Payday Someday
Text: Heb. 6:10-15
I. God Sees Your Work
a. God is just (v. 10)
i. He sees your work
ii. He sees your love toward Him
iii. How do we show Him our love?
1. Ministering to the saints
2. Ministry assumed to be universal
b. Trial of laboring in obscurity
In Yorkshire, England during the early 1800’s two sons were born to a family named Taylor. The older one set out to make a name for himself by entering Parliament and gaining public prestige. The younger son chose to give his life to Christ. With commitment to Christ, Hudson Taylor turned his face toward China and obscurity. As a result, he is known and honored on every continent as a faithful missionary and the founder of the China Inland Mission. For the other son, however, there is no lasting monument. He became known as simply as the “brother of Hudson Taylor.”
Man’s hall of fame is only good
As long as time shall be;
But keep in mind God’s hall of fame
Is for eternity.
c. Though man may not see or care, God sees and cares!
d. We must work for the right person – He doesn’t forget
II. Keep it Up
a. Until the end (v. 11-12a)
i. Diligence makes our hope more certain
ii. We live for the END
iii. We must not be lazy!
An old missionary couple had been working in Africa for years and were returning home to retire. They had no pension; their health was broken.
On the same ship was President Teddy Roosevelt, who was returning from a hunting expedition. As the passengers disembarked there was a crowd of admirers waiting to greet the President. A band was playing, and the cheers of the crowd were deafening.
But when it was time for the missionary couple to step ashore, there was not a single soul to meet them. So eventually they found a cheap flat, hoping the next day to see what they could do to make a living. (The welcoming committee had become confused about the date on which they were to return!)
Discouraged, he buried his head in his hands and moaned, “God, I didn’t expect a band or a parade, but You could have seen to it that somebody came to welcome us home.”
"Dear, we’re not home yet!" said his wife.
b. Cost of quitting
i. A diet
ii. Quitting college
From 1960 to 1981, Walter Cronkite anchored the CBS News. It’s a position he might have never attained had he let an earlier experience tarnish his determination. At the age of twenty-one, Cronkite was doing what he dreamed of, reporting the news. At KCMO in Kansas City, Missouri, Cronkite was the entire news department of the then small radio station. When he did not handle a story the way his program director insisted, Cronkite was fired. Determination kept him from quitting and he eventually found great success in the newsroom.
Parade, Dec. 15, 1996, p. 16
c. Those who endure will be saved
III. His Promise is Sure
a. God has given us promises (v. 12b-15)
i. God promised a blessing to Abraham
1. At times it looked impossible
a. Costly impatience of Sarai
b. Still another 15 years later
ii. God kept His promise to Abraham
b. Why wouldn’t you believe God?
i. His reputation?
1. Times when He has come through
a. Noah – rainbow
b. Abraham – seed
c. Isaac – seed
d. Jacob – seed
e. David – seed
f. Birth of Samson
g. Birth of Christ
h. Promised no death to people in boat
i. In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began; (Tit 1:2)
ii. His motives?
1. What ulterior motive could He have?
iii. His resources?
1. Limitless
c. Take Him at His word!
i. Faith believes that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him
ii. What is His promise to you?
1. Physical provision:
Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed. (Psa 37:3)
2. Desires of your heart
Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. (Psa 37:4)
3. Answered prayer
Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them. (Mar 11:24)
4. Help in temptation
For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted. (Heb 2:18)
5. Crown of life
Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. (Jam 1:12)
6. Deliverance from all pain and suffering
And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. (Rev 21:4)
Visualization: “I believe God”
Action: What am I doing for the Lord? If I’m doing anything I need to keep it up. If not, I need to start! Faith is not a pill you swallow, but a muscle you use.
Appeal: Take Him at His word!
