[0:00] Galatians chapter 6. Over the last few weeks, we've talked about, in chapter 6, being a restorative church.
[0:21] ! Make me a blessing.
[0:35] You know, the ways that we can help lift people up and help them move forward, carrying their burdens. Last week, we talked about sowing and reaping. Today, we're kind of going to continue that idea a little bit of sowing and reaping, but it's verse 9.
[0:49] Let us not be weary in well-doing, for in due season we shall reap if we faint not. Let us not be weary in well-doing.
[1:01] I don't know if you know this or not, but you should. Being involved in ministry, and that doesn't mean just me, that means all of you, because you're all involved in ministry.
[1:12] You're all involved in taking the gospel of Jesus Christ to a lost world. It can be a spiritual warfare. It can be tiring.
[1:23] It can be taxing on people. It can wear you out at times. But, he says, don't be weary in well-doing. It's a whole lot easier to do it doing well-doing than to do things that are wrong and evil.
[1:40] Those of you who were getting with me in Sunday school, we've been talking about David and Bathsheba. And, doing things the right way is a whole lot easier than doing things the wrong way.
[1:51] But, we can still get weary in doing things even the right way. The problem is our human nature. Our human nature is also a sinful nature.
[2:03] And so, we tend to want to do things the wrong way. And, we need to be so very careful about doing that. And, Satan's going to throw a lot of hindrances, a lot of obstacles in our way. Things that we're going to have to go over or get around or something.
[2:16] And, it takes time and effort to do that. And, it can be wearying. But, Paul tells the Galatians, don't be weary in well-doing.
[2:27] Let's have a word of prayer. Father, be with us this morning, Lord. Lord, give me the strength that I need. Give me the ability to speak that I need. Lord, guide my words.
[2:38] Guide everything that takes place here. Lord, I pray that you would be uplifted. You'd be magnified. And, Lord, that we would leave here determined to serve you and to follow you.
[2:52] And to do what you've asked us to do. And not let ourselves get weary. But to go forward and reap. Reap the things that are of eternal value.
[3:05] And so, Lord, I pray that you would just bless this morning as we look at this passage. In Jesus' name. Amen. Paul starts off by giving a biblical challenge. A biblical challenge.
[3:16] He says, do not grow weary. Don't grow weary. How many of you here this morning are tired? I did not sleep good at all last night.
[3:29] I was awake a lot last night. So, I'm tired this morning. Probably you are too, a lot of you. Some of the others have told me you didn't sleep well last night. I don't know what was going on.
[3:40] I think it was those that were here at the board and game night. They were taking naps because they were bored. Didn't sleep good last night. I don't know. Anyway, Paul says, don't grow weary in well-doing.
[3:53] That's not the only time he said that. 2 Thessalonians 3.13. But gee, brethren, be not weary in well-doing.
[4:05] Paul understood if we're doing the work of the Lord, if we're doing what God has called us to do, if we're taking the message of the gospel, we are going to face all those obstacles. And it is going to be a tiring time because Satan does not want us doing that.
[4:17] He does not want us going out and doing well. He does not want us going out and taking the gospel with us. A couple of verses we looked at last week. Romans chapter 2, verses 6 and 7.
[4:28] He says, Those that have patient continuance and well-doing.
[4:46] You know, sometimes, like I said, you get weary. You get tired. But can you keep putting one foot in front of the other? Can you keep moving forward? Can you keep doing what God has asked you to do, even though it may be difficult?
[5:02] Just keep going. One of the Puritan writers, John Brown, he understood the people of our day. He said this, Many Christians are like children.
[5:14] They would sow and reap in the same day. And last week we learned you can't do that. You sow. And then you have patience, continuing patience.
[5:24] It's that the seed is going to germinate. It's going to grow. It's going to become the stock or whatever it is that you planted. We talked about the fact you can't plant corn and wait for watermelons to come up.
[5:39] It doesn't work that way. So he says, you plant and you wait. You know, when you go out and plant, you can get tired. When you go out and plant, you can sometimes not get, not want to wait and see what's going to happen.
