Ways of being here is that you get to preach on a trailer. I love it. I love it. I'm gonna back that up just a little bit. I probably don't need it.

I tell you, this is really one of the most encouraging times of the year for me and for my sons as we get to come to this Father-Son and to look out and see these fathers who are taking that seriously, that they love their sons, they love their families, and that they want to lead them in the way that they should go. So what I want to talk about this morning is the diligent worker, and this really has to do very much with sanctification but it also has to do much with the glory of God. And so as we look I'm going to begin in Proverbs 14 23 but this is really going to be a shotgun blast if you will more of a topical as opposed to a just an expositional teaching of the scriptures. But let's look at Proverbs 14 23 and we'll jump in to to what the Proverbs teach us about the diligent worker. Proverbs 14 23, in all labor there is profit but idle chatter leads only to poverty.

So I was blessed Last night when I heard the three things that I took away from those messages last night, one, that we need to listen to God's Word because it is that. It is God's Word and God's wisdom. Two, for Mr. Brown, that we heard concerning the paths of our feet, and that's what we were just reciting. Think about the paths of your feet.

You're choosing or you're plowing a trajectory, a ditch that you're going to be plowing through and it is very difficult to get out of that. Start young in that path in the right way and then thirdly about pride and the trickiness of that and how it is extremely destructive to a young man and to an old man. This morning I really want to focus in on this diligent worker from the book of Proverbs and so I'm going to be referencing quite a bunch of quite a lot of different passages through this book but again I want to start with this one in all labor there is profit but all are but idle chatter leads only to poverty and then also Proverbs 12 24 The hand of the diligent shall bear rule, but the lazy man shall be put under forced labor." I want to begin with telling you a story, a true story, a historical story, and we'll see how this young man was diligent. So there was a boy born and raised in the Caribbean who had a very difficult childhood. His father forsook him and his mother and his brother when he was 10 years old, and the young man at that time had not received much of an education.

He was forced to work to help support his mother and his brother, and tragically, just a few years later, his mother succumbed to the island fever, they called it, and she died, leaving a 13-year-old young man and his brother to take care of. So when she succumbed to this, leaving them in the world on their own, the chances that this young man would become anything at all were really remote. It was not something that people looked at this young man right off and thought, boy, now this is going to be somebody because of the challenges that he had faced from the very beginning. So his employer, as he was working to support himself and his brother, taught him a great deal about the business that he was working in, and the youth applied himself diligently to master the complexities of accounting, international trade, and shipping at this young age. By God's providence, a Presbyterian minister moved to the capital where he lived and introduced this young man to Christianity, to the Christian faith, and to principles of liberty.

In his vast library, he introduced him to these principles and to the Christian faith. And finally, several important local men recognized that this young man had a work ethic, that this young man applied himself to diligence. They sent him to America. They wanted him to go to Princeton University, but it did not work out. He was not well educated enough, so he went to a prep school, spent two years there, and worked diligently in his studies.

He ended up going on to another school and was very successful in that, but it happened at the time that the American Revolution and America's war for independence, that God intervened in this young man's life and provided another opportunity for him to demonstrate his commitment to liberty and to apply his diligence that he had learned as a young man. This young man was drilling an artillery company in New York when the war moved into their area. The British then invaded New York with a massive armada carrying 30-some thousand redcoats, driving them back over across the Hudson River and deep into New Jersey. Nevertheless, General George Washington persevered in holding the Continental Army together, and this young man proved to be of great benefit to the Army. So after this time, Washington invited this young man to join him on his staff and to work as an aide for him.

And The general saw that this young man's merit, saw that he was a diligent worker and saw that he was a benefit and determined that this young man could be trusted with a position that most men did not have. He got to see the secret information that was coming in from the general and going back to Congress. And at the age of 22 years old, he was sent on another mission, a mission that my family and I actually got to go visit last week at Yorktown. At Yorktown, he demonstrated tremendous tenacity and courage by leading an audacious charge on readout number 10, at which they were victorious and the tide of the war turned in favor of the Continental Army. He contributed even more after this to the founding of America during the next decade when the writing of the Constitution was needing to be ratified, And this young man gave himself diligently to writing 51 Federalist essays in defense of the Constitution.

