and apply it. In Christ's name we pray, amen. All right, it's a little bit longer chapter, probably take us a couple weeks to get through, but let's go ahead and on the handout where the verses are structured, what page is that? Is that on page 261? Okay, great, so we're gonna go ahead and read. I'll just go ahead and read through the whole chapter so we have kind of a big picture. My son, if you become surety for your friend, if you have shaken hands in a pledge for a stranger, you are snared by the words of your mouth, you are taken by the words of your mouth, so do this, my son, and deliver yourself. If you have come into the hand of your friend, go, humble yourself, plead with your friend. Give no sleep to your eyes, nor slumber to your eyelids. Deliver yourself like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter, and like a bird from the hand of the fowler. Go to the aunt, you sluggard. Consider her ways, and be wise, which, having no captain, overseer, or ruler, provides her supplies in the summer, and gathers her food in the harvest. How long will you slumber, oh sluggard? When will you rise from your sleep? a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep, so shall your poverty come on you like a prowler, and your need like an armed man. A worthless person, a wicked man, walks with a perverse mouse. He winks with his eyes. He shuffles with his feet. He points with his fingers. Perversity is in his heart. He devises evil continually, and he sows discord. Therefore, his calamity shall come suddenly. Suddenly, he shall be broke without remedy. These are six things the Lord hates. Yes, seven are an abomination to Him. A proud look, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that are swift in running to evil, a false witness who speaks lies, and one who sows discord among brethren. My son, keep your father's command, and do not forsake the law of your mother. Bind them continually upon your heart. Tie them around your neck. When you roam, they will lead you. When you sleep, they will keep you. And when you awake, they will speak with you. For the commandment is a lamp, and the law a light. Reproof of instruction are the way of life. To keep from the evil woman, from the flattering tongue of a seductress, do not lust after her beauty in your heart, nor let her allure you with her eyelids. For by means of a harlot, a man is reduced to a crust of bread, and an adulteress will prey upon his precious life. Can a man take fire to his bosom, and his clothes not be burned? Can one walk on hot coals, and his feet not be seared? So is he who gives in to his neighbor's wife. Whoever touches her shall not be innocent. People do not despise a thief if he steals to satisfy himself when he is starving, yet when he is found he must restore sevenfold. He may have to give up all the substance of his house. Whoever commits adultery with a woman lacks understanding. He who does so destroys his own soul. Wounds and dishonor he will get, and his approach will not be wiped away. For jealousy is a husband's fury, therefore he will not spare in the day of vengeance. He will accept no recompense. nor will he be appeased, though you give many gifts." Wow, that is one full chapter. And if I were to overview those chapters, this chapter, here's the basic breakdown. So one through five goes through poor financial decisions, where you become a surety. things like that, where you loan out or someone gives you a loan. Think of a loan shark, one of those situations. Then we get into another aspect of the financial side, and that's a failed work ethic. You don't work, you don't eat, the New Testament says, and someone who's lazy runs into some financial problems. And then you get into the other side of the financial side, which is immoral actions. That can lead to issues. and then in more relationships. All these things affect the bottom line in many, many ways. All right. So some questions. Let's see here. Let me scroll down. By the way, the, let's see here. Let me go to where I was at. Okay. So we're going to look at verses one through five and look at the poor financial decisions. And friend and stranger, these two terms, represent the full spectrum of relationships from someone who's very close to someone who's not close. Essentially anyone, that's the idea. And the background, Israel, this is interesting. Israel was to give to those who have a genuine need. Look at Deuteronomy 15.7. If there is among you a poor man of your brethren, with any of your gates in your land which the Lord your God has given you, you shall not harden your heart nor shut your hand from your poor brother. Notice the family relationship. But you shall open your hand wide to him and willingly lend him sufficient for his need. Whatever he needs, beware lest there be a wicked thought in your heart, saying, the seventh year, the year of release is at hand, and your eye be evil against your poor brother, and you give him nothing. And he cries out to the Lord against you, and it becomes sin among you." Now remember, in the seventh year was the year in which everything kind of reset and went back. And so anyway, you shall surely give to him and your heart should not be greed when you give to him because for this thing the Lord your God will bless you in all your works and in all through which you put your hand. For the poor