[5:58] You want it done immediately. He says, that's not going to happen. Sometimes we think we're defeated. Sometimes we think we have done everything that can be done.
[6:10] We hear about different ones and we're like, oh, they're just not accomplishing the things that they want to accomplish. Reminds me of a story I heard of a man. He stopped to watch a Little League game.
[6:23] And he asked one of the youngsters, he says, what's the score? The kid says, we're losing 18 to nothing. And the man's like, wow. He says, I must say, you don't sound discouraged.
[6:36] Why should I be discouraged? We haven't come up to bat yet. Sometimes we go out and we do things and Satan looks like he's getting the victory.
[6:47] Satan, Dr. Bob Jones Sr. used to say, you and God make a majority. You go out and you go with God and watch and see what will happen. Watch and see what God will take care of and how that sowing will become the harvest that you want.
[7:04] See, weariness develops over time, doesn't it? How many of you have been saved here more than 50 years? A few of you.
[7:16] You know, sometimes after 50 years you can think, it's been a long time. I've seen this and I've seen that. And I'm just tired.
[7:29] And you know, why do I keep going? Why do I keep doing these things? When we talk about growing weary, we're talking about becoming exhausted. We're talking about losing heart. We're talking about, oh, I just don't know if I can keep going or not.
[7:44] God exhorts us not to give in to spiritual exhaustion. He exhorts us not to give up, but to keep on moving, keep on going forward.
[7:56] You think about Jesus when he was here on earth. He went out and fed the 5,000. He healed people every day. He preached sermons every day.
[8:08] He instructed his disciples every day. You'd think he would have been tired. But what did he do? Mark 1, 35 says, And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed.
[8:28] Jesus was busy. Jesus had a lot on his plate. He had a lot of things that he was doing. But he still always found personal time to have communion with the Father.
[8:39] We need to do that. As a minister, you know, there are times I'm getting messages ready. I'm doing this, that, and the other things. You can kind of say, well, I'm doing all this and this.
[8:50] No, you need to make sure you have personal time as well. Time alone with God and let him speak to you. 1 Peter 3, 17 says, For it's better, if the will of God be so, that ye suffer for well-doing than for evil-doing.
[9:05] Always be planning to do what God has called you to do. Always be moving forward with what he's called you to do. Because if you don't, over time you do get exhausted in things.
[9:17] What happens? Weariness depletes the spirit. It depletes the spirit. Oh, I'm just too tired of getting the word. I'm just too tired to go to this thing.
[9:28] I'm just too tired to... And I know. I have times like that. I'm just too tired to do this, that, or the other thing. But God says, no, you keep on going. You keep doing.
[9:40] The inner man can be strengthened daily. The physical man may be tired. But the inner man, the spiritual man, can go forward.
[9:53] 2 Corinthians 4, 16. For which cause we faint not. But through our outward... Though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.
[10:06] We had a lady, I've mentioned her before in Heartland. She had severe arthritis. She was in a wheelchair. All kind of, you know, gnarled up and everything.
[10:16] Hurt most of the time. But she would come to church, smile on her face. You wanted something prayed for, you asked her. She would pray. She couldn't do anything else.
[10:27] She would pray. The spirit that she had, the outward person, it was failing. Failing severely. But her inward person, she just loved the Lord with all of her heart.
[10:41] Do you love the Lord with all your heart? You're waiting to see him work. How do you do that? First of all, consider Christ. Think about Christ. What did he go through for you?
[10:54] What did he face for you? So that you might have the salvation that you have. Hebrews chapter 12, verses 1 through 3.
[11:05] Wherefore, seeing we are also compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which has so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.
[11:19] We're going to run the race with patience. We're going to keep going one foot in front of the other. No matter how slow it may be, we're going to keep moving forward. How do we do that? Verse 2, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
[11:39] Think about what God did for you.
[11:52] Think about what Jesus did for you. Think about the fact that he kept going and kept going and kept going even to the cross to give his life so that you might have eternal life.
