Duration: 00:45:16 - This sermon is 45 minutes and 16 seconds long. Please be aware that it may take a few moments to load after you click the play button above.

Pastor Rob's Notes

Proverbs 24:30-34

I walked by the field of a lazy person, the vineyard of one with no common sense.
I saw that it was overgrown with nettles. It was covered with weeds, and its walls were broken down.
Then, as I looked and thought about it, I learned this lesson: A little extra sleep, a little more slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest—
then poverty will pounce on you like a bandit; scarcity will attack you like an armed robber.

Often, when God sends messengers to speak to us about our sin – messengers in the form of a husband, or a wife, or a friend, or even an enemy – we cover our ears & close our hearts!

We refuse to listen to the word of correction!! We change the subject, we attack the messenger, we leave the room!!!

If that doesn’t work, then we deny the sin; we redefine it, we rationalize it!!!

And finally, if all else fails, we rename the sin to make it seem less sinful, or if possible, even virtuous.

So gossip becomes "just sharing my concerns".

Greed becomes "thriftiness".

A glutton is someone with "a healthy appetite".

Pride is referred to as "high self- esteem".

Lying is "stretching the truth".

A harsh, critical attitude merely indicates that you have high standards.

My point is that you have to be willing for God to show you your sin.
You have to be sincere.
Because if you’re not, I guarantee that you’ll find some way to avoid hearing what God is saying.

Another thing that helps me is the knowledge that God is a gentle, and kind, and compassionate father. And because of that, he won’t give me more than I can bear.

He won’t load me down with such conviction of sin that it crushes me...

He won’t reveal so much ugliness in my heart that I’m just emotionally and spiritually overwhelmed.

Instead, he will lovingly, and carefully, reveal enough to produce repentance, but not so much that I despair.

James 1:22-25

But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves.

For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. You see yourself, walk away,
and forget what you look like.

But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it.