Address—Tim Roach
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129.
Awake each soul. Awake each tongue. The subject is divine. The Saviour's love demands our song that all his people join #129.
There's been no longer in the sunlight. In God, thighs are on the path of the.
Let's ask the Lord's help our God and Father. We give thanks for this day that we've had to enjoy fellowship with one another, get a little bit of exercise, enjoy some food. And now, Father, we just ask for help as we consider your word and we just ask for help that it might have some practical effect for our lives. We just commit this meeting to you, Father. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.
This meeting is going to be a little different, the subject that we'll take up. But I think the word of God has much to say on it. And so I think it's going to be valuable. And I'm going to talk about doing business God's way and how our employment and our family life relate to Christianity. And so we'll talk a little bit about motives to begin with. And I want to ask, why should you get a job or why should you start a business? And there are some good reasons and there's maybe some that are not so good reasons.
For earning money, or should I say? Or how we should spend our money. And so both our motives and our actions should all bring glory to God. Your desire may be that you want to make more money. What would you do with that money? Maybe you would think, oh, I would just buy a nice car. Now it's nice to have a nice car. That's OK. But maybe you're doing it so you can measure up to have status.
With your friends, maybe you're going to You want more money so you can pay the bills, and that's a good reason to have employment.
Maybe you want to use your money so you can indulge in entertainment or a bad habit. Some of you maybe have struggled sometimes with drinking or drugs, or you like to party and you like to spend your money on that and you need to have employ income in order to do those things. Or maybe you use your money and you want to invest in idols, which could be activities, desires.
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Associations, leagues, sexual immorality, anything that replaces Christianity and lures us away from the love of Christ. We read those verses. Keep yourselves in the love of God.
Maybe your motive for a job or or a business is to be successful and have lots of money so you can spend and become rich. And we may get to the point where we have are so successful and we have so much money that we have become rich. We have need of nothing and the richer we get, it's just important for us to understand that the the richer we get, the harder it is for our kids to be saved and the harder it is for our kids to practice.
Christianity.
But the most important reason, I believe, to be gainfully employed is so that you can provide for yourself and your family. Let's look at first Timothy 5.
This talks about providing for our families. First Timothy 5, verse 8, we'll go through quite a few verses, so we'll try to move along fairly quickly. First Timothy 5 verse 8 says, but if any provide not for his own and especially for those of his own house. He has denied the faith and is worse than an infidel. So God expects us to work, he told Adam. You have to now work by the sweat of your brow. And so Adam had to work and that gets handed on down to you and I.
We have to work for our living. We have to work to provide for our families. Then Ephesians chapter 5 and verse 23.
Verse 23 says that the husband is the head of the wife. He's the head, and that means that he's the leader. He's the provider until the husband and the father needs to work to fulfill his responsibility. The word of God. It tells. It says Occupy till I come. It tells us to be occupied with our responsibilities until the Lord comes to take us with him to be in heaven.
And so it's a good thing for us to have employment and to have a job or a business, because if a man does not work, the verse said God says he should not eat. Now we realize employment is necessary. We need to have a job or have our own business in order to generate money. And it's good if we can use our money that God allows us to have to provide for our families and also to further.
The Kingdom of God.
Some Some of your employees, some of your business men and some of you have your own business. But let's talk about employees 1St Ephesians 5, if I'm sorry, Ephesians 6.
And there's a certain conduct required from employees. When you have a job, you work for somebody else. Ephesians 6, verse 5. Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh.
With fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart as unto Christ.
Then there's another verse in one Timothy verse 6 or chapter 6 verse one.
I like these verses that are very clear and they explain themselves and we don't have to talk too much about them. And so first Timothy chapter 6 and verse one says, let as many servants as are under the yoke count their own masters worthy of all honor that the name of God and his doctrine be not blasphemed.
Anybody have their windows open in their cars? Supposed to have a storm coming through?
