Faint Not Rev 2:1-3 2 "'I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, . . . 3 I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name's sake, and you have not grown weary. Jesus here notes, with joy, what she can bear—toilsome labor, abundant self-denial, reproach for His sake, persecution and suffering even unto blood. In this He sees her love made manifest and His delight is in her. It appears that our Lord especially fixes His eyes upon the labors of the Church. What is the Church allowed to be on earth for but that she should labor for her Lord? If there were nothing to be done in this world there would be no reason for her lingering here below. She would be transported to the better land if there were not great ends to be accomplished by her tarrying here. She is put here because the world needs her and because God’s Glory is to be revealed through her. She is to be salt to a society which otherwise would be putrid—light to a people who otherwise would sit in darkness. Consequently, a Church which does not labor misses the chief end of its being—it is a plant that bears no flower—a vine branch that yields no cluster. Christ observes the labor of His Church and He has special delight in it when it is continuous, so that He can give to her the double commendation of our text, “You have labored and have not fainted.” Oh, that we might receive this commendation from our Master’s lips at the last! May He whose blood and righteousness are our only hope of salvation see in us abounding evidences of the grateful love which He so well deserves at our hands.
Commitment Now, to labor signifies working with the putting forth of much strength. It is work with an emphasis. It means hard work, intense exertion, vigorous action. Men may work, but yet not labor and there are many who claim to be working men who do not often trouble themselves with anything approaching to “labor.” There are also working Christians who do not approach to laboring—a lifetime of such work as theirs would not exhaust a butterfly. When a man works for Christ he should work with all his might..” Surely Jesus Christ deserves all our affection—and when we labor for Him it should not be with the careless indifference of slaves—but with the passion of lovers, the devotion of enthusiasts. If anywhere a dilatory servant may be excused, certainly it cannot be in the service of Him who redeemed us with His most precious blood! A Church ought, therefore, not merely to be a working Church, but a great deal more—it should be a Church working to its highest pitch—a laboring church. We should not be simply walking to Heaven, but running the heavenly race and running it with diligence and eagerness! When a man truly labors it takes a good deal out of him. Laboring, therefore implies self-denial. In labor the man’s strength is brought forth and expended. See how the hot sweat stands upon his brow, how it pours from him as he continues to exert himself. He has to deny himself, for he would like to be at rest. He sees his comrade, perhaps, lounging against a pillar or stretching himself at ease upon the grass. But he cannot do that and labor—he knows he cannot. He lays aside his ease and comfort for the sake of what he has to do. So would the Church if she were what she should be—she would deny herself and take up the cross of high-pressure service. She would toil without cessation and give without stint. An energy far beyond anything usual in Christendom would be common in the Church if she were in a right state of heart., I dare hardly say that any Church now upon earth really labors for Christ. A little of your spare strength is given to Jesus and then you think you have done well. He is put off with odds and ends—the potato peelings of the Church! I ask you, does He get much more? What are the gifts of most? Do they give as much as they would in any other task? It was not so in early times. Then men were Christians all over and altogether and served Christ first, Christ last, Christ midst, and Christ without end! But now it is enough if we gloss over life with a little varnish of holy talk and pious profession. Would God these eyes might live to see a Church that really labored, putting forth all its strength with all its might, using all the force in its possession for the propagation of the Gospel of the Lord and the extension of the Redeemer’s kingdom!
Continuance But labor implies not merely the strong effort I have tried to depict, but a continuance of it, for a man might take up a workman’s tool and for a few minutes make a mighty show of effort and yet be no laborer unless he kept on working till his task was done. If a few minutes sufficed him and he said, “I have had practical experience of what labor is and I rather think it does not agree with me.” And if, therefore, he should lay down his tool and go back to his gentlemanly ease, he would be no laborer. He merely plays at labor, that is all. So have we known too many whose service for God has been occasional— they have fits and starts of effort, but they are soon over—their spasmodic zeal is today so hot as to be well near fanatical and tomorrow it will be succeeded by an indifference far more astounding! If the Church is said to labor, it means that she puts forth all her strength as a regular thing. Like the sun and moon she continues in her orbit of duty. She does not flash and foam for a brief interval like a torrent, but she flows on steadily and continually like a river. She keeps at her lifework and with all her might she continues in well-doing and is not weary. And have not fainted.”
