Never Give Up!

I ask you to turn today to Galatians chapter 5. As you're turning, I want to thank the elders of the Rue Baptist Church for inviting me to speak today. Just so you know, the next two weeks I'm off, and then August 8th, back in the saddle again, as it were. So hopefully then we'll pick up again in Hebrews chapter 3. Today we want to look at Galatians chapter 6, verses 7 through 10, and I think it's appropriate given the fact that we just finished VBS, which is usually, some of you who weren't here this week, it's a grueling week.

And it's real easy after that to just say, man, this is hard, let's just quit, right? some of us have actually been bruised and bloodied in the process. Of course, that's what happens when 66-year-olds try to play ultimate frisbee with a bunch of 16-year-olds. But be that as it may, I think this is a good reminder to us. In order for us to get the context, I'm going to begin reading in chapter 5, verse 16.

We'll read through chapter 6, verse 10. You follow. But I say, walk by the Spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh. For these are opposed to each other to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

Now the works of the flesh are evident. sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love joy peace patience kindness goodness faithfulness gentleness self Against such things there is no law and those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.

Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another. Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. Bear one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself.

But let each one test his own work and then his reason to boast will be himself alone and not in his neighbor. For each will have to bear his own load. One who is taught the word must share all good things with the one who teaches. Do not be deceived. God is not mocked. Whatever one sows, that will he also reap.

For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.

Let's pray. Father, now as we open your word, we confess our dependence on your spirit, not only to give us the meaning of the text, but that that text would spring alive in our hearts, that we might see where we fall short, where we need to grow, and that we need to look to you always. So now as we come to the text of Scripture, we ask that you would do a work in us for your glory and our good.

In Jesus' name, amen. I hate gardening. My father always put a garden out every year and every summer. He would come to my brother and I and say, boys, it's time to go out in the garden and start picking beans I hated green beans They were always hard to find and hard to pick and you had to pick them a certain way and all this sort of stuff and I hated it I hated going out in the garden in the heat of the day And dad was always asking us to do that when it was time to play baseball.

That's the thing I think that bothered me the most and I gave up. So I became weary in the whole process of learning that, and I think because of that, I've not been able to reap the fruit of joy that my dear wife has when she goes to the garden. I will look out in the mornings, and there she is out in the garden, and the dew is still on the ground, and she's already in the garden, loving every moment of it.

Well, I'm thanking God that I am not there. now Paul talks to us about not growing weary about not giving up and that's what we want to look at today now up to this point Paul has emphasized your freedom to serve others rather than using your freedom to serve the flesh we saw that as we be as uh as this as chapter five begins when he says, do not use your freedom to serve the flesh. He's talking about the fact that no longer under all the code of the Old Testament, we feel free. We're now free to do things that were once prescribed by the law.

And he says, be careful because you can use that freedom to serve the flesh. By the way, what is the flesh? Here's the best definition I've ever seen of the flesh. The flesh is the incurable addiction of self. The incurable addiction of self that is serving you as opposed to serving God and loving your neighbors. And so he has told us about the fact that we need to live by the spirit and he's given us all these qualities of what the spiritual, what a spirit indwelled person is like.

And then he goes on to talk about keeping in step with the spirit and you keep in step with the spirit not only by pursuing those kinds of qualities but you keep in step with the spirit by by bearing one another's burdens particularly those who are trapped in sin he even talks about keeping in the spirit or keeping in step with the spirit by sharing with those who teach you and finally he says you keep in step with the spirit as you persevere in serving others Persevere in serving others So here we are again We come full circle Paul began by saying you called to be free but do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh rather serve one another in love. And so now he ends by saying the same thing. Now persevere in doing good to all people, serve them.

Let's look at our text again, Galatians 6, 7-10 Do not be deceived. God is not mocked. For whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption. But the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap if we do not give up.

So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith. When it comes to serving others, he says three things. Don't be deceived, don't grow weary, and don't miss any opportunity. Don't be deceived, don't grow weary, don't miss any opportunity. Now in verses 7-8, then, he says, don't be deceived.

