Episode Transcript
Proverbs 14 verse 23.
The title of the message tonight is Labor's Reward.
Labor's Reward.
I was talking to someone before church about a homeless lady there in Athens. and uh how people have uh bought her food and different things like that.
And people do that out of kindness.
Um a lot of times though when we do that we end up making them dependent on us and when they should actually be out doing something productive.
But uh and we're looking at labor's reward tonight.
I I was excited about teaching this particular passage of scripture.
Because it's beautifully simple.
It's very rich for such a small verse.
And it's greatly needed in our culture today.
I was reading an article This evening while I was eating supper, scrolling through the news on my phone, Fox News, and um And I saw we're in New York City.
I don't know if anyone else read the article.
At this time, New York City is currently spending about $87,000 per person. for every homeless person in their city. $87,000 every year, which is more than their median income.
So you actually receive more benefits if you do nothing at all.
And I saw one lady comment on there and said, Wow, maybe we should go move to New York and be homeless.
And that's sad that it would actually create people thinking that way.
Well, hey, I could just You know, be homeless and and have people feel sorry for me and let them do all the work So we're going to start here tonight looking at labor.
Labor is a wonderful, wonderful gift from God.
A wonderful gift.
Look at the first three words.
In all labor.
In all labor.
And the the Hebrew word translated labor is a very instructive word.
A very rich word.
The word literally means an earthen vessel.
If you're taking notes, the word labor means an earthen vessel, or you could say a clay pot And its root word means to carve or fashion, as one might do with a clay pot.
So understand that this word in Hebrew means both, an earthen vessel. as well as the labor that's exerted to make that earthen vessel So you can't separate the work from the workmanship You can't separate the labor from the product made from that labor The first time we see this word used is after the fall of man in the book of Genesis, when God addressed Eve.
Yeah, we're going to get into the mind of God tonight.
It's beautiful.
Genesis chapter 3, verse 16.
Genesis chapter 3, verse 16.
Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception, listen now, in sorrow.
Thou shalt bring forth children, and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.
In sorrow thou shalt bring for children.
This word sorrow Is the same Hebrew word translated labor in our text in Proverbs tonight?
Now you think about that In sorrow, Eve would bring forth children.
Or if we were to use our translation in Proverbs, we could say, in labor You will bring forth children.
We would use that in English today, wouldn't we?
We call that the labor and delivery room And remembering that the word literally means earth and vessel.
That is the literal meaning of this word.
It literally means earth and vessel.
And as a byproduct of that, it also means the labor used to make the earthen vessel.
So remembering that this Hebrew word literally means earthen vessel, then we understand that God would be using Eve's body to form an earthen vessel.
Called man, we are earthen vessels formed in the potter's house of our mother's womb.
Speaking of the truth of Christ abiding in earthly men.
The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 4, verse 7, but we have this treasure that is the truth of Christ in earthen vessels.
That the excellency of the power may be of God and not of us.
Isn't that amazing?
Eve Way back here early in the book of Genesis, God is using Eve as an illustrative means of explaining What labor is.
In labor, in sorrow.
Why is it also translated as sorrow?
Because in that labor there is exertion.
There is toil.
Wasn't intended to be the toil, but there is.
You work hard at the pottery house, you're gonna go home, you're gonna say, man, I'm beat.
It's been a hard day I enjoy where they're doing a renovation of the downtown square in Tyler.
And my office has the Great bird's eye view watching it.
I've been watching them build forms and build a new courthouse and pour concrete.
Today they were pouring concrete.
And there's those concrete workers out there and and they're pushing that trial back and forth and floating it out and working on putting that rebar down and and when they get through that's labor.
And when they get through, they have a product.
That's that parking lot or street that they're building out there.
But you have the labor, you have the product made from the labor, and I guarantee you those men go home tired.
All three of it goes together.
And so God is saying in sorrow you're going to bring forth these children in labor, you're going to bring forth earthen vessels.
You're the potter's house forming these earth and vessels.
Why is it so important that we understand the depth of this word?
Because the concept of labor is being defined here by this word.
Solomon says in all labor there is profit.
I gotta get my water.
In all labor there is profit.
So if you want to understand where profit comes from, you better understand what true labor is.
Not all exertion brings profit.
But in the labor that produces the product, there's always going to be profit.
