Anyone who has served within the arena of Christian service knows that we are not void or excluded from the pangs of discouragement. It may not always be a problem, but there is always the potential for discouragement. I believe the devil sees to it that this is the case. Discouragement is more than a casual possibility, it is a weapon in the arsenal of the enemy. There are times that this universal weapon has been used against all of us.
I have found myself defending against its subtlety many times. At times, I have found myself a colander instead of a container, where my motivation and morale seemed to be draining away through a hundred holes. I wanted to quit. Pastor Robert Morgan shared that he will never forget his battle, as he lay in bed one night visualizing the devil standing over him, repeatedly plunging a knife labeled “Failure” into his heart.
Discouragement is the occupational hazard of ministry, and some of the most famous and faithful servants through church history struggled with billowing depression. Take Charles Spurgeon, for example. Despite being the most far-famed and successful preacher of his day, he was often so afflicted with depression that he could hardly function. He once delivered a lecture entitled “The Minister’s Fainting Fits” which he started with these words: “As it is recorded that David, in the heat of battle, waxed faint, so may it be written of all the servants of the Lord. Fits of depression come over the most of us... The strong are not always vigorous, the wise not always ready, the brave not always courageous, and the joyous not always happy.”
We may have no eternal reason to get discouraged, but we often can be. Most of us grow discouraged because of four things: The first is friction. You know, when relationships are strained, or facing crossroads, there arises a friction between hearts. *Friction occurs when two connected objects are moving in opposite directions at the same time. And when that happens with relationships, it incurs friction, and we can become discouraged. We often feel isolated and lonely, which usually leads to discouragement, and even depression.
The second cause is fatigue. Americans, in general, are the most exhausted people in the world. One minister said once, that he felt “like a goldfish swimming around in a blender two-thirds full of water. And someone’s finger is on the high switch,” he said. We’re supposed to be sheep in green pastures, but we’ve become goldfish in whirling blenders. Americans coast-to-coast are tired, tense, worn-out, over-extended, and under-funded. Thirty to fifty percent suffer some degree of sleep deprivation; whereas earlier generations were in bed about nine hours per night, the average adult now gets less than seven hours sleep. And when we’re weary physically, we become worn down emotionally, which leads to discouragement.
The third factor is feelings of failure. Notice I didn’t say “failure” but “feelings of failure.” For I genuinely believe: In God’s will there is no failure, and out of His will there is no success. But the perception of failure can dog us relentlessly. We work our fingers to the bone, we exhaust ourselves, but when we sink into bed at night, we aren’t sure we’ve really accomplished anything of eternal significance. One psychologist has asserted in his writings that the underlying cause of depression is the belief that our actions will be futile. A lack of perceived significance can cause us to get discouraged.
The fourth factor in discouragement, within the arena of Christian ministry, is fewness of number, or lack of perceived fruitfulness. Success nowadays almost always comes framed in digital terms. Everything is judged by numbers, by nickels and noses, and that philosophy has seeped into our view of church work. I have sat with many pastors and church workers, and felt discouraged as they spoke of their success, when at the time I was looking defeat right in the eye.
Many other factors, of course, can contribute to discouragement. Yet for what it’s worth to you, the same afflictions also befell the heroes of the Bible. Elijah and Moses and Jonah all grew so discouraged in the Lord’s work they prayed for death. Jeremiah spent his whole life in the throes of depression. John the Baptist asked, “Are you really the Messiah or should we look of someone else?” David said, “Why art thou cast down, O my soul, and why art thou disquieted within me?” Even the Apostle Paul said that he was once so weary and worried in ministry that he couldn’t preach the Gospel though a great door had opened to him.
Paul never had an easy time of ministry. He began his career by persecuting the wrong group. Then in the process of being converted, he lost his eyesight. After regaining his vision, he was almost killed in Damascus, escaping from the city like a fugitive. Coming to Jerusalem, he was treated by suspicion by the Christians and with hostility by the Jews. Returning to his hometown of Tarsus, he was rejected and beaten. He once testified, “I have worked harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked…”
He was deserted by his friends and slandered by his foes. Heretics pilfered his young churches and colleagues maligned his good name. He was unwell physically. And he admitted that in terms of native ability, he was a relatively sorry preacher. And yet his work has lasted 2000 years, we know him as the greatest missionary in Christian history, and our lives are daily impacted by his writings. What was the secret to his resiliency? It is found in 1 Corinthians 15. The chapter begins by Paul reiterating his Gospel: “Now brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand.” *Notice those last seven words - on which you have taken your stand. What was this Gospel? Read on: “For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scripture.”
Our primary commitment is not to ministry, but to the Risen Master and to His message. On this message, to use Paul’s words, we have taken our stand. For some people today, it’s a pretty wobbly stand. Preachers even are backing down from strong Biblical preaching. You no longer hear messages of passion and conviction, but of compromise. We need to stand as Martin Luther did when Pope Leo demanded that he retract his Reformation teachings. Luther said “I will not flee, and I will not recant.” His friends told him that he would suffer like John Hus, who was burned to death. Luther said, “Though Hus was burned, the truth was not burned, and Christ still lives!”