will never cease from the land. Therefore I command you saying you should open your hand wide to your brother to your poor and your needy in your land. Now notice we're talking about someone who's legitimately poor. Somebody who has a legitimate need. Number two, Israel could loan money to a friend, but it must be without interest. And by the way, there's a really fascinating history on this. Even to this day, it may not always be in the public news, but the belief is that behind the scenes, the Jews lend to one another interest-free. They still do it. In the 1500s, a couple of Jewish bankers loaned to their Jewish friends with no interest, but charged an exorbitant interest to the Gentiles. And when the Gentiles found out, let's just say it didn't go well for the bankers. Israel could low money. Exodus 22-25, if you lend money to any of my people who are poor among you, you shall not be like a money lender to him. You shall not charge him interest. But Israel could charge interest to foreigners. Deuteronomy 23, 22. A foreigner you may charge interest, but your brother you shall not charge interest. That the Lord your God may bless you in all to which you set your hand in the land which you're entering to possess. So very fascinating, isn't it? How the Lord is distinguishing relationships amongst one another. We're to be gracious, we're to be giving, we're to be helpful, to meet a genuine need. But for the, People outside the world, it's a different set of rules. Not in the sense of not loving them, but we make a distinction, and that's what the Lord is doing. Of course, you can give to a Gentile interest-free. You can be gracious in that way, and there's nothing wrong with that either. But the Lord was making this distinction in the Old Testament to separate Israel from the rest, but also to show them how to care for one another. Now surety for your friend, that's guaranteeing the credit or debt of others, possibly giving a loan too. Shaking hands in a pledge for a stranger, a verbal agreement or written. Today probably the closest thing we have is like co-signing a loan, right? The Bible would say that's not really wise to do. X is 2226. If you ever take your neighbor's garment as a pledge, you shall return it to him before the sun goes down. So it's like back then, you know, this was the clothes you needed to sleep at night. And so you'd work, you'd give it to this guy, and then you'd go do your job. And then by doing your job, you gave him the cloak and then he's supposed to give it back to you at night. Deuteronomy 24, 6. No man shall take the lower or upper millstone in pledge, for he takes one's living in pledge. So there was limits to what you could take. And in the case of a millstone, you needed that to work the grain. If you took that away, then you can't make a living. So there's limits. And then Deuteronomy 2410, when you lend your brother anything, you shall not go into his house to get his pledge. You shall not stand outside. And the man to whom you lend shall bring the pledge out to you. And if the man is poor, you shall not keep his pledge overnight. You shall in any case return the pledge to him again when the sun goes down, that he may sleep in his own garment and bless you. And it shall be righteousness to you before the Lord your God. It'd be like someone giving you, I lend you some money, you give me your car. Well, you can't get to work without a car. So you want to have a pledge that is a promissory note that you're gonna fulfill this obligation Nehemiah 5 1 listen to this after they come back to the land after the Israel had been in Babylon Babylon they come back and Nehemiah Ezra and there was a great outcry of the people and their wives against their Jewish brethren for there were those who said we are sons and our daughters are many therefore let us grain let us get grain that we may eat live and There were also some who said, we have mortgaged our lands and vineyards and houses that we might buy grain because of the famine. There were also those who said, we have borrowed money for the king's tax on our lands and vineyards. Yet now our flesh is as the flesh of our brethren, our children as our children. And indeed, we are forcing our sons and daughters to be slaves. And some of our daughters have been brought into slavery. Is it not in our power to redeem them? For other men have our lands and vineyards." And I became very angry when I heard their outcry in these words. After serious thought, I rebuked the nobles and the rulers and said to them, each of you is exacting usury from his brother. extreme interest. So I called a great assembly against them, and I said to them, according to our ability, we've redeemed our Jewish brethren who were sold to the nations. Now indeed, will you even sell your brethren, or should they be sold to us? Then they were silenced and found nothing to say. Then I said, what you are doing is not good. Should you not walk in the fear of our God because of the approach of the nations, our enemies? I also, with my brethren and my servants, am lending them money and grain. Please let us stop this ursery. So let me pause. What do you guys think about this in our modern day? Do we have people who lend out money for extreme interest? Michael? Credit cards, 20%, right? Payday, money payday, the check, instant check, that can be 400% to 500% or