Always Abounding

Introduction

Welcome to everyone, including our visitors. Maybe it’s just me, maybe it’s just my perception. But it seems our audience this morning is not as bright-eyed and bushy-tailed as the saying goes, as perhaps we normally are. Perhaps it’s all of the festivities related to the weekend of Thanksgiving. Perhaps it’s the lure of Black Friday. And standing in line outside of Walmart for twelve hours, which some of you did, Thaddeus. But for whatever reason, it just seems like we’re a little tired today. And this lesson, I thought, might be a good lesson for that condition. I want to begin with a few passages that I hope you’ll take with you today. Mike is always good at reminding us of these things. But one passage in particular, which I think has been a favorite of mine.

It’s been a favorite of most preachers who have preached for some period of time. It is the very last verse of a great and wonderful encouraging chapter in the New Testament. It is the last verse of 1 Corinthians chapter 15. Where Paul concludes by saying, Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, as much as you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. Every audience of every preacher since the day of Pentecost has needed from time to time to be reminded of that truth. There are some companion passages that I want to draw your attention to. The next chapter in chapter 16 and verse 13, as he’s coming to his summary of this epistle to a struggling church, he says, Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men.

Be strong. Let all that you do be done in love.

Let us not grow weary in doing good. For in due time we shall reap if we do not grow weary, or if we do not faint.

For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised. What are all of these passages saying to us? They’re saying, hang in there. If you think that you’re the only one that has ever experienced trial and difficulty, struggled with severe temptation, fought lethargy, and a worldly mind, been besieged by doubt, or felt like giving up. You are not.

These passages suggest that first century believers all struggled with the same things. Underpinning this verse, which is the focus of our lesson this morning, always abounding in the work of the Lord. Be steadfast, immovable. As much as you know that labor is not in vain in the Lord. Underpinning that important truth at the end of that chapter is the fact that Jesus has been raised from the dead with all certainty. And because Jesus has been raised from the dead, his people will one day be raised with him. And what a glorious resurrection that will be. Glory awaits us that we cannot begin to fathom. A glorious body awaits us. And what this passage is telling us is that we have very good reason to not throw away our faith.

To not give up our confidence and hope, to persist in right things, to fight the evil one and oppose everything that is false. We have good reason to do that, and yet life takes its toll, doesn’t it? And I just want to affirm to you that everybody gets tired. Everybody does. And I’m not just talking about physical exhaustion as the result of a busy holiday weekend. I’m talking about spiritual weariness. And that’s what these passages are addressing. Because we must stay constant in our task of serving the Lord. There is so much in our world that militates against persistence in the right things. Paul understood that. Peter understood that. The Hebrew writer understood that. That’s why they’re telling us. Hang in there. Everybody gets tired. And as we saw in Isaiah chapter 40 in our study on Sunday mornings.

Everyone who waits on the Lord gains new strength. He mounts up with wings like eagles. He walks and does not become tired. He runs and does not become weary.

1. No Reason for Extreme Despair

So, how are we doing? I want to start this morning with some very good news. And our spiritual fatigue, perhaps our physical exhaustion as well. Here it is.

We are likely not everything that God wants us to be. Where’s the good news in that? The good news is that there is no reason for extreme despair. We must not allow past failure to demoralize us or to prevent progress. Let me tell you something about the past. I don’t know that there is any magic potion for that or magic cure. I want you to think about your past right now. And I’m talking about every moment that precedes this particular moment. Some of those things I’d like not to drudge up anymore in my mind. Some of the things that I’ve experienced, some of the things that I’ve done, my failures, my disappointment and myself, whatever baggage is back there for you. Let me just tell you, there’s not a thing I can do about and you can do about what’s back there.

We can’t make it go away. We can’t erase it from history. Wouldn’t you like to do that? Find a way to just excise that from the record. But the good news is that we don’t have to be crippled by whatever’s back there. I’m not saying ignore it. Because there is a proper way to deal with our past. We must repent. We must express godly sorrow and be determined to move in a better direction in regard to our past. But listen, that is always our status today. Regardless of what your past was, coming up to right now, November 25th, 2012, you can fix things today. Isn’t that wonderful? There’s not anything in our past that prevents us or has to prevent us from doing what these passages say and receive the reward for having done.

