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

But the sermon today actually in verse 29 at the end of the chapter there it says see is thou a man diligent in his business he shall stand before kings he shall not stand before mean men and that term mean means basically average and if you remember in math class you had median mean what was mean the average okay and so that just what that means meaning that you're gonna stand before kings you're not gonna stand before basically just average people you know you're gonna stand before the high high ups right and what I wanted to preach about is being a man diligent in his business or a woman diligent in her business and basically this sermon is more so about being busy and not being idle okay and Proverbs hits this a lot as far as not being slothful not being idle but being diligent and being someone as a hard worker okay and I just want to preach on this because not only is it going to be profitable for you to be a diligent man or woman but it's also going to keep you out of trouble okay if there's anything to learn from this is that if you're diligent if you're someone that's working hard and you're doing a bunch of stuff and you're trying to get everything done it's gonna be hard for you to get into trouble okay and someone that doesn't have a lot to do and they have you know you ever heard that the phrase the idle mind is the devil's workshop that's not in the Bible as far as that phrase but that concepts there meaning that if you're idle you tend to get into trouble you tend to do things you shouldn't do and all that now the word diligent you know I was just looking up like just a definition of what it is I mean it's just an adjective you know so someone that's diligent in their work or anything like that but it says constant an effort to accomplish something attentive and persistent and doing anything done or pursued with persevering attention painstaking meaning that someone is basically just I'm gonna get this done and doesn't matter what it takes and they're constant or what I would use is consistent you know someone that's just consistently doing something and getting the job done and you know this is something that we need to learn in our lives as far as not being lazy and if there's something that I'm always like praying to God is that Lord help me not to be lazy okay now the term that the Bible term that they use for this is sluggard or slothful okay and when it comes to this you know this is something we need to always be working on as far as being diligent not being slothful not being a sluggard not being lazy but just being diligent in what we do and being busy okay and and I was actually holding the grass last last evening and started raining on me and I have a hillside so I was like man I gotta get this done you know and it was like I was like halfway done with the back part of the the yard but I just remember and I'm always gonna have bring up stories with my dad because obviously I grew up but I still remember this this what happened this one time I was mowing the I was mowing the grass and it started raining and I wasn't done yet and I basically just was going to go take the the mower to the garage and just stop mowing my dad's like no you need you out there and finish that and I was kind of mad at first you know because I'm like ah it's raining you're making me mow the grass in the rain and but after that I was like you know what they needed to get done and you know I didn't melt but it was one of those things where it just taught me a lesson early in life that hey it's not always gonna be sunshine and roses when you're doing work and it's not always gonna be the best situation that you're you're gonna be in when it comes to doing work and I was I was mowing grass it was raining on me and I was just thinking about my dad tell me like get it done and obviously I was like if my dad wasn't saying that but I was saying that to myself I was like I need to get this done you know I'm not gonna just get it halfway done and then you don't have to mow it later later or whatever and I survived it and slide down the hill or cut off my leg or anything like that so say is that you know those are types of lessons that I've learned as far as being diligent being someone that just gets the job done and it doesn't matter the conditions and obviously you know when I when I say that you know you got to take some safety into account so I mean if it's lightning outside and you're sitting on a metal yeah it wasn't thunderstorming my dad wasn't had didn't have me out there in a lightning storm okay doing there's a lot it was just it was just pretty much just light raining okay so obviously you don't want to be you don't want to be dumb about it but you do want to just basically get the job done and if you get wet or if you get muddy or you get dirty you know what you need to get the job done okay and so that's just kind of a you know just an illustration as far as you know working it's not always gonna be the best situation it's not always gonna be the most fun situation to get the job done but you know a lot of times you had to get it done I think a brother Dave you know with his job and you know punching himself in the face you know taking trash can take the trash out of it what I'm saying is that it's not always clean it's not always something that's gonna be fun there's gonna be days that are gonna be easier there's gonna be days that are harder but you know what you know it's better to have a job where you're working hard you're diligent and you're not idle okay and you know going on some verses here go to go to Proverbs chapter 10 and we're gonna just be in Proverbs for a little bit here just kind of seeing this and it is a dichotomy between being diligent and being slothful being idle okay those are polar opposites and Proverbs 10 verse 4 it says he becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand but the hand of the diligent maketh rich he that gathereth in summer is a wise son but he that sleepeth in harvest is a son that cause its shame now there's another verse that I didn't put in here but it talks about how they basically a person like a slothful person won't won't go out and so because it's cold okay because it's cold and then they're not gonna have anything for the harvest okay and this there's a lot of verses you can go to with this and Proverbs is just filled with this but it comes down to this you know they're lazy and they're not they're not gathering in the summer right and then they're sleeping in the harvest meaning that they're not gathering up the fruit it's all there it's just right there ready for them to pick it but they won't do it because guess what that takes time it takes labor and it's not gonna be easy but also on the flip side before you can get to the harvest as far as going out there and doing it when it's not fun right it's still cold you're like man it's cold it's you know it's like 20 you know like 40 degrees outside and you know why I'm out here planting these seeds and all this other stuff and you know it's not always gonna be fun it's not always gonna be the best ideal situation but the person that does it in the cold and the person that does gather in the summer and you say why is it talking about gathering something because it's hot in the summertime okay let's be honest it's hot you don't want to do it in the summertime because you know it's just not comfortable harvest is comfortable because it's usually cooler that's my favorite time of year honestly is is fall because it's just not super humid but summertime is humid and anybody that has a garden knows that you have to pick that stuff during the summer or it's just all gonna rot and if you don't pick it then other stuff's not gonna grow in its place and so you know my brother's not here who's like got the green thumb but he would tell you the same thing and there's certain things I my dad will know about this you know dealing with cucumbers right those things you got to get those things as soon as they they're getting ripe right and then you pluck those things because they'll have turned yellow orange and then they're just mush you know and and so that takes diligence that takes you know basically integrity to basically go out there especially when it's hot and and stuff like that now going on to Proverbs chapter 12 Proverbs chapter 12 I just want to show you some verses on this being diligent not being slothful Proverbs 12 verse 24 says the hand of the diligent shall bear rule but the slothful shall be under tribute now this kind of goes hand-in-hand with that verse that we read at the beginning where it says I see a style man diligent in his business he shall stand before Kings okay and what this really