The word prophet has the idea of increasing, gaining, especially what we need as people, but it's the idea of gaining, increasing.
I saw an advertisement this week where a man was wanting, or he said he was either willing to sell or trade an acre of land.
And he didn't specify what he had trade for it, but I guess just whatever.
He'd be willing to swap somebody for something.
He just didn't want that acre of land anymore.
Now, if that man paid $20,000 for that acre of land and he swapped it for something that was worth $20,000, then he would make no gain.
He'd simply be right back where he started from, having the same value, just in a different form.
In fact, by the time you figure in the HOA fees or any uh taxes uh that he paid on it, he may actually lose in the end And one of God's Bible principles for finances, for any kind of investment, for any kind of exertion of our bodies, any use of our times, one of the Bible principles is that we should always make some type of profit from it.
You should always profit something.
We should always gain something from our time or our labor.
That's not being covetous.
That's being wise and that's being profitable.
Remember the servants that Jesus is going to ascend in the lake of fire, those are unprofitable servants.
So God's all about profit.
He didn't put us here for no reason.
We need to gain.
One question to ask ourselves about any business transaction One thing to ask ourselves about any investment or any um uh exertion, labor or uh or uh uh any any time that we consume should be this.
What will I gain from this?
What will I gain from this deal?
What will I gain from spending this kind of money?
What will I gain for utilizing this block of my time?
What gain am I going to receive from this?
In all labor, the Bible says there is gain.
There is profit.
That is the labor we're speaking about tonight.
Now, if we understood labor, According to our usual English usage, then this might be a little confusing for us because we think, well I may not always get profit from my exertion, but the English word labor here comes from a Latin word that literally means to fail.
When you're looking at the English language, not the Hebrew, but the English language, the word labor means to fail.
And it has the failure means the idea of working in.
Wearing yourself out.
That's labor.
So it has the idea of exerting mental and physical strength.
And there are a lot of people who exert themselves, they exert mental and physical strength for no profit at all.
And that's not the type of labor we're looking at tonight.
There are people who exert themselves doing foolish things which are unprofitable, hence the unprofitable servant.
They beat The servants.
They get drunk.
They do the things that Jesus described.
And then when Jesus comes, he's going to judge those unprofitable servants.
And even they will do things detrimental to the people who labor in those tasks.
When my dad was in business, he had someone try breaking into a shop building one night.
And it was an overhead, uh, one of those old roll-up doors that come down on the shop buildings And that door was different than the other overhead doors we had.
It had oval windows in that door.
And one man tried breaking in and crawling through that window and he was too big and he got stuck.
So he exerted himself But after exerting himself and working hard to get into that fix, the the his labor was without profit.
So learn this important truth tonight.
Being busy.
Is not the same as being profitable.
Working hard is not the same as being productive.
We want to be profitable We want to be productive people.
The labor we are learning about tonight is the type of labor that produces things.
It produces babies.
It produces pottery.
It produces concrete roads.
If you fashion clay into a pot, Then the effort you exerted, your labor, produced a pot.
Make sense?
Your labor, therefore, was profitable.
It was not in vain If you stay home, however, and you play video games all day and you work real hard at it, you may exert that energy, that, and you may exert that mental Strained, but your effort will have produced no good or service to anyone.
Your labor will be unprofitable.
My son Abel enjoys making handmade leather goods.
Some of the men will remember uh for Christmas I got some of those pins.
Remember the pins and it has the tools in them and the bubble and all.
And uh so he showed me Sunday and he made him a custom-made holster, and he's got that pin in one and he's got his pocket knife in the other, and he wears it on his belt When he employs that skill, he produces a useful product that he didn't have before he exerted the labor.
So his labor gained a product that he did not have before.
His labor is not in vain.
I enjoy studying and writing sermons.
And to lend delivering them to God's people who are then edified by the truth they hear.
So my labor in doing so It causes our understanding to gain more of God's truth than we had before.
That's gaining.
I leave knowing more of God's word than before I came in.
Hence the labor is profitable 1 Corinthians 15 verse 58.
Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord.
For as much as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.
Look at that.
Now there's a promise for every child of God right there.
The work of the Lord, always abounding in the work of the Lord.
If you're doing the Lord's work, whatever it is, your labor is not in vain.
Not in vain.