That’s great news. I want you to turn back to the Old Testament to find some consolation in 2 Chronicles 33. This encourages me. We’ve been studying Isaiah, this is a good time to throw it in. It is likely, according to Jewish tradition, that Isaiah was sawn in two. That’s no way to exit the world, is it? Isaiah was sawn in two during the reign of Manasseh, son of Hezekiah. This man was one bad dude.

He would lead the nation of Judah to a downward spiral from which they would not recover. Even though Josiah, his grandson was righteous, he could not stem the tide of God’s destruction that he would bring at the hands of the Babylonians. He made his own sons pass through the fire in the worship of the God Molech.

The Lord spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they paid no attention.

So he sent them a message via the commanders of the army of the king of Assyria. They captured Manasseh with hooks and bound him with bronze chains and took him to Babylon. But then this. And when he was in distress, he entreated the Lord his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers. When he prayed to him, he was moved by his entreaty and heard his supplication and brought him again to Jerusalem to his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord was God. Now after this, he built the outer wall of the city of David on the west side of Gaion, even to the entrance of the fish gate. Then he put army commanders in all the fortified cities. He removed the foreign gods.

Now the rest of the Acts in verse 18 of Manasseh, even his prayer to his God, and the words of the seers who spoke to him in the name of the Lord God of Israel? Behold, they are among the record of the kings of Israel, his prayer also, and how God was entreated by him in all his sin, his unfaithfulness, and the sights on which he built high places and erected the Asherim and the carved images before he humbled himself, behold, they are written in the records of the Hosei. I want to tell you, if God can have compassion and mercy on a man like this, who would ultimately lead Judah to its ruination? Will he not have compassion and mercy upon us? That gives me hope today.

2. I Know Your Deeds

Let’s suppose that Jesus was going to write us a letter. Like he did to the seven churches of Asia Minor. What would he say to the Decker Prairie Church? Sometimes I look at some events that happen in the Bible and I’m a little envious.

Do you ever entertain that? Is it just me? Do you ever entertain the idea, wonder what God really thinks about us? And if you were to write a letter to churches today, like he did in the first century, what would that letter say? You know what he says to every one of the seven churches in Revelation 2 and 3? He says, I know your deeds. Whatever our deeds are as a church, rest assured the Lord knows everything about it. His understanding is infinite. Psalm 147, verses 4 and 5. And so here he writes to these seven churches of Asia Minor. And the first thing that he says to each of them is, I know your deeds. I wonder what the reception was of the book of Revelation as the Apostle John pins it, and these seven churches, read it for the first time.

Can you imagine their anticipation as the letter to the church at Ephesus is read? Or okay, what’s the Lord going to say to us? This direct directly the Lord’s words from heaven to us. And each of the seven churches. I wonder if their assessment of themselves matched the letter that they got. I’m pretty sure the assessment of the Laodiceans of themselves did not match the letter that they got, because they said, We are rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing. And he says, You’re wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked. And it’s also interesting to me that after he says, I know your deeds to each one of them, he had something positive to say to every one of those churches except for Laodicea, where he went right into the denunciation part.

But even then, but even then, it was not all over for the layout of sins. There is hope at the end of each of those letters if they would repent of the things that needed to be fixed. There was hope. Even the layout of sins, he says, I will dine with you. He says, You will come into me, and we’ll dine together, he says. I stand at the door and knock. And so even if the letter that were to be read regarding the Decker Prairie Church was somewhat negative. The Lord disapproves. Understand that He stands at the door and knocks He wants us to fix today. What we can’t. And so as I think of the Decker Prairie Church, I think of some things the Lord might catalog in the positive area.

I think of such things as our numerical growth over the past several years. We had some folks here not long ago who visit periodically, and the first thing they said to me was, man, y’all have grown since I was here last. Well, maybe we just had a lot of visitors that day. No, we’ve grown a lot. We’ve experienced some numerical growth. We have experienced financial growth, to be sure. I can remember when we started talking about our treasury a few years ago. I mean, there was very little operating capital there, and things are better. Steve keeps me informed of this. Things are better financially than they were for us. People are giving liberally and sacrificially. And I think more importantly than that, and more than just the fact that there are more numbers in the pew, I think we’ve experienced spiritual growth.

