All right, welcome to the Liberty Baptist Church tonight. If you would, if you can, stand. We're going to sing In the Service of the King. I am happy in the service of the King. I am happy, oh so happy. I have peace and joy that we can bring in the service of the King. In the service of the King. Every talent I will bring I have peace and joy and blessing In the service of the King I am happy in the service of the King I am happy, oh so happy ♪ Through the sunshine and the shadow I can sing ♪ In the service of the King ♪ In the service of the King ♪ Every talent I will bring ♪ I am peace and joy and blessing ♪ In the service of the King ♪ I am happy in the service of the King I am happy, oh so happy All that I possess to Him I gladly bring In the service of the King In the service of the King Every talent I will bring I am peace and joy and blessing In the service of the King after a while, but for those of you not on the prayer chain, as well. Be with us tonight in your service, in Jesus' name, amen. You may be seated. All right, in my heart there rings a melody. ♪ I have a song that Jesus gave me ♪ It was sent from heaven above ♪ That ever was a sweeter melody ♪ Is a melody of love in my heart ♪ There rings a melody, there rings a melody ♪ With heaven's harmony In my heart there rings a melody, there rings a melody of love. I love the Christ who died on Calvary, for he washed my sins away. He put within my heart a melody, and I know it's there to stay. In my heart there rings a melody, there rings a melody with heaven's harmony. In my heart there rings a melody, there rings a melody of love, will be my endless theme in glory. With the angels I will sing, will be a song with glorious harmony, when the courts of heaven ring. I don't see any new folks. Some of you may not recognize Adam, he got a new haircut, but other than that, And Brother Mitchell's beard, his mustache is getting longer, so you may mistake him for someone else. I heard him joking. I don't think he was joking. You ran out of gas in your motorcycle? Yeah, there is, is that out in the desert area out there? Yeah, I remember that used to they would have big signs and it would say no gas for 100 miles and then they would keep warning you and once you got into that area there wasn't any gas stations for 100 miles, so. So yeah, it is true. Mitchell experienced it. We overheated one time out there going up and down those mountains. I don't remember if it was going to California or on the way back to visit family from California, but there was hills out there. And in the summertime, those cars stopped all up the hills, all of them overheated. So thank goodness we don't have heat in Texas. It's just nice and cool here, so not the same. Don't forget normal stuff going on this week, and then we have some abnormal stuff as well, so tomorrow night we'll have soul winning. For any of you that want to go downtown, for any of you that want to go downtown, they will be starting down there at six o'clock. So again, there are usually some folks from here at the church that go, and if you need to get a ride, you just have to call and ask, and we'll try to get you paired up with somebody. I think it costs, am I correct, it costs $10 to park in that one parking place? So it's $10 per car. So again, if there's several of you that can carpool, that's cheaper than each of you paying $10. But we parked in the regular area, in the Alamo Dome parking lot area, and then walked to the carnival. I don't know what they had saved recently, but Roy said Sunday they had 30 saved. Roy was a day or two behind, and he said that was a good number for a Sunday. So we were there also on, our folks were there on Tuesday. And then we'll be there tomorrow night and then be there all day Saturday night again Saturday. It starts at 2 o'clock and goes till 10 And then again Thursday it starts at 6 o'clock and goes till 10 so if you again We'll have someone at 645 for any of you that aren't going downtown, but that will start at 645 in the fellowship home. We'll still have the kids classes and then Friday night we have, Friday morning we have the, we're gonna go down pass out tracks on the parade route. I know that the Sells family is going and I know Sean and I are going and I know the Reeses are going. Is there anyone else that was planning on going to the parade routes Friday morning? Friday, anyone else? All right just need to find out because we will we're going to meet here at at 8 and then we will be down at the parade route about 8 30. They're starting the parade earlier this year and they're taking a different route than what we've taken so we're going to leave at 8. We have 3,000 tracks to pass out so we're going to move to and we're going to go to pass out all the tracks but we'll pass out tracks on the parade route on Friday. And then Friday night, a youth activity, we leave the church at 5.30, we'll get over to Texas Baptist between 6 and 6.15, we'll have an activity there. And then Saturday all day, there'll be no sewing in, as Brother Taylor's note said, no sewing in at 10.45, because they want folks to be able to go to the booth. And then there is bus visitation at 930 now Saturday as I mentioned Saturday the time starts at 2 Brother Castillo said they usually have trouble have enough so owners early on and then late in the middle They usually have plenty of so owners But he said the early on is tough on Saturday and the late night is tough on Saturday. So if you can help with Saturday, again, that would be a good thing. I read you the thank you note from the Bays. They simply said thank you for your prayers, your kindness, and all the stuff regarding Grandma's health. These folks to pray for can always pray for Preacher and Cindy. Pray for... I don't really want Brother Mike signing up for every Wednesday night, because that means he misses. He's already back there on Sunday morning in Children's Church, so he misses every Sunday morning back there. So the only service he gets to set in is Sunday night, unless some of... I would share it, but it'd make it kind of tough, unless Brother Taylor or someone else is preaching. Brother Nicholas' rule kind of is, I'm on the platform, and used to, I would... Brother Taylor and I used to cover, didn't we? Used to cover law and security guards. So now Brother Terry and I do not have that luxury, because before he was a song leader, before I started doing the announcements, if our guys didn't show up, either he would do it or I would do it, and there were several times, I mean, we usually did two or three times a month. So fellas, if you just sign up once a month, it probably would be enough where nobody has to repeat themselves too much, but we do, we used to only do it Sunday night and Wednesday night, now we have to do it Sunday morning, because we had some stuff happen on a Sunday morning, so now it's Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night, so