Now, too many people have been deceived when it comes to the Christian life, when it comes to walking by the Spirit. Yeah, Paul, thanks for the suggestion. Thanks for the suggestion, but I have neither the time nor the inclination to serve other people. I mean, frankly, you know I'm not a people person, right? Paul replies, don't be deceived. Thinking like that and acting like that will land you in the pit of destruction.

If you do not keep in step with the Spirit, you will march straight to destruction. And keeping in step with the Spirit includes persevering in serving other people. Wow, that's pretty strong, Paul. How can you say that? He says, because you don't want to be deceived. Don't be deceived.

You will reap what you sow. So one summer we were in Iowa, like we always went, you know, we always joked about our vacations were always on the sunny shores of Iowa. But one summer we were out there and Weldon Swigert, There's a neighbor to our family there. Weldon was sick, and someone needed to drill his oats. Drill means plant. So I was given the job of drilling Weldon's oats.

So I went over to his place, and I got the drill out, and I loaded it up with oats. And I drilled his oats for him. That fall, we went back, and I went over to Weldon's, and you would not believe what I saw in the field. You know what I saw? Oats. Of course there were oats.

That's what I put in the ground, right? You reap what you sow. Now suppose you live your life serving yourself, never really breaking free from that addiction to self. You live for your schedule. You do what you want. You pursue your ambitions, serving others when it's convenient. seeking fulfillment apart from God and His commandments.

And then when the harvest of judgment arrives, you should not be surprised at the verdict of destruction that you will hear. You have sown to the flesh. And so you shouldn't be surprised when it yields destruction. You shouldn't be surprised. If you sow to the flesh, you should expect, a harvest of destruction. Now some might say, but I'm no great sinner.

Someone might object. And right away we look at the marquee sins, the sexual immorality, debauchery, drunkenness, orgies. Those are the big marquee sins. But what Paul's talking about here is concentrating on limiting yourself to the horizons of self-interest. Only doing those things that you want to do. I remember many, many, many years ago.

It may not have been. I forget so many things. But many years ago, there was a family here. The children were coming. The parents were not. They were poor.

And so we chose to get into a rotation where we would have a lunch. This is before our dinners back here. We would have lunch for those kids every Sunday They were hungry And I forget what one woman said to me She said well you know I prayed about it and the Lord just hasn and the Spirit just hasn laid that upon my heart It's like, well, what do you mean the Spirit hasn't laid it upon your heart?

The Spirit's saying right here, serve other people, right? I just can't, I just can't do that. Well, you sow to the Spirit and you will then reap eternal life. A life of pursuing love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. And you will reap life eternal. Bear one another's burdens and you will reap life eternal.

Share with those who teach you and you will reap eternal life. And not just at the last day, but you'll enjoy part of the harvest already. You'll know the joy of all that. And so he says to us, don't be deceived. You will reap what you sow. Now someone says to me, but doesn't that destroy grace?

It seems then that you're working for eternal life. Look over at chapter 5 again. Look at verses 2 through 4. Look, I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law. You are severed from Christ.

You who would be justified by the law, you have fallen away from grace. Paul can't possibly contradict himself within the space of a few verses. Right? He's just made the point. If you think that you're going to get eternal life, that you'll be justified by your record of keeping the law, you're mistaken. And no one is justified by that.

They're justified by grace. They're justified by faith in Christ. So he's not calling you to do some kind of extra work in order to earn eternal life. He's not doing that. But you must see that God cannot be mocked. In other words, you can't outwit God.

You can't outwit God. you cannot treat his commands with contempt or or even indifference you may profess to be a Christian may profess that you are saved but then you believe that you can live any way you want that you don have to serve other people That just not your thing Don mock God He is not fooled by such a vain profession of faith It's a serious mistake to think that you can ignore God's commands with impunity. God will not be mocked. Don't deceive yourself.

