E413: Don't Grow Weary in Well Doing

Speaker 0 (0:00): My bible is open to Jeremiah chapter 19. I invite you to open up your bible there. Please meet me there as well. Jeremiah chapter 19. As you are turning there, I wanna ask a couple of questions.

Speaker 0 (0:12): Have you ever done the right thing? And it feels like it actually made your life a lot more challenging. You've been faithful and yet your life feels like it actually has gotten worse. Maybe you are that wife who is striving to be submissive to your husband. Despite all of that, your husband still treats you harshly.

Speaker 0 (0:32): Maybe you're the husband that seeks to love your wife as Christ loved the church and yet there's still a lack of respect from your spouse. Maybe you shared with another brother or sister in Christ your concern about their faith or the path that they're taking and they simply no longer respond to you. If you've gone through something like that, then you can understand exactly what Jeremiah was going through, the prophet in chapter 19. We're gonna see that Jeremiah was a faithful prophet of God, a man whose heart was after following God and yet was still punished. We pick up the story in Jeremiah chapter 19 and verse one where the Bible says, thus says the lord, go and buy a potter's earthenware jar and take some of the elders of the people and some of the senior priests.

Speaker 0 (1:21): Later on in the chapter in verse number 10, the lord is gonna tell him that you're gonna break this jar in the sight of the men who accompany you. This is going to be like a sign to them about what god was going to do to them. In verse two, he says, go out to the Valley Of Ben Hinnom which is by the entrance of the Potzer Gate and proclaim there the words that I tell you and say, hear the word of the lord. Oh kings of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem. So, we see his audience.

Speaker 0 (1:49): Thus, says the lord of hosts, the god of Israel. Behold, I'm about to bring a calamity upon this place at which the ears of everyone that hears of it will tingle. He tells them why. It is because of their sinful conduct. They have forsaken me in verse four and have made this an alien place and have burned sacrifices in it to other gods that neither they nor their forefathers nor the kings of Judah had ever known and because they had filled this place with the blood of the innocent.

Speaker 0 (2:20): They built high places of Baal to burn their sons and the fire as burnt offerings to Baal a thing which I never commanded or spoke of nor did it ever enter my mind. They're engaged in such sinful conduct. None of this was ever part of god's will for them. And so the days are coming, he says in verse number six, you'll no longer shall be called Topheth or the Valley Of Ben Hinnom, but rather the Valley Of Slaughter. Judgment is coming coming upon them.

Speaker 0 (2:47): The prophet of God, Jeremiah, listens to God. He is obedient to God, and he does exactly what God says. And he tells the people what's going to happen. And in verse number 11, he says to them, thus says the Lord of hosts, just so will I break this people. He's broken that jar And this city, even as one breaks a potter's vessel, which cannot be again repaired, and they will be and they will bury in Topheth because there is no other place for burial.

Speaker 0 (3:17): This is how I will treat this place and its inhabitants, declares the Lord, so as to make this city like Topeth. Their hearts were stiffened. Verse 15, thus says the lord of hosts, the god of Israel, behold, I'm about to bring on this city and all its towns the entire calamity that I have declared against it because they have stiffened their necks so as not to heed my words. Verse chapter 20 and verse one, when Pastor the priest, the son of Imor, who was chief officer in the house of the Lord, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things. Jeremiah did exactly what God told him to do.

Speaker 0 (3:53): Pastor had Jeremiah, the prophet, look at this, beaten and put him in the stocks that were at the Upper Benjamin Gate, which is by the house of the Lord. He was faithful to God, yet he still suffered. Now on the next day in verse three, he's gonna release Jeremiah and Jeremiah's gonna continue on. We see his faithfulness to God even more. Pasher is not the name the Lord has called you, but rather Magor Misabib.

Speaker 0 (4:19): For thus says the lord, behold, I'm going to make you a terror to yourself and to all your friends. And while your eyes look on, they will fall by the sword of their enemies. So I will give over all Judah to the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will carry them away as exiles to Babylon and will slay them with the sword. Now here's where it really hits home for us, at least at times it can. Jeremiah is gonna pour out his heart in the last half of this chapter.

Speaker 0 (4:46): He is passionate for God, speaking and proclaiming the words of God. But notice what he's also experiencing in verse seven. He says, oh Lord, you have deceived me, and I was deceived. You have overcome me and prevailed. I've become a laughingstock all day long.

