Turn back to Galatians, chapter
6. The text that I've selected in
Galatians 6, verse 9, let us not be weary in well-doing, is
repeated again in 2 Thessalonians 3, verse 13. Be not weary, brethren,
be not weary. Be not indifferent. Be careful of spiritual indifference. If you were to ask me tonight
what I fear the most, I'm dead serious. Ed Ballard said a while
ago, if we think about what we say sometimes without saying
it, then we discover it didn't need to be said. But Ed, I thought
about this, and I'm going to say this because I believe it
needs to be said. If you ask me what I fear the
most, and I mean of everything, for myself and for you, what
I fear the most, the answer may surprise you. But I would be most emphatic
with my answer. And as far as I'm concerned,
there's no question that this is the right answer. There's
absolutely no room for debate. In regard to the matter, I fear
above all things, and as I thought about it while we were singing
the last stanza of the last hymn, my knees actually began to tremble. I fear spiritual indifference
and weariness on the part of professing believers in the things
of Christ Jesus the Lord. What I mean by spiritual indifference,
I mean this. The word of God goes unread. Good spiritual literature is
not read. The worship services, prayer
meetings, Bible classes, fellowship with other believers is neglected. The early enthusiasm, when we
first claim to enter into the kingdom of God and to embrace
the Lord Jesus Christ. That early enthusiasm, that early
desire to hear, to take part in the worship services, is gone. Interest in other people coming
to Christ, you remember that? How you talked to your relatives
and neighbors and friends about what you had discovered? How
you talked to them about Christ, invited them to come to church?
You were interested in others coming to knowledge of Christ.
You had a great interest in what other churches were doing, what
other preachers were preaching, what the missionaries were doing.
That's beginning to wane. And more attention is given to
the things of this place and the things of the body. We're
more concerned about the condition of our bodies than we are our
interest in Christ. We become concerned about houses
and lands and farms and jobs and entertainment and just the
things that pertain to the flesh. And we neglect the things of
the spirit. And our knowledge of Christ becomes a thing settled
instead of a relationship sought. There was a time when we could
say with the Apostle Paul, oh, that I may win Christ and be
found in him. or that I may know him and the
power of his resurrection. But we know him. We're in Christ. We're saved. We die tonight. We're going to heaven. It's a
matter of settle. It's not a relationship of salt.
The Christian race has become the Christian race. And the spirit
of humility, that spirit that cries, I'm the chief of sinners,
has given way to a spirit of self-esteem. I'm less than the
least of all the saints. not worthy to be one of his disciples
in that given way to pride and hurt feelings. And we quit the
assembly because someone offended us. You can't offend the chief
of centers. You can't offend the less than
the least of all the saints. But we're not there anymore,
and we can be offended. And that first love, that sweetheart
love, that disappears from so many marriages has disappeared
from our marriage to Christ. And all those things that once
related to Christ, that were precious to us, have degenerated
into a system of doctrine. Our enthusiasm and our joy has
become a profession, a religious refuge. Preacher, that can't
happen to me. Let me give you a figure that
one of the most shocking things that I suppose you'll hear this
week, and it ought to trouble every professing believer in
this congregation. It troubles me. It ought to make us say with
the Apostle Paul, I tremble, I fear, lest while preaching
to others, or teaching others, or leading others, or claiming
to be a Christian, I become a castaway. Twenty-four years ago we started
this church. These are the latest figures.
I got them today. I've been blue ever since I read
them. Twenty-four years ago we started this church with much
joy and enthusiasm, interest in the gospel. People left the
Pollard Baptist Church because of liberalism and modernism and
rejection of the gospel of the grace of God. A hundred and eight
men and women over 47 men and 50-some-odd women, 24 years ago. Now, I give these figures with
grief in my heart. I give these figures saddened
by them. I give these figures, though,
as a warning. You think it can't happen to you, John Halston?
It can. You think it can't happen to you, Don McGuinness? It can.