more. Yeah, the law allows them. And people sometimes are desperate and they're willing to make those Yeah. Of course, the ones that do it off the books, you risk having your kneecaps broken, right? As the movies portray. But this is a really important issue, right? How do you lend wisely? We do have a benevolent fund, and we've used that in the past, but sometimes we have to ask for information before we give out, because we want to make sure we're being good stewards, and sometimes people are uncomfortable with that, and that can become an issue. Here's some other cross-references. Proverbs 11, 15. He who is surety for a stranger will suffer, but the one who hates being surety is secure. Proverbs 17, 18, a man devoid of understanding shakes hands in a pledge and becomes surety for his friend. Making contracts, gotta be wise, right? Proverbs 22, 26, do not be one of those who shakes hands in a pledge, one of those who is surety for debts. If you have nothing with which to pay, why should he take away your bed from under you? Showing you the implications. And Philemon 118. But if he has wronged you or owes anything, put that on my account. Pretty cool how Paul was willing to cover the wages of the slave that ran away. Derek. Years ago, I was growing up as a little kid with my grandfather going places. He always told me, he says, one thing you do, when you look a person in the eye and you shake his hand, you abide by what you say, period. So you were trained at an early age to make sure your words were true and you fulfilled your vows, your agreements. These days, maybe not so much, but yeah, there was a time when a handshake was as equal to your word and promise. Yeah. And we want to be that way. Of course, today the Lord says don't make vows. Let your yes be yes and your no be no. Snared by the words of your mouth. This is figuratively to catch a bird in a trap. And people are like that. I remember as a kid, I got burned by another friend. I had found these really fancy looking quarters in my brother's drawer. I didn't know that they were silver. I knew that they were cool, so I took them to school. And this other kid who was much sharper than I says, hey, let me see that. I'll give you $1.25 for those four quarters. And I'm thinking, $1, $1.25? Well, great. I made $0.25. I could put those back in my brother's drawer. He'll never know. I got snared on that one. Sometimes, you know. Taken by the words of your mouth, seized and entrapped. Jeremiah 5024, you have indeed been trapped, old Babylon, and you were not aware. You've been found also caught because you've contended against the Lord. Same picture. And so we gotta watch out the kinds of agreements we make and the promises we make. And of course I mentioned the payday loans is a great example of that. In fact, let me see if I have a picture of that. Let me see. Don't know. Nope, I don't think I have that quite here. So payday loans. Proverbs 6.3, so do this, my son, deliver yourself, for you've come into the hand of your friend. Go and humble yourself. Plead with your friend. This next section here. Give no sleep to your eyes, no slumber to your eyelids. Deliver yourself like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter and like a bird from the hand of the follower. This is amazing imagery because what it's saying is, okay, you made a pledge and guess what? You're in trouble now. The solution, not to walk out on your promise, but find a way through hard work to get out of that situation. So this idea here, key words, deliver means to escape disaster. Habakkuk 2.9, woe to him who covets evil gain for his house, that he may set his nest on high, that he may be delivered from the power of a disaster. Same idea. Come into the hand of your friend. You have lost control of the situation. You are now liable for your friend's indebtedness. Seven commands from the dad. Now, look at this. This is pretty fascinating in the way Salman walks through this. First, do. Make it happen. Take action. Urgent. Don't wait another moment. This can happen. You become paralyzed with your financial situation. You just don't know what to do. Deliver. Find a way of escape from personal disaster. Go, depart directly to your neighbor quickly. Humble, debase yourself, even described as grovel, trample oneself down in the mud. Plead to badger, to press, to pester, to give. Don't surrender in this context of sleeping and napping. Work overtime if you have to. And then deliver the picture of a caged animal who, while escaping, injures oneself. So you get through, but you don't come out of it unscathed. So those are some pretty intense pictures, aren't they? And so Solomon is really being strong here. But let's principalize the text. And you have those principles there. Number one, don't take the debt of another. That is a really good rule. Now, if you are going to do it, and you're able to take that loss, and you still want to, that's OK. So the Lord's not saying never, he's just saying it's unwise, because you could find yourself in trouble. But if you had, let's say you want to lend a thousand, but you have an extra thousand, and you give that person a thousand, and that person doesn't pay you back, but you still have that thousand back up, you're okay. It's the situation where that thousand dollars that you're going to hopefully get back, you were going to