I can see that in people as we have discussions in Bible classes, and I see the interest on people’s faces. I think we’ve experienced spiritual growth, and that’s very important. And don’t overlook this. Look at the way things are taken care of. Around it. Do you realize how much goes on behind the scenes that you don’t know anything about? You know, the Lord’s Supper magically appears on this table every first day of the week. You walk in, there was. Well, there’s people that work to prepare that so we can worship God. You know, we have restrooms in this building that have to be fixed. It’s just magic how those all work every Sunday. Light bulbs get replaced, doors get stained, the lock even works better if you haven’t noticed.

There is so much that goes on to make our worship peaceful and good. And a lot of work that’s done behind the scenes that people don’t even know about. People remark about the Decker Prairie Church about how friendly this group is. That’s so important. Visitors come in, they don’t know very many people. They don’t know who the regulars are and who aren’t the regulars. But one of the things that is commonly said about the Decker Prairie Church is this group is very friendly. I believe this is a group that tries to influence the lost, to bring people to hear the message of salvation. We do a great job of teaching our young people. Our young people are sitting in some wonderful classes with wonderful teachers hearing awesome things, and they supplement the work as parents that we’re instructed to do, and we’re very blessed to have our Bible class program.

And so many able teachers for our young people. I tell you, we’re blessed to have young people who care about spiritual things, who listen to the instruction and try to mold their lives after what the Bible teaches. This is a group that practices hospitality. People who will sacrifice to have others into their home and provide for others who have needs. And we’re very fortunate to have good leaders. I talked to a preacher not long ago who holds more gospel meetings than I do, and he says that one of the problems that brethren are facing all over the place is a crisis in leadership. Elders who don’t know how to be shepherds. And one of the things that he hears from churches, from the ordinary people who sit in the pew, is that there is a crisis of leadership.

We need to be thankful for men who care about souls more than they care about physical buildings. And be thankful that we have men who don’t see themselves as chief executive officers, but servants of the sheep.

3. But I Have This Against You

Like I said, in six of the seven churches, he says something positive about their work and the things that they do, their perseverance and their toil and the things that they oppose. Obviously, these people were still worshiping regularly every first day of the week as well. However, in five of the seven churches, these words appear. But I have this against you. Okay, now I’m hoping right now we’re Smyrna and Philadelphia. Because he did not have something against them. He tells Smyrna, you’re rich. He tells those in Philadelphia, I set before you an open door that no man has shut because you have, no man can shut because you have a little power. But would there be a phrase after he cataloged a few of our good deeds?

Would there be a phrase that follows like it does with five of the seven churches? Again, all hope is not lost if that’s the case. But if he were to say, I have this against you.

That would follow. I can think about some areas where failure is possible, where he might say something. Do we worship the Lord fervently? Do we find ourselves just going through the motions? Just singing a song. It’s what we did Sunday and the Sunday before that and the Sunday before that. Oh, we’ve sung this particular song a hundred times. We’re watching our clocks. When’s this going to be over? And I am almost done. Could we invest more of ourselves in our worship? Be more diligent and fervent in our minds. Could we serve him joyfully? Not just as we worship corporately, but as we’re called upon to serve other people, to make sacrifices. Could we be more joyful in opportunities to be a servant of others as Jesus was joyous over his service of all mankind?

Would God say, There’s not sufficient amount of my word residing in your hearts? We are to allow the word to richly dwell in us. Colossians chapter 3 and verse 16. The one who is the righteous one, who’s like that tree planted by rivers of waters that yields its fruit in its season is one who meditates in the law of the Lord day and night? Are we allowing the word to richly dwell within us, shaping our thoughts and our character? Perhaps it is the God of entertainment that is distracting us. That prevents us from spending enough time, sufficient time in the Word, and meditating upon ourselves in relation to the Word, and looking into the mirror of the Word, and perhaps we become those forgetful hearers that James talks about in James chapter 1.

Perhaps the God of entertainment is so alluring to us that we do not give sufficient attention to spiritual things. And I think of everything that I’ve said so far, perhaps this would be the most frightening of all. And a possible indictment that the Lord would raise of us. Am I living by my faith? Am I a person of faith every day?

