Mt. Zion Church of the Holy Spirit - Sermons
Eating the Bread of Idleness
According to Webster’s dictionary, idleness means "the state of doing nothing, or doing that which is of little importance". Another definition is "one who is unconcerned with and neglects that which is important". So using this definition, we can say: "Idleness is not being concerned with and neglecting the important and filling our time with what is frivolous and trivial." "Idleness is spending much valuable time in vanity because it has no concern for that which is vital." "Idleness is having no interest in investing time into that which is important because it would rather be entertained and kept amused." "Idleness is being so busy with things that we think are important that we do not have time to tend to the things that are truly important." This is idleness.
LET US LOOK AT SOME SCRIPTURES CONCERNING IDLENESS
In Proverbs 31, Solomon is defining the traits of a virtuous woman, and I want to liken this virtuous woman to the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ because the Church is the Bride of Christ. Proverbs 31:27a — "She looketh well to the ways of her household," and since we are likening this virtuous woman to the church, because the church is the bride of Christ, we can say that the virtuous church of the Lord Jesus Christ is diligent to look after and guard her heart, being the heart is the sanctuary of the Lord's presence. With this thought in mind, Proverbs 31:27b says "and she eateth not the bread of idleness." The bread of idleness is simply the vanity of this world. The virtuous woman (Church) is careful not to allow herself to be ensnared by the vanity of the world. You will never find this virtuous woman neglecting the place of prayer by squandering away hours in front of the television. You will never see this virtuous woman neglecting spending quality time in God’s word in order to be entertained and amused by the vain things of this world. Those saints who are apart of the virtuous Church knows what is important and what the consequences will be if they allow themselves to be ensnared by the idleness and vanity of this world.
LET US ASK THIS QUESTION: WHAT ARE THE CONSEQUENCES OF BEING ENSNARED BY THE VANITY OF THIS WORLD?
Ecclesiastes 10:18 — "By much slothfulness the building decayeth; and through idleness of the hands the house droppeth through." Simply put, this scripture is saying, "Because of slothfulness and idleness the house decays until it eventually begins to crumble." What this really speaks to me about is the spirit of disorder. When we begin to neglect our spiritual life, the consequences are disorder; things that were once put in order by the wisdom and strength of the Lord begin to unravel and fall apart. The spirit of disorder begins to invade our lives and our homes to the point where darkness is taking more and more ground.
A PERFECT EXAMPLE OF THIS IS KING SOLOMON:
1 Kings 3:3-13 says, "And Solomon loved the LORD, walking in the statutes of David his father: only he sacrificed and burnt incense in high places. And the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there; for that was the great high place: a thousand burnt offerings did Solomon offer upon that altar. In Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream by night: and God said, 'Ask what I shall give thee.' And Solomon said, 'Thou hast shewed unto Thy servant David my father great mercy, according as he walked before Thee in truth, and in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with Thee; and Thou hast kept for him this great kindness, that Thou hast given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day. And now, O LORD my God, Thou hast made Thy servant king instead of David my father: and I am but a little child: I know not how to go out or come in. And Thy servant is in the midst of Thy people which Thou hast chosen, a great people, that cannot be numbered nor counted for multitude. Give therefore Thy servant an understanding heart to judge Thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this Thy so great a people?' And the speech pleased the LORD, that Solomon had asked this thing. And God said unto him, 'Because thou hast asked this thing, and hast not asked for thyself long life; neither hast asked riches for thyself, nor hast asked the life of thine enemies; but hast asked for thyself understanding to discern judgment; Behold, I have done according to thy words: lo, I have given thee a wise and an understanding heart; so that there was none like thee before thee, neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee. And I have also given thee that which thou hast not asked, both riches, and honour: so that there shall not be any among the kings like unto thee all thy days.'" Also we read in 1 Kings 10:4-7, "And when the queen of Sheba had seen all Solomon's wisdom, and the house that he had built, and the meat of his table, and the sitting of his servants, and the attendance of his ministers, and their apparel, and his cupbearers, and his ascent by which he went up unto the house of his LORD; there was no more spirit in her. And she said to the king, 'It was a true report that I heard in mine own land of thy acts and of thy wisdom. Howbeit I believed not the words, until I came, and mine eyes had seen it: and, behold, the half was not told me: thy wisdom and prosperity exceedeth the fame which I heard.'"