[12:05] And when you think about that, continue on. Continue on. We must be determined to be patient in the Lord. We live in a very hurried society.
[12:17] Everybody wants things to happen just like this, and everything's got to go. I read somewhere that if an Internet page takes longer than eight seconds to open up, they lose a third of their visitors.
[12:36] We want to bow. We want it to happen right then. We need to be ready to be steadfast. Keep on going no matter what.
[12:49] 1 Corinthians 15, 58. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord. For you know your labor is not in vain in the Lord.
[13:01] Keep on going even if you're not seeing results because you know your labor is not in vain in the Lord. You've got to keep on pushing forward. Keep on going.
[13:12] Letting the Holy Spirit do his work in your life. Someone has said, a vision that is not worthy of sacrifice is not a Christ-like vision. Christ came to give us salvation.
[13:26] And involved in that was a whole lot of sacrifice. Are we willing to give sacrifice? And when we talk about sacrifice, I'm not even talking about giving your life like Jesus did, going through the whippings and things like Jesus did.
[13:40] We're just talking about being patient and giving of your time. Can we do that? He's not talking about physical suffering. He's just talking about, can you wait a little bit and see what God's going to do?
[13:55] Can you trust God to do what he said he would do? James chapter 5, verses 7 and 8. Be patient, therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord.
[14:06] Behold, the husband waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. Be ye also patient, establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.
[14:21] He said, be patient. Jesus is coming. Can we be patient for what God is doing? You ever have people that you are praying for, you want them to be saved, and they're not yet?
[14:36] Like, I've been praying for years for this person. I remember I've told you this before, I think, but Billy Sunday. When he first got saved, he was a baseball player and stuff.
[14:49] When he first got saved, he had five people he was praying for. Two of them got saved right off. Two more got saved later on in the years to come. One of them, the fourth one, got saved just before he passed away.
[15:01] But he passed away without the fifth one coming to know Jesus as his Savior. But the fifth one came to know Jesus as his Savior at Billy Sunday's funeral. Five people he prayed for, and he waited and waited and waited.
[15:17] He was patient. God was doing his perfect work in each one of their lives. Are we really ready to go and wait and spend time with God and let him do his work?
[15:29] See, if we do, if we're patient, we will reap, first of all, spiritual growth. We will grow. When God is working and we're waiting and we're watching what he's doing, it's going to help us to grow, understanding who he is and how he works and what he does.
[15:50] James chapter 1, verses 3 and 4. Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire wanting nothing.
[16:04] He says be patient. Watch what God is doing. Watch how he is moving. Watch how he is shaping things. Watch how he is bringing things together and let him work.
[16:18] Problem is, we'd like to go out and do things on our own, and we'd like to hurry things along and make mistakes when we do it. Talking last week about sowing and reaping, and somebody talked to me afterwards.
[16:31] I'd have heard this before, but I'd forgotten it. He said this, Many Christians spend six days a week sowing wild oats and then come to church and pray for crop failure.
[16:43] We're going to go out and do our own thing and do whatever we want to do and however we want to do it instead of following what God wants. And then we come to church on Sunday and say, Please God, don't let that happen. We need to make sure that we are following God every way that he wants.
[17:01] We'll also reap spiritual rewards. Spiritual rewards. 2 Timothy, chapter 4, verses 7 and 8. Paul says, I have fought a good fight.
[17:13] I have finished my course. I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give me at that day, and not to me only, but unto all them which love his appearing.
[17:29] He says, I've fought a good fight. I've kept on going. I've kept the faith. I've done things. I've been patient. I've allowed God to work. And he says, there's laid up for me a crown of righteousness.
[17:40] Because I did what God wanted in God's way. Are we doing what God wants in God's way? He says, if you do, there's spiritual rewards. Among those spiritual rewards, third thing there, we'll reap the souls of men.
[17:56] We'll see people saved. Don't push. Don't take things into your own hands. Let God do his work. Let God do his work in people's lives.