They might wanna go closing. OK. If your boss is a Christian friend, he is required according to his position to tell you what to do. You must as an employee, you must be subject to his authority. Your relationship with that with with him should not be as one of a colleague. Maybe he's your friend, maybe even a brother in the assembly or sister in the assembly. And but your relation should not be that as a call of a colleague or a friend, but that is a servant.
A servant to a master, and you might like that brother or that sister. You might like them as a friend, but maybe you don't like them as a boss, because when he has to tell you what to do, and he may have to tell you how to do it, or when he needs to correct the way you do what you're doing, The boss has the right to have things done according to his pleasure and according to his understanding. So we need to remember that when we're working for the boss, we are just the employee and we are required to be subject.
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To our boss at work. So it doesn't matter if your boss is easy or if your boss is a tyrant.
Verse two is for you first Timothy 6, verse two and they that have believing masters, let them not despise them because they are brethren, but rather do them service because they are faithful and beloved partakers of the benefit.
So we need to be subject to our boss. Now there's a question, maybe some of you have should you get a job or should you be self-employed when you work for somebody else? There's some things you need to consider about that. When you work for someone else you are controlled by your bosses, his agenda, his ethics, his morality. And however if you are, if you are self-employed, you will develop your own agenda, your own ethics.
In your own morality?
But let's look at some verses about ethics and morality and let's go to firstly to 2nd Corinthians chapter 8.
And first, we'll speak about honesty.
Two Corinthians 8.
And verse 21.
Providing for things honest, providing for honest things, not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of men.
If you are in business, you need to say you need to do what you say you're going to do. And then if you're doing a job for a customer and you break something, you need to fess up, even if you have to pay for it out of your out of your own pocket. You need to tell the customer, look, I'm sorry I broke this or I damaged that. And you need to remember that if you're in business, the customer is always right, usually.
Another part of honesty is accurate measures, and there's a verse about this in Deuteronomy chapter 25.
Deuteronomy 25, verse 13 down to 16.
Deuteronomy 25, Verse 13. Thou shalt not have in thy bag divers waits a great and a small. Thou shall not have a thine house. Divers measures a great and a small, but thou shalt have a perfect and a just weight, a perfect and just measure shalt thou have, that thy days may be lengthened in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. For all that do the such things, and all that do unrighteously, are an abomination unto the Lord.
So you need to be honest in your business transactions, you don't say that you have that you're set when you're selling something you put a little heavier scale weight on the scale. So, so you're you need to be honest in in Malawi when you're building a house.
You give the Co the contractor, you give him enough cement to do the job and they they do the concrete mix and they use more sand than they should and they steal the extra bags of cement. And so then after you they build the wall, the wind blows and that's Brother Tim here. He knows the wall falls down when the wind blows because they use too much sand in the mix and they steal the sand and so.
The wall falls down and you know, you really have to have sand to do something like that. And so let's don't pay our bills with extra hours or extra materials or extra sand. Another thing that we need to do, if you're in business, you need to pay your employees. Or if you hire somebody to do a job around the house, you need to pay them. Leviticus 19.
Leviticus 19 And so if payday is every Friday, don't make your hired person wait until Monday to get the check because you didn't have enough cash in your bank account, and don't make them wait for any other reason. If payday is on Friday, you pay them on Friday. And so verse 13 that Leviticus 19 says thou shalt not defraud thy neighbor, neither rob him the wages of him that is hired shall not abide with thee all night.
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Until the morning. And so we need to. When we owe people money, we need to pay them. When they're when we have people working for us. Uh, the next thing. Let's go to Romans chapter 13. And this has to do with paying taxes. It's I know it's easy to cheat on our tax returns. It's easy to, uh, change what we really make and make it look like we're making less. Now I know the government gives you lots of tax deductions, especially if you're a businessman.
And so you need to take advantage of those and be be a faithful steward with the money that you have. And so the less you're able to pay the government, the better. And then you can use that money to to help serve, to help.