three services that we have to cover, and if you can help with that, we'd appreciate it. All right, if you can, let's stand. I know that my Redeemer liveth. I know that my Redeemer liveth and on the earth again shall stand. I know eternal life He giveth, the grace and power are in his hand. I know, I know that Jesus liveth and on the earth again shall stand. I know, I know that life he giveth, that grace and power are in his hand. I know my mansion He prepareth, and where He is, there I make me. O wondrous thought for me He careth, and He at last will come for me. I know, I know that Jesus liveth, and on the earth again shall stand. I know, I know that life he giveth, that grace and power are in his hand. Dear Precious Heavenly Father, we thank you for this special time that we have to be able to give. Lord, I pray you bless Jesus' Precious Holy Name. Amen. Yeah. you Some of you noticed the candy out in the hallway. What happened was, I wasn't going to order any candy this year because we don't have very many kids in the school, but we are going to do a youth conference. We're going to host it. We're going to use the gym and the property over at Texas Baptist because they have a gymnasium and we don't. It makes it easy to do activities and feed the folks and things like that. So we're probably going to go in it with them, but we're going to head it this year. Last year they headed it. So it will cost us some money because we don't charge the kids from these other churches. It'll be a Friday night and then a Saturday till somewhere in the middle of the afternoon, then we'll be done. But when the candy guy called me, he is retiring. And so he had, they gave him some, every year they give him so much sample candy that he can give to people and try. So what he offered me was if we order 10 cases, he would give me 10 cases for free. So that means on the 10 cases we get that we don't have to pay them, usually we pay 50%. We have to send back 50% to World's Finest, but we don't have to do that with 10 cases. Then he called me today and he said, some of the other schools I thought would take me up on that offer did not, so if you want some more, we can bring you some more. So I haven't decided whether to do that or not, but if you'd either, I know we don't have very many teenagers, we have a lot of We have some teens on Sunday, but most of them are bus teens, so we don't even have a lot of teenagers to sell candy. So if you need to sell it at work, or if you're just a chocolate eater, and you want to get, I mean, I have a family that always buys a whole case of it, and then usually, later in the sale, ask me if we have any more. So, and then I know some of you like the chocolate covered almonds. They're in there. The mint meltaways, which I do not like. You can have the ones from my box, because I do not like mint anything. But the meltaways are in there and then there's each of the candy bars as well But we'll have those till they till they're gone. They're a $2 bar on the one box Like I said, we get the whole $2 profit on the other we'll get 50 cents profits or a 50% profit which would be a dollar So if you want to help with some chocolate either selling chocolate, or if you just help by eating chocolate, we'd appreciate it All right beneath the cross of Jesus Beneath the cross of Jesus, I fain would take my stand. The shadow of a ♪ T-rock within a weary land ♪ ♪ A home within the wilderness ♪ ♪ A rest upon the way ♪ ♪ From the burning of the noontide heat ♪ ♪ And the burden of the day ♪ Upon the cross of Jesus Thine I at times can see The very dying form of One Who suffered there for me And from my smitten heart with tears to wonders I confess, the wonders of his glorious love and my own worthlessness. I take across thy shadow for my abiding place. I ask no other sunshine than the sunshine of his face. content to let the world go by, to know no gain nor loss. My sinful self, my only shame, my glory, all the cross. I forgot how to tune this. Well, there was a time on earth when in the books of heaven an old account was standing for sin yet unforgiven. My name was at the top and many things below. But I went unto the keeper and settled it long ago. Long ago. Down on my knees. Long ago. I settled it all. Yes, the older cow was settled long ago. Hallelujah! And the record's clear today, cause he washed my sins away. And the older cow was settled long ago. Well, the old account was large and growing every day. And I was always singing, and I never tried to pray. But when I looked ahead and saw its pain and woe, well, I went unto the keeper and settled it long ago. Long ago, down on my knees Long ago, I felt it all Yes, the old account was settled long ago Hallelujah, and the record's clear today Cause he washed my sins away And the old account was settled long ago Now sinners seek the Lord, repent of all your sins, cause this he has commanded, if you would enter in, and then if you should live a hundred years below, well you know you've got it settled, cause you settled it long ago, down on my knees, I filled it up, Yes, the old account was set a long ago. Hallelujah. And the record's clear today, as he washed my sins away. And the old account was set a long ago. Amen. I tried to talk to Mrs. Block and let me cut all my hair off one time, and she said no. My son Joshua used to do the same thing Adam did. He gave himself, he'd walk into the bathroom, he'd lean his head down like this and he would just shave it all off. He didn't leave, Adam left some, but my son would shave it all off. And I'd say, does it have to be that short? He said, nope, but that's a lot easier. So that's what he did. John chapter nine in your Bibles. John chapter nine. John chapter nine. We're going to read one verse there for the text first, and then we're going to read two side texts first, and then we'll get into the lesson. Some of the character stuff that we've covered has been for children or kids. This is for everyone because it has to do with character and working hard. Now, the Bible told us, we studied either last week or the week before about going to the ant, and then I talked quite a bit about the bees as well because I know more about bees than I do ants, and they're very similar. But tonight it's character and working hard. Notice John chapter 9, notice verse 4. Jesus himself, your Bible has it in red, said this, I must work the works of him that sent me while it is day. The night cometh when no man can work. Then notice Proverbs chapter 31, Proverbs chapter 31 verse 13. Proverbs 31, verse 13, talking about the Proverbs 31 lady, the example to all women. And here's what it says about her. 31, verse 13, she seeketh wool and flax and worketh willingly with her hands. Now, there's a lot of folks that work, but they don't work willingly. And I can tell you, work is more enjoyable when you do it willingly. Now, as a child, there was times that I had to do stuff or get my rear spanked. There was other times that, and again, sometimes we would ask Dad, can we go fishing or hunting? And he would say, when you get your chores done. Now, I can tell you, when we did it at that time, we did it quicker. Now, we still had to do it correctly because we'd have gotten in trouble if we hadn't. But we could do it quicker because we wanted to do them at that time. So when we were doing them because we wanted to either go fishing or hunting or go play ball or do something else, we got chores done a lot quicker than when we had to do them. And they just were a chore. So again, she mentions that she does it willingly. And we'll talk about that more later. Notice Proverbs chapter 21. You're in 31. Go to 21, Proverbs 21. Proverbs 21. Verse 8 makes this statement, ìThe way of a man is fraught with strains, but as for the pure, his work is right.