WHATEVER YOUR HAND FINDS, DO!
Eccles. 9:10
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR GENRE: LAZY JOKES
1. What do you call a lazy baby kangaroo? A pouch potato.
2. ‘Yo momma so lazy’ Jokes
a. Yo momma so lazy, she has a stay-at-home job and STILL can't get to work on time.
b. Yo momma so lazy, she stuck her nose out the window and let the wind blow it.
3. LAZY RULES
#1 The farther away the remote is, the more you like what's already on TV...
#2 If you have to say something more than once, its not worth the energy...
#3 If you spill water, it will eventually dry...
#4 Why make your bed when you're just gonna get back in it again...
#5 If you are late, dont go...
4. LAZY IN PLAIN ENGLISH
a. The man told his doctor that he wasn't able to do all the things around the house that he used to do.
b. When the examination was complete, he said, "Now, Doc, I can take it. Tell me in plain English what is wrong with me."
c. "Well, in plain English," the doc replied, "you're just lazy."
d. "Okay," said the man. "Now give me the medical term so I can tell my wife."
5. We’re looking at a Scripture about diligence.
B. TEXT
“Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the grave, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom” Eccles. 9:10.
C. WHY ARE GOD’S PEOPLE STILL HERE?
1. Why didn’t God take us to heaven the moment we were saved? It’s possible for us to go straight to heaven -- as the thief on the cross next to Jesus -- who went straight to paradise.
2. “Could it be we’re here for our perfecting?” Maybe, but we know we’ll never be completely perfected on earth. It's really the atonement of Christ that makes us fit for heaven.
3. It would be safer for our souls if we were removed, so why does God leave us here?
4. Would God keep His children out of heaven a single moment longer than necessary?
5. WE’RE HERE; WHY ARE WE STILL HERE?
6. SO WE MIGHT:
a. Glorify God by demonstrating His love;
b. Scatter seed of the Good News of Jesus;
c. Alert people to the Second Coming;
d. Like Salt, be a Preservative in the World.
7. God left us here, because we have a Definite Purpose, and we are to be performing it!
D. THESIS
1. Imagine how the moral fabric of the world will disintegrate when the Righteous ARE taken out of the world!
2. Knowing we've been left behind to do something should cause us to ask three questions:
a. What shall I do?
b. How shall I do it?
c. Why shall I do it?
3. The title of this morning's message is "Whatever Your Hand Finds, Do!"
I. WHAT SHALL I DO?
A. THAT WHICH IS “AT HAND”
1. What work you should do is not a mystery; God says your work is "near at hand." You don't have to go far to find it. God has laid it somewhere right around you.
2. When Elisha was aiding the Prophet’s widow with the large debt & 2 sons, he said, "What do you have in your house?"; 2 Kgs. 4:1-7). God has things right around you He wishes to use.
3. Many have gotten their eyes on China or South America. "If only I could be somewhere else, I could do a great work for God."
4. Why don't you try the streets of Huntsville first. Before you go halfway around the world, why don’t you start with your own family, reach out to your neighbor, and work in your local church!
B. TRY SMALL THINGS FIRST, THEN GREAT!
1. Timothy first developed a good reputation in Lystra & Iconium (Acts 16:2) before God called him to work with Paul.
2. Gideon first destroyed the idols in his own back yard, then he united his tribe against the enemy, and finally he moved to a larger place of service by overthrowing the Midianites.
C. “WHATEVER” YOUR HAND FINDS
1. Frequently what’s closest to hand is not that desirable or doesn't give us any status.
2. A man said, "If it's a nice, respectable job, then I'll do it." God's aims are probably very different from yours.
3. ILLUSTRATION
a. I'm reminded of the farmer who had his teenage sons out in the field in the middle of the summer getting the ground ready to plant corn.
b. His neighbor came by and chided him, "Do you need money so bad that you’re working your sons hard to raise corn, while other boys are out swimming or playing?"
c. The farmer replied, "I'm not raising corn, I'm raising men!" It’s not the job that’s important, but the development of our character that’s paramount.
4. God doesn’t look on our outward appearance, but upon our hearts. What we perceive as a ‘spiritual’ job may not look that way to God at all.
5. It doesn't seem very spiritual to:
a. Change light bulbs/air filters;
b. Mop the fellowship hall floor;
c. Wash dishes and unstop potties;
d. Pick up the trash outside on the parking lot;
6. But I believe we don't have true spirituality until we're willing to do those! Proverbs 15:33, 18:12, "Humility comes before honor."
7. When the disciples argued which of them would be the greatest, our Lord Jesus said; “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them….Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Mk. 10:42-45.
8. Do what your hand finds to do -- great or little.
9. ILLUSTRATION
a. During the Revolutionary War, George Washington came across soldiers erecting fortifications. A big muscular corporal stood there barking orders as his soldiers strained.
b. Washington said, "Why don't you help them?" "Sir, I'm a corporal!" "Pardon me," Washington said.
c. Washington got in the trench and aided the men; then he said, "Corporal, next time you're men need help, call General Washington." The corporal slunk away ashamed.
