27 THE BOOK OF GALATIANS – CHAPTER 6:9-10 - Message 27 – DO NOT GROW WEARY IN DOING GOOD TO ALL - ESPECIALLY TO FELLOW BELIEVERS
Galatians chapter 6 is full of instructions for practical Christian living. They may look simple but they need a lot of help from God to perform correctly in humility, not as some badge of honour. Today’s message is about not easing off or giving in to tiredness. We are not to lose heart in going good
[1]. LOSING HEART AND WEARINESS WILL LOSE THE HARVEST
{{Galatians 6:9 “LET US NOT LOSE HEART IN DOING GOOD, for in due time we shall reap if we DO NOT GROW WEARY,”}}
Tiredness challenges us to overcome us. We must not be overcome in the Lord’s service
Becoming too tired for the task and wanting to give up, especially if the task is long, is part of our human nature. We are all like that and I don’t say it is necessarily wrong. Some things become too heavy; some have no light in the tunnel before them; some may become purposeless to us. We don’t like pursuing something when we see no outcome, for it is judged to be a waste of time. However in the Lord’s work there is to be no slackness.
Close to me there is a steep hill of only 340 metres (about 1100 feet) and now and again I climb it. There is a mountain bike trail that winds around and up and some of it has very steep grades. In one sense it is pleasant enough because it is in tropical rainforest, but it is a slog of endurance, often in high humidity. I might be, maybe, half way up and my body is telling me to stop or that’s enough for this trip.
I push on step by step, stopping a bit more to catch my breath. There are landmarks – a small clearing, or a special tree, and I think, “Yes, there are another 3 or 4 of these markers I know of.” I keep going, and near the end there are a number of blind turns and I go around one thinking, “It might be the next one and I am there.” Sometimes that can happen several times as I forget which turn it is. EVENTUALLY I come around the corner and there is the end! I have reached the top.
Life is like that. Just one more turn maybe. I will keep on for another 2 minutes. Surely it has to be soon. All that, while our minds and bodies might be saying, “That’s it! I’ve had enough!”
Some people are lazy. Some have little motivation. Some have no desire. Some don’t see any priority in the matter. Some have only a little bit of endurance, but no more. Some never, ever consider the final outcome. That is what makes up our world, but what ramifications does all that have for Christians?
[2]. STICK TO THE LORD’S TASK WITHOUT WAVERING
When Paul wrote to the believers in Galatia, he must have considered some of them lacking this quality of endurance because, after all, they soon gave way to the enticing and insidious doctrines of those wanting to place them under the Law. They had little resistance. The Galatians were a fickle people and that suggests to me they were a bit like this adhesive tape and masking tape we now have from China, absolute rubbish that gives way in no time. Sadly my nation is full of Chinese junk when it comes to quality.
We must stick fast in our faith with God to uphold our Christian testimony. Do not be as the Galatians were – {{Galatians 1:6 “I am amazed that YOU ARE SO QUICKLY DESERTING HIM who called you by the grace of Christ for a different gospel.”}}
WHY DO SOME PEOPLE GIVE UP AFTER A WHILE (losing heart) when they seemed like bright stars for the Lord? None of us will ever be able to answer that because there are too many variables but the word of God hints at some reasons.
(a). THE SOIL WAS TOO SHALLOW AND ROCKY. {{Matthew 13:5-6 “Others fell upon THE ROCKY PLACES WHERE THEY DID NOT HAVE MUCH SOIL, and immediately they sprang up because they had no depth of soil, but when the sun had risen they were scorched, and because they had no root they withered away.”}}. Then comes the Lord’s explanation – {{Matthew 13:20-21 “The one on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, this is the man who hears the word and immediately RECEIVES IT WITH JOY, yet he has no firm root in himself, but is only temporary, and when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he falls away.”}}
The expression “receives it with joy” would make you think the person was genuine and really converted but after a while, the star fades and you scarcely see that individual again. You wonder what could be wrong but maybe the soil was too shallow.
(b). THE TRUE TEST OF FAITH IS HARDSHIP. Here is a very pivotal verse for all occasions – {{Romans 10:17 “Therefore faith comes from hearing, and hearing by THE WORD OF CHRIST.”}} You may hear expressed something like this :- “His faith does not seem too good.” “That person seems to have problems applying the word of God.” This brings into question the DEPTH of faith, and questions COMMITMENT. I always say the two great words in a Christian’s life are RELATIONSHIP and COMMITMENT.
Faith results from hearing, but where is hearing centred? It is in the word of Christ. A man and woman who thirsts after the bible, feeding on every word it contains, will develop a stable faith, even soaring to realms on high. When hardship comes knocking at a believer’s life, the door is opened by faith, by that faith that is iron strong because it has fed on the inspired word of God. O, that we were all like that!
