3 - Single, Stand Alone Scripture Series<-> "Galatians 6:9: The Greatest Single Verse for Defeating Discouragement"

One of the greatest problems among church members, ministers and missionaries alike is discouragement.

“Boat 99, come in. You’re time is up.” “Sir, we don’t have a boat 99. He looked at his inventory list and then called out over the loud speaker, “Boat 66, are you okay?” There are a lot of people whose lives are upside down, and discouraged to boot!

Resign for health reasons - illness and fatigue - sick and tired. They have thrown in the towel. They are no longer in the race. They have turned in their keys. Sunday School classes, choir, congregation.

Resigned. Many who have not given up have given in to their situation. They have not packed their bags and physically quit, but emotionally, mentally, and spiritually they are resigned to their situation.

Re-sign. We desperately need people to get back what they have lost along the way and re-sign on the dotted line.

Allow me to give you a picture of how one gets to discouragement.

Delight….First saved, first surrendered, first serving.

Duty...Every Christian is under divine obligation to work and witness for the glory of God. “Woe is me, if I preach not the gospel...” We are debtors.

“Rescue the perishing, duty demands it.”

Difficulty...With every duty there is some difficulty. We face an external foe in the world, and an internal foe in the flesh, and an infernal foe in the devil. The flesh is weak, the world is wicked, and the devil is woeful!

Discouragement...It is not unChristian or unspiritual or uncommon for people to be discouraged at times.

Numbers 21:4 tells us that because the journey was difficult God’s people “were much discouraged because of the way.”

Numbers 32:7, 9 says the tribes of Israel that did not want to go into Canaan were the cause of discouragement to the rest of the people of God.

1 Samuel 30:6 says David “encouraged himself in the Lord.”

Colossians 3:16 warns fathers to “provoke not their children to wrath, lest they be discouraged.”

Periodic discouragement happened to the best of God’s people: Moses, Joshua, Elijah, David.

Song:
Have we trials and temptations? Is there trouble anywhere?
We should never be discouraged, Take it to the Lord in prayer.

This song needs correcting. You should never “stay” discouraged.

Allow me to share with you the greatest single verse I know for defeating discouragement. It is Galatians 6:9.

1. The Strength that is Available. “And let us not be weary...”

Some weeks I feel I am addressing the “Fraternity of the Fatigued” on Sunday mornings We have somehow allowed the Christian pilgrimage to degenerate into a rat race - and the rats are winning! Our sinful society can sandblast our souls!

The word “weary” here means “flagging, fainting, despondent, discouraged.” And this word is added to, “And let us not..” Don’t be weary. Don’t be discouraged. Don’t be despondent. How can this be possible? Because there is a strength that is available.

Strength for every Task. Do you believe it?
- Noah - ark building that took 120 years.
- Nehemiah - wall building that took 52 days.

Strength for every Trial.
- Paul - “My grace is sufficient for thee...” 2 Cor. 12:9.
- David - “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me.”

We believe John 15:5. “Without me ye can do nothing.”
We need to believe Philippians 4:13 also. “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”

2. The Service that is Advocated. “...in well doing...”

Here is a major reason why many are discouraged. Now look closely at these words. God has called us to “well doing,” not “doing well.”

Most of us put our efforts into “doing well.” God is not impressed with our fine cars, nice homes, or designer clothes. He’s not impressed with our sermon outlines, our building, budgets, or baptisms.

A lot of people are not “doing well.” Some preachers I know have small churches, old cars, live in 50 year old parsonages, wear resale clothes. Nobody ever asks them to come preach a revival. No pulpit committee comes calling. Even their wives don’t like their sermons.

After a good day at church a pastor asked his wife on the way home, “How many great preachers do you think there really are?” She quickly answered, “One less than you think!”

My friends, let me remind you, God has not called us to “doing well” but to “well doing.” In this very chapter we get an idea of the ministry of “well doing.”

- Restoring a fallen Christian, v. 1. - Sharing a heavy burden with a brother, v. 2. - Giving money to one of God’s servants, v. 6. - Doing good to all men, especially those of the household of faith, v. 10.

God has called us to “well doing.” These words express not just “activity,” but also “attractiveness.” Well-doing here is the work of “seed planting.” That’s hard, tiring, sometimes thankless work.