use to pay the mortgage, now you don't have it, now you're in trouble. So this is the idea behind it. The second principle, defend yourself against unwise promises or commitments. Diagnose the extent of your financial failure. Discuss and determine a solution in humility. It's easy to get mad and frustrated and all that, but you can't. You've got to say, OK, let's put our thinking cap on. Let's figure this out. Deliver yourself from financial ruin through extreme measures. This is it. This is where the rubber meets the road. What are you willing to do? Take an extra job, whatever it takes. Cut back. There's lots of things you can do. And then last principle six, don't give up until you are free from that indebtedness, from that loan. Some pretty good principles, wouldn't you say? And just as relevant today as it was thousands of years ago when Solomon wrote this. OK, comments, thoughts, questions on that? Pretty straightforward. No fun. All right. Let's go to Proverbs, let's see, I lost track of where I'm at here. I thought I had some more questions on here. All right, let's go to Proverbs 6, 6 through 11, and let's move to this financial ruin part two, because here's the other situation. You may have gotten yourself into it through making bad commitments. You can also find yourself in financial ruin due to your work ethic. And then, so here we go, a field work ethic, Proverbs 6, 6 through 11. Go to the aunt, you sluggard. Consider her ways and be wise, which having no captain, overseer, ruler, provides her supplies in the summer and gathers her food in the harvest. How long will you slumber, old sluggard? When will you rise from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, a little fooling of the hands to sleep. So shall poverty come on to you like a prowler and your need like an armed man. That's a pretty intense picture. Let me get ahead here. I got really behind on my slides. So yeah, oh yeah, here's the picture. This is what I was trying to show on the payday loan. 516% is an example, but you can see where the interest rates on each state. Can you see those numbers? So Wisconsin, they can go up to 516%. Oregon's a little better, only 154%. You can see why these guys make money. Texas, 664%. Man, that's bad. All right, let me go. So, what is a sluggard? One who is in the habit of being inactive, undisciplined, lazy, and can include being immoral. Now, there's 10 attributes of the sluggard that are mentioned here, or as well, the only proverb uses. And so I'm gonna cover all of them. They're not all just in this passage. So Proverbs 6, 9, sleeping too much. How long will you slumber? Proverbs 24, 32. When I sought, I considered it well. I looked on it and received instruction, a little sleep, a little slumber, a little foiling of the hands to rest, so your poverty shall come on you like a prowler and your need like an armand. So you can see the principle. So that's one example. Number two is they're irresponsible and an irritation to others. Proverbs 10, 26. As vinegar to the teeth, If you ever had apple cider vinegar, that's a good way to imagine it. So, I lost my spot here. So is the lazy man to those who send him. Okay, so irresponsible and irritation. And then by the other one, the other one, Proverbs 26, 14, as a door turns on its hinge, so does the lazy man on his bed. All right, number three. Another attribute of sluggard from Proverbs is passed over for promotion at work. And the first verse of that is Proverbs 12, 24, the hand of the diligent will rule, but the lazy man will be put to forced labor. You know, at a call center we work at, you know, we do have to let, like any business, we have to let people go sometimes. And that's through a long process of giving them every opportunity, and it breaks your heart to see someone not change and then fail. Very heartbreaking. Number four. Proverbs describes someone who does not value one's possessions and is wasteful. Proverbs 12, 27, the lazy man does not roast what he took in hunting, but diligence is man's precious possession. And then number five, wishes or fantasizes rather than works, neglects and suffers for it. There's several here. Proverbs 13, four, the soul of a lazy man desires, there's the idea, and has nothing but the soul of the diligent shall be made rich. Proverbs 21, 25, the desire of a lazy man kills him for his hands refuse to labor. Proverbs 24, 30, I went by the field of a lazy man and by the vineyard of the man devoid of understanding. And there it was. all overgrown with thorns. Its surface was covered with nettles. Its stone wall was broken down. So the lazy man just didn't take care of his property. Number six, creates additional problems for themselves. The way of a lazy man is like a hedge of thorns, but the way of the upright is a highway. And so you can get that picture of everywhere a lazy man's like, oh, I can't do that. That's too hard. I do that. That's too hard. That's the picture. They keep giving excuses. And then number seven, they're unable to complete a task fully. Proverbs 19.24, a lazy man buries his head in the bowl. He can't even finish eating his food, is the picture. And will so much as bring it to his mouth again. You know, just even struggling to just eat is the picture. Proverbs 26.15, the lazy, yeah, brings his hand to the bowl. It wearies him to bring it back to his mouth. What