God's not going to be mocked. Always remember this. Grace does not change God's justice. Grace changes you. grace produces a particular kind of faith back up again to chapter five look what he says in verse six for in christ jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything but only faith working through love a true faith will work through love a true faith will express itself in love so that grace produces a particular kind of faith, a faith that serves other people.

Grace gave you the capacity to live by the Spirit, so by His grace in faith you sow to the Spirit. So don't be deceived. That's the first thing he says. Do not be deceived. You can and you must sow to the Spirit by serving others. He goes on, verse 9. don't grow weary.

Don't grow weary. Boy, I'm telling you all the things I hate this morning. But I hated baling hay. I worked for a guy who raised cattle. And I don't think I would hate baling hay if I got to go out on the wagons. But I didn't.

I was stuck in the hay mound. Now, if you've never done that, there is nothing hotter than working in the mound. You're on the second floor. You're up in the barn, and you're to stack the hay, the bale's up there, and it gets hotter than hot up there. And so two wagons would come pulling up, and they'd pull it up to the elevator, and then the tractor would hook on to the other two wagons and take off for the field again.

And these bales would just keep coming up the elevator. Boom, boom, boom, boom. No end to them. And I was the guy who had to pick them up and throw them to the guy who was stacking the bales And it just would go on forever And you think how many more bales are there And you didn have time to even look out the window right Well, then they'd seem to stop.

You'd stack the rest, and you'd go, oh, man, you're dying of thirst. You're hot. You're sweating. You feel like you're going to drop. You poke your head out the window to get a breath of fresh air, and the next two wagons are pulling up to the elevator, right? Now, I don't know about you.

Some of you are superhuman. But I would get weary and I would want to give up. I'd want to go home. I'd want to go home. But Paul says when it comes to doing good, don't give up. Don't grow weary.

Now, he says here in verse 9, and let us not grow weary of doing good for in due season we will reap if we do not give up so we don't give up don't become weary don't give up but what does he mean by doing good again it means such things as bearing the burdens of those entrapped by sin paying the pastor pursuing the fruit of the spirit serving others we can feel like giving up on all of those but it also has a broader meaning of all that God expects of a Christian especially when it comes to serving others the great law of God is what love the Lord your God with all your heart soul and mind and love your neighbor as yourself anything that falls under those categories do those right it's not that difficult to figure it out and so we're to serve others that's loving my neighbor, right? It includes helping those in need, right? You know of a need.

Give of your resources. Give of your time to those who are in need. It means volunteering somewhere. It means things like volunteering at the school or the hospital. It means helping your neighbor. It means ministering the gospel.

Anything that shows your love for God and your love for your neighbor. anything that shows that. Do it. Right? Do it. Too often, and I fall into this problem as well, too often we think of all the things we shouldn't do. We have to spend more time thinking about the things we could do and should do.

The opportunities seem endless. And he says, don't become weary. Don't give up in doing good. You know what? We are fond of ease, and so we lack staying power. We're too fond of men's approval, and so we get discouraged when people don't applaud.

Right? And so he says, don't give up. Don't grow weary when you don't get the applause. Don't give up. in fact when it seems like your ministry isn't getting anywhere you don't give up right I knew a man by the name of Pastor Elmer Eubank he's gone to be with the Lord he was a sprightly old fellow he was a missionary to Jewish people in LA and And he was out at Creston, where Beck's from, in the church there.

And he'd retired, and he was living there in Iowa now. His family was there. And he was in a nursing home, and I went to see him. And he told me a story. He talks about being in L.A. and ministering for one year, and there was one convert. ministering the second year and there was one convert and it was like that for a long time and they did all kinds of things they provided meals and things and did all sorts of things and he kept on sharing the gospel and providing those meals even when no one seemed to respond do you know what he was doing the day i visited him he was writing his newsletter here he is in the nursing home he's writing his newsletter putting together some thoughts from 2 Peter chapter 1.

Who's going to read this thing? Right? I don't know. So why was this little old man, Elmer Eubanks, still writing his newsletter, sharing thoughts with whomever would read that little page? Why was he doing that? Because God promises a harvest.

