be suicidal, but hey, people are just going to go get a raise. It's a fundamental misunderstanding of economics 101, supply and demand. But when you have people that have made a career out of working for the government and that's all they've ever been is politicians, they just don't understand anything. Let's go back to the numbers in the sermon. So that's just a positive note on the mandate for you. It's illegal. It's illegal. It's going to be found illegal. And you know what? Maybe some people just go get a raise after they fire you, but don't quit. So let's go back to the numbers. You say, what's going on? There's immediately 10 million open jobs and 8.6 million people looking for work. Immediately everyone should be employed. Yet the week ending, that was August 7th, the week ending August 21st, 8.8 million people claimed pandemic, emergency assistance, unemployment assistance, and compensation benefits. So basically to claim, I had to read into this, okay, because I wouldn't even know how to begin to do any of this. But to claim unemployment, you are basically saying you're looking for a job and you can't find one. That's what you're saying. So basically 8.8 million people here are liars. I mean, some people are experts at this. I wouldn't even know like where to go to find, I mean, I've never done this. But these people aren't looking for work. But do you think the government doesn't know this? Do you think as the government steps in front of the Bible, they don't know what they're doing? Once again, it's about removing all discomfort from people, remember, a couple weeks ago. It's not about teaching people to overcome. It's about removing all discomfort. Why? So they can gain control over people. That's it. That's all it is. Because why? Turn to Proverbs chapter 22. You say, what? Unemployment, that gains, that gives them control? You bet you it does. You bet it gives them control. Because guess what? Because the Bible. Go to Proverbs 22 and look at verse number seven, Proverbs 22 and look at verse number seven. Proverbs 22, verse number seven, look what the Bible says. The Bible says the rich ruleth over the poor. But really look at the last part here. And the borrower is servant to the lender. So look, the government, I'm going to show you this morning how the government can step in front of the Bible. The government can step in front of the Bible. They can stop the Bible from working. They can stop the Bible. The Bible would get somebody right. The rules of the Bible is like the rules of the economy. It's like gravity. It's just going to work. But I'm going to show you the Bible wins in the end. Because guess what? Proverbs 22, 27 says the borrower is servant to the lender. You know what? The man that earns and saves. The man that earns and saves is free. But the man, the man that spends and borrows is a slave. And guess what? Guess what a slave is really easy to do. It's really easy to control a slave. This is why they do it, folks. Turn to Proverbs chapter 12. The lazy man is an enslaved man. This is what the Bible says. Look at Proverbs chapter 12, verse number 24. You don't have to like it. That's just the way it is. Look at Proverbs 12, verse 24. Again we're going to look at the last half of this verse. The hand of the diligent shall bear rule. Yeah, I know that. You've told me that 1,700 times in the last two years. But the slothful shall be under tribute. You know what that means? That means that the lazy man will be a servant. The lazy man will be a slave. And guess what? That's true. You want to sit home? You want to be on unemployment? You want to work? You're going to be a slave. Right. Right. Right. You're like, what? I don't believe this. Because you get all these arrogant people now. You'll find people actually bragging about benefits. Oh, you know, I'm getting this benefit and I'm getting this benefit. I've seen it since the start of the pandemic. People claiming all the different things that they're getting from the government on this. But look, here's the thing. Try to be lazy and not work. And then brag about all the things that you're getting from the government. And then try to go do what you want. Try it. Look, you can listen to me or you can try it. I suggest you listen. Try to go live where you want. Try to be lazy and not work and then just go pick a neighborhood and say, I want to live here. It's nice here. Try to go where you want. Try to just go like one day, I want to go where it's impossible. It's impossible because the slothful shall be under tribute. The Bible says you're a slave because you're lazy. I mean, the Bible gets you in the end. I mean, the government steps in. The government tries to, you know, you say, I can still eat. I can still survive. But guess, guess what? The Bible, maybe the Bible, maybe, you know, the government's trying to step in front of the Bible, but it wins in the end every time because it's just going to be true. Yes, you can still survive, but you will live as a slave. So look, I mean, just to recap the couple points I made so far. Look, you do not have to work by the sweat of your face today. There's many office jobs. You're true. That's true. But if you've never done so, you will be slothful. That's the first thing. And then the slothful man, you're right. He does not starve, but he's a slave. There's no escaping God's word. That's the beauty of the Bible. You don't even have to believe it. You don't even have to believe the Bible. It's true anyway. Whether you think it's going to happen or not, it's just, it's true. There's no escaping it. So let's talk about the flip side of this coin. You know, hard work. Let's say, you know, I love hard work. You know, I'm going to be a hard worker. I love this quote from Washington in the book. He says, nothing ever comes to one that is worth having except as a result of hard work. He says this, he says, what's, you know, basically what he's saying is you want something, work for it. Now, I mean, a doctrinal correction I would make here, turn to James chapter one. I mean, he's not a theologian. You always have to keep that in mind when you're