Ye cut the grass, your labor's not in vain You call someone and pray with them on the phone.
Your labor is not in vain.
You share the gospel with someone, your labor is not in vain.
All productive labor is profitable.
It gives us a net gain.
Now look back in your text.
But the talk of the lips The talk of the lips, and the key word here is talk.
Working your lips is not the same as working your plan.
You see?
Working your lips is not the same as working your plan.
Talking about what you plan to do will never make you a prophet.
There's some people who are, y'all ever know anyone that that they just have pipe dreams?
They're just dreamers, big dreamers.
They got some big plan out here.
They're gonna do this, they're gonna do this, they got this over here going, and every time you talk to them, they got they got big stuff going on And it never comes to pass.
There's a guy I know for the past several years.
Every time I've talked to him, he's told me about his plan to go overseas, teach martial arts. and uh and do these great big great big things overseas.
And w one day he he he was talking about getting a three-wheel motorcycle In touring Japan, going from city to city teaching martial arts.
My goodness.
Then he was going to go, I think, to the it was to the Philippines and teach martial arts on the beach.
And the last time I saw him, sure enough One of the f it's like one of the first things I did, I said, hey, how was your trip?
And I I didn't figure he took that trip, Brother Shepard.
I just wanted to highlight the fact that he didn't.
Said, hey, how was your trip?
I'm getting ready.
I'm planning it.
Well, wouldn't you go?
I'm getting in the works.
I'm planning it right now.
But working your lips is not the same as working your plan.
Talking about what you plan to do will never make a profit, but doing what you plan If it is profitable, if it is a worthy, productive plan, it will There's some people who are nothing but talkers.
They talk about the business they're going to start one day.
They talk about the education that they plan on getting one day.
They talk about the project that they're going to start around the house soon They talk about the work they plan to do, but they never get around to doing it.
As Christians, we don't want to be those people We don't want to be those people.
If talking got the work done, then we'd all have work gloves for our lips.
But we don't, we get them for our hands, don't we?
Some people are nothing but dreamers.
They talk of their dreams, but they never accomplish them.
Here's a kingdom truth for you tonight.
Words can never be a substitute for action.
Words can never be a substitute for action.
I said, Brother Richard, I don't know where to start.
Well, I tell you what, I've taken on some big projects in my time.
And uh writing a book is a big project.
And you know how you start?
You start with the first word.
You start with something.
Start with a concept.
You don't talk about it.
Eventually you gotta do it Start with the first word.
And you know what?
It it the the last one took me two, two and a half, three years because I'm so busy in other things.
But you know what?
Just like eating an elephant, right?
How do you eat an elephant?
One bite at a time Just like you eat anything else.
My mom made shrimp for supper tonight.
You only have to get that in one bite.
But how do you need an elephant versus shrimp the same way, just one bite at a time?
So if if there's something you were wanting to do for the Lord, or if there's something you're wanting to do that's productive, if you've got a project at the house.
Just start it.
And then consistently take one bite out of a time at a time.
Don't be the type person that has to have quick results.
If you're the type person that has to have quick results, that has to have instant gratification or very quick gratification.
You're never going to accomplish a great deal of anything.
You won't.
Things that Jesus was here for over 30 years.
Fulfilling our redemption.
And you know what?
His salvation plan has been going on since before the world began.
They're still mocking Jesus' name today.
Where's his instant gratification?
Be patient.
That's one of the words in Scripture.
Be patient unto the coming of the Lord.
Be patient.
Be willing to take on.
If you've got a large project you need to take on, be willing to take it on.
And take it one bit at a time, but don't just talk about it.
Do it.
And be patient in a little at a time, consistently, you'll get it He says here, the talk of the lips, look back in your text as we begin to close, tendeth only to penry, which means poverty or being in need.
People who flap their lips without working will go broke, is what he's saying.
You'll end up not having what you need.
Why?
Because there's no profit in talking about work.
Last night when I finished supper, I needed to finish my message for tonight.
I was about halfway through.
Maybe a little over.
So I I I'm sitting on the couch.
I tell you, man, when uh you you you're a little sleepy and your belly's full and it's supper time and you're sitting on the couch in the sunroom and Looking out in your backyard and it's quiet.
Sure would be nice just to hang out there and watch the sun go down.