shows you is that someone that's hard working consistent that they're not lazy those people are gonna end up being leaders in whatever they do okay you think about this with any job and a lot of cases let's just say you work for a fast-food restaurant or something like that and let's say you were just there doing your job and all that stuff and you're just really working hard you're gonna be a manager before you know it especially today with the people that are working in those outfits because listen the Dairy Queen down here is case in point I think a monkey could do a better job than a lot of the Sun's down here you think you're like you're being a little harsh listen I probably I'm probably being kind when it comes to that because anyway oh I thought I had to go to the register and figure the thing out and try to get my blizzard before all that was anyway so all that to say is that if you're if you're hard-working you're gonna end up moving up the ladder and listen you say well you know people are unfair and they have favorites and all that stuff listen you got to put it into the Lord's hands too because the Lord will promote those and he'll cause it to be a case where maybe you move to a different job you know if that's just not gonna work out he'll get you another position to another job whatever and but if you're diligent you're consistent you're constant in what you're doing then God will bless in that now verse 27 so you're in Proverbs 12 24 go down to verse 27 says the slothful man roasteth not which he took in hunting but the substance of a diligent man is precious now what's this talking about well I believe it's just talking about he's not a waster and it talks about Proverbs hits that to talking about someone that's a great waster and basically what it's saying is that you know a diligent man he'll use whatever he's got you know whatever he has he kind of uses to its full potential and he's not just wasting stuff okay and you know that's what I believe it's talking about there now go to Proverbs 13 verse 4 Proverbs 13 verse 4 and honestly we could probably just do a tour de force through Proverbs all day talking about being diligent not being slothful talking about the ant you know go to the ant thou sluggard you know and like all these different things as far as being diligent and being hard-working but in verse 4 there so Proverbs 13 verse 4 says this the soul of the slugger desireth and hath nothing but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat go to Proverbs 21 Proverbs 21 or verse 5 Proverbs 21 verse 5 now this is an interesting verse because now we're kind of dealing more so with the mindset of someone that's diligent it says in verse 5 of Proverbs 21 the thoughts of the diligent tend only to plenteous but everyone that is hasty only to want okay and so and want is meaning that you're in need of something right but the thoughts of the diligent tend only to plenteous so what are you thinking about you know are your thoughts on things that are productive or your thoughts on things that are just frivolous and that's not gonna help anything right and I'll say you can never have fun or you know like it's got to be work work work never have any fun that's not what I'm talking about but in general you should be working you should be doing something that's productive okay and the fun should be a side note not the other way around but today in our day and age everything's about fun and work is the side note okay work is kind of like the necessary evil right but God created us to work especially men as far as working by the sweat of our face we like that okay and honestly you know we were helping brother brother Anthony move in and stuff like that I don't hate that type of stuff I mean yeah it makes you tired and all that stuff but I don't hate it I'm not like you know this is awful I kind of like it you know it's I like doing things that are outside I like doing things that and I like building things and so I like doing something to where I feel like hey I accomplished this and there's that sense of accomplishment and people that are diligent in their work and people that are hard-working end up being happier people let's just be honest because people that do a job that they feel like they've got a sense of accomplishment they tend to be happy and the reason that a lot of people are depressed and society is because they're lazy or that they have a job that they feel like is just not worth anything and you know as Christians we should never be depressed in that aspect because we are we you should be working for things that are eternal and if you're constantly thinking about hey you know I won someone last week or I went out soul winning last week and I you know we try to give the gospel to someone last week listen that's profitable and you should be looking at it like hey I'm not wasting my life and that's the idea that a lot of people have people that are that are slothful people that are sitting in their mother's basement playing video games all day they hate their life let's just be honest they're gonna be depressed not only because they don't have a girlfriend but because you know they are they are not fulfilling anything in their life they're gonna be depressed because it's just basically what am I doing with my life right and so you have to look at that as far as being diligent is there's the idea of being profitable but then there's idea of just being happy right and and that that seems weird to people they're like well you know if I work a lot you know how in the world could I be happy and it looks weird because obviously happy should be you're sitting on a beach somewhere sipping on a pina colada don't do that but sipping on let's say you know a coconut or something like that and you're just kind of sitting there and I'm not again I'm not saying this is sinful to do this every once in a while but if that's your whole life that's why you here you know you might as well just die and go to heaven because that's gonna be better than that that beach scene with your with your coconut does that make sense and so going on you know go to Proverbs chapter 19 I'm gonna read to you Joshua 22 so Joshua Joshua has a lot in there about talking about the word of Lord and you're gonna have good success and it says ask for me in my house we will serve the Lord well and Joshua 22 5 it says but take diligent heed to do the commandment and the law which Moses the servant of the Lord charged you to love the Lord your God and he walk in all his ways and to keep his commandments and to cleave unto him and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul and if you remember the end of Ecclesiastes what's what's the conclusion in matter fear God and keep his commandments is the whole duty of man it's really that simple but if you do that guess what you'll be happy you'll have a lot of joy you'll be rejoicing in your life because you're accomplishing something and it's not gonna be vanity and vexation of spirit but people that work for the things of this life and it's all about the boat it's all about you know possessions in this world they're not gonna be happy it's gonna be it's gonna be vexation of spirit it's gonna be vanity and they know that to be true right anybody that gets a new vehicle and if that's like there and I'm not against people I get new vehicles right but what I'm saying is if that is your intent in life you're just like it's all about that new vehicle that's like what I'm looking forward to in life you're going to be disappointed let's be honest because that newness is gonna wear off and now you just have a big car payment you know like so all these things as far as what are you working for you know whether it's eternal or not but also you know not being slothful but in Proverbs chapter 19 verse 15 says slothfulness casteth into a deep sleep and an idle soul shall suffer hunger so notice how slothfulness and idleness are linked and I just wanted you to see that as far as being idle being idle and being slothful being a slugger being lazy okay we want to be diligent in our business but also we need to be diligent in good business right I'm not saying to be diligent and then you know doing wickedness okay that is business I guess but it's not the good kind and so obviously what we're talking about is serving Lord doing things that we should be doing but go to Ecclesiastes chapter 5 Ecclesiastes chapter 5 now a good way to know whether you're busy or you're working hard is how you sleep at night is it hard for you to go to sleep now I know people have sleep apnea and stuff like that so bear with me with that meaning that if you have medical problems when it comes to sleeping as far as breathing and different things like that you know