î Again, talking about character and working hard. Letís pray, then weíll get into the lesson tonight. Father, I ask you to give me wisdom, help me to say what I should and not what I shouldnít. I pray, Lord, you help me speak clearly and plainly that it might be understood and not to go so fast, even though I have a lot to cover. But I pray, Lord, that you would help us to get something out tonight that would be a help to somebody. In Jesusí name, amen. Now, usually when I preach, I have two to three pages. Tonight I have seven, so I know I didn't... I came in not intending to get through with all of them, trying to decide which ones to cut out. But we will see as we go along where I thought might even have to go two sermons, but I don't think there's enough for two. It's kind of one and a half, and since I plan on... My grandkids are having spring break out in the Carolinas and Maryland next week, so I am heading next Tuesday to North Carolina to spend a few days. Then we're going to drive up to Maryland and I'm going to fly to Josh's and then go to Joe's and we're going to spend some days there. Then Josh took off some other days, wanted me to stay with him during the time because it's at the end of this month that Mrs. Block died and that we buried her. So he wanted me to spend some time with him. So I got a one-way ticket When I told a certain young lady that I got a one-way ticket. She said you're not coming back I said I'm coming back. I just don't know when I'm coming back. So not naming any names Mrs. Bell, but she thought she thought that I was leaving and I said I said just because I'm getting a one-way ticket simply means I'm undecided about how long I'm gonna stay but I will have to decide someday when it sooner or later because I have to get a ticket back but I'll I'll be be here Sunday and then be gone after that Now, notice Carrington working hard. Now, let me give you some statements first that he gave in the book and a couple that I added. He said, number one, the result of all achievement in history, all achievement is because of a little four-letter word, work. Any achievement, whether it's electricity, whether it's, I mean, you name it, you think of anything that's ever been accomplished and it was accomplished or invented because of work. Now, I always say there's two types of work. There's physical work. And then there's mental work. And I can tell you, you can wear yourself out with either one. Either one of them can make you tired. Sometimes you can be mentally fatigued. You can also get physically fatigued. Both are work. But again, the result of all the achievements in history, throughout history, have been because of a little four-letter word, work. Number two, life is short. To accomplish much, men must toil exceedingly and long. Typically, when you find someone who has a successful business, let me tell you what you can attribute that to. Hard work and long hours. Now, not every businessman or businesswoman is successful. Some are not because of the fact that they forgot the three basic rules for most businesses. You know what they said the three rules were for a successful business? Location, location, location. That's what they used to say was the key to success for a business. you have in the wrong place and you might you might not be successful again you go up to go up to Alaska and you try to sell ice you probably won't be real successful they already have quite a bit of their own so but again he said he said life is short to accomplish much men must toil exceedingly and long number three out of getting up early and going to work rises the successful career. If you want to have a successful career, it will be because you got up early and you got to work. I always tell our teenagers, if they want to be above all other workers at Chick-fil-A or wherever it is they're working, I said, first off, show up on time. When you get there, work hard. And I said, also, make sure you're there every day you're supposed to be there. I said, you do those three things, and you'll be outstanding among all the rest of the folks. Because a lot of folks don't show up on time. A lot of folks do not show up regularly. They come in two or three days, and they miss days. And then a lot of them don't work when they get there. When they get there, it's like, what are you doing? And sometimes they can actually say nothing, and that is exactly what they were doing. Now, again, getting up early and going to work, again, out of that rises a successful career. Number four, work is approved of God. Now, again, we'll look at that in a little bit, but again, all the men and women in the Bible who were successful were successful because they were workers. Number five, this is from Brother Howells. I put this in because Brother Howells used to say this. Brother Howells in one of his books said, he often said, walk with men when men are awake, walk with God when men sleep. Because they asked him what was the story to his success. He said he walked with men when they were awake and when men all went to bed. He stayed up later and that's when he walked with God. That's how he was able to accomplish so much. Number six, working hard in the teen years helps a youth find himself and develop the raw material from which adult character is developed. So again, it starts in the youth. I failed in a lot of areas with my children. And again, every parent does. But again, I know I failed. But one thing I didn't fail in my children's life is I taught all my boys and even my daughter to work. Now, they didn't always appreciate it, they didn't always like it, and I didn't always appreciate or like it when I was a kid, but I can tell you all of them have said this. They said, ''Dad, it was so nice that you taught us work. Work has been so easy. Our life has been so easy because we know how to work.'' Again, ''Working hard in teenage years helps the youth find himself and develop the raw material from which adult character is developed.'' The next thing, he said, ''Working hard in your 20s sets the foundation for