The in the to use it in the Kingdom of God. And so but it is necessary for us to pay taxes. The Lord Jesus paid his taxes, He and Peter paid them together. So Romans 13 verse one, let every soul be subject unto the higher powers.
For there's no power but of God. The powers that be are ordained of God. And there's another verse over in Luke 20, verse 25 And he says he said unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which be Caesar's, and unto God.
The things which be gods. So the Lord he tells us you must obey the government, you must pay taxes and not cheat in your tax returns. OK.
Every one of us here who has a home, a family, you had to get a job, you had to support your family. Maybe you're graduating from high school or or university and you need to get employment. Well, sometimes it takes thinking and preparation for your life's work. And if you're going to start your own business, what do you need to think about before you choose the business and before starting a business? Umm, it is. It is perhaps the same thought process that you should go through before going to university.
Uh, will there be a job available when you complete your studies Because you don't want to start life in debt? You can have school day, you can have car debt, you can have entertainment debt, you can have house debt, you can have credit card debt, and it just keeps growing. The debt keeps growing in direct proportion to the amount of covetousness that's within our soul. Proverbs 28, verse 8, Proverbs 20, verse 18.
Is a good verse to show us that we need to prepare.
Before we plan, as we plan for our employment.
Proverbs 28, Proverbs 20 verse 18 says every purpose is established by council, so it's good for us to get counsel before or as we are planning for our future employment. So if you're going into business, you need to ask yourself a few questions before you invest money to go into business. You'll need to know what type of business will you do, What is the need out there.
How can you fill the need?
Are there others doing the same business? How profitable is that business for other people? You know, sometimes if there's too many people doing the same business, there's gonna be less profit for you.
But if there's a lot of work in that type of business, it's better to have a lot of competition because you know that you can do a better job. You do better work than the competition. And so it's an open door for you if there's enough work in that field. Now you need to also ask, will I need an education? What will I need to learn before I get into business? And then you'll need to know where you're going to buy your products.
Are there better suppliers out there that you can get your products from. And then here's another important thing that you need to ask yourself when you go into business, what could happen to make you have a loss? Because you may do all your planning and you go into business, first thing you do is you get a loss. How? How are you gonna, how you how are you gonna make up for that loss? Are you gonna be able to continue business or are you gonna is your business gonna fail within the first year or so. And so you need to take time to figure out all the angles and the possibilities and that it's so it's good to have counsel before you start. Proverbs 21, verse 5.
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The thoughts of the diligent tend only to plenteousness, but of everyone that is hasty only to want.
The thoughts of the diligent, you know your mind is the most powerful asset that you have in business. And if we use our minds to search out perhaps some wise information to get all the facts and the figures, then we'll be more able to provide for our families when we do go into business.
Another thing that is important is that you will need to be able to change with the markets. If there's a recession, people are more likely to repair and clean rather than to buy or replace their things with new new.
Equipment or or new appliances or whatever it may be. So if you're not willing to be flexible to change with the economy again soon you'll be out of business.
Now I know there's lots of people here, and I know it may be boring for some of you who are not in business, but these principles go away beyond business because they are applicable in many ways to everyday life. God's principles and standards for life are good for you no matter what you are doing, no matter what job you have, no matter what business you are in, or maybe you aren't even in business. They're good principles for us to live by.
And when you live by God's standards and you practice your business according to God's principles and standards, then it's highly likely that you'll be successful in your business.
So another thing we need to talk about is financing.
Whether you're a man or a woman, financing is a big part of running a household or or running a business.
You might have the best business plans, You might have the best house building plans. You might have it all figured out. But before you can begin, you really need to have a source of capital. And so when you start a business, you should have money in the bank or under your mattress, wherever you like to keep your money. The bank doesn't give you much interest these days, so it doesn't make much sense to put it in the bank unless you think it's safer there. But it's not gonna be long before the government's gonna do a bail in and they're gonna take all the deposits to pay their their.