reading books. But James chapter one, look at verse 17. Look, all good things come from the Lord. We know that. And that's one doctrinal correction I would make to the book. Well, it's a secular, you know, book written by a man. Look at James chapter one and verse 17. Every good gift. Now underline that word good. Because it's important that you keep that in mind. Okay, every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. Look what he's, look what the Bible is saying here. The Bible here is saying that every good gift and every perfect gift comes from God. So you can't just say, well, everything that I have and everything I've ever gotten comes from the Lord. Look, if it's sinful and it's bad, it didn't come from the Lord. The Bible here is saying that, look, through your hard work that the Bible teaches you to do, every good gift that you get from that is from the Lord. That's what the Bible is saying here. And that is the one correction I would make to Washington's quote. Turn to Ecclesiastes chapter five. But the Bible does say that, you know, things will come from your hard work. You will get, you know, you will get stuff. There will be gifts. If you work hard, you know, there will be things that you can enjoy because of your hard work. Look at Ecclesiastes chapter five. In Ecclesiastes chapter five. You say, I think that you should just have to be a minimalist and, no, the Bible actually teaches to go out, work hard, and, you know, enjoy the fruits of that labor. If it's a good gift. Look at Ecclesiastes five and verse 18. The Bible says, Behold, that which I have seen, it is good and comely for one to eat and to drink. So there's that food that you're going to get. There's that sustenance. And to enjoy the, what's that word, the good of all his labor that he taketh under the sun all the days of his life, which God giveth him. Here it's, I mean, this is just reflecting James chapter 117. It's saying, look, the good things that come from your labor, God gave you those things, and it's okay to enjoy those things. For it is his portion. Verse 19. Every man also to whom God hath given riches and wealth, and hath given him power to eat thereof and to take his portion, and to rejoice in his labor, this is the gift of God. Verse 20. For he shall not much remember the days of his life, because God answered him in the joy of his heart. Look, work hard is what this is saying. Enjoy those blessings that come from that labor, as long as they're good. As long as you know it's not sinful, sinfulness. As long as they're good gifts, they're from the Lord. Enjoy them. I mean, give credit to the Lord. And enjoy those gifts. There is nothing, folks, there is nothing wrong with success, nothing. That is a bad direction. If you start hearing people talk that way, look, lazy people envying the hard work of hard working people, that's where this country is going. Demonizing the rich, you need to be careful about that. I'm not saying that there's not evil rich people, okay, but look, demonizing someone just because they're successful is wrong. Because the Bible says that, you know, you should enjoy the fruits of your success. There are just as many types of covetous people that are lazy, slothful people as there is on the other end of the spectrum. So you need to be careful about that. And look, I mean, here's another thing. There's a lot of successful people in this church. I think about that. I think about, you know, just the success that some people in this, that's a great opportunity for the younger folks in the church. That is a wonderful opportunity for the younger people, the younger men, the younger women in this church. So you young people, you need to listen, you need to learn. You're like, people don't give me advice, I'm a young person, nobody gives me advice. That's because, you know, they're done giving you advice, because you don't listen. I've mentioned that before, if people, if people, you know, you ask for advice and people don't really say anything anymore, young person, it's because you're not listening. You know, we've been here two years, and if you don't listen, people are going to stop talking to you. They're going to stop giving you that advice. So hard work, the disdain for physical labor is wrong. We see that in the Bible. The benefits of hard work are there. The consequences of slothfulness, we talked a little bit about that, let's talk about some more. Now, about a year and a half ago, what I'm about to tell you, I came up with about a year and a half ago that if I should ever become the pastor of this church, I was going to have this policy change. As we're an independent church now, it's like a lot of people have asked me, anything going to change? Anything going to change? You know, doctrinally, no, nothing's going to change, everything, you know, what you all know what I believe, and if you have any questions, you can always ask. But here's the thing, there is going to be a policy change, and I'm going to list it for you this morning. There will be a change in policy. Turn back to 2 Thessalonians chapter 3, and it's about the consequences of having a disdain for work, or the consequences of slothfulness. There will be a change, and it will be a biblical change, but it's going to be a change. Go back to 2 Thessalonians chapter 3, look at verse number 11, we read up to verse number 11. There's a problem here. Look at verse number 11, for we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly. These people are just, they're just, they're not, they're not with the program, okay? Working not at all, but our busybodies. Verse number 12, so here's these people, they're disorderly, they're not getting with the program, they're doing things against what the church wants to do, and they're busybodies, which means they're gossiping, they're talking about things they shouldn't talk about, they're listening to things they shouldn't hear. Verse number 12, now them that are such we command and exhort by our Lord Jesus Christ, that with quietness they work, and eat their own bread. So right away he addresses the problem, so they're doing all these