a home of character.'' in your young years, 20s. He then went on and said, working hard in your 30s and 40s helps a man secure his life with the superstructure of character. Then he said, working hard in your 50s and 60s, and a lot of those are there, gives a man treasure. Now what that means is the kids are grown and gone. So in your 50s and 60s, you know what you're doing? He said he gives a man treasure and prepares him for old age, because one of these days we won't be able to work. So at that time, because in your 30s and 40s, you know what you're doing? You're just paying the bills. You're not getting ahead. You're just trying to, I used to tell people, I'm just dog paddling. All I was doing was just trying to keep my head above water. I mean, I was just trying to survive. And that's what most people do in their 20s and 30s and 40s. You got kids to raise. You got stuff going on. You just try to pay your bills. You just try to make enough to pay your bills. And you might have to work two or three jobs even to do that. But he said, again, in your 50s and 60s, that's when, again, if you work hard, that's when a man gets treasures and prepares for his old age. He said next, joyous is the individual who works into his old age. I can tell you, even when you get old and you can retire, you've got to find something to keep yourself, your hands and your feet and your mind busy, or you'll just find yourself, I mean, wasting away. I don't know how many, again, I grew up with a lot of old farmers, and all those old farmers worked in the 60s and 70s. If they ever stopped and went to the rocking chair, I mean, they hardly ever got out of the rocking chair. That was the end of it. The next thing he said was, parents should teach their children to love work and to be in harmony with their God. So those are the things before. Those are all the introductions. Now let me give you point number one. Point number one, he said this, the proper attitude towards work will give a proper relaxation in the work. Here's what he said, a person who has found his place and loves his daily task, finds work is like a medicine. Now I can tell you this, I like working at Liberty Baptist Church. So I don't have to go to work. I like calling people on the phone. I like visiting people in the hospital. Now, I do not like driving. For instance, when I called Mrs. Hanley last night and asked how she was doing, she said she was still in the hospital. Then here's what I said. I said, please tell me you're not at BAMC. And she said, I am. I said, then can I just talk to you on the phone for a little while, because I don't want to drive all the way over to Bamsee. I hate driving. I don't mind visiting the hospitals, but I wish they'd just move Bamsee a little closer is what I wish. That would move the church closer to Bamsee. I don't know which. But Bamsee is a long drive over there. And then I always have to go to the gate, and I have to take all my stuff, and I have to get certified and frisk and all that to be able to get in. But again, If you enjoy your work, he said, it'll be like a medicine. He said, work can bring rest, refreshment, and healing. Now I can tell you, if you hate your job, that's not going to happen. If you hate your job, you're going to end up being miserable. He said, don't rest from the work, rest in the work. Now, here's what he said, and this is very, very important. Loving work is an attitude that every person must uniquely develop. So you must develop the liking of the work. Now, find something, again, if you're accomplishing something. Now, again, if you're doing something that seems to benefit nobody, and I don't know very many jobs that would be like that. Most jobs benefit somebody, or it wouldn't be a job. But if you, for instance, if you as a nurse, you know what a nurse can glory in? A nurse can glory in or a doctor can glory in the fact that I help people. I save lives. If you're a fireman or a policeman, again, you keep people safe and you save lives. By the way, almost any task that you and I have, if we will look at it correctly, we serve a purpose. I mean a divine purpose, a higher purpose, I mean a great purpose. Again, he said the proper attitude towards work will give a personal relaxation in the work. When I was a teenager, we hauled hay. Now, there's two reasons I liked hauling hay. Now, I didn't have to haul hay. My parents made me do the chores, but when it came to hauling hay, I was on the hay crew willingly, and there's two reasons. One, I liked it because it gave me muscles, and as a teenage boy, you want those muscles. Now, I was joking. Back then, I did have a six-pack. Now, I have a keg, but back then, I had a six-pack. And I was suntanned. I mean, I liked it because it gave me muscles, but I liked it for another reason. It gave me money. I mean, it gave me money. I mean, it wasn't like the allowance. I mean, it was money that I could spend on anything I wanted to because I'd earned it. Now, I can tell you, and I say this to parents all the time, make your kids earn their money, and they'll spend it a lot more wisely than if you give them money. When it was my own money, I was a lot more careful spending my own money. Now, I try to do this. If you invite me out to eat, I try to order whatever I would order for myself. And usually, I don't order the most expensive thing on the menu. I mean, there's been times that someone took me out to eat and I ordered something. They said, is that what you want? I said, yep, I'm fine. They said, you can get anything you want. Now, if you tell me I can get anything I want and I really believe you, I might get something I wouldn't normally get. So don't say that unless you mean it, because all I'm going to normally do is just get what I get. And I usually eat cheap. But again, I liked hauling hay because I didn't have to, but I enjoyed it because it helped me be physically strong, and it also gave me money. Back then, the minimum wage was $2.65 an hour. My brothers and I, we were averaging $8 to $10 an hour hauling hay. So we were making three times the minimum wage. So that'd be like today, if the minimum wage is $8 or $9 an hour, it'd be like making $27 an hour. I wouldn't mind working today, and some of you wouldn't mind working today for $27 an hour. But as teenage boys, now we had to work hard, But again, no one made me go to work. I went to work, we hauled hay all summer, and we did that because we made a lot of money. And it gave us muscle, so we enjoyed it. So again, find a job, get a job. Now, you might have to have a job just to pay the bills, but while you're having that job to pay the bills, find a job that you can do, that you will love to do, and that, by the way, you won't mind getting up in the morning, you'll be glad. Now, when I say glad to go to work, I don't mean you're glad to get out of the house. We hope you never husband's wives from the point that you're just glad to get