4. We Must Always Abound

Do I say with the psalmist, the nearness of God is my good, Psalm 73 and verse 28, the Lord is near, Philippians chapter 4 and verse 5. Is each day characterized by faith. My trust in the Lord and my relationship with Him. So we must then always abound, regardless of what’s in our past. I count all things to be lost for the sake of knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord, Paul said in Philippians chapter 3, I forget those things which are behind and press forward to those things that are before. He says, I reach for the prize. For the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. He says in Philippians chapter 3, 13 and 14, and what that is telling me is that no matter where I am, no matter where I am today and what is in my past that has to be dealt with, but what no matter where I have been, the fact is the call of the gospel is upward.

It’s about abounding and continuing to abound or to excel still more, Paul says in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. There are two extremes to be avoided here. Number one, since the ideal is not achieved, do nothing. I can’t reach the ideal, so I’m just not going to do anything. And be crippled by the failures of our past. Ted Williams was one of the best hitters of all time. And someone was asking him about his success. I’ve heard other baseball players, I’ve heard Joey Votto of the Reds talk about this. It’s hard to be a baseball player as a hitter when you’re going to fail two thirds of the time. Even if you’re a great hitter, you hit 333, you guys into statistics. Even if you hit 333, that means two out of three times you got out.

And they were asking Ted Williams about the fact that he hit 400 one year. He’s noted as one of the great hitters of all time. About his success. And he said, You just keep going. Everyone gets better if they keep at it. In fact, that’s a pretty good summary. Regardless of what’s in our past, you just got to keep going. And that’s what Paul is telling those brethren in Corinth. You’ve just got to keep going. The second extreme is we must not rest on the laurels of our past. The good accomplishments that we’ve already enjoyed, regardless of the good that’s in our past. We have to keep pressing forward to the things that are before. A philosopher a few hundred years before Christ named Theophrastus. Ever heard of him?

I doubt it. Theophrastus. A couple hundred years before Christ said, a waste of time is the most extravagant of all. Boy, that’s well said. We have an urgent mission as God’s people. That is to be Christlike, to be people of faith, to have an interest in souls, including our own, those of our family, and those who are lost. The corporation AIG several years ago had a slogan. I don’t know if they’re still using it, but they ought to. The slogan went like this. There are those who do and those who could have, would have, should have. I like that. We must bury any and all. Excuses that prevent our progress. Writer Gail Shee challenges us. If we don’t change, we don’t grow. If we don’t grow, we are not really living.

Conclusion

Growth demands a temporary surrender of security. Sometimes what is needed is we must move outside of our comfort zone and make progress toward the goal. I want to conclude this morning in Colossians chapter 1. Colossians chapter 1. Where have you been? What progress do you need to still make? Are you keeping at it? Or have you grown tired? Have you left off in the pursuit of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus? Are you weary spiritually? Have lately it been more about punching the ticket or investing of your heart and mind. Colossians 1. Verse 21. And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind. We need to remember where we came from. You were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds.

Yet. Yet he has now reconciled you in his fleshly body through death. As Jared was telling us this morning. In order to present you before him, holy and blameless and beyond reproach. That’s what we need to keep before our minds. We must stay persistent in that pursuit. This is what he wants to do to present us holy and blameless and beyond reproach, if indeed you continue in the faith, firmly established and steadfast. There’s our word again. And not moved away from the hope of the gospel that you have heard, which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which by Paul was made a minister. What has moved you away? Is anything moved you away? The devil wants to move you away. Paul is saying, don’t allow yourself to be moved away from the hope of the gospel.

Be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, as much as you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. 1 Corinthians 15 and verse 58. A day of resurrection for the Lord’s people is coming. If you’re in this audience this morning, it will not, if you are outside of Christ, let me tell you, it will not be a vain decision to serve the Lord. To submit, to obey the gospel, to have your sins forgiven, to come into fellowship with the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit, it will not be a vain decision. Though hostile and alien, we can be reconciled to God. Be reconciled to God, Paul would say to the 2 Corinthians letter, 2 Corinthians chapter 5. Perhaps you’ve done that in the past, but you’ve allowed the cares of this world to move you away from the hope of the gospel.

Do you need to come back? Be zealous, therefore, and repent. Was the message of Jesus to the seven churches that had sin on their account. There is still hope while there’s time and opportunity. If you need to respond, come now as we stand and sing.