Well, I'm not trying to scare you, but.
So do not go into business without enough money to buy the proper tools to be able to complete a job and to be able to do a good job. Luke 14 tells us this. Luke 14.
Verse 28.
For which of you intending to build a tower sitteth not down 1St, and counteth the cost, whether you have sufficient to finish it, lest happily, after you have laid the foundation and is not able to finish it, all that behold, it begin to mock him saying.
This man began to build and was not able to finish.
So if you're going into business, you need to have money to operate a business. If you're gonna buy a house, you need to have the money and wherewithal to be able to pay for the house.
So then there's another big decision that you'll need to make with finances. Should you get a loan or should you operate without a loan? Well, I I prefer to operate without loans if at all possible. And if there's a question about getting a loan for myself, I like to find it. I find it helpful first to decide whether the loan is for a liability or an asset, and I suggest that you don't get a loan for a liability.
Only use loans to buy an asset.
So your banker, he doesn't know what an asset is.
The bank is in business to make money and they want to give you a loan for any reason and they consider a boat or a car an asset. Some they even consider all houses as an asset. But does a car make you money? Unless you're a taxi, does a boat make you money?
Unless you're a fairy or a fisherman.
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Does your house make you money? Unless you're in rentals, my definition of an asset is something that makes you money. A liability is something that loses money. So if your house or your car or your equipment is making you a positive cash flow, then it's an asset.
And if your house costs you money?
Taxes, insurance, maintenance, new roof, interest. Then your house is a liability. And so.
It might be a good idea to not consider your house that you live in as an asset. The house you live in is a necessity and so generally speaking a house is not an asset because for most people it does not provide a positive cash flow.
So don't go beyond your means for a place of your residence. Even though your house is a necessity, it is still a liability. And let's look at Proverbs chapter 22.
If you get a loan for an asset, you usually need to have something for collateral or if you get a loan for anything and so this means you sign the rights over to the bank for something that you own, like your house. You can get a loan against your house and you can go buy a car, a liability, you can go buy a boat, another liability, or you can buy some electronics. More liabilities.
So.
You need to sign over those things that have more value than what you are getting the loan for. And then if you default on your loan or you're unable to pay off your loan, the bank they can come and take away your assets that you've pledged for security for your loan. And Proverbs 22, verse 26 warns us about this banking procedure.
Says be not one of them that strike hands, or of them that are sureties for debts. If you have nothing to pay, why should he take away your bed from under you?
So this verse is saying don't get a loan if there's a possibility that you have to default or go into foreclosure.
Let's go to Psalms 37.
Now I know there's, I know there's a lot of situations.
A lot of circumstances that can make you.
Have to default on a loan or or foreclose on a house, but it's really a bad thing to get a loan if there's a chance that you can't pay it back, so.
I know a few years ago there were a lot of foreclosures in America because people were were getting bigger and better houses and they were they were getting loans without any collateral, they were getting loans without putting any money down and and they couldn't afford it and they were, they wanted to live beyond their means. I know some people got stuck with their houses because that's just the way the market went in, the area they lived in, but others were living above and beyond their means and so there were a lot of foreclosures.
And so covetousness is about people who live beyond their means. And Psalm 37, verse 21.
The wicked borrows and does not pay it back again, but the righteous show mercy and they give.
Then there's another verse in Romans chapter 13.
Romans chapter 13 and verse 8.
Oh, no, man, Anything but to love one another, for he that loveth another has fulfilled the law.
According to this verse, when you borrow money, it must be repaid on time.
If you're renting a house, your rent needs to be paid on time. Don't let it go beyond the due date. If you make an agreement with somebody, you must honor your word.
Let's talk about another aspect about working in the business or working at your job. And the one thing we wanna talk about here is diligence.
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Let's go to Proverbs 22.