don't take it too far what I'm saying here but generally speaking if you have a problem with going to sleep at night it's probably because you didn't work hard enough that day okay and this could be a mental thing too meaning that if you if you just have a mental you're working hard mentally as far as soul winning or studying and doing different things you're gonna be tired okay but in Ecclesiastes chapter 5 verse 11 it says when goods increase they are increased that eat them and what good is there to the owners thereof saving the beholding of them with their eyes the sleep of a laboring man is sweet whether he eat little or much but the abundance of the rich will not suffer him to sleep now what this is really kind of hitting on is the fact that if you have a lot of riches you tend not to sleep well because you're worried about those riches or worried about losing those things people that don't have that much it's easy to go to sleep because you're like well if someone takes it I don't have anything so you're not worried about it okay but it also says the this is a great verse to to think about this okay in verse 11 it says when goods increase they are increased that eat them what does that mean basically let's say you get a raise you have more money you tend to spend that money yeah it's not it usually you tend to live a higher life okay let's say everybody salaries got doubled are you gonna stay with what the way you're living right now or would you increase that a little bit okay most people would probably increase that a little bit and I'm not saying it would be sinful to increase it but the smart thing would be is if you're living in your living comfortable right now and then you got an increase is to use that money for better things and not to be using it on things that aren't needed okay but obviously if you got an increase and you're like you know everything's broken and we got to fix some stuff I mean obviously that makes sense you got it yeah that's what you got to do but that's a great verse to show you that and that tends to happen people tend to live with what the amount of money that they have and the more money they have it they end up being in the same amount of debt right the person that's a millionaire could be in more debt than you right because they they're increased that when they're when they're right when their goods increase they increase meaning that they're they're expectancy as far as their living their lifestyle increases with that but the the sleep of a laboring man is sweet meaning that someone that's not idle someone that's working hard and you know what most of the time I don't make it to my bed it's a problem I'm really trying to trying to help fix that because I wake up at two and we're like oh I gotta brush my teeth then do all this stuff and I'm like I don't want to do any of it I just want to sleep and you know because it's just you get tired you get in a spot and you're just like you just pass out you're just done right and many of you probably know what I'm talking about and then you like two in the morning you're like roll you're trying to crawl your way into your bed because it's not comfortable where you go to sleep at right you know it's always uncomfortable you have like you got you got muscle spasms going on all that stuff so if you're in that case you're probably working pretty hard you're probably you know not in a case where you're being really idle or something like that and especially those that have jobs that are more labor-intensive okay and so but Ecclesiastes chapter 5 and verse 3 so going up there think about this too what are you dreaming about okay and I'm not one to say that dreams have a whole bunch of meanings I tend to believe that dreams are just what you've been thinking about or what's on your mind and the dream is basically predicated on what you were doing the day before or what you were thinking about the day before but notice what it says in Ecclesiastes 5 verse 3 it says for a dream cometh through the multitude of business and a fool's voice is known by multitude of words I have some of the weirdest craziest dreams when I've like worked a really hard day so and you may be someone that doesn't remember your dreams okay so I'm not saying like because you could have dreams just not remember them right but there's times where I'm just like that was the craziest dream ever had in my life but it's because you were just working so hard and you're thinking about a lot of different things and you know you just tend to have dreams and that's where I believe you know if you're not doing anything and you're just idle and you're just kind of spaced out staring at the wall as it you know the paint dries so to speak then you may not have a whole bunch of dreams because you're not doing a bunch of business it's through the multitude of business you end up having dreams okay and so anyway that's just some kind of ideas when you're dealing with that but the big thing to deal with here besides being profitable is not getting into trouble meaning not getting into sin because you're not doing what you should be doing or you're being too idle go to 1st Timothy chapter 5 1st Timothy chapter 5 so 5th 1st Timothy chapter 5 and we're gonna go down to verse 9 and we're dealing with widows here and I'm not just gonna preach about widows but I'm gonna deal with why it's good for for younger women to marry okay and why it's not good to basically you know be unmarried if you're if you're of if you're of the age to where you can be married you need to try to do that you need to try to be married because you can attend it you're gonna the tendency is to go into things that you shouldn't be doing and so now 1st Timothy chapter 5 and verse 9 it says let not a widow be taken into the number under three score years having been the wife of one man okay so what it's saying here three score years old means sixty years old okay and so it's the way this words this is a little different but what it's saying here is that we don't want to take a widow under the basically the church is taking care of a widow this is what this is talking about is the church is gonna pay you know for the living and for all the expenses of a widow okay and basically what it's saying is that let not a widow that's that's under the age of 60 be taking into this meaning that if you're under the age of 60 you just need to get remarried that's what it's saying but if you're over the age of 60 and what it's the way it words it here is actually verse 10 is talking about those that are over 60 that would be qualified so just because you're over 60 doesn't mean you're qualified if you're a widow right meaning that this is the qualifications for being a widow that the church would be chargeable for and verse 10 it says well reported of for good works if she had brought up children if she have lodged strangers if she have washed the Saints feet if she have relieved the afflicted if she had diligently followed every good work but notice in verse 11 but the younger widows refuse okay so he knows how it's wording that basically saying that don't take a widow that's under 60 but here's the qualifications for those that would be taken in that would be 60 or above right and it goes through that but then it says but the younger widows refuse so all those that are under 60 refuse okay and it says for when they have begun to want against Christ they will marry having damnation because they cast off their first faith you say what in the world is that talking about well what I believe is talking about is that basically a widow that you would take into the church that's a commitment that you're making meaning that that person that's saying I'm gonna be a widow of the church and I'm gonna basically serve the church as a widow you think of Anna the prophetess right that was a widow for like many decades right after she her husband died at a pretty young age right and you kind of think of that she's serving in the temple she's serving in the church or whatever but what this is saying is that basically if you make that choice let's say let's say you're you're 40 years old and you've widowed and obviously that's tragic but then you say listen I want to be a widow of the church and the church is gonna be chargeable to me meaning I'm gonna get paid by the church and they're gonna take care of me and then let's say five years later you're like you know what I'm gonna go get married that's what that's talking about meaning that you have to make the choice saying I'm gonna be a widow for the rest of my life if I'm gonna be chargeable of the church does it make sense so I believe that's what it's basically saying there is that they cast off their first faith basically cast off what they said