← ArchiveProverbsSunday, August 21, 2016DateAugust 21, 2016Speaker—TextProverbs 26Passages in this sermonProverbs 265:30Genesis 230:30Romans 534:22TranscriptClick any line to jump there.0:00The End The End0:30The End We look at God's Word together.0:59I want to quickly give two announcements that I forgot to give earlier. One is this. If you say, well, Pastor, I want to help those in Louisiana and Baton Rouge that have flooding, but I am not prepared to leave today. We are planning, hopefully, Lord willing, if He gives us that availability, several more trips before the end of the year. This is not a one-time disaster relief event. And so if God has put on your heart to go and you can't go today, pray about when you can go and the Lord will make that available. We also leave at three, and so if you would like to bring supplies as we go today, you1:28have until three o'clock to bring those back to the church. My other announcement is this. Some of you have wondered, well, how can I join this church? I'm glad you asked. Today, join us for lunch. You say, well, so by joining the church, all I had to do is join you for lunch. Yes, we made it easy. We're a Baptist. Come eat. So right after church, if you would like more information on what the Lord is doing here, how you can get involved, how you can grow in your faith, meet us right here in the lobby1:55after church, and we have a meal for you, and we just want to encourage you in your faith. So join us right after the service for that. Today, we are going to look at wisdom in work. Now, we this summer have been looking at God's wisdom in our lives, particularly through the wisdom literature in the Old Testament, which is Proverbs. So today, we will look at wisdom in our work, our work ethic, our work environment, and just2:20simply the things that we do with our hands. Why is that important? Because we are commanded to work unto the Lord. But before I give you God's word, I want to give you man's word. So here are some wisdom, or maybe unwise, life hacks for work. I don't have the pictures here. Okay, so here's the first, if you don't have a good drawer organizer at work, you can actually2:48take, these are cereal boxes, you can cut, eat the cereal first, empty that, and then you can cut the cereal boxes, and you can create a desk organizer for your work. So good job there. You can also do this if you are too far away from your trash can or just too lazy to go to the trash can. Then you can take an empty Kleenex box and rubber band it to a new Kleenex box, and you3:13can, as you blow your nose, you can put it in the, for me, that's just too much of a step. Or if you are like me, Austin and I have crumbs on my desk, they make a mini USB vacuum cleaner. So you can literally go online and buy this and plug it into your computer so you can eat your Cheetos as you work on your computer and clean them up at the same time.3:41So I love that idea. Okay, here's another life hack for you at work. If you are one that has to wear a suit and tie often, you can, I guess you sew it at the appropriate length and you can put your business cards underneath your tie. And so if you need a business card, you just reach behind your tie and there it is. So very convenient. Here's a great life hack for those of you who share a refrigerator with your, with your coworkers.4:06So what you do, if you take sandwiches to work, get a green Sharpie and write, draw on a Ziploc bag to make it look like mold. And that way your coworkers will never touch your sandwich. Personally, having that thought in my mind would make it difficult eating the sandwich. Actually, Eric, who works with our sound and he's on our creative arts team here, he does this in his desk.4:37You can take these binder clips and use that for all your electronic devices and help with your cordage there. And lastly, if you find a spare spring, you can use that to help organize your mail in your office. So if you need to be more efficient at work, there are some ways to do that. Some of them great. Some of them I don't know about. But what is better for our life than even worldly wisdom is godly wisdom.5:08And so we want to push further than just being more efficient at our jobs. We want to desire to increase in the Lord's wisdom and understanding in our lives. And so how do we do that? As we look at Proverbs today, we're going to look at three verses, actually four verses. Proverbs 26, 13 through 16. Laziness, more than any other vice in Proverbs, is mocked.5:34Laziness is mocked more than any other struggle in Proverbs. What is laziness? What laziness is the inability or unwillingness to work or to exude strength. Now, listen to what that definition says. It doesn't mean you can't work. It means that you have the energy and you refuse to use it. Now, why is this going to be important? Because if working at our