things, he doesn't say that they get orderly, or that they stop being busybodies, he says that they go to work, because that's the root of the problem. The root of the problem is that they're not working. But ye brethren, be not weary in well doing, verse 14, and if any man not obey our word by this epistle, note that man, and have no company with him, that he may be ashamed. Now here's what I've seen in the last five years. Every single time I have seen a young man, or a man in general, in a church that does not work, one hundred percent of the time there is trouble. One hundred percent. It's not ninety-eight percent. It's a hundred percent. But it's because the Bible says that we should have no company with them. Turn to First Timothy chapter five. First Timothy chapter five, and look at verse number eight. First Timothy chapter five, and look at verse number eight. First Timothy chapter five and verse number eight, the Bible says, but if any man provide not for his own, especially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel. Let that sink in for a few moments. Worse than an unbeliever. Again, how many times have I said, and the reason that this sermon is coming a few weeks after is because we had the sermon series on enemies and neighbors, and I wanted to really push this idea, this point, this Bible doctrine that saved people can be wicked. That saved people can act wickedly. Look, I mean, this verse right here proves it. It says that somebody that doesn't support their own family, and if you're living on unemployment, you're not supporting your family. I am. Because that is gotten from federal taxes by all the working men and women in this country. It says that you're worse than an unbeliever. Well, what? How could that be? That makes perfect sense. That doesn't say you're not, that you are an infidel. It says that you're worse. It says that you will act worse. It says that you will do worse things. I've seen saved people do things that I've never seen unsaved people do. Isn't that something? I've never seen unsaved people do some of the things that I've seen saved people do. And then the Bible continues to define in First Timothy chapter five, look at verse number nine. It's not just the men either. Verse number nine, let not a widow be taken into the number under three score years old, having been the wife of one man. Well reported of for good works, if she brought up children, if she'd lodged strangers, if she has washed the saint's feet, if she's relieved, the afflicted, if she's diligent and followed every good work. But the younger widows refuse, it's talking about who the church should take care of, who the church should bring in, who deserves the welfare of the believers. And it's saying the younger widows refuse for they begin to wax wanton against Christ they'll marry, having damnation because they've cast off their first faith. And withal, they learn to be idle, wandering about from house to house, here we go again. And not only idle, but tattlers also and busybodies, speaking things which they ought not. So it's the same thing, if you're a woman, you're not being, basically if you're a woman under the age of 60, you're supposed to get married. But if you're somebody that, you know, is not able to get married, and you're under the age of 60, and you're able to work, women have to work too then, if they're not supported by their father or their husband, basically. That's what the Bible is saying. So it's everybody basically that should be working that's not is gonna cause trouble in the church. That's what it is. And so look, here's the policy change. Somebody that is supposed to be working according to the Bible and refuses to do so will not be allowed in this church. That's the policy change. And you say, well, why? You say, well, because the Bible says so. That should be it. And the second one is because, you know, just the Bible tells us, the Bible gives us the courtesy of telling us why is that they will cause trouble. And do you not see that? Have you not seen that over the last many years? It's always people that are not working, that they cause trouble every single time, wandering from house to house, lying, tattling, listening, listening to and speaking gossip, and look, so you'll not be permitted to live on unemployment and stay in this church if you're deemed able to be working. Because the Bible says we should have no company with you. So look, it's just, you know, it's gonna save us all the pain and suffering is what it's gonna do. And again, I hope you understand the philosophy of how bad, you know, believers can be. And so we have to be careful. Turn to 1 Corinthians 5 and verse 11. So you say, how will it be enacted? How will it be enacted? Well, you don't actually have to turn there. It'll be treated the same as the 1 Corinthians 5 and 11 sin, drunkenness or extortioners or whatever. I mean, basically the Matthew 18 process will be followed. You know, we're not on a hair trigger to just kick somebody out of the church, but the process will be followed. Basically, you know, a good example is someone who comes to the church and is called a brother, somebody who's a regular to the church, and it is found out that they're living in fornication. So basically, that person will be given three choices by the pastor. That person will be given the choice, you can either move out, you can get married or, you know, you can go to church somewhere else. Those are your three choices. You know, take some time to think about it and let me know. But it's not going to be allowed. That's basically the example right there. And you know, if they refuse, it could be brought before the church, you know, whatever. So that is the new policy. And look, that policy, I had thought of that over a year ago, that you know what, I'm just going to implement this. I've seen so many people hurt in situations like that. But go back to 1 Timothy chapter 5, look at verse number 13. The last point I want to make, the last point I want to make about physical labor this morning and this idea that hard work always works is this. If you don't work, and