Jump Starting A Run Down Faith

Introduction

Today’s lessons will represent the final installments in my New Year’s series. A New Year’s series that I didn’t even know I was doing. But I realize that they’ve all been pretty much in the same vein trying to get us going in the new year with the right focus. And so tonight’s lesson will conclude those attempts as I talk about here I raise my Ebenezer. Did you know you have an Ebenezer that needs to be raised? Whatever that is. We sing about it, and we understand it, and we’re going to be talking about that tonight. This morning I want to take you to 2 Corinthians chapter 6 and talk to you about faith’s ragged edge. I have been a Christian for a good many years, and some of you have been a Christian for a good many years, and you realize that faith is not a constant.

There’s an ebb and flow. There are peaks and valleys. There are moments when our faith is strong, and moments when it’s not so strong. And perhaps you’re enduring one of those not so strong moments even now, and certainly as we begin a new year. We want our faith to be vibrant and strong to face the challenges that may come. Speaking of challenges, that takes me to the text in 2 Corinthians chapter 6. And your circumstances, no matter how challenging and difficult they may be, and I would not belittle how daunting they may seem to you. I want you to consider Paul’s affirmation of faith and confidence in God in spite of his circumstances. This is a marvelous text. Hope you’ll spend some time with it this week.

He admonishes the church in Corinth. And working together with him. And that’s an important phrase all by itself. And working together with him, we also urge you not to receive the grace of God in vain. For he says, At the acceptable time I listened to you, and on the day of salvation I helped you. Behold, now is the acceptable time. And behold, now is the day of salvation, giving no cause for offense in anything, in order that the ministry may not be discredited. But in everything, commending ourselves as servants of God in much endurance, in afflictions, in hardships, in distresses, in beatings, in imprisonments, in tumults. Had any of those lately? Not the kind Paul was enduring. In labors, in sleeplessness, in hunger, and I know I haven’t had any of that.

In purity, in knowledge, in patience, in kindness, in the Holy Spirit, in genuine love. Notice he is talking about both his circumstances and his spiritual pursuit coinciding.

In the word of truth, in the power of God, by the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and the left, by glory and dishonor, by evil report, and good report, regarded as deceivers and yet true, as unknown, yet well known, as dying, yet behold we live, as punished, yet not put to death, as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing as poor, yet making many rich, as having nothing, and yet possessing all things. Our mouth has spoken freely to you, O Corinthians. Our heart is open wide. You are not restrained by us. This context is even more compelling when you consider what’s going on with Paul and the church in Corinth, which is what this whole letter is about. He says, You are not restrained by us, but you are restrained in your own affections.

Now in a like exchange, I speak as to children open wide to us also. What a description of the troubles and yet the blessings of the life of faith. Is that your perspective of faith? And living it out in your circumstances, whatever it may be. Are you feeling a little low spiritually?

Spiritually.

Especially if you have kids. I remember when our kids were little, occasionally, that light in the back seat. Why do they put lights back there for kids to mess with? They leave the light on. You wake up the next morning, hit the ignition, nothing. Battery is dead. You learn very quickly as a parent, need to get a set of jumper cables because car’s not going anywhere with all of its great electronic equipment and gadgetry. It’s not going anywhere if you can’t turn it on. The battery needs to work. Jumper cables can be, and it seems like lately I’ve had some battery issues. Batteries don’t last very long in Southeast Texas. Especially in the heat of summer and the cold of winter. Faith and car batteries have at least this much in common.

Without a charged battery, the car doesn’t operate properly. And there are a number of things that can affect our spiritual batteries. Those things can be physical problems that we have, circumstances in our lives that certainly we cannot control that cause us distress. Paul talks about some of those. And there is an emotional toll that those things can bring to our lives. And certainly waging war spiritually is a constant drain as we strive to go against the current of society and our culture and to live lives for God that honor him. How is your spiritual battery? Is it running low? Is the alarm light on? The dash. May I suggest if any of these five conditions represent where you are, this lesson this morning is for you.

Losing interest in spiritual pursuit? Well, you may be making all the services, but is that pretty much the extent of it? Is there any other spiritual pursuit in our lives? Are we lacking motivation to continue to do the work of molding our thinking and conduct after the example of Christ? Perhaps when we are here, we think we’re not getting very much out of this. It’s not affecting us in any positive way. And perhaps we struggle with doubts in regard to Jesus and serving him and the benefits of that and the payoff of that ultimately. Dealing with the problems of uncertainty or questioning, therefore, the wisdom of obeying him. You find yourself here, if that’s the case, then your spiritual battery needs to jump. And I just want to say at the beginning that God is not surprised when people find themselves there.