Go to bed I said, well, I better get in there and work on my message, finish my message.
She'll say, okay.
Now what if I just sat there?
Yeah, that message is gonna be a good one tomorrow, I tell you, man.
That's it's a good one.
It's about uh labor and not using your lips, but but actual labor and how there's profit and I just kept talking to her about it and Boy, I tell you what, that's going to be a good study.
And all I did was talk about it.
If that was the case, I'd have no message tonight Then I would have not gained a new message.
When I finished, I had a message that I did not have before, just like you have a clay pot that you did not have before.
Or you have a baby that you did not have before.
But why must we labor to gain?
Why is it that God's principle in life for us has to be one of profit, one of gaining, one of getting more than what you had before.
Why is it like that?
Why did God set it up that way?
How can we go broke if we don't labor and make a profit?
It's because God designed this world. based on a system of consumption and production.
And we'll say that again.
If you don't understand this, you're going to miss out God designed this world to operate on the basis of consumption and production.
You can't get around it.
As people, we consume things.
We're consumers We consume even the world notices that.
They call us consumers.
We consume what we need.
We consume water.
We consume air, food, energy, money, goods, services, and since we are consuming things, you've heard the old adage.
You you may learn something new tonight.
You may learn something new.
He wants to have his cake and eat it too.
Y'all ever heard that?
I've heard people say Now wait a second.
That old saying makes no sense at all.
He wants to have his cake and eat it too.
What's the point in having a cake if you can't eat it?
I've heard they didn't they didn't understand the adage.
The adage means this in case you didn't know.
If you have a cake.
And you eat it, you no longer have it.
So the adage is, he wants to have his cake And eat it too.
And you can't have a cake and eat it and still have it.
Why?
Because we're consumers.
God Set it up to where we operate on the basis of consumption and production.
So if you consume a cake, you better gain another cake.
If you want to have it and eat it too, right?
That's why you have to have the production part.
If we consume what we need, so if we do not eventually gain more of what we consumed, then we come into pennory. into need.
So we must continually labor.
Why?
Because we continually consume.
Makes sense.
So if we're in need, then here's what we can do.
Number one, we can always increase our labor Number two, and this is one of my favorite ones here, we can always reduce our consumption.
Now there's some things you can't reduce I've told my wife, we have a plan.
I'm telling you, ever since I was a little boy, I would think of ways.
If there's anyone like this out here, please raise your hand and let me know that I'm not alone.
Ever since I was a little boy, I would think of things that if something happened to my parents.
And I had no place to go and I was homeless.
How I could survive, where I could live, how cheap I could live, what little I could live on.
Anyone's ever thought that way before?
Just me.
You have?
You have?
Y'all are the good ones.
I've always thought that way and I've got a plan.
I told my wife, I said, you know what?
Beans and rice are cheap.
I can live real cheap if I need to.
Real cheap.
I can shut the AC off if I need to.
I can eat cheap food.
It doesn't have to be unhealthy.
But I can live cheap if I need to.
So we could either increase our labor, and sometimes that's not an option for people.
In that case, you reduce your consumption And here's the third thing.
We can make sure that the labor we choose is profitable If we're going to exert energy, if we're going to consume time, then make sure that what we get something in return for the consumption of our energy or our time.
Don't waste the precious time and energy God gives you.
And then number three, we get or number four, we get this from our pastors tonight.
We can always quit talking about what we plan on doing and start working out our plans.
And with that, we'll go ahead and close tonight.
Boy, what a wonderful little verse that's packed with so much wisdom.
These proverbs He's probably anyone that tells you that crazy people wrote the Bible or lunatics wrote the Bible, man, they don't know the Bible.
Packed full of wisdom.
Lord, thank you so much for your precious word tonight.
Thank you for each and every church member tonight who came.
Whether attending in person or watching online tonight, I thank you for each and every one of them.
We love you so much.
Thank you for giving us this wisdom in your word so we can apply it to our lives.
And we thank you and bring us back safely, we pray, this coming Sunday.
I pray for every person who's reading, Father Lord, the signs on the back of these vehicles, the sticky tracks that are being set out.
Coming into the website, reading the books, or who will be reading those Muslim cards, I pray for each and every person, those eyes set on Lord.
We pray for their souls.
We pray for their salvation.
In Jesus' wonderful name, Amen
