Let us not grow weary

 

COLERAINE EVANGELICAL CHURCH

SERMON NOTES SUNDAY 11 OCTOBER 2026 – PASTOR HENRY CASKEY

Galatians Chapter 6 verses 1 to 11

Well, as I already said, the harvest time, of course, it is that wonderful time whenever you're driving along the country roads and you see the harvesters out in the field and they're at work and they're gathering into the barns. It's a wonderful wonderful time of the year all getting ready for those dark and dismal months  of the winter time. 

I want us to think here in this letter here this morning because the apostle Paul addresses a great principle in this passage. He turns to this passage and he's talking here about sowing and about reaping. But there's a great principle here in verse number nine and that's what I want to turn to this morning. It says, "And let us not be weary in well doing, for in due season we shall reap if we faint not." If we're not sowing, there'll be no reaping. That's what Paul says. If we're not sowing, he says, there'll be no reaping. Just like the seeds that I bought, if I hadn't have taken them, I hadn't dug up the little plot, if I hadn't put them into the garden, there would have been no flowers the following year. And you know, for us this morning, the apostle Paul was writing to this little church here  in in Galatia and you remember how he writes there in chapter one in the introduction in verse number six, he says, "I marvel that you're so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ onto another gospel." The Apostle Paul is writing to a little church here that's in danger of giving up, in danger of turning away, in danger of turning back into the old pathways. He says in chapter 3 verse one "Oh foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you that ye should not obey the truth before whose eyes Jesus Christ has been evidently set forth, crucified among you? This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are ye so foolish? Having begun in the spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?” The Apostle Paul here writing to this little church wants to encourage them. He wants to lift them up. He wants to say to them, “listen, continue on in the battle because you are going to reap if you faint not." He's using the analogy here, of course, of the farmer. And the farmer goes out, as we've already said, he goes out perhaps in the early stages of the year when things are not just so favorable weatherwise. He has to battle on through the coldness and maybe through the wet and through the darkness of the of the days. He wants to do as much as he can in that little space of time that he has because he's looking forward to a harvest. And as the church this morning we want to look forward to a harvest, a harvest of precious souls. Wouldn't it be great this morning to see God move in such a mighty way again?  I want this morning to encourage us that we might be busy for the Lord, that we might be busy reaching the unsaved in the area using every possible means that we have. The message from the apostle Paul this morning is so clear. He says, "Keep at it. Keep at it." He says, "Don't be giving up." He says, "Keep at it." Because he says "Ye will in due season reap if you faint not." I want us to take a look here this morning at what I might consider the enemies in the work of God.