[18:09] You be a witness. You be a testimony. You give them the gospel. But don't push, push, push. Let God work. You plant the seed. Somebody else waters.
[18:21] God gets the increase. God will do his work in their life. You know, some of the greatest missionaries in history, they were devoted to sowing the seed, to giving out the message of the gospel.
[18:32] But they waited long periods of time before they saw anything. William Carey, who's considered the father of modern missions, he went to India. It was seven years before he saw his first Hindu become a Christian.
[18:50] Seven years. Last week I told you about Adirajan Judson. Adirajan Judson went to Burma. He saw one or two saved. It wasn't until after his tenth year.
[19:00] He started to see people saved and the churches built and schools built and things after ten years. Allow God to do his work.
[19:12] Sometimes he's just making sure you're ready for it. He's making sure your patience is trusting him and allowing him to do his work. Remember when Gideon and the 300 went up against the Midianites?
[19:24] They're out there on the mountains around about them and they have their jug and they have their lamp and they have their trumpets and stuff and all of a sudden the lights come out and the jugs break and the trumpets are sounded and stuff and the Midianites start fighting with each other.
[19:40] And they kill off each other. And then those that are left start taking off. And Gideon and his 300 have been up all night. They've been doing things to try to make sure this stays going and they've taken care of themselves but the ones that take off Gideon says we can't let them get away.
[19:57] Let's go. Judges 8 verse 4 says and Gideon came to Jordan and passed over. He and the 300 men that were with him faint yet pursuing them.
[20:09] They were faint but they kept on going. They kept on following what God wanted them to do. They kept on going and fighting the battle that God had them fighting. You know what else we can't forget?
[20:23] We can't forget the eternal. We can't forget the eternal. 2 Corinthians chapter 4 verses 15 through 18 For all things are for your sakes that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God.
[20:46] Okay? Things we're going to do are going to redound to the glory of God. For which cause we faint not but though our outward man perish yet the inward man is renewed day by day.
[21:00] For our light affliction which is but for a moment worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal way to glory. While we look not at the things which are seen but to the things which are not seen.
[21:14] For the things which are seen and temporal. But the things which are not seen are eternal. We're working for eternal things. We're working towards things that are going to last forever. You may ask what lasts forever?
[21:27] What is eternal? What are the things that we're working for? First of all the souls of men. The souls are eternal. Somebody everybody let's put it that way everybody is going to live somewhere forever.
[21:41] every person you know is going to live somewhere forever. Is it going to be heaven or hell? We need to be working for the eternal.
[21:54] Much rather see them in heaven than hell. Much rather see them in heaven with us with the Lord Jesus Christ. Mark 8 36 and 37 For what shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul?
[22:09] Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? The soul is going to live somewhere forever. Are we making sure they get the message? Are we patiently giving out the message to them?
[22:20] Don't get faint. Don't get weary. Keep on giving it out. Stewardship. Stewardship is eternal. Matthew chapter 6 verses 19 through 21 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon the earth where moth and rust doth corrupt and where the thieves break through and steal but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt where thieves do not break through nor steal for where your treasure is there will your heart be also.
[22:53] God has given you gifts. God has given you abilities. God has given you talents. God has given you things to use. Are you using them for him? They're going to last for all eternity.
[23:10] He says use those gifts to make sure you're doing what God wants you to do. Andrew Murray he said the world asks what does a man own?
[23:25] Christ asks how does he use it? What does a man own? It doesn't really matter how much he owns or what he owns. What is he doing with it?
[23:36] Is he using it to bring glory to God? Scriptures. The Scriptures are eternal. This book you have in your lap is going to last forever.
[23:49] It is going to be the thing that we're judged by. It's going to be the thing that gets us to heaven. It is going to be there for all eternity. 1 Peter chapter 1 23 Being born again not of corruptible seed but of incorruptible by the word of God which liveth and abideth forever.
[24:09] For all flesh is as grass and all the glory of man is as flower of grass. Grass wither the flower thereof falleth away. But the word of the Lord endureth forever.