Diligence is not to be applied only to business, because diligence is required even for the even for doing chores around the house, for your mother or father. And it's good to learn diligence at home before we reach the age where we can get a job. And so, Proverbs 22, verse 29, Do you see a man diligent in his business?
He shall stand before kings. He shall not stand before mean men. Mean men, that means the average, the low class, the insignificant people in the eyes of the world, the mean men.
But if you are diligent in your work, you will come into contact with important people, and this means that God wants to use you in mightier ways than you can imagine, and so if you do good quality work.
You will get good customers, and you will be classified by your customers as one to whom they can trust, and then they'll recommend you to others. And you know that the more customers you get, the bigger your audience is for you to share the gospel with, through tracks or calendars or company newsletters, or just by verbal communication if the Lord opens up that Ave. So be diligent in your line of work and you become. You can become a.
Testimony for the Lord Jesus Christ.
One day you will stand before the ultimate master, the Lord of Lords, and the King of Kings, and and he will reward you with great responsibility in his Kingdom.
Another point for employment.
Don't be lazy or rude.
Let's go to Romans 12.
So do not be lazy in business and serve your customer or serve your employer the same as you would serve the Lord Jesus if he if the Lord Jesus came into your shop or if he hired you to do a job you want to do. Do the work for the customer just like you would for the Lord Jesus. And it says in Romans chapter 12 verse 11.
Don't be slothful in business. Be fervent in spirit, serving the Lord.
Another point is we need to work hard.
Don't be lazy, but we need to work hard. And so when you're doing business or you're working at your job, you should work hard to please the Lord the customer or the OR the employer, the boss. He might not see you all the time.
And so he may not know if you're busy. He'll know by the amount of production you're doing, whether you're doing where you're working hard or not. And but the Lord sees you all the time, and he expects you to work hard for your boss. Let's go to Colossians Chapter 3.
Colossians Chapter 3 and verse 23.
And whatsoever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not unto men. Yes, you're working for a man, you're working for a woman, for your boss, You're working for them. But really you need to do your work as UN heartily as unto the Lord, not as unto men. And if you're doing your work as unto the Lord, then the men the boss will be will be happy. Another point in business is that you need to charge fair pay for Fair Work.
Customers will ask you how much does it cost.
You need to charge so you can make a profit, but don't lie or cheat your customers. You need to make sure that you charge enough so that you can afford to do good work.
And you can charge more When you have a good reputation, people are willing to pay more for honesty. They're willing to pay for a good job. And if you're under charging people for your services, people are going to start taking advantage of you. And so as a businessman or a businesswoman, it's the hardest thing and the most stressful decision to raise your prices. And so.
People are willing to pay more than they pay other people if they know they're gonna get a better job, better work. But do you know, just for mathematical thought, if you double your prices and you lose half your customers, you're gonna make more money because you're gonna have half the amount of expenses you're gonna have. You're gonna be able to work less, you're gonna have more time. And so that's just just a thought.
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If you work for another company, you don't work for yourself. Don't overcharge the customers. I was in Nigeria a couple years ago and there was a a man, a young man, who came to the meeting. And jobs in Nigeria are very scarce. There's 197 million people or so in the country and there's not a whole lot of jobs. But this young man, he was thankful, grateful that he had a job. Well, he was told by his employer to overcharge the customers.
And to charge them for procedures that hadn't been done. And so as a Christian, he was in a dilemma. Was he gonna cheat the customer and keep his job? Or was he gonna be honest with the customer and lose his job? So he was in a battle of ethics.
There, and that's gonna be the same for you. As you go through life, you will have the challenge of ethics. And so you'll be tempted to do to do the wrong thing when you know you should be doing the right thing. And sooner or later you will be tested in your moral, your ethical morality.
John the Baptist, he was talking to the to the publicans who came to him. They wanted to be baptized and maybe they're like the IRS tax officials and they and and they said to John what must we do for repentance. And he told them don't charge only to charge the set amount and so there should be no corruption in a Christian. Uh, John the Baptist in Luke chapter 3 and verse 12 and 13 it says then came also publicans to be baptized.