they were gonna do the commitment that they were making to the church is being chargeable to the church you say well you know that seems weird that you're forbidding Mary no they made that choice if they wanted to remarry if that was in their mindset I'm gonna remarry then they shouldn't be chargeable to the church and they shouldn't be so it's basically an all or nothing if you're gonna be chargeable into the church okay it's what it's saying and in this whole chapters basically saying listen if you have family they need to take care of you this should be the the absolute last resort is that the church is taking care of you but if it's legitimate the church will take care of you okay but if that's why it's saying you know the younger widows refused because they're gonna marry right let's say someone's a widow at 30 they're probably gonna get remarried okay now notice in verse 13 this is why it's stating this that you need you know the younger should get remarried because if they're gonna be a widow of the church and all this stuff this is what's gonna end up happening it says in verse 13 and with all they learned to be idle wandering about from house to house and not only idle but toddlers also in busy bodies speaking things which they ought not so that's the danger right and so being idle because you don't you're not you don't have a husband that you're taking care of as far as like taking care of the house and all that stuff you're just at the church doing these things you're gonna end up being idle and then you're gonna end up being a busy body and a toddler and you're gonna go from house to house talking about everybody's problems and talking about why you know fixing this or that and and then it goes on in verse 14 it says and I will therefore that the younger women marry bear children guide the house give none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully for some are already turned aside after Satan so this is a harsh saying because it's talking about they have damnation they're being turned aside after Satan it's because obviously if you're a busy body and a toddler and you're you know you're doing all these things that speaking things which you are not then you're doing you're doing you're not doing the work of God okay these people are all saved okay we're not talking about unsaved widows here we're talking about widows that are saved that are not doing what they should be doing and they're basically saying if you're married and you bear children you're not gonna be idle that makes sense if you're married and you have children and you have a husband that you're you know you have to keep the house and all this stuff you're not going to be idle and that's why saying refuse the younger widows because they're not gonna they're gonna be busy bodies they're gonna be toddlers and that's the idea as far as being idle okay so you don't want to be a busy body in other men's matters okay go to first Peter chapter 4 first Peter chapter 4 because this doesn't just apply to women listen this applies to men men can be busybodies just as much as women now women usually get the rap for being busybodies and why do you think that's so because in history time past men were working throughout the day they didn't have time to be busybodies and toddlers and all this stuff but women that were being idle when they shouldn't be had a lot of time to do that okay and so that's why it a lot of times it's hitting that on the women but in this case I believe it's hitting on men as well okay because I believe men can be busybodies just as much as as women and so it's something that we can all deal with but it all comes back to this if you don't have any time to be a busy body you will won't be a busy body right if you're working all day and you're just trying to get everything done and you're like I can't even get everything done good because now you won't be a busy body you won't be a talent you don't have time to get into drama and you won't have time to even think about what everybody else is doing okay and this is what it tends to be is that people worry about what other people are doing more than what they're doing and that's why they tend to be busybodies now first Peter chapter 4 and verse 14 it says if you be reproached for the name of Christ happy are you for the spirit of God or I'm sorry the spirit of glory and of God rested upon you on their part he is evil spoken of but on your part he is glorified but let what but let none of you suffer as a murderer or as a thief or as an evildoer or as a busy body and other men's matters so this is something that is very true that a Christian can do because this is talking about a Christian and so and you say you know a murderer and a busy body you know that seems why is that linked together well go to I'm going to show you a great example of someone that was idle that committed murder and adultery and go to 2nd Samuel chapter 11 2nd Samuel chapter 11 you say oh you know this never happened to me it happened to the man after God's own heart and this is a great lesson that we need to learn is not being idle and just a side note here you know when it comes to some of asking you know are you going to be full-time you're going to be a full time pastor one day maybe but I this is my answer to that not if I don't have enough to do not if I can't fill 40 hours a week at least 40 hours a week of work okay and as of right now it doesn't take me 40 hours 40 hours to write a sermon or write three sermons a week okay it doesn't take me that long okay and so therefore I need to have a lot that I'm doing and if I'm gonna be idle I don't want to do it because I'm gonna end up getting into trouble okay I'm gonna end up doing I'm gonna end up you know I'll be watching things I shouldn't watch I'll be reading things I shouldn't read you know I'll be I just get into the stuff I'll be worried about what other people are doing when I should be worrying about what I'm doing and you're gonna get into problems you're gonna end up getting into fights that you shouldn't get into and it'll just be a big problem right now I'm busy I'm busy because I have to write three sermons a week I'm pastoring a church I'm dealing with different things in the church and and then I'm also working 40 plus hours a week at work on something that's completely unrelated to the Bible okay so yes I'm busy but I want it to be that way okay I like it that way you know what I end up getting more done that way because the idol mine is the devil's workshop and if I had more time to read the Bible guess what I wouldn't do it if I had more time to memorize the Bible guess what I probably wouldn't do it every time I ever take a vacation like man I'm gonna really get some Bible reading in I'm gonna memorize a lot never happens the only time it ever happens is when I'm hunting because I have nothing else to do when you're sitting out in a tree stand and you're waiting for that swamp donkey to come by that never comes by you know that's the only time that I can think of where I take a vacation or I'm off from work that I actually get something accomplished okay and so just generally speaking and I'm not saying you couldn't do that but that takes some willpower to take your free time and say you know what I'm not gonna just relax I'm actually gonna you know put some mental work into what I'm doing as I'm on vacation but in second Samuel chapter 11 this is a famous story of David and Bathsheba and verse 1 there says and it came to pass after the year was expired at the time when kings go forth to battle that David sent Joab and his servants with him and all Israel and they destroyed the children of Ammon and besieged Rabbah but David tarried still at Jerusalem so get the story this is how it's prefaced in the fact that this was the time that David should have been out there David should have been King out there this is when kings go out to battle and he stayed it says but he tarried at Jerusalem you know what that tells me is that if he would have went out to battle he wouldn't have committed adultery with Bathsheba and Uriah wouldn't have been killed or murdered it was all because of him being idle and so you see the danger here and you don't think that you look at it like oh that's not a big deal he's not going out to battle that's a big deal it had massive ramifications on his kingdom because of it and verse 2 it says and it came to pass in an evening tide that David arose from off his bed and walked upon the roof of the king's house and from the roof he saw a woman washing herself and the woman was very beautiful to look upon all that sings you know I thought the the sleep of a laboring man was sweet he couldn't sleep why because he's idle because he's not working hard therefore