One more Song for You
Galatians 6:9-10 The Voice (VOICE)
9 May we never tire of doing what is good and right before our Lord because in His season we shall bring in a great harvest if we can just persist. 10 So seize any opportunity the Lord gives you to do good things and be a blessing to everyone, especially those within our faithful family.
Anyone who is been in Indiana for any length of time, knows that this time of year is known as harvest Time. The farmers have worked all year up to this point without any reward for their effort and now has come the time when they reap the results of what they have sown.
The farmers do the same thing year in and year out, over and over. Sometimes they have great harvest, when the abundance of rain and sunshine are prevalent and then again there are times when all the work doesn’t seem like its worth all the effort!
But still, when your called to be a farmer you’re a farmer and you know sometimes there may be lean times, but more times than not the results always outweigh the risk and investment! Therefore perseverance is your mainstay to keep doing what you know you’re called to do.
Spiritually speaking, our relationship with Jesus requires us to have the same qualities of a farmer, only we’re looking for a harvest of souls for the Kingdom. A chance to share God’s opportunity of eternal life, for all who will come and willingly accept His Son as Lord and Saviour!
The opportunity for those who have decided to participate know, is extraordinary and filled with God’s goodness at every turn. Still at times, what one would think would be an easy decision and abundant harvest, ends in disappointment.
The all knowing God we serve knew there would be times when the burden for souls would be greater than what the harvest would appear to be on the horizon and those who are called to participate in the harvest would need an encouraging word.
Vs 9 May we never tire of doing what is good and right before our Lord because in His season we shall bring in a great harvest if we can just persist.
Vs 10 of our text says, “So seize any opportunity the Lord gives you to do good things and be a blessing to everyone, especially those within our faithful family.”
How many of you know when God wants to get a word to you, He has a wide array of things to use at His disposal. Music is one of the ways God uses, TBS says God inhabits our praise.
Illus. The Imperials “One more song for you”
As long as there is time, and one breath left in me
There will always be one more song for You
And as long as there is room for one more voice in praise
And a need for a word of love and truth, to help my brother through
There’ll be one more song for You
You were there with your songs of laughter, words of hope for my fears
But what are songs when no one else will sing them
What are words when no one hears
Every day was filled with questions, and when I asked, no one knew
Till I found the answer in You
All down through Bible history, there has always been someone willing to pick themselves back up, not give up and keep on going until God called them to their reward. Because of their collective effort, we sit here today with an inheritance as adopted sons and daughters of the most high God!
There has always been one unwilling to let the rocks cry out, to stand up and be counted, who was willing to persevere and say,
“As long as there is time, and one breath left in me
There will always be one more song for You
And as long as there is room for one more voice in praise
And a need for a word of love and truth, to help my brother through
There’ll be one more song for You”
Genesis 18:17-28 NKJ
17 And the Lord said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing, 18 since Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? 19 For I have known him, in order that he may command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of the Lord, to do righteousness and justice, that the Lord may bring to Abraham what He has spoken to him.” 20 And the Lord said, “Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grave, 21 I will go down now and see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry against it that has come to Me; and if not, I will know.”
22 Then the men turned away from there and went toward Sodom, but Abraham still stood before the Lord. 23 And Abraham came near and said, “Would You also destroy the righteous with the wicked? 24 Suppose there were fifty righteous within the city; would You also destroy the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous that were in it? 25 Far be it from You to do such a thing as this, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be as the wicked; far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?”
26 So the Lord said, “If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes.”
How many of us have ever tried to negotiate ourselves a deal and thought to ourselves, did I say 50? What I really meant to say was a somewhat less amount than what you agreed you would take! That’s exactly what Abraham was thinking!
27 Then Abraham answered and said, “Indeed now, I who am but dust and ashes have taken it upon myself to speak to the Lord: 28 Suppose there were five less than the fifty righteous; would You destroy all of the city for lack of five?”
So He said, “If I find there forty-five, I will not destroy it.”
God goes along with Abraham’s deal or no deal and Abraham suddenly thinks to himself, if it worked once just maybe. And even though Abraham’s concern is grave for his family, Abraham’s cat and mouse
Continues with a merciful God until we read;
32 Then he said, “Let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak but once more: Suppose ten should be found there?”
And He said, “I will not destroy it for the sake of ten.” 33 So the Lord went His way as soon as He had finished speaking with Abraham; and Abraham returned to his place.
We know the story of Abraham’s concern for Sodom and Gomorrah, for his nephew and his family were living there. And I’m sure Abraham had tried to influence and witness to his nephew Lot many times in his lifetime about the things of God with little success.
He could have easily done nothing, but said he told him so! Instead Abraham chose to say;
“as long as there is room for one more voice in praise
And a need for a word of love and truth, to help my brother through
There’ll be one more song for You”
God did not find 10 righteous people in the city. And God did destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, but honored Abraham’s plea and spared Lot and his family except for Lots wife because she couldn’t let go and looked back at what she was leaving behind!