And he said unto and said unto him, Master, what shall we do? And he said to them, exact no more than that which is appointed you. So we need to be honest when we charge our customers, don't cheat them. Let's go to Matthew, Chapter 5.
Matthew chapter 5 and verse 37.
But let your communication be A, a, and nay, nay, for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.
From this verse we understand that when we are giving a quote to do a job, we need to learn to estimate jobs properly the first time.
After you and after you give a quote, you need to do the job for what you quoted. Don't raise the price after you start the job just because you forgot to count it, right? I know that happens all so often in in When we were living in Malawi, you asked somebody to do a job for you. How much is it going to cost? They tell you how much it's gonna cost. Are you sure that's everything? Yes, that's everything. It won't be any more than that. Then when they finish the job, they come to you with the bill and it's two or three times what they told you because they didn't estimate it properly. But that's.
That's not the way a Christian should be doing business. If you're gonna do a job, estimate it properly and don't raise the prices. After that you start the job. You need to let your yes be yes and you know be no. But then if the customer adds more work, then you can charge accordingly. But don't add to his bill just because he made a blunder in judgment. The next point we wanna talk about is serving the Lord in your business or in your job or in your home practices. We can serve the Lord, You know, there's two kingdoms that we deal with in this world.
One is the Kingdom. One Kingdom is the Kingdom of God and is guided by the Spirit of God.
And the Lord Jesus said, He said, My Kingdom is not of this world. If my Kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight?
And so we're not put here in this world. This world is not our home, and we're not here to make it a better place. We're we are here. We are pilgrims, and we're strangers here until the Lord comes to take us home to His Father's house in heaven.
And so we're so whether you have your own business or whether you work for someone else.
Or whether you're running your own household.
Keep your perspective on Christ. Don't become friends with the world because the Prince of the other Kingdom of this world is Satan.
Whose Kingdom?
Do you serve? Let's go to Psalm, Chapter 10.
Psalm 10.
And this verse tells us about the businessmen or the employees and their wives who serve Satan's Kingdom.
Psalm 10 verse 3.
The wicked boasts of his heart's desire and blesses the covetous. That's the greedy person whom the Lord abhors. Now compare this person with the with the businessman or the OR and his wife who served the Lord for the Kingdom of God. Let's look in Psalm 112.
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Psalm 112, verse five A good man showeth favor and lendeth. He will guide his affairs with discretion.
If you have your own business, you have many more liberties in which you can use have opportunities to share the gospel as compared to an employee who needs to be careful how he conducts himself in his in his job, when he's in subjection to his boss and so. But when it is applicable, you can use your business to serve the Lord.
You you may you may receive some reproach for serving the Lord in your business. You may lose some customers, but that's OK. The Lord has other customers for you. So whatever your job is, maybe you're a housewife. Maybe you're a retired person. When the Lord puts money into your hands for discretionary use, how are you going to use it?
Let's.
And then we need to remember that when when the God gives us money into our hands, we need to remember that we need to save some of our budget, some some of it or a portion, some of it, to give to the Lord to further his King the Kingdom of God with the Gospel of Christ crucified. So let's go to Luke chapter 16 and verse 9, Luke chapter 16.
It's an important concept in this verse because when you use your money to help get the gospel out and a person gets saved because you gave to the Lord, you are making to yourself heavenly friends.
Through the giving of that money and when you get to heaven.
You will be introduced to all those people who are saved through the support of through your support of the gospel. And so God tells us this in Luke chapter 16 and verse nine, he says, And I say unto you.
Make to yourselves friends of the Mammon of unrighteousness, that when you fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations. So this verse is telling us to use our money, the unrighteous mammon, to help disseminate the gospel, to help share the gospel around the world. And it says that when you fail, that is when you die. Those people who were saved because of your honor, using your unrighteous mammon, they may receive you into the everlasting habitation.
