Well, if there's one simple exaltation
that covers so much of the New Testament, it is, hang in there. Hang in there, brothers and sisters. Don't be weary. Don't be weary. There is so much in this world
that makes us weary, isn't there? It is a journey that God's children
are going on and this exhortation, like so many others in the scriptures,
would not be there if it wasn't for the fact that we do become
weary. We get weary over our sin, we
get weary over the battle. We'll deal with that remarkable
verse in Galatians in a not too distant future. For it says,
the flesh lusts against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh.
And these are contrary one to the other, so that you cannot
do the things that you would. Romans 7 has the same, similar
exhortation. We have, we have and we carry
about with us until we will leave this mortal coil. We have our
flesh, don't we? And we have all the struggles
that our flesh brings, the struggles that we find in reading the Word
of God, the struggles we have in trying to memorise it and
commit it to our lives, the struggles we have in prayer, the struggles
we have in witnessing, the struggles we have just as children of Adam
living amongst children of Adam. We have The weariness that we
have in this world, this world that lives in so much opposition
and in so much luxury, enjoying all the material blessings of
God and yet turning from Him and treating Him with utter contempt. We have so many causes for being
discouraged, don't we? We have the excitement of the
Gospel and then We have the seemingly slow progress of the Gospel in
this world and we have in the midst of our excitement about
the truth, we have the seeming enormous success of the false
Gospel and we have to live in this world which seems in so
many ways to be proud of the fact that it is actually making
so much of man and his wisdom and his abilities And there seems,
as time goes on, less and less need to acknowledge the Lord
in all of these things. And we have the weariness of
continuing the inability of men, the continuing inability of men
to live their lives in light of eternity. We have the weariness
that comes as you continue to speak to people and you would
think that they would organise and prioritise the things of
their lives so that the things that last forever, the things
that last into eternity that never finishes would be the things
that would matter most. The things that matter for their
souls, eternal destiny, would be the things that are the highest
priority, and yet we find that they are not. the source of weariness of those
who are dearly loved and close to us and seemingly unresponsive
to the Gospel. And we have the weariness that
comes from the sense in which our prayers and our longings
seem unanswered. And for these Thessalonians,
They had the weariness of the struggle, even though these letters
seemed to be written quite a short time after the Gospel had first
come to them and there had been so much excitement, but they
had the persecution that had followed the Gospel. and followed
in their lives. And here, in this particular
part of the letter, they have brethren amongst them who are
walking disorderly, working not at all, but they weren't not
being busy, they were being busy bodies. And here they seem to
be taking advantage of the kindness of believers. And Paul commands them in chapter
3 verse 12. Now to them that are such, he
makes this command to them. Notice it carefully. He commands
the ones that aren't working but are busybodies. If they're
not working for their own bread and the bread of others, they're
actually asking others to work for them. while they can be idle. Now to them that are such we
command and exhort by our Lord Jesus Christ that with quietness
they work and eat their own bread." With quietness they work and
eat their own bread. Instead of working not at all
and being busybodies, Paul commands them by our Lord Jesus Christ
that they work quietly. They were, of course, a persecuted
and troubled bunch, weren't they? If you go back to chapter 2,
verse 2, that you've written to them, and reminding them of
the Lord Jesus Christ coming and their gathering together
with him, that you not be soon shaken in mind or be troubled,
neither by spirit nor by word nor by letter, as if it was from
us." It means there are letters written to these Thessalonian
believers, signed by the Apostle Paul. So it must have looked
in the rest of its writings so much like Paul's writing, and
yet it was deceitful. Who do they believe? There is
so much. so much that causes weariness. And it was the zeal for the Lord,
wasn't it, that had provoked this persecution. It was that
new birth and that new creation and awareness of His glory and
His coming and an awareness of His powerful work in them. And this had led to their generosity
and their awareness of being taken advantage of. In the midst of others persecuting
them, there were some believers who were sitting on their hands
and asking others to feed them. Imagine if you were a soldier
in a battle, which is effectively what these Thessalonians were,
and there were some fellow so-called soldiers. who are sitting back,
idling away, enjoying the fruits of others' labours. In the midst of all this, Paul
is encouraging them, as Paul encourages us. The Holy Spirit
has written these words, but you brethren, be not weary in
doing well. Be not weary in doing well. Don't