(c). DISTRACTIONS OF THIS LIFE. The New Testament has a very sad verse – {{2 Timothy 4:10 “for Demas, having loved this present world, HAS DESERTED ME and gone to Thessalonica; Crescens has gone to Galatia; Titus to Dalmatia.”}} Here is Paul in a Roman prison with no help. The great Apostle is forsaken by many but strengthened by the Lord. It cut his heart to write of Demas.
Demas had been a fellow worker – {{Colossians 4:14 “Luke, the beloved physician, sends you his greetings, and also Demas.”}}. He labored with Paul but then a change came. Paul had to tell Timothy that the world got its claws into Demas, and it was the world Demas loved, not the Lord, and he was now a deserter in the faith.
There is one golden moment in this letter to Timothy found in this verse – {{2 Timothy 4:11 “Only Luke is with me. PICK UP MARK AND BRING HIM WITH YOU, FOR HE IS USEFUL TO ME for service.”}}. You see the mention of Mark. That young man who later wrote the second gospel, was the subject of a deep division between Paul and Barnabas:-
{{Acts 15:37-39 “Barnabas was desirous of taking John, CALLED MARK, along with them also, but Paul kept insisting that they should not take him along WHO HAD DESERTED THEM in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work, and there arose such a sharp disagreement that they separated from one another, and Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus.”}}
In a lapse of faith Mark had deserted the work and would have been confined to biblical history if it was not for this verse in 2 Timothy 4:11 where Mark is now described as being useful for service to Paul. I see that as a picture of grace, for the Lord often lifts us up when we fail him and brings us into renewed relationship.
[3]. OUR KEY VERSE AGAIN – THE FAITHFUL SOWER IS REWARDED
{{Galatians 6:9 “Let us not lose heart in doing good, for IN DUE TIME WE SHALL REAP if we do not grow weary,”}}
A farmer might plant a plantation of fine trees and never see the outcome of them. He might die if these trees need 60 to 70, even 100 years to mature. The trees are harvested and some of the most beautiful timber is produced from them. Well he did the sowing but never did the reaping. He did not see the stately and beautiful results of his own planting.
You may plant the seed and never see the result. The result will be on heaven’s account but God does not call you to do the reaping, so you may not see the whole finished product. The Lord made this point clear to His disciples – {{John 4:37-38 “For in this case the saying is true, ‘ONE SOWS, AND ANOTHER REAPS.’ I sent you to reap that for which you have not laboured. Others have laboured, and you have entered into their labour.”}}
[4]. FAITHFULNESS AND ENDURANCE IN SOWING AND REAPING
The worker’s perseverance in knowing the crop will result at the appointed time, even if he will never see it, is the labour of faith. That is what we are called to. God does not ask us to perform miracles or build great cities, or to preach to millions, BUT He has called us to be FAITHFUL. Faithfulness in how we have used faith, and acted upon it, is the great reward that waits.
One man who was only in a parable, not in real life, would have had a smile from ear to hear what the Lord said to him – {{Matthew 25:22-23 The one also who had received the two talents came up and said, ‘Master, you entrusted to me two talents. See, I have gained two more talents.’ His master said to him, ‘WELL DONE, GOOD AND FAITHFUL SLAVE. You were FAITHFUL with a few things so I will put you in charge of many things. Enter into the joy of your master.’”}}
Being FAITHFUL IN A FAITHLESS WORLD is what we must be. Being COMMITTED IN A NON-COMMITTED WORLD is the stand we take. Then our relationship with the Saviour will shine above the physical world. Let us not lose heart. That the Lord says to each one of us. Do not become discouraged; do not give up. Discouragement is a very real thing, and I don’t need to be a genius to know we all get bouts of discouragement. You remember the great man Elijah had discouragement and sat down in the shade.
Discouragement does not always come from a failing in faith. It is often associated with the pressures of life. If I could share personally here. The more I am dedicated to writing as I think my years are short, the more things around me seem to break down, and this thing happens, and another. It is like an attack which it could be. Do you know when these things tend to happen? On Friday night or Saturday when you can’t get the plumber or a trademan to repair something. Am I upset; I guess I am a bit discouraged but the Lord assures me all this is but temporal and the glory of heaven is ahead.
Our key verse is not just about losing heart or becoming discouraged, but specifically, about doing good. Don’t give up in doing good. Don’t lose heart in doing good, even if there is opposition and persecution. The course you began on, keep on it till it is finished.
Doing good is difficult, for sometimes we don’t know what’s required or who needs this assistance. I caution you here. When we read these words, we start thinking of doing great things, but no, I am sure the Apostle meant small acts of kindness and doing the right thing for a person in need. We are not putting ourselves in Naaman’s shoes – {{2 Kings 5:13 Then his servants came near and spoke to him and said, “My father, had the prophet told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more then, when he says to you, ‘Wash, and be clean’?”}}. Doing good is not about show or notoriety or making a name to be noticed. It is the handing over of 2 small loves and a few tiny fish.