Speaker 0 (5:05): Everyone mocks me. I I'm doing your will, God, and this is what the result is. I'm doing your work, and yet this is what I'm experiencing. For each time I speak, I cry aloud. I proclaim violence and destruction because for me, the word of the Lord has resulted in reproach and derision all day long.

Speaker 0 (5:24): God, your message is not popular and it's really hurting me at this time physically with what I'm going through. And there seems to be this decision moment. Jeremiah has to decide, what am I gonna do? If I quit, what's gonna happen? If I stop doing God's will, what what's gonna happen?

Speaker 0 (5:49): And he says in verse number nine, but if I say I will not remember him or speak anymore in his name, maybe I should just stop prophesying. Make my life a lot easier. Ever felt that way? Maybe I should just stop going down this path? He says or speak anymore in his name, then in my heart, it becomes like a burning fire.

Speaker 0 (6:11): If I don't say anything, it's all just gonna be bottled up anyway, God's word in my heart. Shut up in my bones, he says, and I'm weary of holding it in. It's hard preaching and prophesying with the pain that it brings, but it would be much worse for me not to say anything and to hold your word in my heart. And he said, I cannot endure it. I can't keep this a secret.

Speaker 0 (6:41): I'm gonna proclaim it. Jeremiah goes back and forth. He has these range of emotions as he is seeking to do the work of God. And later on, he's gonna put his mind back on god despite what he's going to experience, despite what his friends say in verse 10 but he goes in verse 11 and says, but the lord is with me like a dread champion. Therefore, my persecutors will stumble and not prevail.

Speaker 0 (7:10): They will be utterly ashamed because they have failed with an everlasting disgrace that will not be forgotten. Yet, oh lord of hosts, you who test the righteous, he turns his attention back to god and not merely the challenges that he had. No doubt he was weary and tired, but he remembered God. You who see the mind and the heart, let me see your vengeance on them for you to you, I have set forth my call. Sing to the Lord.

Speaker 0 (7:35): Praise the Lord for he has delivered the soul of the needy one from the hand of evildoers. I love this story of Jeremiah because it's a nice snapshot of sometimes what we may experience in our lives. Doing the right thing and yet life still remains difficult. He was a faithful man of god. He was a man after god's own heart and he sought to love god with all of his heart.

Speaker 0 (7:57): And I'm bringing all of this up because this is our theme. We're five months into the year, loving God with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength. And that's what Jeremiah did. His focus was on God and not just merely his physical circumstances that he was experiencing. Our theme has come from Mark chapter 12 verses 29 through 30.

Speaker 0 (8:18): Hero Israel, the lord our god is one lord and you shall love the lord your god with all of your heart and with all of your soul and with all of your mind and with all of your strength. Well, that has to be the same for us. But sometimes, life gets tough, doesn't it? And maybe for some of us here, we may be thinking, I'm pretty tired. And what I'm trying to do is really challenging for God.

Speaker 0 (8:45): How are we to respond? Well, our theme text is gonna come for this month from Galatians chapter six. In Galatians chapter six, a passage given to us to focus on for the month as we think about this theme of loving God with all of our heart, mind, soul, and strength, we wanna focus on today and for the rest of the month not to become weary in well doing. Not to become weary in well doing. The apostle Paul in Galatians chapter six and verses nine and ten, he said, let us not lose heart in doing good.

Speaker 0 (9:21): Let us not lose heart in doing good for in due time, we will reap if we do not grow weary. So then while we have opportunity, let us do good to all people and especially to those who are the household of faith. And the thing about this text that the elders wanted us to focus upon today and in the month of May, it got me thinking about a couple of things. We're almost halfway through the year, and this is where things can really sometimes become a little bit more challenging, right? Our focus sometimes, we can lose sight of what we are trying to accomplish and who we are trying to be.

Speaker 0 (9:54): And it is often difficult to loo to not lose heart and to not grow weary in doing good. And then I thought about why would Paul have to say this to the saints in in Galatia, to the churches of Galatia at the end of this letter, not to lose heart in doing good. For in due time, we will reap if we don't grow weary. Well, he reminds them that this is a command. This is an expectation that God has for them.