[24:22] And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you. He says the word of God is going to last forever. We're going to live by this book forever. Do we understand that?
[24:36] You know we look at men's laws and we try to follow men's laws and things for today. Those are going to go away. This one lasts forever. We need to live according to the word of God. A third thing we must have faith for eternity.
[24:52] Faith for eternity. 2 Corinthians 5 7 For we walk by faith not by sight. We walk by faith not by sight.
[25:03] And faith is going to take us into the future. Faith will take us to the future. Man Holland faith draws the poison from every grief.
[25:19] Takes the sting from every loss. Quenches the fire from every pain. When we trust God it doesn't matter what happens in our life. If we trust God we're going to see great things happen.
[25:34] It may not look great but remember all things work together for good to them that love God. To them who are called according to his purpose. Doesn't say everything is going to be great but everything works together for the good. Do we trust him?
[25:46] George Mueller that great man of faith says the beginning of anxiety is the end of faith and the beginning of true faith is the end of anxiety. Have you noticed that our world is full of anxiety?
[26:01] People are just anxious about everything. They're concerned about everything. They're worried about everything. He says look when we start worrying and worrying we're not trusting God.
[26:14] That's the end of faith. But when we start putting our trust in God we focus on him we allow him to do his work. When we keep him as our goal we keep looking unto Jesus as we talked back in Hebrews.
[26:27] He says look that's the end of anxiety. We need to keep our focus on what is important and the important thing in this world is Jesus Christ. Another man said sorrow looks back worry looks around faith looks up.
[26:44] Are you looking up? Don't look behind you oh this happened and that happened and the other thing happened who cares? That's in the past. Are you looking around?
[26:55] Worry looks around. Oh look at what's happening over here look at what happened over there look what happened you watch the news what do you do? Oh he says no faith looks up.
[27:06] Faith keeps his eyes on the Lord Jesus Christ. there was a lady named Florence Chadwick Dana Florence Chadwick was the first woman to swim the English Channel both directions.
[27:26] in July 4th 1951 she attempted to swim from Catalina Island to the coast of Florida. Wasn't a problem so much of the distance but the waters were really cold and a fog bank came in.
[27:43] She'd been in the water for 15 hours and she finally quit. She couldn't do it. Come to find out she was within half a mile of the coast.
[27:54] She was talking to a reporter later and she said you know I'm not looking to make an excuse for myself but if I could have seen the land I would have made it.
[28:07] Not long afterwards she attempted it again and was successful. But that phrase sentence if I could have seen the land I would have made it.
[28:20] Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher when we keep our eyes focused where they belong again those of you in Sunday school were talking about David when David looked it got him in trouble because he took his eyes off of God and what God wanted.
[28:36] Keep your eyes on Jesus Christ and what he is doing in your life. All of us have experienced physical weariness tiredness at times but he commands us not to be weary in the work of the Lord.
[28:57] Let the joy of the Lord be your strength he says. We have our hope in Christ and we're daily refreshing ourselves by reading the word studying the word meditating upon the word we will understand what God has for us like that lady I mentioned so many problems in life because of the arthritis but she kept her eyes on Jesus and she had a joyous attitude.
[29:26] A couple verses you know probably well Isaiah 40 verses 30 and 31 even the youth shall faint and be weary and the young men shall utterly fall even the young ones are going to get tired even the young ones are going to have times I watched Jared he's 33 I'm soon to be 69 and every day he said oh I'm so tired and he is he works hard so wait you get to be my age but but the youth young men shall utterly fall but verse 31 they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength they shall mount up with wings as eagles they shall run and not be weary they shall walk and not faint he says look let us not be weary in well doing for in due season we shall reap if we faint not what is the key to this whole thing he says look you keep your eyes on Jesus you keep following him and he says he'll give you the strength that you need
[30:50] I don't know about you but as I watch this world my hope is not in President Trump my hope is not in the Democratic Party my hope is not in some of the world leaders my hope is not in the Pope my hope is Jesus let's stand we're going to sing that