if you become someone who doesn't work or has a disdain, as you know, Washington was saying, and as we see in our society today, that has this disdain, this idea that physical labor is bad, that it's not good, look, it will literally change who you are, the Bible says. Look at 1 Timothy chapter 5 and verse 13. You have to, you know, read the words of the Bible and really understand what it's saying when you just read through these things, but look what it says in verse 13. Here's these people that don't work. Here's these people that don't work. And you know what, maybe it started out where, you know, they were a hard working person, and they got, you know, maybe they got laid off or they got injured or something happened where they couldn't go to work anymore. And then they just kind of never went back to work. And they just became somebody who just became idle. Look what the Bible says will happen. It says, and withal, they learn to be idle. Look, all these things wandering about from house to house, and not only idle, but tattlers also and busybodies speak all this wicked stuff right here, they learn it. All this wicked stuff is things that happened when a man stops working. It could be a man that never worked, or it could be a man that, you know what, he just, he just, yeah, stops working. Something bad happens. Look, transitions in people's lives, many times throw them for a loop. People move, maybe a bad thing happens like a divorce or something happens to somebody and they stop working, they will learn to do these things. Even if they didn't do those things before. Because guess what? The problem is the working. That is the root of the disease, is the not working, and all these things are, all these things are leaves on that tree. That's why the Bible says like, hey, you find somebody that has this root, it's like, ah, have no company. Have no company that they may be ashamed. That they may be ashamed. Why? Because we want them to get right. Because we want them to get back. We want to pull that root out. So the Bible says that by, you know, it'll literally ruin you. It'll ruin you as a human being. And then all this sin flows from it. Life ruining sin, by the way. Speaking things with, I mean, just terrible stuff. It makes no sense for this church not to follow the Bible. So look, here's the conclusion, folks. Labor is good. Labor is good. We'll learn next week, you know, one of the great upsides of labor. One of the great upsides of labor. Now look, I don't want to be so negative this morning, but here's the thing. Here's the thing. If you get this right with your kids, look, you've got to be on it all the time, parents. You've got to be finding laborious things for them to be doing all the time. And they have to know how to do them and do them well. I've told my kids that the worst thing you could ever be in life is lazy. You know what? That's pretty close. The worst thing you could ever be in life is lazy because it will lead to all these different things. And it could lead you, I mean, look, the worst thing you could ever be, really, if you want to get theological about it, the worst thing you could ever be is unsaved. But look, after salvation, laziness is way up on the list. Because it is the one sin, look, I've seen people get over drinking, I've seen people get over drugs, I've seen people get over all kinds of other sins. I don't know that I've ever seen an adult get over this one. It's bad. It's bad. It's life ruining. You cannot let your kids get to this point where they become a lazy person. You need to teach them to do physical labor when they're young. And you know what? It's worth doing, it's worth doing right. There's another thing that they need to learn. They need to do labor, they need to do labor correctly. They need to learn how to use a broom, learn how to use a shovel, learn how to use tools, learn how to use all these different things. They need to learn physical labor. You mean even the girls? Even the girls. Look, my wife works physically hard. It is physically hard to keep a home. There are many times when I come home and she is physically exhausted from all the organizing and the cleaning and the teaching and all the physical work that comes with raising children and keeping a home. You ladies know, it's physical. It's hard. You cannot raise lazy daughters either. This is not just for the boys. But we see that, look, even though it doesn't matter what society says, society can say, all physical labor bad and all this kind of stuff, the Bible always wins in the end. The Bible will always be true whether people believe it or not. So look, Booker T. Washington is a great case study for what physical labor and the respect for physical labor can do for a life. If the respect for physical labor lifted this man from zero, it can lift anybody up. That's it, kids. Do you hear me? It's physical labor. Physical labor can lift you up through your whole life and then you will be able to enjoy all the good gifts that God gives you. Or you could be a slave. And guess what? You don't want to be a slave today because there's a lot of slave masters that I'm seeing pop up. There's a lot of slave masters up there and it's going to be worse when these kids grow up. Another benefit is that everybody else goes in the other direction. The child that grows up today to be a young man or a young lady that has a great work ethic, they're going to be just pure solid gold. Pure solid gold. And when some employer or when somebody picks them up as an employee, they will never let them go. Because guess what? Your employer doesn't hire you because he feels sorry for you. Your employer hires you because you make him money. They're not going to get rid of the solid gold employee that has that work ethic. And you men remember that too. You go into work and you kill it every single day. And then you will be gold as well. It doesn't take much to stand out. It doesn't take much to stand out. Look if it can lift Booker T. Washington, it can lift you. And the Bible proves it and the Bible says it will. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer.