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"Learning From Overgrown Fields and Broken Down Walls" (Proverbs 24:30-34) by Neal Pollard · Cumberland Trace Church of Christ (Formerly Lehman Ave Church of Christ)

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Somehow, I don't imagine him wearing the robes of his office.
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Perhaps he had some of his dad's hand-me-down clothes.
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Maybe he put some of those on so that he looked more like a shepherd
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than the sovereign of the nation of Israel.
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But looking into his life a little further,
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we realize that he had plenty of garments all of his own
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that he might have put on that would have made him seem incognito
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as he went about and he saw the things that were going on in his kingdom.
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It's obvious that Solomon knew a lot more about life than just how to run a country.
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When we read in 1 Kings chapter 4, we see that God gave him great discernment
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and breadth of mind, 1 Kings chapter 4 and verse 29.
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And with this knowledge that he is given, we see how he employed that
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to come to understand all that there was to know.
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In fact, the writer of Kings tells us that he writes 3,000 proverbs
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and 1,005 songs over the course of his life, 1 Kings chapter 4 and verse 32.
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And he also spoke of trees, from the cedar of Lebanon to the hyssop that was on the wall.
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And he spoke of animals and birds and creeping things and of fish.
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And men came from all nations of the earth in order to hear him,
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all the kings of the earth that had heard of his great wisdom,
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1 Kings chapter 4, verse 33 and 34.
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And so maybe as he slips around into the villages and the land that was under his control,
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it was on this occasion that he made an observation.
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He said, I passed by the field of the sluggard and by the vineyard of a man lacking sense.
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And behold, it was overgrown completely with thistles,
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and the ground was covered with nettles, and the stone wall was broken down.
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When I saw it, I reflected, I looked, and I received instruction.
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A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands in rest.
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Behold, your poverty will come like a robber, and your want like an armed man.
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We read that in Proverbs chapter 24, verse 30 through 34,
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and in one of the longer observations of Proverbs in the second half of the book.
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It doesn't tell us if Solomon knew this man or if he was a complete stranger to him,
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if he had any history at all.
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We're not aware if this man's home had always been dilapidated
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or if this was something that had happened recently.
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Yet what we find is that Solomon sees this man as an embarrassment to himself.
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He's an embarrassment to his neighbors, no doubt.
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He's an embarrassment to Solomon and to the rest of the nation.
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So Solomon makes some observations.
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When we think about what the Proverbs are,
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Proverbs are very simply wise sayings that are brief and graphic and are easy to remember.
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When we study a passage like Proverbs chapter 24, verse 30 through 34,
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it is clear that there is a literal conclusion to draw with regard to that.
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God has given all of us resources that He holds us responsible for.
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We're to be stewards of those things, and that includes all that we have.
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That includes our houses, that includes our lands.
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We should not allow neglect and misuse and misspending of the resources that God gives.
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But what he says here seems to me to have a much more profound and a wider impact than just the literal.
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When we see what Solomon is speaking of in Proverbs 24, verse 30 through 34,
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it makes us think of all that God has given to us in our hands.
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God has given to each of us relationships in our lives,
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and He sees to it or He wants us to make the best use of and to regard those as actively
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and to be engaged in those as much as we can.
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God is as interested as our time and our talent as He is with our treasure.
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God is looking at how we cultivate and develop our abilities and our character
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and our relationship with Him.
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Whatever we do or don't know about this man in Proverbs 24, verse 30 through 34,
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we can make some deductions.
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This man had some responsibilities that he was not meeting.
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This man had some resources that he was not taking care of.
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This man had some right things to do that he was not exercising.
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This man had an accountability that he wasn't taking ownership of.
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And apparently it is serious enough that Solomon would categorize it for us as folly,
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as foolishness, as one who is lacking in sense.
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And if we put that in the context of the entire book of Proverbs,
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we find that God does not approve of folly,
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and it would be in the category of sin and weakness and mistakes.
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What can we take beyond just the application to occupation in our career?
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How can we make application to all parts of our life,
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these profound words that are found in Proverbs 24, verse 30 through 34?
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In the moments that we have this morning together,
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I'd like for us just to make three observations from Proverbs 24, verse 30 through 34,
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as we look at the field of the sluggard and the ground of the man lacking sense.
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As we dig more deeply into this, the first thing we see is their condition.
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You'll notice that he says that the field was completely overgrown with thistles,
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and the ground was covered with nettles, and the stone wall was broken down.
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As we think about what this means by its significance,
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we see that this is a plot of ground that was capable of producing something.
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The fact that there are thistles and that there are nettles
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tells us that the ground could produce.
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And by looking at the stones that are laying there in their disrepair,
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we realize that those stones were capable of forming a wall that does its job.
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As we think about the condition of these things,
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we realize that they were meant to do something, and they were doing something else.
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You know, in our lives, we are all producing something one way or another,
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and the Bible makes that point for us repeatedly.
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Jesus liked to make this point.
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In Matthew chapter 12, verse 33 through 35, He says,
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Either make the tree good, and its fruit good,
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or make the tree bad, and its fruit bad, for you shall know them by their fruits.
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You brood of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak that which is good?
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For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.
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So then make the tree good, and its fruit good,
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or make the tree bad, and its fruit bad.
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And then Jesus, in His sermon, you remember in Matthew chapter 7 and verse 16,
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He says that men do not gather grapes of thorns or figs of thistles.
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Even so, every good tree brings forth good fruit,
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and a bad tree brings forth bad fruit.
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A good tree cannot bring forth bad fruit, nor does a bad tree produce good fruit.
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And every tree that does not produce good fruit, men break down,
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and they throw into the fire.
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Wherefore, by their fruits you shall know them.
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Matthew chapter 7, verse 16 through verse 20.
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Solomon would indicate what Jesus would indicate.
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If there are thorns, and if there are nettles in any area of our life,
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if the wall is broken down around those things that are ours,
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we can't shift that blame to anyone else.
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So as we expand our horizons from just the land where we live and the house that's on it,
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we ask about its condition.
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First of all, for example, what condition is your marriage in?
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If you're here today and married, I want you to think about that.
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How often do you think back to your dating days or the day that you got married?
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Or perhaps you think back to the early days of your marriage?
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Those were very exciting times.
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And if you're like anybody else, you found, you met that person that you fell in love with,
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and you chose them over every other person, every other relationship on this earth,
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and you either went to the courthouse, or you went into a church building,
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or into some venue somewhere, and you declared your love for all time to that person.
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And as you think about those early days and those moments,
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do you remember how you interacted with one another?
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Think about the words that you said to the one that you were trying to win.
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You said words that would attract them to you.
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You said words that would be words of encouragement.
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You did acts of service for them.
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You found tangible ways to let them know that you chose them above any other relationship
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and any other friendship that you could ever form.
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Now, if you weren't good to one another when you were dating in those courting days,
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that should have been a red flag for you to have looked at.
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But more than likely, there were things that were said and things that were done by you and by them
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that was done to maximize their attraction to you.
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That's just the way it works all the way back to the beginning of time.
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But what happens so often in the process of time?
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So often it seems that we stop saying those words to try to build up and encourage one another.
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We stop trying to be selfless and put the other person above ourselves
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and before we know it, we can find ourselves being roommates
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and being business partners rather than soulmates and helpmates.
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Just making it to 10 or 20 or 50 years is not an accomplishment
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if the relationship has grown with the nettles and the thorns of hurt and betrayal and isolation and resentment.
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You know, William Dougherty in his book, Taking Back Your Marriage, says
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that we must constantly be building love and marriage rituals.
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What rituals do you have to keep the thorns and the nettles and the broken down walls out of your marriage?
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Do you set aside time every day in order to talk to one another?
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Do you make sexual and emotional intimacy a priority in your married life?
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Are you doing those acts that bring you together?
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Are you touching base with one another to make sure that you know what's going on?
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Are you continuing to serve?
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You know, a woman was asked about that she'd been married to her husband for over 60 years.
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A woman in Georgia was asked to give her a most precious piece of advice that she could.
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And she said in response to that, never be afraid to be the one that loves the most.
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As you look into the field of your marriage, what condition is it in?
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What condition is your home in?
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You know, moms and dads, we should never get to the point that we outgrow
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that absolutely sobering thought that when we bring children into this world,
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we are partnering with God to bring something eternal into existence.
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That when we are at the various stages of bringing our children up,
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we must remind ourselves that someday they're going to stand before the great I Am
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and they're going to hear Him say,
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come, you're blessed of my Father, or depart from me.
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And while the Bible makes it clear that everybody is going to stand
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and give and account for themselves individually,
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2 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 10,
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the book of Proverbs makes it clear that the home is a field,
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that we must be constantly cultivating and making sure that we are maintaining.
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And we do that in multiple ways.
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One of the ways in which we cultivate and maintain the field of our home is through the training.
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It's measured by the training and the discipline that's done there.
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The book of Proverbs has a lot to say about raising our children
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and perhaps none stands above Proverbs 22 and verse 6.
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And in that particular passage, there are at least three facets involved in this discipline.
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First is the facet of discipline.
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Train up a child.
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This idea of training is that when children come into the world from the very beginning,
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we are establishing values and a view of the world.
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In this discipline, we are introducing them to the very first authority figures
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that they must obey and submit to in this life.
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And so we're setting the tone for the future relationships that they're going to engage in.
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And so God wants us to make sure that we are demonstrating for them
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their responsibility, their role to those in authority in their lives.
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The second area after discipline is direction.
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Train up a child in the way he should go.
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Here's what I found about direction.
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There are times, these are wonderful golden moments,
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when it's easy and effortless
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that you tell your child something to do
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and remarkably they are ready, they're on board and they're going in the same direction.
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But most of the time it doesn't work that way.
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Usually there is a test of will and resolve
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and there's got to be a consistency that keeps us to the task
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because there are days when it is difficult
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and yet we must still determine the direction.
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Then though there is a durability.
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When he is old, he will not depart from it.
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We're planting seeds that we can't see the end result of now.
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We're helping them along the road
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And so because that's the case, there are passages that speak to us and encourage us
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that he who spoils, hates his son, spoils him or spoils a child, hates his son
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but he who loves him, disciplines him diligently.
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Proverbs chapter 13 and verse 24
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Discipline your son while there's hope, do not desire his death.
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Proverbs chapter 19 and verse 18
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And so as we are actively at work in the field,
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it's measured by discipline.
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But it's also measured by the priorities in the home.
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You know, Jesus isn't focusing exclusively on the home environment.
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In fact, he's not. He's speaking of our relationship to material things.
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When in Matthew 6 and verse 33, he says,
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Seek first the kingdom and his righteousness
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and all these things will be added unto you.
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And yet when we apply that to our home, this is a principle that will ring true.
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It's a good gauge of measurement as to whether or not the fields are overgrown
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and the walls are broken down.
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If your family members were polled as to what was the greatest emphasis in your home,
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what would it be?
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If it was measured in dollars and cents,
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what would the inhabitants of your home say was the thing that was valued the most?
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You know, these are things that are measurable.
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And we can very easily find ourselves by default focusing, shifting our focus to something else.
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And while we're preparing our children to be successful economically, to be successful socially,
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we've got to ask ourselves,
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what are we doing to make sure that we ensure that our homes are cultivated and turned over
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and fertilized in the way that it should be?
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What is the condition of your spiritual life?
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I discovered something that I appreciate more and more the older I get,
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and they call it the forgetting curve.
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Did you know there was such a thing?
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In you receiving new information, there's a forgetting curve that says
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that within a week's time, you forget 90% of the new information that you get.
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Howard, isn't that a wonderful thing to know?
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That in a week, 90% of what we're saying here today is going to be completely forgotten.
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50% in the first hour.
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75% in the first day.
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So psychology today says that there are certain things you can do
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in order to try to cut down on that, or to cut into that.
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One of the things you can do is to write it down.
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If you write it down, you're more apt to remember it.
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But you can also, in the things that you receive, try to make connections with them.
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And the third and maybe the most important thing is
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is that you've got to apply them immediately.
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God understands how important remembering is
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and how important remembering it is to provoking action in our life.
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And so think about how much of what God's Word speaks to our spiritual lives
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is about us remembering.
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How well do we do if we get out of the habit of daily diving into the Word of God?
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What happens to us spiritually when faithful prayer goes by the wayside?
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Have you considered why it is that God has mandated for us
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what a privilege it is, but He tells us that He wants us to come together
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and to remember His suffering and His death week after week?
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Or why He says it's so important for us to assemble together
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not just occasionally, but faithfully?
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Or what about the importance of thinking back to
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when and why you obeyed God's Word and became a Christian
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and how you felt when those moments happened in your life?
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When we look at this man's field, we see the condition that it was in.
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We don't know anything else about this man,
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but we know that he was responsible for the condition that it was in.
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But then second, as we look back into Proverbs 24
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and we see these overgrown fields
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and we see these broken down walls,
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we see the cause.
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Please take note of the fact
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that there's nothing overtly evil that's done by this man.
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It's not said that he's practicing wickedness.
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What is said is that he didn't do anything at all.
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He folded his hands, a little sleep, a little slumber,
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a little folding of the hands in rest.
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Now we should take note of the fact
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that Solomon here is not telling us
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that it's wrong for us to take a break.
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He's not encouraging us to become raging workaholics.
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But this man took a good thing to a bad extreme
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and as the result of that, there is a cause.
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There is an effect, if you will, that comes as the result.
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Because he has folded his hands,
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hands that should have been working at a time
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when he should have been building and planting,
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there are things that are going to happen.
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And he summarizes in the way
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that we saw in our Bible reading a moment ago
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in Proverbs chapter 6, verse 10 and 11.
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It's almost verbatim.
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And Solomon will say in Ecclesiastes 4 and verse 5
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that the fool folds his hand and consumes his flesh.
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Solomon is saying that when we're not taking care
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to cultivate and to maintain
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and to work the soil in our lives
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and to keep the home protected,
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that what happens is that those hands are lying dormant.
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We'll see more about the effect of that
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even further in this lesson.
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But isn't it interesting that the New Testament
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often refers to faithlessness,
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inactivity, indifference, and apathy
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by saying it's like falling asleep.
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In the New Testament, we find several contexts
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where this is said,
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and a little sleep, a little slumber,
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the unfolding of the hands can spell the difference
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in how we do spiritually.
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First of all, a little sleep, a little slumber
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can spell all the difference.
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And whether we are walking in darkness
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or walking in light.
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Paul would say in Romans chapter 13 and verse 11
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that the time has come for us to wake out of sleep
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because our salvation is near
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the day in which we first believed.
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And because of this,
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we are not to walk in the darkness
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that he describes in verse 13.
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He says, not in carousing and drunkenness,
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not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality,
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not in strife and jealousy,
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but put on the Lord Jesus Christ
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and make no provision for the flesh.
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Paul is saying that it spells the difference
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as to whether we're walking in darkness
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or we're walking with Christ in the light.
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And when we don't tend to our spiritual lives,
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we fall asleep and we wake up
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on the wrong side of the world.
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The apostle Paul also would tell us
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that a little sleep, a little slumber
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spells the difference between wisdom and foolishness.
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Wherefore, he says,
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awake you who sleep and arise from the dead
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and Christ shall give you life.
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And be not unwise, men, but wise,
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making the most of the time because the days are evil.
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Therefore, do not be foolish,
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but understand what the will of the Lord is.
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By actively being involved
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in our own spiritual nurturing and development,
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we make sure that we're classified by God in wisdom.
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And he says,
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it's a matter of making sure
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that you're using your time to its fullest
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to build and to stay at work
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on those things that need your attention.
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And alongside of that,
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he says a little sleep, a little slumber
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can spell all the difference
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in whether you are ready or you're not ready.
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In 1 Thessalonians chapter five,
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verse five through eight,
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Paul again tells us not to sleep.
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We're not like those who sleep,
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but we're of the day,
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we're not of the night
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because men do those reprehensible things
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in the night.
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Instead, we put on the armor of God.
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We put on the armor of faith and love
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and as a helmet, the hope of salvation.
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Do you remember,
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I guess it was in the tail end of the pandemic,
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a story that was really surprising
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that occurred down in Surfside, Florida.
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It's a Miami suburb.
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Remember, it was a 12 story condo
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that had been around for several years.
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And overnight that condo collapsed
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and 98 people lost their lives.
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11 were injured.
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And as they always do,
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they do an after action report
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and they look more deeply into what took place.
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And not surprisingly,
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as they began to examine
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the structural integrity of that condo,
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they found that there had been a leak
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taking place underground,
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involved the pool deck.
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And there were still reinforcements underground
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and because of the water,
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it was corroding,
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just slowly,
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just a little bit by a little bit.
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And they said that it was as the result of this
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that even though you couldn't tell
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the damage was happening beneath the surface
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and it weakened and weakened
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and over time,
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it got to the point
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that this entire building collapsed
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and almost 100 people
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went out into eternity.
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When we consider the fact
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that so often,
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these damages occur
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when we're not even noticing them.
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Sometimes things happen suddenly
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but so often,
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it happens little by little.
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By not being vigilant
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to take care to those areas of our life
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where God holds us responsible,
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the erosion takes place.
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I don't know if you've gone to a house
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that's been unoccupied
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and you've had to go in.
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Maybe Jeremy,
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as you're doing an inspection
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that hadn't been inhabited for months,
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it makes a difference.
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You begin to see signs of that.
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There are leaks.
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Maybe there's mold.
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There are pests.
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There's rots.
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Negligence leads to decay.
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Solomon is walking by
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this man's property
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and as he looks,
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he sees the field
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and he observes the wall
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and he says,
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a little sleep,
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a little slumber,
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a little folding of the hands.
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He's addressing times
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when hands that are rested
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need to be at work
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and so we ask ourselves,
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are there areas in our lives
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where we folded our hands
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where we should be busy?
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But then third,
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as we look into this text
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in Proverbs 24,
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verse 30 through 34,
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we see the consequences.
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When Solomon speaks of this,
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he says,
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as I went by,
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I reflected,
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I looked
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and I received instruction
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as I saw this.
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What I saw was
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that this poverty came
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like a robber
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and the want came
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like an armed man.
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It seemed sudden
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but it had been building
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all of this time.
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Now,
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Solomon's proverb
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has a moral here
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He's talking about poverty.
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He said,
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this poverty came on him
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like a thief
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and like an armed robber
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but it wasn't.
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The consequences were sudden
25:15
but it had been coming
25:17
the whole time.
25:19
When we look at
25:20
the consequences
25:21
that come about,
25:22
we realize that
25:23
there are consequences
25:24
that happen in this life.
25:26
That want,
25:27
that robber
25:28
picture is one
25:29
that's very graphic.
25:30
I don't know
25:31
if you've ever had this happen to you.
25:32
Have you ever had
25:33
a house broken into?
25:35
Happened to us twice
25:36
when I was growing up
25:37
both times in Georgia.
25:38
I don't know
25:39
what the moral
25:40
of that story is.
25:41
One was in South Georgia
25:42
one was in West Georgia
25:43
and it was both
25:44
in the night time.
25:45
And I remember
25:46
I was a kid
25:47
and I felt very helpless.
25:48
It was an opening
25:49
of a sliding glass door
25:50
on one occasion
25:51
and somebody
25:52
with a flashlight
25:53
trying to get into a house
25:54
that we weren't quite in
25:55
but we were camping in
25:56
a few days
25:57
before we were
25:58
going to occupy it.
25:59
It's a scary thing.
26:00
When you feel like
26:01
your safety
26:02
your peace
26:03
is being violated
26:04
somebody who you've
26:05
not invited
26:06
is coming in
26:07
and that's the picture
26:08
that Solomon
26:09
is painting for us.
26:10
By the way
26:11
it's happened twice
26:12
since we've been married
26:13
and both times
26:14
I was out of town
26:15
and poor Kathy
26:16
had to
26:17
I was in a different
26:18
time zone.
26:19
It's a scary feeling
26:20
when somebody
26:21
is in your house
26:22
and doesn't belong there
26:23
and Solomon says
26:24
there's the picture.
26:25
You want to see
26:26
what it's like?
26:27
It's like an armed man
26:28
who comes in suddenly.
26:29
You know
26:30
I think about
26:31
the New Testament
26:32
and that's how
26:33
the New Testament
26:34
describes Jesus is coming.
26:35
It's like a thief
26:36
in the night
26:37
in the twinkling of an eye
26:38
but here
26:39
the application is
26:40
it's something unwanted.
26:41
The consequences.
26:42
And think about
26:43
how we can suffer
26:44
those consequences
26:45
in this life.
26:46
We stop investing
26:47
in our marriage
26:48
it becomes cold
26:49
it becomes lifeless
26:50
and it can even lead
26:51
to adultery
26:52
and divorce
26:53
and death
26:54
and death
26:55
and death
26:56
and death
26:57
and death
26:58
and death
26:59
and death
27:00
and divorce.
27:03
Or we stop working on
27:05
putting the Lord first
27:06
in our homes
27:08
and we make habits
27:09
and decisions
27:10
that compound
27:11
over the years
27:13
and then when our children
27:14
leave home
27:16
they leave the Lord.
27:19
Or perhaps we have
27:20
a disagreement with
27:23
an argument with
27:24
if you will
27:25
a brother or sister
27:26
in Christ
27:28
and it doesn't take long
27:29
that that grows
27:30
beyond just
27:31
that one-on-one
27:32
situation
27:33
the Lord says
27:34
take care of it
27:35
Matthew 18 15-17
27:36
and we find
27:37
that it begins
27:38
to impact
27:39
our spiritual health
27:40
and even
27:41
our relationship
27:42
with the Lord
27:43
because it's impossible
27:44
for us to be right
27:45
with Him
27:46
and not be right
27:47
with each other.
27:48
Or perhaps
27:49
we've stopped working
27:50
on our spiritual
27:51
relationship
27:52
with God
27:53
and as a result
27:54
of that
27:55
the Hebrews writer says
27:56
we can liken that
27:57
to drifting
27:58
and we are
27:59
neglecting so great
28:00
a salvation
28:01
Hebrews chapter 2
28:02
verse 1-3
28:03
and so
28:04
thankfully
28:05
as we look at this
28:06
there are warning signs
28:07
in this life
28:08
and God
28:09
wants us
28:10
through passages like this
28:11
to see those
28:12
and to take the steps
28:13
you think about
28:14
what makes good soil
28:15
it's not just
28:16
good soil by itself
28:17
it has to be fed
28:18
it has to be watered
28:19
it has to be turned over
28:20
it has to be fertilized
28:22
but you know
28:23
there's consequences
28:24
that come
28:25
ultimately
28:26
if we're not
28:27
heeding this principle
28:28
that Solomon
28:29
is mentioning here
28:30
of actively
28:31
being at work
28:32
in our own lives
28:33
Peter says
28:34
if after they have escaped
28:35
the pollution
28:36
of the world
28:37
through the knowledge
28:38
of our Lord and Savior
28:39
Jesus Christ
28:40
they are again
28:41
entangled therein
28:42
and overcome
28:43
the latter end
28:44
is worse with them
28:45
than the beginning
28:46
for it would have been
28:47
better for them
28:48
to have never known
28:49
the way of righteousness
28:50
than having known
28:51
it to turn away
28:52
from the holy commandment
28:53
delivered unto them
28:54
but it has happened
28:55
to them according
28:56
to 2 Peter 2
28:57
verse 20-22
28:58
and so
28:59
Solomon shows us
29:00
there are consequences
29:01
now
29:02
and eternally
29:03
if we're not
29:04
actively at work
29:05
in nurturing
29:06
our own spiritual development
29:07
and those
29:08
that God has put
29:09
into our lives
29:10
so what's the point
29:11
Neil
29:12
is it hopeless
29:13
are once fields
29:14
overgrown
29:15
with nettles
29:16
and thistles
29:17
is that all
29:18
that can be done
29:19
can walls
29:20
that are broken down
29:21
can they be built
29:22
back up again
29:23
I believe
29:24
the very existence
29:25
of this
29:26
that these verses
29:27
are in
29:28
the Bible
29:29
tell us
29:30
that God says
29:31
that we can do
29:32
something
29:33
but this is a warning
29:34
for us
29:35
it's an encouragement
29:36
that we can repair
29:37
what's been broken down
29:38
we can begin again
29:39
anew
29:40
full confession
29:41
I'm not an
29:42
HGTV fan
29:43
or I guess
29:44
it's Magnolia network
29:45
now
29:46
but
29:47
this is one show
29:48
that we watched
29:49
on occasion
29:50
they were
29:51
seem to be
29:52
a wholesome couple
29:53
and that show
29:54
was called
29:55
Fixer Upper
29:56
with Chip and Joanna Gaines
29:57
if there's
29:58
stuff I don't know about them
29:59
then don't tell me
30:00
but
30:01
that's what they
30:02
are said to be
30:03
you know
30:04
and she's very talented
30:05
and he was a funny guy
30:06
and so they take a house
30:07
that was in need
30:08
of great repair
30:09
structural problems
30:10
and she would design it
30:11
and he would build it
30:12
and according to Zillow
30:13
houses that were
30:14
fixer uppers
30:15
exceeded
30:16
the market
30:17
expected value
30:18
by 30 percent
30:19
there is
30:20
a
30:22
there is
30:23
a master
30:24
of the makeover
30:25
Chip and Joanna Gaines
30:26
have absolutely
30:27
nothing on him
30:28
he majors
30:29
in taking
30:30
those things
30:31
that have
30:32
fallen into
30:33
disrepair
30:34
those individuals
30:35
who have
30:36
fallen into
30:37
disrepute
30:38
who have
30:39
stumbled
30:40
and failed
30:41
and he is
30:42
the master
30:43
of their makeover
30:44
Paul says
30:45
you've not
30:46
learned
30:47
Christ
30:48
if so be
30:49
you've learned
30:50
the truth
30:51
which is
30:52
in Christ Jesus
30:53
that you
30:54
put off
30:55
the old man
30:56
which is being
30:57
corrupted by
30:58
the deceitful lust
30:59
be renewed
31:00
in the spirit
31:01
of your mind
31:02
and that you
31:03
put on the new man
31:04
which after God
31:05
is created in
31:06
righteousness
31:07
and true holiness
31:08
Ephesians 4
31:09
verse 20
31:10
through 24
31:11
I think it was
31:12
instructional for us
31:13
that Solomon
31:14
took his little walk
31:15
that day
31:16
and when he did
31:17
he came across
31:18
this field
31:19
because he shows
31:20
that we are
31:21
conditioned
31:22
not just
31:23
that our
31:24
occupation
31:25
and our
31:26
career
31:27
can be in
31:28
but in
31:29
every aspect
31:30
of our life
31:31
and he wants
31:32
us to see
31:33
the cause
31:34
and that's
31:35
when we
31:36
fold hands
31:37
that need
31:38
to be busy
31:39
and the
31:40
consequences
31:41
if we
31:42
don't
31:43
change that
31:44
will be
31:45
felt in
31:46
this life
31:47
and in
31:48
the life
31:49
and in the midst
31:50
of that prayer
31:51
he talked about
31:52
the heart
31:53
of an individual
31:54
who sees
31:55
the will
31:56
of Christ
31:57
and wants
31:58
to rise
31:59
to walk
32:00
in newness
32:01
of life
32:02
maybe that's
32:03
where you
32:04
find yourself
32:05
this morning
32:06
ready
32:07
to make
32:08
that decision
32:09
to put your
32:10
Lord on
32:11
in baptism
32:12
believing
32:13
that he
32:14
is the son
32:15
of God
32:16
willing to
32:17
confess
32:18
to you
32:19
of such a
32:20
nature
32:21
that you
32:22
need us
32:23
to pray
32:24
alongside of
32:25
you
32:26
to take
32:27
your concerns
32:28
and your
32:29
needs
32:30
to the throne
32:31
of God
32:32
and to have
32:33
prayers
32:34
collectively
32:35
on your
32:36
behalf
32:37
maybe
32:38
there's
32:39
something
32:40
you're
32:41
struggling
32:42
with
32:43
that has
32:44
outgrown
32:45
your ability
32:46
to work
32:47
as we stand