let all the weariness of all of what you have experienced
and what you are experiencing. Don't let the weariness of persevering
in the midst of all of these trials, don't let that stop you. Don't let that discourage you,
is what the word means. Don't be losing heart in well-doing. Don't give up. The word so often
in the King James is translated, don't faint. Don't faint. And yet the Word of God has so
much encouragement for us, and it's so good that God's Word
is so faithfully true about the experience of God's people in
this world. The psalmist says in Psalm 27,
I had fainted unless I believed to see the goodness of the Lord
in the land of the living. Wait on the Lord, and be of good
courage, and He shall strengthen thine heart. Wait, I say, on
the Lord. There are continual calls in
the Word of God for God's people to be patient. Just wait. Wait for God's will and God's
purpose to unfold. He gives power, Isaiah 40, He
gives power to the faint. To them that have no might, He
increases strength. Even youth shall faint and be
weary. One of my, I don't know if it's
my favourite psalm, but one of the psalms that is so evocative
and powerful to me is Psalm 73. David expresses his weariness. as he sees the world around and
sees what is happening. This is the king of Israel, Esam
of Asaph. He says, not David, truly God
is good to Israel even to such a as are of a clean heart. But as for me, my feet were almost
gone, my steps had well nigh slipped. 4. Because I was envious
at the foolish when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. For
there are no bans in their death, they actually go through life
and through death without any trial or trouble." Don't think
that unbelievers are necessarily going to be troubled at their
point of death. This psalm says no, no they won't necessarily. They are not in trouble as other
men, neither are they plagued like other men, therefore pride
compasses about them, it surrounds them. bowed as a chain, and violence
covereth them as a garment. Their eyes stand out with fatness. They have more than heart could
wish. They are corrupt and speak wickedly
concerning oppression. They speak loftily. They set
their mouth against the heavens, and their tongue walketh through
the earth. Therefore his people return hither,
and the waters of a full cup are wrung out for them. And they
say, how does God know? And is there knowledge in the
Most High? Does God know? Does God have
wisdom? Behold, these are the ungodly
who prosper in the world. they increase in riches. And then he says, Verily I have
cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocency. for all day long I have been
plagued and chastened every morning. If I say I will speak thus, behold
I should offend against the generation of thy children." He's expressing
his thoughts and then he acknowledges that if he actually spoke it
out he would be speaking against the generation of God's children.
When I thought to know this, it was too painful for me. And
then the next words, Until I went into the sanctuary of God, and
then understood I their end, surely thou did set them in slippery
places, that casts us then down into destruction. For someone
who's been sent on a slippery place, you have been, we don't
have much ice around here, but you have been like me bush-walking
and you've been on some slippery rocks. On slippery rocks what
you think is a firm foundation just disappears from under you
and all you need to slip is your own weight. You need nothing
else. That's what God's saying here,
isn't it? You set them in slippery places. How they are brought
unto desolation, as in the moment they are utterly consumed with
terrors. As a dream, when one awaketh, so, O Lord, when thou
awakest, thou shalt despise their image. Thus my heart was grieved,
and I was pricked in my reins. So foolish was I and ignorant. I was as a beast before thee. Nevertheless, I am continually
with thee, and thou hast holden me by my right hand. Thou shalt guide me without thy
counsel, and afterwards receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven
but thee? and there is none upon earth
that I desire beside Thee. My flesh and my heart faileth,
but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
For lo, they that are far from Thee shall perish. Thou hast
destroyed all them that go a-whoring from Thee. But it is good for
me to draw near to God, I have put my trust in the Lord God,
that I may declare all thy works. The story is similar throughout
the scriptures, isn't it? It's a story, in a sense, of
the journey of the Lord Jesus Christ in this world. In this
world, he had trouble. In this world, despite all of
the troubles that he had, He, like all of God's children,
was kept by the power of God. There is, brothers and sisters,
there is, there is an end to all this. There is a God in heaven. And our journey, so much of our
journey might cause us to be weary, but these verses are encouraging
us They're encouraging us in the midst of the weariness, in
the midst of all of the discouragement, in the midst of all of what happens
in us and around us and to us. He's just quite simply saying,
hang in there and don't be weary in well-doing. Be persistent. I love the parable of the Lord
Jesus in Luke 18. He says, and he spoke a parable
unto them to this end, that man ought always to pray and not
to faint. Similar words to the one we have
in our verse. saying, There was in a city a judge which feared