Speaker 0 (10:22): And there's a promise if they will follow through with what god says. And so he is going to encourage them. And I think a number of reasons from the media context and from the overall context of the book will help us to see why he's gonna encourage them not to grow weary in well doing. Number one, when you go back to chapter six and verses one and two, he gives them instruction about how they are to interact and help one another. He says, brethren, if anyone is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness.

Speaker 0 (10:53): Each one looking to yourself so that you too will not be tempted. Bear one another's burdens and there fulfill the law of Christ. That's a great work for all of us to be engaged in Yet, sometimes that can be a really tiring endeavor as well and so they needed to be encouraged not to lose heart in doing good. We know from the beginning of the letter in chapter one that there were some who were proclaiming a different gospel which is not another. According to Galatians chapter one verses six through nine and some of them had already deserted the gospel that Jesus or that Paul had given to them from Jesus Christ and teaching against and fighting against false doctrine can cause brethren to become weary as well.

Speaker 0 (11:36): We know as well that doing good doesn't always bring about fast results. There is a sowing and yet there will be a reaping but sometimes that may take a little bit longer than what we sometimes can imagine. In chapter five and verse 15, he's gonna warn them about not devouring one another. He says, but if you bite and devour one another, take care that you're not consumed by one another. He's gonna have to encourage them at the end of chapter five and verse 26 not to become boastful and challenging one another, envying one another.

Speaker 0 (12:07): There seems like there's some internal strain going on as well with the brethren and that will cause brethren to become weary sometimes in well doing. There's often a personal cost when it comes to being faithful to God and to his will. Paul expounds upon this in Galatians chapter four and verse number 16 where he is correcting these Christians and he says, have I become your enemy because I tell you the truth? And sometimes that can be cause others or Christians to become weary as well. And sometimes we can just get weary and well doing.

Speaker 0 (12:45): It's just human nature. Sometimes human nature of just discouragement creeping in can happen. But he encourages them. In verse number nine, let us not lose heart in doing good. For in due time, we will reap if we do not grow weary.

Speaker 0 (13:07): He would say in verse number eight, 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 that's where all of our focus needs to be as we seek to love God with all of our heart, with all of our soul, with all of our mind, and with all of our strength. Loving God this way with all of our hearts, brothers and sisters, is not merely knowing the right thing to do, but also having the endurance to do it, to follow through with it. And so I wanna ask and I wanna explore how can we not become weary in well doing? How do we do that when life gets hard and life gets challenging?

Speaker 0 (13:55): Well, what better place to begin than with our savior, Jesus Christ? I have four observations I wanna share with you this morning. Number one, I want us to consider Jesus and as we think about service and doing good, not just to those of the household of faith which we should but to all men, How did Jesus serve while he was on Earth? A couple of quick passages I want you to think about. This was his mission to seek and to serve and to save the lost.

Speaker 0 (14:20): In Mark chapter 10 and verse number 45, this is what Jesus said. In Mark 10 and verse number 45, he talks about why he came. For even the son of man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many. He came to do good and to serve and to ultimately die on the cross. We can look at his workload from a variety of perspectives.

Speaker 0 (14:47): We know earlier in Mark chapter one that Jesus was seeking and constantly doing good, whether it was through preaching, whether it's through miracles. In Mark chapter one, he performed a miracle in the synagogue. And right after that, he goes to Peter's house and heals his mother-in-law in Mark chapter one and verse number 29. We know that he's gonna be engaged in prayer in Mark chapter one and verses thirty four and thirty five, and everyone is looking for him. Constantly throughout his ministry, he came to serve and did it in so many different ways.

Speaker 0 (15:20): Now, it is interesting that the Holy Spirit does record for us that there were moments where he did get tired. He was in the flesh. In John chapter four and verse number six, remember when he went to the well? In John chapter four and verse number six, when he has this encounter with the Samaritan woman, the Bible says in John chapter four and verse number six, so Jesus being wearied from his journey was sitting thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour.

Speaker 0 (15:49): We know that his soul was deeply grieved when he was in the Garden Of Gethsemane as well according to Matthew 26 and verse number 38. But there has to be a very clear distinction that we take away from all of this. Yeah, he was wearied and tired in the flesh but he was never he never grew weary and well doing or quit in doing the will of God. He was tired in the flesh, but he talked to that woman in John chapter four, and that changed that woman's life and so many others in Samaria as well. He never grew weary in doing the will of God.