This verse means that there's going to be a party in heaven, there's going to be great rejoicing, there's going to be a happy reunion when you meet for the first time those people who were saved because of your sacrifice for the gospel of Jesus Christ. And so that's.
That's Luke, chapter 16, verse nine. OK, now let's get back to talking about debt. There's an extenuating problem with debt, and it may be that God wants to use you in the mission field someday and when you have loans that must be repaid.
You're limiting your availability to do the service of the Lord if he ever calls you to the mission field. So it's important that you don't let your employment control you or your time. Then don't let your financial decisions that you make now control and incapacitate you for the masters use in the future, because God wants you to put Him first in your life and put him first in your business.
And to put him first in your job, including where you were and what days and what nights you work and what you do for work. I know, I know that in today's job market it can be very tough to be able to find options for work and options for work schedules.
But I have this to say which humbles me because I have often. I often have many excuses as to why I did not achieve to a different level in business and. But the sad truth is that sometimes I'm lazy and I'm not motivated to do what is needed to get the job done or to win that contract in the business. And I didn't always perform the due diligence that was required.
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And sometimes the the opportunity was missed. I know I like to enjoy life. I like to play sports. And I always, Al was not always committed to do what I knew that I really needed to do in order to succeed or to get that job. And sometimes, sometimes I think I was afraid to be successful. And these these attitudes and these, these.
The the conduct that we do, it can affect our Christianity as well, because if we're lazy in business, we're going to be lazy in spiritual things too. And sometimes we may put spiritual things above our natural needs in life, and so that's not good either. But it might be that we become dissatisfied with with our situation in life. But if we're not willing to do our due diligence, we cannot blame God for the predicament that we get ourselves into.
Proverbs 29 verse 18.
Proverbs 29 verse 18.
Where there is no vision.
The people perish. It might take a year or two of updating your resume and sending out applications before you're gonna find a suitable job. And having said this, I don't wanna take away the importance of dependence on the Lord because the Lord knows the end result from the beginning of time. And the Lord He has a plan for your life. But life, life does not just happen.
Just because you are alive.
There are steps that you must take to provide for your family. We have responsibility to be diligent. Let's go to Proverbs 13, verse 4.
Proverbs 13 verse 4.
We know that a lazy person may want something but he will not get it. But Proverbs 13 verse four says the soul of the diligent shall be made fat.
You may go from job to job, business to business, looking before you can get work, and so that you can find a schedule that is acceptable to you. But whatever job you're in, whatever business you are in, be diligent to honor God in all that you do. And whatsoever you do, do it heartily as unto the Lord. So as much as is possible, it's important for us to arrange our work schedule so we can be obedient.
You may need to change your line of work.
So that you can fulfill the desire of the Lord. I've had to do that several times.
Umm, because I've gotten into situations where my with my employment where I could not obey Jesus because of the work that I was doing and my work schedule. For a while I worked, I was a man. I was a manager at McDonald's.
And serving lots of hamburgers. And I had to work nighttime, so I never got to the midnight. The the midweek meetings, I had to work Sundays, so I was missing.
A lot of Sunday meetings and.
It was hard to be obedient to the Lord because of my work schedule.
And then and then another time I had a job driving a truck, the semi across the country, around the country. And I for a while I had a good job I it would be just a 10/12 hour day, just a half a day's work and I'd be able to get out and get back home.
In one day and I still have time for the family. I can still make it to the meetings in the midweek, I can still make it to the meetings on Sunday. But then they change the the schedule and I had to be out for 3-4 days and I had children at home and I couldn't do take my responsibility as a father. The father is told to bring your children up in the nurturing, the admonition of the Lord. And so I was missing from home and so sometimes it's necessary to change the job and or change the business that we are in. And now I know that sometimes that's not easy to do and maybe it's not practical to do.