Criteria for fainting. 1) Languishing. They drop from running to walking, from diligence to indolence. They did run well—what hindered them? They languish. Many continue to do as much as ever they did outwardly, yet their heart is not in it and so they faint. Their service is the same to the eyes of man, but not the same to the eyes of God. They act as mere officials—their work is done mechanically—they go through the routine, but they put forth no energy, no life power. There is no anointing of the Holy Spirit in them. There is fruit, but it resembles the berries of a sunless summer. It is tasteless, insipid, and all but worthless.. They have got away from God, the Source of all spiritual strength. The power of God has departed from them and though they may not know it, Ichabod is written upon their works. 2) Laying back -they renounce all or a large part of the Christian work they were accustomed to do. Content with the efforts of other days they surrender to the sluggard’s vice. They faint, that is, they give up the work altogether! The soldier grounds his arms; the workman puts away his tools—they count their day’s work to be done before the day is done, and cry for their wages before the pay day has arrived! 3) Loosing Heart - they cease to have any care about the Lord’s work. They grow indifferent. They even become critical and censorious towards those who are zealously occupied—whether Christ’s kingdom grows or declines appears to be little or nothing to them. They still wear the Christian name but they have fainted. They are like persons in a swoon who have become unconscious of all around. They need assistance from others and can give no help in return. They are a drain upon the Church’s resources, instead of an addition to her strength. For all usefulness they might as well be dead. Happy are they who are preserved from fainting in any of these degrees! God grant especially that we may never come to that last, lest it should be said of us that we had a name to live and were dead. But, Brothers and Sisters, members of Christ’s Church, by His Grace this may be said of us through a long course of years—“They labored and fainted not.” When our hair is white with the snows of many winters, may it truly be said by the dear lips of Him who is in Heaven for us, “You have labored and have not fainted.” When we lie in our last narrow bed, may this be the commendation which our spirit shall hear before the Throne of God, “You have labored and have not fainted.” May this be such a sentence as an honest affection may dare to write upon our tombs. Have we begun to faint already? If we are yet in our youth let us scorn to faint so soon. If we are yet in the prime of our days, let us call shame upon ourselves for fainting before yet the sun shines. Let us be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord so that this text may be our own at the last—“You have labored for My name’s sake, and have not fainted.”
Constraints Excuses for fainting: 1) Tediousness When they first undertook it and the novelty was upon it they did not tire, but now the freshness is gone and they have come into the real wear and tear of it, they do not enjoy it quite so much as they thought they should. The service of the Crucified is far less romantic and far more laborious. Dear Friends, if any of you think that the road of Christian service is all level and rolled with a steam roller, you have made a very great mistake. There is no royal road to eminence in anything—it is always uphill work and rough climbing—and certainly there is no such road in the service of God!, I cannot conceive of a more atrocious offender against humanity and against God than the man who, having souls committed to his trust, finds it an easy thing to take care of them and watch for their salvation! Sirs, the ministry is a matter which wears the brain and strains the heart—and drains out the life of a man if he attends to it as he should. If God were served by any of us as He should be, I question whether we should not grow old before our time through labor and anguish! Any service for God, if it is done at all, should be hard work. If you need to be feather-bed soldiers go and enlist somewhere else—Christ’s soldiers must fight and they will find the battle rough and stern. We, of the Church militant, are engaged in no mimic maneuvers and grand parades! Our life is real and earnest. Our battle, though not with flesh and blood, is with spiritual wickedness in high places and it involves hard blows and keen anguish. . . . if the excuse for fainting is that the work is toilsome, that it is too much a drag upon you, why did you begin it? You ought to have known this at the first. You should have counted the cost! But, ah, let me say, the work was not toilsome when your heart was loving! Neither would it now be so hard if your soul were right with God. This is but an unworthy excuse. Ardent spirits love difficulties! Fervent love delights in making sacrifices! They would not wish to swim forever in smooth seas of pleasure. They know that manhood’s truest glory lies in contending with and overcoming that which is hard. .2) Tenure “But I have been so long at it now. I have served . . . . now I think it is time to retire.” Say you so, my Comrades? The sun has been shining now a great many thousand years, but I have not heard that he intends retiring from the business yet. God has given to us fruitful seasons and I have not heard that He intends to cease to bless our husbandry. Every day we drink from the river of His mercy and we have had no intimation, yet, that that river has ceased to flow and that God intends to cut off the supplies. Why, then, should any one of us dream of staying his hand? What is a lifetime at its utmost length for the service of God? Suppose a man could spend 70 clear years in unflagging exertion in the service of his Master—what would it be, after all? Why, we can only give our Master a few hours in the week and yet you talk about having served Him so long! Dear Master, put Your hand upon our lips next time we would use such words and never permit us to insult the sovereignty of Your dear love by making such an excuse for our sluggishness! 