In his sermon titled 'The Idleness of the Mind,' Chris Hayzlip explores different perspectives on idleness, contrasting views from Samuel Johnson, who sees it as a vice, and Bertrand Russell, who considers it a virtue. The sermon examines biblical references to idleness, emphasizing its first English mention in Exodus 5 and its benefits, such as providing peace and facilitating meditation, as seen in Ecclesiastes and Isaiah. Idleness, akin to the scientific concept of hormesis, can be beneficial in moderation but harmful when excessive. The sermon outlines four dangers of an idle mind: deception, thievery, betrayal, and an invitation to sin, supported by Proverbs and Jeremiah. Finally, Hayzlip offers solutions from the Bible, including maintaining focus on virtues and engaging in productive thought, as advised in Isaiah 26 and Philippians 4.

I also left my notes at home. So forgive me for using my laptop. Because that's where I have the other copy of my notes. I don't like to rely on technology Because if the battery dies while I'm up here, then I'm up a creek without a paddle. Because I have a terrible memory.

So before the battery dies, let me get on with it. This morning I'd like to speak on the subject of the idleness of the mind. If you would, turn in your Bibles to Exodus chapter 5. In Exodus chapter 5, we'll read four verses, starting with verse 5, we'll read down through verse 8. And Pharaoh said, Behold the people of the land are now many and you make them rest from their burdens.

And Pharaoh commanded the same day the taskmasters of the people and their officers saying, Ye shall no more give the people straw to make brick as heretofore. Let them go and gather straw for themselves. And the tail of the bricks which they did make heretofore, ye shall lay upon them. Ye shall not diminish ought thereof, for they be idle. Therefore they cry, saying, let us go and sacrifice to our God." We have in our text the first mention of the word idle in the Bible.

At least in the English language. There's one in the Hebrew language that comes a few chapters earlier. But in the English language, this is the first mention of the word idle. Obviously Pharaoh had a dim view of idleness. What do we think of when we think of idleness?

What is our perception of it? Like it or not, everybody spends a little bit of time in idleness every day, some more than others. Samuel Johnson back in 1785 wrote this opinion of idleness. He said, many moralists have remarked that pride has of all human vices the widest dominion, appears in the greatest multiplicity of forms and lies hid under the greatest variety of disguises. Of disguises which, like the moon's veil of brightness, are both its luster and its shade and betray it to others though they hide it from ourselves.

It is not my intention to degrade pride from its preeminence of mischief. Yet I know not whether idleness may not maintain a very doubtful and obstinate competition." He thought idleness came in second place only to pride as a vice. Then on the other hand there's people like Bertrand Russell back in 1935 who wrote this on the subject of idleness. He wrote, and I quote, I think that there is far too much work done in the world, That immense harm is caused by the belief that work is virtuous, and that what needs to be preached in modern industrial countries is quite different from what always has been preached. Everyone knows the story of the traveler in Naples who saw twelve beggars lying in the sun it was before the days of Mussolini and offered a lira to the laziest of them.

Eleven of them jumped up to claim it so he gave it to the 12th. This traveler was on the right lines. But in countries which do not enjoy Mediterranean sunshine, idleness is more difficult, and a great public propaganda will be required to inaugurate it. I hope that after reading the following pages, the leaders of the YMCA will start a campaign to induce good young men to do nothing. If so, I shall not have lived in vain." That was from his book, In Praise of Idleness.

Clearly, we have two diametrically opposite opinions of idleness. One considers it a vice, the other considers it a virtue. But what we're here today to find out is what does God have to say about it? So now, in your Bibles, if you would, turn to Isaiah chapter 32. Now, as we get started, I'm going to go over some misconceptions, definitions, and concepts to make sure that we clearly understand what we're talking about.

Michelangelo, one time, was approached by somebody and they asked him, how is it that you can sculpt such great sculptures? He said, well the sculpture was already there. All I had to do was chip away the rough edges. So, and that's kind of what I want to begin by doing, just chip away some of the rough edges by discussing what we're not talking about. Idle-ness can be, but is not necessarily inactivity.

And what do I mean by this? Well, think about driving down the road in your car. As you're driving down the road, you come to a stoplight and you come to a full stop and you wait for it to turn green. Well, you don't turn the engine off, do you? The engine keeps running, but the car isn't being propelled.

At this time we say the engine is idling, right? But it's not doing nothing. It's just not propelling the car. So you see idleness is not necessarily inactivity. It's just not productivity.

Now I looked up the word in the English And English can often be an ambiguous language. Sometimes one word can have many definitions. And I was surprised to find that the English word idleness actually has 17 different definitions. We really like to use this word. So it depends a lot on context, but all of them in one sense or the other pretty much meant some sort of inactivity, indolence, laziness, or unemployment.

So I'm not going to give a formal definition from the dictionary because they all generally mean the same thing and we generally understand what it means. Now in the Hebrew, the word idol or its variations in the English is used seven times in six verses, but the Hebrew words behind it are different. There's five different Hebrew words used in the Old Testament, and The same word is hardly used twice. There are five unique Hebrew words, each having a different meaning. So they're not as context sensitive as the English language.

Or the Greek. Now in the Greek there's only one word for idleness. Now, you ever try to think about nothing? Because the focus of this lesson is on the idleness of the mind. Try it just for a moment.

Try to think about nothing. Really difficult to do, isn't it? Like a car's engine, you may not be doing anything productive with your mind, but your mind is rarely ever inactive, although it is idle. If nothing else, it's pumping blood and telling your lungs to breathe and keeping your body maintained with its normal functions. Now, a concept I want to go over before we get to our text in Isaiah 32 is a scientific concept called hormesis.

Hormesis is used by toxicologists to describe the property of a toxin where if a toxin is administered in a small enough dose, it actually produces beneficial properties to the human body. But in large enough quantities, that same toxin becomes a poison. So let's begin by discussing the benefits of an idle mind. You know, so many times when we think about idleness in God's Word, we come Quickly to the parts of the Bible that talks about the evils of idleness. And that's true, and we'll get to that later on.

But just like a toxin administered in small enough dose, The Bible actually has some good things to say about idleness. Ecclesiastes 3.1 tells us, to everything there is a season and a time to every purpose under heaven. And that brings us to Isaiah 32 verse 17. 32 verse 17. And the work of righteousness shall be peace and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance forever.

The word quietness in the English, in the Hebrew word, means laziness, or not laziness, idleness. It means the idleness of the mind, or a peace that comes over the mind. Notice that we have in this verse in Isaiah 32, 17, a cause and an effect. The cause is that work of righteousness. The work of righteousness shall be peace.

And the effect of righteousness is quietness or that idleness of the mind, that peace of mind that follows the work of righteousness. Now What good does this quietness do for us? In Ecclesiastes chapter 12 and verse 12, we see that it's used for meditation, where we read, and further by these my son be admonished. The making of many books there is no end, and by much study is a weariness of the flesh." You see, if we don't have that quietness, that peace of mind now and then, We go through a mental fatigue. You know this from being in school.

If you study all the time, you get tired, you get weary. David knows from studying for his sermons, he gets tired from doing his studying. Anybody who works at a desk all day long and uses their mind rather than their body, they get mentally fatigued. And so when you ask a carpenter whether he's tired at the end of a long day, and if you ask somebody who works in a law office, for example, when you ask these two people if they're tired, they're both going to say yes, but it's a different form of tiredness, You understand? So we need this time of mental peace to rest the mind, to let it grow and heal.

Time for us to reflect upon the day's work and what we've learned. There's a word for this rest and reflection. It's called meditation. Turn if you will to Genesis chapter 24. We'll see the first example of meditation used in the Bible.

Genesis chapter 4 verse 63 tells us, and Isaac went out to meditate in the field at the even tide. And he lifted up his eyes and saw, and behold, the camels were coming. Now, I draw your attention to this verse to demonstrate the importance of idleness for the purpose of meditation. I like what John Gill wrote about this verse. Let me read what he wrote to you.

And I quote, both the time and place were very proper for meditation, the place in the field where he might view the works of nature and be led to the creator of them and the praise of him and where he might be alone and nothing to disturb his thoughts. And the time at evening, after the labor, care, and hurry of the day were over, and before repose at night, and when the air was cool and refreshing, and everything was assisting to and served to compose the mind and help thought and contemplation." I could have said it better myself, that's why I quoted him. Unfortunately, meditation is a lost practice for most people today. We spend very little time reflecting upon the day, reflecting upon things we've studied throughout the day, reflecting even upon God's Word. You know, so many times we try to make it a part of our daily practice to read God's Word, to study it even.

But how many times have we added meditation to our daily activity? After the reading, after the studying, how much time do we spend alone, meditating upon God's Word? Turn if you will to Psalm 119. You see, meditation upon God's Word helps us to discover things that we would not have otherwise discovered. Thinking about things, especially if you come across a scripture that you don't understand, think, stop and think.

Why? Too many times we exhibit laziness. We are by nature lazy people. And so we come across something we don't understand in God's Word, what's the first thing we tend to do? Well, let me go grab a commentary.

Let me see what Brother Gil has to say about it. Let me see what Spurgeon has to say about it. Before we do that, I encourage you, stop and meditate upon it. Psalm 119 verse 99 says, I have more understanding than all my teachers. Why?

For thy testimonies are my meditation. Paul wrote to Timothy in 1st Timothy 415, Meditate upon these things. Give Thyself wholly to them, that thy profiting may appear to all." What prophet is there in meditation? Joshua 1, 8 tells us, this book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth, but thou shall meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do all that is written therein. For then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success." You See, meditation brings understanding.

Reading brings knowledge. Practicing God's Word brings wisdom, but meditating upon it brings understanding. Thus the psalmist said that I have more understanding than all my teachers because he meditates upon God's word. Now those are the benefits of having an idle mind. Have you ever thought about it?

You know, A hammer is a very useful tool, isn't it? If you use it properly. But I guarantee you can think of more ways to use a hammer incorrectly than you can correctly. There's only a few ways to use a hammer correctly. There's almost an endless number of ways to use it incorrectly.

And of all those incorrect ways to use a hammer, most of them are dangerous. Right? Same thing with idleness. So now we're going to discuss the dangers of an idle mind. There's four of them in particular.

One, an idle mind is a liar. Two, an idle mind is a thief. Three, it is a traitor. And lastly, it is an invitation to sin. Proverbs chapter 19 verse 15, begin talking about idleness as a liar.

Proverbs 19 verse 15 says, slothfulness casteth into a deep sleep, and an idle soul shall suffer hunger. Now if you will, turn to Jeremiah chapter 48. Now As you're turning there, I'll say that word idol in the Hebrew is the word remiah. Means remissness, treachery, deceit, false, guile, idle, slack, or slothful. Jeremiah chapter 48 and verse 10 tells us, cursed be he that doeth the work of the Lord deceitfully, and cursed be he that keepeth back his sword from blood.

That word deceitfully in this verse is the exact same word used in Proverbs 19 15 for the word idle. It is Ramiah in the Hebrew. How is it, how can the English be translated idle and deceitfully from the same Hebrew word? Because the Hebrews viewed idleness as deceitfulness. In 15 times this Hebrew word is used in the Old Testament, eleven times it's translated as some sort of deceitfulness or treachery.

Only four times is it translated as some form of idleness. Why is this so? As I said before, activity is not always productivity. You can be busy about something without actually getting anything done. When I almost succumbed to this very problem in preparing this message, as I was studying for it, I spent many hours studying and researching and trying to put things together and I almost didn't write my notes out for doing a lot of research.

I work in the IT industry And in the IT industry we call this paralysis by analysis. You spend too much time thinking about something and not enough time doing something. So Let's be careful we don't have paralysis by analysis because what that does is it gives the illusion of doing something when you're not. Again, like that analogy of the car going down the road. Going back to that stop light, Now the light turns green, you punch the gas, right?

The engine revs up, vroom, but nothing happens. Oops, you left the car in neutral. The engine's very busy, but nothing's getting done, right? Regardless of attention, the outcome is the same. Whether you are intending to be idle or whether, Like me, you're kind of being idle accidentally.

Paralysis by analysis. The outcome's the same. If you allow it to continue, that idle soul shall suffer hunger. What's the best solution for idleness? Best solution is action.