a picture, huh? You're so lazy you can't even eat. refuses critical and essential responsibilities. Proverbs 20 verse four, the lazy man will not plow because of winter, he will beg during harvest and have nothing. Ecclesiastes 10, 18, because of laziness, the building decays, and through idleness of hands, the house leaks. Number nine, full of ridiculous excuses. Proverbs 22, 13, the lazy man says, there's a lion outside, I shall be slain in the streets. Proverbs 26, now of course, if you said that today, that would be really outrageous. We did see a cougar in the streets when we lived in Milwaukee. Proverbs 26, 13, the lazy man says there's a line in the road, a fierce lion is on the streets. And then number 10, not self-aware of one's incompetence. Proverbs 26, 16, the lazy man is wiser in his own eyes than seven men who can answer sensibly. Pretty amazing when you start to step back. Do you know a lazy person? Please don't give any names. Spouses are exempt from this. But I mean, we probably all have either hired a contractor maybe that was this way, maybe worked in a company where someone was this way, and it just breaks your heart because in their own eyes, they think they're okay. Derek. That's a very common one. There's that excuse that is given. And it really comes down to discipline, self-discipline. And it can be a hard thing to turn around from. But it's very difficult to help a person who doesn't just want to work and do the job. And so there you go. Now, interestingly, the Lord then turns from a sluggard and he picks the ant. I love when there's animal illustrations in the Bible. They're always fascinating. So there are four things which are little on earth, but they are exceedingly wise, this is Proverbs 30. The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their food in the summer. Verse 26, the rock badgers are a feeble folk, yet they make their homes in the crags. Verse 27, the locusts have no king, yet they all advance in ranks. And 28, the spider skillfully grasps with its hands And it is in king's palaces. You could just imagine one day Solomon's just like, hmm, there's a spider there. And then he composes this. I'm not sure if he wrote that or the other guy. The ants' wisdom, he plans ahead. And implied, they cooperate because they're part of a colony. Now the far side, of course, loves animals. And they have a little cartoon here. And remember, ask not what your anthill can do for you, but what you can do for your anthill. colony mentality right there. By the way, ants are on every continent except Antarctica. They're everywhere. Get your perspective on ants. I got all creeped out. Remember the 70s, the ants take over the world and all that? Still have nightmares about that now and then. Yeah, that's right, the giant ants. So let me just show you one more other little video. A time lapse of ants working their magic. See the little bones over there? One by one. I think those ants were very hungry. Literally nothing left but the bone So I show these pictures ants because when the Lord pictures the ants This is this is just a little touch of what they do a little scope of what they do now Let's see here, so the wisdom they plan ahead and Boy, do they know how to cooperate and look what they can accomplish and And note that these roles are in, so it says Proverbs 6, 7, go to the aunt you sluggard, consider her ways and be wise, which having no captain, overseer, or ruler. The captain is the one who decides what the work is to be done, what work is to be done. Implication, the aunts don't need to be told what to do, when to start, when to finish. And the analogy is, is you, in your work ethic shouldn't be, no one should need to tell you what to do. You should be that disciplined that you don't need a captain. Overseer, the one who manages and oversees the actual work being done and being done right. So this is like the next down the food chain. Implication, they don't need supervision. They don't need to be watched over. They have an excellent work ethic. And then the next one, the ruler, the one who is the ultimate leader over all these activities. All right? So I guess it's a reverse order here. But the implication, they don't need accountability. They understand the purpose of the work. They cooperate for the greater good. And the ant has none of these. And so the Lord is making a big rebuke to the lazy individual and saying, look, the ant doesn't have a captain, doesn't have an overseer, doesn't have a ruler. How about you? And this is how you can gauge your own self-discipline. Are you able to do these things yourself? The ant, the conclusion is, is a model worker. And I have some little things in there if you want to do in the handout. And then look at verse 8. Provides her supplies in the summer. Okay. And in the end, and gathers her food in the harvest. So we have summer and winter. I gotta get caught up here. All right. Here's another far side here. You idiots. We'll never get that thing down the hole. Who was the captain of that odyssey on that one? Not too good. All right. So look at these activities. They provide and they gather. Provides her supplies in the summer, gathers her food in the harvest. Very obedient. And this is about the type of work for planning and preparing in advance. gathers. This is a type of work to complete and finish the task. So