jobs with our hands is important, then how much more so is working6:01spiritually in our lives. So we are going to be commanded by God's word not to be lazy spiritual bums. Because if we are honest, we struggle with that. Laziness, the unwillingness to work or use energy. And what a waste of God's resources is laziness. And here's the great struggle that we have.6:32Many of us work hard during the week, but yet when it comes time to pray or spend time with the Lord, we just don't have the energy. And how much more important is our prayer life and as our heart for the Lord than anything I can do at work? So may we be men and women that say, Lord, I'm going to set a priority that I work hard spiritually. That we, as the Bible commands us, that we work out our salvation with fear and trembling.7:00Not work for our salvation, but work out our salvation with fear and trembling. So let's look at Proverbs 26. And may God give us grace and favor as we look at the lazy man. And before you point fingers at a lazy man that you know might be here today, may God make us look at ourselves in the mirror spiritually before we point fingers. Here's the lazy man, Proverbs 26, verse 13.7:28The lazy man says, "There is a lion in the road, a fierce lion is in the streets. As a door turns on its hinges, so does the lazy man on his bed. The lazy man buries his hand in the bowl. It wearies him to bring it back to his mouth. The lazy man is wiser in his own eyes than seven men who can answer sensibly." God forbid we be lazy people spiritually. Let's pray.7:58Father, we desire to be men and women who hunger and thirst for righteousness' sake. Lord, put our life in priority that we will not work hard for our families. That we will not work hard at our work sites and we come home and we are spiritually lazy. But Father, make us people who work hard spiritually.8:26That we desire to drink from the fountain that is flowing from your throne. Lord, give us grace and mercy as we look into your word. Change us. Father, we know that your word is living, it is active, it is sharp, it penetrates the division of our joint and marrow, soul and spirit. So Lord, penetrate our hearts today. Convict us of our sin, purify us of unrighteousness, and lead us in the path of everlasting. And I pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.8:54Amen. We're going to look at four things today. Four verses, four lazy traits. The first is this. Look at what the lazy man says. Look at what the lazy man says. Verse 13. There is a lion in the road. A fierce lion is in the streets. So what does a lazy man say? Spiritually, what do lazy people say?9:19They make excuses. Now, an excuse is simply something that is used to either deflect the blame off of you or to justify your behaviors. If you've been watching the Olympics this week, you've seen some of our swimmers that made a mistake. And the first thing they did, rather than confess, is lie, which turned into an excuse, which now has turned into national9:45repentance. I would hate to have to repent on national TV and ask for forgiveness. But how quick are we as human beings to make excuses? Look at the lazy man here. Verse 13. The lazy man says there is a lion in the streets. There is a fierce lion in the road. Excuses are an attempt for us to attach blame to something. And often, these are found in the10:16mouth of lazy men. Spiritually, how many excuses do we often have? We'll look at some of those later. Lord, help us not make excuses. Now, let me just say this for this lazy man. This might be a hypothetical lazy man. As we look into his heart and to our life, we look into our heart and to our life. If, for his sake, if there's a lion in the road, by the way, that's a good excuse not to go to10:42work. Do you agree with me there? I mean, if you call on the boss and say, "Boss, I would come in, but there's a lion at my door between the door and the car." I would hope your boss would say, "You know what? Take a day off. You need a personal day." So, if this is true, this is a great reason to be lazy. And if it's true, it's not laziness. There's a legitimate struggle11:08there. Now, I would say in Palestine during this time, lions were very rare, but it is very slightly plausible. It would be like me now living in Alabama saying, "You know what? I can't preach today because there's an alligator under my car." Now, let me just tell you, when we moved into Gramercy, South Louisiana, one of my neighbors said, "Pastor, I don't want to worry you, but just let me tell you this story."11:34Several years ago, the man who lived here before, we knocked on his door and told him, "Look, don't go out to your car today because there's a five-foot alligator underneath your truck." True story. So, in South Louisiana, the alligator story might fly because it might be true. Birmingham Moody, probably an