You think it can't happen to you, Henry Mahan? It can. to
many before you came along. But of the 108 men and women
that started this church with enthusiasm, the first Sunday's
offering back 25 years ago was $9,000. They were in every service, Sunday
morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night. They talked the gospel. They were enthused about the
gospel. They supported the gospel. They
gave of themselves their time and their money. Well, of those
108 men and women, 24 of them are dead. Some of those who are
dead were fateful to the day they died. Six have moved away. I'm not counting the boys and
girls now. I'm counting the mature, grown men and women. I'm talking
about men and women your age. Seventy-eight are living in this
vicinity, in this area. There are 78 left out of 108
who live in this area right here. within driving distance or walking
distance of this building. Of those 78, 39, exactly one
half have no interest in the gospel anymore at all. They either
don't come, they don't support the gospel. As far as they're
concerned, the church can close down. One half. In other words,
I'm talking about 24 years from now, one half of this congregation
will have no interest in the Lord Jesus Christ. Do you believe
that? That's my experience in the past. There are 39 who are now still
loyal and faithful to the preaching of the gospel. I looked over
the congregation tonight, there are less than 10 men out of that
47 that are here tonight, until about 7 or 8. You think about
that. And you think about that when
you begin to get confident, presumptuous When you begin to feel that decline
and that spiritual interest and first love and sweetheart love
for Christ, you don't think it can disappear? Be not weary in
well-doing. We don't read this warning twice
in the Word of God for nothing. But these, you say, what about
those 39 that live here that do not support the gospel, have
no interest in the gospel? They're moral people. They're
good neighbors. They're professing Christians.
If you walked up to any of the 39 tonight and asked them if
they died, would they go to heaven, they'd say, yes, sirree. No doubt
in my mind. Oh, I don't worship God, and
I don't support the gospel. And if it were left up to me,
there wouldn't be any churches. And if all the members of God's
kingdom were like me, the churches would all close. We'd live in
a totally pagan society. There wouldn't be a preacher
preaching or a missionary carrying the message, but we're safe.
We're safe. They're professing Christians,
and they believe in the sovereignty of God. You say these people
were Arminians, and they are not Arminians either. They fight
you for the doctrine of election. But as far as they're concerned,
the doors tonight would not be open, nor would they be open
next Sunday. Be not weary in well-doing. This
is a warning. As I say, the message is not
pleasant. A thing like this can't be pleasant. You can't sit at
home and watch your children depart from the hearth and the
fireside, never to return and not wait. If you can do that,
you've got a heart that's harder than it ought to be. You can't stand to see brethren
and sisters who profess to know Christ, have no interest in the
gospel of Christ, and not be brokenhearted. And you cannot
look at new people who come in to hear the gospel and not have
this realization They too may be gone in 5, 10, 15 years with
no interest. What happens? What happens? Be not weary, discouraged, indifferent,
in well-doing, for in God's own time, in due season, we'll reap
if we faint not. Let's go back to verse 1 of chapter
6. Verse 1 of chapter 6. Now, let's
leave it in the context. It starts out this way. If a man be overtaken in a fault,
ye which are spiritual, restore such a one in the spirit of meekness,
considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted." We're redeemed,
the children of God. But we're still human. You're
a human being. You're a fallible, finite human
being. You're still in the flesh. And
the motions of sin and the desires of the flesh and the potential
to depart and to fall in the most complete way is in every
person here tonight. Don't you think you are one bit
immune from what I'm talking about? Nor should I think it.
And therefore it says, if a brother falls into sin, what kind of
sin? Sin of spirit? Sin of attitude? Sin of flesh?
We who are at this time We're to make every attempt to
restore and to resettle and to recover and to mend like a broken
bone that which is out of place. We're not to be critical. As
I talk about people who've departed from the gospel, who once claimed
to love it, I'm trying not to be critical. I'm trying not to
be critical. Those who leave the fellowship,
I'm trying not to condemn. I'm trying to remember that the
potential to sin, the greatest of sin, is in every believer.