not God, neither regarded man. And there was a widow in that
city, and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary. And he would not for a while,
but afterwards he said within himself, Though I fear not God,
nor regard man, yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge
her, lest by her continual coming she weary me. And the Lord said,
Hear what the unjust judge saith, and shall not God avenge his
own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear
long with them? He bears long with them, but
he will avenge them. I tell you that he will avenge
them speedily, And then the great challenge, which is laid before
us, isn't it? Nevertheless, when the Son of
Man cometh, shall He find faith on the earth? He will find faith. He will find faith where He has
planted it and He has grown it. But the question that's asked,
isn't it, implies the fact that there will not be faith on the
earth which is so plainly evident to all the people of this world. So well-doing, in a sense it's
a summary of Christian life, isn't it? It is, of course, our God's prerogative
to define what is will, what is good and what is evil, And
quite simply he says, without faith it is impossible to please
God. It is God's business to define
it. It is God's business to order
our steps. It is God's business to prepare
good works before us which we shall walk in, Ephesians 2.10. We are His workmanship, created
in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained
that we should walk in them." It is God's prerogative to order
our steps, even our steps of discouragement. And it's God's
prerogative in the midst of that to encourage us to hang in there
and for Him to reveal His faithfulness to His people. So much of what
we find discouraging in fact is something which is designed
ultimately by God to wean us of the world and to cause us
to look away from ourselves and our abilities and even our situation
and look to Him. look to Him and not our feelings,
and look to Him and not our experiences, and look to Him and look to His
life on this earth. I love what John 4 says. He says,
Jesus, when He met that woman at the well, before He met her,
He says, Jesus, therefore, be weary with His journey. He's talking about physical weariness
there, but there is a sense in which our Lord Jesus walked the
paths of this world such that we would look to Him and the
way He worked. The other thing that's remarkable
is that the well-doing in this verse has got to do with simple
things of life. So much of our Christian understanding
has been polluted by this concept of clergy and laity that somehow
there are people who are doing sort of super spiritual things
out there and then there are a whole lot of just plebeians
who are just sort of doing stuff which is okay but it doesn't
matter very much at all. That's not what this verse is
saying and it's not what God allows. The Lord Jesus was a
carpenter until he was 30 years of age. His apostles were fishermen. Paul, Paul with all of his brilliance,
spent a whole bunch of his time when he wasn't in jail and wasn't
preaching the gospel. He was so intense. He was doing
menial tasks, wasn't he? So the well-doing here is just
including the normal daily activities, daily labours to feed our families
and to feed others. And we are to be reminded that
the simple things of life are places where God's servants and
God's children can still be kings and priests unto God. if it's sweeping the street or
cleaning up the mess or doing simple things. And the well-doing
here, of course, is not taking advantage of Christian charity
to serve yourselves, but just working to provide for others
in need. The solution to those who are
working not at all and busybodies is, as I said earlier in verse
12, in quietness do your work and then eat your own bread. Galatians 6.9 says, Let us not
be weary in well-doing, for in due season we shall reap if we
faint not. And as we have opportunity, let
us do good unto all men, especially to them who are of the household
of faith. As the Lord Jesus says, Give
to him that asks of you, and turn him not away who would borrow
from you. Our gospel and the work of the
Lord in our lives continually takes our eyes off the situations
and circumstances of this world, that we actually see, even in
the simple and seemingly menial things, we see the hand of the
Lord. He never leaves us nor forsakes
us. He is working all things for
our good. He's not idly sitting by. And in the context of 2 Thessalonians,
Paul keeps commanding these brethren. In verse 4 he says, we command
you. Verse 6 he says, we command you. Verse 10 he says, we command
you. Verse 12 he's commanding the
others. Verse 14 he says, and if any man obey not the word
of this epistle. Well doing. Doing good. is done always ultimately in
response to God's word. If we have God's word for it,
then doing good is both to do and to abstain if he so commands. And in this situation in 3.6
it says that you are to withdraw yourselves from every brother
that walketh this speedily. Verse 14, you have no company
with someone. If someone who doesn't obey our
word by this epistle, you note that man and have no company
with him. Verse 15, Yet count him not as
an enemy, but admonish him as a brother. There is a well-doing
which involves withdrawing from those who oppose the Gospel. Oppose the Gospel in terms of
what they believe and what they claim, and oppose the Gospel
in terms of what they do. Don't be weary in doing good.