out of the house and husband's wife Please don't make us such that you're such a miserable Mate that your husband wife can't wait to go to work to get away from you That's not what I mean, but I mean we we have to go to work So we it ought to be some place that we like to work at number two Jesus was a worker we read John chapter 9 verse 4 and he said himself I must work the works of him that sent me while it is day because he implied there's gonna be a time there's a night comes when no man can work Jesus was a worker Now again, I'm a big believer that Jesus chose Mary for a reason, okay, because she was a godly woman. I also believe that Jesus chose Mary for another reason. She also was dating a young man by the name of Joseph. Joseph was what? a carpenter. By the way, carpenters worked hard back then. Carpenters had muscles. Carpenters, I mean, had stamina. Carpenters worked. And again, we'll look at it in a little bit, but back then in the Bible times, they worked six days a week, six o'clock in the morning to six o'clock at night, 12 hours a day. And some of the older folks in here can remember when there used to be a 48-hour work week. If you're really old, like my dad, my dad worked a 60-hour work week. Back then, they worked 60-hour work week. But again, back in Bible time, they work a 72-hour work week. That is almost double of what anyone works today. Again, they worked. And Jesus, trust me, we don't have anything about what he did in his teenage years. You say, what was he doing? Working for his dad? His dad was a carpenter. He went to work with his dad and learned how to be a carpenter. You say, why do you think that was a big deal? I don't think Jesus could have, I mean, again, understand he was God in the what? flesh. I don't know that again there are a lot of men that didn't that that when they got the beatings and stuff like Jesus got before they went to the cross they died. couldn't handle it. I mean, they weren't strong enough. There's a lot of folks that, by the way, couldn't have taken all that Jesus took. I think Jesus could take it not only because he had the desire to die on the cross for you and I. He loved us so much. Love made him take each of those steps up to Golgotha. But I also think that his upbringing, the fact that he had a dad and that there was a carpenter that made him work, his body was stronger than the average person's body. Again, carpenters were workers. So Jesus was a worker. Again, He worked as a teacher, a healer, a prophet, our Savior. All His days were engulfed with worthy deeds. Notice Acts in your Bible, Acts chapter 10, Acts chapter 10 in your Bible. Notice what it says, Acts chapter 10. We're going to read just one verse, Acts chapter 10. Notice verse 38, Acts 10. Verse 38 says, how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power, who went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed of the devil, for God was with him. Now I can tell you this, for the three and a half years, Jesus did that which he loved to do. He did. Now again, if you've ever healed someone or you've ever helped someone and then got their gratitude, now there were some that didn't show gratitude. There were some, remember the time that he healed the 10 and only one came back and his question was what? Where's the nine? Where's the other nine? Why don't they come back and thank me? But again, there was folks that thanked him and hugged him. There was folks that wanted to, after he led them to the Lord, or after he healed them, they wanted to go with him. And he said, no, no, no, you stay here. I mean, and you win people in this town. I'm good. But again, there's folks that just wanted to devote their life to following Jesus because of what he did for them. By the way, that would be a good thing for us to do, to devote our lives to Jesus for what He did for us and did to us. But again, Jesus was a hard worker. His days were engulfed with worthy deeds. By the way, He didn't just work during the day though. Go in your Bibles to John chapter 3, a story we know very well. John chapter 3, I said Jesus didn't just work during the day, but He also worked when it fell dark. So he put in the 12-hour day, and after, whenever the men were going to bed and getting supper and going to sleep, guess what Jesus was doing? Well, in John chapter 3, I'll tell you what he was doing in verse 2. Then the same came to Jesus by night, said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God, for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. I'll tell you what he was doing one night. He was leading Nicodemus to the Lord. I'll tell you what he was doing another night. Go to John chapter 13 in your Bible, John chapter 13. He taught the disciples about home, heaven, eternity at night in John chapter 14. And what led, what was right before John chapter 14 was John chapter 13 verse 30 that says this. He then having received the software immediately out and it was night. So Jesus didn't just stop when, when the, now again, typically when, when the, when the, the six hour work week was done, I mean, it was time to go home. The whistle blew. I mean, it's, I mean, you're tired. It's time to go home. It's time to go and get something to eat and relax a little bit and then go to bed and get ready to do it the next day. What did Jesus do? I mean, He was still working at night. Notice in your Bibles, Matthew chapter 26. Matthew chapter 26. We won't read all the verses, but we'll read a couple of them. This is when he was in the garden of Gethsemane again at night. Notice Matthew chapter 26, verse 31. Then says Jesus unto them, all ye shall be offended because of me this night. For it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the shepherd of the flock shall be scattered abroad. Verse 36 said, then cometh Jesus unto them, unto a place called Gethsemane, and saith unto his disciples, sit ye here while I go and pray yonder. Verse 40, when he cometh unto the disciples, he findeth them asleep. You say, what? Because they put in a 12-hour day. They were tired. You think he wasn't tired? Yes, he's living in a human body just like you and I live in a human body, but he had something on his mind. You know what it was? Galgatha, the cross. He already knew all that was going to happen to him. And again, if you know your Bible very well, you know that when he was praying, he was praying so severely that blood vessels burst, and he bled. Scientists tell you in enough you're in enough torment you're in enough toil blood vessels blood vessels can burst they did with Jesus notice first 45 Then cometh he to his disciples and saith unto them sleep on now Take your rest behold the hours at hand the Son of Man is betrayed into the into the hands of sinners I mean Jesus didn't just work hard all day, and he did that he even worked into the night You know why he was so successful being the Savior that he was because he worked hard And again, he