Speaker 0 (16:27): He was tired, but he was not done. And he did not become weary in well doing in a variety of ways. When you think about the work that he engaged in with the apostles, that would have been something that would have could have caused a lot of people to become weary in. But he didn't grow weary in teaching them. Let me just share with you a couple of examples of what I mean by this.

Speaker 0 (16:47): I'm looking at Mark chapter four and verse number 40. Jesus was patient all throughout teaching his apostles and preparing them for the work that was to come. In Mark chapter four and verse number forty and forty one, he's gonna have to teach them about their faith and encourage them there. And he said to them, why are you are afraid? Why are you afraid?

Speaker 0 (17:08): Do you still have no faith? They became very much afraid and said to one another, who then is this that even the wind and the sea obey him? No doubt there was frustration that took place with the apostles. Look over in Mark or Matthew chapter 16. And yet through it all, Jesus did not grow weary in well doing and helping them to prepare them for their work.

Speaker 0 (17:31): In Matthew chapter 16, Matthew chapter 16 as he talked to his disciples in verse five, the disciples came to the other side of the sea, but they had forgotten to bring any bread. And Jesus said to them, watch out and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees. They began to discuss this among themselves saying, he said that because we did not bring any bread. But Jesus aware of this said, you men of little faith. He's constantly teaching them and encouraging them.

Speaker 0 (18:00): Why do you discuss among yourselves that you have no bread? He could have gotten weary and given up, but he he he did not. He didn't grow weary in well doing preparing these men even when it was challenging with situations like with Peter later on in Matthew 16. Remember in verse 21 where Jesus said from that time or the text says from that time, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed and be raised up on the third day? Peter took him aside the audacity of this apostle and began to rebuke him saying, god forbid it lord.

Speaker 0 (18:40): This shall never happen to you. But he turned and said to Peter, get behind me, Satan. You're a stumbling block to me. You're not setting your mind on God's interests but man's. Now, Jesus did the work that God sent him to do.

Speaker 0 (18:59): And he did the work with the apostles, the heavy lifting with them, correcting them with the petty disputes that they had, which one of us is going to be the greatest, and he would teach them truth and and would have to trust them when he sent them out in Matthew chapter 10 to accomplish his will as well. And he certainly did not grow weary and praying for them before the crucifixion in John chapter 17. Jesus is still focused on accomplishing his work and he prays specifically for himself, for the apostles, and for the entire world. He would say in John chapter 17 in verse number 15, I do not ask you to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one. They're not of the world even as I am not of the world.

Speaker 0 (19:47): Sanctify them in the truth. Your word is true. As you sent me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. He prayed for them. He was patient with them.

Speaker 0 (19:58): He encouraged them. He encouraged Peter in Luke chapter 22 verses 31 through 33, specifically telling him, I know exactly what you're going to do. Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail and that and you, when once you have turned again, strengthen your brothers all throughout his ministry. He was there for his apostles engaged in the work. He was there encouraging them, teaching them, rebuking them.

Speaker 0 (20:39): And that's not to mention all the other things that he was doing in his life at that time. Whether it was performing miracles and in preaching and ultimately dying on the cross. That's how Jesus served, With the spirit of seeking to do what was pleasing in sight in the sight of god. You see, he was able to do this because he had the bigger picture in mind. For god so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life.

Speaker 0 (21:10): He had a bigger picture in mind for the apostles. He knew that they would go out after his death and after his resurrection and after his ascension and do even greater works. John 14 and verse number 12, he said, truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in me, the works that I do, he will do also and greater works than these, he will do because I go to the father, greater in scope and how they would go out on the day of Pentecost and 3,000 souls would be saved in one day. He saw the bigger picture that allowed him to continue to endure all of this and not grow weary in well doing. The other bigger picture is eternity and that's how he was able to endure all of this.

Speaker 0 (21:57): Let us not lose heart in doing good. Our savior did not. You see, his example actually was a motivation for his apostles as well. You look at their lives, they did the exact same thing. The second thought I want you to take note of is that the apostles served the same way.

Speaker 0 (22:13): Their perspective was not temporary, and it wasn't based upon the physical circumstances. It was based upon the bigger picture of heaven. The moments that would cause many to become weary seem to empower them to rely on Christ even more. Two examples of this will be sufficient. After Peter and John are released in Acts chapter four, they go back to the apostles in Acts chapter four.