One of the old writers years ago said that the saint who is
nearest to heaven has the potential in him to be another devil if
God lifted his restraining hand. And oh, how careful we must be
to remember this. When you look about you and see
those who fail and fall, overtaken in faults and errors, errors
of spirit or flesh or attitude or whatever, restore such a one,
pray for such a one, be brokenhearted over such a one in the spirit
of humility, not censoring and critical and judging and finding
fault, considering thyself, considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Verse 2 says this, bear or carry
one another's burdens. The word here is load or weight.
It's saying carry one another's trials and infirmities, shortcomings. Pity one another, support one
another, love beareth all things, love believeth all things, love
hopeth all things, true love endureth all things. In so doing,
in bearing one another's infirmities and failures and Helping one
another in trials and in these situations, we fulfill the royal
law of Christ. What is the royal law of Christ?
We know what the law of Moses is. What's the law of Christ?
To love one another as I love you. When did he love me? When I was down. When I was unclean
and undone. Christ loved me when I didn't
love him. And he dealt with me in mercy
when I didn't deal with him in the same way. And then in verse
3, he says this, For if a man think himself to be something,
if he think himself to be something, anything, an authority, or a
gifted person, or one who is even necessary, or one who is
able to stand alone, or one who is righteous, or moral, or learned,
or intelligent, if he thinks himself to be something, anything,
when in himself he's really nothing. Am I nothing? Well, Paul said
he was nothing. He said, I'm not one whit behind
the chief apostle, but I'm nothing. He said, some say I'm of Paul's,
I'm of Apollos, I'm of Cephas, I'm of this, that, and the other.
He said, who is Paul? Who is Apollos? Who is Cephas? Ministers
by whom you heard the gospel, but we're nothing. God gives
the increase. God is everything. I'm nothing.
Man at his best state, and I'm not at my best state, and I'm
not at human best state, I'm not saying that, but if I do
attain to man's best state, I'm altogether vanity. In my flesh
dwelleth no good thing. I have no room to be critical
of others. I stand by the grace of God.
What I am, I am by the grace of God. I owe my being, I owe
my knowledge, I owe my understanding. I owe my restraint totally and
wholly and completely to the grace of God. The only reason
I'm not gone tonight is the grace of God, Joe. That's the only
reason. That's the reason I must examine
myself whether I'm in the faith. Everybody's in some kind of faith,
but am I in the faith? Everybody believes in some God,
but do I rest in, trust in, look to the living God? Everybody
loves Jesus, that's what the song says. Jesus loves everybody,
but is this the Christ of God that I love? Wouldn't I go on
loving Him if I ever loved Him? You reckon if these eyes ever
gazed upon Christ, these eyes of faith, that anyone could ever
take His place? You reckon if anyone ever came
to a living union, a vital personal relationship with Christ Jesus,
that any attraction in all of the world could take him away
from Christ? I doubt that. I know people can
get religion and doctrine and And they can form alliances and
allegiances and all of these things with forms and rituals
and programs and theology and churches and all that. And something
prettier or better or finer or nicer or more enjoyable could
come along and it'd slip away. But what's greater than Christ?
What's more beautiful than Christ? What's more glorious than Christ?
Nothing! And I believe if a person ever
looks into his face, The things of this world, and I mean everything,
will grow strangely different in the light of his glory and
grace. That's true. Whoever believes it or doesn't
believe it, that's true. Now the question is, have I ever
seen Christ? Have I ever been joined to Christ?
Have I ever been spiritually united to Christ? Oh, like I
say, we've got our religion, we've got our doctrine, we've
got what we believe. Paul didn't say, I know what
I believe. He said, I know whom I have believed. But I know when
I believe. Paul didn't say he knew when
he believed. He said, I know whom I have believed. And oh, the glory, the glory
of his countenance. And then he says in verse 4,
let every man prove or examine his own faith, examine his own
conduct, examine his own work, examine his own relationship
with God. I cannot examine yours, but I
can look at mine. Let every man prove his own work.