In 1 Kings 3 we see that Solomon is now King sitting upon the throne of his father, David. Solomon senses his great inadequacy to be king and shepherd over the people of God. The scriptures tell us that the Lord came to him and asked him what his heart desired most. Solomon asked the Lord for wisdom. The Bible says that his request pleased the Lord and God granted him wisdom.
We then go on to see that with the wisdom given by God Solomon begins to build the house of the Lord, and by God’s divine wisdom he puts this house in order. Everything involving this temple is put in such order. It is not that Solomon is being overly meticulous but he is moving with the mind of God. I have seen in my own walk with the Lord that the evidence that one truly possesses the wisdom of God is divine order, that God establishes the thoughts of His people. The Bible tells us that after the temple was built, the glory of the Lord filled the house to the point that the ministers could not stand up under the glory and perform their ministry. What we have to understand is that divine order and the glory of God cannot be separated, the glory of God follows divine order. It is when we have forsaken our paths to walk the Lord’s paths that He establishes our thoughts, and as we are walking with the mind of the Lord, it is then that His glory fills our hearts and our homes, and is poured out upon our ministry.
In 1 Kings the scriptures say that when a queen from a faraway land hears about the wisdom of Solomon and the glory of the Lord’s temple, she has to come and see for herself. The Bible says that when she sees the divine order and the glory upon Solomon’s life and his kingdom that her breath was taken away. In her heart was an inner awareness that this kind of wisdom, this kind of order and this kind of glory does not come from the carnal mind of man, but it can only come from the mind of God. What a wonderful testimony Solomon’s life and ministry is to this woman, but this is not only Solomon’s testimony. It is the testimony of every believer who has truly denied themselves to walk the path of sacrifice and obedience. God establishes the thoughts of us. his people, and everything involving our lives begin to come into order. Our hearts come into order; our homes come into order. The work that God has placed before us comes into order, and with the order comes the glorious presence of Christ. Our lives become a wonderful testimony of what God can do in and through a life fully yielded to Him.
SOMETHING TRAGIC HAPPENED IN THE LIFE OF SOLOMON:
1 Kings 11: 4,9,14,23,26 — "For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God…And the Lord was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned from the LORD God of Israel, which had appeared unto him twice…And the LORD stirred up an adversary unto Solomon, Hadad the Edomite: he was of the kings’ seed in Edom…And God stirred up another adversary, Rezon the son of Eliadah…And Jeroboam the son of Nebat, an Ephrathite of Zereda, lifted up his hand against the king."
Here is the tragedy: Solomon’s heart turned from the Lord, and he began to worship pagan idols and pursue the vain things of this world. As a result, everything that God had put in order became disarrayed. Solomon’s enemies began to invade Solomon from every side, and the order and the glory of God was replaced by turmoil and confusion. In other words, his house began to decay and crumble!
LET US LOOK AT THE IDLE NATURE IN ANOTHER LIGHT:
Exodus 32:1 — "And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, 'Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him.'"
In this verse, Moses is in the mount with God receiving the law and hearing God’s word, and the children of Israel are waiting at the bottom of the mountain. What we have to understand regarding the children of Israel is that this time at the bottom of the mountain was not supposed to be a time of idleness, of just waiting around, but it was to be a time reflection. It was not suppose to be a time of just "hanging out" and waiting for Moses, but a time to set their hearts upon God and the purposes of God. It was a time to reflect on all that had transpired: their deliverance—why they were delivered, and where they were going.
It was also to be a time of fellowship, talking with each other about the goodness of the Lord, talking about the great and wonderful things God had done for His people and what He was continuing to do. I believe with all my heart that this time around the mountain was an opportunity given by God for the people to have a chance to just rest, fellowship and talk with each other about the goodness of God. They had not had that opportunity since leaving Egypt and now here around the mountain God gives them this opportunity. Instead we see an idleness within the hearts of the people; their thoughts were not upon the Lord or upon the intended purposes of God. They were just "hanging out" waiting for Moses.
The first thing we begin to see in this account is an exasperation, that they became weary with waiting in the presence of the Lord; they became exasperated with tarrying around the mountain of the Lord. They wanted to get to the land of milk and honey because they were thinking about the desires of their flesh.