he's having trouble sleeping at night and why is he leaving his own bed to go look at some other woman all there's other problems there too with his marriage with multiple wives and so obviously that wasn't working out very well too so he had other problems in there but being idle on top of that was the Achilles tendon you know that basically took him down and so that's a great example now for sake of time I'm not going into the whole story but but you know the story right she ends up getting pregnant and then your ride comes back he's trying to get your ride to go back to his wife and he won't do it so then it's instead of you know just fessing up to what happened he had Joab have your ride going to the hottest part of the battle and have all the forces back off to where he was just out there alone to get killed and so your eye was killed and it says that David killed your eye with the sword of Ammon and then after that you know he marries Bathsheba and then the child dies and there's a lot of other things that happen after that dealing with that his son tries to take the kingdom away from and all this other stuff so see how just being idle can destroy your life and that's how you know adultery can happen adultery can happen because you're not busy you know and that's where children are such a blessing when it comes to this and you look at 1st Timothy chapter 2 and you wonder what that's talking about how she'll be saved in childbearing we think that's talked about it's not talking about it's not talking about being saved from the labor and the child being born it's talking about the fact that childbearing having children will save you from what being deceived because what was just talked about Adam was not deceived but the woman being deceived was in the transgression and therefore you know if you're I will that the younger women marry better children guide the house to give none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully and who was talked about in 1st Timothy chapter 2 the devil the the serpent's the one that beguiled Eve and so that's why it's so important you know to have that unit as far as children because I'm not worried about my wife you know cheating on me she doesn't have time right she doesn't have time to do that but you know what my job is is that I need to be busy enough to where I don't have time either meaning that when I'm away from my family working I'm busy to where I I don't have time to get into that type of stuff or even have that even be an option say all I'd never commit commit adultery wherefore let him that thinketh he stand to take heed lest he fall and anybody that says you know I would never do that they're in danger you need to be in your mind saying it's possible for me to do it therefore I'm gonna put up a bunch of guards and one of the best guards you can put up is basically being so busy that it's impossible to happen like I just don't have time I don't have time to even think about it right where are your thoughts where's the thoughts of a diligent man well it's gonna be on to Plentius if you're diligent in your thoughts but if you're slothful and idle in your thoughts and you're slothful in your idol and your actions you end up getting into trouble and go to that 1st Thessalonians chapter 4 1st Thessalonians chapter 4 what this comes down to is that to be diligent if you're diligent you know what's like what you know what that's gonna make you do by default it's gonna make you mind your own business because if you're diligent in what you're doing you you kind of have blinders on it like I it's kind of like if you've ever been doing something that it just takes your whole attention I'm like this because I can't multitask it comes to texting somebody I can't listen to someone else right so us men we're just biologically programmed to be like this is our task right here we're worried about this task and everything else is kind of foggy as far as what's going on and so that's a good thing though because that means that if you're if you're intent on doing something you're focusing on something then you're kind of not worried about everything else that's going on beside you okay and so first Thessalonians chapter 4 verse 9 it says but as touching brotherly love you need not that I write unto you for ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another and indeed you do it toward all the brethren which are in Macedonia but we beseech you brethren that you increase more and more and that you study to be quiet and to do your own business and to work with your own hands as we commanded you that you may walk honestly toward them that are without and that you may have lack of nothing this is going to help you in the workforce you know someone that just gets their job done is not worried about what everybody else is doing and they they're not paddlers they're not busy bodies listen employers like that they like when you're not just like telling on everybody and worried about everybody else because you know what that tells somebody that if you're like saying hey this person's doing this this person's doing this that tells me that you're not you're you're you're lacking in what you're doing because in order for you to know all this means that you've been taking time out of what you should be doing to go figure that out okay but it says to study to be quiet and to do your own business you know what this means and this is kind of a crass way of saying it just shut up and do what you're you're supposed to do right that's pretty much that's kind of the contemporary way of saying it right but to be quiet and to do your own business basically just kind of just put your face down to do what you're supposed to do and not worry about what everybody else is doing okay that doesn't mean and don't take this the wrong way this doesn't mean that you can't help people out like you're blind to what everybody's going through what this means is that if someone's doing something over here you're not criticizing and just saying hey why aren't they doing it this way and they're just getting into everybody's business on what they're doing if someone listen unsought advice is rarely heated and if someone wants your advice they'll ask you for it and listen when it comes to people in the church I tend not to give advice unless someone asked me for it okay unless it's like a serious thing where it has to do with church discipline okay but if it's something where someone's doing something or whatever you know you're like all right they're doing what they want to do they believe that's what they should be doing then if they want to know my opinion they'll ask me for it but I'm not gonna just bump myself in there and I'm the pastor of the church but I'm not gonna just bump myself into all your lies and be like listen this is the way you should be doing this is more efficient and you know one reason is I could be putting my foot in my mouth because I may not know what I'm talking about when it comes to those things you be like yeah you don't know what you're talking about this is more efficient the way I'm doing it but go to second Thessalonians chapter 3 so first Thessalonians 4 and second Thessalonians 3 deal with this subject of working and all of it has to do with doing your own business being quiet and minding your own business okay and so if if I get anything out of the sermon is that we need to be diligent in our business one to stay out of trouble and two just to mind our own business and not get into a bunch of strife that doesn't need to be there because being a busybody you know all that does is cause drama and most of the time the drama is something that's not needed it's something that doesn't matter and the great thing about you know a church is doing the work of God as far as soul winning I think brother Dave preached on this on one of the preacher's nights as far as the fact that you know what we tend not to have a bunch of drama here because we're all soul winning and everything kind of falls away you know like all the petty things like that person eats with their mouth open that person you know does this you know and I'm not pointing at anybody I don't know but all I'm saying is that you know all those things that don't matter because it really doesn't matter right it all falls to the wayside when everybody's like we need to go soul winning or if you're out soul winning and let's say you get a little bit of persecution and that those two people that were getting persecution may have some gripes about each other that all falls away real quick because now you're in a battle together and now you're you're you're basically fighting something together you know conflict usually brings people together and drama falls apart when that