Speaker 0 (22:38): Punishment, persecution is increasing. After they had performed a miracle, bad things happen to them as well, but they're released from prison. And in verse 23, when they had been released, they went to their own companions and reported all that the chief priests and the elders had said to them. And when they heard this, they lifted their voices to God with one accord and said, oh, Lord, it is you who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them. The the persecution and the difficult days did not stop them from growing weary and doing good.

Speaker 0 (23:16): They still sought to accomplish the will of God in their lives. The Bible says in verse 31, when they had prayed, the place where they had gathered together was shaken, and they were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God with boldness. You see, there was no stopping them, not because of their own strength, but because of their perspective and their love for God and understanding who Jesus is and what he had accomplished. In Acts chapter 14, we find Paul and I believe Barnabas traveling. In Acts chapter 14 and verse number 19, we see Paul being stoned.

Speaker 0 (23:53): The Jews came from Antioch and Aconium and having won over the crowds, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing him to be dead. But Paul is actually gonna go back to the same place where he was beaten. Who would do such a thing? And why? It was because their love for God.

Speaker 0 (24:15): While the disciples stood around, he got up, he entered the city. The next day, he went away with Barnabas to Derby and after they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch. You see, there was something bigger at play for the apostles. They were strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, encouraging them not to grow weary in well doing, encouraging them to finish their race, continuing the faith and saying through many tribulations, we must enter the kingdom of God. That's a fact of life.

Speaker 0 (24:52): That we're gonna have many tribulations we're gonna experience. Before the apostles, that didn't mean that they suddenly are gonna quit and stop or grow weary in doing good and lose heart. No, they just continue to rely even more upon the grace and strength of god. I think about Paul as he talks about in second Corinthians chapter four, a reminder of the perspective that all of us must have in this world. In second Corinthians chapter four verses sixteen, seventeen, and 18, He says, second Corinthians four and verse 16, therefore, we do not lose heart.

Speaker 0 (25:27): But though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison. While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal. You see, that's the perspective that's gonna be required for us to not lose heart and grow weary in doing good.

Speaker 0 (25:57): That's what Paul had and very much like the prophet Jeremiah. He's beaten. He's thrown into prison but the word of god still is being proclaimed. God's work is still being accomplished as well. Paul knew who he was in Christ, which would help him to be able to endure and which will be extremely valuable for us as we seek to not grow weary in well doing.

Speaker 0 (26:20): I think about first Corinthians chapter 15 In first Corinthians chapter 15 and verse number 10, where Paul says this, but by the grace of God, I am what I am. And his grace toward me did not prove vain, but I labored even more than all of them. Yet not I, but the grace of God with me. That's how he was able to accomplish what he did. Not because of his strength, but rather his strength in God.

Speaker 0 (26:45): His identity was bigger than the pain that he would experience. His identity and understanding the love of God is how he would continue to be able to persevere and not grow weary. Which takes us to making sure that we as Christians, as we think about Mark chapter twelve twenty nine through 30, loving god with all of our heart, we better have the proper perspective. If we don't have this proper perspective, how does a proper perspective on loving God first affect our willingness to work for Him? It's everything.

Speaker 0 (27:17): And if we don't have it, that word if is so important. If we don't have the proper perspective, we're not gonna last. Not only must we have the proper perspective, it has to be eternal in nature. It has to be way bigger than me and you to not grow weary in well doing. We're gonna help those who are caught up in trespasses.

Speaker 0 (27:47): If we're gonna help one another and encourage one another and cease from engaging in desires of the flesh, it has to be way bigger than just us. Our alignment, our mindset, our attitude must be in alignment with the mind of God. And that's what Paul emphasized to the saints in Philippi. Even with those women who were not getting along in Philippians chapter four, and maybe for others as well, we need to have the mind of Christ. Have this attitude in Philippians two and verse five.

Speaker 0 (28:19): Don't merely look out for your own personal interest in verse four, but also for the interest of others. Have this attitude in yourselves, which was also in Christ Jesus. What was his attitude? What was his mind? It was one of humility and one of sacrifice and one of love and one of service.

Speaker 0 (28:37): And if we don't have that, we're just gonna we're not gonna make it. We're not gonna be able to do all of this. You see, Christ did all of this due to his love for God and ultimately being pleasing and desiring to be pleasing to the father. John chapter eight and verse twenty eight and twenty nine. His motivation and his foundation was love in everything that he did.