excuse, right? But as lazy people, we are inherently, we make up excuses.11:56And you know what laziness does in our life? It makes us bad excuse makers. So, no, no longer do we make good excuses. We now have bad excuses. We say there's a lion. May the Lord root out excuses in our life. May we be quick to say, "Lord, I've sinned, forgive me," rather than, "Lord, it was the lion." I would have, but you know what? I saw the weather forecast,12:24and it might have rained, and so I just didn't get out of the house. Lord, I couldn't do it because of this. May we not be lazy men and women who use our mouth for excuse making. And if we're honest, spiritually, we make a lot of excuses. Father, rid us of that. Not only does lazy man use his mouth for excuses, but he also does this, and here's a struggle about being lazy12:54spiritually. Sometimes if we use excuses often and often and more, we then now suffer from irrational fears. So it might not be that this man here that's lazy is making an excuse. It might be worse for him. He might actually believe the excuse. Are you following me there? He might believe there is a lion in the streets. Now, if there's not a lion in the streets, and he believes that there's a lion in13:21the streets, how deep of a fear is that for that man? May we be careful not to make excuses, because then we open the door in our life to begin to believe those excuses and to believe lies. That's what laziness does. That's what spiritual laziness does. They say, "Well, pastor, put that in real terms. Here's some excuses that we make. Well, I'm not going to go to church because everyone hates me."13:48Let's just assume that's an irrational fear, and you truly believe that everyone hates you. If that's you today, thank God you're here. I would just say, here's what God's Word commands us, that we are not allowed to hate as those who follow the way. So if everyone hates you in the church that you're going to, they're not Christ followers if they truly hate you, because we are commanded to bless those who curse us. But that's an irrational fear that we have. Well, I'm not going to go to church14:16or worship because everyone knows my business. Let me address that irrational fear. Let's say everyone does know your business. The Bible says that we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. So my business is no stinkier or better than yours. So even if we all know our business, the business is, Lord, you have sent your son to die to clean my dirty rags up. Irrational fears. Another irrational fear that14:46we have spiritually. Well, God can't forgive the things I have done. That's the irrational fear. The truth is that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners. And the apostle Paul said, of whom I am the worst. And I would imagine the apostle Peter, who denied Christ three times in his moment of need,15:10would say, if Jesus can forgive me, he can forgive you. May we not be people who let irrational fears invade our life. So what does a righteous man do then? If the lazy man makes excuses, if the lazy man believes irrational fears like these lions, like these deep spiritual lies, what does a righteous man do? One, we accept responsibility for our mistakes.15:37We accept responsibility for our mistakes. That when we're lazy, we say, you know what, boss, I just didn't feel like coming in today. And I deserve to be reprimanded. I'm sorry. And I will do better. Lord, help me. We accept responsibility. We do not try to justify our bad decisions. So when we gossip, when we hurt, when we backbite, when we subtweet,15:59when we harass people on Facebook, we say, you know what, I'm not going to justify that. I know you were mean to me. I know you gave me the stank eye. But you know what, that does not justify the ungodliness that flows from my heart. I'm not going to be lazy. I'm not going to place blame. It's not the lion's fault. You know what, it's my heart's fault. Forgive me. That's what righteousness16:29looks like. The righteous man, when he has irrational fears, and we all have them, or I can't speak because everyone's looking at me. Well, that is true. But I can't do that because of this irrational fears. Then the righteous man leans into Christ and God says, pastor, you're not here to speak on your own behalf. You're here to speak because I've called you to. And so you lean into16:57Jesus Christ. Well, I can't go share Christ because I don't have the words to say. Well, you open your life and God will use you. We lean into Christ. That's righteousness. When we struggle, we lean on, we lean on the prayer. So we're not going to Louisiana or I'm not going to, I'm not going to go to a homeowner who's looking at their house that's destroyed. I'm not going to pat them on the back and you know, you know what, it's okay. You live. That's not what they need.17:23They need us to