In the Naaman story there was one other who did good, and it had great results – {{2 Kings 5:3 and she said to her mistress, “I wish that my master was with the prophet who is in Samaria. Then he would cure him of his leprosy.”}} What a faithful girl doing good.
The Apostle enjoins us to keep doing good and not become discouraged even if our efforts don’t seem to be appreciated. Keep doing good. It is not your privilege often to see the results. That is not what it is about. Paul said we will reap if we don’t grow weary. Yes, we will reap, but it is not a reaping in this life - it the rewards in heaven. That is where all our sowing in the Lord’s name, has its harvest. What a great harvest it will be.
I can not tell you what the good is that you must (could) do. How you can assist others or do simple things for those in your sphere who need help, is for you to observe and just be available when the Lord gives that opportunity.
Verse 9 ended with, “if we do not grow weary.” Paul wrote also to the Thessalonians – {{2 Thessalonians 3:13 “As for you, brethren, DO NOT GROW WEARY OF DOING GOOD.”}} It is the same message as to the Galatians. Paul’s own compassion was that we do good and not weary in it.
[5]. CONSIDER HIM (JESUS) AS OUR PERFECT EXAMPLE
When writing to the Hebrews, Paul wanted to illustrate that they do not grow weary and lose heart. (This also confirms Paul’s authorship of Hebrews). This expression is the same as used in Galatians. Paul is showing the Lord endured the suffering of the cross. He wants us to consider that. Because of those facts about the Lord’s endurance and consequent joy, so also we must run the race with patience and endure as He did, and not grow weary or lose heart. Here are the verses with important parts capitalised:
{{Hebrews 12:1-3 “Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and LET US RUN WITH ENDURANCE the race that is set before us, FIXING OUR EYES ON JESUS, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him ENDURED THE CROSS, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. CONSIDER HIM WHO HAS ENDURED such hostility by sinners against Himself, so THAT YOU MAY NOT GROW WEARY AND LOSE HEART.”}}
The Lord had the hostility of sinful men against Him. So do we. The Lord ran His race perfectly. So must we try also. The Lord endured through all that. So must we. The Lord did not grow weary or lose heart. We must not do that either.
The church at Ephesus in A.D. 96, in spite of leaving its first love, was a fine church with many commendations and this is one of them – {{Revelation 2:3 “You have PERSEVERANCE and have ENDURED for My name’s sake, and have NOT GROWN WEARY,”}}
[6]. THE CONCLUSION OF VERSE 9 IS VERSE 10
{{Galatians 6:10 “so then, while we have OPPORTUNITY, let us do good to all men, and ESPECIALLY TO THOSE WHO ARE OF THE HOUSEHOLD OF THE FAITH.”}}
The believer’s first responsibility in good works is to fellow believers. They must get the priority. This is not being selfish. God has an order in ministry – to the Jew first then to the Gentile. To the believers first, then to non-believers. It is not counting anyone of lesser value, but is catering for the Church, Bride, Household of God. Some Christians are compassionate and philanthropic and join all sorts of organisations that help people in many ways nationally and internationally, but they are going nothing at all for fellow believers. I don’t think that is right.
One of the best examples of this care for, and doing good to the condition of fellow members of faith is what early Acts teaches us – {{Acts 2:44-45 “All those who had believed were together, and had all things in common, and they began selling their property and possessions, and were sharing them with all, AS ANYONE MIGHT HAVE NEED.”}} {{Acts 4:35 “and lay them at the apostles’ feet, and they would be distributed to each AS ANY HAD NEED.”}} The context in both these verses means the distribution went to the needy Christians.
Verse 10 says, “while we have opportunity,” but can it be that in too many cases, the is no opportunity there because Christians are too occupied with meaningless and selfish things, so much so, they can’t see spiritually; nor do they hear the Lord’s voice.
[7]. BRINGING THIS TO A CONCLUSION
A. There is the need for patience and perseverance in our race as we do good to all - Galatians 6:9.
B. The labour of Spirit-directed Christians is not in vain – {{1 Corinthians 15:58 “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that YOUR TOIL IS NOT IN VAIN IN THE LORD.”}}
C. The reaping will come at the proper time (in heaven; the coming of the Lord/Rapture; maybe seen in our lifetimes) – {{James 5:7-8 “Be patient, therefore, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. Behold, the farmer waits for the precious produce of the soil, being patient about it, until it gets the early and late rains. You too be patient. Strengthen your hearts for the coming of the Lord is at hand.”}}
D. We shall reap if we don't lose heart and give up. Consider Jesus who endured. Learn from the farmer. Have faith like a farmer! Doing good or doing the right thing is part of the sowing, in fact, vitally all of that.