Speaker 0 (28:59): And that is how we will be successful and not growing weary or losing heart. But we must make sure that our perspective is right. And the more I think about this, it's our duty in Luke 17 and verse number 10 to do what God wants us to do. Not to not to earn our salvation, not to boast of ourselves or our righteousness, but because of who God is and what he's done for us. In Luke 17 and verse 10, he says, so you too, when you do all the things which are commanded you, say, we're unworthy slaves.

Speaker 0 (29:33): We have done only that which we have ought to done. It's it's not to to prove ourselves how good we are or to show other people how great we are. It's because of our love for God and it's because it's our service to God. For this to happen, we have to make sure that we understand and comprehend the love of God. I think about Ephesians chapter one, where Paul prays for the saints.

Speaker 0 (30:01): He says, understanding God's love for us. That's gonna be how we change our perspective. To make sure if we have this perspective on loving God first, it's gonna lead to everything becoming better, greater gratitude and thanksgiving. And Paul rehearses to the saints in Ephesus who they are in Christ, and he prays for them in Ephesians chapter one that they may be enlightened to understand this, to comprehend the riches of his glory. In Ephesians one and verse 18, it says, I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened so that you will know what is a hope of his calling.

Speaker 0 (30:37): What are the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints? The more we can focus upon what god has done and his grace and his hope and his redemption through his son, Jesus Christ. And the grace that he has lavished upon us, man, that's gonna make it so much easier not to grow weary in well doing because it's all about him anyway. And Paul is gonna emphasize this to the saints. That's the proper perspective.

Speaker 0 (31:04): If we don't have that, if we don't understand what's at the foundation of all we're doing, then we're not gonna be able to be sustainable and not grow weary in well doing. So it has to start with love for God first. It has to begin with loving God with all of our hearts. And I will tell you, brothers and sisters, when we individually decide to do this, when we decide and to love God with all of our hearts and not to grow weary in well doing, To take up our cross every day, it will help this church, the West Main Church of Christ function better. How?

Speaker 0 (31:41): How will it help this church if we do not become weary in well doing? There's that word if. It's a choice. But if we decide, by the grace of God, I'm gonna remain with him and not grow weary in well doing, it will change everything here. I think about Acts chapter nine and verse 31.

Speaker 0 (32:08): In Acts chapter nine, when you turn over there, we get a snapshot of the church in Acts chapter nine. I believe this is what every congregation desires to have here in Acts chapter nine. And it is possible. And it will help us to function better. As you're turning there, you know what will not help us?

Speaker 0 (32:27): Engaging in works of the flesh. That's what he says in Galatians chapter five. What will not help this church, the West Main Church of Christ is engaging in sexual immorality, is engaging in jealousy, engaging in envying, engaging in boasting, engaging in lying. Those are all the works of the flesh and we will not inherit eternal life. Not only will not help this church, it will cause us to miss out individually on heaven if we decide to go down this path.

Speaker 0 (32:56): If we practice these things, that's what he says in Galatians chapter five. Don't have sex until you get married. Keep yourself pure and present yourself to your bride and to your husband pure. We must cleanse our hearts and ask god to create a new heart in us. If we don't grow weary in well doing, we can have what we see here in Acts chapter nine and verse 31.

Speaker 0 (33:21): So the church throughout all Judea and and Galilee and Samaria enjoyed peace being built up and going on in the fear of the lord and in the comfort of the holy spirit, it continued to increase. The sins of the flesh often get in the way of the church functioning the way God desires for it to function. Whatever your local church desires is peace, edification, and comfort through the Holy Spirit. And if we do not lose heart in doing good, we can have this. Word edify comes from a word meaning house builder.

Speaker 0 (34:11): The church here in Acts nine thirty one and Judea and Galilee and Samaria, they were being built up as a house might be. How? Well, the text tells us in verse 31 that these saints were going on in the fear of the lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit. They were walking by the spirit as Paul said in Galatians five and verse 16. And they were being led by the spirit as Paul says in Galatians five and verse 18.

Speaker 0 (34:43): And they were being built up. They were encouraging one another. And all of this involves truth and the proper motivation of eternity with God and teaching and training and interaction with one another. These Christians helped where they were in those churches to function better because of their attitude, their perspective, and not growing weary and losing heart. You see, was spiritual maturity, and that term edification or being built up is so important for all of us and it will require us not growing weary and doing the work of god.

