In his sermon titled 'Diligence,' Gavin Beers explores the virtue of diligence, highlighting its significance as a biblical principle rooted in the wisdom literature of Proverbs. Beers emphasizes that diligence is a fruit of the Spirit, even if not explicitly listed in Galatians. He contrasts the diligent with the sluggard, as described in Proverbs 13:4, illustrating that desire alone does not lead to fulfillment without the accompanying effort and sacrifice. Diligence, as a biblical virtue, overcomes problems and excuses, finishes what it starts, and is applied to the right tasks rather than being busy with emptiness. Beers encourages his listeners to apply diligence in their spiritual lives, particularly in prayer and understanding God’s Word, and to avoid distractions that lead to wasted potential. He concludes by outlining the rewards of diligence, including employment, promotion, prosperity, and contentment, urging individuals to pursue diligence both in temporal and spiritual aspects of life.

Please turn in your Bibles to Proverbs chapter 13, and as you're turning, let me say that it's a joy to be with you here. I'm thankful for the invitation to come. I've noticed that you all have an accent, so you may struggle with mine. It's an Irish accent, if you're wondering. I want to address you on the subject of diligence.

When we think of Christian virtues, it's maybe not the first that would immediately jump into our mind. It's a virtue that is highlighted throughout the Book of Proverbs, And to understand the book of Proverbs correctly, you've got to recognize that this book of wisdom is fulfilled perfectly in the Lord Jesus Christ. And therefore, it's a holy virtue of wisdom that we find exemplified unto perfection in Christ. It's also a fruit of the Spirit. We don't automatically think of diligence as being a fruit of the Spirit because maybe it's not listed there in Galatians, but it's a fruit of the Holy Spirit.

What Proverbs also reminds us is that you don't live in a random universe, but that you live in a universe that has general laws and principles that we're to follow principles of that are going to govern our life in the world. And as we walk according to these principles, we're going to see certain results that follow in our lives. You see this in Proverbs chapter 13 and verse four, where we read, the soul of the slugger desireth and hath nothing but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat. I want to use this text as a starting point and we're going to bring in other texts found throughout the book of Proverbs. But you'll see a contrast here between the lazy man and the diligent man.

And this verse teaches us that it is the diligent man who ultimately achieves his desires. So I want to think in the first place here about that desire, because everybody has desires. If I were to ask you boys here today, what do you want to be when you grow up, you might tell me all kinds of things. And if I came back in five years time, those things might be very different. And if I were to ask the grownups, the fathers here, what are your desires and what are your ambitions for these boys?

As you sit here today, You might be able to articulate great things that you would hope to achieve in your child rearing and bringing up of your family. But suppose I was to come back in five or 10 years time and ask you, had you achieved those desires? Or if I were to ask you to think back to maybe 10, or 10, 15, 18 years ago, however old your boys are, and to think when you first held them in your arms and all the desire and ambition that you had for their upbringing, have you accomplished those desires or have you not? There are many reasons as to why we don't accomplish our desires. God's sovereignty being one, circumstances sometimes get in the way of us of us achieving things, but one of the main reasons we don't achieve our desires is quite simply a lack of diligence.

We want things but we don't want to make the sacrifice to get things, and we don't recognize that there is a cost to achieving. Look at our text. The soul of the sluggard desires, but he has nothing. Now by implication, the soul of the diligent man desires as well, but we read of him that his soul shall be made fat. So note it, one fails and at the end of it all he has nothing but frustrated desires where the other one realizes his desires and is satisfied.

And the way he does it is by diligence. So you have the desire, let's think about diligence in the second place. And I want to draw in other texts from Proverbs here and look at three things about diligence. The first is biblical diligence overcomes problems and excuses. Turn if you will to Proverbs chapter 20 and verse 4 where we meet the sluggard again.

Proverbs 20 and verse 4, the sluggard will not plow by reason of the cold Therefore shall he beg and harvest and have nothing." So it's seed time, planting time, it's cold outside. The sluggard, he looks out and he says, it's a little bit cold, I'm not going to work today. Why? Because work's uncomfortable, work's hard. Doesn't God tell us from our fall that that's the way it's going to be?

You're going to earn your crust in the sweat of your brow. Work is hard. The sluggard says, it's hard, it's inconvenient, I'm not going to do it. Or turn to chapter 22 in verse 13. Now he's not dealing with a reality of work being hard.

Now he's inventing imaginary excuses so that he won't work. Chapter 22 and verse 13. The slothful man saith, there's a lion without, I shall be slain in the streets. So he's thinking of all of these reasons why he can't come out and he says there's a lion outside I can't go out and work. Do you see how easily dissuaded the lazy man is?

It's too dangerous, I can't work. It's too difficult, I can't work. And so he's beaten before he begins. What does biblical diligence look like? Well, when it's cold outside, biblical diligence goes and gets a coat and puts it on and gets on with his work.

If there was a lion in the street, biblical diligence would take care, go get a gun, fix the lion, and get on with the work. Biblical diligence overcomes problems and difficulties. Secondly, biblical diligence finishes what it starts. When things get hard, it keeps going. When we come to the bits we don't like we press on.