That's why he kept at it. Because God promises a harvest. He says and let us not grow weary of doing good for in due season we will reap if we do not give up We reap if we don give up He looking to harvest A harvest at the proper time God promises that harvest, so you don't have to give up. God will promise a harvest. We don't know when that harvest will be, but it will come at God's appointed season.

It will come because God promises there will be a harvest. I remember I would come home at night and there would be my dear wife burnt, ankles hurting knees aching because she had spent the entire day in the garden this is a weekday by the way and I was at work so just expel that out of your mind, where were you you lazy lout, she was in the garden picking all the tomatoes and the beans and everything that was out there and the next day I would come home and she would be just exhausted from working all day in the kitchen doing what canning all that stuff no why and I would like say would you just relax well she wouldn't you know why because she knew that come winter we would have plenty of tomato sauce for chili and pizza and we would have beans nice beans to eat in the winter she didn't give up because she knew there was something that was coming. The payoff, the harvest.

And you won't give up or grow weary if you keep your eye on the promised harvest. So where are you today? What does the ground look like that you have to work? What does it look like around you? Maybe you have a husband who's not what you think he ought to be right no one ever struggles with that what if you have a husband who you who's not what he ought to be not even by god's standards are you sowing to the spirit by loving him by being patient kind serving him you don't know you don't know what kind of man i live with.

Hey, so did the Spirit. Right? There's a harvest coming. Maybe your parents are mean to you. Let's just assume for sake of argument that your parents are as mean as you tell me they are. Well, what are you going to do in response?

Are you planting seeds of kindness and goodness and peace in the face of that cruelty Maybe your neighbor has threatened you again because he just one mean old cuss Right? He's always arguing with you about the property lines. He's always threatening you with this, that, the other thing. Are you planting the seeds of service and gentleness with him? You see what he's saying here?

Don't grow weary in sowing to the Spirit. Don't give up. There's a harvest coming. Keeping in step with the Spirit means persevering and doing good by keeping your eye on the harvest. A harvest is coming. It's coming.

So don't give up. Don't grow weary. And the last thing he tells us is, don't miss any opportunity. Verse 10. so then as we have opportunity let us do good to everyone and especially to those who are of the household of faith don't miss any opportunity take every opportunity to do good because the harvest has not yet arrived seize every and any opportunity to do good do you know a brother who's trapped in sin.

Listen, do you know a brother who's trapped in sin? Help him! Help him! To many, think, well, that's the elder's job. Well, a lot of times, the elders don't know. You know what I tell folks?

Here's what happens. When you know about it, they're knee-deep in trouble. When we know about it, they're up to their neck in trouble. And it's hard to take people by the hair and pull them out of the mire you know sooner when they're knee deep you step in you you get involved don't miss any opportunity to do good and that includes helping a brother who's trapped by sin you find yourself in a difficult marriage seize the opportunity for love and peace and kindness you know what in in the counseling ministry the lord is is giving shepherding ministry, the Lord has given me, there are so many times where I've sat with women who have cruel husbands.

And one of the things I say to them is this you got to get out of the survivor mentality You can be a survivor you got to be a warrior You got to overcome evil with good You've got to go to war. And so, in your difficult marriage then, you sow to the Spirit. You go to war with good. Does your neighbor need help with his roof? Seize the opportunity to serve him. while the sowing season is here, you have opportunity.

Seize the opportunities. And take the opportunity to do good to all people. You know what? God expresses his goodness to all men, every day, all the time. That's what we need to be doing. We should do the same.

But always keep this distinction in mind, He tells us, do good to everyone and especially to those who are of the household of faith. Now, he gives us a priority here, does he not? He says, take every opportunity to do good. But you know what? When you got to work through, when you got to be wise, you got to make decisions. Make sure that you take care of the household of faith first.