With God’s help we can be faithful in “well doing.” For all that will really matter in the end is to hear our Lord say, “Well done,” not “You done well.”

3. The Seasons that are Appointed. “...for in due season...”

The business of heaven is operating on a divine schedule that is not altered by our impatience. God may sometimes seem slow, but He is never late!

All things have their season. Ecclesiastes 3:1-8. “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven. A time to be born, and a time to die...plant-pluck down...kill-heal...breakdown-buildup...weep-laugh...mourn-dance...cast away stones-gather stones together...embrace-refrain from embracing...get-lose...keep-castaway ..rend-sew...keep silent-speak...love-hate...war-peace.”

Jesus said in Luke 12:42 that things have a “due season.”

We have become victims in this age of the “instant.” Microwave dinners, instant potatoes, stove-top stuffing, concentrated orange juice, express check out lanes, drive-thru restaurant windows, 30 minute pizza delivery, one hour photo development.

In God’s work there is a “due season.” And all the experts, the movers and the shakers can’t change it. Paul told the church at Corinth that he had planted, Apollos had watered, but it was “God who gave the increase,” 1 Cor. 3:5-7.

This is God’s law of the harvest. - You reap what you sow - the law of likeness.
- You reap more than you sow - the law of multiplication.
- You reap later than you sow - the law of due season.

Some of you may feel you are in the backwoods, on the backside of nowhere. Keep sowing the seed. There is a due season. - For Noah his due season was 120 yeas.
- For Moses his due season was 80 years.
- For Joseph his due season was 13 years.

4. The Success that is Anticipated. “...we shall reap...”

Isn’t this encouraging? God will accomplish through your feeble sowing a predicted harvest.

Psalm 126:5-6 “They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.”

- Regeneration...salvation. Folk will be saved. That’s God’s business. And He has given us the job of planting the seed of His Word into the lives of the lost.
- Rejoicing. We get in on this part.

5. The Staying that is an Absolute. “...if we faint not.”

Did you know that God can still use you, even when you are discouraged? If you continue to preach, you may not do it with power, but God will bless the seed sown. What you do may not be often or big, but God will bless. As long as preachers preach, and teachers teach, and witnesses witness, and givers give...”We shall reap, if we faint not.”

But there is something that is utterly fatal, absolutely terminal to the gospel and to Christian growth - quitting! All that God promises to do is conditioned on us “fainting not.”

The word “faint” means “to loosen, to become relaxed.” W.E. Vines says the word is “like the unstringing of a bow.” The hunter practices, prepares, scouts, goes, hides, waits - nothing comes! So he waits some more. Nothing. No animal is coming today. So he stands up and unstrings his bow. He is quitting for the day.

As a young pastor, a couple of men in the church I pastored tried to lead the church to fire me. God prevailed in the matter. I stayed. I’m sure I was real discouraged. But I told God, “God, I’ll never quit. I may make a big mess along the way. I may disappoint you and a lot of people. But I’m not quitting.”

Don’t quit. Keep on keeping on.
- Discouraged pastor.
- Disillusioned pastor’s wife.
- Despondent deacon.
- Sunday School teacher.
- Bus worker.
- Brokehearted parent.

Pastor Ivan Downing had determined to retire from the ministry, so one Sunday he told his congregation. “I wear two hearing aids and tri-focal glasses; I have a partial plate and I sometimes walk with a cane. It seems to me that the Lord is telling me its’s time to retire.”

After the service, a white-hared lady told the pastor, “Reverend, you have misinterpreted what the Lord has been saying to you. He’s not telling you it’s time to retire; he’s telling you that if you keep going, he’ll keep you patched up.”

When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road you’re trudging seems all up hill,
When the funds are lows, and the debts are high,
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest if you must, but DON’T QUIT.

Life is queer with its twists and turns,
As everyone of us sometimes learns.
And many a failure turns about,
When he might have won had he just stuck it out.
Don’t give up though the pace seems slow.
You may succeed with another blow.

Success is failure turned inside out,
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt.
And you never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems so far.
So stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit,
It’s when things seem worse, that YOU MUST NOT QUIT.