II. HOW ARE WE TO DO IT?
A. DO IT NOW!
1. Just "Do it." Do it now -- don't procrastinate!
2. Do you have an opportunity to work for God? Do it right away.
3. Do you have a chance to witness? Then do it; don't put it off. We usually don't get a second chance.
4. Do you have a chance to give money? Do it then! Don't put off paying tithes when you have it.
B. CURRENT EXAMPLE
1. You don’t need a great talent, just faithfulness and giving it your best.
2. EXAMPLE: JOAN ATKINSON (W.M. Director)
a. I don’t think Joan has any high level of education; she’s not someone you’d notice; but would you believe she has touched multiplied thousands of people?
b. She’s been our W.M. Director for 32 years.
c. She’s taught S.S. classes for 45 years!
d. She’s done Nursing Home Ministry for 36 years!
e. She’s studied the Bible & now is a master-teacher, still doing Bible studies every Tuesday at noon!
3. You don’t have to have great talent. Just start working NOW and do it for 45 years, and you’ll touch thousands of people!
C. DO IT “WITH ALL YOUR MIGHT”
1. Whatever you do for Jesus, give it all you've got! Where's your passion? Don't do anything for the Lord halfheartedly.
2. Someone said, "If you believe 10% of what you say you believe, you ought to be 10 times as excited as you are!"
3. Let's have a hot religion, that burns its way into our hearts. That's the kind of religion that will get the attention of the world.
4. If the Jesus you know doesn't move you, then He won't move others around you! No one follows ice trucks, but everyone wants to follow a fire truck to see what’s burning!
5. ILLUSTRATION: Evangelistic Death Threat
a. Mordecai Ham was an evangelist from Kentucky at the turn of last century. From the very beginning, his approach was zealous and blunt.
b. Rather than sit and talk with Christians, Ham insisted on being taken to the worst sinners in the community. On one occasion a non-believer hid in a cornfield, but Ham tracked him down.
c. The man asked what his intentions were in the evangelist said he was going to pray for God to kill him.
d. When the man protested, Ham told him, “You shouldn't be bothered since you don't believe in God anyway. But if there is a God, then death would be appropriate for a man who had poisoned his family’s spiritual prospects.”
e. The lost man begged him not to pray for his death, so Ham relented and prayed for his salvation. At the final meeting Ham baptized the man and his family.
f. The key to effective evangelism is not methodology, but passion. Mordecai Ham had what many of us lack today, passion for the lost.
III. WHY SHOULD WE DO IT?
A. BECAUSE THERE ARE 2 WORLDS
1. This is the world of service, the next world is one of Reward for service.
2. This is the world of probation and preparation for eternity; we’re on business now.
3. Now is the Harvest Time, now is the time for gathering. Prov. 10:5 says, "He who sleeps during harvest is a disgraceful son."
4. The Lord said (John 9:4) we should "work the works of Him that sent me (us) while it is day, the night comes, when no man can work."
5. We only have a few short years, then will die and face judgment and give an account. If are going to do anything, it must be done now!
B. BECAUSE BEING USEFUL HELPS YOU TOO
1. The Roman aqueduct at Segovia, Spain, was built in 109 A.D. For eighteen hundred years, it carried cool water from the mountains to the hot and thirsty city.
2. Nearly sixty generations of men drank from its flow. Then came another generation, a recent one, who said, "This aqueduct is so great a marvel that it ought to be preserved for our children, as a museum piece. We shall relieve it of its centuries-long labor."
3. They did; they laid modern iron pipes. They gave the ancient bricks and mortar a reverent rest. And the aqueduct began to fall apart.
4. The sun beating on the dry mortar caused it to crumble. The bricks and stone sagged and threatened to fall. What ages of service could not destroy idleness disintegrated.
5. When we stop being useful for God, we start to spiritually disintegrate! Stay busy and stay anointed!
C. BECAUSE WE LOVE JESUS
1. Think about how much Jesus did for you. We see His wounds, that He gave His best for us -- how can we not give our best for Him?
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUSTRATION
1. Napoleon Bonaparte stood in the French palace of Versailles in a large and opulent meeting room and pointed to a large area on a map of the world.
2. "There," he growled, "is a sleeping giant. Let him sleep. If he wakes, he will shake the world." He was referring to China.
3. Similarly, today, in the halls of hell, Lucifer points to a spiritual map of the world. You can almost see the fire belch from between his teeth and see the fear in his eyes
as he beholds the church’s unmeasured potential.
4. He too growls, "Let the church sleep! If she wakes, she will shake the world!"
5. The church, worldwide, is a sleeping giant. If every member of the Church of Jesus would stand up and begin to exercise their full power, the kingdom of darkness would be shaken to its foundations!
6. We have two choices: Either to be lulled into sleep by the lullabies of the devil, or to rise up and get busy doing the work of the Lord.
7. Paul exhorted us to “Stir up the gift of God which is in you.” To “STIR” means to “create a state of disturbance, to agitate, to begin activity; to mix something up.”
8. What do you say we disturb the kingdom of darkness and mix up all the demons by all putting our hands to the plow and giving God all we’ve got?
B. THE CALL
1. If Jesus Christ were to come back today, would you be ready? Jesus told the Laodicean church, “Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your deeds/works complete in the sight of my God” Rev. 3:2. Would He tell us that today?
2. Do you need to find a work to do? Raise your hand. We’ll pray for God to show you what to do, then get with me and I’ll give you some options.
3. Do you need a new passion in your walk?
[This message is a reworked version of C. H. Spurgeon’s message, “A Home Mission Sermon”].