It's very easy to be weary in difficult situations. We are
simply God's servants and His word rules in the hearts of His
people. I love Proverbs 3, it says, lean
not on your own understanding. You know it well, don't you?
It says, trust in Him with all your heart and lean not on your
own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge
Him and lean not on your own understanding. Lean not on your
own understanding and He shall direct your paths. He says to stand fast in these
traditions. Stand fast in these traditions
of doctrine and life. Stand fast in these traditions
of the Gospel. Stand fast in these traditions
which have produced this remarkable fruit of faith and love in you. and He will comfort your hearts
and establish you in every good word and work." It's remarkable,
isn't it, how the encouragement of Paul is so profoundly consistent
throughout all of his letters. You see how continually he says
He gives an exhortation and then He shows us how that exhortation
is going to be the work of the Lord in the hearts of His people. If you go back to verse 1 of
chapter 3, He says, Finally, brethren, pray for us. Do well
doing, do good, be well doing. Pray for us that the word of
the Lord may have free course. and be glorified even as it is
with you." He's asking them to pray for something that's actually
happening in their lives already. And in verse 2 it says, so that
we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men, which is a description
of men without faith. And then verse 3, but the Lord
is faithful. who shall establish you and keep
you from evil." You pray that they, Paul, might be delivered,
and then it's the Lord who is faithful, who will establish
you and keep you from evil men. The Lord is faithful. And we
have In verse 4, we have confidence in the Lord touching you, that
you both do and will do the things which we command you. And how
is that going to happen? Verse 5, and the Lord direct
your hearts into the love of God and the patient waiting for
Christ. It's the Lord's method of encouragement,
isn't it? Paul's thankfulness, always. When Paul is encouraging the
believers, he's always doing so on the basis of thankfulness
for what he sees the Lord doing in their lives. It's a beautiful
thing to contemplate, isn't it? He's always thankful. In verse
2 of 1 Thessalonians 1, he says, We give thanks to God always
to you, brethren, making mention of you in our prayers. He's thankful
to God for them. He's thankful to God because
he remembers before God, without ceasing, your work of faith,
your labour of love and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ,
in the sight of God and our Father. He thanks God for what he sees. He thanks God for them, for what
he sees God doing in them, knowing, brethren, beloved, your election
of God. And then he gives all those reasons
for why he sees them elect. The Gospel came, the Gospel came
with power. In 2 Thessalonians he begins
the same way in chapter 1 verse 3. He says, We are bound to thank
God always for you, brethren, as it is right, because that
your faith groweth exceedingly, and the love of every one of
you toward all each other abound us, so that we ourselves glory
in You in the churches of God." Paul hears what's happening in
God's activities in the lives of these people and he boasts
of the Thessalonians in the other churches. And what's he boasting
of? He's boasting of what God has done in their lives. And
so it's remarkable, isn't it? It's a remarkable way of encouragement.