Let every man examine his own faith, his own conduct, his own
work and task. If he sees any grace, he can
rejoice. If he sees any mercy, he can
rejoice. If he sees anything that God
has done for him, he can rejoice. Not spending his time comparing
himself with others. What a fatal, fatal error. for us to spend our time comparing
ourselves with others. You are they which compare yourselves
with others, he said. But if we can find some grace
in our own hearts and in our own lives, we can rejoice in
God's mercy to us. For he says everyone shall bear
his own burden, verse 5. Now, burden in verse 2, you Greek
students or people who have lexicons, you look it up and you get home,
that's two different words, the same word but two different Two
different meanings. Bear ye one another's load, infirmities. Bear ye one another's weight.
Whatever's pressing upon that dear brother, let it press upon
you. Feel his infirmity, feel his weakness, feel his trial,
feel his care, feel his burden. Help him to carry. But the word
in verse 5 is task or service. Talking about verse 4, we don't
compare ourselves with others. We can't do that. These figures
that I gave you a moment ago are not for you to boast and
say, well, I'm still here. That's not it. He says, let every
man examine his own faith, his own work, his own conduct, his
own work, his own task. And then shall he have rejoicing
in himself alone, verse 4. In other words, if he sees any
real grace there, if he sees any real mercy that God's done
for him, then he won't spend his time comparing himself with
someone of lesser degree, but he can rejoice in what God's
done for him. And he can fill his own place.
He can do his own work. He can carry out his own task.
He can fulfill his own calling in the family of God. And verse 6 has to do with the
support of those who teach and preach and lead in the gospel.
Let him that's taught in the word communicate. Now brethren,
we've been putting this on a cash and carry basis and there's a
whole lot meant here more than that. You can pay a preacher
and break his heart. You can see that he lives in
a nice home and sleeps on a soft bed and lie awake all night. This communicating, let him that's
taught in the word communicate unto him that teacheth in all
things. That is, encouraging, supporting, assisting, helping. If this verse only meant paying
a fellow money, then the dear widows and orphans in the church
couldn't communicate at all to the person who taught them. See
what I'm saying? But you can communicate with
help and support and encouragement. Those who teach you the Word
of God, those who lead you in the worship of God, let him that's
taught communicate. You're certainly not communicating
when you don't go to hear the man preach, when you don't support
his ministry, when you don't encourage him and assist him.
Any man who is pastor of a church, and does not grieve over empty
pews when there are enough members of the Church to fill them all.
There's something wrong with his relationship with his people.
And verse 7 says, don't be deceived. Don't be deceived. God's not
to be scorned. God's not to be ignored. God's
not to be mocked by our pretension and our profession. God is not
mocked. What a man's soul is, he'll read.
He'll read. He sows discord, unhappiness,
misery. If he sows these things, he'll
reap them. God's not scorned, God's not mocked, God's not to
be ignored by our pretensions and our professions. What a man
sows, he'll reap. Verse 8 says, For he that sows
to the flesh, that person who gives his heart and his interest
and his life to the pursuit of fleshly things, that's what he's
going to reap. And in those fleshly things, he's going to reap corruption
decay, ruin, and destruction. They who are of the Spirit do
mind the things of the Spirit. What does the word mind mean?
They are concerned and they care about the things of the Spirit.
And they that are of the flesh What are they concerned with?
They're concerned with this body, with its comforts and with its
entertainment and with its luxuries and with its personal care. And
they who sow to the flesh shall of the flesh reap all that the
flesh can give them. Corruption, decay, ruin. But he that soweth to the Spirit,
he shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. Notice my text begins
with the word and. Just a continuation of what he's
been saying. Just a continuation. Brethren, we're human. Flesh, that's all
that's here tonight, is flesh. Everybody here, there's not any
glorified beings here yet. We're flesh, human. Failing,
finite human beings. If a man be overtaken, a woman
be overtaken in a fault, whatever the fault may be, you which are
spiritual, or consider yourself to be so, or are regarded as
so, or are so, and you restore, resettle, recover that individual
in the spirit of Christ, in the spirit of meekness, considering
yourself, lest you be tried. For the day will come when you
will. There's one thing about it. God only had one Son without
sin. He has no sons without suffering.