wrap our arms around them and say, let's pray because I don't have an answer, but I know we can pray to the one who does. We lean on Jesus Christ. That is a life-changing truth. Righteous people find life in God's word. So when we're lazy and we struggle, we open God's word and say, God, use me. And it might not be, it might not be fun. It might not be easy, but Lord,17:51mold me, make me into something that is honorable in your life. Righteous people rely on godly, wise friends. Righteous people have friends in their life that when, when we struggle and we say, you know what, there's a, there's a spiritual lion at my door. I can call my buddy up and say, hey, does that make sense? Lions and moody. And they say, you know what, it's probably just a rational18:15fear. Let me pray for you. And I know that when we pray and we seek God and when we need wisdom, he abundantly pours out wisdom. Laziness is me not calling and saying, you know what, I'm gonna, I'm just gonna stay inside. Strength is, hey friends, help me. Let's fight the lion together. We know that the devil also prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking who in this room he can devour.18:40May we not be lazy. The lazy man spiritually makes excuses. Now let's look what the lazy man does then. The lazy man says, there is a lion in the road, a fierce lion in the streets. Verse 14, as a door turns on its hinges. So the lazy man in his bed. So not only do we hear what the lazy man19:02says, we now get a glimpse of what we as lazy people do. Now here, here's where the rubber hits the road, as my grandmother would say. And here's where the struggle is, because I woke up at 2:30 this morning, not able to sleep. And so you have several options in the middle of the night when you can't sleep. One is you can just get up, go in the living room, turn on the TV, just try to get19:29your mind off of not sleeping. I took the other option, which I'm just gonna fight it. So I'm just gonna close my eyes and tell myself to go to sleep. Didn't work. And I said, Lord, I'm just gonna pray. Because often in my life, when God wakes me up in the middle of the night, I say, Lord, I'm not gonna waste this time, just let me pray. And I'll pray, do I go to sleep? If I don't go to sleep, I'm gonna pray anyway. But my struggle when I can't sleep is this, and this verse was penetrating19:54my mind. I tossed and turned. So I'm thinking, I'm this hinge on the door. I'm looking to the right, praying, saying, "Amen." And I go to the left, and I'm praying. So God's Word is not convicting people who toss and turn a lot at night. Here's what God's Word says about laziness. One, and this is not life shattering, earth shattering, but the lazy people spend a lot of time in bed. Verse 14, "As a door turns on its hinges, the lazy man on his bed." So we're almost20:23invited to the lazy man's house and say, "Look at his room. Watch this joker sleep." That's all he's doing. And for those of you who love sleep, that's not a bad thing. But why is the bed such a danger? Because as the door turns on its hinge, it is benefiting something.20:46The door has a purpose. But if I'm content to stay in my bed at all times, where am I going? Nowhere. So I think the bed here is a metaphor for us not serving the Lord, for not doing something great. The Lord has not called us to live in our homes and say, "Lord, I'm just going to wait21:11it out. I'm just going to sleep my life away." But I'm going to be a man who says, "Lord, I am going to serve you. I'm going to strive. I'm going to run. I'm going to serve to win the prize, to reach the goal, which is set out before me in Jesus Christ." Do you serve God? Do you serve him like you should?21:35If you are not, maybe you're lying in your spiritual bed and you say, "Lord, I'm more content here to be lazy than to serve you." Because I don't have the gifts. That's a lie. You do have gifts. If you are a follower of Christ, he has given you a spiritual gift, at least one. Use it. But may we not sit in our bed and go from left to right. The other danger about being in our bed is this. For many of us,22:04and I pray that your bed is this way, it's a comfort zone. It's a comfort zone. Hopefully your bed is comfortable. We went on vacation a couple weeks ago and one of the joys of going on vacation, you get to sleep in beds that aren't yours and you don't have to make the bed that's not yours. I love that. And it seemed like out of the five hotels we stayed in, probably three of them were like the extra, extra22:30California kings. So I could lay any way I wanted and still had a room. Like, this is awesome. Like, everyone needs a bed that takes up their whole room. And so we don't have that bed in our house, unfortunately. But, but we came away from that trip thinking, these are really comfortable beds. But often we get into a comfort zone