Alright, tonight I'm going to be teaching on biblical work, ethic, and responsibility. First, I'm going to read the introduction to give you all a little bit about what I'm going to talk about tonight. The Bible teaches that work is not a curse, it is a calling. God created man to be productive and responsible in every season of life. Men are to labor diligently and honestly, providing for their needs and the needs of others. This lesson lays out a biblical work ethic and challenges young men to embrace responsibility with joy and excellence. First, I want to say there's two different types of works. There's a biblical work and a world work. By doing a biblical work, which is basically God's work, is what he says in the Bible it is. Those acts often involve doing service for the Lord, being a missionary, handing out tracts, street preaching, and other gospel ministries. Now I'm gonna turn to 1 Corinthians 15, 58. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as you know that their labor is not in vain in the Lord. There's also the world's version of work, which now I'm going to turn to Ecclesiastes 3 and on. I'm going to read Ecclesiastes 3, 9-11. I think having a job in this world as a man is one of the five things every man needs. By having a job in this world, you can provide for yourself and the people around you. You can tithe. You can also obviously support yourself by tithing from the rewards you make in the world by working. You can also receive the blessings from the Lord because you're going to give back to him. Okay, now I'm going to turn to Malachi 3.10. Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house. And prove me now herewith, sayeth the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven and pour you out a blessing, there shall not be room enough to receive it. Next, I'm going to talk about working to give, not to just inherit for yourself. Obviously, it's nice receiving the rewards you get from working. Money is also a big thing in this world. Everybody wants money. You want to work to get money. But giving back to God by working, according to the Bible, sounds like a way nicer plan. Instead of spending it all and not giving back to the Savior who died for you. When you're working in this world, obviously you want money and the good things that come with money because you can just go buy stuff. But I feel like as a Christian, if you're in church, you should be giving back to God and giving back to the church because you honestly wouldn't have that job without God. So in speaking of working, a Christian that does work should be a leader, not just a follower. They should be a good godly example that the Bible says they should be. Now I'm going to turn to first Timothy four twelve. Let no man despise thy youth, but be thou an example of the believers in word and conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity. So mixing this in with the world's version of working, most people in this room obviously have jobs. And those people around you in the work environment, they don't get to see Christians and good godly examples every day. So when they're coming in, like for example, like blue collar workers, they go there and that's, the job is like all their life consists of. They're not in church usually. I mean, some people are, thankfully. But when they go in, their job is all they have. So you're going to be around people that are cussing and carrying on and all that stuff. And then when they see you as a Christian and you're being that good, godly example, then be like, hey, this guy's different. But being a Christian is kind of different. Like, you're going to stand out. And not just in your work environment, in public you should also try to keep the testimony and be a good godly example. I'm going to turn to Matthew 5.14. Matthew 5.14-16 says, Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick, and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven. And now I got like five things that I think for every man that works, either in God's definition or the world's definition, that I think personally that they should know. I'm gonna turn to Genesis 2.15. And the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it, to keep it. I personally think this verse explains how God wanted Adam to keep up with the garden, essentially working to keep it up to God's standards. When you're working, either in the world or, you know, in a ministry of some type that you have from God, I think you want to keep like a really good standard. Either if you're in the mission field, you want to keep God's standard and always try to hand out those tracts or talk to the people about the Lord to try to lead them to Him. And then if you're in the world, like working a worldly job, I guess, not worldly, but you know, just working a job, but like your boss, he's going to want you to have a good standard. Like he's going to want you to do your job. Now, number two, I'm going to turn to 1 Corinthians 10 31. Whether therefore you eat or drink, whatsoever you do, do all to the glory of God. I think this verse emphasizes doing all things for the glory of God, as it says. Rather a man is working for the Lord by doing missionary work or any kinds of services for the Lord, or rather a man is working to make money and provide for his family. You should be doing any of that to please the Lord. All right, number three, I'm gonna turn to Proverbs 13, 22. A good man leaveth an inheritance to his children's children, and the wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just. This verse explains that Solomon is telling his son that he should be leaving an inheritance for his children's children. What I think that's talking about is not doing the work just for yourself, but for the future of your inheritance slash bloodline also. It will help your kids down the road and teach them that they also need to leave an inheritance for their kids. Well, basically, if you're a man and you're working, I think you shouldn't just be kind of just working for the now. You need to think further ahead, like those investments that you're going to make in the future, the family you're going to have in the future, especially as a young man. If you're thinking about having a family in the future, I think you should be thinking down the road, like, I should be trying to save this money. I mean, I don't know a ton about saving money because I'm not good at saving money. But anyway, I think later down the road, you should be thinking about the future. All right, number four, I'm gonna turn to Matthew 7-7. Alright, Matthew 7, 7-8. This verse to me can be used in the working sense, obviously. As a young man looking for work, pray and ask the Lord what you should do. Your plan is not always the best plan. God may have you work for Him instead of working for the world, per se. God can provide if He puts you on this path. I think if you're looking as a young man, if you're looking to the world to try to make money or to try to find a job, you need to pray and ask the Lord what He wants you to do first. Because you could be working that job at McDonald's, and in the back of your head, you could be like, man, the Lord really wants me to go to this mission field. He really wants me to tell these people about Jesus and try to get the gospel out there. But you're stuck flipping patties, because you didn't ask the Lord what He wanted you to do first. All right, number five, I'm gonna turn to Colossians 3.23. And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily as to the Lord, and not unto me. Do all things with a good heart. There may be times while you're working that you may mess up or fail or get extremely aggravated, but you got to keep a good heart and a good spirit. People around you will take note of that. If you're in the job or if you're working the job, you're going to, I mean, you're obviously, you're going to mess up. You're going to do things wrong sometimes. I mean, everybody does things wrong sometimes. But those people around you that see you mess up, and then you still keep a good heart, and you're asking the Lord, Lord help me, like, I'm gonna need you to help me redo this. I'm gonna need you to keep me calm while I'm still doing this. Those people are gonna see you not get mad, and then be like, this guy, like, I really wanna keep him here. I mean, he's keeping a good heart, a good spirit. I think he's pretty good for my job, because he's an influence for the people around me.