A Worker for the LordA Worker for the Lord

Matthew 10:16-25

IntroductionIntroduction

God has not promised a life of ease If people turned against Christ Then they will turn against His disciples Christianity requires commitment

1 Cor 15:58 Steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the

work of the Lord Paul calls it “toil” (lit. “hard or painful work”)

An IllustrationAn Illustration

Imagine life as canoeing upstream Some areas are wide and slow Some are narrow and fast We know we have to work hard when the stream

is fast against us But if we think we can stop in the wide places

Then the current will slowly send us back There is no point in our lives when we can take

“time-off” from serving God

Serving GodServing God

1 Cor 9:24-27 Life is a great race To win, you must train

Train hard, disciplined Only the best will win You have to stay on course You have to keep going to the end

No one will walk to the prize No one will “walk” into heaven

Serving GodServing God

Eph 6:10-17 Life is war A spiritual struggle in this world 2 Tim 4:6-8

We must fight the good fight Wars are not won by the ill-prepared Wars are not won by the ill-equipped Wars are not won by the uncommitted Wars are not won by a few tentative swings

Serving GodServing God

We cannot serve God with a half-effort Lk 6:47-49

We must hear and act or we will be swept away Lk 13:24

We must “strive to enter” or we will not be able to enter

“Strive” means “compete, struggle, fight, labor fervently”

Think of paddling that canoe upstream

How?How?

How can we keep up the struggle, day-in and day-out?

Titus 2:11-14 He tells us first much of what we need to be

doing, then he tells us how “Zealous of good works” “Zealous” lit. “one who is on fire” Doing good works needs to motivate us

But there are some foundations to proper zeal

First Foundation: First Foundation: TRUTHTRUTH

Prov 19:2 We need to know what good deeds God wants

us to be doing Prov 16:25

You can paddle a canoe with a lot of zeal But if the canoe is leaking, it’ll still sink

2 Tim 2:15 Make an effort to learn God’s word and how

handle it (lit. “make a straight cut”) 2 Tim 3:16-17

The word will teach you the good deeds God desires

Second Foundation: Second Foundation: LOVELOVE

Romans 12:9-13 We must work as a unit – Phil 1:27

Without love for each other we cannot stand together

1 Pet 1:22-23 1 Pet 4:8

Our love is what moves us onward Like the paddles in the canoe If no paddle, no progress especially in the tough

times There’s never too much love – 1 Thes 4:9-10

Zeal produces EffortZeal produces Effort

James 1:22-25 We must prove ourselves doers of the word

James 4:17 Failure to do good is sin

If you aren’t paddling, then you’re not progressing Rev 3:14-16

God won’t accept “lukewarm” efforts Ps 119:2-3 – Seek Him with ALL your heart

ConclusionConclusion

Jn 4:34-38 The opportunities exist Just “lift up your eyes”

If you are ready to work, then God has work for you to do

Let’s get busy and paddle our canoes up through the stream of life