It’s easy to get discouraged when our family turns away and won’t listen to the voice of reason and what we know is right. And that’s why God encourages us to not grow weary in well doing.
Everyone gets tired and restless of well doing, Kids get tired and restless of new toys, millionaires get tired and restless with having money and what it can buy them, vacationers get tired and restless of sunsets and long for home.
But God Says even though you may tire, don’t quit because the results will be worth the effort in due time, if you faint not.
The story of Moses and the deliverance of the people of Israel is a similar story. There are many occasions Moses may have wondered if everything he was doing, was worth the effort.
Through gods help, Moses performed miracle after miracle for the children of Israel in their deliverance to the promised land. But because of their murmuring and complaining, the journey that should’ve taken two weeks to complete, took nearly 40 years.
But Moses, even through all of His mistakes kept coming back to;
“As long as there is time, and one breath left in me
There will always be one more song for You,
To help my brother through, they’ll be one more song for you!”
Because of Moses faithfulness, God’s people the ones who preserverd, finally made it to the “Promised Land” and are still God’s chosen people today and those who chose to bless them are a blessed nation and a blessed people!
The story of the apostle Paul is also a story of perseverance and unrelenting obedience, to the calling God placed upon his life! One that saw him miraculously change from the inside out and witnessed firsthand the grace and mercy, along with the forgiveness and deliverance only the Almighty God could give.
Paul was Shipwrecked, beaten, wrongfully accused and imprisoned numerous times. All the while, writing what some theologians and scholars believe to be 2/3 of the New Testament, known as God’s new covenant called Grace!
The souls and the harvest of the results of his life are a number only God knows and we enjoy his writings still today because he was willing to say;
“As long as there is time, and one breath left in me
There will always be one more song for You,
To help my brother through, they’ll be one more song for you!”
Billy Graham, who recently went on to his reward to be with God, is known to have preached to more people than any other preacher in the history of the world.
Illus from Sermon Central
Before there was ever a Billy Graham, there was a man called Mordecai Ham.
Mordecai Ham was born April 2, 1877, in Scottsville, Kentucky. He came from eight generations of Baptist preachers.
He came to Christ by the time he was eight years old and remembers: "At nine I had definite convictions that the Lord wanted me to preach."
But after high school, he changed his plans and went to Ogden College to study law. He was too young for a Bar exam, so his plans changed again and he took a job as a traveling salesman for a grocery company.
From 1897 to 1900 a new plan…he was crew manager for a picture-enlarging firm in Chicago. But at age 21 he finally gave in to God’s plan for him to preach.
In late 1901, Mordecai preached his first sermon and immediately the Lord started using him. He became an itinerant evangelist and led more than 300,000 people to Christ.
During one week in 1934, he was preaching in Charlotte, North Carolina, when a 16-year-old boy heard his message. The boy returned a second night and gave his life to Christ. That 16-year-old boy was William Franklin Graham Jr. Mordecai continued to be faithful in his preaching until the Lord called him home in 1961.
Mordecai Ham as well as Billy Graham said the same thing with zealous Compassion, so many faithful to the calling before said as well;
“As long as there is time, and one breath left in me
There will always be one more song for You,
To help my brother through, they’ll be one more song for you!”
Because of Billy’s faithfulness to the call God placed on his life;
2.2 billion – estimated number of people who heard him preach.
215 million – estimated number of people he preached the gospel to at live events.
2.2 million – estimated number of people at his crusades who responded to the invitations to become a Christian.
185 – estimated number of nations and territories where preached.
I’ve heard many accounts over the years of those who were saved hearing the message of Christ at a Billy Graham Crusade. Jesse Duplantis, who has had tremendous success and has seen thousands come to Christ under his ministry, was saved in a hotel room watching Billy Graham in one of his crusades.
Even this week, a dear lady here in our community, Betty Hall 99 years of age, gave testament of her faith in Christ was from her conversion of Salvation at a Billy Graham crusade.
I witnessed right here in this church my pastor, Pastor Schaffer have the same spirit of compassion and zealousness for the harvest of souls as all have had, that I have shared with you today!
For the night before God called him home, even in the tired state his body was in from the Leukemia he was fighting, he was preaching the word of God with vigor, faithful to his calling!
As I walked him to the car I could sense what his spirit spoke to me said;
“As long as there is time, and one breath left in me
There will always be one more song for You,
To help my brother through, they’ll be one more song for you!”
What a testimony of his faithfulness and I stand here today preaching and you are listening, as a direct result of his faithfulness!
While not all who are called will be obedient, God continues and still calls us all to be faithful and to, “never tire of doing what is good and right before our Lord because in His season we shall bring in a great harvest if we can just persist. So seize any opportunity the Lord gives you to do good things and be a blessing to everyone, especially those within our faithful family.”
I challenge you to to renew the call of God on your life. Keep sowing seed, keep sharing the story, keep watering the seed others have planted and together with God’s ability, we will one day reap the glorious harvest He is expecting when He returns for His Bride!
Let’s pray and thank God for the opportunity He has entrusted us with, renewing the vow our salvation calls us to share until the whole world knows!