And he spent the rest of his time in helping that and seeing that the Constitution of the United States was ratified and this young man's name was Alexander Hamilton. Starting off at very low end, he did not allow his life circumstances to be an excuse for him not to be diligent in everything that was set before him. And so really what I want to do is encourage you as young men that whatever your position is that you be diligent in the work that the Lord has placed before you. In all labor there is profit. Whether that labor be something of the sweat of the brow and the working with your hands, or if it's something like Alexander Hamilton did later in his life when he wrote the Federalist Papers to ratify the Constitution, He gave himself diligently both in body and in mind, and those are both of the facets that we need to understand of the diligent worker.

They are diligent in their efforts. It is most unfortunate that we live in such a time when most people in Hamilton's position, they find that they would rather play the victim card rather than to demonstrate unflinching and unwavering diligence in the in the face of life's most difficulties that comes their way. And so young men I want to encourage you, you have an advantage here right now that I say you're either here with a father or a father figure and that father is investing in your life. These men who are speaking last night were speaking into your life to encourage you and to challenge you to be a man of God. And part of being a man of God means that you will be a diligent man, that you will work fervently for the Lord.

Proverbs 14 23 again, in all labor there is profit. So what does this diligent labor look like? I'm just going to ask a few questions as we think about this and think about the Proverbs. So think about these questions. What does diligent labor look like?

Proverbs 13, 4 says, the soul of a lazy man desires and has nothing, but the soul of the diligent shall be made rich." So this lazy man desires but he has nothing because he has nothing within him to drive him to be diligent in his labors. But the soul of the diligent shall be made rich. Webster's Dictionary of 1828 says that diligence is the steady application in business of any kind, constant effort to accomplish what is undertaken, it is exertion of the body or the mind without unnecessary delay or sloth. One of the things that is natural to man is slothfulness. Diligence is not a natural attribute that you're born with.

There are a few people who just have a drive in them, but for most of us, it is something that we have to work at. I've had to work at throughout my entire life, there's this natural inclination there to sloth back a little bit, to be a little lazy, whether it be mentally or physically, and so it is one of those things that it must be taught and trained. So what does this look like? It looks like a trait of character that motivates people to do their very best work for the glory of God, with excitement and passion, and to complete their work with excellence. One man said, Let every man abide in the calling wherein he is called, and his work will be as sacred as the work of the ministry.

It is not what a man does that determines whether his work is sacred or secular, but why he does it. So whatever it is that you are doing, you should be doing that to the glory of God. That will make your work sacred because you are doing it to honor your Heavenly Father. We see in this Proverbs 13 for that the soul of the lazy man desires and has nothing because The lazy man has a desire for nothing. He has these empty desires, these empty hopes, but he lives a life of frustrated dreams and desires because he is lazy.

He's not willing to put forth the effort. He's not determined to set his hand to the work that will bring about his desires. Now, let me share a little statistic with you that I learned just this week. In America, for those who are in office positions or who are working in an office setting, Can you guess for me or tell me how many hours of an eight hour day are productive work? Yes let's see our number.

Three. You're very close. Two hours and 53 minutes are productive work. So we'll be generous and say 15 hours a week are productive work. This is not your standard young man.

Young man, God has a better thing for you. He has created you to work and to work for his glory because the soul of the lazy man desires and has nothing, But what he does have is a complaining spirit. He has a victim mentality, and that is what we are seeing in our culture today. We have men, young men and older men, if we can call them men, maybe just males, because they desire this thing, but because of their laziness. And ultimately, it's really because they don't have an understanding that they were created to glorify God in their work.