They that would live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. In this world you shall have
tribulation. So lift the man's load, lift
his burden, bear his infirmities, pity him, pray for him, love
him. For if you think yourself to
be something when you're nothing, you're deceitful. And we're to
do our own work and our own task, and we're to examine our own
relationship with Christ. And if we find anything there,
we can rejoice in what God's done for us, and not spend our
time comparing ourselves with others. And do our own task,
fulfill our own service, and let them that are taught in the
Word, in faithfulness and loyalty and support and aid and assistance,
communicate to those who teach. And don't be deceived. What a
horrible thing to be deceived, to pull the covers up over our
head while our feet are exposed. The cover's too short, the bed's
too narrow, and the refuge that we've chosen will not hide us
when the overflowing scourge of God's wrath passes through.
Don't be deceived. God is not mocked. What a man
sows, he's going to reap. He sows indifference, he'll reap
it. He sows carelessness, he'll reap it. For he that cares for
the flesh, and minds the flesh, and is concerned with the flesh,
and is interested in the flesh, and allows the flesh to decline
and deteriorate his spiritual fire, the flesh is going to bring
him destruction and corruption. But he that soweth through the
Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. And don't be
weary in this pursuit. And don't be discouraged in this
race, and don't be indifferent to this task, for in God's own
time, in due season, in God's own time, there's a time for
everything unto heaven. In due time, Christ died for
the ungodly. In due time, our Lord came. It
was 4,000 years after the promise, 2,000 years after the promise
to Abraham. Thy seed, in thy seed shall all
nations be blessed. Where is that seed? Well, a fellow
named Simeon still believed he was coming. He still believed
he was coming. And one day, in God's own time,
old faithful Simeon, who looked to the consolation of Israel,
was standing in the temple, and a young woman came in with a
baby in her arms. And she handed that baby to that
old priest, and just as soon as he saw him, he lifted his
eyes to heaven and said, One of these days, you and I,
in due season, if we faint not, what does the word fainting mean?
Falling aside, becoming indifferent, giving up, or quitting. That word ought not be in our
vocabulary. I'm going to quit the assembly.
I'm not going back. I'm this, that, and the other.
If we faint not in due season, in due season, Or there'll be
times of poverty and times of plenty. There'll be times of
famine and there'll be times of feasting. There'll be times
of drought and there'll be times of refreshing rain. There'll
be times and months and seasons when we will lift our eyes and
say, Is God clean gone? Is the Spirit departed? The heavens
are vast. But you just stick around. You
just stick around. in due season. If you faint not,
if you have the grace to fight a good fight, if you have the
grace to finish your course, if you have the grace to keep
your faith, there is laid up for you a crown of righteousness.
But I do not believe there is laid up for those a crown of
righteousness who do not run the race. I do not. If that be so, the whole world
is saved. And I know the whole world is not Paul said, Demas
hath forsaken me, he loved the world. What is well-doing? Be not weary in well-doing. What
is well-doing? Spurgeon said it's a summary
of the Christian life. That's what he's saying here.
He's giving right here a summary of the Christian life. Be not
weary in the pursuit of righteousness. What is it? It's believing God.
That was a summary of Abraham's whole life. It said he believed
God. He believed God. It motivated everything that
he did. It brought him righteousness. He believed God. I don't believe
men and all men are liars, but I believe God walking with him,
trusting him, resting in him. I believe God. Whatever happens, I believe God.