spiritually and we say, Lord, this is the spiritual bed that I'm22:56going to sleep in. And Lord, I'm comfortable here. This is my pew. This is my hymnal. This is my Bible. This is mine. This is mine. This is mine. This is mine. And everyone else stay away. How selfish is it for us as a door turns on its hinges as a lazy man who goes back and forth on his bed.23:18Following Jesus Christ is not to follow him into comfort. It is following him in his will. As our Savior prayed in the garden, Lord, take this cup from me. Lord, give me the comfortable bed. But, Lord, not my will, but yours. Paul did not say to live is comfort, to die is gain. What did he say?23:45To live is Christ, to die is gain. And we need to take a hard look in the mirror and say, God, are we so comfortable right now spiritually that we are not serving you like we should? Lord, are we sharing Christ like we should? God, are we going places that we should? And some of you are probably uncomfortable with me saying that. Good, that's the point.24:14But may we not ever be accused spiritually of just lying in our spiritual bed saying, you know what? I like this church like it is. It's never going to change. Lord, and we sing the songs that I like. And Lord, the pastor preaches the passages that I like. And I'm just comfortable. May I not get to the place as a pastor in this church that I'm completely comfortable at all times. May we be people that say, Lord, make me uncomfortable because I still need sanctification and growth in your name.24:41May we not be lazy men spiritually. Third, lazy men stay in bed, stay in comfort and never go anywhere. Lazy men make excuses with our mouths. And oftentimes we believe those. Now, let's look at the lazy heart. Verse 15, the lazy man buries his hand in the bowl. And you can see the mocking is ramping up in Proverbs.25:09All right, the lazy man talks about these crazy lions and tigers and bears. The lazy man, as the door turns on the hinges, the lazy man sleeps in his bed. The lazy man here, verse 15, buries his hand in the bowl and it wearies him to bring it back to his mouth. Now, how lazy do you have to be to put your hand in a jar of M&Ms and not even have the energy to get those M&Ms back out?25:33Now, it's laughable. I think God's word is challenging us here. What's the struggle? I don't think it's really an energy issue. I think it's a motivation issue. I think what's going on is God is looking at our heart and saying, be careful what motivates you. Because if we are people without motivation, we are people without Jesus Christ. The lazy man buries his hand in the bowl.26:06We see the trap of laziness and its motivation. So let me ask you this. For those of you here with us Wednesday night, we've looked at some of our motivations. So what are some improper motivations for work? Now, let's talk about some improper motivations and we'll look at biblical God-centered motivations. If my only motivation for my career is, Lord, I want to make a lot of money, that's an improper sinful motivation.26:27Now, some of you heard it this way. Well, pastor hates money. That's not what I said. But if your only motivation in life to work is money, where does Jesus fit into that? Because what happens if I gain the whole world and lose my soul? What happens if my kids see me become a billionaire and I'm a terrible father and I do not love Jesus Christ or their mom?26:56I have failed them and my motivations are ungodly. I am someone who has stuck my hand in the bowl and have no energy to get that back out to my mouth. If my motivation for working is to make a status for me so that other people will applaud me and say, look at how good pastor is. Look at his sermons. Look at his writings. Look at the classes that he teaches.27:26Look at the status. Oh, look at this guy. That's an improper motivation. And how easy that creeps up in our lives, doesn't it? For those of you who are climbing the corporate ladder, which is not a bad thing. God gives us positions in life for his glory and for his honor. But if my only motivation is for people to look at me and not look at my Savior, I have stuck my hand in the jar and I have no motivation to get it back out.27:47If my only motivation in life is to find fulfillment. If I say, you know what? If I just marry and then I'll be fulfilled. Well, you know what? Now, if I just have a lot of kids, I might be broke, but I'll be fulfilled. You know what? If I just get this job or if I get this degree or if I just see my team win the national championship just once.28:14Just once is all I ask. Anything. I'll take disc off. Then I'll find fulfillment. I am as a lazy man spiritually who have stuck my hand in the jar and cannot bring it to my mouth. So how as God followers are we to find motivation? I think a godly motivation is this.28:45Lord, I'm going to be a good steward. I'm going