See, God gets all the glory. And his children get all the
encouragement when they see him at work in their lives and in
the lives of their brothers and sisters. That's his way of encouragement. That's his way of encouraging
these people not to be weary in well-doing. Hang in there. He has been faithful in the past. He has sent His Gospel to them
and there were millions in the world who the Gospel didn't come
to. He's worked in their lives in
the past. He's working in their lives now. Faithful, faithful. I love verse 24 of chapter 5
of 1 Thessalonians. Faithful is He that calleth you. Faithful, what a great name for
our God. What a great activity. Faithful
is He that calleth you, calls you to Himself, calls you by
the Gospel. And what else is He going to
do? Who also will do it. He will do it. He has done it. He will do it. He cannot change
His purpose. He cannot change His love. As
Norm prayed earlier, His electing covenantal purposes were set
in place before the foundation of the world and nothing that
happens in time is going to interfere with God's eternal purposes.
His covenant is ordered and sure in every detail. His character
is unchangeable. unchangeable forever. Therefore, your weariness will
pass. As he says, comfort the feeble-minded,
support the weak, be patient toward all men. Well doing. Well doing here. Continue in
well-doing, no matter what the discouragement, no matter what
happens around you, no matter how much you are hurt by people
who in Christian love and faithfulness should be caring for you. Just
keep on hanging in there. Well-doing is all done in faith. Well-doing is all done out of
love for God, and we love Him. We really do love Him because
He first loved us. And we do all that we do in the
name of the Lord Jesus. Whatever you do, in word or deed,
do all in the name of the Lord Jesus. It's a serious challenge,
isn't it? to think about our lives and
think about our thankfulness to Him in all things. All well-doing is done in His
strength. He says, without Me you can do
nothing. All well-doing is actually doing,
isn't it? There is, as many of us know
only too well, there is an enormous difference between wishing well
and doing well. As the old proverb said, if wishes
were fishes, if wishes were fishes, we'd all cast nets in the sea. Or as they used to say before
our days, if wishes were horses, beggars might ride. There is
a vast difference between resolving to do something and doing well. There is a vast difference between
talking well and doing well. Now God is faithful. He has begun a good work. He will continue that work. He will cause his people to hang
in there. We just talked earlier about
his calling. We're on to verse 14 of chapter 2. He called you
by our gospel to what? What's the goal? What's the goal
of Christian life? to the attaining of the glory
of our Lord Jesus Christ. What's his prayer for them in
chapter 1 verse 11 of this epistle? Wherefore also we pray always
for you that our God would count you worthy of this calling and
fulfil all the good pleasure of His goodness and the work
of faith with power that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ
may be glorified in you and you in Him. What a remarkable destiny that
lies ahead of us. What remarkable things are just
around the corner. These light and momentary troubles,
these featherweight troubles, will disappear. I might finish
by reading the clause of 1 Thessalonians in chapter 5. He says, Now we exhort you, brethren,
warn them that are unruly, comfort the feeble-minded, support the
weak, be patient toward all men. See that none render evil for
evil unto any man. But ever follow that which is
good, both among yourselves and to all men. Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing in everything. in everything give thanks, for
this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. Quench not the spirit, despise
not prophesying, prove all things, hold fast that which is good,
abstain from all appearance of evil. and the very God of peace
sanctify you wholly, and I pray God your whole spirit and soul
and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus
Christ. Faithful is he that calleth you,
who also will do it. Amen. Let's pray. Our Heavenly
Father, we confess that so much of this journey
we find ourselves weary and have so many reasons to be discouraged
and yet we come to your word, Heavenly Father, and find so
many reasons for us just to hang in there and to not be weary,
to not be discouraged by the things that we see within us
and the things that we see within this world of ours, Heavenly
Father, that we might just find ourselves continuing to look
to the Lord Jesus in faith, continuing, Heavenly Father, to use the circumstances
that you have provided and surrounded us with, that we might learn
to be patiently waiting for you to reveal yourself as faithful
and true and ruler of all things. Father again we thank you that
you rule in the hearts of your people. and we thank you for
your work of faith in the lives of your people. We praise you,
Heavenly Father, that you have caused us to have our eyes for
just a short time again lifted off the things of this world
and the things of our flesh, that we might see our blessed
Saviour and Redeemer. seated upon the throne of this
universe, honored and glorified in heaven as he will be for all
eternity with his people. What an extraordinary thing,
Heavenly Father, that people like us might be obtaining the
glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. Help us just to hang in there,
our Father. Help us to hang in there.