Whoever departs, I still believe God. The line has never, never
been broken. It goes all the way back to righteous
God has a people. It's not only believing God,
but it's manifesting the fruit of the Spirit. I mean manifesting
it, not talking about it, manifesting it. Not holding it as a doctrine,
but having it operating in our hearts. The fruit of the Spirit,
love, joy, peace, faith, gentleness, meekness, kindness, It's not only that, but it's
doing all things out of a love for Christ. And not only that,
but it's care and concern for others, setting an example. An
example of faithfulness, an example of compassion, an example of
preferring one another. Look not on your own things,
but on the things of others. In giving happiness, you get
happiness. looking not on our own things, but on the welfare
and concern of others. What is well-doing? It's everything
that's done in faith. That which is not of faith is
sin. It's everything that's done with an eye for the glory of
God, whether in word or deed, whether eating or drinking, devoted
to everything that is of Christ. If this is his church, I want
to be here. If these are his people, I want to be a part of
them. If this is his gospel, I want to hear it. If this is
where the blessed Redeemer is preaching his word, I want to
sit at his feet and listen. If it's not, I want to find out
where it is. But it's not at my house, and it's not in the
woods, not on the golf course, it's not by the lake, it's not
in my place of business. in the house of the Lord. I was glad when they said to
me, when did you cease to be glad? Somebody did, 39 of them
did. I was glad when they said to
me, let's go to the house of the Lord. Thank God I have legs
to carry me. Thank God I have eyes to see.
Thank God I have an ear to hear. One day I won't have. Thank God
I have a desire to be there, but that's of grace. If it wasn't
for His grace, I wouldn't be here. What are some of the things
that contribute to this weariness and well-doing, this spiritual
indifference? What are the things that contribute
to it? Want me to tell you what they are? Now let's be honest,
totally honest, and you who are here tonight will know you've
had dealings with these things too, and if you haven't, you
will. We need to be honest in dealing with ourselves. Give
me an honest preacher. I don't want somebody telling
me what I want to hear, what I think I ought to hear. I want
them telling me what God wants me to hear. I want to hear some
preacher reprove and rebuke and exhort with all longsuffering
and tenderness, but cut where I need to be cut. Operate where
I need to be operated on. I don't want my ears tickled,
nor am I going to tickle his. What are these things that contribute
to spiritual indifference? Number one, your flesh. Christ said, the spirit indeed
is willing, but what's weak? The flesh. The flesh is your
enemy. Look across the page at Galatians
chapter 5, verse 16. This I say then, walk in the
spirit. continually, constantly, on guard,
walking the Spirit. And you'll not fulfill the lust
of the flesh. The flesh won't get the victory. For I tell you,
the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, warreth against the Spirit.
It's the enemy of the Spirit, and the Spirit's the enemy of
the flesh. And these are contrary, the one to the other, so that
you cannot do the things you would. If you're a real child
of God, you can't do the evil that your flesh would do. And
if you're a real child of God, you can't even do the good that
your spirit wants to do, because both the spirit and the flesh
hate one another. What I mean by that, I mean this.
If a person loves Christ, even though his flesh has the desire
to leave Christ, his spirit won't let him. His spirit clings to
Christ. Like Brother Scott said the other
night, it's not just my sins that drive me to Christ, it's
His excellence and beauty that draws me to Him. My spirit loves
Christ. Paul said that. He said, when
I would do good, evil is present with me. I, myself, love the
law of God, but I find another law warring in my members, so
that the things I would do, I do them not. What would you do,
Paul? I'd be perfect. My flesh won't let me be perfect.
Oh, I tell you this, Joe, I love God giving you a gift of prayer. Wouldn't you love to pray a perfect
prayer? I would. Can't do it. Can't do it. Wouldn't
I love to preach a sermon that would, my soul, reveal Christ
to the heart? I can't do it. Much study is
a weariness of the what? Flesh. You cannot do the things
you would. You can't do the things your
flesh would do, and you can't do the things your spirit would
do. You say, you got me in a bind.