Certainly we might think God, who is holy, who is who is deserving of everything that we have to give, would be absolutely shocked that we could find ourselves in such a condition. But this has been meant throughout the ages. God is not surprised by this. Paul is not surprised by this when he says in Galatians chapter 6 and verse 7, God is not mocked. Whatever a man sows, that shall he also reap. He that sows to his flesh shall of his flesh reap corruption, but he that sows to the spirit shall of the spirit reap everlasting life. And then he encourages them in verse 9 to not grow weary in doing good. For in due time we shall reap if we do not faint. The fact is Paul understands that’s where people often are.

1. Power Is Available for Your Spiritual Battery

But they leave off in sowing to the Spirit, and they begin sowing to the flesh, thinking that will provide some kind of spark. That’ll be some positive thing in their lives, and they leave off spiritual pursuit, and he’s reminding them. That path leads to destruction. Sowing to the Spirit leads to life. And he says, don’t get tired in doing the right things. Do not grow weary. In due time we shall reap if we do not faint. Is this where you are? If so, I want to talk to you about jump starting. A rundown phase. And the first thing that I want to remind you of this morning is that power is available. Power is available for your spiritual battery. Your battery is fine if you connect the cable properly.

So what am I talking about? There are two things really. Two things that you need to think about that brings you the power that your faith needs in this world of difficulty. And they are number one, fellowship. And number two, wisdom. Those are the two things that you need to make it. You need a right relationship with God. You need the wisdom that comes from his direction delivered to us in his word. And I’ll tell you what, you don’t need. You don’t need to more, you don’t need more exposure to this world. And I’m afraid that’s when our spiritual batteries begin to run low when we’re constantly focused on the trinkets of this world. On entertainment, on all the devices and gadgets that are at our disposal.

2. Start With the Right Connections

We’re focused on those so much that we neglect these spiritual needs that we have, and then we find ourselves in this run-down condition. More focus on material things, material possessions, material pursuits will not strengthen us spiritually. And so, secondly, we need to start with the right connections. You know, when you’re dealing with a battery and you’re jumping it, you need to pay attention to the red and black terminals. And make sure that you do it on the same for both cars. But you don’t cross the wires. If you haven’t used battery cables before, be careful. It matters. You have to start with the right connections. Isn’t it interesting in Luke 18 and verse 1 that Jesus tells the parable about the persistent woman, and I love that story.

And I love where it ends when he says, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth? I’ve been preaching meetings with that as my theme for the last few years. I love that story. But I like where it begins in Luke 18 and verse 1. The reason why he tells the story about that woman who wears the judge out by her continual coming. Luke says he told this parable. Because they ought always to pray and not lose heart. And that takes me back to Galatians 6 and verse 9. Paul is well aware that people lose heart in the journey. They grow weary. Their batteries begin to run low. And Jesus understands it as well. You ought always to pray and not lose heart.

3. Concentrate on the Needs of Others

We could talk about pray without ceasing. You know that verse, 1 Thessalonians 5 and verse 17. We could talk about Romans 12 and verse 12, which says we are to constantly be devoted to prayer. And we can even talk about Romans 8 and verse 26, where it says, the Spirit knows how to express our infirmities and intercedes on our behalf, if indeed that’s what that passage is saying, and I believe it is. We even have not just the high priest, as Ross read in Hebrews chapter 7. Whoever lives to make intercession for us, but we have the Holy Spirit interceding on our behalf. Romans chapter 8 and verse 26. Prayer is lifeline. Prayer is the lifeline for the child of God. But thirdly, there’s something in the context of Galatians 6 that I want to draw your attention to.

When we start feeling ourselves run down, may I suggest part of this as the solution? Not just the realization that we need fellowship with God. Not just turning to his scripture as we’ll do in a moment to find the wisdom that we need to strengthen ourselves spiritually. But we need to concentrate on the needs of others. It is interesting in Galatians chapter 6. Right after he says, do not grow weary in doing good. Don’t sow to the flesh, so to the spirit. In due time we shall reap if we don’t faint. The very next verse says what? As we therefore have opportunity, let us do good unto others, especially those of the household of faith. There are many paradoxes involved in Christianity. We die in order to live.

