LABORING AND NOT FAINTING – Charles Spurgeon
Laboring and Not Fainting
The Lord’s Watchful Eye Over His Church
“For My name’s sake you have labored and have not fainted.” Revelation 2:3. The Lord Jesus Christ never removes His eyes from His Church. He observes everything that concerns her, not merely the lives of her members but their soul’s health, and not just their health, but the way in which they spend their spiritual strength. He knows their works; He observes their charity, patience, and zeal for His name’s sake. Seven times in His words to the Churches, He says, “I know your works.” This should make us live with great care, for although the whole world is under the eye of God, it is particularly true of His Church that “Upon one stone there shall be seven eyes.” The full perfection of Omniscience is directed upon the Lord’s chosen people. The farmer keeps an eye on all his estate, but his chief care is for his own family; similarly, while the Great Husbandman of all Creation observes all His works, He chiefly looks upon His own household. “The eye of the Lord is upon them who fear Him, upon them that hope in His mercy.”
The Lord’s Delight in His Church’s Labors
Our Lord Jesus, as seen in the text and its connection, takes note of what His Church cannot bear and is pleased when she cannot endure false doctrine or unholy living. He would have her never tolerate these, but to purge herself from them with all strictness. Yet, He also delights in what she can bear—her 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.
The Purpose of the Church on Earth
What is the Church allowed to be on earth if not to labor for her Lord? If there were nothing to be done in this world, there would be no reason for her lingering here. She would be transported to the better land if there were not great ends to be accomplished by her staying here. She is placed 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 that otherwise would be putrid, light to a people who otherwise would sit in darkness. Consequently, a church that 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.
The Labor of the Church
Christ observes the labor of His Church, and He takes special delight in it when it is continuous. So, He can give 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 we owe Him.
The Positive and Negative Good
I. First, I would call your attention to the text itself, noticing the positive and negative good here combined. “You have labored”; there is something positive. “You have not fainted”; there is a negative which makes the positive even more excellent.
Labor: Positive Effort and Exertion
“You have labored.” To labor signifies working with the putting forth of much strength. It is work with emphasis; it means hard work, intense exertion, and vigorous action. Men may work, but they do not always labor, and I fear there are many who claim to be working men who do not trouble themselves with anything approaching to “labor.” There are also working Christians who do not approach true 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 we should not offer less love under the Gospel than was required under the Law, and you know the Law speaks on this wise: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.” Surely Jesus Christ deserves all that. When we labor for Him, it should not be with the careless indifference of slaves, but with the ardor of lovers and the devotion of enthusiasts.
Serving Christ with Wholehearted Devotion
If any master is to be served poorly, let it not be our Master who is in Heaven! We owe Him too much to wish to be eye-servants towards Him; if anywhere a slow servant may be excused, it cannot be in the service of Him who redeemed us with His most precious blood! A church, therefore, ought not merely to be a working church, but a laboring one—working to its highest pitch. We should employ every particle of our strength, driving the engine at high pressure, making sure that no force is allowed to escape in waste. We should not be simply walking to Heaven but running the heavenly race, running it with diligence and eagerness!
The Self-Denial of Labor
When a man truly labors, it takes a great deal out of him; laboring, therefore, implies self-denial. In labor, the man’s strength is put forth and expended. See how the hot sweat stands upon his brow, pouring from him as he continues to exert himself. He has to deny himself because he would like to rest. He sees his comrade, perhaps, lounging against a pillar or stretching out at ease on the greensward, but he cannot do that and labor—he knows he cannot. He lays aside his ease and comfort for the sake of the work before him.
The Church’s Self-Denial
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. Energy far beyond anything usual in Christendom would be common in the church if she were in a right state of heart. Alas, I fear the bulk of professors are not earnest enough to preserve their professions from ridicule.
Excuses for Fainting in Service
I noticed the other day a remark that struck me. Speaking of a certain congregation, the writer said he believed there were a hundred persons in it who were worth not less than 5,000 pounds a year each, and then he mentioned the sum that was given for the maintenance of the work of God. He added, “If any ordinary person who was not a Christian went in there and heard them sing—‘And if I might make some reserve, and duty did not call, I love my God with zeal so great, that I would give Him all’—he would say to himself, ‘I was at the theater on Saturday night and saw a farce, but if I need a screaming one, I must come here on Sunday.’” Indeed, I thought this remark to be sadly true. When I see how much there is of available strength both in worldly substance, mental vigor, and other forms in the church which are never used, I dare hardly say that any church now on 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 cheese parings, and the potato peelings of the church!
The Church’s True Work
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!