No, the grace of God got you in that bind, I didn't. You're
full, but you're empty. You're miserable, but you're
happy. You're rich, but you're poor. You're full, but you're
empty, huh? And the flesh, this flesh has
got to be, we got to declare war on it. And then the world. Remember Lot's wife? She started
out of Sodom. She got a good ways out. I don't
know how long it took them. But she got a good ways out,
but she just couldn't turn loose. She had to look back. She just
had to look back. Because she just couldn't let
it go. And that was the end. And that
was with Demas. Demas was a companion of the
Apostle. He lived with the Apostle, he
preached with the Apostle, and he loved the Apostle, but he
couldn't turn loose of the material, fleshly, carnal world. The devil, look at Ephesians,
Galatians, Ephesians, chapter 6. You say, what is that that contributes
to this indifference, this spiritual willingness and well-doing, this
spiritual lukewarmness? What? The flesh? The world? They're your enemies. The devil
is your enemy. Listen to him in verse 12 of
Ephesians 6. You don't wrestle. Verse 11 says,
put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand
against the wows, the cunning, the craftiness of the devil.
You don't wrestle against flesh and blood. your fights against
principalities and powers and rulers of the darkness of this
world, against some mighty high folks in some mighty high places,
spiritual wickedness. Peter, Satan hath desired you, that he might sift you this way.
He's after you. He's after you. He's the enemy
of the brethren. adversary, he's a roaring lion,
he's going about seeking whom he may devour. And he's your
enemy. Wherefore take unto you the whole
armor of God, verse 13, that you may be able to withstand
in that evil day, and having done all, to do what? To quit.
To stand. To stand. What's another thing
that contributes to weariness and well-doing and spiritual
indifference? the example of other people.
Oh, bad manners, bad companions corrupt good manners. You're
running with the wrong folks. You're encouraging one another
to sin. My yard doesn't look too bad if all the other yards
look bad. You hang around with the folks
that aren't interested in the gospel, not interested in Christ,
and not cultivating a spiritual attitude. Pretty soon you'll have the same
kind of complexion and attitude. Like begets like in that regard.
Faithfulness to God's in the minority. You just have to find
who that minority is. And then I'll tell you something
else that leads to spiritual indifference and lukewarmness
and weariness and well-doing in gratitude of other people.
Somebody says, well, people aren't appreciative. I know that. Well, I'm just going to quit
helping anybody. Yeah, that's the thing to do. Yeah, that's
the thing to do. That's exactly the road down. That's where she's headed, right
there. That's the way to do it. When somebody, like, I think
that sitting in the study, they come by and they want a handout
and help and groceries and all, and it gets to me, I don't think
after a while, I'm just going to shut that door and I'm going to help
anybody, you know. Well, that's not it. People are
critical. I know that. They've been since
Adam. Well, folks in my home and in
the church, they just don't have an interest in what I believe
and what I stand for. I know that. Christ said a man's
enemies will be those of his own household. We must not let
them influence us and pull us down and discourage us. We must not do it. Well, I see
so little results, preacher. I pray and I just don't see many
results. And I go to church and I study
and I just don't grow fast enough. And you preach and there's just
not many people saved. And we get discouraged, don't
we? In due season we'll reap if we
think not. You keep giving. You keep praying. You keep witnessing. You keep
preaching. God didn't call you to save the
world, he called you to preach to it. God Almighty didn't call
me to give the harvest, he called me to plant a seed. If he wants
to grow one little old spindly stalk of corn, praise his name. If he wants the field to wave
in the autumn sun with thousands of sheaves, praise his name. But he's still the Lord of the
harvest. I'm not responsible for the results, but I sure am
responsible for the message I preach, and the life I live, and the
faithfulness and loyalty and devotion to my God. I'm responsible
for that. Well, preacher, everything's
changing. Things ain't like they used to
be. They never are. They never are. New people, bigger
crowds. I like a small group where you
know everybody. You ever heard that? Of course
things change. The hymn writer said this, Change
and decay all around me I see, O thou that changest not abide
with me. I'm changing. You're changing. Our city's changing, our church
is changing. Change with it. Change with it. Grow with it. Reach out. Expand your interest and your
fellowship. Meet somebody new every day. Lift somebody's burden every
day. Call somebody's name in prayer
every day. Get out of that little miserable,
selfish, ego circle. Reach, spread out. Hold forth
your hands. Invite others to come. Let me
tell you this, if you can only be happy in a small circle of
interest, you'd never be happy in heaven. How many folks are
going to be there? Out of every tribe, kindred,
nation, turn around to heaven. If you can only be happy where
you're the center of attention, you'd never be happy in heaven.