He reportedly said, “I can not and will not recant! Here I stand. God help me! Amen.” Luther later said, “I was fearless, I was afraid of nothing; God can make one so desperately bold.” Luther said, “Here I stand!” Paul said, “It is on this Gospel that we take our stand.” Then he devoted the rest of 1 Corinthians 15 to one aspect of that Gospel - the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the coming resurrection of all those who trust in him, ending with these words in verse 51: “Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed - in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed... Thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
In other words, my time on earth is like a soldiers stint in the foxholes. It may be hard and horrid, but it is not a permanent assignment. The trench may even become a grave, but no matter. Furlough is approaching. A better life is coming. And it will come in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. *What, then, is the great implication of all this? If we take our stand on a Gospel that includes such a resurrection, how should we then live? If I were to write the greatest chapter in the Bible on the resurrection, and I wanted to end the chapter by punching home a powerful application, I think I would have said:
Therefore, my beloved brethren, don’t be afraid to die. Or... Therefore, my beloved brethren, don’t lose hope by the grave of a loved one. Or, Therefore, my beloved brethren, make sure you know the Risen Savior. *But Paul makes a different application. To him, the resurrection provides a powerful motivation for Christian service. And so he says: “Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.”
The Lord here gives us three commandments and a promise. The first command sounds familiar: Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. This phrase occurs in the first and in the last verses of the chapter. In the first verse we are to stand firm in the Lord’s message. In the last verse we’re to stand firm in his ministry. The actual Greek word is edraios, meaning firmly settled. I don’t know if I’ve ever shared the story of the bus hitting our front deck. But when it happened, one of the things that helped stop it was that the posts had been set in two feet of concrete. *The idea behind this word is to be embedded in concrete.
The second command is similar: Let nothing move you. Here we have a Greek word that appears nowhere else in the Bible. It is a very strong word that means unshakable, unbreakable, unquakable. Don’t let principalities, problems, pain, or people move you. Stay put. The third command takes us a step further: Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord. Pour yourself into it. Don’t grow weary in well doing. Don’t grow slack in sowing. Don’t get discouraged. This implies the ability to restore ourselves day by day. Well, we know that we can help that process, but that we are dependant on the Lord to help us. David said, “He restores my soul.” It is the idea of resiliency. That literally means to have elasticity, to be stretchable, and extremely flexible. It means to be pulled, but you don’t snap; to be pressed, but you do not break. It is the idea of not quitting, even in the face of extreme and difficult circumstances.
William Carey, the “father of modern missions,” wanted to translate the Bible into as many Indian languages as possible. He established a large print-shop in Serampore where translation work was continually being done. Carey spent hours each day translating Scripture, often while his insane wife ranted and raved in the next room. Then one night his print shop, where the Bibles were being printed, burned to the ground. Yet Carey persevered, and went forward and accomplished his goal. The secret of Carey’s success is found in his resiliency. He once wrote: “There are grave difficulties on every hand, and more are looming ahead. Therefore we must go forward.”
Paul once said, “We often suffer, but we are never crushed. Even when we don’t know what to do, we never give up. In times of trouble, God is with us, and when we are knocked down, we get up again.” Why? Because of the powerful promise with which 1 Corinthians 15 ends. It is perhaps the Christian worker’s most precious promise: “For we know that our labor is not in vain in the Lord.” Let me illustrate with a closing story.
A couple of weeks ago, Pastor W.A. Criswell died at the age of 92. With a ministry that spanned over 65 years, and over 50 of which saw him serving as Pastor of First Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas. Dr. Criswell was a preacher, author, mentor, and an inspirational man, who has left a legacy of Christian service for all to follow. He has won untold thousands of people to the Lord, and has left a forever impression on the Church world. But the story that I want to share is about his conversion.
Rev. John Hicks was preaching a revival at the church Criswell attended, when Criswell was only 10 years old. Dr. Criswell asked to leave school early so he could go to the 10 o’clock day service. He was given permission, went into the chapel, and sat behind his mother - drinking in every word Rev. Hicks said. At the invitation, Criswell went forward and with tears, accepted Christ as his Savior. Many years later, Criswell was telling this story to a minister friend, Wallace Basset, who asked Criswell to repeat the story, which he did.
Basset said, “I just can’t imagine that. Johnny Hicks was a dear friend of mine, and he was here in Baylor Hospital in his last illness of which he died. I often went down to see Johnny and one day as I sat beside him, he said, ‘Wallace, my life is over, my preaching days are done, and I’ve never done anything for Jesus. I’ve failed, Wallace, I’ve failed.’” Those were the last words that old preacher ever spoke. He didn’t realize how successful he had been, even if he had only had that one conversion.
And so it is with us. I just want to encourage you tonight. You may never know the degree of good you have done, or are doing. “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, for you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.” I like this version which says, “So then brothers and sisters, don’t let anyone move you off the foundation of your faith. Always excel in the work you do for the Lord. You know that the hard work you do for the Lord is not pointless.”
Or as Carey said, “There are grave difficulties on every hand and more are looming ahead. Therefore we must go forward.”
Defend Against Discouragement - and let’s keep on working!