The Continuance of Labor
Labor implies not merely a strong effort, but a continuation of it. A man might pick up a workman’s tool and for a few minutes make a mighty show of effort, but he would not be considered a laborer unless he kept on working until his task was done. If a few minutes sufficed him, and he said, “I’ve had practical experience of what labor is, and I think it does not agree with me,” and then laid down his tools, he would be no laborer; he would be playing at labor. Too many in the church are like this—they have fits and starts of effort, but they are soon over. Their spasmodic zeal is hot one day and indifferent the next. True labor for Christ is consistent, steady, and enduring.
Fainting in Service
The negative good, as I said, crowns the positive—“And have not fainted.” There are different degrees of fainting. Some may faint comparatively when they flag in exertion; they drop from running to walking, from diligence to indolence. They did run well—what hindered them? Many continue to do as much outwardly as they did before, but their heart is not in it, and so they faint. Their service becomes mechanical, done out of routine with no energy or life behind it.
The Perils of Mechanical Service
There is no anointing of the Holy Spirit in them; their work may resemble fruit, but it is tasteless, dull, and almost worthless. Some flag by growing weak in all they do. They preach their best, but their best is wine mixed with water. They teach with some degree of earnestness but have lost the power to influence the heart. They tire ears but stir no consciences. They are vigorously feeble, vehemently weak; they have departed from God, the source of all spiritual strength.
The Danger of Giving Up
Some go even further—they renounce all or a large part of the Christian work they were accustomed to. Content with past efforts, they surrender to the sluggard’s vice. They give up the work altogether. The soldier grounds his arms, the workman puts away his tools, and they cry for their wages before the pay day has arrived! This is a sad reality in the church today. And some go even further than that—after retiring from labor, they cease to care about the Lord’s work. They become indifferent and critical, and the Kingdom of Christ grows or declines without them. They still wear the Christian name, but they have fainted. They are like persons in a swoon, unconscious of all around them.
The Call to Perseverance
Happy are they who are preserved from fainting in any of these ways! God grant that we may never come to that last stage, lest it be said of us that we had a name to live and were dead. 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.”
Excuses for Fainting in Service
II. Now, we pass on to a second part of our discourse, which is to dwell upon excuses for fainting. Fainting has become so common in the Church of God that various excuses have been made for it, and they are constantly repeated. When a sin is frequent, excuses for it multiply until men cease to blush and think they have done no ill.
The Weariness of Service
There are some who faint in the work of God because the work itself has become very tedious to them. When they first undertook it, the novelty was upon it, and they did not tire. But now, with the freshness gone, and the real wear and tear setting in, they do not enjoy it quite as much as they thought they would. They had hoped for a position where the chief labor would be to gather lilies or lie upon beds of roses. However, the service of the Crucified is far less romantic, and far more laborious.
The Misunderstanding of the Work of Christ
Dear friends, if any of you think that the road of Christian service is all level and smooth, you have made a very great mistake. There is no royal road to eminence in anything; it is always uphill work, rough climbing, and certainly there is no such road in the service of God. True, it is a straight and thorny road, and mortal spirits tire and faint.
The Call to Persevering Service
“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. These are little, pettish, pitiful, proud excuses—but they are very common. Here is one: “I shall leave the work, for I am sure I am not appreciated as I ought to be.” You do not exactly use these words, but that is your feeling. I am only picturing your thoughts. 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!
The Futility of Seeking Praise
Now, I will not waste words in exposing this feeling, but I will 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? If so, I have done with you, for you will never do any good in this world! The slave of such a mean feeling is incapable of being free!
The Challenge of Neglect and Opposition
“Ah,” cries another, “my complaint is more reasonable, for I am discouraged because no one helps me in my work. I should not mind their not appreciating me, but they have not assisted me though I have needed much help; I am kept under great pressure, and where I thought I should surely find sympathizers and helpers, I have met with the cold shoulder and unkind remarks.” Oh, my Brother! My Brother! 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 also gain 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!
Overcoming Opposition through Faith
Another says, “I have no patience with these frivolous excuses, but mine is a solid one. 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, dear Brother; 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! Go in this, your might, for you shall thresh the mountains, and the wind shall winnow them and carry them away!
Strength in Weakness
“But I am so incompetent, and feel so weak,” says one. “In fact, the further I go, the weaker I get!” You are progressing admirably, dear Brother, and when you become still weaker, you will succeed! Gideon could not win the battle because he had too many soldiers—the faint-hearted had to be sent away, but still, there were too many troops remaining! And when the whole army was reduced to 300 and they had no weapons but earthen vessels and trumpets—then it was that the Midianites were conquered! When we are weak, then we are strong. Oh, Brother, renounce this excuse and labor on, fainting not! God keep you from fainting!
The Real Causes of Fainting
III. Now, for a moment or two, I am going to mention the real causes of fainting. The first is an actual decline in spiritual strength. When a working Believer suddenly becomes a loitering professor, you may gather from it that his spiritual constitution has gray hairs upon it here and there, though he knows it not. It is not, dear Brother, merely that you do not do as much; it is that you are not as much. You have not the amount of life in you that you once had. And is not this a sad thing? 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?