you see the difference? It's covering the full spectrum. What to do to get the plan out and how to gather. And with these two words, the full spectrum of work from start to finish and everything in between is included. We all get this, right? We understand the importance of planning and so forth. So this is what the end is to teach the lazy person. Alright, now. Yes, Derek? He's also describing the average farmer. Pretty much. Yep. Absolutely. And there's a lot of agrarian illustrations in the scriptures, right? And in fact, we saw some of the lazy sluggard not planning, not preparing for the harvest and so forth, and not plowing the fields and so forth, not caring for their house on the farmland. So yeah. All right. There's two key words which are repeated and are the root problem of the sluggard. And that is slumber and sleep. slumber and sleep. And people come in late to work all the time. I learned a long time ago, someone gave me some great advice, show 15 minutes early. Just plan on that. And if you do that, even when you're running late, you're still early. And that's just always a good rule of thumb. It doesn't always work out that way, but you at least aim for it. All right. So some key words, slumber, to lie down, to rest, possibly leading to sleep. And then sleep, actual sleeping, and can include napping as well. And then the folding of the hands. This implies they're refusing to put their hands to the work. That's the idea. Solomon. Here's another picture. Looks like he's sleeping with his hands folded there. Thag Anderson becomes the first fatality as a result of falling asleep at the wheel. Of course, the wheel's not really moving or part of a car. Now, Solomon gives an analogy in verse 11 for his day. What analogy would you give someone today in this kind of situation? So your poverty shall come on you like a prowler, Kind of sneak in, surprise. And your need, like an armed man, takes everything from you. What would be any analogies you can think of today that we use in our language to talk about what would happen if you're lazy or so forth? Can you think of one? We still use these. There you go. If you snooze, you lose. Of course, that works better for games, but can be applied to life. All right. So, work. We got a little bit of time here. Prior to the Reformation, this is really important, there was a division between spiritual sacred work versus secular work. The spiritual sacred was considered more valuable than the other. Martin Luther broke through that deception with the truth of the calling of all vocations. This even happens today, I'll be honest with you. When I was in seminary back in 2000, there were certain guys who felt that the ministry was somehow a superior work to someone who wasn't in the ministry. Now, I want to be careful how I say this. It's true that spiritual work gets its own set of rewards, but in no means is it any less important in the sense of ultimately using your gifts and talents. Now, it can have huge implications, right? Teaching the word and leading someone to heaven is great, right? Also, falsely teaching, as we're dealing with 2 Peter, leading someone to hell is tragic and terrible. But the key is that no one should think one work is better than the other. All vocations are valuable before the Lord. It's true that ones have different reward and God has done that, but all work. You don't have to become a pastor. in order to be blessed by the Lord in your secular work. That's what I'm trying to get at. And that's what Martin Luther was trying to get at. Because the priests of the Catholic Church had set themselves up as some special above everyone else. And that was prideful and arrogant and unbiblical. Listen to 1 Corinthians 7, 17. But as God has distributed each one, as the Lord has called each one, so let him walk. And so I ordain all the churches. Was anyone called while circumcised? Let him not be uncircumcised. Was anyone called while uncircumcised? Let him be. Let him not be circumcised. Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but keeping the commandments of God is what matters. Let each one remain in the same calling in which he was called. In other words, you get saved, keep doing what you were doing, you got saved. Were you called while a slave? Do not be concerned about it. But if you can be made free, rather use it. for he who is called the Lord while a slave is the Lord's freedman. Likewise, he who is called while free is Christ's slave. You were bought at a price. Do not become slaves of men. Brethren, let each one remain with God in the state in which he was called." What a great truth, right? You're saved, and whatever you're doing, keep doing it. And the Lord blesses that and honors that. For Luther, vocation, the Latin word for calling, means far more than a job or profession. Vocation is Luther's doctrine of the Christian life. So the idea is this is what you do for your life. More than that, vocation is the way God works through human beings to govern his creation and to bestow his gifts. That's why it's so important to just find out what you love to do and do it, if you can. But if you don't love what you do, but you can do it well, then maybe that's what you need to do. These are the challenges that everyone has to go through, right? So God gives us our daily bread by means of farmers, Millers and Bakers. He