I want us to think first of all that there is a great enemy this morning. Now don't forget this morning you and I have this promise recorded for us here in the word of God that we shall reap if we faint not. What might prevent us here? What might hinder us here in the work of God? I thought first of all that the enemy of fear could make us faint. The enemy of fear could make us faint. The Bible says that the fear of man bringeth a snare. Fear could cause us this morning to draw back a little bit. Fear this morning of the future. Not sure of what the future holds and how things will work out. And sometimes then we draw back. Fear can make us hesitant. Fear can make us reluctant about going forth and taking the step. But if we do not sow that seed, then we'll not reap. We'll not see the soul saved. Jesus said in Luke's gospel chapter 9 verse 62 “no man having put his hand to the plow and looking back is fit for the kingdom of God.” In Ecclesiastes 11 verse 4, Solomon says this "He that observeth the wind shall not sow. And he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap." What's he talking about here? He's talking about the farmer going out And maybe the wind in that particular day is not favourable for him. Or maybe he looks out into the skies and he sees the clouds and he thinks to himself, "Well, you know, it's going to rain very shortly. I don't think I'll go out into the field today. I don't think I'll go out and do the work today. I'll leave it to another day.” And sometimes, you know, it's like that with us. Maybe the situation for going out to reach souls, it's not favourable for us. Maybe there's something more pressing in our lives. Maybe there's something that we need to attend to and we set aside the sowing of seeds to another day. And maybe we don't get that same opportunity again. We need to take the opportunities when they come. Sometimes we feel we don't have the right circumstances. We don't have the favourable conditions. It's too much of a risk. It's too much of a task and we don't venture out to do it. I think of Ananias in Acts of the Apostles chapter 9. Ananias had a wonderful testimony. He was well thought of in the community. And one day, God came to him and God says, "Ananias, I have a task for you." And Ananias, I'm sure, stopped in his tracks and I'm sure his ear turned to the word of God because he had a favourable testimony. He was a man who was doing God's work. God says to Ananias, he says, "I want you to go to a young man in Damascus, Saul of Tarsus is his name." He told him where he was at and he told him what he was doing. He says, "I want you to go to him and I want you to speak to him." At that moment, Ananias thought to himself, "This is not favourable." He said "Lord I've heard much about this man and he hates the very name of Jesus. I've heard about this man going around and he's following after those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. He's locking them up. He's putting them into prison. He's getting them beaten. He's getting them put to death." There was a reluctance about Ananias. Then the Lord said, "But Ananias, you go." And you know, Ananas went. But imagine if Ananias hadn't gone. There would have been no blessing in his soul. Sometimes we need to be very careful whenever maybe we feel as if the Lord's leading  us to someone or to a house or to a friend or to a family member or whatever to speak to them about their soul and we think of what happened in the past. We think “well I've tried to speak before” and you put it off and you don't get that opportunity and there's no blessing and there'll certainly be no harvest. Fear. Fear is a very real thing. Fear is maybe holding you back this morning and it's hindering you in the work of God, of going out onto the street, going out into the  to the doorsteps and speaking to your neighbour and speaking to your friends about the things of God. Fear can do that. Fear is a very real thing. Don't let that fear hinder you in your progress. Don't let that fear hinder you in your walk with God. Don't let that fear hinder you in speaking to men and woman or sowing the seed of the gospel.