We deny ourselves, we lose ourselves, and we save ourselves. And there is another paradox here. In doing good to others, we help ourselves. And if our spiritual battery is running low, if we’re growing weary, Galatians chapter 6 and verse 9, one of the things we need to do to get out of that is get the focus off of ourselves. I think people become miserable spiritually. When their focus and attention is completely themselves, how everything is relating to them, how their circumstances are miserable to them, and if they would just focus on serving and helping others, that they would receive help and encouragement in the process. If we could only see more than money, when we look at Jesus’ statement in Acts 20 and verse 35, that beatitude that’s not of the beatitudes of Matthew 5, that beatitude that Paul quotes as he’s speaking to the elders at Ephesus in Acts 20, you know the verse now.

When he quotes the Lord and says, It is more blessed to give than to receive. I think sometimes when we read a verse like that, we think, well, okay, the preacher’s challenging us to give a little bit more financially. But I don’t believe that’s what that’s about primarily. It’s about a spirit of giving. And that’s a more blessed mindset and focus to have. And it’s interesting again in Galatians chapter 6 that immediately after he talks about the trials that can happen in regard to faith and the struggles of then wanting to devote ourselves to the flesh rather than the spirit, that the first prescription that he gives is focus on other people. And what did Paul say in Galatians 6 earlier in verse 2? Bear one another’s burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ.

4. Turning the Negatives Into Positives

Now he’s going to go on to say in verse 5 that every person has to bear his or her own load. But I’ll tell you what assists you in doing that is to focus on the needs of others. Being busy with the burdens of others will help you to carry your own load. And finally, this morning, I want to talk about turning the negatives of our circumstances and our emotional state, our physical concerns, perhaps, turning the negatives into positives. And you’ve got to forgive me there for taking the battery analogy this far. There’s negatives and positive terminals on a battery. So here’s the final point. Let’s use the wisdom of God to help us when our spiritual batteries need charging. And I want to give you six passages to focus on.

To do this. Number one, Psalm 46 and verse 10. You know that one, right? Be silent and know that I am God. The beginning of that psalm speaks of God being a very present help or a refuge in time of trouble. The New American Standard says, Cease striving and know that I am God. Be silent and know that I am God. What is that saying? Quit putting up such a fuss. And just listen. Be still. God speaks to us through creation. If we will just stop and listen. Psalm 19, verses 1 and 2. I like what William Struther said about this. He said, not everyone is a fit scholar for God’s school. Carnal men are drowned in fleshly and worldly cares and neither purged or lifted up to receive the light of God.

The bare consideration that God is God is needed when we find ourselves wanting to quarrel with him. Would you turn quickly to Lamentations chapter 3? I know I have you turn to Lamentations all the time. So you’re used to that, right? No, we very rarely go to the book of Lamentations. Would you flip over there quickly to Lamentations chapter 3? You know what’s going on in Lamentations chapter 3? It’s Jeremiah realizing the bare consideration that God is God. And realizing as the Babylonian destruction limbs. And we’re talking about this on Wednesday night in the auditorium class. The Babylonians, as they come to be God’s judgment on the nation of Judah. Jeremiah knows this is coming. In fact, when lamentations is written, it is either very imminent or has just occurred.

And I want you to notice these affirmations as Jeremiah the weeping prophet is forlorn about his circumstances. But I want to begin reading in Lamentations chapter 3, verses 19 through 29. Remember my affliction and my wandering, the wormwood and bitterness. Surely my soul remembers and is bowed down within me. I mean, this is this is a bad state, Jeremiah’s in. This I recall to my mind. Therefore I have hope. The Lord’s loving kindnesses indeed never cease. His compassions never fail.

You know, it’s just one day at a time, this spiritual battle. And you wake up every day, he says, They are new every morning. Great is thy faithfulness. The Lord is my portion, says my soul. Therefore I have hope in him. The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the person who seeks him. It is good that you wait silently for the salvation of the Lord. It is good for a man that he should bear the yoke in his youth. Let him sit alone and be silent, since he has laid it on him. Let him put his mouth in the dust, perhaps.

This is Jeremiah in a difficult time saying, be still and know that he is God. One author said, Beware of it, for it’s a dreadful thing to quarrel with God. But many give way to this quarreling and consider not the hazard thereof. Be still. Another passage in the New Testament I would draw your attention to as we turn the negatives of perhaps our circumstances on a rundown faith, we turn those into positives. In 2 Corinthians 8 and verse 9, we need to be reminded as Paul reminded the Corinthians. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. That though he was rich, for your sake he became poor. That you through his poverty might become rich. You know, sometimes we look at our circumstances and we don’t feel all that rich.