creates and cares for, this is Martin Luther, for new life by means of fathers and mothers. He protects us by means of lawful authorities. He proclaims his word and ministers of sacraments, ordinances is a better choice of words, by means of pastors. Vocation, Luther said, is a mask of God, a way that he hides himself in the ordinary relationships and tasks of human life. A key task we just read, 1 Corinthians 7.17, let each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him to which God has called him. The immediate context of this passage had to do with marriage. Our families, our citizenship, in particular, community or society or congregations, and yes, our workplaces, are all facets of the life to which God has assigned and called us. The purpose of all of our callings is to love and serve the neighbors that each vocation brings into our lives, marriage, spouse, parenthood, children, workplace, customers, so on. We are saved only by grace through faith in the work of Christ, but then we are sent back into our callings to live out that faith. God does not need our good works, Luther said, thinking of elaborate efforts to merit salvation apart from the free gift of Christ. But our neighbor does need our good works. Our faith bears fruit in love. And this happens in our families, our work, our communities, and our congregations. In these callings, we also bear our crosses, we sin, and find forgiveness, and we grow in faith and holiness. What a wonderful picture. And this was kind of like groundbreaking for the 1500s. And I think in America, we have some of that still. We're very fortunate. You can switch jobs. But there's some countries, that's it. You get what you get, and you don't have a choice whether you like it or not. And it's such a good, hopefully it's a comfort to all of us to recognize that we can serve the Lord in any vocation and make a difference in that, whether you're a farmer, a teacher, a carpenter, all the various works that you do. Okay, implication, single, stay-at-home mom, working, disabled, or even retired, how are you serving God and others in love? Now, the Christian work ethic, and this is not an exhaustive list, but we'll wrap up with this. Some just things to think about. The Christian work ethic reflects the creator character of God, right? He created the universe, everything in it in six literal days, right? On the seventh day, God ended his work which he had done. He rested, ceased from creation, creating from the work which he had done. John 5, 17, my father has been working until now and I've been working. So even though the creation was done on day six, the father, the son, the spirit are still working to redeem man. John 14, two, in my father's house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you, I go to prepare a place for you, implying there's work still involved. It is commanded, work is commanded before the fall. Genesis 2, 15, then the Lord took the man, put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. Those were the easy days. No thorns, no thistles. Genesis 2.18, the Lord said, it is not good that man should be alone. I will make him a helper comparable to him. So now we see the husband and wife working. Number three, work is the means for providing. 2 Thessalonians 3.10. For even when we were with you, we commanded you this, if anyone will not work, neither shall he eat. For we hear that there are some who walk among you in a disorderly manner, not working at all, but are busybodies. Now those who are such, we command and exhort through our Lord Jesus Christ, and they work in quietness and eat their own bread." Very fascinating. principle is work is a gift from God to be enjoyed. Ecclesiastes 3.12, I know nothing is better for them to rejoice and to do good in their lives and also that every man should eat and drink and enjoy the good of all his labor. It is the gift of God. Work is a gift of God. And then another principle, work, attitude, and action matter. Ephesians 6.5, bond servants, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh with fear and trembling and sincerity of heart as to Christ, not with eye service as men pleasers, but as bond servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart. with goodwill, doing service as to the Lord and not to men, because that's who you serve really, knowing that whatever good anyone does, he'll receive the same from the Lord, whether he be slave or free. And you masters do the same things to them, giving up threatening, knowing that your own master also is in heaven and there is no partiality with him. Just a couple more. Work, excellence brings honor if you do a good job. Proverbs 22, 29, do you see a man who excels in his work? He will stand before kings. He will not stand before unknown men. I don't know if you remember when I played Jubilant Sykes. Remember the African-American guy who sang Mary, Did You Know? He's just one example who sung before the Queen of England. He was so good. And we're going to stop right there. We will pick up at It Has Spiritual Implications. Any questions? All right. This is a really good chapter, very practical. And so let's just close in prayer. Heavenly Father, we thank you for this time and help us to take these principles to heart and use them wisely in our life. In Christ's name we pray, amen. All right, we will pick up here.