They're doing it because they just have to, they're doing it because they have a family they have to provide for but they're not doing it with that ultimate purpose that this will glorify God because the fool has said in his heart there is no God and they have no meaning in their work and in their labors. So in Proverbs 14 23 in all thy labor there is profit. You see it is the hand of the Lord that either makes ones rich or poor, but I have found in my days when I have it from my personal experience, I have seen that the Lord chooses to work through those who are diligent for His glory. I don't know of anywhere in the scriptures where I can see that the lazy man was exalted in accomplishing great things for the Lord. I don't see it.

I'm not saying that this is something where man just pulls himself up by his own bootstraps and he can do this thing. No, I'm talking about it's the gift of God in this man's life. It is God working in him to produce in him this drive to work for the glory of God and we need to be diligent in whatever that work may be. Now I'm not talking about something again that is just this fleshly, hey look at what I did. I'm talking about what Mr.

Davenport spoke about last night about being humble in what we do because we realize we can do nothing apart from the Lord. If you have a drive for diligence and work, you give glory to God and be thankful for that drive. And if you don't, pray God give you that drive to work for his glory and for his honor. I was raised in a family by a dad who was a firm believer in labor, especially physical labor. My dad believed that every boy should have a Ph.D.

At a young age. I'm not talking about a doctrinal degree, I'm talking about a posthole digger. He believed that a man should work and labor with his hands. And he loved to put that that lesson to the test. He loved to give us boys work to do.

And I cannot tell you how many times I've looked back and I've been thankful that my dad instilled this into me teaching me how to work and to work hard and diligently. Unfortunately, I did not have the teaching that it was for the glory of God, but that it was good and right and moral to be a hard worker and not be lazy. One of the things he always told me, don't ever sit down when a man is working. Don't ever sit down and watch a man work. You always stand and you be ready to help if you can.

So those are principles that he put in me but the one I wish he had was that it's for the glory of God, not for my glory so that I can stand up here and say, hey, I was such a hard worker. No, it's not about that. It's about God working in me. So in thinking about this, it helped me to overcome obstacles in my life, and now I understand that not every dad here is going to be a physical laborer. You may work with computers, you may work in an office, you may do other things.

And that not every young man here will be a physical laborer. There's nothing wrong with it because in all labor there is profit, not just some labor. But let me urge you to teach your sons how to work with their hands, not only with their minds. All you need is dirt and a Ph.D. And you can teach them how to work.

You see it is my belief that every young man needs to know what it feels like to have blisters and calluses upon his hands. He needs to understand what it is to work. You may work in an office and that's good we need that but don't forsake the time to take your son outside and put his hand to a shovel or put his hand to an axe to do diligent labor, to sweat from the brow so that it can understand the benefits of labor because there is benefit. It's not part of the curse, men. Work was part of the blessing.

It's part of the blessing. So, as I've done with one of my older sons, there was a day that he was challenging his mother with his activity. He had an abundance of activity in him and he didn't have ADHD. He just needed some physical activity. I took him outside and I said, son, I want a five-foot hole deep and I want it one foot wide.

I'm going to work. I handed him the PhD, passed it on, I guess, from my dad to him, and I came back an hour and a half later to find a five foot hole, one foot wide, with a boy that all I could see was the top of his head. Now, what was the purpose of that? Number one, it was to teach him that he needs to labor diligently. Number two, it was to teach him that he needs to get, he needed to get some energy out to help his mom in homeschooling.

But it was something that taught him to see a task and to accomplish a task and to stay at a task until it was finished. And he did that. And I'm thankful for that. And I'm sure if you're an employer here, you know and you've come across that you would love to have an employee, not that was the smartest and had the most book learning, not that had the most giftings, but that he had a heart for diligence, that he would stick to the task and work, that when he was actually hired for a job, he showed up to take that job. I've talked to people recently who have had that experience.

They come in for an interview, they get the job, and they don't even show up to come to work at the job. This is not the bar by which we want our sons to try to jump over. We want our sons to be diligent laborers. Now let's think about this. Some of the greatest examples of diligent labor is seen in the life of our Lord Jesus Christ.