Again, it’s not about God placing ideal circumstances all around me. Hebrews 12 would talk about the chastening of the Lord and how that sometimes for the moment that seems sorrowful, and yet it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness. We’ve absolutely got to remove our mindset from this idea that if I’m in a right relationship with God, if I’m serving him faithfully, that everything in my circumstances is going to be absolutely ideal.

Again, I think we’re Americans. Sherry was talking about this at the end of class, and I think it just absolutely ruins us that we think everything has got to be absolutely perfect and ideal, especially because we’re in fellowship with God. I don’t know where we get that. We’re not getting that from the scripture. Read Jeremiah in Lamentations. Things aren’t going well for his circumstances and for his people. He’s like the Lone Ranger of righteousness in Jerusalem. Difficulties. And yet, and what 2 Corinthians 6, what was Paul saying there? In tumults. I don’t think we can have any real understanding what Paul’s talking about. He talks about tumults. And I know you don’t know about beatings. In beatings? Imprisonments? These are the things Paul is enduring because of his faith.

And yet, despite all of that, hey, we don’t have much materially, but we possess all things. As he notices in 2 Corinthians 8 and verse 9. Jesus died, and because of his poverty, we are rich. Fellowship, wisdom, those two things make us indeed rich. That we’re not circumstance dependent. Because we have been redeemed from a feudal way of life by the precious blood of a lamb. As we read about in 1 Peter chapter 1 and verse 19, we have been redeemed from futility. Do you realize most of the people around us, they are pursuing things that have ends in and of themselves, and that’s it. So I’ll tell you what you do. If your spiritual battery is running low, just chunk everything aside, and every weekend go to the nightclubs.

Have as much fun as you can.

Where’s all that going? It’s futile. It’s a feudal course. We’ve been redeemed from that, Peter says. And I’ll tell you what we have on the horizon for us. For to me to live is Christ, and he says, to die is gained. We have something very much better. It’s not just better, it’s very much better, Paul says in Philippians 1 and verse 23. And we’ve got to stay focused on that. When our spiritual batteries run low, it is because we’re giving very little thought to that. We don’t realize what is awaiting us. Paul has realized that.

And it’ll be here before you know it. As Paul says in Philippians 4, verses 19 and 20. God has richly supplied all of my need in Christ Jesus. The Lord has promised to supply everything that we need if we’ll trust and depend upon him. And one final passage. Again, let’s get the focus off of ourselves. That’s not the nature of what we’ve been called to be as God’s people. He is able to do exceeding abundantly beyond all that we ask or think. We make these requests to God. We ask for his assistance and help. And he has promised to supply in such a measure is beyond even what we ask or think. Do we trust that? When our circumstances are discouraging us. But then the interesting part that follows in verse 21 to Him be the glory in the church.

Both now and to all generations. To him be the glory in the church. Isn’t it interesting that part of the solution to our circumstances and problems is to take the focus off of ourselves, our misery, our less than ideal circumstances, my relationships that are less than. There’s all kinds of things that we’re looking at where, boy, my life could be better if your faith will be run down if that’s the way you’re looking at your life. We’ve got to get the focus off of ourselves, do good for others. Remember that was point number three. Take the focus off of ourselves and realize that as God’s people, we are here to glorify him. Selfless praise. To him be the glory in the church. You know when churches start having problems, what happens, right?

Conclusion

Churches start looking inward at themselves. It becomes all about them. Perhaps all about their own wants and desires and how they differ from this brother or that sister. And they become inwardly focused. Our business as a group, we’re here to glorify God. We’re here to honor him. Take the focus off of ourselves. We could look at all of the New Testament and provide solutions for a rundown faith, but I’ve given you six verses here. Just these six can help us to rejuvenate our batteries spiritually. So I’ve spoken this morning to your need. You may not recognize it, but that is your need. Do you have the comfort of these verses and the promises they afford the righteous? Are you a member of the body of Christ?

Have you put on Christ? For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ, have clothed yourselves with Christ. And that’s what we’ve got to keep on doing is clothing ourselves with His mindset and His wisdom and fellowship with Him. If you’re not a Christian, and we can assist you today in coming to these blessings that are promised for the faithful and the righteous. Can we assist you in putting him on this morning while we stand and sing? Amen.