3) Tried it and it hasn’t worked I have been disappointed up till now in the success of what we have attempted. We have sown, but the most of the seed has fallen upon the wayside or upon the rocks—and where it did spring up we have not gained anything like a hundred-fold increase. We thought that would have better results. We have not succeeded as we desired. And what is very perplexing to us is the fact that we know of somebody who has succeeded where we have failed—a person who does not appear to have all the gifts we have, or all the capacities we have—whose sphere was evidently quite as difficult as ours and yet he has prospered and we have not. And therefore we conclude that we would do well to cease our working. If we were in our right minds and did not need an excuse for being sluggards, we should not reason thus, but should argue to a conclusion of a diametrically opposite nature! We should say, ‘If I have not succeeded it was no fault of mine—I did what my Master bade me, I called upon Him for help in it—and I went to work in His way with faith in Him,’ and if I have not prospered, I have done what I could. We must not give up the war because we have not yet conquered but fight on till we can seize the victory. Let us not be weary in well-doing, for in due season we shall reap if we faint not. Another set of excuses I must mention. They are little, pettish, pitiful, proud excuses—but they are very common. Here is one. 4) Thanklessness “I shall leave the work, for I am sure I am not appreciated as I ought to be.” You began to serve God very enthusiastically and you thought the minister ought to have said, “I am thankful that God has sent such a very zealous young man into our Church.” But he has not made any such remark. You have gone on for some time working among the poor, but the good people around you have not been heard to say, “Have you heard of So-and-So? She is such a remarkably useful woman, quite a godsend among us, an example to us all.” You feel hurt that you are not admired. You are vexed that you are not highly esteemed. Now, I will not waste words in exposing this feeling, but I will at once ask you to look at it and tell me if you don’t think it is the meanest and most miserable thing you have ever set your eyes upon? Do you mean to give way to such pettiness and silliness? 5) Teamlessness -I am discouraged because no one aids me in my work.- they have not assisted me though I have needed much help. I have kept on under great pressure, and where I thought I should surely find sympathizers and helpers, I have met with the cold shoulder and unkind remarks.” Does your life, after all, depend upon the breath of other men’s nostrils? Has it come to this, that you cannot live upon the approbation of your Master unless you gain also the smile of your fellow servants? Does it mean this, that you will not do your duty because other people are negligent of theirs? It seems to me if others will not aid me I must put my shoulder to the wheel and do the work myself by the help of God! If the toil is unshared the honor will be undivided. To tread the winepress alone makes us more like our Lord. Therefore, let us labor on in the name of the Lord whose support is far better than the help of kings or princes. 6) Trouble- I must leave my work, for I am so much opposed in it.” Granted that you are opposed, but why should you run away? Overcome the opposition, the more of it to be overcome, the more Divine Grace you need—and the more honor you may gain. Suppose a troop should come against you. Is it not said of Gad, “A troop shall overcome him, but he shall overcome at the last”? Would you be crowned without a conflict and made a victor without fighting? Of one of old it is said that he broke through a troop and leaped over a wall through his God. Why should you not do the same? “But my wall is so high,” you say, “I cannot leap over it.” Is it an iron wall or a granite wall? Then, if God tells you to leap, leap right at it. He will either bear you over it, or else its solid substance will dissolve into impalpable vapor and vanish quite away. You only need courage and to rely on his strength. So, when you become weak you will succeed!
Causes of Fainting. 1) Decline in spiritual strength. When a working Believer suddenly becomes a loitering servant, It is not merely that you do not do so much—it is that you are not so much—you have not the amount of life in you which you once had. Ought not this to be an indicator to you of spiritual sickness and drive you at once to the Good Physician to seek healing at His hands? There is, if you would look a little into your spirit a falling off in your love to Jesus. Holy work is no harder, but you do not love Christ so well. You have, in truth, no more enemies than you had, but you have forgotten your best Friend. Oh, if you had been in the banqueting house with Him and His banner of love had waved over you—and you had been made to drink of the spiced wine of His pomegranate in sweet communion with His blessed Person, you would not have fainted—for he who is on fire with love will burn his way through difficulties. 2) Devoid of reliance upon Divine power. The man who labors for God never works in his own strength. He who works acts because he believes that God works through him—and can a man faint when he feels that? When we fight for God’s Truth it is not our arm but the arm of the Eternal which deals the blow! When we bear testimony to His Word it is not we that speak, but God’s Spirit speaks through us! Let the man of God go forth to any enterprise and hear the sound of his Master’s feet behind him and he will march to the tune of Miriam’s timbrel! But let him go alone and he will moan and murmur, and pine and fail, and die. Confidence in God makes us strong, but by turning away from our great unseen Helper we straightaway begin to faint. 3) Disremember that His Glory is our chief object. When I hear one gives as a reason for fainting that he does not think the other believers are as kind to him as they ought to be, I ask him whether his main object was that he should be loved of men—for if he loved his God, what would it be to him how his fellow men regarded him? When I hear someone retiring because has gained no honor—did you not serve for another motive, namely, God’s Glory? “If you looked for ease and contentment and pleasure, and have not gained them, what wonder? You ought not to have looked for them. Oh, Brother, you have made a mistake! You must get into a better state of heart before God can use you! You must feel that you would have the Lord use you just as in His infinite wisdom He sees fit to do. Whatever He wishes to make us, that we should desire to be. We know not what it is to serve God fully until we come to perfect submission to His will. (Spurgeon)
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