Then I thought to myself, frustration can hinder as well. You know, frustration is a terrible thing as well. Paul to sort of know the feelings of the people. He says here in verse 9 "Let us not grow weary." Let us not grow weary in well doing. For in due season we shall reap if we faint not. Let's keep that promise to the fore this morning. Frustration can hinder us, can stop us, can make us draw back. Why? Sometimes you get to that stage. You know, we've prayed and we have prayed and we have prayed and we've invited and we've done this and we've done the other thing and nothing seems to be happening and frustration comes in and that frustration can make us throw up our hands and say, “well, you know, we have tried everything.” What does Paul says? "Let us not be weary in well doing." In other words, he says, "Keep at it." Isn't that the example that the Lord Jesus Christ himself gives us in Luke chapter 18? He speaks there about this little widow woman? She's been hard done by in society and she comes to this unjust judge. He is the one that you must come to somehow get a relief to the burden that she's carrying. He doesn't want any bother with this woman and every time he opens the tent door to wherever he is in whatever town or village or city he comes to, he finds that this woman is always there and she's bringing this complaint day after day after day. And he's thinking to himself, “this woman's going to wear me out. I'm going to have to stop and I'm going to have to listen to her. I'm going to have to do something for her.” He was an unjust judge that said that. But Jesus says, "We don't come to an unjust judge. We come to a loving heavenly father. And whenever you're praying, you're not coming to an unjust judge who doesn't want the bother of hearing you. You're coming to the one who said, "Call upon me and I will answer you." You're coming to the one who delights in seeing you coming, who delights in seeing you on bended knee, lifting your heart unto him. You see, without faith, it is impossible to please God. He loves to see you coming. And that's what Jesus said here. This woman didn't give up. God knows all about us. And just like this woman here, we dare not give up. William Carey the missionary to India before he went off he was saved by the grace of God. He had a tremendous battle even to get on the mission field because the fellowship that he belonged to didn't really believe in what he was doing. He was going out to preach the gospel, a gospel of grace. And you know, that's the gospel that saves. That's the gospel that you and I have. That was the gospel that William Carey was taking out there to India. It was the wonderful message of the Lord Jesus Christ coming into this world through the womb of the virgin Mary. It was a wonderful message that God looked upon us as sinners and we could do nothing for ourselves, that we were blinded by the God of this world, we were on our way out into a lost and Christless hell for all eternity because we had been born in sin, shame, and iniquity. And that sin separated us from God. To die in that condition, we will be separated for all eternity. That's the wonderful message that we have. And whenever you and I come this morning and trust the Lord Jesus Christ and say, "Lord, I have sinned. Lord, I realize this morning I'll never be in heaven without you. And I realize this morning that you love me and you sent your son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross of Calvary just for me. On that cross, he bore my burden. You placed every sin upon him.” That's what William Carey was taking out to India with him. When he got to India, he found it a problem because he had to translate the scriptures into their language. He had to suffer sickness. He even had to suffer death on a couple of occasions. But he kept at it. And he didn't even see a soul saved for some nine years apparently Time after time, I'm sure frustration could have entered into that man. But he didn't allow it. He stood firm and he preached the gospel. We read of a young man called Demas in the scriptures. Demas was a young man that followed after the apostle Paul and he preached with Paul. He prayed with Paul. Paul describes him as a labourer together with him. But there came a time in Demas's life when he started to think of an easier life. And Paul says, "Demas has forsaken me having loved this present world.” Imagine Demas had turned back. Demas had given up. He was out of the harvest field. No longer was he sowing the seed of the gospel. Are we still sowing that seed? Are we still sowing it? It's good to open the doors on a Sunday morning, on a Sunday evening, and a midweek prayer meeting, whatever the case may be. But listen, are we sowing the seed? Are we going out to reach the lost with the message of salvation? I think of the apostle Paul in Acts chapter 18. I'm sure the frustration entered into him. He came to Corinth and he went into the synagogue. Sabbath after Sabbath he preached the gospel to them and they stood up and they opposed him. They rejected what he was preaching and they didn't want to have anything to do with him. Paul got to that state of frustration. He was ready to go away. He said "I'll go to the Gentiles." But God came. He says, "No, Paul I have much people in this city. I want you to remain here, and I want you to preach the gospel in this city." Paul remained there for another year and a half preaching the gospel and souls were being saved. He didn't give up. Even whenever frustration entered in, I think of Elijah on his knees There was a promise of rain. There hadn't been rain now for some three and a half years. But Elijah got that promise in his heart that there was going to be rain and he got up on his knees and he began to pray and to seek the Lord God of heaven. He said to his servant, "Go and look out across the sea and see if there's any signs." The young man comes back. "There's nothing." Elijah kept praying and the young man kept going out and he said there's nothing 7 times. Then he come back to Elijah and he said "Elijah, there's a cloud. But it's just about the size of a man's hand." And Elijah says, "That's it." He kept at it. Frustration. Maybe this morning you're frustrated. You can get like that. You've gone to that loved one, that son, that daughter, that husband, that wife, that neighbour, that friend, that work colleague, and you've virtually pleaded with them time after time. ‘Would you not come with me to the gospel service?’ You've given them tracts after tract. Would you would you not consider getting saved? And now you're frustrated this morning and maybe at the point of saying “well I can do no more.” What does Paul say? He says “be not weary in well doing for we will reap if we faint not.” Imagine Moses way back in his day, whenever God came to him out there in the wilderness and said to him “I want you to go down to Egypt. I want you to bring out the people. I have a land for them and I want you to go down and bring them out and lead them into that land." You remember how Moses went in and he said to Pharaoh, "We want God's people to come out." And Pharaoh says, "Who is this Lord that I should obey him?" Then you remember how time after time the plagues came and Pharaoh would have come back to Moses and said “listen if you pray and this plague is lifted off the land and off the people then the people can go away”. And Moses would have prayed and God would have lifted the plague and then he went back to Pharaoh and Pharaoh would change his mind. He says, "Not at all. I'm not letting the people go." And time after time that happened. And Moses would go to Pharaoh and then he would come back to God and then he would go to Pharaoh. I'm sure there was times maybe he felt frustrated. Nothing happening. But he kept at it.