He says, use discernment. now you might think that this is a priority of resources and it is that our resources are limited and so we have to make decisions we have to take care of the household of faith first what if you came to my house and found my children in ripped raggedy clothes and my wife struggling to get the laundry done with a wash tub and a washboard you'd probably say to me hey pastor what's the deal we pay you a whole lot better than what this looks like and I respond well have you seen the neighbor kids they're really I mean look at how well they're dressed how do you think they got that you would not think highly of me at that point would you why because you take care of your family first your own household and so we are a household of faith and frankly we have to make that priority take care of the household of faith first now by the way can i say this to you of course i can because i'm the one who's determined i'm going to say to you So many of you don't know the ministry that our deacons have is unbelievable. And you just don't know about it because they can't tell you. But they minister to so many people.

And most of the time it's to outsiders because the need here is not as great. But they do know this. when it comes to helping people, the people of the household of faith are who we have to look to first. And they're careful about that. And that's what they do. But it's not just a priority of resources. It's a priority of testimony.

Turn over to John chapter 13 for a moment. John chapter 13. John 13 verse 34 A new commandment I give to you that you love one another just as I have loved you you also are to love one another by this all people will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another there's a priority of testimony here our love for one another is going to speak volumes to the world in a world where people are filled with malice i don't know if you've noticed it and and you guys have all heard me say this and my children are telling me now when you say let me tell you a story we going to try to figure out which of the 10 we already heard you going to tell us I know you heard this but the world is filled with people who are malicious That's the way of the natural man.

So go to a Burger King, sit down, listen, you know, in a godly way, listen to the conversations around you. And you will hear all the time people saying, well, you know what? She said this, but I said, she's not going to get away with that. And over here you hear the same conversation. Over here you hear the same conversation. The world is filled with malicious people.

And what has to happen is that the light of God's people loving one another, solving their problems, taking care of one another, should be like a beacon in a dark world of malice. Jesus said they'll know you're my disciples by the fact that you love one another now you think about that for a moment when you know I was brought up with the idea people will know that we're followers of Jesus if we don't smoke and we don't drink and we don't go to movies and we don't go to dances oh my goodness don't do that don't do not show up at church with your prom clothes on right don't do it that's how people are going to know that you're christians by the fact that you don't do this stuff or the fact that you protest about that listen there are things we can't do there are things we ought to speak up about but that's not going to tell people we're christians are going to think we're just a bunch of religious fanatics which is fine okay i'm all right with that but jesus says the one way they really know you my disciples is if you love one another don grow weary of doing good especially to those in the household of faith Why Because people will know that we are disciples of Jesus when we love one another That will shine like light in the darkness. And so there's a priority of testimony here as well.

So what ought we to do? What ought we to do? Well, don't be deceived. Don't grow weary. Don't give up. Make every opportunity.

Don't miss any opportunity. Now listen, there's one who's done that. There's one who's done that. His name is Jesus. Now you think about it. Did Jesus grow weary in doing good?

No, he certainly was not deceived and he certainly didn't miss any opportunity. And what did he get for it? He got nailed to a cross. Isn't that right? Yeah, it's right. But you know what?

He's been exalted to the right hand of God. He has been exalted to the right hand of God. None of it was in vain. And the scriptures tell us that what happened to Jesus will happen to us. We too will be exalted. So don't be deceived.

Right? Don't grow weary. Don miss any opportunity We have a Savior who did it And a Savior who by His death has destroyed the power of sin over us. So we can do those things. And so that's what we need to do. At the end of Bible School week, we're all going, this is exhausting.

And you start thinking, do we want to do this? the answer is yeah if not that other things point is don't don't grow weary take every opportunity Father thank you for your word thank you for a Savior who has conquered the power of sin over us so that we can walk a life that isn't one of deception so that we can keep going and not grow weary so we can take every opportunity. We confess to you, Father, that we miss the mark. And yet we thank you for a Savior who has died for that and then who says, keep going.

Help us to do that. Thank you for your word to us this morning. We need to hear it. Thank you for being a kind Father and directing our steps. Father, help us to continue to take those steps, we pray. In Jesus' name, amen.