was in a human body. His human body had the same physical restrictions you and I's human body had. His muscles got sore and tired. His body got sore and tired. He got hungry. He got, I mean, it wasn't that he was God. And He was God, but He was God in the flesh, which means He was all man. He was all God, but He didn't do the things that He did as the God part. He did all that He did on the earth. Now again, the miracles were able to be done because He was God, but He did them in the human body, with the human body. Jesus worked because of His great love. I don't think he had to get out of bed every morning. I don't think he made himself get out of bed. I think he realized what great task he had, what great endeavor he had to do that day. Now, again, the Bible tells us that all the miracles that we read about, and we can read about a bunch of them, you know what the Bible says? That's not even a part of them. If we wrote about all of them, the scrolls could not contain. So you and I don't even know part, we don't even know a fraction of what Jesus did. And we can see, I mean, he was a busy man. We don't even know part of it. Again, Jesus was a hard worker. He loved the labor that had been given him to perform. Now, he wasn't looking forward to the cross. If you read your Bible, you know, he was there some other way that people could get saved besides him dying on the cross and facing what he was going to be facing, which is why the Garden of Gethsemane was such a big deal. But guess what? He realized, and he loved you and I so much, he realized that without his death on the cross and his blood being shed, you and I were all going to die and go to hell. And all the men and women in the Old Testament that hadn't looked forward to the cross were all going to die and go to hell. And by the way, you talk about a burden to carry. You're talking about him knowing he had a job to do and the reason to do that job. He realized he had all that great burden on him. The third thing, work provides education. Now, he mentioned some gain wisdom through attending school, college, or universities, but all can be wise through work. Wisdom can be obtained at the shop, at the store, in the field, in a factory, in a kitchen, or an office. Now, I can tell you, I learned quite a bit in Bible college, but the truth is Bible college was more really of a character training place than it was anything else. I can tell you I learned stuff from Brother Elliot when I went around with him. I learned stuff from my father. I learned stuff, again, I tell people this all the time, I'm a combination of a bunch of people. I'm kind of like Frankenstein, all right? I mean, I got this part from this one and that. Hopefully I don't look as bad as Frankenstein. I don't have quite as many stitches as he does. And I don't run with the werewolf and Dracula, so you'll see. But the truth is, I'm a combination of a lot of people. I mean, I learned stuff from Brother Barnes. I learned stuff from Mrs. Holland. I learned stuff from Mrs. Garcia. I mean, I listen to the elderly for a reason. They're smarter than I am. And they've been places I haven't been. By the way, and they've made it. I'm still working on making it. They've made it. They've arrived. Again, he said wisdom can be obtained at a lot of other places. He said this, education is not just imparted, and it is imparted, it has to be acquired. A teacher can teach, but if the student doesn't learn, the teaching accomplishes nothing. There are some teachers that actually are proud of themselves because students flunk. By the way, sometimes that means it's a failure on the teacher's part. But there are teachers that really, they're proud of themselves if students flunk, because it means I'm so much smarter than my student, they just couldn't get it all. Sometimes it means you're an idiot, that's what it means. But again, he said education can be gained anywhere. Now, if you're wondering, The Bible teaches this. Notice in Matthew chapter 20 verse 6. The Bible teaches that idle people are not usually well edgy. Again, they're not doing what they should be doing. Jesus implied that being idle was not good when we see the story of Matthew chapter 20. Notice Matthew chapter 20 verse 6. Matthew, chapter 20, verse 6 says, Now this was the story that Jesus and God put in the Bible. And again, God's opinion was folks should be working. He put this story in there for a reason. Now, I also like the story, the reason he put that story in there was also because he showed that if I hire people, I can give people whatever I want. I can pay them whatever I want. By the way, if you agree to work for a penny, then when I pay you a penny, I didn't cheat you. I can give the guy that worked for an hour a penny if I want to as well. And in this case, the owner did. And by the way, it was his money that he'd already earned. And he'd already made that money, so it was his, so he could do whatever he wanted to. But again, the Bible implies that being idle is not a good thing. He goes on and says this, college degrees should be awarded in the fields of labor. Without farmers, we would all starve. I said this to someone here a while back. I said, I guess it was when I had Tilly and some of the other seniors. I said, you know what I should do? I said, I should drive up to that farmer's house and have you get out and knock on the door. And when they come to the door, just say, thank you. Now there's, in Texas there's a lot of cows, but in Missouri where there's grass, in Oklahoma they have a lot. I mean, they'll be out in the pastures, there'll be 50, 100, 200 cows. It's hard to have that many cows here unless you have something other than the land like I have, because the land like I have, they figure one cow for 17 acres, so I mean, A lot of brush, I mean, brush doesn't feed very many cows. But where they have those big fields of fescue, those folks raise, and by the way, Nebraska and some of those other places, they raise all kinds of grain. That's why you have bread and that's why you have tacos and tortillas and all the rest of the stuff, because those farmers work hard. By the way, most of them work. from sun up till sunset. I mean, they get up early in the morning and work late. They don't have a 40-hour work week. They wouldn't be able to survive if they had a 40-hour work week. But again, he mentions that many young ladies are taught by their mothers. They labor in the kitchen, the garden, and about the house. This, too, is an education of the highest kind. He said at Hiles they had a policy. When a man graduated from Bible college, he walked across the platform wearing a gown. His wife walked across the platform wearing a gown. They both walked across the platform to wearing a gown. He received his diploma for the degree that he had earned. She received a Bible from Brother Hiles and that was because they said she received the PhD degree, putting my hubby