Beloved, the Church is praying for revival, but what we must know is that when God’s presence truly visits His people the way He desires to, there is going to be a waiting in the presence of the Lord. Hearts are going to be stilled before Him as we tarry in His presence. It is not that we will be waiting for His presence, but that we are waiting in His presence. There will be a great and deep inner-awareness that "God is here!" If we as His people tarry long enough in His presence, He will speak to us; He will give us direction. He will refresh us; He will strengthen us. He will probe our hearts, as we wait upon Him.
When we have an idle nature, that is a heart set upon the vain things of this world, we are quickly exasperated by waiting in God’s presence because our thoughts are on something else we would rather be doing. Many, when God’s presence visits His people and there is a stillness and a waiting in His presence, find themselves like the children of Israel, just "hanging out." They are not interested in what God is doing, but just waiting for it to be over; they are just waiting for someone to hurry up and pray the benediction.
LET US MAKE THIS PERSONAL: FOR WHATEVER REASON, IF WE FIND OUR DEVOTION TURNING FROM THE LORD, THE FIRST THING THAT HAPPENS IS WE GROW WEARY WITH TARRYING IN GOD’S PRESENCE IN OUR SECRET PLACE OF PRAYER.
We used to wait in God’s presence, enjoying the communion we have with Him, but now we find ourselves weary with it. We find our time and our focus given to other things. In other words, an idleness has set into our hearts.
HERE WE SEE JUST HOW FAR AN IDLE MIND/NATURE CAN TAKE YOU: IN EXODUS 32 THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL FASHIONED A GOD THAT MINISTERED TO THE CARNALITY OF THEIR OWN HEARTS.
Exodus 32: 3, 4 — "And all the people brake off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron. And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, 'These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.'"
There is so much truth revealed in these scriptures, but what I want us to see is that the children of Israel fashioned a god that was to be carried on their shoulders. God was no longer carrying his people, but now the people were carrying their god. In other words, they could point this god in that direction they wanted to go. Anything their hearts desired, they could point this god in this direction. Now they had a god that could lead them according to the desires and ambitions of their own hearts.
WHAT IS THE DANGER OF THIS? WE SEE THE NATURE OF THE FLESH ABSOLUTELY TAKING CONTROL OF THEIR LIVES!
Exodus 32:6b — "…and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play."
The phrase "rose up to play" speaks of lewdness and immorality. Verse 25 says, "And when Moses saw that the people were naked..." So, we see these people were totally given over to the flesh. The people had no restraint upon the flesh and its ungodly appetites. Proverbs 19:15b says, "...an idle soul shall suffer hunger." What does this mean? It means a soul that is idle, a soul that is engrossed in the vanity of this world will live under the tyranny of the flesh! Why? Because what you feed will dominate! If we feed our flesh nature and neglect our spiritual man, the flesh will take dominion over the spirit. If we consume our time sitting in front of the television entertaining and amusing ourselves with the vain things of this world, the lusts and appetites of the flesh will dominate us like a harsh taskmaster.
Beloved, I love and honor my country; America is still the greatest place in the earth to live, work, raise a family and serve the Lord. We are so blessed to live in such a nation as this. However as Americans we live in a culture given over to much vanity. We are a culture of entertainment, idleness and leisure, and we have so many things to entertain and appease the flesh. From television to sports to fitness centers, there are so many things we can become consumed with that in themselves may not be bad, but yet can steal our affections and consume all of our time. There is nothing wrong with enjoying sports or sitting down with the family and enjoying a clean movie, but when it becomes so engrained in our nature to the point where we are given over to it, then it is vanity. As Christians in America, it can be easy to slip into idleness and vanity and become complacent if we are not careful in guarding the affections of our hearts. I believe an idle nature is the reason why there is so much havoc going on in the lives and homes of Christians; we’ve allowed ourselves to be ensnared by much of the vanity and have slipped into complacency and have failed to keep our house. We must stay focused on the things that are truly important. We must be diligent to guard our life of intimacy with God. We must be diligent to protect our secret place of prayer. We must stay rooted and grounded in the word of God, daily spending quality time with God reading and meditating on our Bibles. We must be that virtuous woman who keeps her house and guards her heart because we know it is the sanctuary of the Lord’s presence. Amen.