Proverbs 10-4 says, He becomeeth poor that dealeth with a slack hand, but the hand of the diligent maketh rich. Now idleness as a thief. Proverbs 18-9 says, He also that is slothful, and in Hebrew that is the word for idleness, in his work is brother to him that is a great waster. How is that so? Why is somebody who is slothful in their work or idle in their work, somebody, I'll give you an example of this, I read a comic one time, Beetle Bailey.

First frame shows him walking around with a rope over his shoulder. He walks this way. Next frame he's walking this way. Third frame the lieutenant sees him, stops him, says Beetle, what are you up to? And he said, well, sir, be honest with you, the sledgehammer I was carrying around to make me look busy got too heavy.

He was being busy. He just wasn't getting anything done, was he? Now imagine this in our daily lives. You know how many times people try to look busy, especially at work? You've got somebody at work, David, you probably have employees like this.

Always looking busy. Not getting much done. Productivity down the drain. Probably sending emails to friends, taking phone personal phone calls on Facebook at the desk or walking around like Beatle Bailey with a rope just trying to keep somebody from stopping them and putting them to work. I've seen people at my place of employment walk around with clipboards and as they get close to you they'll stop and start looking at their clipboard or something.

Looking very busy, but if you follow them around long enough, you find out, they don't know what Beatle Bailey did. They're just trying to look busy, not getting anything done. Problem is, employers paid you to do something, to get something done. And if you're not productive, you're stealing that wage from your employer. Turn if you will to Proverbs chapter 24.

Beginning here in Proverbs 24, we're going to see idleness as a traitor. Idleness as a traitor. Proverbs chapter 24, beginning in verse 10, If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small. If thou forbear to deliver them that are drawn unto death and those that are ready to be slain, if thou sayest, Behold, we knew it not, doth not he that pondereth the heart consider it, and he that keepeth thy soul, doth he not know it, and shall not he render to every man according to his works. If thou forbear to deliver them that are drawn unto death." Imagine for a moment you witness a terrible accident, somebody bleeding to death.

If you do not take action and help them, Their blood is on your hands. You have an obligation by God to help, to render aid. Your idleness will betray that person. It also says, and those that are ready to be slain, imagine seeing somebody being attacked by a wild beast or even by a wild person. You have an obligation to go to their rescue.

If you neglect to do so, then your idleness has betrayed that person. You have become a traitor. Matthew chapter 12. Christ teaches us idleness is also an invitation to sin. Matthew chapter 12 beginning of verse 35.

A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things. But I say unto you, that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give an account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shall be justified, and by thy words shalt thou be condemned." You know, man tells us, you are what you eat. But in Proverbs 23, 7, God tells us, you are what you think. For it says, for as he thinketh in his heart, so is he.

Consider that there's no such thing as entertainment, purely for the sake of entertainment. When I was in high school, I took art classes, three years of art classes, and One thing they kept drilling into us is art must send a message. You must teach the audience something through your art. You're always trying to convey a message. Every TV show, every movie, every song you listen to, every work of art you see on the wall is trying to convey a message.

Do not idly sit back and consume art or entertainment. You know, so many times we come home from work or at the end of the day of working, we're tired. We just want to sit down on the couch, turn the TV on, and relax. Relax your body, but do not relax your mind. Be conscious of the message being conveyed.

In conclusion, how do we avoid the pitfalls of an idle mind? God's word, fortunately, gives us two ways to do this. One in the Old Testament, one in the New Testament. Isaiah 26 verse 3, thou will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee, because he trusteth in thee. Philippians chapter 4 verses 7 through 9.

And the peace of God which passeth all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Finally brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report. If there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. Those things which ye have both learned and received and heard and seen in me do, and the peace and the God of peace shall be with you." Our minds are always active but they're not always productive. In moderation, idleness is beneficial, it is helpful, it helps rest, rejuvenate, and helps us to reflect upon the things we learn and increase our understanding.

But too much idleness tempts us to indulge in even more idleness. You've heard the saying, an object at rest tends to stay at rest. That's the danger of having an idle mind. An idle mind tends to stay idle. And when we relax, when we relax our minds, that's when we are the most vulnerable to temptation and indoctrination.