What's Next?
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· 8 viewsDeveloping perseverance in doing good because a harvest WILL come
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In May of 1940 Germany advanced their armies into France essentially trapping allied forces
With Belgium, which had just suddenly and without warning surrendered unconditionally to Hitler, behind them and the English Channel in front of them
On the 26th of May Operation Dynamo began which was an effort to get the allied troops off the beach and back to England
At the outset of the plan, hopes were that 25% of the BEF, British Expeditionary Force could be saved before the rest were over-run by the Germans
That would be about 45,000 men
When the operation was completed, civilian and naval boats had been able to rescue 338,226 men from the BEF and Allied Forces
On June 4th at the conclusion of this operation, England’s newly elected Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, who had only taken office less than a month before, on May 10th, made what is often considered one of his greatest speeches in front of the United Kingdom’s Parliament
In his speech he spoke of the overwhelming odds against them and how he had expected this speech to be an announcement of “the greatest military disaster in our long history.”
He spoke of the German tank regiments baring down on Dunkirk, of the German bombers flying overhead and how the channel itself was not only know for bad weather but was full of mines and torpedoes
He said, “It was in conditions such as these that our men carried on, with little or no rest, for days and nights on end, making trip after trip across the dangerous waters, bringing with them always men whom they had rescued. The numbers they have brought back are the measure of their devotion and their courage.”
He also spoke of the more than 30,000 casualties that they suffered and how Hitler still had a plan to invade Britain itself to which he replied, “The whole question of home defense against invasion is, of course, powerfully affected by the fact that we have for the time being in this Island incomparably more powerful military forces than we have ever had at any moment in this war or the last. But this will not continue. We shall not be content with a defensive war. We have our duty to our Ally. We have to reconstitute and build up the British Expeditionary Force once again, under its gallant Commander-in-Chief, Lord Gort. “
He concluded his speech with this well known quote, “Even though large tracts of Europe and many old and famous States have fallen or may fall into the grip of the Gestapo and all the odious apparatus of Nazi rule, we shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender”
So you’re probably wondering what any of this has to do with my message today
Well it’s not just because there was a movie released recently about Operation Dynamo simply called Dunkirk, nor is it because I have developed a mild fascination with the life of Sir Winston Churchill
The reason I opened with this information today is because I believe that it is speaks directly to the us as Christians
The Bible speaks very clearly to the fact that the Christian life is not a simple stroll into eternity but that it is a constant battle with the forces of evil that would try and unravel God’s plans in our lives and in the lives of those we love and care for
Simply put people we are at war
Paul worked to remind the Colossian people of this when he wrote,
By the humility and gentleness of Christ, I appeal to you—I, Paul, who am “timid” when face to face with you, but “bold” toward you when away! I beg you that when I come I may not have to be as bold as I expect to be toward some people who think that we live by the standards of this world. For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.
2 Corinthians 10:
And like any war, there are tough battles fought and there are casualties suffered, there are victories won and there are many ups and downs
And so as we face a new “season” with new battles lying just ahead and with some of us having just come through tough times and difficult battles, and with the loss of some whom used to call this their church home and we ask the question, ‘What’s next?’
Well let’s take a look at God’s Word and see what it says, open your Bible to Paul’s letter to the Galatians the 6th and final chapter and let’s begin reading at verse 7
Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.
Galatians 6:7-10
This morning as we consider this text asking the question “What’s Next?” I want us to realize 3 things, There is a Plan, There is a Problem, and there is a Prognosis
First we need to realize that there is a plan
It is extremely important for us to realize that God is NOT a God of Chaos but is very much a God of order
From bringing order out of chaos at creation to the way that the universe works it is all a part of the plan of God and a part of the redemption of Christ is to restore order to the chaos introduced by sin
So why wouldn’t we expect the same from Him in regards to our lives individually and corporately?
But God does indeed have a plan and it is a simple plan, easy to understand and easy to implement, that plan is to sow and reap
Sow and reap, sow and Reap, over and over again, this is the way God ordered things to work and it’s His plan for us
But as you can tell by our text there is more than one option when it comes to sowing , forcing us to ask the question, ‘If God’s plan is that we sow and reap, what is it that we are supposed to sow?”
Fortunately that too has a simple answer
Well fortunately that also has a very simple answer
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Ephesians 2:
Ephesians 2:8
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Did you realize that God did not redeem you just to get you into Heaven?
We all know that there is nothing that we can do to bring about our salvation except to trust in the atoning work of Jesus Christ, in other words we can’t earn it,
It would seem to me that man a Christian thinks that way when the reality is God redeemed you and recreated you at the moment of salvation so that you could be used to fulfill a purpose that He already had in mind in advance for you to do
Listen to these verses again from the New Living Translation, “God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago”
Paul emphasized this in his letter to Titus saying in part,
Titus 2:11-
For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.
He continues telling the man of God to, “Remind the people…to be ready to do whatever is good”
That’s it, that’s God’s plan, He wants us to sow seeds of righteousness just by doing the good things that we were created in Christ to do!
But there’s a problem and the problem is that we get tired of sowing, we get tired of doing the good that we were created to do
We get physically tired of the toll that these good works have on our body
We get weary because we look back at all the work that we have done and we see little or no results
We get weary because we do our good works and then we see others come along and either take credit for what we have done or even sabotage our efforts
even reveals that sometimes we grow weary because there is sin in our life and it is dragging us down
The plan is simple, sow and reap but the problem is real and whether it be physically, emotionally, or spiritually we grow weary and it makes it hard to continue on with the plan
Am I right this morning or is it just me?
Well I know that it’s not just me because I can open up this book and see example after example of people that were working out the plan of God in their lives and for whatever reason grew weary
Can I let you in on a couple of secrets this morning?
The first is it is NOT a sin to grow weary. Everyone eventually does and if you don’t I would question whether or not you have actually been doing anything
says
Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
Everyone grows weary at some point but the second secret is that God made provision for that that’s read that verse from Isaiah again but let’s put it back into its proper context
Isaiah 40:28-
Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.
He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.
Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
but those who hope in the Lord
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.
Jesus said,
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
God’s plan might be simple and straight forward but we cannot accomplish it in our own strength, we need to make time for God’s presence for He is our source of strength and rest
Why is it so important for us to bath everything that we do in prayer?
Is it so that God will see things from our perspective and will therefore bless whatever it is we are trying to do?
Absolutely not, we need to be in prayer so that we can derive strength from God’s presence and can continue on in His plan without growing weary and giving up
We cannot do this in our own strength but when we do it in His strength we cannot be stopped
And that brings us to the third point, the prognosis, “at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”
It may not be today, it may not be tomorrow, it might not even be in our lifetime, but the scripture PROMISES that if we do not give up, there WILL be a harvest
There is absolutely nothing that can stop this from happening because it is a promise of God!
Winston Churchill knew that Britain had already faced many challenging battles and that many more were yet to come, he also understood that the people were growing weary in their resolve and so he spoke those famous words, “ we shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender”
He knew the cost was too great to grow weary
We too have faced some great battles and, should Jesus tarry, there are many more to come, but we can’t afford to grow weary, we must, as Paul put it, “Press on to take hold of that for which Christ took hold of me.”
The cost is just too great not to continue on, so let me finish with 2 other scriptures to tie all of this together and drive it home, first
“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.
Matthew 5:
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.
1 Peter 2:12
We need to continue to sow, to do the good works that we were created in Christ to do in order that God’s plan might be fulfilled and there might be a great harvest
Lets pray