Speaker 0 (35:22): Edification is the application of Bible truth to my life, to your life, and the circumstances and I'm more like Jesus. And that's what they were striving to be. And if we can be like Jesus and not lose heart. And be like the apostles and not lose heart. West Main Church of Christ will function even better.

Speaker 0 (35:42): What might be some ways that we will function even better? Let me give you a few parting thoughts and then we'll wrap up this lesson here. As we think about this example that we have in Acts nine thirty one, we know that it is possible. It's possible to continue to be built up. It's possible to continue to increase.

Speaker 0 (36:01): One of the things that we will have and one of the ways that West Main will function better will function a lot better in saving souls. No one who walks through these doors will go unnoticed. We'll be engaged in the work of evangelism. Notice that's the last section of verse 31. The last part of verse 31.

Speaker 0 (36:18): As they're enjoying peace, being built up, and going on the fear of the lord, it continued to increase. If we don't become weary in well doing, so will we. Not just numerically but spiritually as well. Another way that we will function better if we don't grow weary, it's gonna be much harder for a brother or sister who is struggling to eventually drift away. Not saying that a person cannot drift away.

Speaker 0 (36:48): We've had brethren here despite years of attention and encouragement and bible studies. They have just gone and fallen away from the lord. But we will function better if we don't lose heart and those who are spiritual help those who are caught in any trespasses. I think about Jude where Jude says, keep yourselves in verse 21 in the love of god. Waiting anxiously for the mercy of our lord Jesus Christ to eternal life.

Speaker 0 (37:18): And have mercy on some who are doubting. Save others, snatching them out of the fire, and on some have mercy with fear, hating even the garment polluted by the flesh. That requires effort and endurance and persistence. And we will be more focused if we don't lose heart in doing good of helping those and saving brethren from the fire. It will be at least more challenging for brothers and sisters in Christ to drift away.

Speaker 0 (37:48): Not only that, but we will continue to excel still more. If we don't lose heart and well doing, sometimes we can focus solely on those who are weak and struggling and on the verge of drifting away, but we can't forget those who are doing well either. And Paul reminded and encouraged the saints in first Thessalonians chapter four, you are doing quite well and I want you to continue to excel still more. You may be tired and you may be struggling, but yet you're doing good. This church was born out of suffering.

Speaker 0 (38:19): But he encouraged them, just as you are walking and pleasing God, I want you to keep that going. And our church will continue to function better if we remain on the course even for those who are doing well. It will help us to prepare the next generation as well if we don't grow weary in well doing. Young people won't necessarily fall through the cracks or necessarily feel invisible, but we'll help them in their journey with God. And as Paul said, or I'm sorry, as Luke said in Acts chapter nine and verse number 31, the church in Judea and in those other regions in Acts chapter nine and verse 31, they enjoyed peace.

Speaker 0 (39:02): And if we do not become weary in well doing, this will help us to continue to have peace as we make heaven our home. But it does require each of us individually to make the decision to not grow weary in well doing. To make the decision every day. I'm not gonna give up. I'm not gonna I am going to take up my cross.

Speaker 0 (39:28): I am going to be engaged in this work. I am going to stay connected with my brothers and sisters in Christ. Do not lose heart in doing good. Paul said in Galatians chapter six in verse number nine, let us not lose heart in doing good for in due time, we will reap if we do not grow weary. A marathon runner doesn't quit at mile 20.

Speaker 0 (40:00): They see the finish line, and the same is true for us. The finish line is near and that finish line is heaven, which means we can't grow weary. God sees our labor according to Hebrews six and verses 11 through 13. So don't become sluggish now. He sees the work that we're involved in.

Speaker 0 (40:18): And as Paul said, there is a harvest that is coming. Let us finish the race and continue to stay engaged and be involved in what God has created us to be. In Ephesians chapter two, he says, for by grace you have been saved through faith and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not as a result of works so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them. Don't grow weary in well doing.

Speaker 0 (41:02): We can do that by God's grace. And if you are in need of his saving grace, salvation from your sins through faith in Jesus, we want to help you today. You can be saved today by his grace if you're willing to believe Jesus is the son of God, if you're willing to turn from your sins and be immersed in water for the forgiveness of your sins. That's what we find in the word of God. We'd love to help you right now.

Unknown Speaker (41:29): Let's stand. Let's sing.