happens and so you know keep doing the work and guess what we'll have unity guess what we won't have a bunch of drama and if we're so busy how can you be a busybody because in the word means you have to be busy about that well if you don't have any time to do it then you can't do it second Thessalonians chapter 3 and verse 10 second Thessalonians chapter 3 verse 10 it says for even when we were with you this we commanded you that if any would not work neither should he eat you know tell that to Bernie Sanders and AOC I'm not even say her name but but all these people that are for socialism it says verse 11 it says for we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly working not at all but our busybodies notice how that goes hand in hand they're not working then what are they doing they're busybodies they're idle what are they doing they're busybodies they're not working with their own hands what are they they're busybodies notice how that's always coupled with not working being idle being slothful not doing what you should be doing then it says in verse 12 it says now them that are such we command and exhort by our Lord Jesus Christ that with quietness they work and eat their own bread you know drink out of your own cistern and under your own fig tree you know eat your eat your own fruit this whole idea that you know what's mine's yours and yours is mine that only applies to my wife and my children okay you know we joke about that because I'll have like a drink you know like a water and she'll just like take it and suck it down I'm like like how's my water she's like what's mine is yours yours is mine but that's true in that case you know I can joke about that but you know when you're married we're one flesh I mean yeah she's right you know even though I was thirsty it doesn't matter but all that say is that all that say is that that doesn't apply to other people as far as my family that applies to but everybody else listen get your own food get your own water you know and you know it doesn't cross over like that and you know be quiet in your work okay and so go to Ecclesiastes chapter one and I don't know if this really ties in but I think about this listen I don't want to know what everybody thinks about me everything about that head you know hey because the idea is like what are they saying about me keep that to yourself I don't want to know right you know you ever hear the term ignorance is bliss well when it comes to drama when it comes to tattling when it comes to busybodies type stuff ignorance is bliss and I think of this verse and this may not tie in completely with that but in and Ecclesiastes chapter 1 verse 18 it says friend much wisdom is much grief and he then increases knowledge increased sorrow the more I know what people think about me the more it's gonna depress me right let's just be honest because they're gonna be like you know he he has all these filler words he's not he's not good-looking like you know they'll say anything you know people will say okay they'll have all kinds of different things they'll say about you and and just the you know the way you talk what you say all this other stuff and in the end I don't really want to know okay unless it's like something simple I'm doing okay but if it's just like critiques on like how I am my personality just keep that to yourself you know and it's okay for you to think that you know I'm not against you you know everybody has their opinions but that would go to anybody right wouldn't you rather just not know if someone thought you were ugly or someone thought that you had a bad personality or whatever right and so I don't want to know all this stuff but there are people that just that's all they care about they want to know what everybody thinks about them they want to know every little detail you know someone was talking about you you know was it good or bad and don't tell me unless it's good but but I really do you know and here's thing I don't necessarily want to know if it's good you say that's weird well I don't want to be filled with pride because let's say everybody said something good about my preaching everybody says something good about my personality now I'm just gonna be like levitating in here and you won't be able to get my head out the door because it's just too much right and it can even be it's not even flattery it just could be good comments people like certain things and I'm not saying you can't compliment anybody but what I'm saying is that when it comes to a lot of things like oh you know we're all talking about you over here it's like okay that's fine you know I don't need to know everything you were talking about and so there's there's always a flip side to that but it all comes down to this we need to be worried about what we're doing and not what everybody else is doing okay go to John chapter 21 John chapter 21 I thought the sermon was gonna be short well I had to cut it off all my notes here when I do these sermons that are more so kind of it not necessarily a doctrinal sermon I'm always like ah it's gonna be really short but these are the sermons that I go off on rabbit trails these are the sermons that I just like think of different situations and then it gets really long okay actually the best sermons if it's just like boom boom boom here's all the facts all right let's pray you know those those tend to do a lot better anyway John chapter 21 now this is where Jesus and Peter are talking and if you remember the story he says love us thou me more knees and he says thou knows that I love thee and he goes through that whole thing well at the end of that notice that Jesus is gonna be talking to Peter about how he's going to die or basically how he's gonna serve him and basically talking about the death that he's gonna have in verse 18 it says verily verily I say unto thee when thou was young thou girdest thyself and walkest whither thou wouldest but when thou shalt be old thou shalt stretch forth thy hands and another shall gird thee and carry thee whither that would it's not this spake he signifying by what death he should glorify God and when he had spoken this he saith unto him follow me so he's kind of giving a little insight and he's also showing him hey you're gonna be old before you die so that's kind of interesting you know like you're not gonna die young you're gonna be older but it's not gonna be the way you wanted to go right meaning that I believe this is talking about a martyr's type death okay people are gonna take you where you don't want to go meaning people are gonna somehow kill you right and then he then he follows up and says follow me notice what Peter says okay it says then Peter turned about seeing the disciple whom Jesus loved follow following which also leaned on his breast at supper and said Lord which which is he that betrayed thee so it's just kind of get first of all it kind of seems weird but what he's saying is that this is the disciple that said that okay so Peter's clarifying this is the disciple that was leaning on Jesus breast saying who is it that betrayed thee right Peter seeing him set the Jesus Lord what shall this man do now notice Jesus's response to this Jesus says unto him if I will that he tarry till I come what is that to thee follow without me that's what he's saying mind your own business right he's basically saying what's it matter what happens to him what's the matter what he does I just told you what you're gonna do you follow me and don't worry about what other people are doing and obviously this was people thought this meant that he wasn't gonna that John wasn't going to die but it even says that later on it's saying this isn't say he didn't say that he wasn't gonna see death he's just saying if I will that he tarry so he's just basically saying if he tarry still I come what is that to you what is it to you what he's doing and that's the idea that we need to have and I think about this when it comes to soul winning when it comes to Bible memorization when it comes to Bible reading and you're saying well you know this person over here has all this memorized what's that to you follow thou Jesus you know follow Jesus you memorize what you're gonna memorize you read what you're gonna read you do what you're gonna do and don't worry about what everybody else is doing you know what that's only gonna do is gonna bring you anxiety right because it let's say you're not at the mark someone's at now you're constantly anxious saying man I need to get there I need to get to where that person's at but let's say you're above where that person's at now your anxieties is I need to make sure I'm above them right and you're like they're catching up to me you know and you get into this idea of like comparing yourselves and go to first