There's another reason as well and that is fatigue. Just that weariness, tiredness with it all. What does Paul say? “Let us not be weary.” Paul understood what this church was going through. God understands you this morning. He understands me. He understands those times whenever we get weary and we get we get tired. Elijah was so full of zeal. God said to him one time "Elijah, I want you to go to Ahab. I have a message for him." My Elijah was listening to God. He was going to take God's word into the palace. And so he goes in before Ahab. And Ahab was a very wicked man. And he says, “Ahab, I have a message from the Lord for you today. There's going to be no rain for some three and a half years upon this land.“ Elijah didn't fear. He came to the brook Cherith and then to the widow woman at Zarapeth. He was listening to the Lord all the time. Do you remember how on Mount Caramel he virtually brought the nation back? He brought the word of God to that nation. He says, "Why halt ye between two opinions?” He won a great victory on Carmel. But then what happens? He listens to the rumours of what Jezebel would do to him. And what happened? Fatigue sets in. He runs away. He ran away into the wilderness and he was tired. He was weary. He was hungry. And what did the Lord do? The Lord just put him down to sleep. And then he woke him up again and gave him a little food. And then he put him to sleep again. See, the Lord knows what you and I need this morning. If we're tired, if we're fatigued, the Lord knows all about it. And he knows what we need. And he knows how to revive us up again. But we've got to come to him and we've got to acknowledge that. God came to the cave where Elijah was. He asked him "Elijah, what dost thou here?" Do you remember Elijah's reply? He says, "Lord, I'm the only one left. I'm the only one standing for God." The Lord said "I have 7,000 that have never bowed the knee yet. You're not alone.” And sometimes we can feel alone, don't we? Sometimes we can be tired and sometimes fatigued. I think of the capture of Jericho. This was a high city. It was well walled up and manned with trained soldiers. And this was going to be the very first battle, if you like, that the children of Israel are going to face in the land of Canaan. They crossed over the Jordan and they faced this great city. But they were to face it in God's way. Whenever we face things in God's way, fatigue will not set in. God came to Joshua and said “I'm giving this city into your hand. Here's what you're going to do.” They were to walk around that city. The priests were to go. The ark was to go with them. The armed men were there. They were to walk around that city once every day in quietness. Can you imagine being one of the number that day? Can you imagine walking around that that that city? Can you imagine the soldiers standing looking down and they're thinking, "What are these boys up to?" Do you ever get that feeling whenever you're maybe going around the houses and you're giving out a few gospel tracts that the people are looking at you and saying, "What are these boys doing?" Well, that day they were following God's plan and they were walking around and they walked around on the first day and they came back to their camp and that was it. The second day they got up, they did the same again and they walked around and they came back to their camp. They did that for 6 days. And then on the seventh day, they walked around quietly for 7 times. And on the seventh time, they were to give the shout. And when they gave the shout on that seventh time, down came the walls. But you know maybe on day 2 or 3 there's a wee bit of fatigue set in. There was nothing to happen in day 2 or 3. There was nothing to happen in day 4 or 5. Not even on day 6. Day 7 was the promised day. When you do what God says, God says the walls will come down in day 7 and that's what they did. We are just at that labouring stage. You and I we are just sowing the seed. Oh, wouldn't it be lovely to see God break out in revival? But it's not yet. But Paul says the reaping will come if you faint not. And what does Paul end with here?

Well, he ends with a focus on the word of God. What does Paul say to them? He says "Learn this great lesson." And it is this - that in due season we shall reap if we faint not. You know the farmer, he faces many difficulties when he goes out into the field. Maybe his tractor breaks down. Maybe he has to send away for parts. Maybe the ground has been flooded. Maybe there's a lot of work in taking away all the weeds and the thistles and the nettles and whatnot. There's a lot of work involved. But you know, he doesn't give up. He keeps at it. And Paul says to you this morning ”let us not be weary in  well doing for we shall reap if we faint not.”