But in any case the Lord is looking at our hearts desire. And He says, he says in Hebrews chapter 10, verse 25, Do not forsake the assembling of yourselves together, as the manner of some is, but exhort one another.
00:50:08
And so much the more as you see the day approaching. So it's important if possible to arrange our work schedule so that we can get to the assembly meetings. That's important. And like I say, we are not under law that you must be at every Bible meeting, every assembly meeting. We're not under law for that. That's more a desire of the heart even if you're not able to get there and still should be the desire of our hearts. And so when it's possible, it's it's good to be at the assembly meetings.
But we're not under law to be at all the assembly meetings. But God has given a scripture to show us that it is His will for us to be in His presence where the assembly meetings are conducted. And so we should be there for the assembly meetings for the apostles doctrine and fellowship, that we should be there for the breaking of bread and we should be there for the prayer meetings.
The assembly meetings are where God, by the leading of His Spirit, is able to teach the things that are needed in your life, but when you're not there.
When you are, you are missing out on what God has, the spirit of God has for you, and you're also missing out on being a help to the assembly. And you're. And it's also a discouragement to others who are there and you are missed.
And the Lord knew that discouragement would come in, and he knew that the numbers in the assembly would slowly be reduced. As you can see in your own assembly, some assemblies are growing, but many assemblies people move away. They stop coming. They want to go to a church if they're too busy. And so the Lord knew this discouragement would come, and he knew the numbers and the assembly would be reduced. And so He made provision for when there is only two or three who are gathered together.
In his name for them to come together for the assembly meetings.
Many Christians today, they treat assembly meetings as optional disruptions.
To the service of themselves. And there's TV, there's sport leagues, there's movies, there's friends, there's family reunions, and there's so many things that that press for preeminence over God's assembly, and they take the place of our instruction in righteousness.
We each have opportunity to set our priorities, but too often.
The Lord Jesus has given a very low priority.
But that's OK because there's a lot of encouragement for you to miss the assembly meeting.
And even you even have a cheerleader every time you miss the assembly meetings because you have better things to do.
The Prince of this world, he dances with Glee when he sees a Christian give Jesus a low priority in their life.
But that's OK, because as you live your life in this present world, it will help make life go easy for you.
For a while.
But spiritual lethargy? It will catch up with you.
And you might make it to heaven just fine by the mercies of God.
But what about your children?
Satan will not be so likely to attack your person to discourage you.
And Satan waits patiently to alter your priorities, because he knows that when your kids see that you occasionally give in to something else and give it priority over the Lord Jesus, Satan knows that the kids will give Jesus even less priority in their life.
And so This is why it's so important to continue in the faith with all diligence. Not just the breaking of bread, but the fellowship meeting and the reading meeting and the prayer meeting, too. Acts 2, verse 42.
Acts 2 verse 42. And they continued steadfastly in the apostles doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread and in prayers.
00:55:00
I just had these few thoughts to share with you about doing business God's way.
And how our whole employment schedule effects our Christianity as we try to live out our faith in this world that hates the Savior.
Now I know I've said some fairly hard and.
In blunt statements about work schedules and all, and I know sometimes it's not possible.
But again, I say the Lord's looking at the heart. He knows the desire. Even if your schedule is such that you can't be at the meetings all the time, the Lord He knows your heart, and he can see the desire that you want to be there as often as is possible, and so as it is possible for you to be there. The Lord appreciates that very much, and so do you. So do your brethren as we continue on faithfully for the Lord Jesus. Let's close by seeing Him #256.
256 Praise the Savior of life with your hands, Light when I was trying to make you.
All.
An hour.
New York SE RX 200100 1.
Our God and Father we give thanks for the instructions we have for our practical life. We just ask that it would help us to not only live and to provide for ourselves, that we might also live by these standards in our Christian lives. In serving the Lord and being faithful to the Lord and and Father, we just ask for help the remainder of this day. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.