Let Us Not Be Weary in Well Doing - Part 2

Temple Baptist Church - 9-15-2024

Galatians 6:1-10; James 1:14-15

 

Introduction:

 

A.  Last week, we looked at the first of the three types of believers mentioned:

 

1.  The carnal believer who is overtaken in a fault.

 

2.  The spiritual believer who is to restore him in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. 

 

3.  The weary believer who beginning to faint and is “swinging in the balance” between spiritual and overtaken in a fault.

 

B.  I want to reiterate that ALL three are believers.  Paul is not talking about the lost nor to the lost.  The Book of Galatians was written to the churches of Galatia and churches were called out assemblies of believers! 

 

C.  This morning, I needed to mention these three again because every one of us is one of the three states.

 

1.  You are carnal and “sitting on the bench” of agreement with this world or

 

2.  You are spiritual with the responsibility of restoring the carnal or

 

3.  You are weary, which is a state of carnality, and your future hangs in the balance.

 

4.  The carnal cannot restore themselves easily as they are “overtaken”.

 

5.  The spiritual must be careful in restoration as he can compromise himself.

 

6.  The weary may get comfortable with his place because it is lukewarmness and that leads to carnality and the need for restoration.

 

7.  “There is no benign state of neutrality with God.” ~ Pastor David Johnston 

 

8.  You are either in or out!

 

D.  Everyone of us here this morning is in one of these three states!  Last week, we looked at the weary believer who has grown cold on God.  A state of lukewarmness that is neither hot nor cold but is despicable to God.

 

Revelation 3:15-16  I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.  (16)  So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.

 

E.  It is here that all must be watchful for as it becomes a spiritual creeping paralysis. 

 

F.  This morning, I want to look at the carnal believer.  He is a believer, but he has become calloused to his position and is overtaken.  He has sowed to the flesh and is now reaping corruption. 

 

G.  His spiritual condition is so dire that he cannot easily help himself and must be restored by another.

 

H.  The Carnal believer has been overtaken in (notice not by) a fault: a slippage that eventually brings about a falling and not a falling that slips upon us.

 

1.  Fault – weakness or failing; a moral weakness less serious than a vice. 

 

2.  A misplacement: a fracture in the crust of the earth, caused by a slippage in one side of tectonic plates where they meet, i.e. the San Andreas Fault where there are frequent earthquakes that cause much damage.

 

3.  Slippage, stumble, falling!  A subtle movement that increases.

 

4.  In Tennis, missing the mark.

 

J.  The Sorrow of Sowing To The Flesh: Corruption.  In James, chapter 1, we find 5 Laws of Sowing and Reaping or “Laws Of The Harvest.”

 

****James 1:14-16  But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.  Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.  Do not err, my beloved brethren.

 

1.  The Principle of Sowing - “lust hath conceived” - You will always sow before you reap.  We will either sow to the flesh or to the Spirit.  There is no benign state of neutrality with God!

 

2.  The Product of Sowing - “bringeth forth sin” - You will always reap what you sow.  We understand this Law of the Harvest because we use it all the time.  When we plant a garden, we carefully choose our seed or plants.  We do not buy a bag filled with every seed known to man and plant them.  We are selective.

 

3.  The Payment of Sowing  - “tempted - lust - sin - death” - You will always reap more than you sow.  God told Noah to replenish the earth.  He could not do this by himself, but his seed produced multitudes.  Abraham was given the same promise.

 

4.  The Period of Sowing - “when it is finished” - You will always reap later than you sow.  There is certainly pleasure in sin for a season, but seasons change.  God does not always make us immediately accountable for what we do but will allow the payment to come.

 

5.  The Perplexity of Sowing - “Do not err” - You will always be shocked at the harvest.  People always throw up their hands and say, “What happened,” when they reap what they have sown over the years.  God is so gracious but is not mocked!

 

6.  Therefore, we find:

 

a)  There is a Deception in sowing to the flesh.

 

b)  There is a Deciding in sowing to the flesh.  We make choices each day to either live for the Lord or to live for self.  Good is not always the easy choice but is always the right choice.

 

c)  There is a Discovery in sowing to the flesh.  One day, we will either be glad, or we will be sad.  We will look back at our lives with regret or with dissatisfaction.

 

d)  There is a Destruction in sowing to the flesh.  We will either reap corruption of the temporal or we will reap the blessing of the eternal.