through degree. But they had her walking in a gown because while he was going to college, by the way, she also was working hard. She also was in the training process. He said, number four, the word work is a good word. Now there are a lot of four letter words that your children might say that you probably would not want them to say. Work is not one of the bad ones. Work is one of the good ones. He said, work is a good word, a decent word, and a wholesome word. By the way, young people ought to be taught, they ought to hear a lot about work. He said, next, work is personal. He said, if others don't work, and by the way, it doesn't matter if others don't work. He said, you work anyway, work without them. My dad would get an attitude every once in a while. If he was working hard and we were dragging around, sometimes he'd push his way, even if it knocked us down and said, if you're not going to work, get out of my way so I can get this done. What he meant is, if you're not going to help, at least stop hindering me. By the way, there are people that are hindrances. They're not accomplishing much. They're just standing around. And by the way, if you're busy and you're trying to move stuff and there's someone standing in their way, you know what you want to do? You want to grab them and chuck them out of the way. I mean, at least get out of the walkway. I mean, if you're not gonna move, at least get out of the way so I can move. So he said, again, work is personal. If others don't work, work without them. He said, you may be belittled, derided by lazy workers. When I worked at Continental Tank, I did not know how to weld, so I learned to weld. They told me I could weld all I wanted at break time and lunchtime, so I practiced welding at break time and lunchtime. When I could finally pass the code test and make it where I could weld correctly, then I got a raise and became a welder. Now, the only fellows that worked as hard as I did, we had some Korean men that worked there, and they were all hard workers too. The one little skinny white guy and all the Koreans, we worked much harder than the rest of them. They worked when the boss would come out, step out of the office, stand on the steps, put his helmet on, put his earplugs in, and put on his safety glasses. While he was doing that, the other workers say, ''Boss is coming.'' The guys who were standing around talking would all get back to work. I didn't do that because I was already working. Now, when you work hard, not only is it a good testimony about him, because again, they all knew I was going to school to be a Baptist preacher. They all knew that I was a Christian. It's a good testimony for him. By the way, it also is a good way to get raises and be thought of well by the boss. First time I wanted to go home for Christmas, I went and asked if I'd go home for Christmas, and the boss told me okay. One of the other workers came up and said, how come you get to go home for Christmas? I asked and he told me no. Maybe because I worked harder than him. By the way, the boss liked me. Again, there was a time they called me the company man. At the time, I was just 18, 19 years old. I didn't even know what the company man meant. I didn't know if it was a good thing or a bad thing. It was a good thing, not to them though. What that meant was, I just do whatever the boss says. By the way, a good thing for every employee to do, whatever the boss says. You're working for them. You want to be your own boss, start your own company. You will find it's not near as easy and not near as profitable as you might think it is. There are a lot of folks that start businesses that fail because they thought, just because they worked for someone, that they could go out and do it themselves, and many of them fail. It's not easy to do that. Again, he said, work is personal. Hard workers cast a negative shadow on lazy, unproductive workers. I told you about the drones with the bees. In the wintertime, when things are getting tough, they drag the guys who aren't needed, and they take them outside of the hive and kick them off the hive. Now, if we did that in America, we wouldn't have a population problem. We really wouldn't. We have a lot of lazy people in America. Now, there's a difference between those who can't work and those who won't work, and there's a big difference. Now, I have no problem with those who can't work. I don't mind helping them and paying for them. I have a problem with those who won't work. I have a problem standing behind someone who's got a better phone than I have, and it's not hard to have a better phone than I have, because I've got an old, ugly phone. You say, why do you have that phone? Because I know how to operate it, and it likes me, and it works with me, although recently it has not been, so I've been thinking about throwing it down, stomping on it. But the truth is, I get behind people who's got about $3,000 worth of tattoos, brand new phone and then they're paying for it with food stamps and I'm thinking you had you had I mean if you did just that would have been this week's groceries and that would have been last week's groceries and this could have been next week's girl I mean I have a problem with that I don't care how many tattoos you get on your body you want to tattoo everything I mean you get come in I mean the total tattoo knock yourself out long as you're paying your own bills and I'm not paying them for you But again, he said, again, hard workers cast a negative shadow on lazy, unproductive workers. He went on and said this, I must give my personal best. It's not the same as others, but it's my best. And he said this, God and I know what my best is. You know what your best is. Now, if you're doing your best, by the way, you can't do any better than that. Can't beat your best. We played a lot of sports when I when we years ago when we had Liberty Christian Academy, our team got beat sometimes and I was I was as proud as could be even though they got beat. You know why? Because they did their best. They played their rears off. I mean, they gave everything they had out there. Now I love to win and I love to win a lot more than I love back then to lose. But I didn't mind losing if we did our best. Now, if we didn't do our best, and by the way, those times, my kids will tell you, on the way home, if we lost a game, I'd be thinking of all the things, I'd be talking about all the things, I could remember every play, every time I should have called a timeout, or every time I should have did something else, I was playing over and over in my head. I just couldn't let it go, because I just hated to lose so bad. But again, we're supposed to do our best. He goes on and says this, work is healthy. I'm going to carry on, work is healthy. One who works hard keeps his muscles fit, his bones strong, his mind productive. Work is good for the body. I didn't know my grandpa on my dad's side. He died before I