When the Lord looked down, when the Father looked at the Son, He said, this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. I'm not here to say I'm the example of diligence. I'm not here to say my sons are the example of diligence. I'm here to tell you that there is one who was diligent in our place. When we are lazy and when we are weak, that the Lord Jesus Christ was strong and diligent to accomplish the purpose that the Father gave him to do.

You're not going to work your way to heaven. You're not going to work your way to please God. The Lord Jesus Christ did all of that labor for you, and you can rest in the labors of Christ. But I am here to tell you that if you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, you are going to be a diligent man, and you're going to teach your sons to be diligent men. Second question, and we're going to hurry here, why should diligent labor, or excuse me, when should diligent labor be taught?

When should diligent labor be taught? When I was thinking about this, I was thinking about those men in the scriptures who were diligent. I was thinking about David, who was diligent. I was thinking about Joseph who was diligent. When did these young men learn to be diligent?

David did not wait until he was king to become diligent. David was diligent when he was in the field with the sheep. When no one was watching him, he was diligent and he was faithful. He fought the bear and the lion. He was protecting the sheep.

That made him able to be a king of Israel, to protect those sheep. Think of the life of Joseph. Joseph did not learn to be diligent when he was in Pharaoh's house. He learned to be diligent back when he was checking on his brothers to see where they were. He learned to be diligent when he was in Potiphar's house.

He learned to be diligent in the prison, and therefore God moved him to be diligent in Pharaoh's house. So young men, our fathers, when do we teach our sons to be diligent? We teach them immediately. If you're asking the question, when should I start teaching my son, you're too late. You teach them immediately to be diligent in what they set their hand to do and you'll find as I have found that is not a natural attribute of your son.

Very rarely is that the case. Every now and then you might have one. Very rarely is that the case. Next, that means my time's up but we got a couple more just to give me a couple minutes. Where will diligent labor take you?

The Proverbs says it will take you before kings. Proverbs 22, 29, do you see a man who excels in his work? He will stand before kings. He will not stand before unknown men. Don't be fooled through though to think that you will stand before kings before you have learned to be diligent in your labors.

It did not happen with David, it did not happen with Joseph, it did not happen with our Lord Jesus Christ. He labored. How long was he laboring before he was in the ministry? 30 years of his life he labored. We know very little about his life until that point.

He was being faithful in what God the father had given him to do and then he did a great work for us so that we could be stand before Kings, the King of Kings, and he did that labor for you. Lastly, why is diligent labor important? Diligent labor declares that there is a God in the heavens watching over the affairs of men. The sovereignty of God is acknowledged when Christian men are faithful and diligent in their labors. Proverbs 16 3, commit your works to the Lord and your thoughts will be established.

When you work you need to be thinking that all of this is committed unto the Lord. If it's not committed to the Lord then maybe you shouldn't be doing it. Commit your works to the Lord and your thoughts will be established. When your labor is diligent and your work is right, it declares the sovereignty and glory of God. Diligence points to the glory of God and I'm going to jump out of Proverbs for this one.

Colossians 3, bond servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eye service as men pleasers, but in sincerity of heart, fearing God, and whatever you do, do it heartily as unto the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. For you serve the Lord Christ, but he who does wrong will be repaid for what he has done and there is no partiality." So these are the things that I wanted to encourage you in. One, that you be diligent in your labors for the glory of God and so that you will give a proper testimony of who your God is. He is a sovereign God and all things are to be done for his glory. Men, thank you for bringing your sons here.

Thank you for putting in that effort. And now teach them to be diligent workers for the glory of God. Let's pray. Our Father, we thank you that you have called us out of darkness into a marvelous light. Lord, through the perfect work of your Son, Jesus Christ, thank you for his diligent labor for our souls.

Lord, we owe all to you. And Lord, thank you for when you called us, you have called us to good works. That is why you created us, that is why you saved us. Help us to be diligent in those labors. Help us to work for your kingdom and to work for the glory of God and Lord please help these fathers help me to train my sons to be diligent laborers for your glory we pray in Christ's name amen