We're determined that we're not going to waste our time and our effort. Turn now to Proverbs chapter 12 and look there at verse 27. The slothful man roasteth not that which he took in hunting, but the substance of a diligent man is precious. So the diligent man appreciates what he has, he uses it for the glory of God. The slothful man doesn't do that.

But there's more to this text than that. I want you to think about the process of hunting. And I've learned since coming to North Carolina that a lot of you actually do it. I've never hunted in my life. But it goes a little bit like this.

You get up really early and you wear particular clothing and you've likely spent a lot of money on equipment. And you go out into the woods And you sit and do nothing for a long time and you wait and you wait. Maybe you wait some more and eventually the buck comes and you shoot it. Now a lot of people were still in bed while you were getting up and doing all these things. So you're showing a degree of diligence to do that.

And then you make the shot, you get the buck, you clean it, you drag it back to your truck, you take it home, you hang it up in your barn and you let it rot. You don't use it for anything. Now you have been diligent, but Not biblically diligent, because there has been no follow through unto accomplishment. You see, it's not just that the lazy man doesn't do anything. The trait of the slothful in the book of Proverbs is sometimes this.

He fails to complete the tasks that he starts, and he leaves behind him in his wake a whole host of half jobs, unfinished jobs. Maybe you need to go home and talk to your wives and your wives will be able to tell you about this. All the things you planned to do, started to do, but never actually accomplished. Praise God, the Lord Jesus Christ, the perfect man who engaged in the greatest work did not approach his task in this way. He didn't go part way to the cross.

He said, my meat is to do the will of him that sent me. And what? To finish the work. And bless God, he didn't just die on the cross to accomplish our redemption. He rose again from the dead, ascended to the right hand of the Father, and applies that redemption unto the souls of his people.

And he will not finish the task until he returns at the last day and raises up our bodies and perfects us to be with him forever. Bless God. Christ does not perform his work. In a half manner. Well, you are wise if you make this principle the habit of your life.

And you're also wise if you lovingly teach this principle to your children. That you don't let these young boys get away with half jobs in their youth. I have sons at home and sometimes their mom brings them back to do the dishes three times because they do it the first time as quick as possible she looks at it she says no it's not done you got to finish it they go back they still don't learn the lesson you know boy sometimes it takes you a while to learn things She comes back it's still not done she says go do it again finish it and instead of doing it once they do it three times. Now boys You need to know this about yourself. You'll find it quite easy to do the things that you like to do.

You may like to do yard work, yeah? Do you like to do school work? Well, you have to go with your school work with the same diligence as you might go to your yard work with. Because you guys are going to grow up and you're going to get jobs and you're not going to like everything that you do in your work. And if all you do growing up is train yourself to be diligent at the things that you like doing, you're actually training yourself to be lazy.

And you're not going to be able to accomplish things when you're older. So biblical diligence finishes what it starts. Thirdly, biblical diligence is employed in the right things. So diligence is not just about being busy. Many men are busy, but they're not productive.

I want you to think about this in your own life, man. You have a list of things to do. What do you start with? Very often you'll start with the easiest things and you'll spend so much time on those easy things that when you come to the big things, you don't really have the time left to accomplish them. Well, you've been busy, but you haven't been diligent.

Would you look with me at Proverbs chapter 12 verse 11. Proverbs chapter 12 verse 11, he that tilleth his land shall be satisfied with bread. So he's being diligent, but he that followeth vain persons is void of understanding. Now that backs up what Mr. Davenport was saying there about company.

If you follow vain persons, you'll very likely waste your life. But look again at your text and you'll see that if you have a Bible that shows you italics, that the word persons is actually in italics. So the Hebrew simply reads he that followeth vanity is void of understanding. So literally he that pursues emptiness, he that follows nothingness, he that chases after the wind. He's a man whose void of understanding.

Well, you can be busy doing that for so much of your life, Busy doing nothing, working the whole day through, trying to find lots of things not to do. We can do that. I say to you men therefore if you are employed be diligent in the things that actually achieve your goals. And to you young men who are not employed presently you need to be busy or to be diligent now in doing things that are going to help you attain those goals when you're older. So maybe it's math, maybe it's history, maybe it's developing skills, maybe it's getting alongside other men who are able to teach you things that are going to be beneficial to you in life.

But you should be doing that rather than being given over to distraction. Two generations ago it was television. One generation ago we added video games to that. And now this generation has the internet. A black hole for your time.

Well, a little bit of video gaming is okay for recreation, a little bit of television can be used wisely to the glory of God. The internet is a great tool that we can employ for a good end, but how much of your internet use is really substantial. You can pour your life into emptiness and you never get it back again. Now some of you are young, maybe you're here and you're eight years old, you're never gonna be eight years old again in your life, you get one go at it. I'm 42, I'm not gonna be 42 again.

I get this one year at it and once it's gone, it's gone. Biblical diligence is employed in the right things. You boys are growing up in a culture that is amusing itself to death. You need to learn to focus. And you need to learn to employ your life in all things for the glory of God.

Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might. So we have diligence. But then we have a reward, Proverbs 13 verse 4. The soul of the slugger desireth and hath nothing but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat. There are consequences for each of these men.

One has and one has not. But let's think about a few other consequences that we're told about in the book of Proverbs. Beginning with Proverbs chapter 10 verse 26 and you'll see that one consequence of diligence is employment. Proverbs 10 and verse 26, as vinegar to the teeth and as smoke to the eyes, so is the slugger to them that sent him. Have you boys ever tried lighting a campfire from scratch and you get some dried grass and maybe a little bit of paper and you light it and you care for it, you get a few twigs and you get down to blow so as to fan the flame of the fire, but the wind blows in the opposite direction and you get smoke in your eyes.

Or maybe it happened here last night and the smoke gets in your eyes and they sting and they begin to water. Or suppose I was to give you a glass and it looked like a glass full of water today and you were really thirsty you'd been running around all afternoon and you put it to your lips and I was playing a trick on you boys and it was vinegar you would go it would set your teeth on edge Proverbs 10 verse 26 says that when somebody sends someone to do a task and they don't do that task and the person comes expecting the task to be done, it's like getting smoke blown in your eyes. It's like drinking vinegar. Do you boys ever give your mom smoke eye? Tidy your room.

The visitors are coming. Mom's busy doing other things and she walks down and she's like, Oh, did I not tell you to do this? Here it's the employer. You set a guy a task. The next person is depending on that task to be done and you don't do it.

Imagine if your employer knew you were a person like that before he employed you. Do you think he would give you the job? No. The diligent person does the task that is said to him as a result he makes himself employable. But more than employment, you have promotion.

Chapter 12 and verse 24. The hand of the diligent shall bear rule but the slothful man shall be under tribute. What does this mean? Well it tells you that the lazy man has to have somebody standing over him all the time, making sure he works or if the authority person is taken away, he's not going to work. Whereas the diligent man is like the ant, the ant who has no supervisor, no governor, he gets on with the work that he has to do and he accomplishes it.

If he finishes it, he may well start something else or go to his boss and say, I've done everything you've asked me to do. Is there anything else that you'd like me to do? Shows initiative. As a result, he's given responsibility. The diligent shall bear rule.

He gets promotion, whereas the slothful man is under tribute. It's like you have to force this person to work. He has to be commanded. And you men who've been out in the workplace, you know people like this. They have to be commanded to do everything and they're always complaining and they look at the other guys who are getting promoted and they say why is it they get all the breaks?

Well if they cared to look at their own life they'd probably find the answer. It's here in our text, the hand of the diligent shall bear rule but the soul of the slothful shall be under tribute. The third reward is prosperity. The soul of the diligent is made fat. Now we recognize that prosperity is God's to give and he may give or may withhold it irrespective of our diligence.

But here's the principle. It comes via application and hard work. Now I've been applying things to your employment and maybe succeeding in areas of life, but I want to apply this now to the most important thing of all your life. Our brother mentioned it last night. Keep the heart with what?

With all diligence. For out of this are the issues of life. Men, how often do you complain, I wish I prayed more, I wish I understood the word of God better, I wish I was more holy in my Christian life. Now ultimately that comes from the blessing of God. But in terms of your frustration, do you not find yourself sometimes in Proverbs 13 verse 4, the soul of the slugger desires and hath nothing.

Why does he have nothing? Because he will not put the work into achieving it. We have all of these resources, and some of you are buying these books. Don't be like the hunter. Don't take it home and let it rot.

Use it. Why are we not more holy? Why do we not pray better? Why do we not understand the word of God more? For this reason, we get in our own way.

It's nothing to do with those who are outside us. It's to do with us. We get in our own way. Spiritual and temporal prosperity are attached in scripture to spiritual and temporal diligence. And then finally, Contentment.

The slothful desires and has nothing, but the diligence is made fatter. Literally, he's fully satisfied. The same chapter in verse 19 states it like this, the desire accomplished is sweet to the soul, but it is an abomination to fools to depart from evil. The lazy man will just keep complaining, it's not fair. The last thing he'll do is repent and amend his ways.

But the desire accomplished is sweet. Here is a tent this morning full of potential, but All of this potential can be wasted. Do not excuse laziness in yourself and do not facilitate it in your children. Look for the blessing of God and understand that it is the soul of the diligent that is made fat. Let us seek the Lord in prayer.

Lord, you've commanded us to keep our heart with all diligence. If we keep our heart, then our heart will embrace these practical truths that are scattered throughout the book of Proverbs, that we will take them to heart and apply them to our lives. We've all met people whose lives are marked with diligence and we see in their wake a trail of accomplishment. We have one life, it moves far quicker than we ever imagined it would. And we can die with many regrets.

We can die with this frustrated desire. Oh Lord our God make us diligent like Christ and under Christ and grant that we might set ourselves Biblical goals and strive to achieve them depending upon your gracious blessing. Take this tent that is full of potential. Take our sons that you have given us and use them for your eternal praise. We ask through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.