Sermon of the Week: “Labouring and Not Fainting”

This week we begin a series of sermons from the second and third chapters of the book of Revelation.

Do you ever feel weary in the work you do for the Lord? Do you ever become discouraged by the apparent fruitlessness of your labors? In 1872, Charles Spurgeon preached a sermon based on the Lord Jesus Christ’s letter to the church at Ephesus, highlighting the phrase, “For my name’s sake thou hast laboured and hast not fainted” (Rev. 2:3).

The Church has a task to do. “[A] church which does not labour misses the chief end of its being,” said Spurgeon; “it is a plant that beareth no flower, a vine branch that yieldeth no cluster.” The church is called to work. In her diligent, unflagging labor, persevering through temptations and trials, her love for Christ is made visible.

Spurgeon exhorts the church not to grow weary or faint. Our flesh is naturally inclined toward self-sufficiency and looking inward for strength. But without depending on God for strength, we grow weary. “Confidence in God makes us strong, but by turning away from our great unseen helper, we straightway begin to faint.”

Jesus is worthy of our most ardent efforts. “We should be not simply walking to heaven, but running the heavenly race, and running it with diligence and eagerness.” In His strength, for His name’s sake, let us labor on and not faint.

Excerpt:

[W]hen a man works for Christ he should work with all his might…. when we labour for him it should not be with the careless indifference of slaves, but with the ardour of lovers, the devotion of enthusiasts. If any master is to be served badly, let it not be our Master who is in heaven: we owe him too much to wish to be eye servants towards him.… If I may use the figure, we ought to employ every particle of our steam power; we should drive the engine at high pressure; we have no force that can be allowed to escape in waste. We should be not simply walking to heaven, but running the heavenly race, and running it with diligence and eagerness.

Read the rest of the sermon here.