to use the talents you've given me for your glory, for your honor. Lord, if you give me a strong back, I'm going to shovel dirt. I'm going to mow it out homes. God, if you've given me the gift of wisdom, I'm going to counsel others for your namesake. God, if you've made me a good mathematician and that's not my gift, Lord, I'm going to be the best engineer that I can be, that I may share Jesus Christ. God, if you've given me the desire to help others and I'm a nurse,29:16God, I'm going to use that talent for your honor and for your glory. So when people are in need, I will nurture them and show them the good healer. God, give us motivation spiritually that we may not be lazy, that we may share Jesus Christ. That's a godly motivation. Another godly motivation is that we may serve the world with our gifts. God has given us talents that the world may see our good works and glorify our Father in heaven.29:43Are you serving the world? Because if you're not serving the world, how will they see your Savior? We must be people who serve God and serve others. Are we doing both? Another biblical motivation for strength, for honor, is that we want to worship God in our work. And we struggle with this because we are post-fall. We now live in a broken world.30:12So we normally gravitate towards two alternatives. Most of us are either lazy or we're overworked. Or we struggle because we really work hard and then we say, God, I've neglected my family. I've neglected worship. God, I'm just going to pull back. And then we get lazy because we now miss what Genesis 2 says, that God put Adam in the garden to tend it. And for Adam, that was his spiritual act of worship. So why should we work now and serve the Lord?30:41Because the work we do now is preparing us for heaven. Because there will be a day again where when we work, we don't work with the sweat of our brow. We work with worship. And so that we work now for practice for eternity. So if you're lazy now, if I'm lazy now, I pray that God doesn't look at me and say, Josh, I was preparing you for eternity and you blew it, you lazy, lazy servant. And we say, Lord, look what I've done with my hands.31:11Look at the house I built. Look at the things I've done. God, look at the church buildings that we built and the programs that we started. And Lord, the mouths we fed and on and on and on. I pray that Lord does not look at us and say, but yes, you did those with your strength, with your hands, and you were lazy spiritually. May we not be the lazy man who gives excuses. May we not be the lazy man that's in our comfort zone and is afraid to get out.31:39May we not be the lazy man that has ungodly motivations. And here's the danger of motivations. You don't know why I'm preaching right now. You don't know the motivation of my heart. Because you can't see it. But he sees our hearts. So may the Lord look upon us and open our hearts and examine us. May our motivations be proper. And then lastly, we see this about the lazy man.32:07We hear his words. We see his deeds. We see his heart. And then verse 16, the lazy man is wiser in his own eyes than seven men who can answer sensibly. Than seven men who can answer sensibly. What's the danger here with the thoughts of the lazy person? Well, we see then that the root of our laziness is pride. So the seven people encamp around me and they say,32:36Hey, pastor, I know you're scared of lions and you feel like there's a lion at your door. But we're outside and there's not a lion. Trust us on this. We prayed about it. We sought the Lord. How foolishly would it be for me to say, I don't believe you guys. I believe my eyes. I believe my thoughts. I believe in the lion and my irrational fears. The source of laziness physically is pride.33:03That God, I'm going to take the energy you've given me. I'm going to waste it. Because my desires are more important than what you've given me. Lord, I'm going to take the strength that you give. The reason I pray, God, give me today my daily bread. So when I eat the bread, I get energy and strength. Lord, forbid me not to waste that. But Lord, also forbid me, verse 16, to not think that I am wiser than seven other men. The source of laziness is pride.33:33It's ungodly minds. And may we be people who lean into the grace of Jesus Christ in our life. So what is the answer for laziness? You say, well, pastor, okay, you got me. I'm lazy. You don't have to admit that. No hands raised. But you say, pastor, I'm lazy. So what is the answer for laziness? And you might say, well, pastor, I'm a hard worker. I'm the hardest worker the world's ever seen, but I'm lazy spiritually.34:04What danger is that? The answer for laziness is the same answer that we have for our sin. And that is Jesus Christ. And we know this in God's holy word. We know that while we were still sinners in Romans 5, 8, Christ Jesus died for