Corinthians chapter 4 first Corinthians chapter 4 this is what it comes down to is that we need to judge nothing before the time okay now this doesn't mean don't judge anything okay you have to take things in context because in first Corinthians 4 it's gonna say judge nothing before the time but then in first Corinthians 6 it says is there no one here to judge these matters and he's rebuking them okay so he's talking about church discipline or people defrauding each other he's like you need to judge in these matters but when it comes to comparing yourselves with somebody and saying you know this person's above this person in Christianity or in spirituality that's where it's wrong that's where you're being foolish okay to try to say this person's above someone else right it'd be like me to say you know well pastor Anderson is clearly above all of us why you know like and obviously I love pastor Anderson but people look at that because why because he's popular because you know obviously he's doing great things I'm not saying he's not but do you see how people can hold people above other people and there's like this hierarchy of who's more spiritual you know and it shouldn't be that way and what it comes down to is no one really knows yet the Lord is who's judging our works and judging what we do and we won't know it's at the end and that's what it's saying here in first Corinthians 4 it says in verse 1 let a man so account of us as of the ministers of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God moreover it is in quite is required in students stewards that they I'm sorry it's required and stewards that a man be found faithful but with with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you or of man's judgment yea I judge not mine own self what's he saying here he's basically saying it doesn't really matter that you're judging me it's such a small thing that you're judging me on this because it doesn't matter your judgment isn't gonna change the cost of tea in China meaning that it doesn't matter it's meaningless he said or any man's judgment notice in verse 4 it says for I know nothing by myself yet am I not hereby justified but he that judges me is the Lord therefore judge nothing before the time until the Lord come who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts and then shall every man have praise of God what was just talked about in chapter three the judgment seat of Christ what are we talking about rewards and and you don't have to confess to me but you probably had conversations who's gonna have the most rewards he's gonna you know maybe I'll have more rewards than this person or that person or whatever listen that the Bible saying don't judge anything before the time and it's better not to even worry about it until the very end right just do what you're gonna do and then you'll find out in the end and you'll be surprised in the end right and either way you look at this this could be a bad thing meaning that you're looking at it and say let's say you knew what you had and then it wasn't much and you're like depressed like I did all this and it wasn't that much or let's say it was a lot and you're like man I already got all this stuff I can just sit back eat drink and be merry do you see how it could be bad either way you look at it if you knew what you were getting or if you knew what other people were getting that's why it's not gonna be made manifest till the very end okay and it says in verse 6 at the very end of that verse in verse 6 says that no one of you be puffed up for one against another so that's why it's bad to be like judging on someone's spirituality right Romans 14 for you don't turn there but says who art thou that judges another man's servant to his own master he standeth or follow it yeah he shall be holding up for God is able to make him stand and in that whole chapter talking about doubtful disputations things that don't really matter right whether you eat meat or you don't eat meat or whether you you view a holiday as a holiday or you don't view it as a holiday and it's all stuff that doesn't matter it's not Commandments it's just basically how you do your life and he's basically saying who are you to judge another man's servant he's not your servant it is the Lord's servant and it's by him that he's gonna rise or fall or have rewards or not have rewards okay but Galatians go to Galatians chapter 6 Galatians chapter 6 Galatians chapter 6 you have that famous verse in 2nd Corinthians chapter 10 where it says for we dare not make ourselves of the number or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves but they measuring themselves by themselves and comparing themselves among themselves are not wise right it's not wise to compare ourselves so that's what it's talking about is not judge nothing before the time it's talking about comparing yourselves among yourselves and if you're diligent in your business and you're in your you have no time to even do that then how are you gonna do it right and this goes all into tattling busybodies because what do you think people are talking about like well all he's doing all this and he's not doing like what he should be doing and he's not going enough he's going a lot you know like all these different things that people will bring up and it's just not profitable and Galatians chapter 6 notice in verse 4 it says but let every man prove his own work and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone and not in another for every man shall bear his own burden so we need to mind our own business deal with our own problems and in that same chapter talks about that that you bear bear ye one another's burdens okay so it's not saying that you can't help people out right you know if they if they need help but what it's talking about here here's the ideal situation that you don't put your burdens on other people that you deal with your own burdens and if someone is just sees you hey you have a problem there you want some help and then you're like yeah that's fine but the difference is is that if you're saying listen I got this problem you know aren't you gonna help me out you know and you're kind of putting yourself you're entitling yourself into someone helping you out okay and so you need to basically just deal with your own problems and if people want to help you out with that thing great you know but you know that that's where we just need to be minding our own business not comparing ourselves among ourselves what we should be doing is comparing spiritual things with spiritual things you know you want to compare something compare the Bible with the Bible and worry about knowing the Bible yourself worry about memorizing the Bible yourself worry about going soul winning yourself and obviously we're going out two by two and all that but you need to be worrying about what you're doing not what everybody else is doing okay now good you know people are like well you know you're not for church no I'm obviously if someone is in deep sin or there's a problem like that that's serious then yes you got to tell somebody you got to tell me about it you know that's a different issue we're talking about things that aren't a big deal things you know because someone could come to church and never go soul winning they could never read their Bible they never memorize anything right and that's fine and I'm not gonna look at that person big man I'm gonna have so many more rewards than them you know I'm gonna you know whatever you know and just kind of costly what's the point of that and this is what we should be doing better Philippians chapter 3 I'm gonna end with this Philippians chapter 3 Philippians 3 starting there verse 7 notice Paul's attitude as far as what he should be doing and notice he's not mentioning anybody else he's talking about himself and so we need to be selfless to others that need our help but when it comes to our business and what we're doing we need to be thinking about what we're doing and focus on what we're doing and being quiet and working with our own hands and doing our own business and not being a busy body and being diligent in what we do but in Philippians chapter 3 and verse 7 there it says for what things were gained to me those I counted loss for Christ yea doubtless I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord for whom I have suffered the loss of all things do count them but dung that I may win Christ and be found in him not having mine own righteousness which is of the law but that which is through the faith of Christ the righteousness which is of God by faith amen salvation by faith not by works notice that he goes on here though it says that I may know him in the power of his resurrection the fellowship of his sufferings being made