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A message to encourage faith
Be not weary in well doing II Thes. 3:1-15, 12-13 text. Illus: What do you
do when things are not doing well? Well, most of us get weary,
that is worn out. I like the way D. L. Moody
put it: “I get weary in the work, but not weary of the work.” That has kind of been my
philosophy over the years. What do you do when you
get worn out? 1 Cor 15:58 I. ALWAYS BE YOURSELF
AND WALK ACCORDING TO THE WORD OF GOD! Vs. 1-4. You can try as you
will, but you will never be what you wish you were. Let God use you the way you are: Personality, character, intelligence
or lack, gifted or not, talented or not. Allow The Lord to make you
and shape you. You will grow weary if you
try to fit or follow someone else’s mould. God made you the way you are. Let Him use you the way He
made you. Explain: It does not
mean that you cannot make all men your teacher. Don’t try to be like
another, be Christlike, and find a man who is following Jesus & follow him.
Chapter 2 concluded with
the fact that believers should be established in the Word of God. Now in Chapter 3 Paul says that there are certain
responsibilities that we have as believers. As Paul put it to the Ephesians
(4:1), “walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called.” In v. 1 he says that the
Word of God enables us to walk before the wicked world. Listen, The Word of God
establishes us in our walk. It really bothers me to
think that people who claim to believe The Word of God give so little attention to it. Christians need to be established:
In the home, church, work, etc. Right now our homes
are in trouble, our church is in trouble as well as the lives of believers. We need to be established, how? By coming to the Word of
God and letting it have its influence in your life. Someone said, “The
Bible will keep you from sin, and sin will keep you from the Bible.” Everything God does, He does through His
Word. II. ALWAYS WALK
IN THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT Vs. 5-7. The Christian is to walk in “the
love of God.” Only the Spirit of God can
make His love real to us. Remember that love is a
fruit of the spirit. You cannot naturally love
every person who crosses your path. I think we need to be careful who we say we love. It is a matter of good judgment. For example: The believer
is not to walk with one who is disorderly in v. 6. God makes it very clear
who we ought to follow in v. 7. Remember, “birds of
a feather flock together.” You will always be like the crowd you run around with. We need to be very careful
of the company we keep. III. ALWAYS WALK IN
YOUR WORK OF GOD. Vs. 8-15. The Thessalonians were walking
in the spirit, and they were being persecuted for it. Paul comforts them &
lets them know he is going through it too. But look at v. 10.
A Christian who is looking for the Lord to return is not dreamer; he is a worker. No Work, no Food! How cruel. Since much of this letter
has to do with Jesus coming again, he gets very practical here by saying: We are to work while we wait. Look at v. 11. There
were some not working at all, not interested in getting out the Word of God; but, they were busy – that is, busybodies. They were really making
a nuisance of themselves, and they were causing trouble in the church. It takes just one apple to spoil
the whole barrel. Now look at v. 12, that
does not sound very spiritual does it? But is sure is practical:
It would solve a great many problems in the average church if the busybodies, the troublemakers, would work with quietness
do something constructive. I have found in my ministry
that the one who causes the most trouble is the smallest giver. This was true here in the This is wonderful, a Christian
who is working for the Lord need not be weary in well doing. Enter content here |
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