us. Let me put it in Proverbs terms. While you were still lazy, Christ Jesus died for you.34:32Now, some of that, for some of us, that stings. Because on the outside, you look like you're a spiritual hard worker, right? From the church end, you know, you go to church. You're doing all these things. But what happens if I am the greatest churchman the world has ever seen, and I have not put my faith and trust in Jesus Christ?34:59I have not tasted and seen that the Lord is good. I am spiritual lazy. And the answer for spiritual laziness is the answer for pride. It's the answer for sin. And the Bible says this again in Romans, same Bible passage, just a couple chapters later, that if you will believe in your heart that Jesus died for you, and if you will confess with your mouth that you will be saved.35:28If we believe in our heart, if we confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord, you will be saved, for it is with the heart one believes into righteousness. And it's from the mouth confession is made unto salvation. So what is the answer for a lazy heart? It's not cleaning your heart up. It's that Jesus gives us a new heart. It's what we see in 2 Corinthians, that if anyone is in Christ,35:56he is a new creation. So Jesus doesn't say, Josh, I'm going to make your heart better. I'm going to make your sin. I'm going to clean up your sin. I'm going to scrub it a little. He says, no, I'm going to make you new. And I'm thankful that God made me new because I was broken. I was churched, but I was broken because of my sin. I was lazy spiritually. I'm thankful that God said, Josh, you cannot do it. And the truth of the gospel is this.36:26No matter how hard you work, if you don't know Christ, you are lazy. And laziness and sin will send me to an eternity without Jesus Christ. But thank God we have an answer, and his name is Jesus, and he loves you. That's why the Bible says that, for God so loved the world. I love that. Not just, you know, he didn't just love us a little bit. Even if God loved me a little bit, that's a lot in my book.36:53But he so loved us that he went above and beyond. He let his son die on the cross for our sins. Not because he thought we would be good one day. When I was in rebellion, when you were in rebellion with God, if that's you today, while you are in rebellion with God, he sent his son to die for you. Knowing that he would send his son, and that those who were living in sinful rebellion would kill him in that moment. Knowing that the ones who killed him37:23were the ones that would find salvation if they believed. Have you put your faith in the one place where the answer lies for our laziness, for our sin? It is not a church. It is not a program. It is not yourself. It is not your mind. It is not your excuses. It is in the Son of Man. It is in the King of Kings. It is in the Savior of the universe. His name is Jesus Christ. And he died on the cross to meet you where you were. That you don't have to clean your sin up and say,37:54God, I'm clean now. Save me. That you say, God, here is my sin. Clean me up from my sin. And that is not fair. It does not make sense that we bring our mud, as we go to the flood-infested waters of Louisiana, that we bring our flooded lives to God and say, God, here it is. I can't do anything with it. And God says, but I've already prepared for you. I sent the lamb, the spotless lamb of the world.38:21Behold, the lamb of God who takes away the flooded sinful lives of people like us. If you have never put your faith in Jesus Christ, you can do that right where you sit. You say, Lord, I've sinned. I need Christ. Father, deal with me. And that is not an easy process. That is me pulling back the layers of my heart and saying, God, you already see my heart, but now change my heart. Won't you confess Christ as Savior today?38:50If you do that, we will give you a chance to respond here in our invitation. Maybe you're here and you are saved, you're a follower, but you've been spiritually lazy. I don't think God wants you to overwork yourself, but I don't think he wants us to be spiritually lazy either. Some of us have been making excuses. God, I can't serve you because of that lion. There's a lion that kind of sits in this area of the church. I struggle with that. Or I can't teach, I can't lead because I'm intimidated.39:19Or God, I can't do this because I'm struggling physically. And God says, Josh, quit making excuses. I will renew your strength if you wait on me. And maybe you just need to pour out your heart today and say, God, heal me. Change my mouth. God, change my comfort zone. Lord, may I be used for your glory. If God has moved you this morning, do not miss a chance to respond. Let's pray. Father, Thank you.39:52Thank you.← Previous in ProverbsSunday, August 14, 2016Next in Proverbs →Sunday, August 28, 2016More sermons on Proverbs →