conformable unto unto his death if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead not as though I had already attained either were already perfect but I follow after if that I may apprehend that for which also I'm apprehended of Christ Jesus so what's the saying here he's basically saying I want to know him I want to know Christ and I want to try to attain unto the resurrection dead meaning I want to try to attain to where I'm sinlessly perfected basically you're walking in the spirit you're in the new man you're as if you were in you're already at the resurrected state does that make sense anybody's basing I haven't attained unto that he's trying to and he's trying to live such a life to where it's almost like he's walking in new man at all times okay now obviously no one's ever gonna attain that in this life we had the flesh we're gonna fail at times but then he says you know I follow after if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ now apprehend is kind of like using the word no basically I want to know Christ as much as he I'm known of him right remember it talks about after you knew God or rather are known of God meaning that it's more important to be known of God to have salvation right knowing God is a process right that's something that we're constantly trying to know more about God knowing through his word and he's basically saying I am trying to follow after them a I may know him as much as he knows me does that make sense and notice what he says in verse 13 how he's doing this it says brethren I count not myself to have apprehended but this one thing I do forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth unto those things which are before I press toward a mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus so your mindset should be saying I'm forgetting about the things that are behind I'm not worried about the mistakes I made in the past I'm looking forward and I'm pressing toward that mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus and basically when you do that and you're diligent in what you're doing and you're busy you're busy doing the things of God then you're not gonna be a busybody in other matters matters you're not gonna be idle and get into problems and get into sins and things that you shouldn't be doing and so you're going to be basically just moving towards that mark and people that don't do the work of God people that don't go sewing they don't don't go to church they don't do what they're supposed to be doing they're setting themselves up for that type of idleness that type of getting into the problems of being a busybody and it can also turn into problems with adultery and different things that can happen because you're not busy and what you should be doing and I said I was gonna be like but go to Philippians chapter 4 just one chapter over there notice what it says in verse 8 it says finally my brethren whatsoever things are true whatsoever things are honest whatsoever things are just whatsoever things are pure whatsoever things are lovely whatsoever things are of good report if there be any virtue and if there be any praise think on these things right so as a diligent man our thoughts should be on things that are honest just pure true like all these different things on the Bible on the things of God if your thoughts are on that what are you gonna be dreaming about if your thoughts are on that what why are you gonna be getting into things that are wrong a lot of times no if you're if you're doing that and those in verse 9 it says those things which you have both learned and received and heard and seen me do and the God of peace shall be with you so don't just be a forgetful here don't just think about it actually do it and so if you're doing what you should be doing if you're thinking about what you should be thinking about and if you're diligent and you make yourself busy okay and you say well I'm already busy good stay that way okay and don't seek to be someone that doesn't have that just has a whole bunch of time to do nothing because you tend to do things that you should be doing or you just tend to waste time okay and just not be productive so and if you say well I have a lot of free time then get busy doing something okay because that's just gonna keep your mind in the right spot okay get busy doing something that's productive or something that's just not a bad thing right and you say well you know I have to get a hobby you know something that's that's gonna be just keep your mind on something keep your mind working and plus that's gonna help you as you get older to reading you know working on things keeping your mind going as far as you know happen to do things and keep them focused on something the worst thing is just to have a sedentary life okay I have a job that's sedentary in the way as far as physical physicality but mentally it's not does that make sense so you know some people have more of a physical job which is all physical like moving stuff and it's not necessarily a mental job but it then the other side is a mental job and not as much physical I think the danger actually is more so on my side where I could get into the idea of being lazy okay if you have a job that's physical you have no choice right I could get the job done I got to do what I got to do there's really no choice and that's a good thing that you know you've got to be physical and you're gonna be tired and you're gonna be busy the the harder thing is when you're in a job where you can slack off a lot easier and you can you know get into things you shouldn't be doing and so you say well who are you preaching this to I'm preaching to myself too listen when it comes to this I'm constantly saying I need to be diligent I need to not be lazy I need to not be slothful I need to not be idle and and here's the thing you may say well we're all in that spot we're all being busy we don't have a lot of free time the idea is that you stay that way okay meaning that in a future if you have an option to do something let's say our church got big enough to work and support me I'm not just gonna jump on that unless I know I'm going to be busy okay and my mindset is honestly you may say ah you know I don't agree with that I'd rather hire a deacon and still work full-time you say oh you know what you mean because a lot of the stuff that would take more time is not necessarily like Bible related okay it could be things with dealing with the finances of the church or dealing with you know just different things it's not really like it doesn't take like biblical knowledge or it doesn't take like that that whole oversight of a pastor that you have to do it and so I'd rather just have someone else do that you know and pay them to do that and so that's my mindset and so I'm not saying I never would be full-time because if we got big enough it just makes sense you know why why not but it's got to make sense and this is one of the big reasons why I would choose not to maybe in some cases because I do not want to be idle I don't want to be like well we can do it they can afford to put me on but now I'm just gonna be sitting around twiddling my thumbs for half the day okay and so that's that's a sermon you know a man diligent in business and his business and that's something we need to strive to do and if you're already doing it good stay that way but if you say well you know there's some areas where I'm a little idle work on it and there's areas I'm just gonna be honest there's areas in my life where I'm just like I think I spend I don't spend enough time doing this I spend too much time on the relaxation end of things and you know I'm constantly trying to tweak that it'd be like instead of doing this I'm gonna do this and I'm trying to get into that mode you don't want to burn yourself out everybody needs rest everybody needs a little bit of time whether you don't have to think about something you know don't take it the wrong way to say it's just work work work work sleep work work work work you know obviously there's times where you can relax we can cut it up we can have fun you know all that's true so but let's end with a word of prayer of the heavenly father we thank you for this morning and I thank you for everybody here at Mountain Baptist and I pray to be with those that couldn't make it this morning pray to be with those that are traveling and Lord just pray to be with the the health of our church as far as those that haven't been feeling well and and Lord praise you heal us from any sicknesses and Lord I do pray that you'd help us to be diligent and everything that we do for you help us not to be idle not to be slothful but to be ever just trying to do more for you and Lord we love you and pray all this in Jesus Christ's name amen