Christ is the center of attention. In all things, He might have
the preeminence. The first is going to be last
anyway, and the last is going to be first. And I'll tell you this, if you
can get weary after only 25 years of spiritual atmosphere, what
little we have, you wouldn't be happy in heaven. There's perfect
holiness there. A delightful, spiritual, eternal
Sabbath. That's what it is. Ooh, Barnard
said you'd be miserable. You'd be miserable, you couldn't
stand a 45-minute sermon, how could you stand an eternity of
glory? If you're tired of hearing about
him who loved us and gave himself for us, you'd have to stomp up
your ears when that heavenly choir begin to sing it, because
they're going to sing it forever and ever and ever, unto him who
loved us and gave himself for us. You get weary of that? Well,
I used to go down that 13th Street, but it's the same old thing,
every service. By God's grace, for the next 25 years, it's going
to be the same thing, too. Christ died for sinners. And
when we get to glory, it's going to be the same thing there. Christ
died for sinners. Sinners don't get tired of hearing
that. Self-righteous people do. One dear lady up Fairmont told
Brother Richardson, she said, you've been here 20 years and
all you preach is the grace of God. He said, well, did you write
that on my tombstone? She said, I got it marked right
here in my Bible. All you ever preach is the gospel, the gospel,
the gospel. He said, that's all I know. I'm determined not to
know anything among you but Christ. I don't believe a sinner gets
tired of that. I believe everybody came in here tonight with a heavy
heart. When I started talking about
Christ, that heart was lifted. I believe everybody came in here
tonight with sin on your conscience. When I started talking about
Him who is the sin offering, it just lifted, didn't it? You
were trying to work it out yourself, and you didn't remember that
He already worked it out. This world's plan of salvation
is do, do! God's way of salvation is done! It's done. You wouldn't like it up there.
I don't believe if I was you, I'd try to go. I don't believe
I would. I don't believe I would. I tell
you, if you'd rather be in the company, now listen to me, if
you'd rather be in the company of the people of this world who
do not know Christ, you enjoy their company, you'd rather be
with them than be with the company of the redeemed. You wouldn't like it in glory.
Now, you just wouldn't like it. You see, these peculiar people
down here are going to be the people up there. And to be perfectly
honest with you, folks who do not like the company of the redeemed
and prefer the company of the world, I believe that's going
to be their lot forever, to be with the company they enjoy right
here. As a man lives, that's the way he dies. The Word of
God says, let him that's filthy be filthy still. Let him that's
unrighteous be unrighteous still. Let him that's unholy be unholy
still. But let him that is holy be holy
still. I didn't preach this message
tonight to cause you alarm or concern. I preached the message
tonight that every one of us might file it away in our hearts.
And as we file it away, file it away with this prayer, Lord,
keep me lest I fall. Whatever it takes, whatever poverty
or plenty or whatever trial or tribulation or whatever chastisement
or suffering or whatever deprivation or whatever, to keep me in the
bosom of Christ, give it to me. But Lord, don't let me stray.
prone to wonder, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I
love. Here's my heart, O take and seal it, seal it for thy
courts above. Here I raise mine Ebenezer, hither
by thy help I'm come, and I hope by God's good pleasure safely
to arrive at home. Don't you? Let's sing that in
closing, the fount of every blessing, the fount of every blessing.
What number is that?