Spiritual Fainting: A Sign of Illness
There is, if you would look a little into your spirit, I am quite sure of it, a falling off in your love to Jesus. Holy work is no harder, but you do not love Christ as much. 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!
The Danger of Worldliness and Spiritual Insensitivity
I am afraid, too, there is coming over your spirit a great deal of deadness to spiritual and eternal things. You are now more moved and made alive by the things that are seen, and less by the things that are unseen. It is a very easy thing for us to get to enjoy the world and give our hearts up to its troubles and cares. It needs the Spirit of God to make us sensitive to the Divine touch so that we feel eternity, so that we know the value of other men’s souls, so that we put before us the great day in which actions shall be revealed—so that we estimate life aright as it will weigh in the balances of God’s Justice! Oh, to be dead to these spiritual realities in any degree is a dreadful death, and to be callous to Holy things is a terrible hardness! May God keep us from spiritual insensibility, and may we be tender and sensitive to the faintest motion of the Holy Spirit.
Loss of Confidence in Divine Power
It is to be feared, also, that those who faint have lost their reliance upon Divine Power, at least in a degree. The man who labors for God aright never works in his own strength; he who works aright 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 who 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.
Unselfish Dedication to God’s Service
Moreover, I am afraid that we forget that the Lord requires of us an unselfish dedication to His service, and that we do not serve Him at all unless His Glory is our chief objective. When I hear of a fainting Sunday school teacher who gives as a reason for fainting that he does not think the other Sunday school teachers are as kind to him as they ought to be, I ask him whether his main objective was that he should be loved by men—for if he loved his God, what would it matter to him how his fellow men regarded him? When I hear a man saying, “I shall give up that post, or that service”—(of course, I am not mentioning those who have justifiable reasons, and there are such cases), but when I hear of a man’s retiring because he is faint-hearted, I say to him, “You have met with difficulties; did you not know you would meet with difficulties? You have gained no honor; did you not serve for another motive, namely, God’s Glory?”
The Call for Perfect Submission
“If you looked for ease and contentment, and pleasure, and have not gained them, why 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; you should be a piece of iron on the Almighty’s anvil to be welded into a scepter if He chooses you to break the potter’s vessels; to be beaten into a plowshare and plunged into the earth, if by you He means to turn up the furrows of the fallow ground; or fashioned into a spear-point, if by you He intends to strike His enemies.”
Whatever He Wishes, We Should Desire to Be
Whatever He wishes to make us, that is what we should desire to be. We know not what it is to serve God fully until we come to perfect submission to His Will.
The Common Types of Fainting Christians
IV. I have a little medical business to do in closing this sermon. Four sorts of persons are very common among us. There are, first, those who neither labor nor faint; next, those who faint but never labor; then, those who did labor once, but have fainted; and fourthly, those who still labor but are ready to faint. To each of these four I desire to administer a little medicine.
The First Group: Those Who Neither Labor Nor Faint
Let the first come here. There are some who neither labor nor faint. I do not mean outsiders! Those God shall judge. I mean members of the church. Labor? No. The greatest labor they ever do is to walk from home to the Meeting House to hear a sermon, and some of them are hardly able to keep awake during the time of hearing the discourse. They are slumbering hearers like Eutychus, and it is a great mercy God does not make an example of them as He did of that sleepy Brother!
The Inactive Church Member
We have church members who never labor, and therefore never faint. What would they faint about? They have never done enough to come anywhere near an approach to that state of exhaustion; they never draw the Gospel coach, but they are delighted to ride on the top of it! They especially prize the box seat if they can get it; they never go into the Lord’s vineyard to trim the vines, but they are very fond of eating the clusters, though, indeed, even these they will, at times, call sour and destitute of the flavor of the older vintages. They do nothing, nothing whatever, and therefore they find fault with those who do!
The Rebuke to the Idle
I am very thankful that very few of this class are among us, yet there are too many. Now, I would prescribe for them a taste of the gall of bitterness. It might be beneficial to them if they had the flavor of it in their mouths, for I am very much afraid that unless they repent, it will be their eternal portion! A church member who brings forth no fruit, what did the Lord say about him? He said, “Every tree that brings not forth fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.” How would you like that, you idle church members? Every branch in the true vine that bears no fruit, He takes away.
The Second Group: Those Who Faint But Do Not Labor
The next sorts of persons to be dealt with are those who faint but do not labor. “Who are they?” you ask. I remember one in the days of Solomon who had to go down a street upon an errand, but did not go. Dear man, he would not venture out for there was a lion in the way; now, truth to say, there was no lion that any man could see, but his imagination had invented the bloodthirsty animal! We know persons of the same family who would say, “Oh, do not attempt to do anything that has not been done before; it would be hazardous!”