was born. I did know my grandpa on my mom's side. Very hardworking man, worked at a nursery. Now, when I say a nursery, I don't mean a nursery. I mean a nursery where they grow trees and plants and things. And he worked there for years. And then he had a farm. We would go over every Sunday and see him. One of my aunts never got married, so we'd go over. They'd cook dinners. We'd look for the eggs and play ball in the front yard and other things. But grandpa was a hard worker. He wasn't saved, so we'd been praying for Grandpa to get saved, and he got up in his later years and got cancer. The doctor said, wasn't gonna live very long. Thankfully, he got saved before he died, but he got saved just a couple months before he died. But when Grandpa's body was all eaten up, he had pancreatic, it was in his pancreas, it was in his gallbladder, it was in his, oh, all the places where, I mean, back then, it was the type of cancer, when they opened him up, it exploded, basically, and they closed him back up and said, you know, you're gonna die. Several nights, they called the family in because they said he can't make it through the night. Several nights, all the brothers and sisters, my mom's brothers and sisters would show up to the hospital and he wouldn't die. You know why he wouldn't die? The doctor said his body's all eaten up and his heart is so strong from working all those years, his heart just keeps on pumping and pumping and pumping. pumping because he was a hard worker again working hard it's good for you next he said work is spiritual Jesus was a worker God was a worker Noah Abraham Joshua David all of them work diligently knows what Paul said in 1st Corinthians chapter 15 1st Corinthians chapter 15 verse 10 1st Corinthians 15 verse 10 says by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain, but I labored more abundantly than they all." You know, he said, I worked harder than everybody else. Yet not I, but the grace of God which was in me. Acts chapter 16. Bible talks about one of the famous ladies in the New Testament. Acts 16, verse 14 says, And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshiped God, heard us, whose hearts the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul. If you know your Bible very well, there was a time that there were some women that actually helped finance the ministry. I'm not talking about men with jobs. I'm talking about ladies. And by the way, back then, ladies in the working world was not a common thing. So most of the stuff that they did, they did at home, but they was able to make money with it. She was a seller of purple. The most famous lady, as far as we don't know her name, but talked about, Proverbs 31, 13, says, she seeketh wool and flax and worketh willingly with her hands. Again, working was a thing that was made, it's a spiritual thing. Spurgeon worked hard, Billy Sunday worked hard, D.L. Moody. By the way, D.L. Moody had very little education. D.L. Moody, if I remember right, had like a sixth grade education. So it wasn't because of his education that he did so much, it was because of his hard work that he did so much. Adonir and Judson, Brother Hyles, Brother Roloff, so many others. Next, and I'll have to stop with this one, work is necessary. Work is necessary. Someone has to work or no one eats or lives. Now, if all of us quit work tomorrow, we'd all starve to death. We wouldn't have any clothes to wear. We wouldn't have any gas for our cars. Work is necessary. We would have a place to, again, a place to live requires work. Clothes to wear requires work. Food to eat requires work. Cars to drive require work. Gas for that car requires work. Appliances we use requires work. Books that we read requires work. Glasses and medications that we need require work. Furniture in our house require work. Even the toys for the kids require work. Ice cream, amusement parks, again, tracks passed out, clean air, electricity, ACs, hospitals, doctors' offices. You can name a million things. You know what all of them require? Someone to show up and work. Now, some of us know what it's like when the business can't find any workers. That place either closed down or has a lot less hours or just isn't very productive. You know what some of those owners found out? I need people. I can't run this business by myself. I have to have my people. Some of them actually learned to appreciate some of the employees. Some of the employees learned to appreciate their bosses as well. But again, work is necessary. Without work, Through this, you won't get anywhere in your physical life, and I can tell you also, if you want to be a good Christian, you won't get anywhere in your spiritual life if you're not a spiritual worker as well. Again, laziness is not something that's ever bragged on in the Bible, not ever talked as a good thing, not ever promoted, not ever said it's even okay. He told us he wants us to work. He gave us an example. By the way, if you find anyone that God used, it was someone that was working. When he found Gideon, what was he doing? He was out there working for his dad. When he found David, what was he doing? He was God. Again, you don't find any place in the Bible where God took a lazy person doing nothing and gave him a job to do to get him busy. He took people already doing something and gave them a greater job to do. So if you want to be used of God, first be used by your boss, be a good worker. And again, I can tell you this working brings a satisfaction, it makes it where you can sleep at night, because it wears you out, you're tired. I mean, when you worked hard all day, you come home, sometimes you don't even feel like eating, you're just too tired to eat your mouth, you don't even have to chew. I mean, so you just I mean, that's when you just drink one of those protein shakes. And then you go lay down. Some of the other day, after we was working hard at the workday, I went home lay down for a little bit. Well, the other guy said, after the workday, I went home lay down. I mean, I went up and And they said, my wife doesn't like me laying on the couch, because if I fall asleep on the couch, I mean, so went up and lay down. You know, he fell asleep. When you work hard, it's not near as hard to sleep. Now, sometimes if your mind's running a million miles an hour, it's hard to sleep. So sometimes it's a matter of your body's tired, and if you can't get your mind to stop, that's a struggle. But again, hard work is something that benefits us physically. It's also something that benefits us spiritually. Father, thank you for your goodness. Pray, Lord, you'd help us to take the Bible example of hard work, that, Lord, as employees that we'd be hard workers wherever we work at out in the public world. And that would also help us to be a good testimony so that when we talk to them about the Lord, they're going to listen a little bit more intently than if we was lazy. Then, Lord, I pray you'd also